- Category: News
Protect Candidates to Ensure a Credible Election
“To ensure that the elections meet international standards, the police and election commission should not appear to be acting like extensions of the ruling party,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The violence during the campaign that has mainly targeted the opposition bears out their misgivings about unfair treatment.”
- Category: News
“They are arresting people from their house, from processions, without any authorization. Nowadays we are not able to stay in our house at night. A friend in the police told my wife I shouldn’t stay at home, although I was already acting on this basis. I usually leave home at 10 p.m. I come back early in the morning. This is how we are running our life.”
- Category: Statements
4th December 2018
Manila: The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) expresses concern over the enforced disappearance of Sombath Somphone and the continued denial of the Lao government in bringing forth the truth about him.
Sombath Somphone was a community development worker from Laos who was disappeared on 15th of December 2012 in Vientiane. Since then, the family of Sombath has been running a campaign called ‘Return Sombath Campaign’ to know the truth about what happened to him and seek justice from the Lao government.
- Category: Statements
Manila: The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) commemorates the Human Rights Day, observed each year on the 10th of December. This day this year marks 70 years since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and thus makes the day of greater significance.
This day is an opportunity to assess the situation of human rights across the world and to ascertain how hard the States must work to ensure basic human rights for every individual. Unfortunately, in Asia, the situation of human rights has been deteriorating with repressive regimes coming to power, institution of repressive state policies, institutionalized impunity for perpetrators of human rights violations and persecution of human rights defenders.
- Category: Statements
Manila: The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) remembers Maroof Zaman, a former diplomat from Bangladesh who was disappeared one year ago today.
Maroof Zaman is the former Bangladeshi ambassador to Qatar and Vietnam, Counsellor of the Bangladesh High Commission in the United Kingdom, former Additional Secretary of the Foreign Ministry and a retired Bangladesh Army Captain. Although he has never been politically active or charged with any offence, he was recalled from his last post as soon as the incumbent government of Bangladesh came to power, and was later forcibly retired.
- Category: Statements
The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) expresses grave concern over the deteriorating situation in Bangladesh ahead of the general election in December 2018 and the precarious position in which its member-organization, Odhikar is operating.
- Category: Statements
18th October 2018
The Asian Federation Against Enforced Disappearances (AFAD) expresses serious concern over the election of some of the 18 new member states into the United Nations Human Rights Council. Among the elected states of the Asia Pacific region, AFAD has membership from India, Bangladesh and the Philippines. These States have shown consistent disregard for human rights of their people and have been oppressive and authoritarian in their functioning instead of being democratic.
- Category: Statements
Forty-six years ago on September 21, 1972, the late President Ferdinand Marcos signed Proclamation 1081, which formally announced the beginning of martial rule in the Philippines. This onerous proclamation marked the beginning of his 14-year dictatorial rule and led to what is now known as the darkest age in our country’s history. By peddling the rhetoric of reform and development, Marcos was able to amass colossal power and influence over all aspects of government. He legitimized martial rule in order to stay in power, yet used the veil of a ‘democratic revolution’ to mask the very real horrors of Martial Law.