- Category: Statements
On the 23rd anniversary of the Day of Disappearances at the Monument of the Disappeared in Colombo, Sri Lanka, the Secretary-General of the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), Mary Aileen Bacalso, calls on the families of the disappeared to “keep the faith and persist in the struggle for justice of their loved ones.”
Ms. Bacalso lauds the women, men and children who are gathered today at the Monument of the Disappeared for their steadfastness to seek justice even under an increasingly repressive government. “We know how difficult your situation is, because you are confronted not only with the economic and psycho-emotional effects of the disappearance of your loved ones, but also the increasing repression of human rights under the present Rajapaksa government. making you vulnerable to arrest, detention and also enforced disappearance in the course of finding justice,” Ms. Bacalso adds.
- Category: Statements
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVjZDjTJYrM
Shot by: Candy Diez
Edited by: Mark King Baco
- Category: Statements
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.
- Category: Statements
The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) calls on the government of the People’s Republic of China to immediately surface Cao Shunli, legal rights activist who was barred by authorities to board her plane to Geneva on the 14 September 2013. She was supposed to attend a UN-sponsored international human rights training as well as participate in the Universal Periodic Review of China scheduled on 22 October.
Cao Shunli’s case is a clear example of enforced disappearance, a violation of the United Nations International Convention for the Protection of All Persons From Enforced Disappearance (ICPAPED). As defined in Article 2 of the Convention, the crime of enforced disappearance happens when a person is arrested, detained, abducted or subjected to other forms of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State followed by a refusal to acknowledge the concealment or whereabouts of the disappeared person, placing the person outside the protection of the law.
- Category: Statements
One month after his arbitrary arrest by the Detective Branch of Police on 10 September 2013,, Adilur Rhaman Khan, Secretary General of Odhikar and AFAD Council Member remains in jail. The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) calls on the Hasina Government to accord him due process in his legal recourse to freedom.
Based on our information, the Sessions Judge Court rejected the bail petition on 9 September though according to lawyers of Adilur, the charge against him under Sections 57 (1) and (2) of the Information and Communication Technology Act of 2006 is bailable. On 5 September, documents on his case were also transferred to the newly-formed Cyber Crimes Tribunal.
- Category: Statements
On the commemoration of the International Day of the Disappeared (IDD), the Asian Federation Against Enforced Disappearances (AFAD) calls on governments in Asia and the world to BRING HOME VICTIMS OF ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCE! In so doing, these governments must sign and ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, recognize the competence of the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearance and enact domestic laws criminalizing enforced disappearances.
Enforced disappearance is when someone is taken away by agents of governments, usually by security forces like the military or police. This act is followed by the denial or concealment of a person’s fate or whereabouts, in effect removing them from the protection of law.
- Category: Statements
Mission to Lao People’s Democratic Republic
August 25 – 27, 2013
Introduction
From August 25-27, 2013, AFAD Chairperson has joined the EU Parliament for a mission in Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) to gather information and meet different relevant stakeholders regarding the disappearance of Sombath Somphone.
It is now over eight months since Sombath Somphone disappeared.
Sombath is one of the most respected and influential voices for sustainable people-centered and just economic and social development in Laos. He is the founder and former Director of the Participatory Development Training Centre (PADETC), and the winner of the 2005 Ramon Magsaysay Award for community leadership. He was the Co-Chair of the National Organizing Committee of the Asia Europe People’s Forum 9 (AEPF9), which was held in October 2012 in Vientiane, before the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM9).
- Category: Statements
The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) congratulates the women and men of “Hukum, Hak, AsasidanKeadilan” (HAK) Association [Association for Law, Human Rights and Justice] during your 17th year anniversary celebrations!
We salute your steadfastness and perseverance to rise above a difficult past as a people, where one third of your population was lost to the Indonesian invasion and ensuing struggle for independence from 1975-1999. Through firm determination and dedication to human rights and justice, you have been able to help victims of human rights violations particularly political detainees and victims of enforced disappearances in their quest for justice.