- Category: IDD-AFAD-MO
Manila - The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) joins the international community in commemorating the International Week of the Disappeared (IWD) from 23rd to 28th of May 2022. IWD 2022 is commemorated to keep alive the memory and the relentless struggle for truth and justice of the countless victims of enforced disappearances and their families across the globe. IWD 2022 will also be in honor of their resilience and steadfastness in the face of threats, oppression, and intimidation within a rapidly shrinking space for civic action.
- Category: IDD-AFAD-MO
23rd- 31st May 2022
The last week of May, families of the disappeared and human rights activists around the world join hands in the activities to commemorate International Week of the Disappeared (IWD). Defence of Human Rights (DHR) too organised a number of activities. This week is observed to show solidarity with the victim families of enforced disappearances. Most of the families have been struggling to find the truth and justice for decades now. This week shall be a reminder for all those families that they do not stand alone in this struggle to find their disappeared loved-ones.
- Category: IDD-AFAD-MO
Press release International Week of the Disappeared
• Last week of the month of May is annually commemorated worldwide as the International Week of The Disappeared (IWD). • This commemoration was started by the United Federation of the Disappeared and the Prisoners in Latin American countries (FEDEFAM) in 1981, and this IWD week is celebrated in many countries around the world, now. • The Families of the Disappeared (FoD) celebrate the IWD hand in hand with the “Asian Federation against involuntary Disappearances” (AFAD) in which FoD is also a member with other 8 Asian Countries which includes various activities with the involvement of the family members of the disappeared. • As the Families of the Disappeared (FoD) we will:
- Category: Statements
A Joint Statement by the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Maayer Daak, and Odhikar on the occasion of International Week of the Disappeared 2022
Dhaka/Manila/Paris, 23 May 2022: On the occasion of the International Week of the Disappeared, the Asian Federation against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Maayer Daak, and Odhikar remember and pay homage to victims of enforced disappearance and stand in solidarity with the families of the disappeared.
- Category: Statements
The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) expresses serious concern over the widespread choking of freedoms of expression and association in Jammu & Kashmir that led to the prolonged incarceration of Khurram Parvez who completes 180 days in jail today.
- Category: Press Releases
For Immediate Release
Bangladesh: Stop Reprisals Against Victims, Activists
Instead Prioritize Accountability for Human Rights Abuses
April 8, 2022
Bangladesh authorities have responded to US Treasury Department sanctions on the notoriously abusive Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) by retaliating against victims’ relatives, human rights defenders and their families, and human rights organizations, twelve organizations said today.
The US imposed the sanctions on the paramilitary unit and several of its current and former officials on December 10, 2021 in response to credible and widespread allegations of serious human rights abuses including extrajudicial killings, torture, and enforced disappearances.
- Category: Statements
Manila, 02 March 2022—The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) strongly reiterates its call for the immediate release of its Chairperson Khurram Parvez from arbitrary detention. The Government of India has detained Khurram without charges for exactly 100 days today.
Khurram, a prominent human rights defender who is also the programme coordinator of Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) based in Kashmir, was arrested by India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA), following raids on his home and office in Srinagar on 22 November 2021. He was apprehended under the anti-terror Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) allegedly for his involvement in terror-related activities. Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, was quick to come to Khurram’s defense publicly and emphatically stating that, “He’s not a terrorist, he’s a Human Rights Defender”.
- Category: Statements
A Joint Statement by the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), Mayer Daak and Odhikar on International Human Rights Day, 2021
Manila, Dhaka, 09 December, 2021: AFAD, Mayer Daak and Odhikar pay tribute to all victims of human rights violations and stand in solidarity with the victims’ families in Bangladesh and across the world while commemorating International Human Rights Day. This year’s Human Rights Day theme relates to “Equality” and Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”. International Human Rights Day 2021 is being observed with the theme of ‘equality’ at a time when the human rights situation in Bangladesh is in dire straits.
