This website is being slowly upgraded, including the page on Sombath’s Work. Any additional links, materials, media, comments and/or corrections will be greatly appreciated.
Many would like to forget Sombath and his work, and return to the status quo. Please help prevent that by sending your contributions to [email protected]
Friends and colleagues of Sombath are also encouraged to write Letters to Sombath.
Finally, can anyone identify the year and occasion of this picture?
Focus on the Global South needs a Program Officer & Communications Officer for its Sombath Initiative program. If interested, pls check out this link.
Voice of America: 26 June 2017
BANGKOK-Human rights groups say the international community, including the United Nations, needs to press Lao authorities on human rights issues.
The calls come amid a string of harsh jail terms handed down by Lao courts against critics of the Communist government.
Rights groups point to Laos’ failures in taking “significant steps to remedy” a poor human rights record and tough restrictions on freedom of speech, association and assembly.
Three Lao migrant workers were recently sentenced to jail terms of between 12 and 20 years for comments posted on social media while in Thailand and because they attended a protest outside the Lao Embassy in Bangkok.
The three — two men, Somphone Phimmasone, Soukan Chaithad and a woman, Lodkham Thammavorg — were arrested when they returned to Laos after posting the messages critical of the Laos government on social media in Thailand. Continue reading “Rights Groups Call for International Community to Press Laos on Jailed Activists”
Vientiane has never adequately addressed the 2012 disappearance of prominent community activist Sombath Somphone, a globally recognised figure. His apparent abduction indelibly scarred Laos’ international reputation.
From “Nations lose every time rights are denied” The Nation 27 June 2017
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Australia continues to raise concern with Laos about the disappearance of Mr Sombath Somphone, and the case continues to figure prominently in bilateral discussions with Laos.
…Australia further pressed Laos to conclude an urgent and credible investigation intoMr Sombath’s disappearance, emphasising pressure will remain on Laos unless the case is transparently and credibly solved.
From a letter regarding the 2015 Lao-Australia Human Rights Dialogue from Richard Andrews, Assistant First Secretary, Southeast Asia Mainland and Regional Division, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
The next such dialogue will take place in Vientiane on July 18th, and be led by the head of DFAT’s human rights division. The Lao government has not released any information on the case in in over four years: The need for continued pressure remains undiminished.
Those wishing to provide inputs for this dialogue may send them to Ms. Sophie Wilkinson, Second Secretary at the Australian Embassy in Vientiane: [email protected]
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Dear Sombath,
Marijke and I met you in Laos some 19 years ago. You may remember that we were expecting our first child then. A few months later, the baby was born and we called her Lorea, meaning ‘flower’ in the Basque language of Northern Spain. Not too long ago, Lorea turned 18 and so I decided to send you an update of what has happened to us since the day we said ‘see you later!’ back in 1997 after a lovely trip through your beautiful country.
In spite of your many responsibilities, you took us to see Luang Prabang and some lovely sites in the area. On the way back from Kwang Xi Waterfall, we chatted for hours standing on the back of the tuktuk – one of my most memorable and, believe it or not, comfortable rides ever! Maybe because of the fact that we were both born in the deep South of our respective countries, but I really felt I had met a soulmate in international cooperation .
After we’d said goodbye to Laos and a few weeks later to Asia, we left for the Netherlands. Waiting for Lorea to be born, I put dozens of pictures of fond memories of Asian people, food, landscapes and experiences into scrap albums. Lorea was born on a pretty autumn day but two months later we left for Ecuador as Marijke had found a position there with a Dutch organization. I landed a job with the UN. Jobwise however, Marijke wasn’t very happy and so she applied for a position in the Netherlands with a focus on South America and – was accepted!
Settling in ‘back home’ wasn’t easy but eventually we did. In spite of her international background, Lorea grew up a typical Dutch toddler and I found a challenging position with a human rights organization also focussing on the Americas. In 2001 our second daughter Claudia was born.
Marijke is still active in the field of international food security while I currently work for an organization supporting children with disabilities. Soon I will leave for Bolivia and Brazil and when I return, Marijke will leave for Tanzania. Earlier this year the four of us enjoyed our summer holidays in Florida – as hot as Laos but without the good food. One of the reasons we went there, was to celebrate Lorea’s graduation. No doubt to a large extent due to the experiences she had in Laos, Ecuador and elsewhere, she has just started her studies in the field of international tourism. Claudia already announced that, like you, she wants to study in the USA. We’ll see where they will end up but you can safely say they are infected with the travel bug!
As you see, it is only a matter of time before at least one of us returns to Laos. We are looking forward to see you, Shui Meng and all of your family again!
With warm regards, Frank Bron
September 14, 2016
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.
Dear Sombath,
For many countries in Asia and Latin American, this week marks the International Week of the Disappeared (IWD). For this reason, I have been thinking about you even more these days.
Last night I found it difficult to fall asleep thinking about you, and this morning I woke up feeling terribly depressed. I tried to calm myself with meditation, but it was difficult to get into a state of calm when I was so agitated. My mood went from sadness, to anger, and despair! I asked myself what did you do to deserve such injustice when all you ever did was to be a good person and use your knowledge and skills to improve the lives of ordinary Lao people and Lao communities.
After my meditation session, my mind calmed down and I felt a little better. I started to reflect on what you have always told me when you were around. You told me that you have never tried to change the world or change the government system because that is obviously beyond your ability. You said your life goal is only to do your little bit to give back in some little way to the family and the community that have raised you, nourished you, and taught you to become the person you are. And indeed that’s all you have always done – give back wholeheartedly with humility, with humour, and with generosity.
I saw the way you worked – whether you are with ordinary farmers, teachers, students, development partners and colleagues, government officials, or even high-ranking people – you always treated each and everyone with respect and courtesy; you also always chose to listen first and seldom spoke a lot. That has always been your way of dealing with people – open-minded, open-hearted, and never opinionated. I guess that is why you have such a large following among people in the development community, and among so many young people from inside and outside the country.
During this week, the International Week of the Disappeared, as we remember you and all those people who have been forcedly disappeared, I choose to put aside my despair and sadness. I choose to remember all the good that you have done. I believe that you were disappeared because you tried to live up to your principles and your integrity. And it is your “goodness”, and your ideas of “people-centered development” that were deemed so threatening that some people chose to silence you by disappearing you.
Sombath, while I will continue to feel the pain of your absence, I know that your work and what you stand for will continue to inspire people, Lao and non-Lao. I will continue to demand for truth and justice for you, even if all I get is a wall of silence.
Sombath, my love, stay strong, and I too will stay strong for you and for all those who have been forcedly disappeared.
Love you so much, Shui Meng
While the Lao PDR was not able to host the ASEAN Civil Society Conference/ASEAN People’s Forum last year, applications for participants from Laos to this year’s event in Manila are open.
Criteria include (unofficial English translation):
Applicants can send a letter of interest to assi…@lao-cso-network.
Participants will be selected by the APF Committee, although the makeup of this committee is not specified.
Apparently, members of Lao civil society who are not selected will not be allowed to attend.
Sombath worked closely with Quaker Service Laos (QSL) during the late 1980s and early 1990s. He made significant contributions to their programs, including the Rice Integrated Farming Systems (RIFS) project.
A “History of Quaker Service Laos Development Work 1973-1999″ mentions the RIFS project, and how it evolved into The independent Participator Development Training Center (PADETC) .
While QSL staff wrote a plea to the Lao government soon after Sombath’s abduction, subsequent requests to contribute their thoughts about Sombath and his work have been unanswered.
Those who worked with Sombath are encouraged to share their experiences by writing a Letter to Sombath.
