SEAPA | Southeast Asian Press Alliance

Theme: Human Rights versus a culture of impunity in Southeast Asia

In 2007, Cambodia will underscore the importance of the need for justice, of the imperative to confront human rights violations, when the Khmer Rouge Tribunal (KRT) is finally convened and allowed to play its part in (hopefully) bringing closure and healing to a nation. All throughout the rest of Southeast Asia, meanwhile, each nation finds that confronting rights abuses with justice, and fighting a culture of impunity itself, is vital to true human and national development.

Whether its theme reminds about the massacre of East Timorese under Indonesian rule, the disappearance of human rights workers in Thailand, the arrest and killing of student activists in Burma, or the unabated killing of journalists in the Philippines, the 2007 Journalism Fellowship Program will as always be a rich venue for reflective journalism and discussions. It will highlight the virtues of journalism's freedom to shed light, support justice, and establish truth as a fundamental foundation for any society seeking stability and progress.