Amidst the current crises caused by social, economic, political, and climate crisis in the region and at global levels, more than 800  from a diverse civil society, ethnic minorities and groups, Indigenous Peoples, LGBTQIA+, Women, Persons with Disabilities, elderly, faith- based groups, migrant workers, informal workers, trade unions, farmers and fisherfolks, youths, human rights defenders, victims of land conflicts, victims of human right violations and people’s organizations of South East Asia gathered together in in-person and online participants gathered at Atma Jaya University, Jakarta, Indonesia from 1-3 September for the 2023 ACSC/APF, with the theme of ‘Reclaiming safe space, restoring democracy in Southeast Asia.

Over the three intensive days, the participants raised their collective voices through a total of four plenary sessions, 29 workshops through six convergence spaces: Peace and Human Security, Alternative Regionalism, Human Rights and Safe Space for Marginalized Groups, Climate and Environmental Justice, Integrated Approaches to Socio-economic Justice, as well as Democracy and Anti-authoritarianism, and 25 side-events to highlight acts of impunity and pressing concerns affecting the ASEAN Member States, Timor-Leste, and the region as a whole, especially in relation to political violence, identified as one of the leading human rights issues in ASEAN. Such impunity, underscored by the lack of respect for human rights, can be eradicated when, as mentioned during a plenary session, “Peoples [should be the ones who] move the minds of their Leaders”.

The ACSC/APF participants urge the ASEAN Leaders to take notice of our following concerns and demands through here