MANILA – Over 100 activists, led by the Asia Pacific Regional Civil Society Engagement Mechanism (APRCEM), staged a silent protest inside the United Nations Conference Center in Bangkok, Thailand, today, Feb. 26, condemning what they described as shrinking of civic spaces and growing censorship within the UN process.

“We call out against shrinking civic spaces, censorship and reprisals at regional and global levels, and even harassment and threats to human rights defenders at the local and national levels,” said APRCEM in a statement.

Last week, APRCEM reported that some member-states ordered the cancellation of a side event on SDGs and human rights in the UN Economic and Social Commission in Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), for using human rights language in the event title.

The side event was organized by the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD), UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), International Labour Organization (ILO) and APRCEM. The side-event aimed to launch APWLD’s regional report that presents evidence on the 10 years of SDG implementation in Asia and the Pacific, linking it to human rights obligations.

“If this space is threatened, this raises the alarm for civil society and peoples’ organisations for their democratic participation in these multilateral spaces,” APRCEM added.

Notably, human rights groups in the Philippines also called out lies of the Philippine government in a separate UN session. The Philippine delegation claimed before the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) that there was no policy to attack human rights defenders and its reinforced commitment to human rights.

However, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) continues to operate despite the calls of the human rights groups and recommendations of two UN special rapporteurs to abolish it. (AMU, RVO)

Photos courtesy of Asia Pacific Regional Civil Society Engagement Mechanism