- Category: Statements
On the occasion of her 15th martyrdom anniversary, the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) remembers Aasia Jeelani, a woman human rights defender from Indian administered Kashmir.
Aasia was martyred on the 20th April 2004 while on assignment in the remote district of Kupwara in Indian administered Kashmir when an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was detonated that blew the car carrying her and her colleagues. The explosion killed her while injuring her colleagues.
- Category: Statements
On the International Day for the Right to Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims, the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) remembers the countless victims of summary and extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, torture and other human rights violations that occur routinely. AFAD likewise honors the thousands of human rights defenders who raise their voices for truth and justice despite being persecuted and threatened. We remember those who lost their lives in the quest for justice.
- Category: Statements
The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) remembers Somchai Neelapaijit who was disappeared today, 15 years ago in Bangkok, Thailand.
Somchai was Thai Muslim lawyer and human rights activist. He is the former chairman of Thailand’s Muslim Lawyers Association and vice-chairman of the Human Rights Committee of the Lawyers Council of Thailand. He was last seen on the 11th of March 2004 as he was being dragged from his car by 5 police men in a busy street in Bangkok. Before his disappearance, Somchai was actively involved in a campaign to end martial law and also helped victims of torture. One day before his disappearance, he petitioned the state agencies against torture.
- Category: Statements
On the occasion of the International Women’s Day, the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) commemorates the struggles of women in the face of the continuing crime of enforced disappearances. AFAD pays a tribute to the unshakable resolve of women to search for truth about and justice for their disappeared family members. As per UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances General Comment on Women, women are victimized by virtue of their being family members of the disappeared and also by being disappeared themselves.
- Category: Statements
The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) expresses serious concerns over the proposal of the government of the Philippines to delist 625 cases from 1975 to 2012 of enforced or involuntary disappearances from the records of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (UNWGEID).
- Category: Statements
The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) expresses serious concerns over the proposal of the government of the Philippines to delist 625 cases from 1975 to 2012 of enforced or involuntary disappearances from the records of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (UNWGEID).
- 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.”