Freedom of Assembly
Overview
“The freedoms of peaceful assembly and association are not cultural or specific to a particular place or time. They are born from our common human heritage. It is human nature – and human necessity – that people come together to collectively pursue their interests.”
- Former UN Special Rapporteur, Maina Kiai
Assemblies—whether political protests, cultural parades, online gatherings, or some other form as the platforms to advocate for change and raise awareness about the issues that matter to them such as human rights, socio-economic rights, or any other issue. The freedom to assemble peacefully is a fundamental right protected by international, regional, national, and even local legal instruments despite states that should enable and protect the exercise of this fundamental right by various means, including supportive legal frameworks.
Freedom of peaceful assembly is a fundamental human right that can be enjoyed and exercised by individuals and groups. The protection of the freedom to peacefully assemble is crucial to creating a tolerant and pluralist society following the diverse identities while freedom of peaceful assembly also has been recognized as one of the foundations of a functioning democracy to ensure all people in a society have the opportunity to express opinions between civil society, political leaders and government.
Moreover, it is complemented by other rights and freedoms such as freedom of association, the right to establish and maintain contacts, freedom of expression, and freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. As such, freedom of assembly is of fundamental importance for the personal development, dignity, and fulfillment of every individual and the progress and welfare of society. In addition to the ability to freely assemble, the role of the authorities is not to remove the cause of tension by eliminating pluralism, but to ensure that the competing groups tolerate each other.