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Press release: AFAD 'Reclaming Stolen Lives'
The Asian Federation Against Disappearances commemorates the International Day of the Disappeared with the launch of the book entitled 'Reclaiming Stolen Lives'. This book is a collection of articles that reflects the reality of enforced disappearances in a significant number of Asian. It also contains a summary of the decade of struggle of AFAD. Inserted in the book there is an accompanying CD of a partial list of cases of victims numbering 5,326.
RECLAIMING STOLEN LIVES….
29 August 2008 – On the eve of the International Day of the Disappeared, the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) launches its book entitled, Reclaiming Stolen Lives. The book is a compendium of analytical articles that speak volumes about the reality of enforced disappearances in a significant number of Asian countries and a summary of the decade of struggle of the Federation in its uphill journey towards a world without desaparecidos.
Inserted in the book is an accompanying CD of a partial list of cases of victims numbering 5,326. A microcosm of innumerable cases in the vast continent of Asia, this list speaks of stolen lives of desaparecidos of Asia whose day the international community will commemorate on 30 August. It depicts multiple rights violated by those who are supposed to be protectors of life and liberty. It mirrors the sufferings of thousands of desaparecidos and their loved ones who, through this malady, are forcibly separated from each other. It reflects the poor state of human rights in Asian countries, many of which are ironically full fledged members of the United Nations Human Rights Council. It breaks the myth that the issue of enforced disappearance is a past phenomenon that solely belongs to Latin America. The litany of cases of enforced disappearances reconfirms that all is not well in the human rights front in the world's most populous continent.
To cite an example, in the Philippines where AFAD's physical base is, enforced disappearances continue even beyond the dark years of the Marcos dictatorship. Exactly seven years ago, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo promised before representatives of families of the victims that there would be no case of enforced disappearance in her administration. On her 8th year in office, as of 15 July 2008, there are already 193 cases as per record of KARAPATAN. This is not to mention cases of extrajudicial killings which prompted the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Killings to visit the country in 2007 February. The result of the visit urged the Philippine Supreme Court to hold the National Consultative Summit on Extrajudicial Killings and Enforced Disappearances: Seeking for Solutions. Ironically, the Philippine government was praised for its being a defender of human rights in the recent Universal Periodic Review of the UN Human Rights Council. The 13-year old bill criminalizing enforced disappearances has never been enacted into law despite the incessant calls of the families of the disappeared for its final approval in both houses of Congress. While cases of enforced disappearances during the previous administrations remain unresolved, recent cases occur without let up in an atmosphere of impunity. Furthermore, the Philippine government has not signed and ratified the UN Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance.
This situation is but a microcosm of the scourge of enforced disappearances especially in countries where AFAD member-organizations are based. In India, especially in the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines and Thailand, enforced disappearances occur in the context of the horrors of dictatorship, coupled with internal conflicts and counter-insurgency campaigns and exacerbated by war against terrorism. In the name of the state, enforced disappearances in many Asian countries continue unabated, thus, notoriously labeling Asia as the continent which, in recent years, submitted the highest number of cases to the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.
In view of this, in a continent bereft of national and regional mechanisms for protection, it is all the more imperative that Asian governments sign and ratify without delay the United Nations Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. Adopted by the UN General Assembly on 20 December 2006, this international treaty will only enter into force when it shall have been ratified by 20 states. To date, only five governments, e.g. Albania, Argentina, Mexico, Honduras and France have so far ratified. And of the 74 signatories, only four come from Asia, e.g. Japan, India, Mongolia and Azerbaijan.
On the occasion of the International Day of the Disappeared, the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances reiterates its call to all UN member-states to ratify this important international treaty that provides new rights, e.g. the right to truth and the right not to be subjected to enforced disappearances. It considers enforced disappearance as a crime against humanity, therefore, never to be repeated in history and never justifiable even in times of war.
The International Day of the Disappeared is the apt moment for us to especially honor all the desaparecidos of the world. It is the day when we insist their moral and spiritual presence in the hearts of their loved ones and of the greater society that they belong. It is also the day that reminds society of the cruelty of the perpetrators of this most heinous crime which should never ever be repeated. Moreover, it is an occasion to strengthen our resolve to bring to a victorious end the journey towards a world without desaparecidos.
Furthermore, on this occasion, the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances renews its vow to fearlessly reclaim the stolen lives of the desaparecidos. In the strength of its solidarity with similar organizations from other continents, AFAD shall never rest in conquering the barriers of truth; defeating the enemies of justice and relishing the vindication of redress and reparation, thus immortalizing the historical memory of the desaparecidos.
Finally, in unison, AFAD echoes what its Latin American sisters and brothers say: Desaparecidos, Presente! They are and will forever be present in our minds and in our hearts.