“Kind words cannot heal wounds, but they can sooth the pain.”
As a date in the calendar, December 10 has always been marked by joyful expectation and unyielding vigilance—an annual affair where people from different colors, gender, creed and religions would gather in parliament, in the streets and in prayer halls to celebrate our common humanity and the untarnished dignity of the human soul. A yearly activity, this is done to commemorate the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. The said piece of document has become one of the most potent symbols of life itself—of how to enjoy it to the fullest with freedom, dignity and personal security intact.
Yet, despite its fine print and lofty ideals, the Declaration is perpetually subverted by the arrogance of power and cruel design, depriving people of their personal and collective rights, and placing them at the mercy of the State and the powers-that-be. And of all violations, enforced or involuntary disappearance is perhaps the most spiteful and brutal, with the victims’ facts and whereabouts remaining elusive, thus placing us in the limbo of uncertainty and dread.
Perhaps the greatest irony of it all is that according to the 2003 Report of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (UNWGEID), the Asian continent, often dubbed as the birthplace of civilization, has the highest cases of this most uncivilized act.
In Sri Lanka alone, 60,000 cases of disappearances have been reported in the southern part of the island, with another 8,000 cases being recorded in the north. The three visits of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances in the country have not brought the suffering Sri Lankan population the much-needed relief.
In the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, more than 2,000 cases have been brought to the attention of human rights defenders from 1991-1993, and 8,000 more cases from the year 2000, with an ever-increasing number of victims on a daily basis.
In neighboring Pakistan, the political and constitutional crisis of one of the world’s nuclear powers has created internal tensions, making its citizens susceptible to forced disappearances and other forms of human rights violations.
In the Philippines, more than 1,700 cases have been reported since 1971, with the number still increasing despite the end of the Marcos dictatorship in 1986 and the subsequent restoration of formal democratic rule. The supposedly first Asian anti-enforced or involuntary disappearance law has, after more than a decade of lobbying, never seen the light of day.
In Indonesia, human rights groups have documented 1,300 cases of disappearances from the time of Suharto’s New Order regime until today. Unfortunately, despite the strongman’s disgraceful fall from power in the late 1990s, the machinery of death and intimidation that he has created remains intact, as manifested in the murder of well-known and courageous political activist and AFAD Chairperson Munir on September 7 , 2004.
During the pro-democracy demonstrations in Bangkok, Thailand in May 1992, more than 200 people were abducted by the police and the Army resulting in deep sorrow for this otherwise tender nation located at the heart of Southeast Asia. Since then, the loved ones of those who were killed and disappeared have since formed a Relatives Committee to search for the missing and seek justice. The Thai government has not, up to this day, responded to the families’ demand for the return of their loved ones’ remains and the establishment of a monument for the May 1992 Heroes, along with their well-deserved indemnification.
In the infamous Tiananmen Massacre of June 4, 1989, between 3,000-4,000 people, mostly students demanding democratic reforms have disappeared, with the Chinese government intimidating anyone who would dare tell the truth and inform the outside world, and even depriving the victims’ families of the right to mourn.
The phenomena of enforced or involuntary disappearances are not just cold statistics. It signifies untold sufferings of people from all walks of life. The pain of waiting, the uncertainty of the loved ones’ whereabouts, the fear of the reality of death – all these consequently resulted in a pain so profound that only the victims and their families could fathom. The victims and their families suffer the pangs of psychological and emotional trauma coupled with economic dislocation brought about by the loss of their loved ones. The community and society, in general, are no less affected. Yet, amidst all these, we instead face the state’s continuing repression and callousness.
As a response to all these atrocities, the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), once chaired by Munir before his untimely demise, in cooperation with the Indonesian Association of Families of the Disappeared (IKOHI) and the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS) organized the First Asian Meeting of Families of Victims of Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances in Jakarta, Indonesia from 6-10 December 2004. Entitled Healing Wounds, Mending Scars, the said conference is a contribution to the rehabilitation efforts for the families of the desaparecidos and facilitate our transformation from human rights victims to human rights defenders so we may collectively strive for a better world.
Attended by the delegates from Indonesia, Kashmir, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and our sisters and brothers from Western Sahara, the Netherlands, Guatemala and the Latin American Federation of Associations of Relatives of the Disappeared Detainees (FEDEFAM), the event is a truly international gathering, reflecting the universality of human rights and the global extent of this modern-day scourge. This reconfirms the reality that families of the disappeared suffer the same pain, struggle for a common cause and dream for a common victory – for the attainment of truth, justice, redress and the recuperation of historical memory and for a world without disappeared persons.
Beginning our activities with listening to the stories of each and every participant, the effort sought to establish personal security and draw them out from the emotional and psychological cocoons that the victims wove around them as a natural reaction to the trauma. By sharing each other’s narratives, personal tragedies are transformed from isolated acts of abuse into an important if not necessary scene in the broad tapestry of struggle and collective liberation. Hence, reconnection is achieved and the soul of wounded humanity is healed and forever renewed.
In a sense, each story is both familiar and unique, particular and universal—for within the voice of the individual is the indivisible hope of all and everyone. And as we leave this conference and return to our respective countries, we will look at the world with neither fear and trembling nor rose-colored spectacles, but with dignity and confidence and with our sense of purpose intact.
Indeed, the issue of involuntary disappearance is a truly global problem, affecting people from diverse cultures and continents—from Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America. To counteract this lingering evil, a global response is deemed imperative to chastise the perpetrators and prevent this phenomenon from ever happening again.
To this end, we call on all governments, especially the Asian governments who are largely responsible for these deeds, to finally adopt the Draft UN Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. It is crucial that it will be adopted before the end of 2005, being the crucial year for this future treaty.
We, participants of this First Sharing of Experiences of Asian Families of the Disappeared, in the spiritual presence of our beloved desaparecidos, collectively pledge: WE SHALL OVERCOME!
Signed:
THE PARTICIPANTS
FIRST SHARING OF EXPERIENCES
OF ASIAN FAMILIES OF THE DISAPPEARED
Jakarta, Indonesia
