Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) generally exercised self-censorship, which civil society considered was a direct result of Sombath Somphone’s disappearance. The chilling effect of the disappearance of an internationally respected civil society advocate caused lesser-known local activists to believe they had little hope of avoiding a similar fate if they were too outspoken.
Mystery surrounds disappearance of Laos man after traffic stop
USA Today: 11 September 2016
The last time Ng Shui Meng saw her husband, he was driving his beloved vintage American jeep.
That was a December evening almost four years ago, after Sombath Somphone was stopped by traffic police. He never arrived home for dinner.
The disappearance of Sombath, 64, a prominent Lao activist who focused on rural development and reducing poverty, is a persistent reminder of human rights abuses by the communist government here. Continue reading “Mystery surrounds disappearance of Laos man after traffic stop”
For disappeared man’s wife, Obama trip yields little
CNN: 08 September 2016
In 1975, 14-year-old Barack Obama and 23-year-old Sombath Somphone were both living in Oahu, the future US president starting high school and the Lao exchange student on his way toward a bachelor’s degree from the University of Hawaii.
Forty-one years later, their paths converged again, in a way. Obama this week became the first sitting US president to visit Laos. Sombath, meanwhile, has vanished — stopped on a street in this sleepy Mekong outpost in 2012, stuffed into a pick-up truck, and never heard from again. Continue reading “For disappeared man’s wife, Obama trip yields little”
Obama aide to meet with wife of missing UH-educated Laotian activist
Honolulu Star Advisor: 06 September 2016
A top aide of President Barack Obama said he will meet with the wife of a missing Laotian activist and East-West Center graduate, whose case has been repeatedly highlighted by human rights groups as an example of authoritarian excesses of Laos’ one-party Communist government.
Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters today he will meet with Shui Meng Ng on Thursday while Obama is visiting Laos. The president arrived on Monday to attend a regional summit.
Human rights activists were hoping that Obama would speak about Ng’s husband, Sombath Somphone, who was picked up apparently by security forces on Dec. 15, 2012. He has not been seen since.
Obama has not mentioned him so far in his public remarks, but Rhodes said that “we care very deeply about her case and her husband, and we believe she deserves to know what happened to her husband.” Continue reading “Obama aide to meet with wife of missing UH-educated Laotian activist”
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
US to Laos: Step Up Probe of Activist Somphone’s Disappearance
Voice of America: 16 December 2015
The United States on Wednesday called on Laos to resolve the mystery of the disappearance three years ago of prominent social activist Sombath Somphone, saying his abduction sent a “chilling message” on human rights.
Sombath went missing in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, on December 15, 2012. A video previously released by authorities shows him being stopped at a police checkpoint and being led into a pickup truck.
“The United States remains deeply concerned over [Sombath’s] fate and the chilling message his abduction sends to members of civil society and the people of Laos more broadly,” the U.S. State Department said. “We are troubled by the fact that no progress has been made in locating Mr. Somphone and call on the Lao government to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation. The government should take measures to resolve this case immediately.” Continue reading “US to Laos: Step Up Probe of Activist Somphone’s Disappearance”
Vientiane's problematic rights record
The disappearance of respected agronomist and community leader Sombath Somphone in 2012 alerted the international community to Vientiane’s problematic rights record.
From “An opening in Laos the US cannot miss,” in the Bangkok Post, 11 April 2015.
US ‘deeply concerned’ over Laos activist fate
Al Jazeera: 16 December 2013
Sombath Somphone was abducted from police checkpoint a year ago, but Laos’s government is silent on the matter.
The abduction of Sombath Somphone, 61, at a busy traffic junction in the Laotian capital on December 15 last year was recorded on government surveillance cameras.
Despite calls by foreign governments and rights groups for information on Sambath’s disappearance, the Laos communist-led government has maintained almost complete silence on the matter.
“Laos has taken steps in recent years to become a responsible partner in the community of nations. Sombath’s abduction threatens to undermine those efforts,” the US Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement on Sunday.
“We call on the government to take all actions possible to ensure his safe return to his family.” Continue reading “US ‘deeply concerned’ over Laos activist fate”
Kerry Warns Laos Over Missing Civil Society Leader's Case
Radio Free Asia: 15 December 2013
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned Laos Sunday that the unresolved case of a missing local civil society leader could undermine the authoritarian state’s aspirations of becoming a responsible member of the international community.
Kerry, who is visiting Southeast Asia, said the United States “remains deeply concerned” over the fate of Sombath Somphone, one of the most respected civil society figures in Laos, on the one-year anniversary of his disappearance.
Sombath has been missing since Dec. 15, 2012, when he was stopped in his vehicle at a police checkpoint in the Lao capital Vientiane. He was then transferred into another vehicle, according to surveillance video. No one has seen him since.
Lao officials say they are investigating the case but have offered little information on Sombath’s whereabouts, prompting human rights groups to suspect that he may have been abducted by government-linked groups.
Six international rights groups said in a joint statement last week that Laos’s failure to conduct a “serious” investigation into the disappearance had “heightened concerns” about government involvement in the case. Continue reading “Kerry Warns Laos Over Missing Civil Society Leader's Case”
US Statement for Round Table
….the abduction of Sombath Somphone nearly a year ago and the lack of progress in the investigation have sent the wrong message to the international diplomatic and business communities about Laos. Transparency and credible progress in the investigation would send the message that Laos is serious about the rule of law.
From US Government Statement at Lao PDR’s Round Table Meeting, 19 November 2013