The seminar officially was opened by Mr. Samdach Hun Sen the Prime Minister of Cambodia. He welcomed the participants of the seminar by expressing his governments support for ASEM. Then the participants were divided into three working groups; political rights, Cultural Rights, Roles and Relations of State-Civil Society, International Organisations and impact of ICT.
Participating in the meeting were 130 Cambodians, Asian and Europeans drawn from the diplomatic community, regulatory and human rights agencies as well as from a broad swathe of civil society, including students, bloggers, artists, filmmakers, international organisations, non-government organisations, media associations, academic and research institutes, and lawyer associations with relevant expertise and interest in the area of freedom of expression.
Malek Sitez Project Manager in the International Department of Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR) represented Denmark in the event.
The Informal ASEM Seminar on Human Rights aimed to promote better mutual understanding and cooperation between the countries of Asia and Europe in the area of political dialogue. The programme achieved this by bringing together government officials, academics and civil society participants of the 45 ASEM Partners .
The Asia-Europe Foundation, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Sweden organised the seminar.
The meeting concluded with key messages and recommendations for the Asia-Europe Meeting, which will hold its next summit of leaders in Beijing next year.
The main messages and recommendations reflecting perspectives from key national, regional and international groups will be transmitted to the ASEM member governments in the European Union and Asia.
For more information and for related documents, please visit www.asef.org
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ASEM partners; Austria, Belgium, Cambodia, China, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungry, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Laos, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mongolia, Myanmar, The Netherlands, Pakistan, The Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, United Kingdom, The European Commission, and Association of Southeast Asian Nations Secretariat