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ASEAN rights commission told to probe disappearance of Laotian activist

The Jakarta Post: 11 April 2013

By Margareth S. Aritonang

An activist group wants the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) to stand up for missing Laotian development worker and activist Sombath Somphone.

Sombath was last seen in December when CCTV footage showed him entering an unidentified SUV at a police checkpoint in Vientiane, The Solidarity for Asian People’s Advocacy Task Force on ASEAN and Human Rights (SAPA TFAHR) said in a letter made available to The Jakarta Post.

“Maintaining a veil of silence is neither constructive nor exemplary of a regional human rights body,” the letter said. “Staying silent on Sombath’s disappearance is a convenient but short-sighted approach, because human rights violations related to land, natural resources and the environment are likely to increase as the region embarks on a zealous pursuit of economic development.”

Separately, rights activist Haris Azhar from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) called on the Indonesian representatives on the AICHR to endorse an investigation into Sombath’s disappearance.

“AICHR will turn into useless regional community unless it takes immediate action to search for Sombath,” Haris told the Post on Friday.

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Aktivis Laos Hilang, ASEAN Didesak Bantu Usut

Republica Online: 09 May 2013

logo-asean-_120202090443-433REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — Forum Hak Asasi Manusia dan Pembangunan untuk Asia mendesak para perwakilan ASEAN di Komisi Antarpemerintah untuk HAM (AICHR) agar memberikan bantuan dan advokasi dalam pencarian aktivis Laos Sombath Somphone yang hilang sejak Desember 2012.

“Masyarakat sipil Asia Tenggara pekan ini melakukan berbagai kampanye untuk kasus ini dan mendesak Komisi HAM ASEAN yang saat ini sedang mengadakan pertemuan reguler di ASEAN Sekretariat, Jakarta, untuk dapat membantu,” kata Manajer Program Forum Hak Asasi Manusia dan Pembangunan Asia (FORUM-ASIA) untuk ASEAN, Atnike Sigiro di Jakarta, Rabu (8/5).

Sombath Somphone merupakan aktivis terkemuka Laos yang banyak menyumbang pemikirannya dalam bidang pembangunan, kepemimpinan, dan kesejahteraan masyarakat. Atas karyanya, Somphone beberapa kali mendapat penghargaan, seperti Magsaysay Award pada tahun 2005 karena kepemimpinnya.

Dia juga pernah menyumbangkan pemikirannya dalam diskusi bertema interkonekvitas pada Forum Intelektual Asia di Chiang Mai, Thailand pada tahun 2011. Makanya, menurut Atnike, karya Somphone sangat berpengaruh di kawasan Asia Tenggara. Hal tersebut, menurut dia, dapat menjadi pertimbangan untuk AICHR agar dapat berperan aktif dalam mengusut kasus Somphone.

AICHR memiliki prinsip untuk tidak mengintervensi kebijakan negara tertentu. “Saya kira dia tidak hanya aktivis Laos, tetapi juga pemikirannya berkembang ke Asia Tenggara. Maka dari itu ini menjadi bahan yang harus dipertimbangkan oleh Komisi HAM ASEAN,” ujarnya.

Somphone hilang pada tanggal 15 Desember 2012 ketika sedang dalam perjalanan ke Vientiane. Banyak pihak menduga keterlibatan aparat kepolisian dan pemerintah Laos dalam insiden tersebut. Hal itu berdasarkan pada video yang merekam aktivitas Somphone sesaat sebelum dia diduga diculik.

Redaktur : Dewi Mardiani

Sumber : Antara

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Laos government silent on abduction of rural development campaigner

Vancouver Sun, April 30, 2013

Officials of one-party state almost certainly behind abduction even though Sombath Somphone took care to never challenge the government

BY JONATHAN MANTHORPE

It’s hard to guess when Sombath Somphone crossed the line from being an accepted and cherished champion of rural development in Laos, to becoming a perceived threat to the one-party Communist state.

But that’s what happened.

Jonathan Manthorpe: Laos government silent on abduction of rural development campaignerEarly in the evening of Dec. 15 as Sombath was driving home in his Jeep from his office in the Lao capital Vientiane he was stopped at a police checkpoint on Thadeua Road, which runs by the Mekong River.

A few minutes later a man rode up on a motorcycle, parked it and drove off in Sombath’s jeep.

Then a pickup truck arrived at the checkpoint, Sombath got in, the truck drove off and he has not been seen or heard from since.

Others have disappeared in questionable circumstances in Laos, which, after the moves to civilian rule in Burma and economic reforms in Vietnam, remains the most recalcitrant one-party state in Southeast Asia. Continue reading “Laos government silent on abduction of rural development campaigner”

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Quan ngại về giới hoạt động ở Lào

BBC News: 1 tháng 2013

By Jonah Fisher

Đây là trường hợp mà một thám tử loại trung bình có thể giải phá trong vòng một tuần. Vụ bắt cóc ông Sombath Somphone được ghi lại trên camera và diễn ra trên một con đường đông đúc tại một trạm kiểm soát của cảnh sát.

Ông Sombath là người thành lập tổ chức PADETC tại Lào

Thế nhưng hơn bốn tháng sau khi nhà hoạt động hàng đầu trong lĩnh vực phát triển của Lào mất tích, các nhà chức trách nói họ không có đầu mối nào và chưa cần tới trợ giúp từ bên ngoài trong việc tìm kiếm ông.

Chẳng có gì đáng ngạc nhiên khi các nhân viên cứu trợ và các nhà ngoại giao tại quốc gia nhỏ bé ở Đông Nam Á này đang lo sợ điều tồi tệ nhất có thể xảy ra

Vợ của ông Sombath, bà Shui-meng Ng, nhìn thấy chồng mình lần cuối trong chiếc gương chiếu hậu trên chiếc xe của bà.

Đó là hôm thứ Bảy ngày 15 tháng Mười Hai năm 2012, và hai vợ chồng bà đang đi xe về nhà trong hai chiếc xe riêng rẽ dọc con đường Thadeua, chạy song song với dòng sông Mekong.

Trước đó ông Sombath, 61 tuổi, đã đi tập thể dục buổi tối trong khi bà vợ người Singapore của ông dự một cuộc họp trong thành phố.

Tới cuối ngày, họ gặp nhau tại một cửa hàng nhỏ mà bà Shui-meng quản lý và quyết định về nhà.

Mặc dù không bị tắc nghẽn giao thông, hai xe mất liên lạc với nhau. Khi về đến nhà, bà Shui-meng đợi vài giờ sau đó đã quay trở lại để tìm chồng.

Sau khi không thấy bất cứ dấu vết nào của ông hay của chiếc xe Jeep của ông, sáng hôm sau bà đã trình báo việc ông bị mất tích.

Continue reading “Quan ngại về giới hoạt động ở Lào”

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Wife pleads for return of abducted Laos aid worker

BBC video, 30 April 2013

Click this link or the image below to watch the video.

BBC_coverage_of_Sombath_disappearanceThe wife of a prominent Laos civil society leader who disappeared four months ago while driving home has urged that more be done to find her husband.

Security camera footage showed Sombath Somphone being taken away by unidentified men after he was stopped by police in the capital Vientiane.

The communist authorities in Laos say they do not know what has happened to him.

Mr Sombath had been campaigning for sustainable development and fair land rights for small farmer.

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Fears grow for abducted Laos campaigner Sombath

BBC News: 30 April 2013

By Jonah Fisher

It is a case that a decent detective would crack in a week. Sombath Somphone’s abduction was caught on camera and took place on a busy road at a police checkpoint.

Mr Sombath founded the PADETC organisation in Laos

But more than four months after Laos’ leading development worker disappeared, the authorities say they have no leads and yet need no outside help finding him.

It is little wonder that aid workers and diplomats in this small South East Asian nation are fearing the worst.

Mr Sombath’s wife Shui-meng Ng last saw her husband in the rear-view mirror of her car.

It was Saturday, 15 December 2012, and the couple were driving home in their respective vehicles along Thadeua Road, which runs parallel to the Mekong River.

The Mr Sombath, 62, had been doing some early evening exercise while his Singapore-born wife had attended a meeting in town.

With the day coming to a close, they met up at the small shop Ms Shui-meng runs and decided to head home in convoy.

Despite the absence of traffic, the cars lost contact with each other. When she got home, Ms Shui-meng waited for several hours before heading back out to look for her husband.

Having found no trace of him or his Jeep, she reported him missing the next morning. Continue reading “Fears grow for abducted Laos campaigner Sombath”

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การชุมนุมที่กรุงมะนิลาเพื่อกดดันอาเซียน

ข่าวไทยพีบีเอสเรื่องการชุมนุมที่กรุงมะนิลา ประเทศฟิลิปปินส์เพื่อเรียกร้องผู้นำอาเซียนให้ถือเรื่องการหายตัวไปของสมบัด สมพอนเป็นประเด็นการทำงานเร่งด่วน

คลิ๊กที่ภาพเพื่อชมวิดีโอบน YouTube

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Call for AICHR to Show Relevance

The Solidarity for Asian People’s Advocacy Task Force on ASEAN and Human Rights (SAPA TFAHR) has issued a plea to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AIHCR) to break its silence:

It is high time that AICHR responds to questions of its relevance for human rights in the region. Staying silent on Sombath’s disappearance is a convenient but short-sighted approach because human rights violations related to land, natural resources and the environment are likely to increase as the region embarks on a zealous pursuit of economic development and integration towards 2015. The AICHR must stress to individual ASEAN member states on the urgent need for an enabling environment and democratic space for all human rights defenders, including development workers and civil society organizations, to do their legitimate work without fear of reprisals.

The full statement can be read here.

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A Song for Sombath

Please watch this powerful performance of Nasaan Si Sombath? (Where is Sombath?).

The song is Awit Ng Naghahanap (Song of Searching) by Noel Cabangon. The interpretive dance by SAD.

The event was organised by Focus on the Global South, Asian Federation Against Enforced Disappearance (AFAD), Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (FIND) in Manila on 12th April

Click on the image to watch the video on YouTube

Song for Sombath

Please share this link widely :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNh5Lnusgl8

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Archbishop Tutu Speaks out for Sombath

Sombath with Archbishop Desmond Tutu

On behalf of Archbishop Tutu’s office we confirm that Archbishop Tutu addressed a letter, dated 25 February 2013, to H.E. Mr Thongsing Thammavong, Prime Minister of Laos, and H.E. Mr. Choummaly Sayasone, Secretary General of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party and President of the Lao PDR. The Archbishop’s office has received no acknowledgement of receipt of the letter.

The letter regarded the “disappearance” of human rights campaigner Mr Sombath Somphone, in Laos.

The Archbishop wrote that Mr Somphone’s commitment to poverty alleviation and sustainable development at home and in the region had been nothing short of inspirational. He had worked extensively with Buddhist monks and elders to set up youth meditation camps and this care for the spiritual core of the Laotian people had touched many in the region and beyond.

The Archbishop wrote that Mr Somphone’s participation and ability to speak freely at the Asia-Europe People’s Forum (AEPF) in Vientiane, last November, marked an enriching moment for free speech in Laos and allowed an inclusive conversation to take place between all levels of Laotian society.

“It is a tragedy that someone with such a deep love for his people could disappear,” the Archbishop wrote. Continue reading “Archbishop Tutu Speaks out for Sombath”