This video is one of a series from an interview by Ore Huiying with Sombath in August, 2010.
Country Boy Forever: Sombath Somphone
This video was made by PADETC in preparation for Sombath to receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2005.
Clarification
“While Sombath has always advocated broader dialogue and participation on the overall development approaches in Laos and, especially advocated for sustainable development which is more balanced, taking into consideration development’s impact on culture, nature, spiritual well-being, as well as the economy, he never criticized specific projects nor actively supported any organizing against hydro-power dams.”
Ng Shui Meng, quoted in Dam dilemmas: Laos cashes in on hydro
Verschollen in Vientiane
Neue Zürcher Zeitung: 22 November 2013
Rätselhafte Entführung
Im kommunistischen Kleinstaat Laos schien sich eine politische Öffnung anzubahnen – bis vor einem Jahr ein bekannter Aktivist spurlos verschwand. Die internationale Gemeinschaft reagiert empört.
Marco Kauffmann Bossart, Vientiane
Ng Shui Meng blickte in den Rückspiegel und sah, wie Sombath Somphone mit seinem Jeep auf der Thadeua-Strasse in Vientiane neben einem Kontrollposten der Polizei anhielt. Sorgen machte sie sich deswegen keine. Vielleicht handelte es sich um eine simple Ausweiskontrolle, oder der Motor des in die Jahre gekommenen Fahrzeugs bockte. Das Paar war an diesem Abend des 15. Dezembers 2012 mit zwei Autos unterwegs und hatte vereinbart, sich zu Hause zu treffen. Alarm schlug Ng erst, als Sombaths Handy wiederholt ins Leere klingelte und keines der Spitäler in der überschaubaren Hauptstadt von Laos an diesem Samstag Opfer von Verkehrsunfällen zu vermelden hatte.
Zwei Tage später sprach Ng beim Posten an der Thadeua-Strasse vor, bei dem sie ihren Mann zuletzt gesehen hatte. Ein hilfsbereiter Beamter zeigte ihr die Aufnahmen einer jener Überwachungskameras, die das autokratische Regime zur Abwehr «antisozialer Aktivitäten» installiert hatte. Auf dem Bildschirm erkannte sie den Jeep ihres Mannes. Sombath steigt aus und wird einige Minuten später in ein weisses Pick-up-Fahrzeug eskortiert und weggefahren. Ng nahm geistesgegenwärtig ihr Handy hervor und filmte mit. Das so entstandene Video deutet darauf hin, dass der Entwicklungshelfer und Aktivist vom Sicherheitsapparat des kommunistischen Einparteistaats verschleppt wurde. Continue reading “Verschollen in Vientiane”
US Statement for Round Table
….the abduction of Sombath Somphone nearly a year ago and the lack of progress in the investigation have sent the wrong message to the international diplomatic and business communities about Laos. Transparency and credible progress in the investigation would send the message that Laos is serious about the rule of law.
From US Government Statement at Lao PDR’s Round Table Meeting, 19 November 2013
EU Statement for Round Table
European partners regard the unexplained disappearance of Mr Sombath Somphone as a very serious matter. We express our grave concern regarding his safety and wellbeing. European partners regard the statements made by the Government of Lao PDR on this case as neither sufficient nor convincing. We call on the Government of Lao PDR to conduct a comprehensive and transparent investigation of this case…
From European Development Partners Statement at Lao PDR’s Round Table Meeting. 19 November 2013
The Dark Side of Laos, As an Activist Vanishes Without a Trace
Worldcrunch: (15 November 2013)
Police are monitoring traffic from a small wooden gatehouse in eastern Vientiane, on the outskirts of the Laotian capital. It was here nearly one year ago, opposite the Indian embassy, that 62-year-old Sombath Somphone mysteriously disappeared. The rural development promoter and farmers’ rights activist hasn’t been heard from since.
On Dec. 15, 2012, Somphone was driving behind his wife’s car in his Jeep. He was stopped by a traffic officer for an identity check. The policeman spoke with him through the car door. Somphone then stepped out and walked towards the gatehouse. Soon after, a man got off his motorcycle and climbed into Somphone’s Jeep and drove off.
A white pickup then parked on the side of the road, warning lights flashing, before two men — one of whom was Somphone — climbed in. That was the last sign of the popular activist.
CCTV footage — available on the website Sombath.org — has allowed his family to reconstruct the scenario. Since Somphone vanished, the police investigation that Laotian authorities claim to have conducted has been fruitless. What is clear is that his disappearance has all the markings of an abduction committed right before police eyes at rush hour.
“I have no idea who could be behind his abduction, or why it happened,” says Somphone’s Singaporian wife Ng Shui Meng by phone. “All I can say is that the police say that they don’t know who kidnapped him.” Continue reading “The Dark Side of Laos, As an Activist Vanishes Without a Trace”
Climate Change
Our hearts go out to the people of the Philippines, and in particular those friends and colleagues who have shown so much support and solidarity.
Now with 7 billion habitants, we begin to be concerned if we are overshooting the carrying capacity of the earth. The urban population has now overtaken that of the rural. The gaps between the have and have‐not continue to widen. Climate change resulting from industrial pollution is threatening the life‐support system of planet earth. Everyone wants to make more money, and everything is monetized.
Sombath Somphone, in The Force of Inter-connectedness
Sombath Disappearance Could See a Review of EU Aid to Laos
The Diplomat: 08 November 2013
By Luke Hunt
The European Union has put the case of the prominent development worker Sombath Somphone back on the international agenda, threatening to review foreign aid to Laos after officials there failed to offer a credible explanation for his disappearance 11 months ago.
Speaking on Australian radio, Werner Langen, delegation leader and Chairman of the ASEAN delegation in the European Parliament, also said Laos could become isolated in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) if the human rights situation in the country fails to improve.
“In our view, it seems to be impossible that the government knows nothing on this case. It was a disappearance under the guise of the Laos police and we say to the government we need a life sign, first of all. We need a life sign of Sombath,” he said. Continue reading “Sombath Disappearance Could See a Review of EU Aid to Laos”
Laotische Mauer des Schweigens
Deutsche Welle: (07 November 2013)
Seit fast einem Jahr ist der laotische Aktivist Sombath Somphone spurlos verschwunden. Seine Frau hofft, dass er noch lebt. Die EU fordert die Aufklärung des Falls. Und stößt in Vientiane vor allem auf Ausreden.
“Ich halte mich an der Hoffnung fest, dass Sombath noch am Leben ist. Etwas anderes möchte ich einfach nicht glauben. Ohne diese Hoffnung könnte ich nicht weitermachen.” Seit dem 15. Dezember 2012 hat Ng Shui Meng ihren Ehemann nicht mehr gesehen. An diesem Tag, einem Samstag, wird Sombath Somphone in der laotischen Hauptstadt Vientiane verschleppt. Auf offener Straße, an einem Polizeicheckpoint – und vor laufender Überwachungskamera. Nach einer Polizeikontrolle wird er von zwei unbekannten Männern in einem weißen Truck davon gefahren, sein eigenes Auto, ein Jeep, wird von einer weiteren Person vom Tatort entfernt. Seitdem fehlt von dem bekannten Aktivisten, der sich über Jahrzehnte unter anderem für Bildung, für die Rechte der Landbevölkerung und für die Umwelt einsetzt, jede Spur.