One Year of Arbitrary Detention: Human Rights Organisations Call for Release of Kashmiri Human Rights Defender Khurram Parvez

The undersigned organisations call for the immediate and unconditional release of Kashmiri human rights defender Khurram Parvez, who was arrested one year ago on November 22, 2021 on politically motivated terrorism and other charges.

Parvez, the Coordinator of the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) and Chairperson of the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), has been a champion of human rights advocacy, documentation, and investigations including in the Jammu and Kashmir region, for over 20 years.

AFAD joins Philippine human rights defenders in condemning Martial Law atrocities and combating widespread historical distortion

MANILA: Fifty years since Ferdinand Marcos Sr. declared Martial Law in 1972, the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) affirms its steadfast support to the Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (FIND) and other Philippine human rights defenders in seeking truth and justice on atrocities committed under this dark regime.

AFAD strongly condemns the decision of the Prime Minister’s Office to uphold its former decision to deregister Odhikar.

Manila: The Asian Federation against Involuntary Disappearances strongly condemns the decision of the Prime Minister’s office in Bangladesh to uphold its decision to deregister Odhikar, one of the most credible human rights organisations in the South Asian region.

Protect, not Persecute Human Rights Defenders: AFAD Commemorates the International Day of the Disappeared

31 August 2022

Manila:  On the International Day of the Disappeared 2022, the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) calls for the protection, NOT PERSECUTION, of human rights defenders and advocates.

Years after the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on Enforced Disappearance and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED), the practice of enforced disappearance chillingly persists. Enforced disappearance is defined as a crime against humanity and the worst type of human rights violation as it puts a person completely outside the protection of the law.