We, legislators from the different member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), gathered in Cha-am, Thailand, on February 28, 2009, hereby announce the formation of an ASEAN Legislative Caucus on Rights and Free Expression, with the aim of protecting and promoting our core values of democracy, human rights and free expression in the ASEAN Community, and ensuring their substance and realization under the ASEAN Charter and the ASEAN Human Rights Body.

We believe that the dream of a true ASEAN Community and the formation of an ASEAN Human Rights Body must recognize free expression, press freedom, and people’s access to information as essential to human rights.

In the light of these beliefs, we call on ASEAN’s leaders to deliver on a commitment to make the principles embodied in the UN Declaration on Human Rights the minimum standards upon which an independent ASEAN Human Rights Body will be established and activated.

We also urge our national and regional leaders to uphold the rights of the people of ASEAN, in particular their rights to inquire, express, and participate on matters that affect their lives and societies.

We commit ourselves to actively push for the full realization of the spirit of the ASEAN Charter, as well as the establishment of an effective and responsive ASEAN Human Rights Body.

We invite our colleagues in the region to join us in this movement that will help defend, enshrine, promote, and strengthen human rights, press freedom, and free expression in the ASEAN community.

February 28, 2009

Cha-am, Thailand

Signed:

Yim Sovann, Member of Parliament, the Kingdom of Cambodia

Djoko Susilo, Member of Parliament, the Republic of Indonesia

Francis Pangilinan, Senator, Republic of the Philippines

Teodoro Casino, Congressman, Republic of the Philippines

Buranaj Smutharaks, Member of Parliament, the Kingdom of Thailand

Kraisak Choonhavan, Member of Parliament, the Kingdom of Thailand