Month: August 2013

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Laos urged to intensify missing activist probe

Times Online: 28 August 2013

BANGKOK, Aug 28, 2013 (AFP) – A European Union lawmaker pressed Laos Wednesday to intensify an investigation into the disappearance of a prominent activist, after raising the case during a trip to the secretive communist state.

Sombath Somphone, 62, was last seen in December 2012 being led away by police in Vientiane after his car stopped at a checkpoint.

CCTV images later emerged appearing to show him being driven away with two unidentified people.

The US and EU have joined rights groups in calling for Sombath’s safe return, and an official European Parliament delegation is expected to raise his disappearance when it travels to Laos in October.

“The Laos regime is still in a state of denial… what the regime (is doing) to investigate is not sufficient,” Danish MEP Soren Bo Sondergaard told reporters in Bangkok, after returning Tuesday from Laos.

“Of course there’s a lot of words about how sorry they (Lao authorities) feel…but when it comes to the concrete steps that have been taken, things are very unclear,” Sondergaard said. Continue reading “Laos urged to intensify missing activist probe”

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Verschwundener Aktivist Sombath: EU-Parlamentarier kritisieren Laos

Europe Online Magazine: 28 August 2013

Bangkok (dpa) – Acht Monate nach dem Verschwinden des prominenten Aktivisten Sombath Somphone in Laos verlangen EU-Parlamentarier Aufklärung über den Fall von der kommunistischen Regierung. «Wir werden diesen Fall zur Sprache bringen, bis er gelöst ist», sagte der dänische EU-Abgeordnete Søren Bo Søndergaard am Mittwoch in Bangkok. Er kam gerade mit einer Delegation von einer Erkundungsreise nach Laos zurück. Eine offizielle Delegation des Parlaments werde sich am 28. Oktober in der Hauptstadt Vientiane erneut nach dem Stand der Ermittlungen erkundigen Das Parlament hatte sich im Februar in einer Resolution höchst besorgt über Sombath geäußert.

Sombath hat sich jahrelang vor allem für die Bauern im Land eingesetzt. Seine Organisation fördert junge Freiwillige, die Bauern in entlegenen Regionen helfen, ihre Ernte zu verbessern. Für sein Engagement ist er international ausgezeichnet worden und in Südostasien ein prominenter Fürsprecher der einfachen Leute. Er verschwand im Dezember vergangenen Jahres auf dem Nachhauseweg in Vientiane. Eine Überwachungskamera filmte, wie er an einer Polizeistation gestoppt und in einen Lastwagen gezwungen und fortgefahren wurde. Er ist seitdem spurlos verschwunden. Polizei und Regierung sagen, sie hätten nichts mit dem Verschwinden zu tun.

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Renewed pressure over case of missing Lao activist

Australia Network News: 28 August 2013

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Photo: Lao authorities previously said that “it may be possible” that missing social activist, Sombath Somphone, has been kidnapped. (Reuters)

Laos has come under renewed pressure over the disappearance late last year of the internationally-recognised development worker and teacher, Sombath Somphone.

The Lao government is investigating the incident but has previously claimed it knows nothing about the social activists’ whereabouts.

It’s believed Mr Sombath was abducted near a police post on a busy road in Vientiane on December 15, 2012.

Human Rights Watch has previously accused the government of a “cover up”, saying authorities had failed to credibly explain his disappearance.

The delegation, led by Soren Sondergaard, a member of the European parliament, has just completed a visit to Laos to meet with senior government officials there to discuss the matter.

“Our key message was that it is impossible in a country like theirs to accept that a person can disappear a few metres in front of a police control station, taken on camera, everything is taken on camera, and despite of that, eight months have gone without any result in the investigation,” Mr Sondergaard told Asia Pacific. Continue reading “Renewed pressure over case of missing Lao activist”

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AEPF-IOC releases letter to Lao leadership

the-9th-asia-europe-peoples-forum-concludes-576353-aepf9The International Organising Committee of the Asia Europe People’s Forum (AEPF) has released a letter written to top Lao leaders. In part, the letter reads:

Despite repeated appeals from his wife and many hundreds of individuals, numerous governments and organizations, and widespread media coverage, we conclude that the Lao government has yet to conduct an adequate investigation into Sombath’s disappearance or provide a satisfactory explanation for his abduction…

…We are of the opinion that the Lao Government is in breach of its human rights commitments, due to the enforced nature of Sombath’s disappearance, as it fails to ensure the safe return of Sombath and as restrictions on civil society continue.

As long as Sombath has not been returned safely to his family, many organisations and individuals are committed to continuing international activity and ensuring that his disappearance will dominate bi-­‐lateral, multi-­‐lateral and international discussions with and about Laos.

The full letter can be seen here.

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Laos terus ditekan dalam kasus aktivis hilang

Radio Australia: 28 August 2013

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Pihak berwenang Laos menyatakan kemungkinan aktivis Sombath Somphone diculik. (Credit: Reuters)

Laos telah mendapat tekanan baru terkait hilangnya aktivis yang sudah diakui dunia internasional yang juga seorang guru,  Sombath Somphone, tahun lalu.

Pemerintah Laos kini menginvestigasi insiden itu tapi sebelumnya menyatakan tidak tahu menahu dimana aktivis sosial itu berada.

Diduga Sombath diculik dekat sebuah kantor polisi di jalan yang ramai di ibukota Vientiane pada tanggal 15 Desember 2012.

Organisasi HAM, Human Rights Watch, sebelumnya menuduh pemerintah ‘menutup-nutupi’, karena pihak berwenang tidak dapat menjelaskan secara kredibel tentang hilangnya Sombath.

Delegasi Eropa yang ketiga, dipimpin oleh Soren Sondergaard, seorang anggota Parlemen Eropa, baru saja menyelesaikan kunjungan ke Laos untuk bertemu dengan pejabat-pejabat tinggi pemerintah disana guna membahas masalah ini. Continue reading “Laos terus ditekan dalam kasus aktivis hilang”

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PRESS BRIEFING: 3rd Parliamentary Delegation to the Lao PDR

PRESS BRIEFING: Findings of the 3rd Parliamentary Delegation to the Lao PDR on the enforced disappearance of Sombath Somphone

Please-return-SombathSombath Somphone, a widely-respected leader in education and sustainable development in the Lao PDR, and recipient of the 2005 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership, disappeared on the evening of December 15th, 2012 in the Lao capital Vientiane (see  https://www.sombath.org ). CCTV footage which became available 2 days later showed Sombath being stopped by traffic police, his car driven away by an unknown person, and then Sombath being taken in a pickup by 2-3 other unidentified persons.  The Lao Government has claimed no knowledge about the abduction or his whereabouts and made public assurances that they are investigating the matter.  However, more than eight months after his disappearance, no meaningful information has been made available by Lao authorities to Sombath’s family and friends about the progress and results of the investigation.

Since January 2013, Sombath’s family and friends, and regional human rights organisations have organised delegations of parliamentarians and civil society networks to go to Vientiane and meet with senior government officials and members of the Lao National Assembly to express their deep concern about the disappearance of Sombath, and discuss possible actions to find Sombath and return him safely to his family.  The third such will be in Vientiane from August 25-27.  On August 28, The delegation will present a report of their discussions and conclusions from their visit at a press briefing at the FCCT on from 10.30 am – 12 noon.

Date:  28 August 2013

Venue:  Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT), The Penthouse, Maneeya Centre, 518/5 Ploenchit Road (connected to Chitlom Skytrain station: http://fccthai.com/location.html)

Continue reading “PRESS BRIEFING: 3rd Parliamentary Delegation to the Lao PDR”

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Culture of Silence

First they came for the communists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist.

Then they came for the socialists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist.

Then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak for me.

Martin Niemöller, speaking about the inaction of intellectuals during the Nazis’ rise to power.

According to Wikipedia, a Culture [or Conspiracy] of Silence “…relates to a condition or matter which is known to exist, but by tacit communal unspoken consensus is not talked about or acknowledged…[including]…Breaches of human rights, such as vanishing persons…”

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Bird Toy

The above video was shared on Facebook by Sombath’s niece, along with the following message:

This film is worth watching. He [Grandpa Yiaheu Chiatua] will make you smile with joy.

Uncle Sombath Somphone is the director of the film, to promote local knowlege of Laos.

First implemented as PADETC’s project many years ago, in cooperation with MoE [Ministry of Education], now it’s government policy that local knowledge content is included in 20% of national core curriculum of Laos.

Uncle Sombath has done so much for his own country. May his good work bring him back home safely as soon as possible.

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AICHR's Role

AICHR-300x236It’s the mindset of some AICHR members to protect the government rather than the human rights of the people in the region.

Seree Nonthasoot, Thai Representative to AICHR: Bangkok Post 04 July 2013

สมาชิกคณะกรรมาธิการระหว่างรัฐบาลอาเซียนว่าด้วยสิทธิมนุษยชนบางท่านมีความคิดในการคุ้มครองรัฐบาล มากกว่าการปกป้องสิทธิมนุษยชนของประชาชนในภูมิภาคนี้จริง

ดร.เสรี นนทสูติ ผู้แทนไทยในคณะกรรมาธิการระหว่างรัฐบาลอาเซียนว่าด้วยสิทธิมนุษยชน: Bangkok Post: 04 ก.ค. 2556

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Greed and Happiness

When the west talks about happiness it’s individual sensory happiness, it’s only one sense at a time but if you have two or three senses together…wow…you feel really high (laughs). But here actually, you know, like we said earlier, it’s just doing mundane things…but sharing them with other people and being satisfied with them. If you get greedy you have to continue to be greedier and greedier to be happy–it never ends.

Sombath Somphone, from interview in Unhappy Laos