Thirteen Years of Struggle:
Our Choice, Our Responsibility
4 June 2011
- Today, we commemorate the 13th anniversary of the Asian
Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), a regional
federation of organizations and human rights advocates working directly
on the issue of enforced disappearance. Thirteen years ago, the
federation came into being as a regional response to enforced
disappearances in the Asian continent. Inspired by the Latin American
Federation of Associations of Relatives of Disappeared-Detainees (FEDEFAM),
the conceptualization and birth of AFAD were prompted by the imperative
of solidarity with all those victimized by the common malady of enforced
disappearance.
From a core of three organizations, the Federation has eventually grown
itself into a pro-active regional human rights federation of eleven
member-organizations from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nepal,
Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor Leste who are working hand in hand in
conducting regional and international solidarity, lobby and campaign
work. Being the Focal Point of the International Coalition Against
Enforced Disappearance, it closely cooperates with similar formations
from other continents and with other international organizations working
on the same issue.
For the last 13 years, we have gathered some strength that stems from
the strength of our member-organizations. Through them, the federation
has become the voice of thousands of voiceless victims and families of
the disappeared in Asia, a continent where strong regional mechanisms
for truth and justice do not exist and where there is no distinct and
autonomous law that penalizes enforced disappearances.
Our thirteen years of campaigning against the global malady of enforced
disappearance, particularly our consistent and active presence during
the drafting and negotiation process of the treaty in Geneva from
2003-2006 has contributed to the adoption of the International
Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance
in 2006. We knocked at the doors of houses of parliaments, offices of
heads of states and the huge edifices of the United Nations in Geneva
and New York and in the process, helped in pushing for the signing by 88
governments of the Convention and of the 26 governments to ratify. This
new Convention which provides among other things, the right to truth and
the right not to be subjected to enforced disappearance, sends a strong
message to all governments that this state-sponsored violence that
inflicts misery on hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, must be
put to an end. It entered into force on 23 December 2010. Two days
ago, the Committee on Enforced Disappearances established by the United
Nations to ensure the treaty’s implementation, was officially
constituted.
We reckon that the democratization processes in many Asian countries
have allowed us to take active part in the political arena by demanding
from governments to put human rights at the center of governance and as
a clear state policy. Specifically, we are urging them to codify the
human rights violations in their penal codes. Complementing our
lobbying efforts, our member-organizations conduct legal and extralegal
means to push the authorities to take necessary measures to address this
odious crime and prevent it from happening again.
Without the participation of the families of the disappeared, who are
our very constituents, all these would not have been made possible.
Thus, during the last thirteen years, aware of the imperative of
empowerment, we have responded amidst resources constraints, to the
needs for conscientization, psychosocial rehabilitation and other forms
of direct assistance program for the families of the disappeared.
Furthermore, we facilitated various forms of solidarity among families
of the disappeared within Asia and with other continents, thus,
convincing the families of the victims that after all, they are not
alone in the struggle. Being in the most correct position to bring the
issue of enforced disappearance to the fore, the families of the
disappeared have eventually overcome fear, loneliness, despair and
trauma and take the front line for the sake of their beloved
desaparecidos.
We recognize that the path that we have chosen is less traveled but we
take the journey with a full sense of responsibility. Seeking the truth,
demanding for accountability and ensuring guarantees of non-repetition
are tasks that are never easy. Mountains have to be moved and stormy
seams have to be sailed to find truth, attain justice and to keep the
memory of our dear desaparecidos alive.
During these last thirteen years, we have struggled to withstand the
tests of time and we did. Through these years, we have seen repression
and injustice resulting in, among many other cases, the loss of our
Chairperson, Munir and our human rights defender, Aasia Jeelani. But
these never dampened our spirit. Instead, we have been inspired to
labor harder. Equally important is that we have overcome cultural,
religious and language heterogeneity and concentrated on our basis of
unity because we are aware that divided we fall, united we stand.
Today, we pay tribute to the victims and families-turned-human rights
defenders in our country of base and in various other parts of the world
who are our very reason for existence. We likewise remember the martyrs
and heroes of the Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, who, twenty-two
years ago, were killed and made to disappear while the members of the
Tiananmen Mothers continue to be persecuted.
As we commemorate this 13th anniversary, we are reminded that
our work is not yet over. For as long as there is a case of
disappearance that remains unresolved and for as long as a family of a
desaparecido continues to suffer, we will embrace the challenge
of continue building a solid and more dynamic federation that will
contribute to the eradication of enforced disappearance from the face of
the earth.
On its 13th anniversary, the Asian Federation Against
Involuntary Disappearance (AFAD) renews its commitment to assert and
defend human rights as both a choice and a responsibility.
Signed by:
MUGIYANTO MARY AILEEN D. BACALSO
Chairperson Secretary-General
