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Open Letter to ACSC/APF Steering Committee

22 May 2015ACSC-APF

Dear Members of the ACSC/APF Steering Committee,

It is our understanding that you currently face a decision about whether to hold your 2016 forum in the Lao PDR.  Please allow us to share our experience and concerns in this regard.

In the lead up to the ninth Asia-Europe People’s Forum (AEPF9) held in 2012, there were also many who questioned whether the Lao PDR was a suitable venue. Others, including Sombath Somphone, who was serving as the National Co-organiser, argued that while there may be challenges, it would be a very good opportunity for Lao civil society to develop both internally as well as in its international relations.

AEPF-9

Throughout the planning process, members of the AEPF were repeatedly given assurances by the Lao government there would be no interference.  Indeed, materials shared with participants stated:

The AEPF9 aims to enable a secure environment that encourages learning and reflection and provides space for open, respectful, diverse and constructive debate. We support harmony, compassion and understanding, whilst recognizing the strength of diversity and solidarity for peaceful and sustainable development.

The reality, unfortunately, proved quite different. Government staff were present in virtually every event, often acting in the guise of regular citizens. Lao participants who voiced their opinions were often rebuked or reprimanded and in one case publicly berated and sent threatening text messages. Translation to and from Lao was often truncated or distorted, and the distribution of key documents was banned. Continue reading “Open Letter to ACSC/APF Steering Committee”

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2015 Gwangju Special Award for Sombath

SB in Japan 2008bToday I stand before you humbled and also a little sad that it is I who is here to receive this Special Award for Human Rights on behalf of my husband, Sombath Somphone. It would have been such a happy occasion, and such an honor, if Sombath could be here to receive this award himself. Unfortunately, circumstances do not allow it. Sombath was disappeared…

…Sombath always says that development and progress cannot be guided only by technical knowledge and science alone. Development and progress must be underpinned by spiritual values – values of compassion, kindness, respect of all life (human and animal) and respect for nature.

From remarks by Shui Meng Ng in accepting the 2015 Special Award from the May 15 Memorial Foundation.

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광주인권상 ‘솜폰’ 부인 "실종 남편 구출에 동참해달라"

Yonhap News Agency: 18 May 2015

Shumeng-Gwangju
실종된 ‘솜바스 솜폰’ 구출 서명 동참 호소하는 부인 (광주=연합뉴스) 장아름 기자 = 2015 광주인권상 특별상 수상자인 솜바스 솜폰(Sombath Somphone·라오스)의 부인 수이 멩(Shui Meng)여사가 18일 광주 5·18 기념문화센터에서 열린 기자회견에서 실종 상태인 남편을 구출하기 위한 라오스 정부의 조속한 수사를 촉구하는 청원 운동에 보다 많은 한국인이 동참해줄 것을 호소하고 있다. 2015.5.18 [email protected]

(광주=연합뉴스) 장아름 기자 “실종된 남편 솜바스 솜폰 구출을 위한 라오스 정부의 수사를 촉구하는 서명에 더 많이 참여해 주시길 간절히 호소합니다.”

2015 광주인권상 특별상 수상자인 솜바스 솜폰(Sombath Somphone·라오스)의 부인 수이 멩(Shui Meng)여사는 18일 실종 상태인 남편을 구출하기 위한 라오스 정부의 조속한 수사를 촉구하는 청원 운동에 많은 한국인이 동참해줄 것을 호소했다.

이날 광주인권상 시상식을 앞두고 광주 5·18 기념문화센터에서 열린 기자회견에서 수이 멩 여사는 “누가 솜폰의 유괴에 대한 책임이 있는 지는 모른다”며 “다만 라오스 정부는 자국민이 자국에서 유괴된 데 대해, 무사히 돌아오게 하는데 대해 책임을 느끼고 수사에 착수해야 한다”고 말했다.

수이 멩 여사는 “남편은 수십년간 가난한 지역민을 위해 활동을 해왔다”며 “최근 라오스 정부가 외국자본을 투자해 광산이나 댐 등을 개발하는 사업에 관심을 많이 가지면서 외국 자본과 지역민 간 갈등이 커졌고 남편의 활동도 정부와 갈등을 겪기도 했다”고 설명했다. Continue reading “광주인권상 ‘솜폰’ 부인 "실종 남편 구출에 동참해달라"”

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Sombath Receives Gwangju Special Award for 2015

May 18 Memorial FoundationGwangju Human Rights Award Committee has also selected Sombath Somphone of Laos who is the founder of the Participatory Development Training Center in Vientiane as a recipient of Special Award of 2015.  Sombath Somphone has over more than 30 years worked vigorously and tirelessly empowering and training the youth of Laos, promoting quality education, and ecologically sustainable development especially in poor rural communities. Unfortunately, he was disappeared right in front of a police post on December 15, 2012. His abduction was recorded on the police surveillance camera (CCTV) and has been seen by many people all over the world.

The authorities of Laos have denied any involvement in his disappearance. The May 18 Memorial Foundation has decided to launch the campaign to urge the Lao Government Authorities to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation to find him and return him safely to his family and to the global community.

We hope this Special Award will contribute to raising awareness of his disappearance and finding his whereabouts and bringing him back to his family as soon as possible.

From Gwangju Prize for Human Rights Recipient Decision Letter from the May 18 Memorial Foundation.

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Help pressure the Lao PDR to accept the UPR recommendations!

Get InvolvedAt the Universal Periodic Review for Laos in January, 19 nations* raised the issues of enforced disappearance and ratifying the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforce Disappearance, with ten of these addressing Sombath’s case directly.

This show of support is unprecedented, yet real impact will only be achieved if the Lao government accepts and follows through on these recommendations.

Please help to press your government in urging the Lao government to do just that.

See this Letter the Sombath Initiative is sending to all 19 countries’ mission to the United Nations in Geneva. The text of each recommendation is included in the letter, and contact information for all missions can be found here.

Below are the recommendations for those ten countries specifically mentioning Sombath in graphic format. Please share them among friends, colleagues and on social media. Thank you for your support!

*Our sincere apologies. There were 20 countries. Brazil recommended that the Lao PDR should:

121.24. Ratify the ICPPED and adopt implementing legislation, as well as mechanisms to independently investigate and identify perpetrators of those crimes (Brazil);

UPR Recommendation-Australia

UPR Recommendation-Canada

UPR Recommendation-Finland

UPR Recommendation-Germany

UPR Recommendation-Luxembourg

UPR Recommendation-Poland

UPR Recommendation-Portugal

UPR Recommendation-Sweden

UPR Recommendation-United Kingdom

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Vietnamese Civil Groups Raise Freedom of Religion, Expression at ASEAN Forum

Ahead of the next APF in 2016, the forum’s organizing committee has not decided whether to hold the meeting in Laos, which will assume chairmanship of the 10-member ASEAN coalition next year, because civil society groups from the region are concerned about the safety of human rights defenders in the country.

Radio Free Asia: 24 April 2015

ACSC:APF-2015
Thida Khus, executive director of Cambodian NGO Silaka, addresses the ASEAN Peoples’ Forum in Malaysia, April 22, 2015. Photo courtesy of Silaka

Freedom of religion and expression topped the areas of discussion for Vietnamese civil groups attending forums on the sidelines of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Malaysia Friday, during which they engaged with their counterparts and government officials from the region.

The ASEAN People’s Forum (APF) is being held on April 21-24 to provide civil society groups with a platform to address the organization’s leaders through workshops on various rights issues alongside the ASEAN Summit of Heads of State.

One young Vietnamese presenter, Nguyen Anh Tuan, told RFA that she attended the seminar because she wanted to convey how poor Vietnam’s rights record is compared to other nations in the region and discuss ways to improve it.

“Based on what I know, the human right abuses in Vietnam exceed other countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand,” she said.

“During this session, I will try to prove that the human right abuses in Vietnam are systematic and not limited to some areas. They are everywhere and include freedom of religion, expression, information and association.”

At the People’s Forum on freedom of religion, Vietnamese presenters displayed photos of religious leaders, including Mennonite pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh and Catholic priest Ngo The Binh of Tam Toa church, who have been harassed and beaten. Continue reading “Vietnamese Civil Groups Raise Freedom of Religion, Expression at ASEAN Forum”

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Activists, politicians call for protection of human rights at ASEAN forum

Asian Correspondent: 24 April 2015

By 

Azmin Ali
Malaysian politician Azmin Ali. Pic: AP.

Discussions about human rights and civil society’s role in the ASEAN community took center stage at the ASEAN Civil Society Conference/People’s Forum in Kuala Lumpur this week. More than 1,000 people gathered at the conference, which began Tuesday and ends today.

Former Malaysian Foreign Minister Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar gave the keynote address on the first day of the conference. He argued for a review of the ASEAN’s stance on non-interference, saying there are limits to its usefulness in international diplomacy, “especially when the serious impacts of a problem goes beyond national boundaries, or when it involves serious international crimes.”

Malaysian politician Azmin Ali also criticized the non-interference policy in a speech to the forum: “[O]n this altar of neutrality, we watch with folded arms, the slaughter of innocent women and children,” he said, referring to incidents in Burma (Myanmar) and Laos among others. “On this platform of non-interference, we turn blind eye to the massacre of ethnic minorities or abandon them as state-less people.” Continue reading “Activists, politicians call for protection of human rights at ASEAN forum”

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Lao Civil Society Pressured to Drop Rights Issues From ASEAN Forum

Radio Free Asia: 22 April 2015

ACSC:APF-2015
Thida Khus, executive director of Cambodian NGO Silaka, addresses the ASEAN Peoples’ Forum in Malaysia, April 22, 2015. Photo courtesy of Silaka

Civil society organizations in Laos are under pressure to omit key concerns from a list of regional human rights issues to be raised on the sidelines of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Malaysia this week and “fear for their safety” if they attempt to do so, a CSO official said Wednesday.

The groups dare not raise the concerns during the April 21-24 ASEAN Peoples’ Forum (APF)—intended to provide civil society with a platform to address ASEAN leaders—because they fear retribution for criticizing government policy, the CSO official told RFA’s Lao Service.

“[The CSOs] will talk mostly about gender roles only, but not other issues such as land rights, the impact of hydropower dams … and enforced disappearance, because they are afraid for their safety,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The official said the majority of authentic CSOs in Laos “do not want to attend the forum,” especially those which focus on human rights issues, but that the Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of the Interior had persuaded other “irrelevant” organizations to go in their place. Continue reading “Lao Civil Society Pressured to Drop Rights Issues From ASEAN Forum”