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

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

INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY:

 

by Jennifer S. Pacursa

 

 

Tying the Future  with the Past
 

Three years after the APDP foundation stone was stolen, children of the disappeared insist in building the monument for their loved ones.In Asia, a number of monuments have been established dedicated to the many lives disappeared by tyrannical regimes. They stand attesting the claims of  many that enforced disappearance, considered to be the worst crime against humanity, only happened or continue to happen in Latin America.

Families and friends of the disappeared initiated this move in their efforts to fight impunity by not letting the people and the nation forget the gravity of the crime committed upon humanity itself. In continuing to remember their loved ones, relatives and friends demand for truth and justice. More, it is from these monuments that families hope to find solace in their endless search and agony of waiting for their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, etc., to come home, back in their warm embrace.

Justice in remembering

It is not customary among Kashmiris to raise monuments to remember loved ones. Yet as the clamor for justice and remembrance of disappeared family members grew, the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons initiated the move to put up a monument in memory of those who have disappeared under the abusive governance of India. They first laid the foundation stone in June 2001 at the martyrs’ graveyard in Eidgaah, Srinagar. But an hour later, military officers disrespected the ceremony by taking down the stone. They argued that the monument was placed on government property. Contrarily, however, the Muslim Endowment Trust refuted the military claiming ownership on the said property and permitted members of the APDP to use the land for the monument.

Families in Thailand continue to wait for the realization of a monument for the victims of the 1992 massacre.Nevertheless, APDP solicited donations from the public and bought a piece of land in the outskirts of Srinagar City. Determined to establish a place in memory of the disappeared, five years of hard work resulted in the relaying of the foundation stone on 21 August 2005, a day which coincided with the first death anniversary of Kashmiri human rights activist, Aasia Jeelani. Inscribed upon the stone were these words: "We shall never allow the past to be forgotten and we shall never allow it to happen again for future generations. The justice we seek lies not in the forgetting of the past but in remembering those who should never be forgotten."

Simply and concretely put, the monument now stands as a timeless reminder to the people not only of Kashmir but of the world of the atrocities done to humankind. It serves as a place to remember the thousands of lives disappeared in the valley of Kashmir.

Bound by Solidarity and Hope

Blood tainted Ratchadamneon Avenue, Thailand in May 1992 when forces of General Suchinda Kraprayoon brutally tried to quell a public protest against the oppressive military government. The Relatives Committee of the May 1992 Heroes described it as the bloodiest event in the history of the country. Thousands of civilians died and disappeared with only the dark traces of their blood left to remember them by.

But then time passes, and these traces soon fade. Families then demand remembrance of their loved ones for in their hearts and mind, their fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters continue to live. They demand the government to recognize the lives perished or disappeared, to never forget what it has done.

Bantayog ng mga Desaparecido stands in the Baclaran church compound.In May 1993, the government allowed the relatives to establish a memorial place for the lives lost in the May 1992 event. Families then put up a monument situated in the area where the uprising took place. It is built within a park. A few meters away is a museum dedicated as well to the victims. The monument now commemorates all the democratic struggles in the history of Thailand.

A decade later, a small replica of the monument was built at the heart of Khao San Road, a premier center visited by tourists. It conveys to them the story of the victims and the families, and the solidarity and hope that binds them all.

Flame of Courage

In the face of repression, courageous souls struggled for freedom. Despite threats, brave men and women dared voice out the cries of the Filipino people against the dictatorial regime of President Ferdinand Marcos. They risked their lives for the sake of the country’s return to democracy. And families of those who disappeared vowed not to put the memory of their loved ones in vain.

The Bantayog ng mga Bayani expresses vigilance against another dictatorship.On 13 July 1994, the Families of the Victims of Involuntary Disappearances (FIND) unveiled the monument dedicated to the memory of the lives lost fighting for people’s rights at Baclaran, Manila. The date also commemorated the 9th disappearance anniversary of Redemptorist priest, Fr. Rudy Romano. Called the "Flame of Courage," the monument bears the figure of a woman holding a torch. Along with her is a child carrying a picture of his father. They symbolize the many families’ hope to be reunited with their disappeared loved ones.

Considering many of those who disappeared are still missing, families have come to pay respect to their memories before this monument especially during All Souls’ Day.

In 2004, a granite panel was constructed near the monument bearing the names of 1,347 people who disappeared. This was named as the Bantayog ng mga Desaparecidos.

Moreover, another place was dedicated to the Philippine heroes and freedom fighters who became prominent during the Martial Law period. The Bantayog ng mga Bayani (Monument of Heroes) and the Wall of Remembrance where names of Filipino heroes are engraved, can be visited at Quezon Avenue, Quezon City.

The monument is a 45-foot structure of a fallen man held by a woman posed as if rising above the oppression of the state and reaching out her hand to the glorious sun.

Inspired by the words of the country’s national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, stating, "You, who live to see the dawn, remember those who perished in the night," the monuments according to former Senator Novato Salina, memorialized the sacrifices of the martyrs and expresses the nation’s determined vigilance against another dictatorship.

Shrines for the Innocents

At a time when many Asian governments refuse to acknowledge the phenomenon of enforced disappearance in the region, the Sri Lankan government decided to establish a wall of reconciliation upon which names of those killed and disappeared during the tumultuous times were inscribed. It serves as a constant reminder that any form of cruelty cannot be simply forgotten.

Praying in the Shrines for the Innocents, men and women of Sri Lanka refuse to forget their loved ones.Moreover, for many Sri Lankan families, Ahinsakainge Aramaya is known as the Temple of the Innocents. It is a place of remembrance, solidarity and martyrdom to their respective desaparecidos. The temple was constructed in the hopes of the many families to heal their wounds from the past and provide hope to the future generations.

The Shrine of the Innocents at Sri Jayawardenapura, the Memorial of the Disappeared Students at Embilipitiya and the Memorial of the Disappeared at Raddolugawa are but a few of the monuments in the country which were built in the hope of reconstructing the nation upon the principles of democracy and mutual trust.

The Monument of the Disappeared Persons at Raddoluwa, in particular was inaugurated on 4 February 2000 coinciding with the 51st declaration of Independence of Sri Lanka. It signified the recognition of the state of the atrocities it has done to its people.

Landmark guides

Famous author George Elliot once said, "desire no future that will break the ties of the past." True, indeed. History is the memory of a person, the memory of a nation. To forget the lessons of the past is to traverse the trails of the future blindly and waywardly. These monuments scattered across vast Asia hopes to hold the memories of history, tie it with the present, and bring it to the future. Every story shall then continue to echo the cries for truth and justice, and every monument shall stand as landmark guides for the future not to repeat the evils of the past.

 

Jennifer S. Pacursa was a freelance researcher-reporter and a college instructor at a protestant school in Cagayan de Oro before joining the AFAD secretariat in Manila. She is an alumna of Siliman University with a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication and has earned her MBA at Xavier University specializing in Production and Program Development.

 The Voice

Vol. VI No.1 November 2006

Copyright 2007  AFAD - Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances
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