Families of victims of enforced disappearances, through the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) laud the Indonesian Parliament for the current deliberations towards ratifying the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (Convention).

"Now that the Convention is being deliberated in the Parliament, I hope that it will not take a long time, because it was even the Parliament that recommended the government in September 2009 to ratify the Convention as soon as possible. The ratification of the Convention will provide legal protection for every citizen from heinous crimes of enforced disappearances in the future," Mugiyanto, the Chairperson of AFAD and IKOHI (an organization of survivors and families of victims), himself a survivor of disappearances in Indonesia in 1998 says.

Victims of enforced disappearance during Indonesia’s dark past have been yearning for justice and government’s signing of the Convention from Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (CAED) three years ago was a beacon of light for them that soon, justice can be rendered.

“We thanked the Parliament for recommending to the government of President Yudhoyono to sign the Convention in 2009 which the latter did in 2010 after the visit of AFAD and FEDEFAM to Indonesia. We hope that the Indonesian government will sustain its efforts and we look forward to seeing the government of Indonesia as the second Southeast Asian country, next to Cambodia, to ratify Convention,” Mary Aileen Bacalso, Secretary General of AFAD adds.

By ratifying the Convention, Indonesia will show to the world its determination to accept its dark past and move towards greater democracy in the country. No less than the Chair of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay in its visit to the country in November 2012 commended the government for its important progress in its democratic transition “as a positive model to other human rights countries going through such changes.” The High Commissioner praised the government for its constructive role in the regional human rights mechanisms of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Organization of Islamic Conference and at the Human Rights Council for its “increasingly prominent contribution to the advancement of human rights in the region and globally” (Navi Pillay, Opening Remarks, Mission in Jakarta, 12 November 2012).

AFAD and its member-organizations in Indonesia – IKOHI and KontraS will continue to monitor this important event in the country’s history.

“We hope you will continue to make significant contributions to the protection of human rights and the fight against impunity and leave a good legacy to the country and the world,” Mugiyanto concludes.

Signed and authenticated by:

MUGIYANTO
Chairperson

MARY AILEEN D. BACALSO
Secretary-General