AFAD STATEMENT on Sombath Somphone’s 7th Year of Disappearance

FOR SEVEN YEARS, the fate and whereabouts of Sombath Somphone, a prominent civil society leader, a community development worker, and a human rights defender, remain undisclosed by the Lao government. Sombath was forcibly disappeared in Vientiane on 15 December 2012. His disappearance was recorded in a police surveillance video, when police stopped him in his vehicle at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Vientiane.

Congratulations to Mary Aileen Bacalso!

Congratulations to Mary Aileen Bacalso,
former AFAD Secretary General, for receiving the
2019 French-German Ministerial Award for Human Rights and the Rule of Law.

Your AFAD family is proud of you!

BANGLADESH: Defending rights requires unified resistance

Dhaka/Manila/Hong Kong, 10 December 2019: On International Human Rights Day, the Asian Federation against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), and Odhikar pay tribute to and stand in solidarity with the victims and survivors of human rights violations.

AFAD HUMAN RIGHTS DAY STATEMENT

10 DECEMBER 2019

MANILA, Philippines - On the 71st anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) stands with the human rights community in its pursuit of a world of true justice for all persons. At the heart of the UDHR is the recognition of human dignity and respect for persons. Human rights are not just for the privileged – they are for everyone, regardless of status in life. It is thus a sad but glaring reality that human rights violations persist across the world. Those who do not have the means to defend themselves are the most vulnerable to human rights abuses.