The 8th Conference on Human Rights (8HRC) came to a momentous end on August 13th, 2025 after two full days of academic engagement between speakers and participants. This year’s conference consisted of 2 keynote speakers, 5 plenary sessions, and 189 presentations from speakers from institutions in Indonesia, Taiwan, the Philippines Japan, the UK, Australia, Canada, and the US. 8HRC was hosted in partnership with the Faculty of Law, Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR); Sydney Southeast Asia Centre (SSEAC) and School of Law, the University of Sydney; and the Centre for Human Rights, Multiculturalism, and Migration (CHRM2), University of Jember (UNEJ).
The leadership, staff, and fellows (both former and current) of CHRM2 posed in a line front of the 8HRC Conference.
8HRC opened on August 11th with a dinner that gathered together speakers, participants, conference hosts, and committee chairs to enjoy a night of Javanese cuisine accompanied by local dancers and musicians. This dinner also served as a reunion for past CHRM2 research fellows – Sarah Davisson and Nicolas Nishiyama – who joined this year’s conference as speakers on their recent research papers written at their home institutions in the UK and Japan.
The conference hall at UNAIR where all keynote speeches and plenary sessions took place
The 8th Conference on Human Rights began in full on August 12th with a keynote speech by the Vice Minister of Human Rights of the Republic of Indonesia, Mugiyanto. His speech set the tone for the conference as plenary speakers, Tamer Morris from the University of Sydney and Grace Cheng from San Diego State University, took the stage to share their perspectives on human rights. Morris challenged us to move beyond Western conceptualizations of individual rights to a community centered model when communicating with those from different cultures – such as his own family background in Egypt. Cheng further challenged dominate political and economic structures by addressing the harms that Global North led extractivism poses on communities in the Global South. Following these speeches, and a brief Q&A session, the conference floor was opened for two days-worth of moderated panels on themed presentation topics.
Three speakers from 8HRC Panel 2.6: Alternative Perspectives on Religion and Rights
This year’s presentations covered a wide range of interdisciplinary topics related to human rights including ecological justice, gender equality, indigenous representation, arts and culture, ethical business practices, displacement and migration, democracy, and the right to health. With 3-5 speakers per panel and designated Q&A time with the audience, these presentations served as fruitful sites for academic and personal exchange and coalition building.
On August 13th, the final day of the conference, Australian plenary speakers Elizabeth Kramer and Catherine Renshaw began the morning with speeches on the complex and conflicting priorities of Indonesia’s government in relation to the tobacco industry and environmental activism in the age of authoritarian rule in Myanmar. After two more sessions of panel streams, John Roosa delivered the final plenary speech on democracy in Indonesia and the importance of defending democratic institutions to protect peoples’ fundamental freedoms and rights. 8HRC officially ended with a closing ceremony and keynote speech by the Chair of the National Commission on Human Rights (KOMNAS-HAM) of the Republic of Indonesia, Anis Hidayah.
This conference marks the continuation of CHRM2’s commitment to furthering Global South led human rights initiatives and academia. Through this platform, participants could share the latest research on human rights developments and setbacks and create space for connection and collaboration on issues relevant to Asia. We look forward to your participation and support in next year’s conference!