Fight to be Free, Decade 3

Twenty-one years ago, the Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearances (FIND) in the Philippines, together with representatives from different regions (Latin America, Africa, Asia), conceptualized the formation of a regional federation to fight against the phenomenon of enforced disappearances in Asia. A year later, FIND sought consultations with the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) in Indian-Administered Jammu and Kashmir and Organization of Parents and Family Members of the Disappeared (OPFMD) in Sri Lanka in 1998. Thus on 4 June 1998, the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) was formed. The struggle of FIND members, especially of Congressman Edcel Lagman towards the formation of AFAD was substantive and symbolic and an inspiration for many organizations in Asia.