- Category: Statements
The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) welcomes the landmark step taken by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) of Bangladesh in remanding 15 high-ranking army officers, including five generals, on charges of enforced disappearances committed during the deposed Awami League regime, and for extrajudicial killings and torture linked to the 2024 uprising that toppled the former government. This represents the first time in Bangladesh’s history that formal charges have been brought for enforced disappearances and senior military officials face a civilian court.
- Category: Statements
After the demonstrations held from 25–31 August 2025, AFAD’s member organization in Indonesia, the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS), received a surge of reports of missing individuals, particularly from Jakarta and Bandung, the main centers of mass mobilization. In response, on 1 September 2025, KontraS launched a reporting channel for persons who had allegedly disappeared in the context of the protests. Through this channel, a dedicated task force not only collected reports but also worked to verify the whereabouts of those reported missing and to document security force actions that may constitute enforced disappearances.
- Category: Statements
The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), together with its Nepali member organizations, Advocacy Forum (AF) and Conflict Victims’ Society for Justice (CVSJ), expresses deep solidarity with the youth, students, and citizens of Nepal who are facing violent repression for exercising their democratic rights.
- Category: Statements
The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), together with its Indonesian member organizations: the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of
Violence (KontraS) and the Indonesian Association of Families of the Disappeared (IKOHI), stands in solidarity with workers, students, and citizens across Indonesia who are facing violent repression for exercising their democratic rights.
- Category: Statements
On this International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) stands in solidarity with families of the disappeared across Asia. For decades, enforced disappearance has been used to silence dissent, criminalize human rights defenders, and instill fear in communities. It remains one of the gravest crimes committed by states, leaving families in perpetual anguish, trapped between hope and despair.
- Category: Statements
Today, on International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, eight human rights and civil society organizations highlight the systematic failure of the Pakistani authorities to stop enforced disappearance and provide truth, justice and reparations to victims and families of the disappeared in Pakistan.
- Category: Statements
The last fifty years has been turbulent, even traumatic for Sri Lanka. Two uprisings in the South led by Sinhala youth (1971, 1987-89) and a 30-year civil war led by separatist Tamil groups in the North wreaked havoc on the country. While there is no official total count of the killings or disappearances, the estimated figure could be as high as 150,000 to 200,000.
- Category: Statements
In commemoration of the 2025 International Day of the Disappeared, the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS) and Indonesian Association of Families of the Disappeared (IKOHI) demand the Indonesian legislative to immediately ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances (ICPPED) and the Indonesian security forces to end the practice of enforced disappearance.