May 27, 2014 | AFAD & FIND Joint Statement for the International Week of the Disappeared

The International Week of the Disappeared is observed every last week of May to honor desaparecidos worldwide and to call on all governments to respect the right not to be disappeared. It is a tradition sustaining the brave and trail-blazing campaigns of the Latin-American Federation of Associations of Relatives of Disappeared-Detainees (FEDEFAM). Thirty-four years after the first IWD, our calls remain as relevant as ever, especially in Asia where the commission of enforced disappearance persists in record high numbers (UNWGEID A/HRC/22/45).

Enforced disappearance is a crime involving forcible deprivation of liberty and other basic rights such as the the right to security and dignity, right to fair trial, right not to be tortured, right to truth, right to family life, and most often the right to life and the right to identification and proper burial or cremation. It is a tool used by tyrannical governments to stifle dissent and terrorize communities.

In the Philippines, the crime of enforced disappearance reached its peak during the Marcos dictatorship. Activitists, students, journalists, farmers and community workers were disappeared during this time, leaving thousands of families broken and until this very day, denied the right to truth. The escalating of disappeareances during the dark days of the Marcos dictatorship triggered the formation of the Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearances (FIND).

Being the oldest organization of families of the disappeared in the Philippines, FIND has played an important role in the anti-disappearance movement.

Enforced disappearances continued even after the Marcos regime. During the succeeding administrations of Corazon Aquino, Fidel Ramos, Joseph Estrada, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo until the present administration of President Benigno Aquino lll, enforced disappearances persists and cases remain unresolved.

In 2012, the Philippines enacted a landmark human rights legislation: the Anti-Disappearance Law. This law took 16 years to be passed and is the first of its kind in Asia. But In a country known to have numerous laws but lacking in implementation, an enormous challenge still lies ahead. We must watch closely and call on the government to fully and strictly implement the law, and ensure that no disappearance, under any administration, will be committed.

Finally, we enjoin the public to support the Philippines’ accession to the International Convention Against Disappearance (CED). The CED is a product of decades of struggle of families of the disappeared around the world to have a normative human rights instrument that protects the right not to be disappeared and strengthens state accountability and responsibility. A Philippines under a CED regime is a Philippines committed to human rights, justice and truth.

Say NO to disappearance, Sign and Ratify the Convention Against Disappearance NOW.

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