THE PROTECTION OF HRDS IS CRUCIAL TO THE PROMOTION AND FULFILMENT OF HUMAN RIGHTS! A Position Paper of the Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (FIND), Inc. re: House Bill No. 77

To defend human rights is inherently human. The promotion and fulfilment of human rights in the country involves the empowerment of the people in defense of human rights and the rule of law. The Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (FIND) is driven by its steadfast search for truth and justice for the thousands of principled and committed activists who have been forcibly disappeared through decades, thus transforming family members of the disappeared to become human rights defenders (HRDs) themselves.

FIND strongly urges the government to enact and fully implement a Human Rights Defenders Protection law to attend to these victim-families in their long-drawn search for truth and elusive justice. In fact, HRDs and organizations dedicated to ending enforced disappearances and other human rights violations need to be protected.

One Year of Arbitrary Detention: Human Rights Organisations Call for Release of Kashmiri Human Rights Defender Khurram Parvez

The undersigned organisations call for the immediate and unconditional release of Kashmiri human rights defender Khurram Parvez, who was arrested one year ago on November 22, 2021 on politically motivated terrorism and other charges.

Parvez, the Coordinator of the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) and Chairperson of the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), has been a champion of human rights advocacy, documentation, and investigations including in the Jammu and Kashmir region, for over 20 years.

AFAD joins Philippine human rights defenders in condemning Martial Law atrocities and combating widespread historical distortion

MANILA: Fifty years since Ferdinand Marcos Sr. declared Martial Law in 1972, the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) affirms its steadfast support to the Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (FIND) and other Philippine human rights defenders in seeking truth and justice on atrocities committed under this dark regime.

AFAD strongly condemns the decision of the Prime Minister’s Office to uphold its former decision to deregister Odhikar.

Manila: The Asian Federation against Involuntary Disappearances strongly condemns the decision of the Prime Minister’s office in Bangladesh to uphold its decision to deregister Odhikar, one of the most credible human rights organisations in the South Asian region.