PREAMBLE

We, the Asian organizations of families, relatives and friends of victims of enforced or involuntary disappearances, and independent non-profit organizations working against enforced or involuntary disappearances and other related violations, form ourselves into a federation of human rights organizations and human rights advocates known as the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances or AFAD.

We dedicate ourselves to the promotion, protection and defense of human rights principally of victims of enforced or involuntary disappearances and of their families and relatives in Asia and do hereby promulgate this Constitution.

ARTICLE I
NATURE AND SCOPE OF THE FEDERATION

Section 1. The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances is a federation of Asian human rights organizations and invited advocates working directly on the issue of disappearances. The federation adopts the definition of enforced disappearance under Article II of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance:

“Enforced or involuntary disappearance is considered to be the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty committed by agents of the State or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State, followed by the refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which place such a person outside the protection of the law.”

Section 2- The federation shall be Asia-wide.

ARTICLE II
PRINCIPLES

Section 1. We uphold and believe in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, especially in the right to life, dignity and self-determination regardless of age, gender, race, beliefs, creed and culture. Moreover, we uphold the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR); the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR); the United Nations Declaration on the Protection of All Persons From Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (UNDPAPFEID), the United Nations Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance and the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment. In the pursuit of our objectives, we are guided and motivated by the principles of truth, justice, reconstruction of historical memory, freedom, democracy and international solidarity.

ARTICLE III
OBJECTIVES

Section 1. We commit ourselves to achieve the following objectives:

1. Promote and forge international solidarity among organizations of the families of the disappeared in Asia and with similar formations in other continents;

2. Conduct campaign and lobby work in addressing the issue of enforced or involuntary disappearances in Asia, thus ensuring the attainment of truth, justice, redress and the reconstruction of the collective memory of the disappeared;

3. Provide assistance to member-organizations in ensuring a stronger response to the phenomenon of enforced or involuntary disappearance; and,

4. Strengthen the capacity of the federation and its member-organizations through various forms of empowerment and capacity building activities.

ARTICLE IV

ORGANIZATIONAL SET-UP

Section 1. AFAD is a regional federation that shall be composed of the Congress, the Council, the Executive Council, Secretariat, and the Membership.

Section 2. The Congress shall be the highest policy-making body of the federation. It shall be composed of the Executive Council and two delegates elected or appointed by each member-organization.

Section 3. In between Congresses, the Council shall be the highest policy-making body of the federation. It shall be composed of one representative nominated by each member-organization and the five members of the Executive Council. They shall meet once a year and as the need arises, either online or face-to-face.

Section 4. The Council members shall be nominated by their own member organizations to be elected by the Congress or the Council as the case may be.

Section 5. The Executive Council shall be composed of five members: the Chairperson, the Secretary-General, the Treasurer and representatives from South Asia and East/South East Asia. All five members may hold office for a maximum of three (3) terms. The Executive Council shall meet every month and as the need arises, in between Council meetings, to execute the policies of the Council. It shall serve as the management body of the Federation. In the absence or disability of the Chairperson, the Treasurer and the representatives from South Asia and East/South East Asia shall assist the Secretary-General perform the duties of the Chairperson; provided, however, that in the case of death, resignation or removal of the Chairperson, the Congress may decide to elect his/her successor.

Section 6. The Secretariat, headed by the elected Secretary-General, shall be entrusted with the facilitation of the day-to-day implementation of the federation’s strategic plans and policies. The other members of the Secretariat shall be hired by the Executive Council.

ARTICLE V
MEMBERSHIP

Section 1. AFAD shall have for its membership the organizations of families, relatives and comrades of victims of enforced or involuntary disappearance in Asia, the surfaced disappeared and the advocates and defenders of the rights of the victims and their families.

Section 2. Membership shall be open to any organization which qualifies under the preceding section and which adheres to the principles and objectives under Articles ll and lll hereof.

Section 3. There can be more than one member in one country to ensure the federation’s wide reach and in recognition that all families of the disappeared should have equal opportunities to avail themselves of the benefits of the work of AFAD.

Section 4. The AFAD Congress, and the AFAD Council, and the Secretariat may invite individual human rights advocates who have been proven to have worked for the cause of the disappeared. The invitation would be based on a recommendation of any member of the AFAD Council and Secretariat. If accepted, these members may be invited to meetings of the federation without the right to vote.

ARTICLE VI
AMENDMENTS

Section 1. This Constitution or any provision hereof may be adopted, amended, modified or repealed by a vote of at least two-thirds of the voting members in a duly constituted quorum of the Congress.

ARTICLE VII
EFFECTIVITY

Section 1. This Constitution shall take effect upon approval by the Congress.

Approved online by the Delegates to the Seventh AFAD Congress held on the 16th and 17 th of December 2021.