- i - Copyright 2008 by AFAD Published by: Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) Rms. 310 - 311 Philippine Social Science Center Commonwealth Avenue, Diliman Quezon City, Philipines 1101 Telefax 00-63-2-4546759 Telephone: 00-63-2-9274594 Mobile: 00-63-917-792-4058 email: [email protected] Website: http://www.afad-online.org The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) is a federation of human rights organizations working directly on the issue of involuntary disap- pearances in Asia. Envisioning a world without desaparecidos, the Federation was founded on 4 June 1998 in Manila, Philippines. The Federation was established based on the common phenomena of enforced or involuntary disappearances in many Asian countries and the imperative of regional and international solidarity in order to strongly respond to the problem. The Federation’s member-organizations include: - Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP)- Kashmir, india - Indonesian Association of Families of the Disappeared (IKOHI) - Indonesia - Commission for the Disappeared Victims of Violence (KontraS) - Indonesia - Advocacy Forum - (Nepal) - Claimants 1081 - Philippines - Truth and Justice Commission - Pakistan - Working Group on Justice for Peace - Thailand - Relatives Committee of the May 1992 Heroes - Thailand Copy Editing: Ed Gerlock Cover Design: Richard Allan Ramos, 1st Place, First AFAD Poster Making Contest Layout: Edsil V. Bacalso Proofreading and Indexing: Maria Cristina T. Nabaunag Researcher: Candy May T. Nabaunag All rights reserved. COPYRIGHT NOTICE No part of this Book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying regarding, or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher. ISBN 978-971-92451-1-7 - ii - ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Our third book, entitled Reclaiming Stolen Lives was conceptualized and eventually saw the light of day on the eve of the 2008 commemoration of the International Day of the Disappeared. Its birth year is also the decennial commemoration of the birth of the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) and the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This book should never have been necessary if it were not for the thousands upon thousands of desaparecidos whose lives have been treacherously stolen from the bosom of their beloved families and from the society where they belonged. To the desaparecidos of Asia and the rest of the world, whose inspiration has urged the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) to conceive this book and whose unknown fate has urged us to reclaim their stolen lives, from the bottom of our hearts, we express our most profound gratitude. The shadow of their memory that guides our work with each passing day has given us the courage and energy to conceive and give birth to this book lovingly dedicated to them. They will always be our inspiration in this uphill struggle for the truth, justice, reparation and the reconstruction of their historical memory. To the families of the disappeared who, in their sufferings as well as courageous crusade to find the truth about their disappeared loved ones, have been linking arms with us in this seemingly never-ending journey towards a world without desaparecidos, we thank them for being a valuable source of information necessary in the writing of this book. Without their in-depth sharing of love and life in the context of enforced disappearance during our various psycho-social rehabilitation sessions, we would never have realized the magnitude of this crime against humanity hopefully never to be repeated in history. To the Honorable Santiago Corcuera, Chair of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance, who, despite his hectic schedule, took his precious time to write the book’s inspiring epilogue, we give our most sincere commendation. To the Honorable Sri Lankan Minister of Parliament Mano Ganesan, who filled in the gap, owing to our not having a member-organization in Sri Lanka, by providing us with the list of cases of enforced disappearances in a country continuously - iii - ravaged by the darkness of this phenomenon of enforced disappearance, we convey our heartfelt gratitude. To all the researchers and writers of this book, whose deep conviction in the cause of the desaparecidos and whose research and writing abilities have made it possible to put in paper and ink the dominion of cruelty of the perpetrators of injustice and the spark of light capturing the paradox of despair and the hope of the families of the victims, we convey our never-ending indebtedness. To the rest of the members of the book committee - our editor; proofreader and indexer; researcher and our layout artist who worked at various times of the day and the night, notwithstanding their anxiety due to time constraint to ensure the completion of the project, we say thank you ever so much for your commitment to finish this precious gift of love to all desaparecidos of the world. To all our partners and innumerable others who, in one way or another, have contributed to the realization of this project, we say, thank you very much, indeed. In whatever worthy endeavor, we always recognize the presence of the One Above, the Supreme Being, without Him or Her, we would not have the capability of conceiving and giving birth to Reclaiming Stolen Lives – our modest contribution to the realization of a world without desaparecidos and the attainment of God’s Kingdom Here on Earth. THE ASIAN FEDERATION AGAINST INVOLUNTARY DISAPPEARANCES (AFAD) - iv - FOREWORD In the context of justice and human rights, impunity continues to haunt the world. Impunity, in the sense that perpetrators are not being held accountable whatsoever, neither through judicial nor non-judicial mechanisms for the violation of human rights they committed, remains the reality of the day. It is rampant particularly in the regions of Asia, Africa, Latin America and even Europe. Impunity does not merely signify that the perpetrators are unaccountable and enjoying freedom, but also entails consequences that they will continue to commit human rights violations in the future including the practice of enforced disappearances. Asia, which has submitted the largest number of cases of disappearances to the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (UNWGEID), is a safe haven for the perpetrators of disappearances. War against terrorism and separatism, coupled with the implementation of a doctrine of national stability, has been the pretext of these practices. In countries like China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and many more, disappearances continue to occur. This situation casts Asia now into a parallel situation with Latin America more than thirty years ago where disappearances were common. The only difference, however, is that in Latin America, there are continuing inroads in the struggle against impunity by dint of the indefatigable efforts of the mothers, grandmothers, children, sisters, brothers and relatives of the disappeared. Asia has still to prove its capacity to combat enforced disappearances beyond information dissemination drive by attaining concrete breakthroughs in the prosecution of perpetrators. Initiatives have been taken by individual victims, victims’ groups, human rights NGOs and broad sectors of civil society to address the issue of impunity in the context of the struggle for truth, justice, reparation and the reconstruction of the historical memory. Lamentably, very often, these initiatives only end with a wall of unwillingness and resistance by governments. In a number of cases, victims are faced with reprisal by the government along with very concrete expressions of impunity. In very few cases, some governments attempt to fulfill their obligations by conducting inquiries, - v - investigations and even prosecution. Legislations were passed, yet these attempts to fulfill states’ obligations are done not for the purpose of attaining truth and justice but intended only to impress the public nationally and internationally in order to create a pro-human rights image. Unfortunately the ultimate consequences are the full enjoyment of impunity by the perpetrators. It is against this background that AFAD humbly publishes this book entitled Reclaiming Stolen Lives. This book describes the dark phenomenon of enforced disappearances in Asia and AFAD’s uphill efforts to respond to this scourge on local, regional and international levels. Responses of governments to the practice of disappearances and the initiatives by the victims and NGOs are also projected in order for us to know governments’ positions vis-à-vis human rights and how AFAD and other civil society organizations respond. These are some rays of hope in a climate of impunity. The statistics on the desaparecidos in the region, albeit speaks of only a partial number of cases, depicts not just hollow figures but of lives stolen from the bosom of the victims’ loved ones. Our Federation intends to project disappearances as a social issue, presenting these graphs as concrete witnesses to this malady. A disappeared poet from Indonesia , Wiji Thukul once stated in a poem he wrote in June 1997: I am not a newsmaker artist But I am always a nightmare for every ruler My poems are not poems They are dark words Sweaty looking for way out in crowds. AFAD publishes this book for the