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Laos: Anniversary of ‘Disappearance' Demands Action

Thomas Reuters Foundaton: 16 December 2013

The Lao government should immediately disclose the fate of prominent social activist Sombath Somphone, who was apprehended at a police checkpoint in Vientiane one year ago, Human Rights Watch said today.

(Bangkok) – The Lao government should immediately disclose the fate of prominent social activist Sombath Somphone, who was apprehended at a police checkpoint in Vientiane one year ago. The official investigation of his enforced disappearance on December 15, 2012 was inadequate, and the government has yet to offer a credible explanation of Sombath’s whereabouts.

“One year since Sombath Somphone ‘disappeared,’ the Lao government clearly hopes the world will just forget about what happened to one of its most prominent citizens,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Foreign donors to the Lao government should make Sombath’s enforced disappearance a priority until he can return home.”

Security camera footage shows police stopping Sombath’s jeep at 6:03 p.m. on December 15, and unidentified men taking him into the Thadeua police post. Shortly after, an unidentified motorcyclist stopped at the police post and drove off with Sombath’s jeep, leaving his own motorcycle by the roadside. A few minutes later, a truck with flashing lights stopped at the police post. Two people got out of the truck, took Sombath into the vehicle, then drove off.  Continue reading “Laos: Anniversary of ‘Disappearance' Demands Action”

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UN OHCHR renews calls for investigation

InboxA year on, the enforced disappearance of Sombath Somphone continues with impunity in Lao PDR

GENEVA (16 December 2013) – A group of United Nations human rights experts today urged the Government of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) to increase its efforts in the investigations into the enforced disappearance on 15 December 2012, of Sombath Somphone, a prominent human right activist working on issues of land confiscation and assisting victims in denouncing such practices.

“Mr. Somphone has been disappeared for one year. We are deeply concerned about his safety and security”, the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances said. “We urge the Government of Lao PDR to do its utmost to locate Mr. Somphone, to establish his fate and whereabouts, and to hold the perpetrators accountable.”

The human rights experts noted that Mr. Somphone was held in police custody following his reported disappearance, according to additional information received that sheds new light on the case. A few days after his disappearance, he was seen inside a police detention centre with his car parked in the police compound. Continue reading “UN OHCHR renews calls for investigation”

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US ‘deeply concerned’ over Laos activist fate

Al Jazeera: 16 December 2013

Sombath Somphone was abducted from police checkpoint a year ago, but Laos’s government is silent on the matter.

Sombath Somphone
The US said diplomats raised Somphone’s abduction case with Lao president following a donor meeting [AP]
The United States has said it is “deeply concerned” that the fate of one of Laos’ most prominent social activists is still unknown, one year after he was abducted from a police checkpoint in Vientiane.

The abduction of Sombath Somphone, 61, at a busy traffic junction in the Laotian capital on December 15 last year was recorded on government surveillance cameras.

Despite calls by foreign governments and rights groups for information on Sambath’s disappearance, the Laos communist-led government has maintained almost complete silence on the matter.

“Laos has taken steps in recent years to become a responsible partner in the community of nations. Sombath’s abduction threatens to undermine those efforts,” the US Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement on Sunday.

“We call on the government to take all actions possible to ensure his safe return to his family.” Continue reading “US ‘deeply concerned’ over Laos activist fate”

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Kerry Warns Laos Over Missing Civil Society Leader's Case

Radio Free Asia: 15 December 2013

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A 2005 photo of Sombath Somphone in the Philippines. AFP/Sombath family

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned Laos Sunday that the unresolved case of a missing local civil society leader could undermine the authoritarian state’s aspirations of becoming a responsible member of the international community.

Kerry, who is visiting Southeast Asia, said the United States “remains deeply concerned” over the fate of Sombath Somphone, one of the most respected civil society figures in Laos, on the one-year anniversary of his disappearance.

Sombath has been missing since Dec. 15, 2012, when he was stopped in his vehicle at a police checkpoint in the Lao capital Vientiane. He was then transferred into another vehicle, according to surveillance video. No one has seen him since.

Lao officials say they are investigating the case but have offered little information on Sombath’s whereabouts, prompting human rights groups to suspect that he may have been abducted by government-linked groups.

Six international rights groups said in a joint statement last week that Laos’s failure to conduct a “serious” investigation into the disappearance had “heightened concerns” about government involvement in the case. Continue reading “Kerry Warns Laos Over Missing Civil Society Leader's Case”

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Swiss aid agency adds voice

logo_langID1_secoLaos: Abduction of Sombath Somphone / Laos: Entführungsfall Sombath Somphone

On 15 December 2012, Sombath Somphone, a recognized representative of the Lao civil society disappeared in the Vientiane capital of Lao PDR. The Government of Switzerland is very concerned about the fate of Sombath Somphone and the lack of substantive information by the Lao authorities investigation of this abduction.

For many years Sombath Somphone has worked tirelessly for the sustainable development in Laos through education and motivation of the Laotian youth. For his intensive efforts to promote fair and social development in Laos, Sombath Somphone is held in high esteem within the country and internationally.

Through its development projects in Lao PDR, Switzerland is committed to supporting an active civil society that contributes constructively to the development of the country. A reliable and conducive legal, political and social environment is indispensable for this. Continue reading “Swiss aid agency adds voice”

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Laos activist's disappearance still unsolved

Al Jazeera: 15 December 2013

Security video of activist Sombath Somphone, who disappeared a year ago, suggests government may have been involved.

Al JazeeraIt’s been a year since a prominent community worker disappeared in Communist-ruled Laos. Security video which captured Sombath Somphone’s abduction last year suggests the government may have been involved.

The US and the European Parliament have expressed concerns.

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สิทธิมนุษยชนอาเซียนอยู่ไหน เมื่อคนเห็นต่างจากรัฐถูกอุ้มหาย…

สำนักข่าวอิศรา: 15 ธันวาคม 2013

131256จากวันที่ “สมบัด สมพอน” นักพัฒนาอาวุโสชาวลาว ได้หายตัวไปจากกรุงเวียงจันทร์ เมื่อวันที่ 15 ธันวาคม 2555 ก็ล่วงเวลามา 1 ปีแล้ว ที่เราต่างเชื่อกันว่า เขาเป็นเหยื่ออีกหนึ่งรายที่ถูกบังคับให้หายสาบสูญไปโดยน้ำมือของเจ้า หน้าที่รัฐ เฉกเช่นเดียวกับนายสมชาย นีละไพจิตร นักกฎหมายและทนายความด้านสิทธิมนุษยชน ผู้ถูกบังคับหายไปจากประเทศไทย เมื่อวันที่ 12 มีนาคม 2547 หรือเมื่อ 10 ปีที่แล้วนั้นเอง

การถูกบังคับให้หายตัวไปของผู้ทำคุณประโยชน์ให้กับสังคมทั้ง 2 ราย ถือเป็นการถูกละเมิดสิทธิมนุษยชนจากคนของรัฐ เพียงเพราะพวกเขาทำงานเพื่อประชาชนที่ถูกเอารัดเอาเปรียบ อีกทั้งครอบครัวผู้สูญหายยังต้องเผชิญกับการเพิกเฉยจากรัฐในการติดตามผู้ กระทำความผิดมาลงโทษ ซึ่งขัดต่อหลักปฏิญญาสากลว่าด้วยสิทธิมนุษยชน

พันธมิตรองค์กรภาคประชาสังคมต่าง ๆ มองเห็นปัญหาที่อนาคตจะมีการเปิดการค้าเสรีอาเซียน และตั้งคำถามกับกระบวนการยุติธรรมของไทยและลาวที่ล้วนแต่เป็นสมาชิกสมาคม อาเซียน และไม่ต้องการให้รัฐมุ่งหน้าเพียงการพัฒนาเศรษฐกิจให้ก้าวไกล และปล่อยให้ปัญหาการละเมิดสิทธิมนุษยชนขยายตัวเพิ่มมากขึ้น จึงให้มีการจัดงานเสวนาเพื่อเรียกร้องให้รัฐดำเนินการในกระบวนการยุติธรรม ที่ถูกต้อง Continue reading “สิทธิมนุษยชนอาเซียนอยู่ไหน เมื่อคนเห็นต่างจากรัฐถูกอุ้มหาย…”

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Questions remain over missing Laos leader

Al Jazeera: 15 December 2013

Sombath Somphone disappeared a year ago after police stopped him, but officials remain silent on his fate.

Sombath Somphone
Sombath Somphone received the Ramon Magsaysay award for community leadership in 2005 [AP]
For a year now Ng Shui Meng has been waiting for news of her husband, Sombath Somphone, who was abducted from a police post at a busy traffic junction in the Laotian capital Vientiane last December – and hasn’t been seen since.

The case of 61-year-old Sombath, described as “farmer, scholar, scientist and community developer” by one of the groups he founded, has been taken up by the United States and Europe, but Laos’ Communist-led government has maintained an almost complete silence.

Ng says since the police told her they were investigating the disappearance, she’s heard little more. Continue reading “Questions remain over missing Laos leader”

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ICJ calls on Lao government

icj_logoThe International Commission of Jurists has renewed its call to the Lao courts to open a case regarding Sombath Somphone:

It is deplorable that one year after Sombath Somphone was abducted after being stopped by traffic police, the public prosecutor has yet to institute formal or criminal proceedings into his disappearance.

The government of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic must immediately take effective measure to ensure an impartial and thorough investigation and bring justice to those responsible for crimes against Sombath Somphone.

Sam Zarifi, ICJ Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific. The full announcement can be seen here.

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Laos human rights chill a year after activist's disappearance

Reuters: 14 December 2013

By Aubrey Belford

Dec 14 (Reuters) – The last sign of Sombath Somphone, the most famous social activist in Laos, is a blurry video taken on a Vientiane street.

The video shows Sombath, 61, being stopped at a police post on Dec. 15 last year. He is seen being led into a pickup truck, which then drives off screen and disappears.

A year on, rights groups and Western governments are calling for Laos to fully investigate Sombath’s disappearance, which Amnesty International says reeks of an official cover-up. The case has become a headache for the Communist country as it seeks international respectability and to open its economy.

The landlocked, impoverished country has experienced economic growth of more than 8 percent in recent years.

It is seeking to become the “battery of Southeast Asia” by exporting electricity from hydropower plants, but it has come under criticism for environmental destruction, land grabs and wasteful resource exploitation.

Now a deep freeze has descended on a tiny civil society that has tried to bring more openness to the tightly controlled state that has little tolerance for dissent. Continue reading “Laos human rights chill a year after activist's disappearance”