Freedom of Association WG

Working Group Meeting - Brussels 2008

Objectives of the WG on Freedom of Association:

- To promote and protect human rights values and international standards related to freedom of association in the Euro-Med region, in particular in the South Mediterranean area.

- To develop sustained civil society monitoring and expertise on freedom of association conducive to change in legislation and to democratic reform.

- To draft annual reports on freedom of association in the EuroMed region based on a consensus of a broad group of civil society representatives reached through a participatory and consultative process and to diffuse this report widely.

Activities

The Network has identified freedom of association as one of its key working areas and decided at its last GA to establish a working group dealing with this specific issue.

During its first meeting, the WG agreed to establish a regional civil society instrument to monitor freedom of association and, indirectly by extension, progresses or setbacks in terms of democracy. The project will consist of writing annual reports on the situation of freedom of association in legislation and practice.

Minutes from the first meeting

During the second WG meeting, December 2007, the EMHRN published its first Review on freedom of association. The report is based on a consensus of a broad group of civil society representatives reached through a participatory and consultative process with EMHRN members. The Review includes one chapter for the 11 countries surrounding the Mediterranean, as well as one chapter dealing with the situation within the EU. Finally, it provides several recommendations to the governments from both the North and South of the Mediterranean.

Minutes from the second meeting

The general outline of the second EMHRN Freedom of Association Review was approved at the third working group meeting. This second edition will be an update of the main events in the region in 2007-2008 related to Freedom of Association. It will focus on the impacts of counter-terrorism laws on Freedom of Association, and it will discuss gender specific issues in relation to Freedom of Association.

Minutes from the third meeting

The 5th Freedom of Association Working Group meeting was held on 25-26 April 2009. This meeting mainly aimed at presenting the EMHRN Working Groups methodology and the project on Freedom of Association to the new WG members. WG members agreed that the Annual Report should continue to be organised by country and that the chapter on Europe should be kept. They adopted a series of 12 indicators for the 11 country-chapters (which were reviewed, after the meeting, by the Gender Working Group to ensure a gender-sensitive approach throughout the report). This third report will provide an update of the main events related to freedom of association in the Euro-Mediterranean region in 2008-2009 and it will include two thematic chapters: one on minority associations, which will be titled “Ethic, Linguistic, Cultural and Religious Diversity and Freedom of Association”, and another on “GONGOs (governmental NGOs)

Minutes from the fifth meeting

Freedom of Association Working Group Blog HERE

WG Members

Solida		Wadih Al Asmar (Political referent)
Moroccan Association for Human Rights		Hassan Aharrat
CDF
Cairo Institute for Human Rights		Moataz El Fegiery
National Council for Freedom in Tunisia		Omar Mestiri
Danish Institute for Human Rights		Ashraf Mihkail
Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights
Collectif des Familles de Disparu(e)s en Algérie		Nassera Dutour
Intercenter		Diana DiPietro
Tunisian League for the Defense of Human Rights		Mustapha Tlili
Moroccan Organisation for Human Rights		Amina Bouayach
World Organisation Against Torture		Delphine Reculeau
Human rights association Turkey		Osman Isci
Fondation Moawad		Mira Yaacoub
Ligue des droits de l'Homme		Jacques Montacie
Sisterhood is Global Insitute		Lubna Dawany

For more info, contact the WG Coordinator, Thibaut Guillet

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