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UN rights experts urge Laos to step up missing activist probe

Business Standard: 17 December 2013

(AFP) UN human rights experts demanded today that Laos do more to reveal the fate a prominent activist who went missing a year ago, warning his disappearance could have a “chilling effect”.

Sombath Somphone, 62, went missing on December 15, 2012, when he was seen being led away by police in Vientiane after his car was stopped at a checkpoint.

CCTV images later emerged appearing to show him being driven away with two unidentified people.

“We are deeply concerned about his safety and security,” the UN working group on enforced or involuntary disappearances said in a statement.

It urged the Laos government to “do its utmost to locate Mr Somphone, to establish his fate and whereabouts, and to hold the perpetrators accountable.”

The experts said they wanted the Laos government to allow an independent body analyse the CCTV footage to help determine what had happened to the activist. Continue reading “UN rights experts urge Laos to step up missing activist probe”

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Missing Sombath Still Dogging Laos

The Diplomat: 17 December 2013

Scrutiny from human rights groups and charges from the ICC likely if officials don’t come clean.

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Image Credit: Twitter @Sumana_Raja

Just over a year ago, community development worker Sombath Somphone was plucked from the streets of Vientiane by police. He has not been heard of since, despite overwhelming evidence linking his disappearance to the government and its dictatorial internal security apparatus.

But even the Laos government has its friends. One spin doctor went so far as to describe Sombath’s disappearance as a “piffling affair,” which somehow seemed like not so much of a big deal when compared with the extraordinary renditions of the United States.

And in rebuffing Human Rights Watch (HRW) the scribe of sorts described the Sombath issue as “like those poor Guantanamo-bound wretches.”

Comparing Sombath’s plight to people like Hambali – the mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombings which left more than 200 people dead and who apparently still resides in Gitmo – beggars belief. Continue reading “Missing Sombath Still Dogging Laos”

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Editorial: Sombath case needs pressure

Bangkok Post: 16 December 2013

Sombath Somphone was probably the most effective and best-known NGO representative in Laos. One year and one day ago, on his way home for dinner, Mr Sombath was pulled from his car by several unknown men just outside Vientiane. He was bundled into a police vehicle and driven away. He has not been seen since, and his government has not just ignored the case, it has actively worked to cover it up.

A substantial number of concerned Lao and foreign citizens held a vigil at the Laos embassy on Pracha-Uthit Road yesterday. There was no surprise that diplomats showed no interest. That has been the response from all Vientiane ministries and departments since the evening that Mr Sombath failed to show up for dinner with his wife. The grainy closed-circuit TV video showing the actual abduction has roused no concern of any kind from authorities, even though it was a government CCTV camera.

One of the most puzzling facts about the Sombath case is that the victim posed no known threat to the government, the ruling Marxist party or any official. He was 60 when he was taken. He did not take part in, let alone lead, any political group. Continue reading “Editorial: Sombath case needs pressure”

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Rights groups mark year since disappearance of Lao rights leader

BusinessGhana: 16 December 2013

Human rights groups on Sunday gathered outside the Lao embassy in Bangkok to mark the disappearance of Lao civil society leader Sombath Somphone in Vientiane a year ago.

In the Laotian capital itself, a market fair was planned Sunday by Sombath’s wife, Singaporean Ng Shui Meng, to commemorate her husband’s disappearance, Focus Global South officer Shalmali Guttal said at the Bangkok protest.

Protests are strictly prohibited in communist Laos.

Ng on Sunday issued a letter to Sombath, which was read out in front of the Lao Embassy in Bangkok, where about 20 representatives of the Asia-Europe People’s Forum, Mekong Youth Network and Japan-based civil society organizations had gathered.

“Your leaders, including President Choumaly Sayasone, have promised to make a serious investigation and find the perpetrators who took you,” Ng wrote. Continue reading “Rights groups mark year since disappearance of Lao rights leader”

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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.