[Statement] Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (FIND) and Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) on the International Week of the Disappeared, 2020

Joint statement Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (FIND) and Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) on the International Week of the Disappeared, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic cannot obliterate enforced disappearance. On the contrary, it may even exacerbate the perpetration of this global scourge.
As we kick off the International Week of the Disappeared (IWD) this year, we think of Joseph Jimeda, fondly called Dodong. On 07 May 2020, Dodong, a resident of Caloocan City left home for the Navotas City fish port to buy fish. Vending fish is his source of livelihood. His wife and children waited for him the whole day and through the night. But Dodong didn’t come home. For a week they were clueless of his whereabouts. Fear engulfed them as they anxiously searched for him. Finally, Dodong surfaced with a harrowing tale to tell. He was arrested as he could not produce a Navotas City-issued quarantine pass. They then detained him along with more than 500 other alleged violators of enhanced community quarantine directives.
Read full statement @afad-online.org
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