I. ASIAN SITUATION  
    
Significant strides in the past several years have been achieved in the context of popularizing human rights, especially in the campaign against enforced or involuntary disappearance.

In 2000 for instance, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights formally established an Inter-Sessional Open-Ended Working Group to Elaborate a Draft Legally-Binding Normative Instrument for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances so as to expedite the study, review and eventual adoption of the UN Draft Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. 

For its part, the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (UNWGEID) held its formal 75 TH session in May 2005 in Bangkok, Thailand. The first session to be held in Asia, such a decision was prompted by the growing concern over the sheer number of cases of enforced disappearance in Asia. Hence, such a move on the UNWGEID was both a deft diplomatic gesture and a slight reproach directed against the governments here in Asia which have dismissed the scourge of enforced disappearance as a purely Latin American phenomenon.

    The said session also spawned a new global campaign for the immediate adoption of the above-mentioned UN Draft Convention dubbed as Convention Now! AFAD, as a federation of organizations of family members of desaparecidos support this campaign and is actively promoting its set objectives. But these tentative though highly significant victories are no excuse for us to rest on our laurels and throw caution to the wind. For even as this piece is being written, disappearances continue to occur in the Asian continent which now has the highest number of cases of enforced disappearance. Worse, even human rights workers are put in harm’s way, experiencing various threats and intimidations, sometimes leading to the loss of lives.

Even AFAD members are no exemption. Since the first quarter of this year, a number of the Federation’s leaders have received various messages from unnamed sources that have caused a great deal of concern. For instance, on 30 April 2005, lawyer Parvez Imroz, patron of the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) and AFAD Council member experienced a very grave threat to his life. For at around 5:30 in the morning, an unidentified gunman attempted to enter his house at Kralpora area claiming that he wanted to discuss a case with him.

Recalling the death of fellow lawyer Peer Hussam-ud-Din Banday who was shot in his own house by a gunman disguised as a client and the fact that there are restrictions on civilian movements at night across the Kashmir Valley for the past 15 years, Mr. Imroz became suspicious and instructed his wife to refrain from opening the door. Barred from entering their abode, the man (whom Mr. Imroz’s family believed to be a gunman from the Army) left after 15 minutes in frustration, but not before banging the door.

Such an incident, Mr. Imroz believes, was brought about by his continuing advocacy for human rights and for the consistent assistance that he gives to the families of victims of enforced disappearances. It is important to note that on the 20 TH of April, Mr. Imroz was principally involved in organizing the Kashmir Solidarity Day as a tribute to Aasia Jeelani whose death anniversary was commemorated on the same day. Aasia was killed by a landmine blast in the north of Kashmir on 20 April 2004.

The following day, the 21 ST of April, Mr. Imroz organized a groundbreaking of a foundation stone for a monument of the disappeared. Such a ceremony undoubtedly caught the ire of the Indian authorities. To note, on 8 July 2001, the first foundation stone was laid in place by the families of the disappeared in Kashmir in order to eventually build a monument for their desaparecidos, but this was taken by the Indian police two hours after the ceremony.

But while Mr. Imroz may have survived the ordeal, he and his family have been greatly terrified as a result. Since the said incident, Mr. Imroz has yet to step into his own home and has made himself scarce so as to protect his person and his family.

Moreover, on the afternoon of 27 May 2005, while the AFAD Council was holding a Training Seminar on the Imperative of an International Convention Protecting Persons from Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances in Bangkok, Thailand, it received a fax copy of a letter from a certain M. Julkifar (Defender of New Order) threatening to kill two of its human rights defenders, namely Mr. Usman Hamid and Mr. Mugiyanto within 14 days.

This very malicious missive came in connection with their continuing advocacy against all human rights abuses, especially those perpetrated under Suharto’s New Order regime. It must be emphasized that Mr. Usman Hamid is the current Coordinator of the Commission for Disappearances and Other Victims of Violence (KontraS); while Mr.Mugiyanto, on the other hand, is the Chairperson of the Indonesian Association of Families of the Disappeared (IKOHI). The same letter also threatened the lives of two other Indonesian advocates: Mr. Thoby Mutis, President of the Trisakti University in Jakarta; and Mr. Abdul Hakim Garuda Nasution, Chairperson of the Indonesian Commission on Human Rights (Komnas-HAM). 

It must also be further emphasized that the two Indonesian AFAD leaders mentioned in the letter are deeply involved in the investigation on the murder of AFAD Chairperson Munir, who was killed in a Garuda flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam two hours before arrival on 7 September 2004.

Such a harsh situation in the Asian region therefore requires even greater efforts from human rights advocates, and even deeper unity with their ranks so we may collectively present an alternative and more human vision of the world.

 It is for this reason that the final session of the United Nations Inter-Sessional Open-Ended Working Group to Elaborate a Draft Legally-Binding Normative Instrument for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances on 12-23 September 2005 in Geneva, Switzerland is both strategic and important, for this may lead to the long-awaited adoption of the UN Draft Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.

With such an opportunity, human rights formations such as AFAD must make their presence felt in September so as to ensure its speedy adoption and eventual ratification.

During the 75 TH session of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (UNWGEID) in Bangkok, Thailand, a global campaign initiated by the families of desaparecidos dubbed as Convention Now! was initiated to pressure governments and the United Nations to immediately adopt the said legal measure. This has become a focal point of sorts for human rights groups and organizations of relatives of victims, making it an undertaking that is truly without borders.

AFAD, without hesitation, joined this campaign, knowing the importance of the Convention for a region where the highest number of cases of disappearances has been filed to the UN. With all these simultaneous efforts, the Federation is confident of the Convention’s adoption. But that is no excuse for idleness or languor. For as the great poet Robert Frost:

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
but I have promises to keep,
and miles before I sleep,
and miles before I sleep.

II. AFAD ACTIVITIES

A. Administration and Finance

A.1. Regular Council Meeting in Bangkok - AFAD held its last regular Council meeting in Bangkok, Thailand on 26 May 2005. It was attended by:
• Ms. Aileen Bacalso (AFAD Secretary General)
• Mr. Shantha Pathirana (OPFMD-Sri Lanka)
• Mr. Mugiyanto (IKOHO-Indonesia)
• Mr. Farooq Niazi (TJC-Pakistan)
• Mr. Khurram Parvez (APDP-Kashmir, India)
• Ms. Sri Suparyati (KontraS-Indonesia)
• Mr. Louie Crismo (FIND-Philippines)
• Mr. Adul Khiewboriboon (Relatives Committee of the May 1992 Heroes-Thailand)
• Ms. Anyaon Khiewboriboon (Relatives Committee of the May 1992 Heroes-Thailand)
• Mussan (Relatives Committee of the May 1992 Heroes-Thailand)
• Ms. Jennifer Pacursa (AFAD Secretariat)

Also sitting as observers during the planning process were:

• Mr. Dave Hardy (Linking Solidarity)
• Ms. Gabriella Citroni
• Irina Krassovsky (We Remember-Belarus - sitting in and actively participating during the entire meeting)

In the said meeting, the Federation agreed among other important agenda, to defer the decision on the next possible AFAD Chairperson until the next Congress which will be held in 2006. It was also further decided to do expansion work in Afghanistan, Nepal and East Timor and begin looking for contacts.

A.2. AFAD Secretariat Assessment and Planning - the AFAD Secretariat held a series of assessment and planning meetings on the first week of May. During the assessment, the Secretariat came upon a conclusion that there is no balance between the work with AFAD members and the Secretariat. To address these concerns, the Secretariat came up with the following recommendations:

1. design a tasking mechanism for Council members (i.e. rotate the role of facilitation during Council meetings);
2. build-up future second liners;
3. at the Secretariat level, fix the hiring process for major projects by conducting interviews and asking for recommendations, and finally selecting from at least three (3) applicants; 4. conduct regular staff development;
5. address AFAD membership expansion;
6. have a membership profile of all the AFAD member-organizations;
7. address the problem on communication between Secretariat and AFAD members by asking the organizations themselves on how to solve the problem; and
8. follow-up funding from OAK Foundation and the United Nations Voluntary Funds for Victims of Torture (UNVFVT).

It was further suggested that AFAD seek the assistance of Mr. Roberto Garreton before his term ends in July 2005 and also of Wan Hea Lee, the Representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights for Asia Pacific so as to strengthen the Federation’s prospect of finally gaining an ECOSOC status with the UN. It was resolved that AFAD should undertake more intensive lobbying to get the said status.

The Secretariat is also contemplating of visiting foreign embassies of Asian countries which have yet to come up with a position on the UN Draft Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.

It was further recommended that there should be a training for and among AFAD member-organizations on the Draft Convention so they can further improve their knowledge on the said topic. Also, AFAD should have a team of speakers lobbying for the Convention such as Mr. K.D.C. Kumarage. There should also be sustained funding for lobby work.

AFAD also conducted a Gender Sensitivity Conference which was held after the Federation’s 6 th anniversary. As a follow-up, the proceedings of the Conference wasreleased but there was no follow-up of the activity or feedback system. To address this, the following recommendations were made:

• devise feedback system so as to ensure constant monitoring;
• come up with an education program for AFAD members/Secretariat with a specific point-person;
• put greater stress on gender issues; and
• come up with AFAD central statement every Mother’s Day.

The Secretariat also proposed that the Federation look into the following urgent actions:

• explore Yahoo! for a groove software that can be used for e-conference
• organize AFAD network of lawyers
• encourage Parveena to file a case at international level; seek assistance from Cej and Gabriela
• explore the possibility of AFAD supporting HR cases filed at local courts
• promote existing and planned memorials in AFAD publications
• publish AFAD brochure on existing memorials.

The Secretariat also recommends that AFAD should have statements written and distributed for/during the following events:
• Labor Day
• Mother’s Day
• International Week of the Disappeared (IWD)
• Black May anniversary
• El Fit’r
• AFAD anniversary
• Fr Rudy Romano anniversary
• Christmas
• International Day of the Disappeared
• Women’s Day
• Martial Law anniversary
• 9/11
• Munir’s death anniversary (September 7)
• All Souls’ Day
• Bonifacio Day
• Human Rights Week
• Munir’s Birthday
• Asian Tsunami anniversary (December 26)

A.3. Preparation for the Participatory Evaluation - Based on the requirement of HIVOS, the Federation began preparation for the participatory evaluation. An initial discussion with the former was done on second week of April 2005 in The Hague, The Netherlands who subsequently agreed to fund the said activity. The preparation gained further steam after the Linking Solidarity informed AFAD and HIVOS that PSO will co-fund the evaluation.

After these series of meetings with HIVOS and Linking Solidarity, AFAD recommended Mr. Ricardo Wilson Grau as the external evaluator. He was then commissioned to draft the Terms of Reference based on the prior discussions with the AFAD Secretary General in 2004. To note, Mr. Wilson-Grau had been in contact with the AFAD Secretary-General prior to the formal preparations and discussed the possible groundwork for an eventual evaluation.

As the preparations gained headway, HIVOS suggested that there should also be an Asian co-evaluator. In response to this proposal, AFAD recommended Ms. Fe Briones-Garcia of the Philippines as co-evaluator.

In May 2005, the AFAD Council—in a meeting in Bangkok, Thailand—formally approved the Terms of References. After which, the Secretary-General soon sent the member-organizations a letter formally introducing the two evaluators, along with the project’s conceptual framework.

A.4. Fund-Raising – In March 2005, AFAD submitted a proposal to EED to fund a set of
specific projects that includes:

• Lobby Work
• Campaigns
• Administrative work (part of it)
• Direct Assistance to Families
As of this writing, the proposal is still being processed, though we have already received 
assurance from EED regarding its probable approval.

A separate proposal was also submitted to OAK Foundation in February 2005 covering the following specific projects:

• Lobby Work
• Campaigns
• Administrative work (part of it)
• Scholarship

To note, the AFAD already had series of meetings with Mr. Adrian Arena at the OAK
Foundation’s office in Geneva.
During our last communication, the proposal was already recommended for approval by Mr. Adrian Arena, Oak Foundation’s Programme Officer for International Human Rights. Final approval is due in three (3) weeks.

AFAD also sent proposals to foreign embassies in Manila for specific projects to be implemented within 2005 .

A.5. Finalization of Financial Audited Report – AFAD’s Audited Report was finalized in March 2005. The audited report was submitted to AFAD’s donors as part of the requirements.

B. Lobby

B.1. Attendance in the 5 TH Session of the Inter-Sessional Open-Ended Working Group to Elaborate a Draft Normative Legally Binding Instrument – AFAD attended the 5 TH session of Inter-Sessional Open-Ended Working Group to Elaborate a Draft Legally-Binding Normative Instrument for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances which was held in Geneva, Switzerland on 30 January-13  February 2005. AFAD gave oral presentations during the session.

The AFAD representative also maximized her stay by personally delivering the Federation’s report to United Nation Voluntary Funds for Victims of Torture (UNVFT) regarding the Jakarta Conference and discussing with the person-in-charge of the AFAD proposal the follow-up to the Jakarta Conference. It was also maximized to present the AFAD book and video production to friends in Geneva.

B.2. Participation in the 61 ST Session of the UNCHR – AFAD also made its presence felt during the 61 ST session of the UN Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) on the 28 March-6 April 2005. AFAD was also given an opportunity to present an oral intervention. However, the Philippine government was extended the “right to reply” to present its case saying that the issue of enforced disappearance is its priority concern.

The Geneva session gave AFAD and its counterparts in Latin America and Africa— FEDEFAM and RADIF—the opportunity to meet and engage in dialogue, resulting in a parallel activity by conducted by the three regional federations in the name of FEDEFAM.

B.3. Book and Video Presentation in Netherlands – After the end of the UNCHR session, the AFAD representative went to the Netherlands to present AFAD’s new book and video documentary Healing Wounds, Mending Scars. This was done in two separate occasions, one in Maastricht and the other in The Hague during the first week of April. 

B.4.Training on the Imperative of an International Convention Protecting Persons from Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances – On May 26-27 and 30, 2005, AFAD sponsored a three-day training conference on the UN Draft Convention in Bangkok, Thailand. The conference was based on the experiences of AFAD member-organizations on the need for a Convention. This seminar, which discussed intensively AFAD member-organizations’ rich experiences in the field and the developments in the international level in relation to the convention and of course, the very substance of the draft, resulted in a unified position of AFAD member-organizations. The training was culminated by a plan to conduct an Asian lobby tour before September 2005.

B.5. Lobby Work with the Thai Senate and Ministry of Foreign Affairs – On 30 May 2005, the AFAD Council along with Linking Solidarity and Italian human rights lawyer Ms. Gabriella Citroni held separate dialogues with the Thai Senate and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) regarding the disappearance of known Thai legal luminary Somchai Neelaphaijit and the recent instances of enforced disappearance in the south of the Country.

These two institutions were also asked to support the adoption of the UN Draft Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance. The Senate gave a positive response, though the MFA gave an equivocal reply.

C. Campaign and Public Information

C.1. The Voice – The latest issue of The Voice was released I May 2005 with Thailand’s Black May anniversary as the cover story. The Secretariat attempted to provide the said issue with a feedback mechanism but it still has to be systematized it in the succeeding issues.

C.2. Preparation of AFAD Newsletter – The Secretariat also came up with a proposal of issuing an AFAD newsletter on a quarterly basis. The content should balance pain and healing, as well as offer articles from a human interest perspective. The steps to produce the newsletter shall be discussed during the Council meeting. The measurement of performance are as follows:

• feedback
• increase in demand for copies

C.3. Book and Video Launching – AFAD’s book and video documentary book entitled Healing Wounds, Mending Scars were launched on 28 February 2005 at the PSSC Auditorium in Commonwealth Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City. 

These two are part of the Federation’s attempt to disclose the extent of enforced or involuntary disappearances in Asia, particularly in China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand and the efforts of civil society groups to address this lingering scourge. Also contained in the book and video documentary are personal testimonies of suffering, struggle and eventual healing from the survivors and victims’ families. Moreover, AFAD’s response, in cooperation with other similar formations from other continents, is also highlighted in the book.

C.4. Statements – from January-June 2005, AFAD issued the following statements:

1. Siamese Irony: A Statement of Concern, Solidarity and Support for the Wife of Missing Thai Lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit; 12 March 2005

2. Letter of Condolence, Solidarity and Solicitude to the Family and Friends of Mr. Naizer
Wani and the Entire Human Rights Movement of Pakistan; 17 March 2005 3. Remembering Munir, Remembering Human Rights: Statement issued during AFAD’s picket in front of the Indonesian Embassy in Manila; 29 March 2005 

4. Where Angels Fear to Tread: AFAD’s Solidarity Message in the Event of the First Year Anniversary of the Martyrdom of Aasia Jeelani and Ghulam Nabi Sheikh; 20 April 2005

5. Living Up to Expectations: Statement of Solidarity and Concern on the Percieved Threat Against Kashmiri Human Rights Defender Parvez Imroz; 1 May 2005 

6. In the Name of Indonesian People, Stop the Madness: Letter of Solidarity for Usman Hamid, Mugiyanto and All those Being Threatened by the Defenders of the New Order: 29 May 2005

7. A World Without Disappearances is Possible! Statement of the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) on the Occasion of the International Week of the Disappeared; last week of May 2005 8. Seventh Year Anniversary Statement of AFAD; 4 June 2005

D. Solidarity

D.1. Groundwork for Jakarta Conference (Healing Wounds, Mending Scars) Follow-up – The Truth and Justice Commission (TJC) of Pakistan and the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) in Kashmir are now preparing separately for an echo conference. FIND-Philippines also made an initial sharing of what happened in Jakarta when the participants from the Philippines shared to the AFAD Council what transpired in Jakarta. The book and  video documentary are intended also to be used for a more intensive and extensive systematic follow-up to the Jakarta Conference.

D.2. Transcription of Jakarta Conference Proceedings – The transcription of the Jakarta
Conference is now on-going. AFAD has also accepted a Dutch volunteer to assist in the 
transcription.

D.3 Tsunami funds

The AFAD Secretariat initiated a collection of Tsunami funds for the devastated areas of Sri Lanka and Aceh, Indonesia. An amount of about Five Thousand US dollars were raised mostly from local donors in The Philippines. A certain amount was also raised from AFAD’s/FIND’s friends in Maastrict, The Netherlands. 

The implementation of the projects done by KontraS was already reported. The money was used to buy sacks of rice to the hungry families in Aceh. OPFMD-Sri Lanka still has to report the implementation of the project. Once it is fully implemented, a report will be shared to the donors.

III. CONCLUSION

The first half of the Year of the Convention is over. As AFAD enters the second half of the 2005, the challenges are intensifying. The major project of participatory evaluation will be a means to strengthen the Federation internally and while doing so, it will continue to intensify its lobbying for an international treaty protecting persons from enforced or involuntary disappearances. As the slogan of the international campaign states, “ CONVENTION NOW!”

Thus, AFAD will conduct a lobby tour to Indonesia, Thailand and Sri Lanka at the end of July with the hope that Asian governments will support this very relevant international treaty.

Furthermore, AFAD is ready to intensify the follow-up of the First Sharing of Experiences of Asian Families of the Disappeared. With the support that it has received from HIVOS and the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, AFAD’s very constituency, which are the families of the disappeared, will surely benefit from the beauty of sharing pains, struggles, hopes and small victories in this long journey towards truth, justice, redress and the recuperation of the historical memory of the disappeared. 

Many challenges have to be hurdled….