- Category: IDD-AFAD-MO
A Joint Statement by the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances, Asian Human Rights Commission, International Federation for Human Rights and Odhikar on the occasion of International Week of the Disappeared 2020
Dhaka/Manila/Hong Kong/Paris, 25 May 2020: To commemorate International Week of the Disappeared (the last week of May), the Asian Federation against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), and Odhikar remember and pay tribute to victims of enforced disappearance and stand in solidarity with the families of the disappeared during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
- Category: Statements
Advocacy Forum-Nepal (AF) expresses its serious concern on the use of electric tasers on peaceful protesters, protesting against the annexation of Lipulekh, a territory of Nepal by India, in Kathmandu Nepal. In light of series of human rights violations committed by Nepal Police during the lockdown, the most recent act of using electric shocks to take people in control and disperse the mob is a serious breach of human rights and a condemnable act. AF strongly condemns the use of electric tasers on the peaceful protesters in Jadibuti and Maitighar, Kathmandu Nepal.
- Category: Statements
MANILA, PHLIPPPINES. Lent is the season when Filipinos remember Christ’s passion (his suffering and death) and resurrection.
This year, the threat of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (CoViD-19) adds to the thorny crown of suffering, the wanton flagellation of impunity, and the heavy cross of losing a loved one and the ensuing search for truth and justice for these families. The CoViD situation in the country quickly went from bad to worse that before midnight on 15 March 2020, President Duterte announced the implementation of a month-long community quarantine or, in his words, a lockdown.
- Category: Statements
Manila: It can be argued that enforced disappearance (ED) might very well take on a woman’s face. This year the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) celebrates the International Women’s Day by remembering the collective and individual struggles of women family members of ED victims. These women who bear the burden of having a loved one disappeared are the icons of brave resistance and struggle for survival in the face of overwhelming psychological, social, cultural, and economic challenges.
- Category: Statements
MANILA, Philippines – The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) strongly condemns the Indian government’s ineffective handling of and (lack of) response to anti-Muslim violence in the wake of the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
The situation was made worse by Kapil Mishra’s, a leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), order to the police to clear the protest site ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit. A video released on Twitter showed this same official giving an ultimatum to the police. Soon after, CAA supporters, flanked by police officers, approached the protest site chanting “Jai Shree Ram!” (“Hail Lord Ram!”), a slogan associated with right-wing Hindus, followed by stones being thrown towards the protesters.
- Category: Statements
FOR SEVEN YEARS, the fate and whereabouts of Sombath Somphone, a prominent civil society leader, a community development worker, and a human rights defender, remain undisclosed by the Lao government. Sombath was forcibly disappeared in Vientiane on 15 December 2012. His disappearance was recorded in a police surveillance video, when police stopped him in his vehicle at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Vientiane.
- Category: Statements
Dhaka/Manila/Hong Kong, 10 December 2019: On International Human Rights Day, the Asian Federation against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), and Odhikar pay tribute to and stand in solidarity with the victims and survivors of human rights violations.
- Category: Statements
10 DECEMBER 2019
MANILA, Philippines - On the 71st anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) stands with the human rights community in its pursuit of a world of true justice for all persons. At the heart of the UDHR is the recognition of human dignity and respect for persons. Human rights are not just for the privileged – they are for everyone, regardless of status in life. It is thus a sad but glaring reality that human rights violations persist across the world. Those who do not have the means to defend themselves are the most vulnerable to human rights abuses.