Sombath Somphone STOOD UP for Lao civil society, pioneering the first CSO and co-hosting the first, AND ONLY international civil society event in Laos.
Soon thereafter, he was taken from a POLICE POST just a few hundred metres from Sunday’s CIVIL SOCIETY FAIR in Vientiane.
He has never been seen again.
Sombath STOOD UP for Lao civil society. Please STAND UP for him!
Will other civil society leaders emerge who are able to see beyond the implementation of projects to a wider vision and analysis?
Given the silence within Laos following Sombath’s disappearance, might there be more cases?
The last Universal Periodic Review for the Lao PDR was held in January, 2015.
Seventy-two states made 203 recommendations, and the Lao government accepted 119 of them.
Ninety-three of those accepted recommendations called for a specific action, yet nearly two and one-half years later, and half-way until the next review, authorities have yet to release their plan for follow-up.
And while civil society organisations often play important roles in the follow-up and monitoring of the UPR implementation, those in Laos are apparently obliged to wait for the government plan.
Maina Kiai, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association is visiting Cambodia. Will he be welcomed in Laos?
Above is a word cloud generated from the Vientiane Declaration on Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation from the 2015 High Level Roundtable Meeting.
Where are the people? The term only appears three times in the document itself, and those are within the Lao PDR’s name.
Other terms such as rights, empowerment, participation, rural, ethnic minority, and even core sectors such as education, health or agriculture are also missing.
Surely development partners use these words in soliciting resources and reporting on programmes, so why are they so noticeably absent in this important document meant to guide development action for the next decade?
The police have a new post where Sombath was taken. When can we expect a new (and authentic) investigation into his disappearance?
The Fifth International Conference on Lao Studies is being held 8-10 July in Bangkok, Thailand. It has previously been held in Khon Kaen, Thailand, and three locations in the United States.
Why has a conference on Lao studies never been held in Laos?
At the 2nd Regional Consultation Meeting for the ACSC/APF held in Vientiane on 10-11 May, Dr. Maydom Chanthanasinh, Chair of Lao CSOs, said that lack of finances was the main reason the Asean People’s Forum will not be held in Laos this year.
However, it was earlier reported the decision not to hold the event in Laos was taken by CSOs themselves in a meeting convened by the Ministry of Home Affairs in late September, 2015.
At the same Regional Consultation Meeting, Dr. Yong Chanthalangsy, Director General of the Institute of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, assured participants that there are no restrictions on human rights CSOs in the Lao PDR.
As Laos celebrates its traditional new year, a few points to ponder:
The Vientiane Declaration on Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation, which will be signed at the High Level Round Table Meeting, departs sharply from the spirit and assurances made during the recent Universal Periodic Review.
A few observations include:
