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Laos: UN experts appeal for help to probe two-year-old disappearance of rights defender

International law makes clear that the Government of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic has the duty to carry out an independent, thorough, credible and effective investigation.

UN News Centre: 23 December 2014

UN LogoInternational support is now needed to investigate the enforced disappearance of leading Laotian human rights defender Sombath Somphone, who was last seen in December 2012, a group of United Nations independent experts urged today.

“It is high time for the authorities of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic to voluntarily request international assistance with the aim of shedding light on Mr. Somphone’s fate and whereabouts, two years after his disappearance,” the experts said in a news release.

“International law makes clear that the Government of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic has the duty to carry out an independent, thorough, credible and effective investigation,” they added.

Mr. Somphone is a prominent human rights activist working on issues of land confiscation and assisting victims in denouncing such practices. He was last seen at a police checkpoint with his car parked in the police compound. Continue reading “Laos: UN experts appeal for help to probe two-year-old disappearance of rights defender”

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Amnesty International in Canberra keeps up pressure

As posted on December 10th, Amnesty International’s chapter in Canberra, Australia held an action at the Lao embassy on 15 December, the two-year mark since Sombath’s enforced disappearance. Canberra-AI-2014-12-15

Members had also raised awareness in the diplomatic areas on the preceding Thursday and Friday, and will be lobbying various missions in the lead up to Laos’ Universal Periodic Review on January 20th.

The group’s letter to Mr Phomma Khammanichan, Lao Ambassador to Australia, reads in part:

Phoumma KhammanichanhWe are disappointed that the Lao PDR investigation into Sombath’s disappearance has seemingly not commenced in any substantial manner even after 2 years.

We know, you know, the representatives at the UN Universal Periodic Review know and the investigation team knows that the person who parked his motor bike at the police post and who then drove off in Sombath’s vehicle can be identified because the motor bike was identifiable.

We all know that the officer in charge of the police post and therefore in control of events on that on that fateful day can be identified and interviewed. This officer would normally know the identities of persons who entered the police post during the course of Sombath’s apprehension and disappearance.

We know that the licence number of the vehicle that took Sombath away is identifiable through CCTV footage taken at the time. Yet there is no evidence that these simple elements of an investigation have been made.

We all know that the Lao PDR Penal Code prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention and abduction. We also know as you would, that no one in Laos can be detained for more than 12 months without trial.

 

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Sombath ‘offers youth a role model’

Bangkok Post: 17 December 2014

Laos would be more culturally dignified and have more active young citizens if Sombath Somphone had not gone missing two years ago, according to a seminar held on Monday to mark the anniversary of the activist’s disappearance.

Surichai Wun’gaeo, director of Chulalongkorn’s Centre of Peace and Conflict Studies, said Mr Sombath was not only a citizen of Laos but a regional asset, since he was recognised with a Magsaysay award in 2005.

“He cares for his nation and the whole region and brings a subtle approach and compassion,” Mr Surichai, one of Mr Sombath’s long-time friends, told the “If the World Didn’t Have Enforced Disappearances” seminar.

Premrudee Daoruang, coordinator of the Towards Ecological Recovery and Regional Alliance, said Mr Sombath’s main focus was energising young people about sustainable agriculture to boost their cultural independence and reject materialistic goals.

“During my 20 years of working with Brother Sombath, I noticed he tried many approaches and worked with all types of people at provincial and national levels,” said Ms Premrudee. Continue reading “Sombath ‘offers youth a role model’”

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ASEAN Should Confront Laos On Rights Abuses: NGOs

The Diplomat: 16 December 2014

Call issued on anniversary of disappearance of Lao civil society leader Sombath Somphone

By Prashanth Parameswaran

ASEAN member states should abandon their principle of not interfering in each other’s internal affairs and confront Laos on rights abuses in the country as responsible members of the international community, a group of leading regional and international non-governmental organizations said yesterday.

“Instead of invoking the principle of non-interference into one another’s internal affairs, ASEAN member states must act as responsible members of the international community and uphold the…key tenets enshrined in the ASEAN charter, which recognizes the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms….,” a statement, signed by 82 regional and international NGOs, said.

The statement was released on the second anniversary of the enforced disappearance of revered Lao civil society leader Sombath Somphone, who was last seen on the evening of December 15, 2012. A police security video of the incident showed Sombath being stopped at a police checkpoint while driving home, before being taken into custody by unknown individuals. Rights groups say the fact that the police officers who witnessed the abduction failed to intervene suggests some level of complicity by Lao authorities. Continue reading “ASEAN Should Confront Laos On Rights Abuses: NGOs”

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PADETC marks two years

Remembering the 2nd Anniversary of the Disappearance of PADETC’s Founder, Sombath Somphone and Celebrating the progress of PADETC’s Vision of Education for Sustainable Development was held at the PADETC’s office on December 15th, and attended by over 100 people. A summary description is available here, and more pictures here.

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Laos must come clean

The Nation: 16 December 2014

The Laos government claims to care about its citizens. Now is the time to prove it.

Silence over the disappearance two years ago of community activist Sombath Somphone is a stain on the national conscience.

On the evening of December 15, 2012, Magsaysay award winner Sombath Somphone was seen getting out of his jeep and walking into a police outpost on Thadeua Road, Vientiane. Video from a traffic camera shows that a car with flashing lights then arrived, Sombath was escorted to it by unidentified men and then driven away from the scene.The video clip, available on YouTube and other websites, has been viewed by people around the world many times over the past two years. Lao authorities, meanwhile, have announced several times they are investigating Sombath’s disappearance, but on each occasion they have been unable to demonstrate any progress on the case to the public and his family.The international community, including the United Nations, has voiced concerns over his disappearance and pressured the government in Vientiane to make greater efforts to solve the case.Sombath had dedicated his life to the development of his motherland and the betterment of his fellow citizens, particularly the poor. He is a model Lao citizen with a deep love for Laos that he expressed in actions.

In the early 1970s, he received a scholarship to study at the University of Hawaii where he received a BA in Education and an MA in Agriculture. With these qualifications he was free to settle anywhere in the world after the Vietnam War and the fall of Vientiane to the communist Pathet Lao in 1975. But he chose to return home so as to help poor farmers improve their productivity. His contribution to Lao society matches that of the most idealistic members of the Vientiane government. In this regard, the government owes him a lot. But his work went largely unrecognised at home, only coming to international attention when Sombath was handed the prestigious Magsaysay Award for community leadership. Continue reading “Laos must come clean”