Enforced disappearances and abductions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 11, 2006 AS-104-2006 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission THAILAND: DSI director must be sacked and investigated In a May 9 letter to the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Justice in Thailand, the wife of disappeared human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit launched a scathing attack on the work […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information that five persons have been missing since 28 April 2005 in Tagaytay City, Philippines. They are Riel Custodio, Axel Pinpin, Enrico Ybanez, Michael Mesias and Aristides Sarmiento. Riel and Axel are known peasant activists working for the organisation, “Kalipunan ng mga Magsasaka sa Kabite (Kamagsasaka-Ka […]

There have been many disappearances in Pakistan’s political history. The present disappearances are occurring in the Sindh and Balochistan provinces of the country, largely by law enforcement agencies. In response, Pakistani citizens have organised two protest rallies against these disappearances. One of these will be held in Karachi, Pakistan on April 28, 2006 organised by the […]

Dear friends, The head of the army in Thailand is reported as having admitted that the security forces in the south of the country are using “blacklists” to hunt down alleged insurgents in the south. He has also admitted that there are names of persons on the lists who are not genuine suspects. The Asian […]

Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation (DSI) again appears to have lost interest in the case of abducted human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit. After local human rights defenders obtained the cooperation of the Central Institute of Forensic Science to search an area of the Mae Klong River in Ratchaburi Province during late March, the DSI director-general, […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you of the disappearance of Dr. Safdar Sarki, a nationalist and political leader in Pakistan. On 24 February 2006, Dr. Sarki was picked up by the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) from his apartment in Gulistan e Jauhar Karachi between 1 and 2pm. Witnesses […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned by the continuous disappearances of political and human rights activists in Balochistan, the southern province in Pakistan. It is alleged that government’s security personnel are involved in these disappearances. The latest disappearance took place on 7 April 2006. Mr. Munir Mengal, the management director of […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding suspicions that an activist who was forcibly abducted and reported missing could be in the custody of the military. Activist Ronald Intal (24) was forcibly taken by armed men at around 11am near a motorcycle terminal in Barangay Balete, Hacienda Luisita on 3 […]

[RE: FA-06-2004: THAILAND: A human rights lawyer Mr. Somchai Neelaphaijit missing… UP-20-2005: THAILAND: Human rights lawyer still missing after nearly one year; Action needed today to have case transferred; UP-24-2005: THAILAND: Thai minister refuses to act on missing human rights lawyer case; UP-37-2005: Thai PM orders action on missing human rights lawyer, while court hears […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that another activist was forcibly abducted and disappeared on 6 April 2006. Victim Dario Almonte was forcibly abducted in front of his wife Cherry and his six-year-old nephew at 6am in front of his sister’s house in Puyo Compound, Sta. Clara, Batangas City. […]

Today, March 30, 2006 the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has nominated three outstanding widows of human rights defenders to receive jointly the prestigious 2006 , awarded by the May 18 Memorial Foundation, Korea. The three are: Angkhana Neelaphaijit, wife of disappeared Thai human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit; Suciwati Munir, wife of murdered Indonesian human […]

[RE: UP-20-2005: THAILAND: Human rights lawyer still missing after nearly one year; Action needed today to have case transferred; UP-24-2005: THAILAND: Thai minister refuses to act on missing human rights lawyer case; UP-37-2005: Thai PM orders action on missing human rights lawyer, while court hears of torture; UP-45-2005: Wife of missing human rights lawyer intimidated; […]

An article in Friday’s Thai Day supplement to the International Herald Tribune quoted an officer of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) working on the case of abducted human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit as saying that “the case is proving very difficult” because “the DSI only took up the case late last year” (‘DSI condemned […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information from the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) stating that labour leader Rogelio Concepcion, who was reported missing, is now confirmed to have been forcibly abducted and disappeared on 6 March 2006. His whereabouts remain unknown and his relatives fear that […]

In recent days a visitor to the banks of the Mae Klong River in Ban Pong of Ratchaburi province, west of Bangkok, might have noticed a little dinghy moving about in the middle of the swollen water, a small group of people watching from the shoreline. The dinghy has been occupied by forensic professionals, divers […]

[RE: FA-06-2004: THAILAND: A human rights lawyer Mr. Somchai Neelaphaijit missing… UP-20-2005: THAILAND: Human rights lawyer still missing after nearly one year; Action needed today to have case transferred; UP-24-2005: THAILAND: Thai minister refuses to act on missing human rights lawyer case; UP-37-2005: Thai PM orders action on missing human rights lawyer, while court hears […]

On 3 March 2006, Joey Estriber was waiting for a lift home in Baler, Aurora, when four armed men suddenly dragged him into a nearby van and drove off. Days later, Rogelio Concepcion was also forcibly disappeared in San Ildefonso, Bulacan on March 6. According to witnesses, two men riding on a motorcycle grabbed him […]

PHILIPPINES: Abduction and forcible disappearance; violence against human rights activists by military; inadequate investigation; absence of an enabling law to seek justice, remedies and prosecute perpetrators of disappearance ———————————– Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received further information from Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights) stating that Joey Estriber, a […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR), a labour and human rights organisation based in Quezon City, detailing the disappearance of labour leader, Rogelio Concepcion on 6 March 2006. Concepcion’s family fears that he could have been abducted by elements of […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), Hong Kong, with the cooperation of the Institute of Asian Studies and Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University and the NGOs Coalition for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, Thailand, is pleased to announce that the 2nd Asian Human Rights Defenders Award Presentation Ceremony for Mr Somchai Neelaphaijit (posthumous), […]