Tag: ASEAN

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Open Letter to ASEAN Foreign Ministers on the importance of establishing a genuine regional human rights mechanism

ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights: 22 January 2015

We would also seek to draw your attention to the dangers facing human rights defenders and civil society actors all across Southeast Asia, highlighted by the enforced disappearance of Lao civil society leader Sombath Somphone in December 2012, and the subsequent failure of the Lao PDR to properly investigate it…

ASEANWe, as current and former elected representatives in ASEAN member states would like to convey our input to the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Retreat, contributing our suggestions for agenda setting for 2015 and warning of the dangers of overlooking the importance of ensuring the growth of a genuine regional human rights mechanism.

The ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Retreat is taking place in Sabah, Malaysia, 27-28 January 2015.

Firstly, we wish to call to attention the need for immediate and urgent action on one of the gravest human rights concerns facing our region and the world today: the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya minority in Myanmar which is becoming a strain and a stain on the entire region.

We would also seek to draw your attention to the dangers facing human rights defenders and civil society actors all across Southeast Asia, highlighted by the enforced disappearance of Lao civil society leader Sombath Somphone in December 2012, and the subsequent failure of the Lao PDR to properly investigate it, as well as the serious regional implications of ASEAN’s failure to stand up to the overthrow of a democratically elected government in Thailand and subsequent assault on human rights by the military regime there. At minimum, these issues, and potential solutions to them, should be discussed during the ASEAN Foreign Minister’s Retreat in Sabah. Continue reading “Open Letter to ASEAN Foreign Ministers on the importance of establishing a genuine regional human rights mechanism”

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ASEAN Should Confront Laos On Rights Abuses: NGOs

The Diplomat: 16 December 2014

Call issued on anniversary of disappearance of Lao civil society leader Sombath Somphone

By Prashanth Parameswaran

ASEAN member states should abandon their principle of not interfering in each other’s internal affairs and confront Laos on rights abuses in the country as responsible members of the international community, a group of leading regional and international non-governmental organizations said yesterday.

“Instead of invoking the principle of non-interference into one another’s internal affairs, ASEAN member states must act as responsible members of the international community and uphold the…key tenets enshrined in the ASEAN charter, which recognizes the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms….,” a statement, signed by 82 regional and international NGOs, said.

The statement was released on the second anniversary of the enforced disappearance of revered Lao civil society leader Sombath Somphone, who was last seen on the evening of December 15, 2012. A police security video of the incident showed Sombath being stopped at a police checkpoint while driving home, before being taken into custody by unknown individuals. Rights groups say the fact that the police officers who witnessed the abduction failed to intervene suggests some level of complicity by Lao authorities. Continue reading “ASEAN Should Confront Laos On Rights Abuses: NGOs”

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Two years on, still no sign of Laos' activist Sombath

Global Post: 15 December 2014

Rights groups on Monday urged Southeast Asian nations to turn up the pressure on Laos over the disappearance of prominent activist Sombath Somphone who vanished from the streets of Vientiane two years ago.

Sombath, an award-winning campaigner for sustainable development, disappeared after he was pulled over at a police checkpoint in the Laos capital on the evening of December 15, 2012.

His case has cast a dark cloud over civil society in Laos, an impoverished tightly-controlled communist country, and raised the issue of impunity for powerful state and business interests held responsible for routinely killing or “disappearing” activists across the region.

A group of around 80 regional rights groups said the Laos government’s silence on Sombath was part of a strategy of “consigning to oblivion” crimes of enforced disappearance.

“Regrettably, all other ASEAN member states have remained conspicuously silent on the issue of Sombath’s disappearance,” the groups said in joint statement  released by the International Federation of Human Rights. Continue reading “Two years on, still no sign of Laos' activist Sombath”

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Two years on, Laos activist still missing

Al Jazeera: 12 December 2014

Many suspect it was Sombath Somphone’s work empowering communities across Laos that led to his enforced disappearance.

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Sombath Somphone won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership in 2005 [AP]
In August 2005, in front of an audience in Manila, Lao development worker Sombath Somphone received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for community leadership.

Known as Asia’s Nobel Prize, it showed that Sombath’s work was appreciated not just by the people of Laos but across the region.

The award recognised Sombath’s “hopeful efforts to promote sustainable development in Laos by training and motivating its young people to become a generation of leaders”.

But much of that hope has now been lost. Rather than mentoring a new generation of Lao community leaders, Sombath is missing – a victim of enforced disappearance – and Lao civil society is fractured and fearful.

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 fate or whereabouts, placing them outside the protection of the law.

And this serious human rights violation, recognised as an international crime since the aftermath of World War II, is ongoing as long as Sombath’s fate and whereabouts remain unknown.

Continue reading “Two years on, Laos activist still missing”

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รัฐบาลลาวต้องยุติการบิดเบือนในการสอบสวนคดีต่อนายสมบัด

2014-09-18-14.56.39
From left to right: Kanya Khammoungkhoun, Deputy-Director of ASEAN Politcal and Security Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Lao PDR; U Shwe Maung, Chair of APHR Myanmar Caucus; Mr. Phoukhong Sisoulath, Representative of Laos PDR to AICHR; Charles Santiago, Chair of APHR Malaysia Caucus

กรุงเทพฯ – รัฐบาลลาวควรแลกเปลี่ยนข้อมูลทั้งหมดที่มีอยู่จากการสอบสวนคดีการลักพาตัวนายสมบัด สมพอนกับครอบครัวของเขาและหน่วยงานอิสระ ต้องยุติการเล่นเกมบิดเบือนโดยอ้างหลักอธิปไตยของชาติเป็นข้อแก้ตัว และไม่ยอมปรึกษาหารืออย่างจริงจังในด้านการสอบสวนคดีคนหายคดีนี้ สมาชิกรัฐสภาแห่งเอเชียตะวันออกเฉียงใต้กล่าวในวันนี้

“ทางการลาวได้ตั้งกำแพงของความเงียบเพื่อปิดกั้นการสอบสวน จนถึงขนาดที่อาจกล่าวได้ว่าในช่วงที่ผ่านมายังไม่มีการสอบสวนเกิดขึ้นเลย และความดื้อดึงเช่นนี้เป็นส่วนหนึ่งของความพยายามในการกลบเกลื่อนบทบาทของเจ้าหน้าที่ของรัฐที่เกี่ยวข้องกับการลักพาตัวครั้งนี้” นายชาร์ล ซานติเอโก (Charles Santiago) สส.มาเลเซียและรองประธานองค์การสมาชิกรัฐสภาอาเซียนเพื่อสิทธิมนุษยชนกล่าว

“เราถือว่าคุณสมบัดเป็นพลเมืองของอาเซียน ไม่ใช่เฉพาะของลาว เราจึงมีสิทธิและหน้าที่ในการค้นหาว่าเกิดอะไรขึ้นกับเขา แต่การเล่นเกมถ่วงเวลา การปฏิเสธไม่รับความช่วยเหลือ การให้ข้อมูลเท็จและการแสดงท่าทีไม่เป็นมิตรในบางครั้งของทางการลาวเมื่อถูกสอบถามข้อมูลเกี่ยวกับการสอบสวน เป็นเรื่องที่ทำให้เกิดความน่าเบื่อหน่าย ไม่เพียงเฉพาะในสปป.ลาว แต่เกิดขึ้นกับประเทศสมาชิกอาเซียนทั้งหมด” Continue reading “รัฐบาลลาวต้องยุติการบิดเบือนในการสอบสวนคดีต่อนายสมบัด”

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Lao government’s deceptive game on Sombath investigation must end

2014-09-18-14.56.39
From left to right: Kanya Khammoungkhoun, Deputy-Director of ASEAN Politcal and Security Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Lao PDR; U Shwe Maung, Chair of APHR Myanmar Caucus; Mr. Phoukhong Sisoulath, Representative of Laos PDR to AICHR; Charles Santiago, Chair of APHR Malaysia Caucus

BANGKOK — The Lao government should share all information on the investigation into the abduction of Sombath Somphone with family members and independent parties, ending its deceptive game of hiding behind national sovereignty to excuse it from engaging in a sincere conversation regarding the investigation into his disappearance, Southeast Asian lawmakers said today.

“The Lao authorities have erected a brick wall of silence on this investigation, so much so that the only intelligent conclusion is that there is in fact no investigation taking place at all and that the obstinacy is part of a cover up for state officials implicated in his abduction,” said Mr. Charles Santiago, Malaysian MP and Vice-President of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR).

“We regard Sombath as a citizen of ASEAN, not just of Laos, and therefore have the right and duty to help find out what has happened to him. The blatant game playing, refusal of assistance and deceptive and at times belligerent answers provided by the Lao authorities when asked for information on the investigation is growing tiresome and reflects badly not just on Lao PDR, but on all of ASEAN.” Continue reading “Lao government’s deceptive game on Sombath investigation must end”

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SAPA Working Group on ASEAN: Uphold Human Rights and Investigate Disappearances

sapaSolidarity for Asian Peoples’ Advocacies (SAPA) Working Group on ASEAN calls on ASEAN to uphold human rights and investigate cases of enforced disappearances

August 30 marked the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearance. In solidarity with the victims and families of those who have been disappeared, the SAPA Working Group on ASEAN urges ASEAN governments to bring an immediate end to enforced disappearances and ensure justice for the victims and their families.

Enforced or involuntary disappearance is one of the most heinous violations of human rights, akin to torture, and cruel and inhuman treatment. According to the United Nations Declaration on the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance, an enforced disappearance happens when, “persons are arrested, detained or abducted against their will or otherwise deprived of their liberty by officials of different branches or levels of Government, or by organized groups or private individuals acting on behalf of, or with the support, direct or indirect, consent or acquiescence of the Government, followed by a refusal to disclose the fate or whereabouts of the persons concerned or a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of their liberty, which places such persons outside the protection of the law.” Continue reading “SAPA Working Group on ASEAN: Uphold Human Rights and Investigate Disappearances”

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Missing Sombath a test for ASEAN

Asian Currents: 12 June 2014

Sombath Somphone
Abducted: Sombath Somphone.

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”

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AICHR can do more to protect Asean citizens

The Nation: 28 April 2014

Kavi Chongkittavorn

The fate of Laotian civil society activist Sombath Somphone will serve as a test case on whether the dictum of a people-oriented Asean community, expounded recently by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei, or people-centred community advocated by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, is genuine and sincere. Since December 2012, the whereabouts of Sombath, a Magsaysay Award winner are unknown.

Sombath’s wife, Dr Ng Shui Meng, has been working relentlessly to push for a full investigation by the Laotian government into his disappearance. Asean-based civil society groups have also continuously appealed to Vientiane to put more effort into the case, which occurred in front of a police checkpoint near the capital, where he was last seen. So far, very little information has been revealed by the authorities.

At a recent meeting in Bangkok, Asean parliamentarians praised Singapore for its efforts to urge the Lao government to expedite their inquiry into Sombath’s disappearance and resolve the case as soon as possible. They also called for other Asean members to take a firm and common stand on the issue. Continue reading “AICHR can do more to protect Asean citizens”

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Singapore taking the lead in pressuring Laos to expedite investigation into disappearance of Sombath Somphone

Asian Parliamentarians for Human Rights: 18 April 2014

LOGO_APHRBANGKOK – ASEAN Parliamentarians today praised Singapore for its consistent efforts to urge the Lao government to expedite its inquiry into the disappearance of civil society actor Sombath Somphone and urged other ASEAN nations to take a firm, united stand against the shortcomings of the Lao authorities’ investigation to date.

The Singapore government this week reiterated its concern regarding the stalled investigation into Sombath’s whereabouts after he was disappeared from a street in Vientiane in December 2012.

In written remarks to the Singapore Parliament, Singaporean Law and Foreign Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam said his government had made its misgivings known to the Lao government and that it has also offered assistance to Sombath’s wife, Dr. Ng Shui Meng, a Singaporean citizen resident in Vientiane.

“[The Singapore government has] consistently raised our concern to the Lao PDR government over Mr Sombath’s disappearance at the highest levels, including with the Lao PDR President, Prime Minister, President of the National Assembly and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs,” K Shanmugam said.

“We have urged the Lao PDR government to expedite their investigations and to resolve this case as quickly as possible.” Continue reading “Singapore taking the lead in pressuring Laos to expedite investigation into disappearance of Sombath Somphone”