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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? |
EASTER SUNDAY STATEMENT
MARCH 23, 2008
Christians around the world celebrate the Season of Lent as a reminder that Jesus died on the cross to redeem humanity from sins. In recent times, the world has become a huge Golgotha where millions of people are now being crucified through the states' brazen act of human rights violations.
One of the worst scourges that have ever afflicted humanity is enforced disappearance. Its systematic and wide-scale occurrence is ironically attributed to the states which are supposed to be the guardians of human rights. People everywhere are made to carry the cross of death and disappearance in the name of political conflict, religious zealousness, ethnic hostilities or criminal activities.
The wounds that enforced disappearances have inflicted to the victims and their families are profound and remain festering, therefore, unhealed. Enforced disappearances have made mothers lost their sons and daughters, have turned wives to half widows and husbands to half-widowers and have orphaned a number of hapless children. The victims of this scourge are deprived not only of the physical presence of their disappeared loved ones but also of the means to have decent and normal lives. They do not only suffer from a long and agonizing search for the whereabouts of their disappeared family members and relatives; they also become targets of threats and harassments marked with social stigma.
In the midst of growing hopelessness and despair, the families of the disappeared refuse to give up. They find strength from their common pains and hopes. They share experiences which have kept them inspired and empowered to continue their quest for truth, justice, redress and the reconstruction of the historical memory of their disappeared loved ones. This spirit of hope is the message of EASTER celebration for all families of the disappeared. It promises us that the way of the cross will ultimately lead towards the glory of Resurrection.
In commemoration of Christ's Passion, Death and Resurrection, the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) joins all families of disappeared in Asia and in other continents, in a renewed hope that life can indeed, conquer death, love can defeat hatred, hope can trample despair, joy can overcome grief and peace can end war. We believe that liberation is inevitable as an act of God's grace - an imperative in our continuous struggle to realize a world without desaparecidos.
Signed and authenticated by:
| MUGIYANTO |
MARY AILEEN D. BACALSO |
| Chairperson |
Secretary-General |
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