Tag: Human Rights

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Asean must improve its HR practices

The Nation: 01 July 2013

The China Post: 02 July 2013

For the past four years, AICHR has completely ignored violation of human rights in member countries. During the first year of AICHR, attempts were made by individual AICHR member to take up right violations such as the Maguindanao massacre. But it was a non-starter.

Disappearance of Lao activist, Sombath Somphone, in December last year was another case in point showing the AICHR’s lack of moral courage. After all, it came after the announcement of ASEAN Declaration of Human Rights one month before his kidnapping.

The entire article can be read by clicking on the blue links above.

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Mansfield Center Expresses Solidarity

mansfield-centerIn an article “Fostering Engagement with Laos While Promoting Human Rights,” on Montana Public Radio, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center expressed:

…we stand together with the friends and family of Sombath as they work to facilitate his return.  As we maintain our relationships with governmental and non-governmental organizations in Laos, we work to educate colleagues on Sombath’s disappearance, with the hope that he will soon be returned.

The article also states:

In a stark reminder of the state of human rights in Laos, Sombath disappeared six months ago, as he and his wife were driving separately from his office in Vientiane to their home.  A police security video shows him being stopped at a police checkpoint and taken into custody.  Despite attention from international observers, the Lao government has failed to explain his disappearance.  As the U. S. Embassy in Vientiane stated, “Mr. Sombath is widely admired for his peaceful and constructive focus on improving his country…. Continued inaction on this case by the Lao authorities could erode progress made over the past years and damage the country’s international reputation, potentially raising additional questions about the Lao Government’s commitment to uphold the rule of law and engage responsibly with the world.”

The full article can be read by clicking on the link above.

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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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Somchai, Jonas, Sombath: Southeast Asia’s Missing Human Rights Warriors

The Diplomat: April 16, 2013

By Mong Palatino

Sombath-DiplomatThai human rights lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit went missing on March 12, 2004. Filipino activist Jonas Burgos was last seen on April 28, 2007. Lao development economist and educator Sombath Somphone disappeared on December 15, 2012.

The search for these missing activists has become a campaign for human rights promotion, not only in their respective countries but across Southeast Asia. Their names have become synonymous with the fight against enforced disappearances, kidnapping, torture, and other human rights atrocities, often carried out with apparent impunity.

At the time of his disappearance, then 53-year-old Somchai was handling cases in southern Thailand, a region ravaged by infighting between government troops and Muslim separatist rebels. Somchai was pursuing a case against police officers accused of torture when he mysteriously disappeared in Bangkok.

Jonas, the son of Philippine press freedom fighter Joe Burgos, was connected with a left-leaning peasant group when he was abducted by suspected state agents in a Quezon City shopping mall. There were witnesses who testified in the court that Jonas shouted ‘Aktibista ako!’ (I’m an activist!) while he was being dragged out of the mall.

Sombath is a popular NGO leader whose work with the Participatory Development Training Centre in Laos earned him the 2005 Ramon Magsaysay Award, known as Asia’s Nobel Prize, for community leadership. Sombath’s disappearance was captured on CCTV footage, which shows Sombath being stopped by police and then abducted by unidentified men. Sombath’s abduction is believed to be related to his advocacy for the protection of land rights for ordinary villagers. Continue reading “Somchai, Jonas, Sombath: Southeast Asia’s Missing Human Rights Warriors”