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October 2, 2014December 3, 2016

NGOs Say Proposed Guidelines Would Hamstring Lao Civil Society

Radio Free Asia: 02 October 2014

The authoritarian government in Laos is moving to restrict the operations of international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) through a set of new measures, including requiring multiple and time-consuming approvals for community projects, according to the groups’ staff.

The measures are contained in proposed guidelines that would make a four-year-old decree regulating the activities of INGOs stricter in the one-party communist state, they said.

The June-proposed guidelines from the foreign ministry appear aimed at curbing their ability to work independent of the government, NGO staffers told RFA’s Lao Service ahead of an expected meeting with officials in October to discuss the proposal.

An INGO worker in Laos said on condition of anonymity that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) had invited feedback on its proposal from foreign embassies, donors and civil society groups, but said he feared that the suggestions would not be incorporated into the final draft.

“Even if MoFA took into account some proposed changes … there is still concern among INGOs that these guidelines are not addressing important issues, such as the increasing administrative burden … and the lack of predictability when implementing approved programs, or when requesting extension of activities or additional funding approval,” the staffer said. Continue reading “NGOs Say Proposed Guidelines Would Hamstring Lao Civil Society”

September 17, 2014December 29, 2015

Laos stands out…

Laos stands out in contrast to neighbours like Myanmar, which despite its long-time rule by the military managed to develop an independent civil society, according to John Sifton, Asia Advocacy Director of the Washington-based Human Rights Watch.

“If a human rights defender like Aung Sang Suu Kyi were to stand up in Laos and speak out against authoritarian rule, she would be immediately arrested. And unlike Aung Sang Suu Kyi, having the luxury of living under house arrest, you would just be taken off to prison and never seen again,” he said.

“Laos NGO restrictions threaten development, say non-profit groups,” South China Morning Post, 17 September 2014

September 15, 2014July 28, 2015

Disappeared in Laos

Overland Journal: Spring 2014

The arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorisation, support or acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which place such a person outside the protection of the law.

– Article 2, The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance

The last time Ng Shui Meng saw her husband, Sombath Somphone, alive was early in the evening of Saturday, 15 December 2012.

Sombath was driving his old jeep home. Shui Meng, who was travelling in her own vehicle in front of his, noticed him being stopped at a police post on Thadeua Road, a main thoroughfare in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Having your car stopped by the police is not uncommon in Laos. Usually it involves a simple identification check. Sometimes, police attempt to shake down drivers for a small bribe to supplement their meagre wages. As such, Shui Meng thought nothing of it and drove on home, expecting Sombath to join her later.

When her husband didn’t arrive for dinner she began to worry. She searched the vicinity of the police post where he was last seen and also visited Vientiane’s hospitals on the assumption he might have had an accident. She called his phone but was diverted to his message bank.

A fluent Lao speaker, Shui Meng reported Sombath missing to police the next day. She and Sombath’s family also rechecked the city’s hospitals and retraced the previous night’s events along Thadeua Road. It was then they noticed the Chinese-funded CCTV cameras mounted at various points along the road, one of which overlooked the police post where Sombath was last seen. Continue reading “Disappeared in Laos”

September 3, 2014July 28, 2015

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"”

September 2, 2014July 28, 2015

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”

August 31, 2014July 28, 2015

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”

August 29, 2014July 28, 2015

Internationaler Tag der Opfer des Verschwindenlassens

Latina Press: 29 August 2014

Zum morgigen “Internationalen Tag der Opfer des Verschwindenlassens” fordert Amnesty International von der Bundesregierung dieses Verbrechen als eigenen Straftatbestand einzuführen. Gleichzeitig macht die Menschenrechtsorganisation heute mit einer Kunstaktion auf das weltweit verbreitete Verbrechen aufmerksam. “Staatliche Stellen lassen Menschen von einer Minute auf die andere von der Bildfläche verschwinden und entziehen sie so jedem gesetzlichen Schutz”, sagt Maria Scharlau, Amnesty-Expertin für internationales Recht. “Meist ist das Verschwindenlassen der erste Schritt zu Folter und Mord. Angehörige finden in der Ungewissheit um das Schicksal der Opfer oft lebenslang keine Ruhe.”

Deutschland hat die UN-Konvention gegen das Verschwindenlassen 2009 ratifiziert. Dennoch ist sie noch nicht vollständige umgesetzt: Im deutschen Recht fehlt ein Straftatbestand, der explizit das “Verschwindenlassen” unter Strafe stellt. Bestehende Straftatbestände erfassen die Schwere der Tat nur unzureichend. Eine angemessene Bestrafung wird so verhindert. “Die Verjährungsdauer des Verbrechens ist bisher zu kurz. Häufig werden relevante Beweise erst mit einem Regimewechsel nach langen Jahren an die Oberfläche gespült. Eine Strafverfolgung der Täter wird dadurch nahezu unmöglich”, sagt Scharlau. “Auch wenn hierzulande dieses Verbrechen nicht vorkommt, muss sich Deutschland am internationalen Kampf gegen diese besonders grausame Form staatlicher Willkür beteiligen.” Continue reading “Internationaler Tag der Opfer des Verschwindenlassens”

July 20, 2014July 28, 2015

2 women share a wound that never heals, disappears

The Philippine Inquirer: 20 July 2014

By Tarra Quismundo

620x413x20_2women.jpg.pagespeed.ic.kbRhDgxs_O — TWO OF A KIND Edita Burgos and Ng Shui Meng cross paths in a global conference here against forced disappearances. JOAN BONDOC

They are two hearts missing a part, brought together by the same goal: That someday, no mother, wife, friend or family member would experience the same uncertainty and “torture” they continue to endure for losing a loved one.

Edita Burgos, mother of missing activist Jonas Burgos, and Singaporean Ng Shui Meng, wife of disappeared Lao development worker, economist and Magsaysay laureate Sombath Somphone, met for the first time on Thursday in Manila, incidentally roommates for a four-day conference aimed at drumming up support for families of the world’s desaparecidos.

The moment seemed like a culmination, a fated crossing of paths between the two women who have made it their life’s mission to search for the missing, raise awareness about the families who miss them and call for global action against enforced disappearances.

“We were brought together. I do not believe in accidents or coincidences. I believe everything is providence. God puts you there because there’s something you can do and something good will come out of it. That’s how I look at it,” Burgos told the Inquirer.

Both were participating in an international conference on psychosocial support for families of the disappeared, an event mounted in Manila by the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances. The federation of regional human rights groups was founded in the Philippines in 1998.

“I have heard about that case and I have been praying for her …. When I came into the room, she was very gracious. I introduced myself, and then I saw her name and told her, ‘I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you right away,’” Burgos said, recounting her first meeting with Ng on Thursday morning at the Bayview Park Hotel Manila.

They were to stay in the same space together for the next four days. Continue reading “2 women share a wound that never heals, disappears”

July 19, 2014July 28, 2015

Stop enforced disappearances, says wife of Ramon Magsaysay awardee

The Manila Post: 17 July 2014

By Jaime R. Pilapil

Shui Meng Ng, wife of disappeared Ramon Magsaysay awardee Sombath Somphone of Laos, on Thursday urged the government to act on solving disappearances in the Philippines.

Ng was guest speaker at the Third Conference on Psychosocial Support Disappearances, Torture and Extra-judicial Execution held at Bayview Park Hotel in Manila.

Organized by Asian Federation Against Disappearances (AFAD), relatives of the disappeared, among them Editha Burgos, also attended the event. Burgos is the mother of Jonas who was forcibly taken by military agents on April 28, 2007. Jonas has since been missing.

Since martial law in 1972, records show that there were more than 2,000 disappearances, more than 1,000 torture victims and hundreds of killings, including the Maguindanao massacre in November 2009.

Sombath is a prominent civil society leader who received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for community leadership in 2005.On December 15, 2012, Laotian police stopped his vehicle. His abduction was caught by CCTV. He has never been seen since.

Ng and the conference participants called on the Lao government to conduct a serious investigation and do its best to make sure that Sombath will be brought home safe. Continue reading “Stop enforced disappearances, says wife of Ramon Magsaysay awardee”

June 25, 2014July 28, 2015

Missing Sombath a test for ASEAN

Asian Currents: 12 June 2014

ASEAN’s weak response to the disappearance of Lao community worker Sombath Somphone raises questions about the strength of the institution’s commitment to human rights.

By Kearrin Sims

Nowhere in Asia has seen the formation of stronger regional partnerships than those within ASEAN. In 2015 the institution will attempt to undertake yet another step forward in its impressive history of growing regional connectivity through the beginning of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).

Among other things, the AEC is expected to promote greater regional cooperation around human resource development; enhance consultation on macroeconomic and financial policies; increase infrastructure and communications connectivity; and see ASEAN become a single market and production base. How these arrangements will fit with ASEAN’s non-interference approach to diplomacy remains to be seen, although the region’s history suggests the two will likely find a means of accommodation.

Far more challenging, will be attempts to create an ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC), which is also planned to begin in 2015. Operating parallel to the AEC, the ASCC is designed to promote a spirit of cooperation and collective responsibility, to encourage respect for fundamental freedoms, and to advance social justice and human rights. While the AEC seems achievable, the realisation of the ASCC will face many more challenges. Continue reading “Missing Sombath a test for ASEAN”