Mary Aileen Diez Bacalso, Secretary General of Asian Federation Against involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) was debarred to enter India on Sunday. In a statement, Chairperson AFAD Mugiyanto said Bacalso was debarred from entering the country at the Mumbai International Airport.
He said Bacalso is also the Focal Person of the International Coalition Against Enforced Disappearances with 52 members worldwide.
“It is for the second time anyone from AFAD has been stopped from entering India. Previously another AFAD Administrative Officer was refused entry in India in 2010. No AFAD representatives have ever been banned from visiting any country. This ban on AFAD representatives to Jammu and Kashmir and India shows the deep paranoia and hostility of the Indian government towards human rights activists. It appears that Indian state’s objective from this ban is also to isolate the human rights activists from Jammu and Kashmir,” the statement said.
“AFAD will report this blockade to the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and to other Special Rapporteurs. AFAD urges the international human rights organizations and the institutions to question Indian government’s intransigence and their policy towards human rights work,” it added.
AFAD Secy General debarred from entering India
