|
Statements of AFAD
Proceedings:
Articles on the Proceedings on the AFAD Leadership Training
Jan. 27 - 31, 2003, Philippines
AFAD Second Congress Resolutions
August 2003
Remembering Munir
AFAD Second Congress
August 26-30, 2003 in Bangkok, Thailand
AFAD’s Mid-Year Report
Ding Zilin's
Message To
Hong Kong
Again, The KONTRAS – IKOHI Office Was Attacked
“ If they are dead, tell us”!
My sons, where are they? |
11 Years of KontraS:
Surviving Persecutions and Keeping Stronger
Mugiyanto and Mary Aileen D. Bacalso 1
Enforced or involuntary disappearance is not an exclusively Latin
American experience but a global phenomenon that demands a global
response. Families and victims of enforced disappearance don’t only
share the same tears, fears and uncertainties but they also share the
common struggle to combat enforced disappearances and all other forms of
human rights violations and to fight for global justice. They shall also
partake in whatever small and great victories they may achieve along the
way.
Solidarity defines our common humanity. It gives each one of us the duty
to stand up, not just for our own rights but also for those of the
others. This spirit of international solidarity is what the Madres de
Plaza de Mayo – Linea Fundadora of Argentina brings to Indonesia.
Unmindful of geographical distance, language, cultural and many other
diversities, they crossed continental boundaries to participate in
events related to the 11th anniversary of the founding of KontraS and
the commemoration of Kartini Day.
Lidya Taty Almeida and Aurora Morea, representing the Madres de Plaza de
Mayo - Linea Fundadora, the world’s symbol of the struggle against
enforced disappearances and impunity, are presently in Indonesia. On
this same occasion, Mrs. Angkhana Neelaphaijit, wife of disappeared
lawyer, Somchai Neelaphaijit, joins the mothers in Argentina in forging
their unity and solidarity with the Indonesian people. Women human
rights defenders, representing the families of victims of human rights
violations from Timor Leste are also present to extend the same
solidarity with their Indonesian neighbors.
With them are mothers and wives of desaparecidos and other women who are
direct victims of human rights violations from different parts of
Indonesia. Their togetherness supports each other in building solidarity
and in learning from the strong and dedicated women exemplified by RA
Kartini of Indonesia at the beginning of the 20th century and the Madres
de Plaza de Mayo of Argentina during the last quarter of the 20th
century.
Since thirty-two years ago, dressed in black and veiled with white
scarves with embroidery of the names of their disappeared children, the
Madres de Plaza de Mayo have been marching around the Plaza de Mayo of
Buenos Aires for over three decades. Their struggle continues to inspire
us in the Asian region to campaign against the failure of our own
governments to guarantee and protect their citizens’ fundamental rights,
especially the right not to be subjected to enforced disappearance
provided for in the United Nations Convention for the Protection of All
Persons from Enforced Disappearance adopted by the UN in December 2006.
Indonesia is no exception. Its process of democratization has failed to
prosecute the perpetrators of the killings and disappearances committed
during the darkest 32 years of Suharto dictatorship. More violations are
being committed, including the killing of our very own former AFAD
Chairperson, Munir. Indonesia all the more miserably failed the test of
its democracy when at the end of 2008, Major General Muchdi
Purwopranjono, a former deputy to the State Intelligence Agency (Badan
Intelijen Negara or BIN), was acquitted for his involvement for the
treacherous murder of Munir.
Such violations of human rights are also manifested in the absence of
prosecutions of security forces who perpetrated violations during
counter-insurgency operations in Aceh, East Timor, Papua, Lampung,
Tanjung Priok and many others.
Amidst all these, during the last 11 years, KontraS, one of AFAD’s
member-organizations in Indonesia, has been there to bravely respond to
the challenges of human rights in the country. It has survived
persecutions in their most brutal forms, such as, among other cases, the
two consecutive raids of its office in 2002 and 2003. KontraS had to
face the most bitter test of its strength during the brutal killing of
its main pillar, its Founder Munir, on 7 September 2004.
The victims and the victims themselves, who are KontraS’ reason for
existence, are the very source of KontraS’ formidable strength.
Accompanying KontraS are human rights defenders in Indonesia, including
victims and relatives of victims of human rights violations who have
been consistently playing their important role in documenting cases,
organizing and empowering themselves in more ways than one – all in the
name of truth, justice, redress and the reconstruction of the historical
memory of the disappeared. Inspired by their Latin American sisters and
brothers, victims of human rights violations in Indonesia, in their
black shirts and black umbrellas, march in silence and stand in front of
Indonesia’s Presidential Palace every Thursday afternoon. They hold
pictures of their disappeared loved ones and posters conveying a strong
message that the government is accountable for the cases of human rights
of the past. This coming Thursday, the victims of Indonesia, linking
arms with their Latin American sisters, will be on their 107th silent
black demonstration in front of Indonesia’s Presidential Palace. In
unison, they will continue to cry aloud:
Never forget the past, otherwise, it is doomed to be repeated!
On the occasion of its 11th anniversary, in the name of the Asian
Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances, we salute KontraS and
victims of human rights violations in Indonesia for having withstood the
tests of time - for having surpassed the violent storms in its journey
towards a world without disappeared people, where truth, justice and
peace reign supreme. KontraS has survived persecutions and amidst all
these, it is keeping stronger!
Long live KontraS! Long live the struggle against enforced
disappearances and against impunity in Indonesia!
Signed:
 |
 |
|
MUGIYANTO |
MARY AILEEN D. BACALSO |
| Chairperson |
Secretary-General |
--------------------------------------------
1 Mugiyanto, the
Chairperson of the IKOHI and of the Asian Federation Against Involuntary
Disappearances (AFAD) can be reached at mugiyanto@gmail.com. Mary Aileen
D. Bacalso , the Secretary General of AFAD, can be reached at afad@surfshop.net.ph
and leenmay63@yahoo.com.
|