disappearED Asia

The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) is a federation of human rights organizations working directly on the issue of involuntary disappearances in Asia. Envisioning a world without desaparecidos, the Federation was founded on June 4, 1998 in Manila, Philippines.

AFAD 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 perpetrators, being agents of states, are so powerful that an equally strong response is needed to effect a huge impact. Since it is a violation of a number of basic human rights, civil and political as well as economic and social, enforced disappearance is the cruelest form of human rights violation. 

AFAD intends to facilitate their empowerment which is necessary for the realization of a world without desaparecidos.