The "Observatoire des Libertés en Asie Orientale", initiated by a French former member of Parliament, was founded in March, 1998.
It  has a legal status, in accordance with the "1st of July 1901" French law and its' following decree in August, 16.

 

Objective The association's aim is to report to a worldwide audience  the evolution of Human Rights and Freedoms in Asian countries.

Think tanks The association has developped a network of think tanks composed of intellectuals, members of the French Parliament, reporters and famous sinologists... Thanks to its members, the association is able to organize conferences and to participate in international events.

 During its one-year life, the association has organized two main meetings, each one was attended by 100 to 300 persons :
- The first meeting with Wei Jingsheng, at the French Parliament "Assemblée Nationale", was on March 18th, 1998. It was his first visit to Europe since his recent liberation, then he was welcomed by the association's members and the French politicians. 
- The second meeting was a debate on June 8th, 1998 at the French Parliament. The association invited Richard Bernstein: reporter  from the New York Times, who wrote the best-seller "China-USA : Danger"; and the Vietnamese dissident Nguyen Chi Thien.

Participations In parallel to its main activities, the association has actively supported  two international events : - The International meeting on Human Rights in Asian countries, on  December 12th, 1998 with the theme "Asian Values and Democracy". It was also the occasion to celebrate the 50th birthday of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Numerous Asian dissidents such as Wei Jingsheng, Vo Van Aï, Rithy Panh and Aung San Suu Kyi,... contributed to this meeting at the "Institut International d'Administration publique" in Paris. - The commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the Tian'anmen massacre last June (from the 3rd to the 5th). The association initiated the idea to name several European squares "place Tian'anmen" for the event.

Projects The association plans to broaden its scope in two main areas : French and European political world and in a wider public audience. The association has defined its' top priorities : - To obtain an International dimension and become an NGO. - To create a network of implemented associations in the main European countries such as Germany, Great Britain, Holland, Italy and Spain.