John Samuel | FORUM-ASIA- Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development Freedoms and human rights of people are increasingly being violated in different countries and regions in the Asia-Pacific Regions. The violations of human rights and the denial of freedom and rights of minority and marginalised communities pose the single biggest threat to democracy and symptomatic of shrinking of democratic spaces in the region as well. At the root of many kinds of discrimination is the identity based on religion or certain belief. When freedoms from fear and want and freedoms of belief and association get violated systematically by the state and non-state actors, the very idea of rule of law get compromised, leading to the impunity for those violating the human rights of expression and belief of minority communities. While most of the countries in the region witness unprecedented level of economic growth, there is also an increase in multiple forms of inequality in the region. Economic inequality, social inequality, and political inequality are closely linked to and mutually reinforced in many countries of the region. And most of the people who are poor and marginalised often come from religious and ethnic minorities and historically marginalised groups such as Dalits, indigenous people, and tribal communities. Multiple forms of inequality and marginalisation based on religion or other forms of identity often create breeding violence, undermining social cohesion and peace. Practitioners of the politics of exclusion, discrimination, and violence often target religious minorities, who are already poor and marginalised. In many countries in the region, there are discriminatory laws that further marginalise religious minorities. However, the biggest threat also comes from extremely violent fanatic groups and practitioners of systematic violence and pogroms against religious minorities; and they act with a sense of impunity. This report gives information on how the freedom and human rights of religious minorities are systematically violated both by the state and non-state actors in nine countries of the region. The religious minorities, particularly in most of the South Asian countries, are increasingly made to feel insecure and further marginalised in multiple ways. This report is an effort to document the rich discussion and debates in the Regional Consultation on Expression, Opinion and Religious Freedoms held in Jakarta in 2015. The report on the one hand gives the perspectives that link between the human rights to expression and belief and also in relation to the right to freedom of association. The report also gives a detailed contextual analysis of the nine countries in the Asia-Pacific Region. The Regional Consultation in Jakarta, jointly organised by FORUM-ASIA and Bytes for All, was a part of our effort to strengthen human rights initiatives at the national and international levels to ensure the right to freedom of expression, right to freedom of religion or belief, and right to freedom of association in various countries of the region. 12