"When the State itself becomes brutal and lawless
and and anarchy reign, the entire democratic fabric crumbles. The Sri
Lankan government fails to understand the saying of Nietzsche, the
German philosopher, that 'whoever fights monsters should see to it that
in the process he does not become a monster himself'."
KDC Kumarage
Involuntary Disappearance: Sri Lanka Experience
"Though International organizations like the United
Nations had taken measures to consider 'disappearances' as a criminal
offense, there is no offense called involuntary disappearance in Sri
Lanka like in many other countries in the world."
Wishvatith de Silva
Persecuting a Criminal Complaint on Involuntary Disappearances: Sri
Lankan Experience
"It is said that 'you cannot live without lawyers,
and certainly you cannot die without them.' Unfortunately,
desaparecidos die without lawyers. It is our fervent hope
that lawyers can resurrect the disappeared by securing justice for
them and advocating the crusade they have courageously died for."
Neri Colmenares
The International Criminal Court and the Crime of Involuntary
Disappearance:
Justice Without Borders
"What we must do to get the people involved; to
make use of the resources at hand and make the necessary sacrifice? We
have to use these resources and use these well. The communication, the
capacity, the international resources - everything must complement each
other in having room for participation and building a normal country.
For that, we need imagination."
Benjamin Cuellar
Prosecuting a Criminal Complaint in Involuntary Disappearance: The El
Salvador Experience
"War and violation is not our future. Our future is
how to raise our children in peace without war, hat or envy. It's how to
develop our humanity without differentiating between us, without racial
discrimination and also without violations. It's our responsibility to
make it happen..."
Munarman
Struggle for Those Who Have Disappeared, Struggle for Our Human Dignity
"...associations of relatives of disappeared
persons have a special 'expertise' which lawyers generally lack, and
which is necessary to continue fighting, even if the results are not
feasible. This expertise could be called knowledge based on personal,
emotional experience. Someone who really has experienced what it means
if you are relative of someone who has disappeared, knows why to
continue the fight is necessary, and makes that knowledge operational.
The experience of emotions is the case of disappearances a very
important contribution to understanding the real nature of
disappearances."
Martha Meijer
the Role of Civil Society in the Struggle Against Disappearances
"While disappearance is tackled most effectively at the national level,
the fight against disappearances is nevertheless also an international
effort that requires solidarity among peoples and organizations, across
borders. Indeed, our common efforts are based on universal values."
Ceceilla Jimenez
International Standards: Fighting Against Disappearance
"Sun Tzu, in his book The Art of War writes
about the many ways to win war. Chairman Mao in hid red book Thoughts
of Mao Tse-Tung writes about the revolution not being a picnic and
how to win it. As in waging war or staging a revolution, so too, in
combating involuntary or enforced disappearance. There are many ways."
Rene Sarmiento
Combating Involuntary Disappearance:
Thoughts from Asia and Latin America and Amnesty International's
14-Point Program
"The issue of impunity has a direct relationship
with the role of lawyers in this fight against human rights violations
especially the fight against involuntary disappearances. It is the
absence of punishment within the law system on the one hand, that is
just one part of the problem. On the other hand, it is the position of
lawyers themselves and the role that they want to play in the
establishment of human rights in our respective countries."
Ikravany Hilman
Closing Remarks for the Opening Activity
