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Families of Victims of
Involuntary Disappearance |
Asian
Federation Against
Involuntary Disappearance |
REVISITING
THE CHRONICLES OF COURAGE
OF
THE WORLD’S DESAPARECIDOS
A JOINT
STATEMENT ON THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE DISAPPEARED
30 August
2010 - Today we honor all persons who have become victims of enforced
disappearance all over the world. As we observe the International Day of
the Disappeared, we revisit the chronicles of courage and self sacrifice
of the desaparecidos which remind us that the commission of
involuntary disappearance particularly against suspected enemies of the
state persists with impunity.
The
abominable global offense, a State-perpetrated violence, has spawned
violations of practically all human rights. Precious lives are snuffed
out, civil liberties curtailed, voices of protest and resistance muffled
amidst a chilling culture of impunity.
Putting
an end to enforced disappearance poses a great challenge to human rights
advocates and defenders. Far greater is to successfully compel states to
sign and ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All
Persons from Enforced Disappearance and ensure that enforced
disappearance constitutes a criminal offense in their statute books.
Learning
from the Philippine experience, it is possible to enact special laws
criminalizing human rights violations. In November last year the
Philippines enacted Republic Act No. 9745 or the Anti-Torture Law.
Lamentably, the proposed law defining and penalizing enforced or
involuntary disappearance still awaits congressional imprimatur even as
the Convention remains unsigned.
The Asian
Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) and the Families of
Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (FIND) strongly urge Philippine
President Simeon Benigno Aquino III and the Chief Executives of Timor
Leste, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Thailand and Nepal to take the lead
in effecting their respective states’ signing and/or ratification of the
Convention. (India is a signatory but not yet a state party).
To date,
the international instrument has 83 signatories and 19 state parties.
The Netherlands is reported to have virtually reserved for the 20th
slot that will mark the Convention’s entry into force. Shouldn’t AFAD’s
member organizations’ respective states and other Asian states race to
be the 20th state party and show to the world that they are
sincere in upholding human dignity and human rights more particularly
the right not to be disappeared?
This
morning we launch “Unsilenced,” the AFAD video documentary on the
disappearance of the six PICOP (paper factory) workers in Agusan del Sur
in the Southern Philippines. The families of the six desaparecidos
adamantly refuse to be silent and have remained courageous and
steadfast in the quest for justice even as FIND has been unrelenting in
giving assistance and support to the families and witnesses from Day One
of the legal battle.
With
growing support from the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA),
AFAD and kindred groups, the families are more inspired to pursue the
fight to its final resolution. Amidst daunting challenges, they stand
resolute, brave and hopeful to duplicate in the multiple murder case
which is now in the Office of the Provincial Prosecutors in Patin-ay,
Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur their 2008 landmark victory in the
kidnapping and serious illegal detention case in the Agusan del Sur
Regional Trial Court.
As we pay
tribute to the world’s desaparecidos, we also salute their
families more particularly those who fought hard for the United Nations’
adoption of the Convention and work harder for its entry into force. We
also take our hats off to those who tirelessly lobby governments to
enact anti-enforced or involuntary disappearance domestic laws. These
laws that seek to combat impunity serve as an enduring tribute to the
desaparecidos.
Let there
be no more PICOP 6 to search and grieve for. Let there be no more
perpetrators of enforced disappearance in Asia and the whole world.
