Category: Events

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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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พูดสันติภาพ/Peace Talk ครั้งที่ 2

image002เสนอ

พูดสันติภาพ/Peace Talk ครั้งที่ 2

ตอน สันติภาพ เสรีภาพ แตกต่าง เหมือนกัน?

โดย

นิ้วกลม (สราวุฒิ เฮ้งสวัสดิ์)

นักเขียนเจ้าของผลงานล่าสุด “ความฝันที่มั่นสุดท้าย”

และ

โตมร ศุขปรีชา

บรรณาธิการนิตยสาร GM

กับหนังสือว่าด้วยความแตกต่างทางเพศสุดฮอต Genderism

พร้อมกับร่วมเขียนโปสการ์ดส่งกำลังใจให้กับหนุ่มสาวลาวบนเส้นทางสันติภาพ

ณ ร้านหนังสือ Bookmoby ชั้น 4 หอศิลปะวัฒนธรรมแห่งกรุงเทพมหานคร

วันที่ 17 กันยายน 2556

ตั้งแต่เวลา 15.30 น. ถึง 19.00 น.

โครงการ “มองไปไกลกว่าสมบัด สมพอน (Sombath Somphone and Beyond Project) ตั้งขึ้นหลังการหายตัวไปของนักพัฒนาอาวุโสชาวลาว สมบัด สมพอน เมื่อวันที่ 15 ธันวาคม 2555 หลังจากทำการรณรงค์อย่างต่อเนื่องเพื่อการค้นหาสมบัด และในประเด็นสันติภาพในภูมิภาคแม่น้ำโขงและอาเซียนตลอดระยะเวลาที่ผ่านมา เราระลึกถึงการหายตัวของสมบัด สมพอนอีกครั้งหนึ่งในวันหายตัวครบรอบ 9 เดือนด้วยกิจกรรม “พูดสันติภาพ” ครั้งที่ 2 นี้

ข้อมูลเพิ่มเติมติดต่อ : พชร สูงเด่น 089-983-4806
หรือ ศิริพร ฉายเพ็ชร 087-5081265
www.sombath.org
facebook.com/SombathSomphoneBeyondProject
Email: [email protected]

image002Invites you to join

Peace Talk #2 “Peace, Freedom: Different (Yet) the Same?”

Tuesday 17 September 2013

Bookmoby Reader Café, 4th floor, Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC), Siam Square

From 3.30pm until 7pm

Guest Speakers include  ‘Roundfinger’ or Sarawut Heangsawad, author of “Dreams, the Last Stronghold”

Tomorn Sukpreecha, Editor of GM Magazine and author of “Genderism”

Postcards will also be written to encourage and send peace to Laos people

For more information, please contact Pachara Sungden (089-983-4806) or Siriphorn Chaipetch (087-5081265)

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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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พูดสันติภาพ ครั้งที่ 1 / Peace Talk No. 1

กรุณาชมวีดีโอบันทึกการเสนอที่นี่ / Please see a recording of the presentation here:

Part 1 / Part 2

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เสนอ

/ Presents

พูดสันติภาพ ครั้งที่ 1 / Peace Talk No. 1

 พบกับ: ประทับจิต นีละไพจิตร / With: Pratabjit Neelapaijit

ประเด็น: “ทางเลือก- สู่สันติภาพ” / Topic: “Choices for Peace”

วันที่ 15 กรกฏาคม 2556 / 15 July 2013

เวลา: 15.00-17.00น. / 15:00 – 17:00 pm

ที่: ห้องประชุมสุจิตรา ชั้น 4 ตึกมูลนิธิอาสาสมัครเพื่อสังคม / Thai Volunteer Service 4th floor meeting room

409 ซอยรัชดาภิเษก 14 ห้วยขวาง (เดิน 7 นาทีจากทางออกที่ 1 สถานีรถไฟฟ้าใต้ดินห้วยขวาง) / 409 Soi Rachadapisek 14, Huaykwang (7 minute walk from exit #1 of Huaykwang BTS station) Bangkok, Thailand Continue reading “พูดสันติภาพ ครั้งที่ 1 / Peace Talk No. 1”

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Public seminar in Tokyo

Tokyo Seminar-01The Institute of Asian Cultures, Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan is hosting a public seminar “What is Politically Enforced Disappearance?: Development and Human Rights Issues in Recent Abduction Cases of Thailand and Lao PDR” on May 25. The case of Sombath will be presented alongside that of Somchai Neelepaijit in Thailand. Details are available at the Sophia University Website or in this flyer.

A press release from Mekong Watch on this seminar can be seen here.

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A Song for Sombath

Please watch this powerful performance of Nasaan Si Sombath? (Where is Sombath?).

The song is Awit Ng Naghahanap (Song of Searching) by Noel Cabangon. The interpretive dance by SAD.

The event was organised by Focus on the Global South, Asian Federation Against Enforced Disappearance (AFAD), Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (FIND) in Manila on 12th April

Click on the image to watch the video on YouTube

Song for Sombath

Please share this link widely :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNh5Lnusgl8

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Solidarity Event for Sombath Somphone in Manila

The Solidarity for Asian People’s Advocacy (SAPA) working group for ASEAN released a message during an event held in front of the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs on April 12th. The statement calls on the leaders of ASEAN to put enforced disappearances on the agenda of their upcoming summit:

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On April 24 and 25, these ASEAN leaders will gather in Brunei under the theme of “Our People, Our Future Together.” But how can we invest our future in an ASEAN where peoples’ basic rights are continuously ignored and violated, a community where people are abducted and forced to disappear? We cannot be part of this. If ASEAN wants us to be part of this community then they should put the interests of the people above everything else. They should respect and uphold basic human rights.

The entire statement can be read here. A related letter from the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances to the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs can be read here. A video of the event can be seen here.

The event was organized by Focus on the Global South, Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), and Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearances (FIND).

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Panel Discussion on Human Rights in ASEAN

“Human Rights in ASEAN: Lessons Learned from the Disappearance of Sombath Somphone and Somchai Neelapaijit”

March 27, 2013, 9.30-12.00,
Jitti Tingsapat Meeting Room, 1st Floor, Faculty of Law,
Thammasat University (Tha Phrachan Campus), Bangkok,

The Somchai Neelapaijit Memorial Fund, Justice for Peace Foundation, Towards Ecological Recovery and Regional Alliances (TERRA), and Amnesty International Thailand will host a panel discussion entitled “Human Rights in ASEAN: Lessons Learned from the Disappearance of Sombath Somphone and Somchai Neelapaijit.” The event will take place on March 27, 2013, from 9.30-12.00, at the Jitti Tingsapat Meeting Room, 1st Floor, Faculty of Law, Thammasat University (Tha Phrachan Campus). Panelists will include: 1) Angkhana Neelapaijit, wife of Somchai Neelapaijit, 2) Dr. Sriprapha Petcharamesree, Mahidol University and the previous Thai representative of ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) and, 3) Witoon Permpongsacharoen, Director of Mekong Energy and Ecology Network (MEE Net). A statement by Somphone’s wife Ng Shui Meng will also be read during the event.

The objective of the panel discussion is to raise awareness about human rights violations in the region including enforced disappearances, the two cases themselves, and to commemorate the ninth anniversary of the disappearance of Somchai Neelapaijit. Moreover, organizers want to send a message to ASEAN governments that they should not focus only on economic cooperation while ignoring human rights violations. The cases of Sombath Somphone, the Lao development worker and Somchai Neelapaijit, the Thai activist lawyer, are two prominent cases showing the failure of the rule of law, transparency and accountability in ASEAN.

**Interpretation from Thai to English is available

Read more about Sombath Somphone at www.sombath.org and about Somchai Neelapaijit at www.somchaiaward.org

For more information, please email [email protected] or call (+66) 89-8291167,  (+66) 89-8291167

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“Sombath Somphone and Beyond” Project – The 2nd Episode

Tea Talk: Growing Peace Together

Friday 15 March 2013

10.30 Onward, In front of Laos Embassy

Soi Sahakarnpramun, Pracha-utit Rd, Wangthonglang, Bangkok

image00115 March 2013 marks 3 month anniversary of the enforced disappearance of Sombath Somphone or “uncle Bath” of many young people in Laos, Mekong region and ASEAN. The respected Ramon Magsaysay award winner had dedicated his life to rural development and supporting youth groups by giving them the opportunity to learn. Beloved, respectful, kind-hearted and humble, Sombath is their role model as to his love for the world. The sharing and caring that Sombath shared with the young people was a part of the foundation of the growth of their own.

It has now been 3 months of unexplained disappearance of Sombath which occurred on 15 December 2012, despite the CCTV clip showing once and for all his being taken by a group of men after being stopped by a street police at a point on Tha-dua road in Vientiane municipality as evening fell. Seemingly, the answer to his fortune is in the wind.

We, Thai and Mekong Youth network, once again question this suspicious disappearance and request the Laos government to address it and, soon, bring him back to his family and us. We believe that, to end this human rights violation is to return peace to the Mekong region. We echo voices of the region’s people who call for sustainable development, harmony and peace.

On 15th day of every month from now, we will take action to remind ourselves as well as society of uncle Bath’s enforced disappearance. Wherever he is, we feel he is still with us and we will not keep quiet about him. We shall continue to work for the good of others, serving community and society of Mekong and ASEAN. We, the youth, will always connect our actions to empower the powerless. Our ideology, way of thinking, dream and spirit of love for peace will go on. And truth will prevail. We believe that peace has now grown in us. We will help each other to make it grow larger and stronger not only for the good of us but those of the coming generations.

“Sombath Somphone and Beyond” Project set out of our 5th February concert for peace in Thammasart University. This “Tea Talk” is the second episode. Its key objective is to create space to discuss about peace in the young people’s perspectives. Talk over tea is symbolic in our culture, when people exchange socio-political ideas. As for 15th March in front of the Laos Embassy, we will share with our guests nice tea and cakes, together with music and performance titled “Three Nots” (not know, not see, not understand or “Boh huu, Boh hen, Boh jak” in Laos language). We will invite the Laos ambassador to join us for the Tea Talk and will in the end submit our petition that urge investigation on Sombath case. We hope our friends, colleagues and concerned others will join us so that our attempt to stop human rights violation and our search for peace shall once again be realized.

More information please contact:

Jaruwan Pholrai (Netting) Tel 08 1072 2714 E-mail: [email protected]

Sakdinee Amasiri Tel 085212 198 E-mail  [email protected]