Enforced Disappearance Archives - Page 9 of 15 - Sombath Somphone

September 7, 2016

The questions Laos doesn’t want to answer

Amnesty International: 06 September 2016

Nestled in the Mekong region, with mighty China to its north, is landlocked Laos. Famed for its sedate surroundings, and tragically the country where the U.S. dropped more than 260 million bombs during its war in Indochina, it rarely receives the attention received by its more prominent neighbours.

This week, Barack Obama will become the first U.S. President to ever visit the country for the ASEAN summit. In advance of the visit, US officials have spoken of an emerging partnership on development between the two countries, which focuses on health, nutrition and basic education.

As visitors frequently note, the pace of life is slow in Laos, remarkably so. But beneath the tranquil surface that President Obama will encounter, there lurk endemic human rights problems. Continue reading “The questions Laos doesn’t want to answer”

September 6, 2016

Can Laos stand the spotlight?

Manila Times: 06 September 2016

Laos has adopted the efficient practice of hosting two Asean summits at one go. Why bother organising two events months apart? We already have a lot of domestic homework and who wants to meet world leaders that often, especially if all they’re going to do is nag us about democracy and human rights?

Photo-ops and friendly handshakes are what many Asean leaders prefer — either to silence noisy critics at home or to confer legitimacy if, for instance, they took power after a coup.

So bravo to Malaysia, the 2015 host which lived up to the gentlemen’s agreement for more talking-shops. The dual summits made their debut during Thailand’s chairmanship of Asean in 2009. A decade earlier, leaders were content to meet every two or three years. Continue reading “Can Laos stand the spotlight?”

September 6, 2016

As the world’s leaders head for Laos, wife of missing activist makes her plea

Sydney Morning Herald: 05 September 2016

CCTV vision captures the last known images of Sombath Somphone who disappeared in December 2012 on the streets of Vientiane, Laos.

The wife of missing social activist Sombath Somphone has appealed to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, US President Barack Obama and other world leaders to press Laos’ communist leaders about his fate when they arrive in the South-east Asian nation on Tuesday.

Shui Meng Ng says she hopes Laotian leaders will not brush off concerns about her husband of more than 30 years with the response that police are still investigating.

“I hope this time they will show some good will and sincerity by agreeing to accept international assistance and conduct a serious and transparent investigation into what happened to Sombath,” Ms Ng told the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand.

“Maybe it is pie in the sky. But whatever the response, I can never give up hope and I will not be deterred from my search,” she said. Continue reading “As the world’s leaders head for Laos, wife of missing activist makes her plea”

September 5, 2016

Where’s Sombath? Activist’s mysterious abduction a human rights thorn for Laos as it hosts major summit

South China Morning Post: 05 September 2016

The disappearance of an award-winning activist nearly four years ago is a reminder of the dismal human rights record of the authoritarian government of the tiny landlocked nation.

The light was fading over Vientiane on a cool December evening when a Jeep was stopped at a traffic light. CCTV video later showed the occupant of the car being pulled out and taken away in a pickup truck, never to be seen again.

The disappearance of Sombath Somphone nearly four years ago is a reminder of the dismal human rights record of the authoritarian government of Laos, which prepares to host Asian leaders and US President Barack Obama at a regional summit starting Tuesday. Continue reading “Where’s Sombath? Activist’s mysterious abduction a human rights thorn for Laos as it hosts major summit”

August 30, 2016September 3, 2016

Amnesty International: Où est Sombath ?

Amnesty International: 30 August 2016

Alors que le monde entier célèbre la Journée internationale des victimes de disparition forcée, les autorités laotiennes doivent mener dans les plus brefs délais une enquête approfondie et efficace sur l’enlèvement et la disparition forcée présumée de Sombath Somphone, a déclaré Amnesty International mardi 30 août 2016.

Sombath Somphone, membre respecté de la société civile laotienne, a été arrêté par la police de la route le 15 décembre 2012 et emmené dans un pickup. On ignore toujours où il se trouve, les autorités n’ont pas tenu sa famille informée de l’affaire et aucune enquête crédible n’a été menée sur sa disparition forcée.

« La semaine prochaine, Barack Obama sera le premier président des États-Unis à se rendre au Laos. Il doit saisir cette occasion rare pour exprimer sa préoccupation quant à la situation des droits humains dans ce pays connu pour être très fermé, notamment en demandant aux autorités “Où est Sombath ?” », a déclaré T. Kumar, directeur en charge du travail international de plaidoyer au sein d’Amnesty International États-Unis. Continue reading “Amnesty International: Où est Sombath ?”

August 30, 2016September 1, 2016

Amnesty International: #WhereIsSombath?

Amnesty International: 30 August 2016

As the International Day of the Disappeared is marked around the world, the Laos authorities must promptly, thoroughly and effectively investigate the abduction and suspected enforced disappearance of Sombath Somphone, Amnesty International said today.

On 15 December 2012, Sombath Somphone, a leading member of Lao civil society, was stopped by traffic police and taken away in a pick-up truck. His whereabouts remain unknown, his family has not been kept informed by the authorities, and there has been no credible investigation into his enforced disappearance.

“Next week, Barack Obama will become the first US President to visit Laos. He must seize this rare opportunity to raise concerns about the human rights situation in the notoriously closed country, including by asking the authorities, ‘Where is Sombath?’” said T. Kumar, Amnesty International USA’s International Advocacy Director. Continue reading “Amnesty International: #WhereIsSombath?”

August 29, 2016

AFSC calls on US President

AFSC: 25 August 2016

The American Friends Service Committee has called on US President Barack Obama to raise issues on his upcoming trip to the Lao PDR:

1. Urge the new Lao Administration to publicly announce a renewed investigation into Sombath’s disappearance and to call for regional and international assistance on this unresolved case.

2. Urge Lao authorities to restore and increase safe public space for independent non- profit associations and independent local media.

The call to action can be found here, and the full letter here. (As point of clarification, the Sombath Initiative is not an American organisation.)

August 4, 2016

Urgent Action: Three Lao Activists Held Incommunicado

Amnesty International: 03 August 2016

Three Lao human rights activists have been arrested on 5 and 22 March in circumstances that may constitute enforced disappearances. They remain in incommunicado detention since they appeared on national television on 25 May in a report that confirmed that they had been arrested for threatening national security through social media postings.

Soukan Chaithad (32), Lodkham Thammavong (30), and Somphone Phimmasone (29) are Lao nationals who had been working in Thailand until February 2016, when they returned to Laos to obtain documentation to continue working there. The three had participated in a peaceful demonstration of around 30 people outside the Lao embassy in Bangkok on 2 December 2015, Lao national day, and had posted a number of messages on Facebook criticising the Laos government for corruption, deforestation and human rights violations. Continue reading “Urgent Action: Three Lao Activists Held Incommunicado”

July 16, 2016

Laos: Premier Should Account for ‘Disappeared’ Activist

Human Rights Watch: 14 July 2016

Disclosing Fate of Sombath Somphone Major Test for New Government

(New York) – Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith should immediately disclose the fate of prominent activist Sombath Somphone, who has been forcibly disappeared in Vientiane since December 2012, Human Rights Watch said.

Since taking office on April 20, 2016, Prime Minister Thongloun has stayed silent on Sombath’s disappearance, among the country’s most serious human rights cases in recent years. Official investigations of the case have been rudimentary and inadequate, and failed to offer any credible explanation of his fate or whereabouts. Lao authorities have repeatedly disregarded concerns raised by foreign governments and human rights groups.

“Sombath Somphone’s case is a major test for Prime Minister Thongloun’s new government,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The prime minister should end Lao’s long silence on Sombath’s ‘disappearance’ and explain what happened to him, instead of trying to deflect international criticisms and concerns.” Continue reading “Laos: Premier Should Account for ‘Disappeared’ Activist”

June 14, 2016

How about a little financial pressure?

They have disappeared him. His name is Sombath Somphone, and he was — I’m not sure what the right tense is — a civil-society leader. They snatched him out of his car…

I’m thinking, “Can’t some government turn the screws on Laos — the financial screws — until they cough this man up? Should it be that hard? It doesn’t require an invasion or the breaking of diplomatic relations or anything, does it? How about a little financial pressure, à la the Magnitsky Act? Anything!”

Jay Nordlinger, in Trolls, Wales, whales, Nobelists, heroes, heroines … National Review, 02 June 2016