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COVER STORY 2008: 60th year of the UDHR
VOICE December 2008
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Copyright 2008 AFAD - Asian Federation Against
Involuntary Disappearances |
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COVER STORY 2008: 60th year of the UDHR
VOICE December 2008
|
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Copyright 2008 AFAD - Asian Federation Against
Involuntary Disappearances |
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The UDHR
celebrates its 60th anniversary this 2008. Sixty years is a long
time and this urges us to revisit some Asian countries particularly in
relation to the issue of enforced disappearance. These countries were
focused on in the book titled: Reclaiming Stolen Lives published
and launched by AFAD on the eve of the International Day of the
Disappeared (IDD) on 29 August of this year namely, China, India
(particularly Jammu & Kashmir), Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines,
Sri Lanka and Thailand. (Note: These countries will henceforth be referred
to as “the countries.”)
A brief
glance at some Asian countries when the UDHR was adopted… In China,
the civil war between the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the
Kuomintang was about to end. With the war having ended in 1949, the
country came to be called People’s Republic of China (PRC) and was run by
the CPC under a single party system. In Jammu & Kashmir, the state
became a part of India in 1947, and in 1948, the Indian forces arrived
prompting the first war between Pakistan and India over the disputed
territory. Indonesia was struggling to be freed from its Dutch
colonizers after Japan (which occupied the country in 1942) surrendered in
1945. The country gained independence in 1949. Nepal devised its
own constitution called “the Government of Nepal Act 1948” under the Hindu
monarchy. Pakistan was engaged in war with India over the disputed
territory of Jammu & Kashmir. The Philippines was struggling over
the effects of World War II where millions of Filipinos were killed and
Manila was left in shambles. While the country was supposed to have gained
“independence” in 1946, the then present government continued to be
dictated upon and controlled by the US politically and economically.
Sri Lanka gained its independence from its British colonizers in
the same year of 1948 and was consequently ruled by a Prime Minister who
remained under British tutelage. Thailand was never colonized but
was also involved in World War II.
In terms of
the phenomenon of enforced disappearance, the book, Reclaiming Stolen
Lives, has established that the situation of Asia today is similar to
that of Latin America some three decades ago. The common trend in the
countries is exemplified in the fact that when the poor and oppressed
peoples fought for their basic rights, their governments fought back with
full force and violated their rights including that of disappearing them.
Reclaiming Stolen Lives presents a total of 5,326 recorded cases of
enforced disappearance in the countries but this figure is miniscule
compared to those cited by AFAD’s member-organizations. Accordingly, it is
very difficult to present a complete documentation of cases. Some families
are continuously threatened so that they are forced to remain silent while
others have gone back and forth to the police to report their disappeared
loved ones but are largely ignored.
Aasia
Jeelani, former editor of Voices Unheard, a women’s publication in
Srinagar, Kashmir and a volunteer of AFAD’s memberorganization, the
Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP), was killed by a
landmine on 20 April 2004 while on an election monitoring exercise. Her
driver was also killed while two of her colleagues were wounded. One of
them, Khurram Parvez, an active member of the AFAD Council, who was with
her during the monitoring exercise, had his leg amputated. Khurram
Parvez is one of the 2004 recipients of the Reebok Human Rights Award.
Atty. Parvez Imroz, the patron of APDP, and a recipient of the
Ludovic-Trarieux International Human Rights Prize in 2006, has
undergone three assassination attempts the last of which was on 30 June
2008. At around 8:00 PM on that day, nine or ten armed men arrived at his
house in Kralpura village (some 8 kilometers from Srinagar) and demanded
that Atty. Imroz come outside. Imroz told his wife not to open the door
and instead, called his brother, Sheik Mustaq Ahmad, who lives nearby. Mr.
Ahmad came out and asked the group to identify themselves which they
refused. When his nephew went out, one of the uniformed men fired in his
direction but he was hit. Another man threw a grenade outside his front
door. This exploded but fortunately no one was hurt. The men left around
10:30 P.M. Villagers who gathered near Imroz’s house stated that they saw
an armoured vehicle, two Gypsy cars and men in CRPF (Central Reserve
Police Force) and SOG (Special Operations Group) uniforms. At the time
this occurred, Atty. Imroz and his fellow human rights defenders had
recently formed a “People’s Tribunal” which among others, would look into
the reported graves and mass graves estimated to be close to a thousand
victims and probably the graves of disappeared Kashmiris.
Somchai
Neelaphaijit, former Chairman of the Thailand’s Muslim Lawyers’
Association and former Vice-Chairman of the Human Rights Committee of the
Lawyers’ Council in Thailand, disappeared while he was representing five
persons arrested because of the militant raid on the Narathiwat
Rajanakarin Camp on 4 January 2004. He was last seen at the Chaleena Hotel
on Ramkhamhaeng Road in Bangkok on 12 March 2004. His car was found
abandoned in Kamphaeng Phet Road near Mor Chit bus terminal. Prior to his
disappearance, he was threatened for taking on the cases of two Thai
alleged members of the Jemaah Islamiyah, a Southeast Asia based Islamic
group accused of carrying out bomb attacks in Thailand. The Asian Human
Rights Commission (AHRC) based in Hongkong, gave a Human Rights Defenders’
Award to Somchai in 2006. Somchai’s wife, Angkhana Neelaphaijit,
has been persistent in her efforts to obtain justice, unsparing in her
criticism of government authorities, and has taken the lead role as an
articulate and courageous spokesperson for the families of disappeared
persons in Southern Thailand. In giving the award to Somchai, the AHRC
also applauded the tremendous contribution that Angkhana has made in
confronting the impunity enjoyed by state officers in Thailand. Angkhana,
who has brought to national and international authorities the case of her
husband, is not spared from threats to her person. She chairs the Working
Group on Justice for Peace (WGJP), AFAD’s most recent member-organization.
Human
rights violations continue in China. The Tibetan Centre for Human
Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) appealed through the World Organisation
Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
about the enforced disappearance of five monks from Ramoche Temple namely
39-year-old Mr. Sonam Rabgyal, Damdul, Rabgyal, and two
other monks who were arrested during a midnight raid on the monks’
residence on 7 April 2008. On that night, around 70 monks of Ramoche
Temple, which is located to the north of Lhasa city, were detained after
the Public Security Bureau (PSB) and People’s Armed Police (PAP) forces
carried out a midnight raid on the monks’ residence. While most of them
were released a few days later after having been interrogated, the
whereabouts of Mr. Sonam Rabgyal, Damdul, Rabgyal and two other monks
remain unclear. Aside from the five cases of disappearance, the TCHRD in
its press release of 25 September 2008, cited that after the outbreak of
the major protests across the Tibetan plateau since 10 March 2008,
cases of enforced disappearance of Tibetans surfaced. TCHRD cited “there
are at least more than a thousand Tibetans whose current whereabouts and
well-being remains completely unknown to their family members and their
affiliated monasteries.” 
residence
of Mr. J.C. Weliamuna, a human rights lawyer and Executive Director
of the Sri Lanka chapter of Transparency International. Accordingly on 27
September 2008, at 11.40 PM, an unidentified gang lobbed two hand grenades
at the residence of Mr. J.C Weliamuna. Property was damaged but
fortunately no bodily harm was caused to Mr. Weliamuna or members of his
family. According to the Observatory, Mr. Weliamuna has appeared in highly
sensitive cases involving corruption and human rights violations,
including pending cases involving government officials and members of the
police force. On the day of the attack, Mr. Weliamuna supported a motion
at the Bar Council regarding another lawyer who had received death threats
due to his appearance in an extrajudicial killing case. The victim had
previously brought two complaints against police officers, for bribery and
torture. The Bar Council unanimously decided to act on the complaint,
condemned interference with the work of lawyers and resolved to pursue the
matter with the Inspector General of Police and other competent
authorities.
In
the Philippines, a new case of enforced disappearance of a human
rights defender was reported. Based on the report, Mr. James Balao
disappeared on 17 September 2008 on his way to visit his family in La
Trinidad, Benguet. He had earlier sent a text message (SMS) to his family
that he was on his way home coming from Baguio. He never reached home.
Belonging to the Ibaloi and Kankanaey tribes, Mr. Balao is a member of the
Cordillera People’s Alliance (CPA) and the president of the Oclupan Clan
Association, an organization that works for self-determination of the
indigenous peoples of the Cordillera. Prior to his disappearance, Mr.
Balao had informed his immediate family that he noticed an unknown group
of men routinely watching and following him. After his disappearance, Mr.
Balao’s family has been continuously searching for him in all places
possible including various military detachments in Northern Philippines –
in La Trinidad, Benguet, Lagangilang, Abra and San Fernando, La Union. To
this writing though, nothing is known of the whereabouts of Mr. Balao.
In
sum, as we commemorate the 60th anniversary of the UDHR and the 10th
anniversary of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders this year, 2008,
the implementation of human rights – “…in small places, close to home –
so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world
…” cited by Eleanor Roosevelt in 1948 has still a long way to go.
Certainly, the updates cited above are but a small part of what is
actually happening in the above countries. It is, indeed, very sad that
enforced disappearances and other forms of human rights violations, some
of which were committed from decades back remain unresolved to this day in
the very countries which
are parties to the UDHR, the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and
many other universal treaties. As the situation persists, the wounds and
pains suffered by families and relatives of victims remain and societies
continue to be unhealed. A big achievement though is that people
from all nooks and corners of the region and in the world along with their
advocacy groups and human rights organizations continue to struggle for
justice and for the implementation of human rights in their own countries
amidst repression and threats to their lives. Certainly, the achievements
in each country are achievements for the continent and the whole global
society.