To mark the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances on August 30th, Senator Christine Milne from the Australian Greens and Senator Pia S. Cayetana from the Philippines issued statements in support of Sombath and calling for an end to Enforced Disappearances. Please follow the links to read their respective statements.
Dear Sombath…from Mhe-Ann Burgos
Dear Sombath,
Greetings of peace!
I share the same endeavor as your wife. My husband [Jonas Burgos] was taken away from me, too. He was abducted by the military last 2007. We are nearing the eighth year of his disappearance. It is difficult, yes, but my family and I will never stop until we have found him, you, and all the other disappeared. Yes, even if it happens that we may have already found my husband, we will continue to search for the others. It is because we know how hard it is for the families and friends left behind by the disappeared. We want this all to end. Nobody must be disappeared again.
Shui Meng and I write each other whenever we can. We need each other as well as all the other relatives of the other disappeared. We support and comfort one another so we can continue on strong with the search. I know you would be very proud of your wife because she never stops searching and fighting for you, to get you back. And I know my husband is just as proud of me, too, for doing the same.
When we remembered the International Day of the Disappeared last Aug. 31, I had a butterfly land on me when we were about to start the march. I whispered a message to it for my husband…In our country, we have this belief that butterflies may carry messages for people in some special way. I will send you a butterfly, Sombath. Keep strong and keep the faith. God is with all of us always!
My prayers and support, Mhe-Ann
Education is too Important…
Education is too important to be left only in the hands of teachers and bureaucrats at the Ministry of Education. Educators and teachers need to work hand-in-hand with parents, the community, the private sector, and most especially, children themselves to transform the business of education.
Education has to become more participatory, experiential and stimulating. It has to be more fun. Both the process and content of education have to unleash the potential of every child to solve life problems. Education should be able to integrate information and knowledge into a coherent whole.
Sombath, in “Experiential Learning in Lao Rice Fields,” SangSaeng, Summer, 2008.
SAPA Working Group on ASEAN: Uphold Human Rights and Investigate Disappearances
Solidarity for Asian Peoples’ Advocacies (SAPA) Working Group on ASEAN calls on ASEAN to uphold human rights and investigate cases of enforced disappearances
August 30 marked the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearance. In solidarity with the victims and families of those who have been disappeared, the SAPA Working Group on ASEAN urges ASEAN governments to bring an immediate end to enforced disappearances and ensure justice for the victims and their families.
Enforced or involuntary disappearance is one of the most heinous violations of human rights, akin to torture, and cruel and inhuman treatment. According to the United Nations Declaration on the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance, an enforced disappearance happens when, “persons are arrested, detained or abducted against their will or otherwise deprived of their liberty by officials of different branches or levels of Government, or by organized groups or private individuals acting on behalf of, or with the support, direct or indirect, consent or acquiescence of the Government, followed by a refusal to disclose the fate or whereabouts of the persons concerned or a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of their liberty, which places such persons outside the protection of the law.” Continue reading “SAPA Working Group on ASEAN: Uphold Human Rights and Investigate Disappearances”
รายงานพิเศษ – รออย่างมีหวัง ภรรยา "สมบัด สมพอน"
The Nation TV: 03 กันยายน 2557
กรณีการหายตัวไปของนักเคลื่อนไหว เกิดขึ้นในหลากหลายประเทศ หนึ่งในนั้น ที่เป็นที่รู้จักพอสมควร คือ การหายตัวไปของอ้ายสมบัด สมพอน นักพัฒนาชาวลาว ที่หายตัวไปเกือบ 2 ปีแล้ว … จนถึงวันนี้ มีข่าวคราวใด ๆ เกี่ยวกับตัวเขาหรือไม่ … คุณภัทร จินตนะกุล พาไปนครหลวงเวียงจันทน์ พูดคุยกับภรรยาของอ้ายสมบัด กันค่ะ
15 ธันวาคม 2555 คือวันที่ สมบัด สมพอน นักเคลื่อนไหวและนักพัฒนาชาวลาว หายตัวไปอย่างไร้ร่องรอย หลังจากที่เขาถูกโบกรถให้จอดเข้าข้างทาง จากนั้นมีคนเข้ามาเจรจากับเขา ท่ามกลางการจราจรที่พลุกพล่านในนครหลวงเวียงจันทน์ .. ก่อนที่สุดท้าย จะหายตัวไป ไม่มีใครทราบว่าเป็นตายร้ายดีอย่างไร .. Continue reading “รายงานพิเศษ – รออย่างมีหวัง ภรรยา "สมบัด สมพอน"”
Help Amnesty Help Sombath
Amnesty International has launched a fresh letter writing campaign demanding Lao government action on the enforced disappearance of Sombath.
Sombath has been missing 625 days. Joining this Amnesty effort only takes a few minutes.
Making the disappeared visible: the EU and the enforced disappearance of Sombath Somphone
New Europe: 31 August 2014
by Nicolas Beger
The International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearance was marked on 30 August. Many of us will have given special thought to Sombath Somphone, one of many such victims.
Sombath is known across Southeast Asia. But today, his whereabouts still remain shrouded in mystery. On 15 December 2012, Sombath was driving outside Vientiane, Laos, when, as video evidence shows, he was stopped at a police post. A truck with flashing lights arrived.
As police looked on, Sombath was bundled into it by men in civilian clothing. Police investigations have been far from thorough and failed to make full use of available video footage. Continue reading “Making the disappeared visible: the EU and the enforced disappearance of Sombath Somphone”
Amnesty Renews Call for Competent Investigation
Marking the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, Amnesty International has sent another plea to Lao President Choummaly Sayasone seeking justice for Sombath:
The Lao authorities have denied arresting Sombath Somphone and deny any responsibility for his enforced disappearance, saying that he may have been abducted as part of a private dispute after being stopped by police for a routine document check. Several statements issued by the police on the matter provide little information or detail.
There appears to have been a failure by your government to conduct a prompt, thorough, competent, and impartial investigation. In addition, other countries’ offers of external assistance, including analysis of the original CCTV footage, have been rejected.
…The case has been marked throughout by flawed investigations, a wilful refusal to adequately address key questions, inconsistencies and the rejection of international assistance – in short, by the Lao government’s failure to remedy a serious human rights violation and persistence in ignoring its international human rights obligations.
The full statement can be seen here.
A New Hope With Every Sunrise for Families of the Disappeared
Huffington Post: 31 August 2014
By Geoffrey Mock
“A mother’s broken heart keeps waiting to know something about her only son, whom she has not seen for 670 days. A new hope is born on every sunrise to see Dr. Mohamed Arab once again with us.”
These words from the sister of Syrian doctor Mohamed Bashir Arab reveals something about the special hell family members go through when loved ones face “enforced disappearances” by government authorities. An “enforced disappearance” takes place when a person is arrested, detained or abducted by the state or agents acting for the state, who then deny that the person is being held or conceal their whereabouts, placing them outside the protection of the law.
From Syria to El Salvador, North Korea to Laos, family members wake every morning hoping that this is the day that some news is confirmed, and to end every day being denied information and closure. Continue reading “A New Hope With Every Sunrise for Families of the Disappeared”
Dear Sombath…from Shui Meng (5)
My dearest Sombath
Today is 30 August 2014, International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances – a Day to remind the world that Enforced Disappearance is an international crime and violation against human rights. It is also a Day to remember the pain and suffering this violation causes to the victims and their families.
For the people around the world – it may be just a small jolt to their collective memory that such awful crimes against humanity continue to happen around the world, and that there are still many families and communities whose lives are forever changed, and forever broken. They are also asked to remember that in thousand and thousand of cases, the perpetrators of the crime are state agents who are protected by the state and its broken justice system. They are servants of states which deliberately use enforced disappearances as a tool of state intimidation to silence their own citizens who are viewed as “troublesome”, “outspoken”, “civil activists”, or “politically incorrect”. Continue reading “Dear Sombath…from Shui Meng (5)”