Month: August 2016

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Human rights under scrutiny in Laos ahead of ASEAN meet

Anadolu Agency: 31 August 2016

BANGKOK, THAILAND - AUGUST 31: An activist holds a protest in front of the Laos Embassy in Bangkok calling on the government to stop Human Rights violations.
BANGKOK, THAILAND – AUGUST 31: An activist holds a protest in front of the Laos Embassy in Bangkok calling on the government to stop Human Rights violations.

One week before Laos hosts a summit of Southeast Asian leaders, international rights groups are demanding that Thailand’s sleepy northern neighbor improve its human rights situation.

But while advocates have underscored the state of human rights in the country, the wife of a prominent civil society leader who disappeared after being arrested in Vientiane in December 2012 had more personal concerns Wednesday. Continue reading “Human rights under scrutiny in Laos ahead of ASEAN meet”

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Tackle Human Rights Abuses in Laos

ASEAN Meeting Should Highlight Disappeared Leader Sombath Somphone, Denial of Liberties 

(Bangkok, August 31, 2016) – On the eve of the annual ASEAN leaders summit in Vientiane, human rights and advocacy groups called upon the Lao PDR Government to commit to address its widespread violations of human rights, including instances of enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention. Visiting world leaders have a unique opportunity to publicly raise human rights concerns during the ASEAN summit in Vientiane from September 6-8. They should press the Lao government to cease the abuses that have consistently placed Laos at the bottom of rig hts and development indexes measuring rights, press freedom, democracy, religious freedom, and economic transparency.

ALogo-Sombath Initiativet the press conference organized today by The Sombath Initiative at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand in Bangkok, the groups released briefing papers on forcibly disappeared civil society leader Sombath Somphone, Laos’ restrictions on democracy and human rights, lack freedom of expression, failure to meet human rights obligations, and impacts of foreign aid and investment. Continue reading “Tackle Human Rights Abuses in Laos”

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Repression in Laos Goes Under the Spotlight

TheNewsLens: 29 August 2016

TheNewsLens-2016Human rights and democracy advocates are using next week’s Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Vientiane, Laos, to draw attention to the country’s authoritarian regime.

Charles Santiago is a Malaysian Member of Parliament and Chairperson of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR).

In an op-ed published in the Bangkok Post, Santiago slams Laos’ communist government for being a “regional leader” in repression. Continue reading “Repression in Laos Goes Under the Spotlight”

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Amnesty International: Où est Sombath ?

Amnesty InternationalAmnesty 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 ?”

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Amnesty International: #WhereIsSombath?

Amnesty InternationalAmnesty 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?”

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AFSC calls on US President

AFSC:AF 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.)

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Laos leads region, but only in repression

Bangkok Post: 27 August 2016, By Charles Santiago

Lao Embassy in Bangkok-2013
In this photo taken in December 2012, activists hold a large banner featuring a poster of the missing civil society leader Sombath Somphone during a demonstation in Bangkok. Chanat Katanyu

On Sept 6, heads of state from around the world will gather in Vientiane, Laos, for the year’s only Asean Summit. The high-profile meeting should be a chance for the Lao government, as hosts, to showcase its regional leadership potential. But don’t expect a spectacle of economic, social or environmental innovation. The only thing on display will be the communist government’s unflinching commitment to authoritarianism at all costs — something that neighbouring governments seem ever eager to emulate.

Despite being the titular head of the regional bloc in 2016, Laos leads the region in few respects. Its economic output, in both overall and per capita terms, remains among the lowest in Asean, and its presence on the world stage is minimal.

But there is one particular area in which the Lao government has been a consistent regional leader: repression. Continue reading “Laos leads region, but only in repression”

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ASEAN in Laos: Challenges of Leadership, Human Rights and Democracy

ASEAN logo 2016Press conference at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club of Thailand

11am, Wednesday 31 August, 2016, Bangkok 

At a time when ASEAN is witnessing an alarming increase in human rights abuses, restrictions on civil liberties, and a shrinking of democratic space in a number of its member states, what kind of example does this year’s ASEAN Chair, Laos, set for the regional bloc?

The enforced disappearance of prominent civil society leader Sombath Somphone in December 2012, ongoing arbitrary detentions, and extremely tight controls on the media and civil society have instilled an environment of fear, silence, and repression in Laos. Little news about the serious human rights abuses occurring in the country ever comes out in the media, allowing the continued violation of basic liberties.

Despite this repressive environment, foreign aid and investment continue to flow into Laos. Continue reading “ASEAN in Laos: Challenges of Leadership, Human Rights and Democracy”

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“By 1980, he was home again”

SB & Woman-005bSombath Somphone’s early life took place amidst uncertainty and turbulence as Laos was swept into the Indochina War. He eventually escaped this by winning a scholarship to the University of Hawaii, where he earned degrees in education and agriculture. By 1980, he was home again. That same year Sombath helped launch the Rice-Based Integrated Farm System Project, to help Laotian farmers achieve food security. The ensuing years exposed him intimately to the world of rural Laos and to the complex obstacles awaiting development workers in its remote scattered villages.

From citation for the 2005 Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership

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Lao Government Muted Representatives to ASEAN People’s Forum

Radio Free Asia: 09 August 2016

Laos Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith (C) delivers the opening speech at the planary session of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' (ASEAN) 49th annual ministerial meeting in Vientiane, July 24, 2016.
Laos Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith (C) delivers the opening speech at the planary session of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) 49th annual ministerial meeting in Vientiane, July 24, 2016.

Laos’ representatives attending a meeting of civil society organizations that is held each year during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit said little about human rights issues inside their own authoritarian country because they were selected by the government in Vientiane, sources tell RFA.

While the ASEAN People’s Forum is designed to highlight human-rights issues in the 10 countries that make up ASEAN, the Lao government made sure that rights criticisms of that country were kept to a minimum by hand-picking the Lao civil society representatives attending the forum, according to the sources. Continue reading “Lao Government Muted Representatives to ASEAN People’s Forum”