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Laos must come clean on Sombath

Bangkok Post: 15 December 2015

FIDH-LogoToday marks the third anniversary of the enforced disappearance of prominent Lao civil society leader Sombath Somphone.

Sombath was last seen at a police checkpoint on a busy street in the Lao capital, Vientiane, on the evening of Dec 15, 2012. Sombath’s disappearance was captured on a CCTV camera placed near the police checkpoint. CCTV footage showed that police stopped Sombath’s car and, within minutes, individuals forced him into another vehicle and drove away. The CCTV footage clearly shows that Sombath was taken away in the presence of police officers.

After three years, there is little evidence that Lao authorities have undertaken a serious and competent investigation of Sombath’s disappearance. Instead, there has been near total silence, insinuations,and contradictory declarations regarding Sombath’s fate or whereabouts.

Lao authorities’ recent claim that authorities were still conducting and investigation and “trying their utmost efforts” is belied by the fact that last police report on the probe was issued on June 8, 2013. Continue reading “Laos must come clean on Sombath”

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3 years on, rights groups demand answers on Sombath Somphone disappearance

Asian Correspondent: 15 December 2015

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Human rights representatives speak at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT) in Bangkok, Monday.

By John Quinley III

ON the eve of the third anniversary of acclaimed community development leader Sombath Somphone’s forced disappearance, human rights groups on Monday in Bangkok urged the Lao government to provide information regarding Mr. Sombath’s whereabouts and fate.

Sombath was abducted in Vientiane Laos on the evening of December 15, 2012, at a police check-point where he was then transferred to another vehicle according to police surveillance video. At the press conference in Bangkok newly made public CCTV footage, found by Sombath’s family, showed the car further south on the road as the car traveled back into the capital.

A representative from the Sombath Initiative said in a written statement, that the police refused to look at the additional evidence from the family, which, “demonstrates the authorities have absolutely no interest in conducting a serious investigation, as they so often claim.” Continue reading “3 years on, rights groups demand answers on Sombath Somphone disappearance”

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Laos: Three years on, no progress on case of Sombath Somphone’s disappearance

Amnesty InternationalAmnesty International: 14 December 2015

The Laos authorities must establish an independent commission to uncover the truth about the fate of civil society activist Sombath Somphone, Amnesty International said on the third anniversary of his disappearance.

In an open letter to the Lao Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong, 49 Directors of Amnesty International national offices around the world are highlighting the near complete lack of progress in the case despite a catalogue of evidence.

“Sombath Somphone’s disappearance remains a dark stain on Laos’ human rights record. The Laos authorities’ claim that they are investigating this crime is a lie – they are simply dodging questions and trying to silence civil society’s attempts to raise the case,” said Champa Patel, Amnesty International’s Southeast Asia and Pacific Regional Office Director.

“Three years is too long for Sombath’s family and his many supporters to wait for the truth. The Laos authorities must once and for all set up an independent commission to genuinely investigate Sombath’s disappearance.”

More information

A full copy of the open letter is available here:https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa26/3035/2015/en

For background, see Amnesty International’s report Caught on camera: The enforced disappearance of Sombath Somphone (13 June 2013)

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Laos shows ‘no political will’ to solve activist’s disappearance, U.N. rights official says

Reuters: 14 December 2015

Communist Laos has shown “no political will to solve” the mystery of the abduction of a prominent social activist, a United Nations human rights official said on Monday, on the third anniversary of the kidnapping.

The United Nations and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) said police in Laos refused to view new footage of the abduction of Sombath Somphone, a civil society leader who worked to promote sustainable development for the rural poor.

Laurent Meillan of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said the abduction had created “a culture of fear” among workers of non-government organizations in Laos, one of Southeast Asia’s poorest countries.

“We are not aware of any progress since the government’s commitment at the U.N. Human Rights Council,” Meillan told a news conference in Bangkok, referring to an assurance by Laos to bring the perpetrators of the crime to justice.

In January, Laos was assessed on its rights record and accepted some recommendations made by the U.N. Human Rights Council, including a call for a transparent investigation into the disappearance of the internationally acclaimed activist.

The Lao foreign ministry did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. Continue reading “Laos shows ‘no political will’ to solve activist’s disappearance, U.N. rights official says”

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Probe into missing Laos activist a ‘farce’: rights groups

Straights Times: 14 December 2015

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Supporters of community leader Sombath Somphone gathered outside the Lao embassy in Vientiane, Bangkok on Dec 15, 2013.

Bangkok (AFP) – An investigation into the disappearance of Laotian activist Sombath Somphone three years ago is “a farce” and has had a chilling effect on civil society, rights groups said Monday.

Sombath, an award-winning campaigner for sustainable development, vanished from the streets of Vientiane after he was pulled over at a police checkpoint on the evening of December 15, 2012.

CCTV cameras in the Laos capital captured the moment his battered jeep stopped at the checkpoint before he is later seen getting into an unknown vehicle.

His case has cast a dark cloud over civil society in Laos, an impoverished tightly-controlled communist country.

It has also raised the issue of impunity for powerful state and business interests held responsible for routinely killing or “disappearing” activists across the region.

Rights groups accuse local authorities of failing to carry out even the most cursory of investigations and withholding information.

“The official investigation so far has been a farce. It is a bad joke,” Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch Asia, told reporters in Thailand. Continue reading “Probe into missing Laos activist a ‘farce’: rights groups”

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Press conference marks three years of Lao government complacency on investigation

A press conference entitled “Three Years On: Demanding Answers for the Enforced Disappearance of Sombath Somphone in Laos” was held at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club in Bangkok, Thailand on Monday, 14 December 2014.

A synthesis of new CCTV footage (above) was shared showing: 1) Sombath’s jeep after he was stopped at a police post, 2) being driven out of town by another person after Sombath was called to the police post, and 3) then returning toward the city centre shortly thereafter. The videos also show the pickup truck that took Sombath away.

Despite claims they are conducting a serious investigation, Lao authorities have shown no interest in reviewing this additional evidence.

Panelists sharing remarks at the event included:

  • Angkhana Neelaipaijit, Thai National Human Rights Commissioner, Justice for Peace Foundation and Sombath Initiative Advisory Board
  • Sam Zarifi, International Commission for Jurists
  • Laurent Meillan, UN Office of High Commissioner of Human Rights
  • Phil Robertson, Human Rights Watch

A press release be seen here, and video of the conference itself is available here.

Notes on the synthesis video include:

  • 0:08: Map showing location of original traffic CCTV camera (Camera #1) and locations of cameras from which new CCTV footage was obtained (Camera #2 & #3).
  • 0:20: Original CCTV footage (Camera #1) beginning just after Sombath was stopped in his jeep. This footage, as well as explanatory notes, is available here.
  • 1:10:  Sombath getting out of his jeep and going to police post.
  • 1:51:  Person arriving on motorcycle
  • 3:35: Jeep being driven away, going away from city centre.
  • 3:56: Jeep seen going away from city centre on Camera #2
  • 4:42: Jeep seen coming back toward city centre on Camera #2
  • 5:00: Jeep seen going away from city centre on Camera #3
  • 5:45: Jeep seen coming back toward city centre on Camera #3.
  • 6:40: Truck with Sombath seen leaving police post on Camera #1. Note truck is second vehicle behind van.
  • 7:04: Same truck seen heading away from city centre on Camera #2.
  • 7:20: Same truck seen heading away from city centre on Camera #3.
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Lao government spurns ASEAN civil society

In Laos, which will chair the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) next year, the government refused to allow a meeting of Southeast Asian civil society groups on the sideline of an upcoming ASEAN summit, and has provided no new information on the whereabouts of Sombath Somphone. He was probably Laos’s best-known civil society activist when he vanished in 2012, shortly after being seen at a police checkpoint in Vientiane.

From The Year in Democracy in Southeast Asia in The Diplomat: 11 December 2015

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Pro-democracy student leaders must be released after over 16 years of arbitrary detention

FIDH: 08 December 2015

FIDH-Logo(Paris, Geneva) The Lao government must immediately and unconditionally release two former pro-democracy student leaders who have been arbitrarily detained for more than 16 years and disclose the fate or whereabouts of two others, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (a joint FIDH and OMCT program) and the Lao Movement for Human Rights (LMHR) said today.

Mr. Thongpaseuth Keuakoun and Mr. Sengaloun Phengphanh, two former student leaders with the Lao Students Movement for Democracy (LSMD), remain detained in Samkhe prison, located on the eastern outskirts of Vientiane. Thongpaseuth and Sengaloun were arrested in Vientiane on October 26, 1999, along with fellow LSMD members Mr. Bouavanh Chanhmanivong, Mr. Khamphouvieng Sisa-at, and Keochay, for planning peaceful demonstrations that called for democracy, social justice, and respect for human rights. All five were subsequently sentenced to 20 years in prison for “generating social turmoil and endangering national security.” The government, however, denied that it had detained Bouavanh, Khamphouvieng, and Keochay.

Thongpaseuth and Phengphanh are imprisoned in solitary confinement with their legs locked in wooden stocks at all times. Prison authorities allow them to go out of their cells once a week or once every two weeks to wash and empty their accumulated excrements. They are accompanied by police officers and not by prison guards. Witnesses described them as looking like “human skeletons.” Prison authorities do not allow them to receive visitors and have consistently prohibited them from receiving food and medication sent from family members. For many years, the Lao government refused to acknowledge the detention of Thongpaseuth and Phengphanh.

“The lengthy arbitrary detention of the two former student leaders as well as the prolonged torture inflicted upon them are gross and unacceptable human rights violations. The authorities must immediately and unconditionally release them, investigate allegations of torture and ill-treatment, and provide compensation for their wrongful detention.” Karim Lahidji, FIDH PresidentHumhu

Continue reading “Pro-democracy student leaders must be released after over 16 years of arbitrary detention”

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Experts See Worsening Situation as Laos and EU Hold Human Rights Talks

Radio Free Asia: 06 November 2015

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A 2005 photo of Sombath Somphone in the Philippines.

Lao and European Union officials met on Friday in the Laotian capital Vientiane to discuss human rights issues at a time when the number of such abuses and restrictions on various freedoms are increasing rapidly.

The objective of the sixth annual EU-Laos human rights dialogue was to support the implementation of Laos’ international human rights obligations and commitments. Attendees exchanged views on governance and the rule of law, democratic freedoms and people’s participation, as well as human rights, socioeconomic development, and international cooperation.

The meeting comes as the communist, one-party state continues to score poorly on its human rights record, with rights groups continuing to pressure the government for details of activists, students and others who have been detained or disappeared.

“The situation in Laos during this time is getting worse because social organizations are restricted to working only with communities that suffer from a lack of development projects,” said a source who declined to be named.

Last month, Lao authorities decided not to host a meeting of civil society organizations (CSO) in Southeast Asia on the sidelines of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit next year, fearing potential criticism by participants against governments in the region and inadequate resources for the decision.

But another reason that the ASEAN forum will not be held in Laos is because the Lao government cannot guarantee the safety of Lao participants, the source said. He also pointed out that the country recently failed in a bid to win seat on the 47-member United Nations Human Rights Council. Continue reading “Experts See Worsening Situation as Laos and EU Hold Human Rights Talks”