From Grief to Courage: Best Practices in Advocating Legislation Against Enforced Disappearances. An Inter-Regional Conference: Manila, Philippines, 17-20 September 2014

“From Grief to Courage,” this fifth book of the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) is launched on the occasion of AFAD’s 17th year as a Federation. A product of the conference on “Best Practices in Advocating Legislation Against Enforced Disappearances,” the book chronicles best practices in many of the countries represented in the conference, which went beyond advocating for legislation against enforced disappearances.

The book attempts to share the results of AFAD’s solidarity work at its best. It highlights the strength of the responses of the international community to the global phenomenon of enforced disappearances and the hard-earned fruits that have come to some realization in some regions and which we strive to replicate in our continent, where disappearances continue and where truth and justice remain elusive.

Every best practice is a concrete manifestation of the struggle of memory against forgetting. The evil of enforced disappearance is being equally responded to by the formidable strength of the families of the disappeared, whose role in the fight against this abominable crime is central. Hand in hand with the families is the indispensable support of civil society, as enforced disappearance is a social crime.