UN Human Rights Council and OHCHR must adopt a new mandate on Bangladesh to collect evidence of gross human rights violations

A Joint Statement by the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), Mayer Daak and Odhikar on International Human Rights Day, 2021

Manila, Dhaka, 09 December, 2021: AFAD, Mayer Daak and Odhikar pay tribute to all victims of human rights violations and stand in solidarity with the victims’ families in Bangladesh and across the world while commemorating International Human Rights Day. This year’s Human Rights Day theme relates to “Equality” and Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”. International Human Rights Day 2021 is being observed with the theme of ‘equality’ at a time when the human rights situation in Bangladesh is in dire straits.

Stop persecuting human rights defenders! Release Khurram Parvez now!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

 AFAD Statement on Kashmir Raids and the Arrest of Khurram Parvez

 Stop persecuting human rights defenders! Release Khurram Parvez now!

24 November 2021, Manila, Philippines - The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) calls on the Government of India to immediately and unconditionally release prominent Kashmiri human rights defender, Khurram Parvez. We also call for the Government of India to ensure Khurram’s safety from torture or any cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment while in detention.

BANGLADESH: Police raid on the House of the founder of Mayer Daak

A Joint Statement by the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) and Odhikar

Manila, Dhaka; 1 November 2021: The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) and Odhikar strongly condemn the police raid on the house of Hajera Khatun, the founder of Mayer Daak, a network of families and relatives of disappeared persons; and the arrest of people gathered at a prayer session on 31 October 2021.

BANGLADESH: UN human rights experts must undertake an independent investigation into enforced disappearances and hold perpetrators accountable

A Joint Statement by the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances, Mayer Daak and Odhikar on the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, 2021

Manila/Dhaka, 30 August 2021: AFAD, Mayer Daak and Odhikar pay tribute to victims of enforced disappearances and stand in solidarity with the families and relatives of the disappeared in Bangladesh and across the world while commemorating International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. Enforced disappearances, along with an array of other grave human rights violations, are not new phenomenon in Bangladesh. However, state-sponsored human rights abuses, including enforced disappearances have become a systematic tool to suppress  political opponents and silence dissenting voices since 2009, when the Awami League - led government assumed power. The issue of enforced disappearances has been discussed at various levels of the United Nations, including the Universal Periodic Review, for the past decade. Despite international criticism, the incumbent Awami League government has never taken the matter seriously.