page_title: Human rights in Asia
section_title: Southeast Asia
hierarchical_section_title: Human rights in Asia / History of human rights in Asia / Southeast Asia
caption_attribution_description: The map of Southeast-Asia region.
context_page_description: The topic of Human Rights in Asia is one that encompasses an immense number of states, international governmental organizations, and non-governmental organizations. All these institutions contribute a variety of services and perspectives towards human rights, covering topics including the enforcement, monitoring, and criticisms of human rights in Asia. There is no single body that covers all of human rights in Asia, as such a diverse and widespread region requires a number of institutions to properly monitor the multitude of elements that fall under the scope of human rights. There have historically been numerous criticisms of human rights in Asia, but a variety of new treaties and conventions now strive to accomplish a level of human rights as they are known on the international stage.
  Human rights in Asia are monitored by many organizations, a few examples being the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights and Human Rights Watch. Tolerance of these organizations varies from state to state, with voluntary intergovernmental programs often seeing more state-cooperation than neutral non-governmental organizations would typically receive.
context_section_description: Southeast Asia has historically not adopted the same definition of human rights that could be found in Western European or North American countries. The first sign of human rights recognition came in the form of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) put forward by the United Nations. This declaration, however, was not binding and therefore not enforced. The UDHR had only 51 states worldwide ratify its existence (those who were members of the United Nations); many of the Southeast Asian countries had not yet acquired membership. This primarily Western-based notion of human rights had by no means permeated Southeast Asia; instead, the ideological opposite of human rights was true: there were no expectations of equal treatment based upon socioeconomic, cultural, religious, etc. status.
  In Singapore, certain fundamental freedoms are still restricted such as the freedom of assembly. Meetings of any kind are still heavily regulated, requiring a police permit for gatherings of 1 individual or more. Public gatherings for any cause are further restricted by the Singapore government, with many events in recent history being shut down under the pretense of the 'Public Order Act'. Singapore also regularly rejects applications for police permits to gather for assemblies "directed towards a political end". Singapore has retained and employed the death penalty numerous time throughout history, especially in drug related criminal cases. Executions often take place relatively quickly after conviction and almost never have any transparency. Singapore's LGBTQ community has seen heavy restrictions throughout history, such as the long-standing policy of criminalizing same-sex relations – a policy that remains in place today.
  Indonesia has a long history of committing numerous human rights infractions that have gone unpunished. Numerous members of the Indonesian security forces have been found responsible for human rights violations including rape, beatings, unlawful detention, etc. but have not be brought to justice. Indonesia's media, while officially deemed 'free press', suffers from intimidation tactics employed by powerful government or business figures. Numerous journalists have been jailed under supposed violations of various criminal and civil defamation laws. Religious freedom has been an issue of Indonesia for numerous years, despite its constitution dictating complete religious freedom/tolerance. Legal restrictions upon any religion except the 6 sanctioned state religions have existed in Indonesia for decades and are not expected to be lifted any time soon. Labor laws in Indonesia continue to be harsh, with hundreds of thousands of girls in Indonesia being subjected to involuntary labor. These children are often prohibited from leaving their places of employment and are often abused physically, psychologically, and sexually.
  The Human Rights Watch in early May 2020 urged the Indonesian government to immediately release at least 70 Papuan and Moluccan activists. They were arrested during a peaceful protest against the government. HRW also requested the government to ensure freedom of expression in the eastern province of Indonesia in line with the 2018 court ruling.
caption: Southeast Asian Region
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