New Organization of Relatives of Victims of Disappearances in Aceh

Solidarity Message of AFAD

To the Founding Congress of the Families of the Disappeared in Aceh:

Warmest greetings from organizations of families of the disappeared from East Timor,, India, other parts of Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand!

In the spirit of friendship and solidarity, we warmly congratulate you, families of the disappeared in Aceh for this historic moment of your organization, your Founding Congress. Convening this major organizational event is a huge step in recognizing your strength in collectively fighting against the crime of enforced disappearances. Empowering yourselves by forming your organization manifests your belief in the intrinsic strength of each of the individual family member of the disappeared who, when organized, can be transformed into a formidable force in the struggle for truth, for justice, for redress and the reconstruction of the historical memory of your beloved disappeared. The strength of your unity which you will start to build through this Founding Congress will be one of the many steps in this long and difficult journey towards the realization of a world without desaparecidos.

Your disappeared loved ones will be a source of your inspiration to commit yourselves to your new organization of families of the disappeared. Through your organization, your loved ones will never be forgotten. The activities that you will be doing together to search for your loved ones and to struggle for truth and justice will concretely manifest a love so profound, from which comes the strong determination to leave no stone unturned until the truth is found and justice shall emerge triumphant. The hard-earned fruits of your efforts shall be multiplied a hundredfold, nay a thousandfold and will greatly contribute to the eradication of the scourge of enforced disappearances from the face of the earth. With courage and perseverance, you will give new life to today’s and tomorrow’s generations who will be spared from the chilling effects of the heinous crime of enforced disappearances.

The perpetrators of enforced disappearances have all the powers at their disposal. They have the state machineries to lean on, thus, are seemingly insurmountable. But with an equal strength of your commitment and determination to fight against impunity, you shall overcome! This is certainly a struggle so difficult, a journey so long… But rest assured that organizations of families of the disappeared in other parts of the world are with you in the spirit of accompaniment and solidarity.

We are one in the same pain. We are together in the same struggle. With high hopes, hand in hand, we shall be reaping the same victory in the fight against impunity… in the realization of a world without disappeared persons.

As you convene your Founding Congress, please accept our friendship and solidarity which shall always unify us in the cause that we commonly adhere to – a world without desaparecidos.

Until victory!



MUGIYANTO MARY AILEEN D. BACALSO
Chairperson Secretary-General