AFAD Condemns Indian Government Inaction in the Face of Anti-Muslim Violence

MANILA, Philippines – The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) strongly condemns the Indian government’s ineffective handling of and (lack of) response to anti-Muslim violence in the wake of the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

The situation was made worse by Kapil Mishra’s, a leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), order to the police to clear the protest site ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit. A video released on Twitter showed this same official giving an ultimatum to the police. Soon after, CAA supporters, flanked by police officers, approached the protest site chanting “Jai Shree Ram!” (“Hail Lord Ram!”), a slogan associated with right-wing Hindus, followed by stones being thrown towards the protesters.

AFAD STATEMENT on Sombath Somphone’s 7th Year of Disappearance

FOR SEVEN YEARS, the fate and whereabouts of Sombath Somphone, a prominent civil society leader, a community development worker, and a human rights defender, remain undisclosed by the Lao government. Sombath was forcibly disappeared in Vientiane on 15 December 2012. His disappearance was recorded in a police surveillance video, when police stopped him in his vehicle at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Vientiane.

Congratulations to Mary Aileen Bacalso!

Congratulations to Mary Aileen Bacalso,
former AFAD Secretary General, for receiving the
2019 French-German Ministerial Award for Human Rights and the Rule of Law.

Your AFAD family is proud of you!

BANGLADESH: Defending rights requires unified resistance

Dhaka/Manila/Hong Kong, 10 December 2019: On International Human Rights Day, the Asian Federation against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), and Odhikar pay tribute to and stand in solidarity with the victims and survivors of human rights violations.