Author: rsbtws

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Release Sombath Somphone

When: Monday December 16 2013 10:00 AMAmnesty_International
Where: 1 Dalman Crescent, O’Malley, ACT, 2606

Join Amnesty International to take action for Sombath Somphone, a victim of an enforced disappearance at the hands of the Laos authorities.

The demonstration, held at 1 Dalman Crescent, aims to show the Laos Government that there is global awareness of Sombath’s abduction and disappearance.

Sombath is an agricultural specialist. He established an environmental NGO and has supported village communities who have been displaced by development activity.

He was abducted on 15 December 2012 from a Laos police road block. He has not been heard of since.

The Laos Government must act now to ensure the safe return of civil society leader Sombath.

Come along to this demonstration and stand in support for the freedom of Sombath.

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Sombath Somphone – One Year After

7pm Wednesday Dec 11, 2013
Members Free, Non-Members: 350 Baht

Sombath Somphone, perhaps the Lao PDR’s most prominent community development activist and founder of the Participatory Development Training Center (PADETC) was last seen on the evening of Dec 15, 2013 on a road in Vientiane. According to footage from a CCTV camera, he was stopped in his own vehicle by police, left it, and minutes later got into another vehicle and was driven off into the darkness.

Since then, a veil of silence has descended on the disappearance of the man who in 2005 was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership. The Lao government which has denied any involvement in his disappearance, has come under pressure for a credible explanation – which has not been forthcoming. 100 days after Sombath disappeared, US Secretary of State John Kerry in a statement said “Regrettably, the continuing, unexplained disappearance of Mr. Sombath, a widely respected and inspiring Lao citizen who has worked for the greater benefit of all of his countrymen, raises questions about the Lao government’s commitment to the rule of law and to engage responsibly with the world.”

To mark one year since he disappeared and to ensure that the incident is not forgotten, the FCCT is pleased to host Sombath’s wife Ng Shui Meng who will speak about her husband’s life and work.

And to join Ng Shui Meng to speak about human security, transparency, accountability and state power, the FCCT is pleased to host:

Pablo Solón, Executive Director of Focus on the Global South. Mr Solon was the Plurinational State of Bolivia’s Ambassador to the UN and chief negotiator for climate change from 2009 to 2011. His brother (Jose Carlos Trujillo Oroza) was one of the forced disappeared in Bolivia in 1972 during the dictatorship of Banzer. His mother (Gladys Oroza de Solon) was co-founder of the Bolivian Association and Latin American Federation of the forced disappeared.

Evelyn Balais-Serrano, Executive Director of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA). Ms. Balais-Serrano has over 40 years of experience in development, human rights and international justice work. Among other initiatives, she helped set up through the Task Force Detainees- Philippines (TFDP), a rehabilitation center for released political prisoners and torture victims and the filing of a class suit in Hawaii against President Marcos after 14 years of martial rule. She also helped establish the Human Rights Commission of the International Federation of Social Workers, where she served as Commissioner for Asia-Pacific for many years. Before returning to FORUM-ASIA in 2013, she spent 10 years as Coordinator for Asia-Pacific with the Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC), a global network of civil society organizations advocating for a fair, independent and effective ICC.

Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand
Penthouse, Maneeya Center Building
518/5 Ploenchit Road (connected to the BTS Skytrain Chitlom station)
Patumwan, Bangkok 10330
Tel.: 02-652-0580
E-mail:  [email protected]
Web Site:  http://www.fccthai.com

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Clarification

“While Sombath has always advocated broader dialogue and participation on the overall development approaches in Laos and, especially advocated for sustainable development which is more balanced, taking into consideration development’s impact on culture, nature, spiritual well-being, as well as the economy, he never criticized specific projects nor actively supported any organizing against hydro-power dams.”

Ng Shui Meng, quoted in Dam dilemmas: Laos cashes in on hydro

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Verschollen in Vientiane

Neue Zürcher Zeitung: 22 November 2013

Rätselhafte Entführung

Strassenszene in Vientiane. Die laotische Hauptstadt war Schauplatz einer rätselhaften Entführung.
Strassenszene in Vientiane. Die laotische Hauptstadt war Schauplatz einer rätselhaften Entführung.

Im kommunistischen Kleinstaat Laos schien sich eine politische Öffnung anzubahnen – bis vor einem Jahr ein bekannter Aktivist spurlos verschwand. Die internationale Gemeinschaft reagiert empört.

Marco Kauffmann Bossart, Vientiane

Ng Shui Meng blickte in den Rückspiegel und sah, wie Sombath Somphone mit seinem Jeep auf der Thadeua-Strasse in Vientiane neben einem Kontrollposten der Polizei anhielt. Sorgen machte sie sich deswegen keine. Vielleicht handelte es sich um eine simple Ausweiskontrolle, oder der Motor des in die Jahre gekommenen Fahrzeugs bockte. Das Paar war an diesem Abend des 15. Dezembers 2012 mit zwei Autos unterwegs und hatte vereinbart, sich zu Hause zu treffen. Alarm schlug Ng erst, als Sombaths Handy wiederholt ins Leere klingelte und keines der Spitäler in der überschaubaren Hauptstadt von Laos an diesem Samstag Opfer von Verkehrsunfällen zu vermelden hatte.

Zwei Tage später sprach Ng beim Posten an der Thadeua-Strasse vor, bei dem sie ihren Mann zuletzt gesehen hatte. Ein hilfsbereiter Beamter zeigte ihr die Aufnahmen einer jener Überwachungskameras, die das autokratische Regime zur Abwehr «antisozialer Aktivitäten» installiert hatte. Auf dem Bildschirm erkannte sie den Jeep ihres Mannes. Sombath steigt aus und wird einige Minuten später in ein weisses Pick-up-Fahrzeug eskortiert und weggefahren. Ng nahm geistesgegenwärtig ihr Handy hervor und filmte mit. Das so entstandene Video deutet darauf hin, dass der Entwicklungshelfer und Aktivist vom Sicherheitsapparat des kommunistischen Einparteistaats verschleppt wurde. Continue reading “Verschollen in Vientiane”

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EU Statement for Round Table

Screen Shot 2013-02-01 at 22.53.08 PMEuropean partners regard the unexplained disappearance of Mr Sombath Somphone as a very serious matter. We express our grave concern regarding his safety and wellbeing. European partners regard the statements made by the Government of Lao PDR on this case as neither sufficient nor convincing. We call on the Government of Lao PDR to conduct a comprehensive and transparent investigation of this case…

From European Development Partners Statement at Lao PDR’s Round Table Meeting. 19 November 2013

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The Dark Side of Laos, As an Activist Vanishes Without a Trace

Worldcrunch: (15 November 2013)

Sombath Somphone disappeared on Dec. 15, 2012. Photo: Le Monde

Police are monitoring traffic from a small wooden gatehouse in eastern Vientiane, on the outskirts of the Laotian capital. It was here nearly one year ago, opposite the Indian embassy, that 62-year-old Sombath Somphone mysteriously disappeared. The rural development promoter and farmers’ rights activist hasn’t been heard from since.

On Dec. 15, 2012, Somphone was driving behind his wife’s car in his Jeep. He was stopped by a traffic officer for an identity check. The policeman spoke with him through the car door. Somphone then stepped out and walked towards the gatehouse. Soon after, a man got off his motorcycle and climbed into Somphone’s Jeep and drove off.

A white pickup then parked on the side of the road, warning lights flashing, before two men — one of whom was Somphone — climbed in. That was the last sign of the popular activist.

CCTV footage — available on the website Sombath.org — has allowed his family to reconstruct the scenario. Since Somphone vanished, the police investigation that Laotian authorities claim to have conducted has been fruitless. What is clear is that his disappearance has all the markings of an abduction committed right before police eyes at rush hour.

“I have no idea who could be behind his abduction, or why it happened,” says Somphone’s Singaporian wife Ng Shui Meng by phone. “All I can say is that the police say that they don’t know who kidnapped him.” Continue reading “The Dark Side of Laos, As an Activist Vanishes Without a Trace”

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Climate Change

Our hearts go out to the people of the Philippines, and in particular those friends and colleagues who have shown so much support and solidarity.

Now with 7 billion habitants, we begin to be concerned if we are overshooting the carrying capacity of the earth. The urban population has now overtaken that of the rural. The gaps between the have and have‐not continue to widen. Climate change resulting from industrial pollution is threatening the life‐support system of planet earth. Everyone wants to make more money, and everything is monetized.

Sombath Somphone, in The Force of Inter-connectedness