Page 107 - The Ethics of ASEAN

CHAPTER
9

Ethics of Freedom in ASEAN

Link to webinar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK2xxz_cbQQ

arlier in this book we discussed the word merdeka as a founding virtue of freedom
for ASEAN, born out of the liberation of the new Southeast Asian nations after
Ecolonialism. However, freedom ethics in ASEAN are not limited to merdeka. ASEAN
also has a rules-based list of 40 articles on freedom and human rights declared in 2012 by
the heads of the Member States. 1
The ethics of freedom in ASEAN are very much in question across the region. Which
freedoms should be guaranteed by law and who decides? Should citizens have the right to
demonstrate and create organisations to promote freedoms? The reality is that ASEAN

1 ASEAN Human Rights Declaration November 19, 2012 https://asean.org/asean-human-rights-declaration/
retrieved 16 July 2023.

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