International Day of the Disappeared
30 August 2011
COALITION AGAINST ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCE (CAED)
We
have RAGED!
(Run AGainst Enforced Disappearance)
We, the families of the disappeared and human rights advocates in the
Philippines, gather today to commemorate the International
Day of the Disappeared through our activity, Run Against
Enforced Disappearance (RAGED).
We have RAGED that this day should never have been commemorated if only
States around the world including all their instrumentalities had
respected the human rights of their citizens.
We have RAGED that enforced disappearance is still being used as a
repressive tool to stifle dissent and to silence political opposition.
It is one of the cruelest forms of human rights violations. It violates
practically all civil liberties and human rights including the right to
life.
We have RAGED that the cases of enforced or involuntary disappearances
are, by their very nature, not only difficult to investigate and
prosecute, but they continue to occur while past incidences unabated and
unresolved. The Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (FIND)
has documented 2,160 victims of enforced disappearances since the dark
years of Martial Law. Six victims have been reported under the present
Aquino administration. Lamentably, with the absence of prosecution,
impunity is the order of the day and the number of victims is doomed to
multiply.
We have RAGED that existing legal measures that provide safeguards for
lives and liberties have proven to be inadequate and ineffective to
address this social malady. The proposed laws that seek to criminalize
enforced disappearance have been filed and re-filed in the Philippine
Congress in the past two decades but remain pending up to this day.
Nevertheless, we laud the clear resolve of the legislature as manifested
in the approval by the Senate on third and final reading of Senate Bill
2817 and the adoption by the Joint Committees of Human Rights and
Justice of the House of Representatives the 14th Congress -
approved House Bill 5048 as substitute bill for plenary consideration.
We have RAGED that despite efforts to address this global scourge at the
national and international levels through the adoption and entry into
force of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons
from Enforced Disappearance, this treaty still needs to be signed and
ratified by all States to ensure universal application. To
date, this international human rights instrument has 88 signatories and
29 States Parties. Unfortunately, the Philippines is not yet a signatory
much less a State Party to this Convention despite its voluntary pledges
and commitment submitted before the UN Human Rights Council to support
the treaty.
We have RAGED that after one year in office, the Aquino administration
has yet to kindle hope in those who are searching for their disappeared
loved ones and seeking justice for them. Even the President’s 2nd
State-of-the-Nation-Address was devoid of a clear human rights agenda.
We have RAGED by wearing plastic expressionless masks as a symbol of the
indifference shown by the authorities and to depict the continuing
anguish of the victims and their families.
We have RAGED by showing our firm solidarity with all families of the
disappeared around the world who have to deal with the constant pain,
trauma and uncertainty that hinder them from moving on and finding
closure.
We have RAGED as we pledge our staunch commitment to relentlessly pursue
the search for the truth, to bring individual perpetrators to justice
and hold the State accountable, and to redeem the dignity of the victims
and their families.
On this occasion of the International Day of the Disappeared, we have
RAGED in order to pay tribute to all the desaparecidos of the
world whose memory shall never ever be forgotten and whose continuing
disappearance is a unifying challenge to our Coalition to remain
steadfast in our search for truth and justice.
♠
COALITION AGAINST ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCE (CAED)
ASIAN FEDERATION AGAINST INVOLUNTARY DISAPPEARANCES (AFAD)
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL – PHILIPPINE SECTION
BALAY REHABILITATION CENTER
CENTER FOR LEGAL RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT
FAMILIES OF VICTIMS OF INVOLUNTARY DISAPPEARANCE (FIND)
KILUSAN PARA SA PAMBANSANG DEMOKRASYA
MEDICAL ACTION GROUP
PHILIPINE ALLIANCE OF HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATES
TASK FORCE DETAINEES OF THE PHILIPPINES
