AsiaRights

Workshops

National Security, Media and the Promotion of Rights in Asia:
International Workshop
22-24 February 2004, International House of Japan, Tokyo

This workshop forms part the international project Asian Civic Rights Network:

National Security, Media and the Promotion of Rights in the Twenty First Century, and brings together human rights and communications researchers, NGO activists, media professionals, and experts with practical experience of security and surveillance techniques from public and private sectors to investigate the role of the media in promoting human rights in an age of the "global war on terror".

In particular, the workshop will address the following questions in the Asian context:

1. What positive and negative impact is media coverage of security-related issues having on civic rights?
2. How are new security and information-gathering policies influencing the role of the media as a forum for open political debate and for the voices of minority groups?
3. How can academic researchers, NGO activists, media professionals and others cooperate to enhance informed media and public debate about civic rights issues in the context of contemporary security policies and concerns in our region?

The workshop will begin with a public forum on the afternoon of 22 February 2004, to be followed by presentations and intensive round-table discussion between participants on 23 and the morning of 24 February.