AFAD COMMEMORATES THE INTERNATIONAL WEEK OF THE DISAPPEARED, 2020

Philippines (24^th to 30^th May, 2020): The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) commemorates the International Week of the Disappeared, 2020 and stands in solidarity with the families of the disappeared across continents. Most of these families have been struggling for decades to know the truth about the fate and whereabouts of their loved ones.

Amid the extraordinarily difficult circumstances arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, enforced disappearances along with torture, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and detention, and other gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms persist.

JOINT STATEMENT FAMILIES OF VICTIMS OF INVOLUNTARY DISAPPEARANCE (FIND) ASIAN FEDERATION AGAINST INVOLUNTARY DISAPPEARANCES (AFAD) INTERNATIONAL WEEK OF THE DISAPPEARED, 2020 25 MAY 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic cannot obliterate enforced disappearance. On the contrary, it may even exacerbate the perpetration of this global scourge.

As we kick off the International Week of the Disappeared (IWD) this year, we think of Joseph Jimeda, fondly called Dodong. On 07 May 2020, Dodong, a resident of Caloocan City left home for the Navotas City fish port to buy fish. Vending fish is his source of livelihood. His wife and children waited for him the whole day and through the night. But Dodong didn’t come home. For a week they were clueless of his whereabouts. Fear engulfed them as they anxiously searched for him. Finally Dodong surfaced with a harrowing tale to tell. He was arrested as he could not produce a Navotas City-issued quarantine pass. They then detained him along with more than 500 other alleged violators of enhanced community quarantine directives.

BANGLADESH: Government must stop enforced disappearances and provide special care to families of the disappeared during COVID-19

A Joint Statement by the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances, Asian Human Rights Commission, International Federation for Human Rights and Odhikar on the occasion of International Week of the Disappeared 2020

Dhaka/Manila/Hong Kong/Paris, 25 May 2020: To commemorate International Week of the Disappeared (the last week of May), the Asian Federation against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), and Odhikar remember and pay tribute to victims of enforced disappearance and stand in solidarity with the families of the disappeared during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Press statement: Stop using Electric Tasers on Protesters- Respect Human Rights and Rule of Law

Advocacy Forum-Nepal (AF) expresses its serious concern on the use of electric tasers on peaceful protesters, protesting against the annexation of Lipulekh, a territory of Nepal by India, in Kathmandu Nepal. In light of series of human rights violations committed by Nepal Police during the lockdown, the most recent act of using electric shocks to take people in control and disperse the mob is a serious breach of human rights and a condemnable act. AF strongly condemns the use of electric tasers on the peaceful protesters in Jadibuti and Maitighar, Kathmandu Nepal.