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EDITORIAL
COVER STORY
- A Precious Gift to Humanity
INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY
- The Other Side of the Kingdom
- Convention Now!
AFAD FEDEFAM
Together Now!
- Tying the Future with the Past
- Getting Back on Track
INTERNATIONAL LOBBY
- Still Fighting
- In Memory of the Disappeared
- The Power
of One
PHOTO ESSAY
- Protect All Persons From Enforced Disappearances
NEWS FEATURES
- Building on Nilo’s Legacy
- Filipinos Fight Against Disappearances
- Justice Suspended
- The Munir Murder
- Another Case of Impunity
STATEMENTS
/REPRINTS
- FEDEFAM Statement...
- An Open Statement to the GRP and NDFP Panels ...
- Parvez Imroz’ Award...
Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances
Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances
Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances
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INTERNATIONAL LOBBY: |
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by Candy May Nabaunag |
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In Memory of the Disappeared
(AFAD Launches Its Resource Center) |
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 The
Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances launched on 12 May
2006 the AFAD Resource Center in memory of the disappeared and of Munir
and Aasia.
Munir was AFAD ¢s
chairperson who was murdered by arsenic poisoning in September, two years
ago. He was a staunch human rights defender in his home country in
Indonesia. Aasia, was a strong advocate of human rights as well, and a
journalist from Kashmir who died in a landmine blast on April 20, 2004.
This initiative to establish an information center is
rooted on the four principles to fight involuntary disappearances namely,
truth, justice, redress and recuperation of historical memory. Its goal is
to combat the atmosphere of ignorance toward cases of enforced
disappearances through collecting and sharing relevant information and
materials on the said issue to the general public, projecting the
disappearances in Asia and demystifying the belief that it is solely a
Latin American phenomenon and developing a centralized database system of
disappearance cases in Asia. It also aims to serve as a concrete
remembrance of the disappeared through its displayed collection of donated
memorabilia.
 Funded
by the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Manila, the Resource Center was begun
on the last quarter of 2005. It built on its foundation of accumulated
resources on human rights particularly disappearances for the past eight
years since the Federation ¢s
establishment in 1998.
The Netherlands Embassy ¢s
First Secretary for Political and Cultural Affairs Marcel van den Bogaard
officially opened the CENTER to the public. To note, the Resource Center
is funded by the Dutch Embassy in Manila. Suciwati, wife of Munir, also
graced the event and imparted an inspiring message to the human rights
community. In memory of Aasia, Mir Haffizullah of the Association of
Parents of the Disappeared (APDP) from Kashmir also delivered his thanks
and respect to the family of Aasia and to the audience.
  Fr.
Ben Moraleda and Sr. Arnold Maria blessed the Center in the presence of
the AFAD Council Members, Secretariat, honored guests and families of the
disappeared. Representatives of similar formations namely, Maria Adela
Antokoletz (FEDEFAM), Irina Krasovskaya (We Remember-Belarus),
Diana Sarosi (Non-Violence International) and Dave Hardy (HOM-Linking
Solidarity), also graced the event.
Following its launching, the Center continues to expand
its collection of relevant information for local, regional and
international bodies. It aims to take every possible step to strengthen
the ties of the people fighting against impunity and bring each
desaparecido into every person’s collective and indelible memory.
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Candy May Nabaunag is the librarian of AFAD’s Resource Center.
Before joining the AFAD secretariat, she served as a librarian in a number
of universities in Baguio City, Philippines. |
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The
Voice |
Vol. VI No.1 November 2006
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