Press Conference: Sombath Somphone Five Years On: Demands for Truth and Justice Continue
And film Screening: The Disappearance of Sombath Somphone
10am and 6.30pm, Thursday December 07, 2017
Press Conference: Sombath Somphone Five Years On: Demands for Truth and Justice Continue
Time: 10 am-12 pm
Place: Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand
December 15th will mark five years since Sombath Somphone, Magsaysay Laureate and Lao civil society leader, was abducted in full view of traffic police and CCTV cameras on a busy Vientiane street. Lao Authorities maintain their investigation continues, even though they have provided no information either publicly or privately in four and one-half of those five years.
While donor support for the development of Lao civil society organisations has increased significantly, so have government restrictions, including numerous arrests, harsh sentences, and a more stringent decree on Non-Profit Associations in the past year alone. A climate of fear and self-censorship prevails among local groups, as well as donors and other international organisations.
Panelists will revisit the conditions surrounding Sombath’s enforced disappearance, and explore what has, and has not, happened since that time.
Speakers:
Ng Shui Meng: Former Deputy Representative for UNICEF Laos 2000 to 2004; wife of Sombath Somphone
Charles Santiago: Member of Parliament, Selangor Malaysia; Chairperson, ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights
Anne-Sophie Gindroz: Former Country Director of Helvetas; author of “Laos, the Silent Repression”
Moderator: Phil Robertson, Deputy Director, Human Rights Watch Asia Division
Film Screening: The Disappearance of Sombath Somphone
Length: 53 minutes
Time: 6.30 – 8.30 pm
Place: Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand
The Disappearance of Sombath Somphone” is a new documentary film [2017] that looks at Sombath’s life and times, and the events leading up to his disappearance in 2012. Featuring interviews with his wife, Shui-Meng Nag, Lao PDR historian Martin Stuart-Fox, and former European Union Ambassador to Lao PDR, David Lipman, and others.
The film will be introduced by Ng Shui Meng, wife of Sombath Somphone. The screening will be followed by an informal discussion.
Both events are co-organized by The Sombath Initiative, Human Rights Watch, FIDH, ICJ
and APHR.