{"id":17691,"date":"2023-12-11T13:35:09","date_gmt":"2023-12-11T04:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neonmetin.info\/buletin\/?p=17691"},"modified":"2023-12-11T13:35:10","modified_gmt":"2023-12-11T04:35:10","slug":"civicus-monitor-timor-leste-is-the-most-free-country-in-southeast-asia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neonmetin.info\/buletin\/2023\/12\/11\/civicus-monitor-timor-leste-is-the-most-free-country-in-southeast-asia\/","title":{"rendered":"CIVICUS Monitor: Timor-Leste is the most free country in Southeast Asia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Report by Zevonia Vieira <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CIVICUS Monitor announced in a new report Wednesday that it has upgraded TimorLeste’s civic space to \u2018narrowed\u2019 in its annual ratings in recognition of the country\u2019s respect for fundamental freedoms. Timor-Leste is thus a rare example of a country where citizens\u2019 rights are expanding rather than shrinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regarding to the report from CIVICUS, that Neon Metin access, about People Power Under Attack 2023, details civic space conditions in 198 countries and territories. In Timor-Leste, the findings show reporters were able to report freely without harassment in 2023. Likewise, there were no reports of restrictions on public political gatherings during general elections in May, despite laws which allow some government interference. Further, the electoral process itself was open and pluralistic with 17 political parties represented on the ballot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Timor-Leste is doing it right,\u201d said Josef Benedict, Asia-Pacific researcher for CIVICUS. \u201cOther Southeast Asian countries who restrict citizens\u2019 rights to organise, speak out and protest should emulate their neighbour Timor-Leste instead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CIVICUS Monitor rates each country’s civic space conditions based on data collected throughout the year from country-focused civil society activists, regionally-based research teams, international human rights indices and the Monitor’s own in-house experts. The data from these four separate sources are then combined to assign each country a rating as either \u2018open,\u2019 \u2018narrowed,\u2019 \u2018obstructed,\u2019 \u2018repressed\u2019 or \u2018closed.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Timor-Leste\u2019s upgrade from \u2018obstructed\u2019 to \u2018narrowed\u2019 puts it on par with Australia, France, Japan and the United States, where freedoms of assembly, association and expression are allowed, though there are occasional violations of these rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s upgrade has been a long time coming. After independence in 2002, the country made steady progress to respect human rights after the disastrous Indonesian occupation. The enabling environment for civil society and the absence of significant rights violations boosted Timor-Leste\u2019s rating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor a young country, Timor-Leste has made great strides to ensure civil society activists and journalists can carry out their work,\u201d said Benedict. \u201cThis upgrade is a reason to celebrate how far Timor-Leste has come.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Timor-Leste\u2019s progress is more impressive given the civic space situation across the rest of Southeast Asia. The CIVICUS Monitor rates eight regional countries\u2013Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam\u2013as either \u2018repressed\u2019 or \u2018closed,\u2019 among the most severely restricted. The others\u2013Malaysia and Indonesia\u2013are rated \u2018obstructed,\u2019 meaning authorities often hinder people\u2019s full enjoyment of their rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Globally, Timor-Leste goes against an even more dire trend. This year, the CIVICUS Monitor found that nearly a third of humanity, or 30.6% of people, lives in \u2018closed\u2019 countries, the most restrictive possible environments. This is the highest percentage in \u2018closed\u2019 countries since the CIVICUS Monitor\u2019s first report in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, only 2.1% of the global population lives in \u2018open\u2019 countries, where civic space is not only free but protected, the lowest percentage since 2018. Together, these statistics point to a world in crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are witnessing an unprecedented global crackdown on civic space,\u201d said CIVICUS Monitor lead researcher Marianna Belalba Barreto. \u201cTimor-Leste is a rare case of good news.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, Timor-Leste can do more. The government should revise its Media Law to be in line with international standards and amend its Law on Freedom of Assembly and Demonstration to fully enshrine the right to peaceful assembly. Lawmakers should also not introduce legislation restricting offline or online expression. \u201cWhat Timor-Leste has done is remarkable, especially considering the region,\u201d <\/em>said Benedict. \u201cBut we encourage the country\u2019s leaders to keep going to fully protect their citize<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Report by Zevonia Vieira The CIVICUS Monitor announced in a new report Wednesday that it has upgraded TimorLeste’s civic space to \u2018narrowed\u2019 in its annual ratings in recognition of the country\u2019s respect for fundamental freedoms. Timor-Leste is thus a rare example of a country where citizens\u2019 rights are expanding rather than shrinking. Regarding to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17693,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"amp_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-notisia"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/neonmetin.info\/buletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/neonmetin.info\/buletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/neonmetin.info\/buletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neonmetin.info\/buletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neonmetin.info\/buletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17691"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/neonmetin.info\/buletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17691\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17694,"href":"https:\/\/neonmetin.info\/buletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17691\/revisions\/17694"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neonmetin.info\/buletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neonmetin.info\/buletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neonmetin.info\/buletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neonmetin.info\/buletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}