General Allegation on Laos Submitted on the Occasion of the UN WGEID's 106th Session in Geneva, Switzerland

To the attention of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (UN WGEID)
On the occasion of its 106th Session

OBJECTIVE

The Asian Federation Against Enforced Disappearances (AFAD) wishes to express its deepest concern about human rights violations in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos PDR) and would like to draw the attention of the Working Group to the alarming situation of enforced disappearances, which constitutes an obstacle to the implementation of the 1992 Declaration.

Distinguished Members of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances,

Laos is a signatory to the main international human rights instruments[1] including the Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPED); yet, the practice of enforced disappearances in the Lao PDR is alarming.

Indeed, Laos can be described as an authoritarian one-party State: Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP) is the only party recognized by the 1991 Constitution. Powers are concentrated in the hands of the executive: the National Assembly merely approves laws that were already vetted by the executive; it can virtually override any decisions made by the judiciary or other institutions. Generally, the Lao PDR tends to make use of a reference to “national stability” to justify a shrinkage of the room that is left for democracy. Transparency International ranked Laos 145 out of 175 countries at the last corruption perception index[2]. Laos has recently passed a decree restricting freedom of speech, rendering online criticism of the Government illegal[3]. On the occasion of the last Universal Periodic Review, several delegations have expressed concern over the shrinking space for civil society and freedom of expression[4].

AFAD Statement of Support to Amina Masood, et al

“Violence against women cannot be tolerated, in any form, in any context, in any circumstances, by any political leader or by any government. There is one universal truth, applicable to all countries, cultures and communities: violence against women is never acceptable, never excusable, never tolerable,” thus stated UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.

A year ago, the Pakistani police subjected to intense baton charge families of victims of enforced disappearance who were on a peaceful protest sit-in urging the government to surface all the disappeared and to bring to justice all those responsible for the abduction. Many of those beaten were wives and children of the disappeared. They were herded to and detained in the police station.

Amina Masood Janjua, wife of disappeared Mr. Masood Janjua and chairperson of the Defence of Human Rights, were among those beaten and detained. Her husband, Masood Janjua, was forcibly disappeared on 30 July 2005, allegedly abducted by state security forces. He remains disappeared up to this day.

Surface Jonas Burgos and Return Him Safe to His Family! End the List Now!

Some people think that the truth can be hidden with a little cover-up. But as time goes by, what is true is revealed.

Eight long years and the family of Jonas Burgos continues to suffer from the agony of uncertainty about his safety and fate. Before he was forcibly disappeared on 28 April 2007, he was a member of the Alyansa ng mga Magbubukid sa Bulacan, who practiced and promoted sustainable organic farming in San Miguel, Bulacan and shared his knowledge on ecologically-friendly and economically-viable sustainable agriculture techniques to marginalized, smallholder farmers and peasants.

Based on the decision on the writ of habeas corpus and the writ of amparo filed by Jonas’ family, the Court of Appeals in 2013 found, after intermittent hearings, and ruled that the military and the police are accountable for Jonas Burgos’ abduction but the perpetrators are consistently denying their responsibility of the crime.

Jonas Burgos’s whereabouts have not been known since he was abducted on 28 April 2007 while having lunch alone in a restaurant at a mall along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City, forcibly dragged away by a group of men and a woman.

Not knowing the whereabouts and fate of Jonas Burgos, his family has for eight years been suffering mental anguish. His family’s relentless search for truth and justice has earned for them the ire of the alleged perpetrators and they themselves are subject to harassment.

Surface Mr. Ilias Ali and Mr. Ansar Ali Now

The current situation of enforced disappearance in Bangladesh is very alarming. The case of enforced disappearance though started more than three and a half years ago, has drawn the attention and alarm of the global community. Visibly, democracy in Bangladesh is at its most vulnerable situation. The government and its security forces have been resorting to nefarious tactics of secret abduction, arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, extrajudicial killing, and enforced disappearance.

The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances is deeply concerned about the systematic pattern of enforced disappearances in Bangladesh which has become gravely alarming- a concerted scheme to eliminate people deemed undesirable especially political opponents. Politically motivated enforced disappearances are done in the context of the general atmosphere of impunity granted to law enforcement agencies and security forces in Bangladesh.