Voice of America: 21 December 2016
The wife of Lao civil society leader Sombath Somphone is calling for judicial reforms in Laos and for the government clarify the fate of her husband, saying she will “never give up” in seeking the truth behind his disappearance.
Shui-Meng Ng, made the appeal as rights activists marked the fourth year since his enforced disappearance from a police checkpoint in the Laos capital of Vientiane in December 2012.
“The message to the [Laos] government is ‘come clean’ — tell us the truth and my message to the Laos government is — ‘I will never give up’,” Shui-Meng told reporters in Thailand. Continue reading “Wife of Lao Activist Calls on Government to ‘Come Clean’ on Husband’s Fate”


We learned of the threats on Maria Chin Abdullah, Chairperson of Bersih 2.0, Laureate of Gwangju Prize 2016. We learned also of the smearing of paint on her son’s car and other attempts to intimidate her, her family and her associates.
Briefing paper prepared by International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
Since 1997, Freedom House has rated Laos as ‘Not Free’ with regard to its press freedom. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has consistently ranked Laos among the bottom 15 countries surveyed since the creation of its Press Freedom Index in 2002.
Human Rights Treaties

Pada konferensi pers yang diadakan oleh The Sombath Initiative di Foreign Correspondents Club, Bangkok, Thailand, kelompok-kelompok tersebut mempublikasikan satu set dokumen terkait dengan penghilangan paksa pemimpin masyarakat sipil, Sombath Somphone, pembatasan demokrasi dan HAM oleh pemerintah Laos, kurangnya kebebasan berpendapat, kegagalan pemerintah dalam menjalankan kewajiban HAM, dan dampaknya pada bantuan dan investasi asing.
