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Cover
Table of Contents
Editorial
- Strengthening AFAD’s Unity…
Cover Story
- Years of Trials and Triumphs…
Country Situations
- NO political reform, NO hope for justice…
- Hunger Strike
- Indonesian Human Rights Movement…
- Crime and Punishment
- Anti-enforced Disappearance Bill
Human Interest
- A Life That is Never The Same Again
Photo Essay
- Kashmiri families of missing person stage…
Book Review
- Disappearances in Sri Lanka
Report on International Lobbying
- A Narrative of Contrast
Features
- Where are They?
- Working Towards an African Network
- Reduced to Ashes: The Insurgency…
News Brief
Mid Year Report
Prayer
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MID YEAR REPORT
AFAD’s
Mid-Year Report
As the Second Congress of the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances will be convened on the last week of August, the Federation deems it fit to report the results of its work since the beginning of the year 2003 until the middle of the year. This will be an integral part of the AFAD Council/Secretariat May 2000-July 2003 Report to the Congress.
Amidst continuing human rights violations and escalating economic crisis in Asia on the one hand and the organizational problems the Federation encountered during the year 2002 on the other hand, AFAD remains steadfast in its conviction to realize its mission, vision and goals.
The beginning of the year saw AFAD actively participating in the first session of the United Nations Working Group for a Legally Binding Normative Instrument for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances held in Geneva, Switzerland on January 8-17, 2003. The voice of the families of the disappeared in different parts of Asia, through the representation of AFAD, was heard loud enough when, together with
FEDEFAM and RADIF, AFAD was able to present its views on the 1998 United Nations Draft Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.
Related to this international lobbying was the fact that the whole AFAD Council attended the 59th session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the NGO parallel activities. AFAD, through its member-organizations in Indonesia and the Philippines, delivered oral interventions before the official session of the United Nations member-states. More importantly, it was able to speak to different Asian governments to lobby them to take a position favorable to the draft treaty. Majority of the human rights standards were drafted in Geneva. This lobbying is important because according to an international lobbyist, while the final decision-making does lie in the capitals, the conceptualization and drafting are undertaken by the UN-Geneva-based diplomats. Among other important activities that the whole AFAD Council conducted at the United Nations was the meeting with Mr. Diego Garcia Sayan, Chairperson of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances wherein AFAD members presented specific cases and general situations.
AFAD also continues to support the effort of its member in the Philippines, the Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (FIND) to lobby for the enactment of the Anti-Involuntary Disappearance Bill of 2003. If enacted into law, it will be the first legislation ever in Asia criminalizing involuntary disappearances.
Under the aspect of solidarity, the successful hunger strike of the families of the disappeared in Kashmir was a test that in solidarity, there is strength, indeed. In front of the Indian embassy in Jakarta,
KontraS and Ikohi staged a picket to support the hunger strike in Kashmir. In the same manner, the Tiananmen Mothers Campaign in Hong Kong also staged a picket in front of the Indian Consulate, which then forced the Vice Consul to promise that the matter would be brought to the attention of the Indian government’s headquarters in New Delhi. The rest of the AFAD members and its Secretariat conducted an information dissemination drive and issued statements sent to the striking families of the disappeared in Kashmir, to the embassies of India in their respective countries and to the Permanent Mission of India at the United Nations in Geneva.
Crossing regional boundaries, AFAD shared its work of human rights organizations in Africa. The AFAD Secretary-General, after her participation in the conference of human rights organizations in West Africa in 2002, was again invited to share the Federation’s work in two separate conferences in Pretoria, South Africa and in Arusha, Tanzania in East Africa. Sponsored by Linking Solidarity, these conferences were part of the efforts to establish a continental network of organizations that will work on the phenomenon of involuntary disappearances.
AFAD’s continuing cooperation with FEDEFAM, particularly its participation in the 59th session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and through the simultaneous commemoration of the International Week of the Disappeared is one of the many important expressions of international solidarity during this period.
Under the aspect of campaigns, as traditionally done, AFAD conducted a synchronized commemoration of the International Week of the Disappeared. Multifarious activities were done by most of the member-organizations to remember the disappeared and to protest against the still unresolved and on-going phenomenon of involuntary disappearances.
In terms of information-dissemination, AFAD, in cooperation with The Royal Netherlands Embassy, launched its website (http://www.afad-online.org) on June 4, 2003 in time for the celebration of its 5th anniversary and the commemoration of the 14th anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre. This is to complement its bi-yearly magazine, “The Voice.”
A new endeavor during the year is the implementation of AFAD’s Rehabilitation Program realized through the generous support of
Evangelicher Entwicklungsdienst e.V. (EED) based in Bonn, Germany. The support from
EED has augmented the continuing support of AFAD’s main partner, HIVOS, based in The Hague, The Netherlands. The Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (FIND) in the Philippines and the KontraS/ Ikohi in Indonesia have already started the project among families of the disappeared.
To ensure that all these efforts be sustained and intensified, AFAD deemed it fit to sponsor a one-week Leadership Training attended by all members from seven countries. It was held in Manila, Philippines on January 27-31, 2003. With the theme, “Strengthening Organizational Capacities For Effective Advocacies,” the leadership training was able to surface internal issues within the Federation and its constituency, explore and develop AFAD’s potentials and capacities and come up with resolutions on how to further concretize its work as a regional network concerned with involuntary disappearances in Asia.
The middle of the year ended with the start of the preparations of its Founding Congress, a major organizational endeavor that will determine the life of the Federation in the next three years. With the theme: “ Strengthen AFAD’s Unity Amidst Diversity: A Key to An Effective Human Rights Advocacy, “ the Second Congress aims to sum-up AFAD’s work for the last three years, firm up its basic principles through the amendment and ratification of its statutes, elect a new set of leaders and draw up a Three-Year General Plan of Action for 2003.
All in all , AFAD can honestly say that despite its difficulties and limitations, it continues to be true to its much-avowed mission, vision and goals.
Much more cries out to be accomplished for sake of the victims of involuntary disappearances.
VOICE September 2003
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