EDITORIAL

COVER STORY

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FEATURE ARTICLE

JAKARTA CONFERENCE

BOOK REVIEW

FILM REVIEW

REPORT ON INTERNATIONAL LOBBYING

YEAR-END REPORT

  Involuntary Disappearances
Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances
Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances
Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances
Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances

Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances


Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances

Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances

Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances

Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances
 


Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances

Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances


Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances

Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances

Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances

Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances
 


Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances

Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances


Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances

Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances

Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances

Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances
 


Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances

Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances


Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances

Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances

Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances

Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances
 


Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances

Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances


Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances

Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances

Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances

Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances
 


Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances

Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances


Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances

Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances

Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances

Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances
 


Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances

Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances


Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances

Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances

FILM REVIEW:


HEALING WOUNDS, MENDING SCARS
A review of the video film
by Alan Harmer
1

       

Nine people were taken. They thought my uncle was the leader. He was tall and always wore a suit." A girl is sitting outside on a long low wall, half in shadow shielded from the strong sun. She recounts slowly and clearly what happened. "My mom said - don't torture my brother; shoot us both so I can die with my brother. Please don't torture him in front of the family." The girl is wearing a beautiful dress, a deep red which echoes her feelings. Her long attractive pigtails hang down over her shoulders. She goes on "My mom got worse. She was hospitalized. She fell unconscious because her brother was tortured." The girl has a wide open face and speaks slowly and clearly. "My mom is still sick. She has never recovered." The girl smiles weakly, looks down at the ground and then back at the camera. "I don't know what to say. My mom never recovered."

        Nurmaysitah is from Indonesia and talks about the disappearance of her uncle. Behind her simple words are the wounds and scars, the pain and anguish, the difficulties and uncertainty, the unspeakable suffering that mark the "survivors" of disappearances. Nurmaysitah is one of these survivors, whose life has been permanently damaged, and is speaking out as a witness.

        Toti Koto is also from Indonesia. She sits upright, dignified, with abundant white hair and dressed in a smart white smock dress. She says "I went to the District Military and asked about my son. I was told my son was not guilty. They said he was only kept there overnight and he had been released. I said if he has been released, why can't I find him anywhere? They insisted he was not there. I am not an educated person and know little about the law. All I could do was cry and cry. I stayed at home for 4 months, just being depressed." 

        Here are the plain words, the devastating first-hand accounts of disappearances. From these words we sense palpably the force of the events, the effect on people's lives. Tears are never very far away from the witnesses or from the viewer.



Disappearances within a political and regional context

        The video film "Healing Wounds, Mending Scars" was produced by the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) following a meeting they arranged in Jakarta in December 2004 which brought together witnesses of disappearances from different countries in Asia and other continents to share their experiences. It portrays the stories of several survivors from these countries - Pakistan, Kashmir-India, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Philippines. These witness accounts are placed within the context of the major political upheavals and the repressive government and military regimes in Asia in the last twenty years. It brings together the witnesses in a common meeting, to exchange their stories and feelings, and to try and heal their wounds. The film also evokes the world context that crimes of disappearances occur everywhere in all continents, such as South America and Africa, and the urgent need for collective action and an international treaty and framework for disappearances. 

        What is an involuntary disappearance? The opening scene starts with a strikingly simple and powerful image. Each witness stands there with the photograph of their husband, their father, their children, their loved one. Then as the camera slowly blurs out-of-focus, the photograph dissolves and the person is left there without the photograph, without their loved one, without any knowledge of their whereabouts, without anything - the disappeared person has simply evaporated. The survivors are left in limbo, not knowing if their loved one is still alive or dead, not knowing if they can grieve for them, not knowing if they were tortured - uncertain, with the pain of waiting, the fear of death, their life torn apart, without help, without hope. The pain is so profound that it is difficult to talk about it. This is the unspeakable crime of disappearances.



Pakistan

        Pakistan signed the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, but despite this, disappearances occur frequently. There are 255 reported cases of disappearances and 32 fully documented cases. This shows how difficult it is to collect the evidence to fully document a case. Muneer Ahmed Khan recounts that his cousin was returning home from looking for a job, stopped at a tea stall, and was suddenly abducted. The parents turned to Mr Farooq Niazi of the Truth and Justice Commission (an organization to help relatives of disappeared) who established that their son had been transported to Cuba. This illustrates an appalling modern aspect, that people can be shipped around the world in secret, so it is impossible to tell where they are being held and so that they can be imprisoned, tortured and killed with impunity outside of any legal framework.
 


Kashmir, India

        Involuntary disappearances in Kashmir started in 1989 as a result of the insurgency by right wing activists, the embroiled political situation between India and Pakistan, and the degeneration into civil war. There are 600,000 military troops in Kashmir, the highest number in any regional part of the world. There have been an estimated 8,000 disappearances and the state has admitted 3,931. Parveena Ahangar talks about her son who was a student and was beaten and dragged off. She recounts her endless search to find him, visiting hospitals and the police. "I cannot bear anyone saying my son is not alive. It is so much pain with no cure as you have no information whether he is alive or dead." The Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) tries to help and comfort the survivors. Parvez Imroz, the patron of APDP, confirms the terrifying situation, "There are at least 10 more cases every two months, with many going unreported."



China

The Tiananmen Square demonstration of June 4th 1989 resulted in the massacre of several thousand people by government troops. It is estimated that there are at least 4,000 cases of disappearances with only 13 documented cases. Ding Zilin talks of disappearance after the massacre. "We never saw our sons, neither their bodies. We have tried by every means. The relatives have a very sorry fate." Following the massacre, the Tiananmen Mothers was formed in 1995 to demand that the government should produce a full report, that an investigatory body be set up and that the persons responsible should be identified and punished.
 


Thailand

        The Ministry of the Interior records only 38 cases of disappearances, but the Hotline centre documented 255. Following the military coup by General Suchinda Kraprayoon, the army failed to restore democracy which resulted in a public demonstration on May 17 - 20, 1992. The government reacted violently. Many demonstrators were shot dead or brutally attacked. Sungwian Pumoang recounts how her son went to watch a concert in Sanam Luang and did not return. "I searched the hospitals. I was very depressed. My son was the breadwinner. He was a good boy. He was only 23 years old." As a result of the "Black May" massacre, The Relatives Committee of May 1992 Heroes was set up. The Founder and the Chairman of the organization, Adul Khiewborriboon who lost his youngest son, explains that the aim of the organization is to help the relatives and to pressure the government to establish a full report, to ask them to find the missing persons whether dead or alive, and to ask for compensation for the families and to build a monument in their memory.
 


Indonesia

        The fall of the 32-year dictatorship of President Suharto did not put a stop to human rights violations, and disappearances have continued unabated particularly in the militarized zones. There are a total of 1,266 documented cases. KontraS and IKOHI are two organizations set up to help relatives and to ask the government for full investigations of the cases. Munir, who was the founder of KontraS and also the chairperson for AFAD, was the leading human rights advocate, a brilliant lawyer who won the equivalent of the Nobel peace prize for developing countries in 2000. On September 7th 2004, he was murdered on a Garuda flight from Indonesia to Holland by arsenic poisoning. People who are prepared to defend human rights and cases of disappearances show tremendous personal courage in the face of intense danger.
 


Sri Lanka

        The 19-year old conflict between the government and the Tamil Tiger rebel forces has led to massive human rights violations, with an estimated 60,000 disappearances and 16,742 verified cases. Only 5,000 families have been granted minimal compensation. This appalling number of disappearances is the highest in the world for a country of this size. Chandra Kumarage, the legal counsel for OPFMD (Organization of Parents and Family Members of the Disappeared) explains how this organization was set up and how it is struggling to establish justice. Shantha Pathirana, the secretary of OPFMD, enumerated their aims: to ask the government to identify the perpetrators, compensate the families, determine the facts of each disappearance, and release all prisoners. OPFMD helps families obtain compensation, a death certificate, and provides support in court cases. Above all, it offers a structure so that family members are not isolated.
 


Philippines

        Human rights violations were rife under the military law of President Marcos, but the end of this 21-year repressive regime did not bring an end to violations and disappearances. There were 1,846 cases reported up to 2003, with 1,065 victims still missing. The father of Alberto de los Reyes was arrested on September 19, 1988 by the special operations police but subsequently released on bail. He and his brother were abducted on December 3, 1988 and disappeared. Alberto says "I no longer hope for my father's return, since it has been such a long time. I hope to achieve some justice. We suffered from terrible depression. Most of all my mother. FIND was a great help." FIND (Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance) was set up to help families find disappeared people, and to provide support and bind the relatives together. Louie Crismo, the secretary general, explains that there is a bill in preparation for criminalizing disappearances but which has not yet been passed by the government.



Disappearances in an international context

        The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) was formed in 1998 with a core group of FIND (from Philippines), APDP (from Kashmir) and OPFMD (from Sri Lanka). The General Secretary of AFAD, Mary Aileen Bacalso, explains that disappearances are a universal phenomena and require a universal response. "The mission of AFAD is to lobby for an International Convention on disappearances, to diffuse information making people aware of disappearances, to push for prosecution of the perpetrators and redress, and to help families in their distress. Disappearances are a global issue, and we need a collective fight against impunity, for justice, for redress and for recuperation of the historical memory of the disappeared."

        This is an impressive film. It presents forcefully the different issues of disappearances from the most vulnerable standpoint - that of the survivors who suffer. It ought to be viewed widely by audiences everywhere in the world to understand, to become aware and as a warning. As Marta Vasquez, one of the original grandmothers from Argentina fighting for disappeared children, said "We are doing this for the remembrance of our disappeared and for the future of your children".

        It is also a very moving film, very human, full of pathos and words heavy with pain. Yet underneath, there is a force for healing the wounds. As one woman concluded "I saw the condition of other people and I realized that I am not alone in my suffering. I am able to unite with all the victims."

1Alan Harmer was brought up in Cambridge, England and since 1994, has lived and worked in Switzerland with his wife Kate and two daughters. " Living in Geneva, the home of the United Nations, has given us the opportunity to offer hospitality and local support to people from AFAD and other organizations who come here to participate in human rights activities. We hare had the great privilege of remarkable individuals from different countries, dedicated and courageous, who believe intensely in human values. And it's also fun to cook curry for ten people for breakfast."

 

Copyright 2007  AFAD - Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances
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