ASF in Euro-Mediterranean region

This 11th ExPEERience Talk will be devoted to the Campaign for the Decriminalisation of Poverty, Status and Activism. Several of its members will present its history and how it operates. They will discuss the challenges encountered and the opportunities presented by the networking of a multiplicity of actors to tackle a global and systemic issue of such magnitude.

Communities of practice | Decolonisation | Detention | Economic, social and cultural rights | Freedom of expression | Human rights defenders | Justice ExPEERience | Security and freedom | Women’s rights | Belgium | Central African Republic (the) | Congo (the Democratic Republic of the) | Euro-Mediterranean region | Morocco | Niger (the) | Tunisia

The Campaign for the Decriminalisation of Poverty, Status and Activism, launched in Africa, South Asia, North America and the Caribbean, is led by a coalition of civil society organisations calling for the revision and repeal of laws that target people because of their status (social, political or economic) or their activism. In many countries, criminal procedure, penal codes and policing policies continue to reflect a colonial legacy. Offences dating from the colonial era, such as vagrancy, begging or disorderly conduct, are commonly used against people already in a vulnerable or marginalised situationt (homeless people, people with disabilities, drug users, LGBTIQ+ people, sex workers, migrants, etc.), with the sole aim of criminalising what they represent in society rather than the offences they have committed.

Decolonisation | Economic, social and cultural rights | Freedom of expression | Human rights defenders | Migration | Security and freedom | Belgium | Central African Republic (the) | Congo (the Democratic Republic of the) | Euro-Mediterranean region | Morocco | Niger (the) | Tunisia

In 2018, ASF launched a regional hub in the Euro-Mediterranean region, based in Tunis, with the aim of pooling resources and strengthening and harmonising its action in the region. The innovative aspect of the regional office is to fully assume the historical, economic, political and cultural links that exist between the two shores of the Mediterranean, and to take them into account in order to put in place action at regional level that is coherent and efficient.

Access to justice and development | Freedom of expression | Migration | Security and freedom | Euro-Mediterranean region | Morocco | Tunisia