Asian Federation Against 
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The Silver Lining of Justice in Sri Lanka
Statement: Sri Lanka’s National Day of Disappeared Persons
27 October 2015 – Today, marks the 24th year of commemoration of the National Day of the Disappeared Persons in Sri Lanka. Mostly from the Northern and Eastern regions, families and friends of those forcibly disappeared during the country’s armed conflict have been gathering before the Monument for the Disappeared at Raddoluwa Junction to remember their disappeared relatives and demand accountability from the government for its past crimes.
The tradition of commemorating the victims of enforced disappearances can be traced to the killings of H.M Ranjith and M. Lionel that took place in the Raddoluwa Junction in 1989. Families, friends and supporters of the two began to assemble in the junction in October 27, 1991. From a group of seventeen (17), the crowd expanded over the years.
Laos: 1,000 days on, Sombath’s enforced disappearance remains a clear dereliction of the government’s international obligations
Today marks 1,000 days since prominent Lao civil society leader Sombath Somphone “disappeared” at a police checkpoint on a busy street in Vientiane. We, the undersigned organizations, reiterate our call for the Lao government to intensify its efforts to conduct a prompt, impartial, and effective investigation into Sombath’s apparent enforced disappearance, to determine his fate or whereabouts, and to take the necessary measures to bring those responsible to justice.
At the second Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Laos, held in Geneva on 20 January 2015, 10 states made recommendations to Laos to investigate Sombath’s disappearance. In addition, five states raised questions about the issue.
BANGLADESH: Government repression and intimidation of families of victims of enforced disappearance
A Joint Statement by Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances, Asian Legal Resource Centre, The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders [a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)]
1 September 2015 – On the occasion of the International Day of the Disappeared on August 30, families of victims of enforced disappearance, AFAD, ALRC, FIDH and Odhikar had jointly organised a commemorative event in Dhaka, Bangladesh to remember those who have been forcibly detained and whose fate and whereabouts remain unknown. However, less than 24 hours before the event was scheduled to take place, it was suddenly cancelled by the National Press Club where the event was slated to be held. In addition, families of the disappeared who were scheduled to speak during the event received threatening phone calls, and police were deployed to the National Press Club without an explanation. Our organisations have reason to believe that the Bangladesh government is behind this sudden cancellation of the event and the intimidation of victims' families, as part of a wider effort to silence any voices speaking out against Enforced Disappearances in Bangladesh and to maintain impunity for these crimes which many claim have been committed by State authorities.
