The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) owes the birth of this book to the desaparecidos of the world, for whom this is heartily dedicated. They may never be physically with us, but their physical absence makes their spiritual presence all the more pronounced. They are our very soul and inspiration, without them, this book will never see the light of day.
The desaparecidos’ surviving loved ones – father, mother, husband, wife, son, daughter, brother, sister who are the very constituency of our Federation are the main source of the very substance of this book. Their poignant experience of grief and anxiety and their refusal to remain as poor victims, thus transforming themselves into courageous human rights defenders, are the very force that gives life to our Federation. Without them, we would not be compelled to project, through this book, the regional and global phenomenon of enforced disappearances which makes this struggle an imperative not only of the surviving families, but of the international community as well.
Our Federation is indebted to the representatives of families of the disappeared in Latin America and Africa. Their very contribution to this book utters the same language of pain that we speak or expresses the depth of the anger that we feel, aspires the same dreams that we strive to realize, thus making us understand the profound meaning of international friendship and solidarity, which, through our collective actions, have all the more been deepened.
We likewise express our gratitude to Linking Solidarity who, through all these years, has been facilitating our bonding, both as survivors of this scourge of disappearances and as human rights defenders not only in Asia but in the rest of the world. The moral, material and political support it continues to extend to the international movement against disappearances is priceless. Otherwise, we may possibly continue our parochial work against impunity, thus making the struggle for a world without desaparecidos all the more difficult, nay, impossible to win.
Lest we forget, we owe our internal strength and courage to our martyrs – to our beloved Chairperson Munir, our dear friend and comrade Aasia Jeelani and those nameless heroes who came before them, who likewise selflessly offered their lives in the altar of freedom so that we and the future generations may savor the bitter-sweet fruits of our struggle for a world without desaparecidos, for a better world.
To the people behind the publication of this book:
- Ed and Ching Gerlock who bore with our human resources constraint, thus having to wait for each and every article to be finished before they could do the copy editing of everything;
- Edsil Bacalso who likewise had to spend sleepless nights doing the layout, patiently inserting our seemingly endless corrections and who, through the layout design, attempted to make this heavy reading material easier to understand;
- Christian Encabo, whose artistic talent has made the cover of the book as interesting as its content;
- To Lala Quindoza and Ana Theresa Cervantes who, despite the time limitation, were able to complete the index of the book.
- To Jennifer Pacursa who greatly assisted in realizing the books completion.
And to all those who, in their own generous and humble ways, encouraged us to conceive and give birth to this dearly cherished project humbly dedicated to the desaparecidos and their families, who, in unison, say: NEVER AGAIN!
Any worthwhile endeavor is precious, indeed. Thus, without the generous financial support of HIVOS – The Netherlands and the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture -Switzerland, The First Sharing of Experiences of Families of the Disappeared held in Jakarta, Indonesia on December 6-10, 2004 would never have been made possible. Such gathering of families of the disappeared from different parts of Asia and the world is the main venue of making it possible to write this book, “ Healing Wounds, Mending Scars.”
To the Supreme Being, the Spirit that gives us the power to put into writing what we think, feel, believe, dream and fight for, to HIM or HER, we express our never-ending sense of gratitude.
Thank you very much.
THE ASIAN FEDERATION AGAINST INVOLUNTARY DISAPPEARANCES (AFAD)
