International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances
My dearest Sombath,
It’s been a while since I last wrote to you, but I thought it would be appropriate to let you know that the issue of your enforced disappearance is still very much in the minds of many people who care about human rights and social justice.
On 30 August, which marks the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, I was invited to Bangkok, by a number of Human Rights Organizations, including Justice for Peace Foundation, Protection International, and Forum Asia, to mark this special day to remind everyone that many victims of enforced disappearances, and especially the wives, have continued to bear the pain, despair and uncertainty of their loved ones’ unjust abduction.
This year, the event was marked with a very powerful press briefing and meetings with the Diplomatic representatives based in Thailand. Victims, including myself, were invited to share our experiences, and the continued inability of the judicial systems to investigate the cases and bring the perpetrators to justice. Many victims spent years, like me, without ever knowing what happened to their loved ones.
However, despite the lack of resolution, the families, and especially the wives, have continued to struggle without ever losing hope that truth and justice will prevail one day and their loved ones would be returned to them.
At the event, tribute was paid to the disappeared with poems or songs, and offering of flowers to bless them and wish them well wherever they are.
I too dedicated my poem and prayers of hope to you and laid a white lotus for you.
Below is my poem to you:
As Dawn Breaks Every Morn
As dawn breaks every morn, my heart awakens with renewed yearning
Yearning for your return
As dawn breaks every morn, my pain of loss of you deepens
My fears for your safety and well-being heightens
Not knowing where you are, not knowing what you have to endure
The yearning, the pain, the fears, the uncertainty
Grows ever more with each passing day and each passing year
As dawn breaks every morn
As dawn breaks every morn
My anger against the injustice and unfairness of your disappearance grows
Why you, why me, why us? Why the countless victims
Left bereft, living in fear, living in despair!
As dawn breaks every morn
My despair gives way to fury,
Fury for the lack of answers, fury for the lack of justice and truth
As dawn breaks every morn
As dawn breaks every morn
I turn my fury to become the voice for the voiceless
Stop the injustice, end Enforced Disappearance everywhere, anywhere
Let justice and truth prevails
As dawn breaks every morn.
My dearest, I will always love you and wait for your return.
Come back Sombath, come back soon.
Shui Meng