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Four years since Laos activist Sombath Somphone’s ‘disappearance’

SE Asia Globe: 15 December 2016

On 15 December 2012, Laos activist Sombath Somphone was abducted in Vientiane. Four years later, his family and human rights groups are still searching for answers.

sombath-magsaysay-04
Lao national and 2005 Magsaysay Award recipient Sombath Somphone stands beside a poster of fellow awardee V. Shanta during a press conference in Manila, Philippines on Monday 29 August 2005. Photo: EPA/ROLEX DELA PENA

Today marks four years since the forced disappearance of Sombath Somphone, an internationally recognised Laos civil society leader who spent three decades advocating for the environment, civic engagement and democracy in his home country.

Sombath was forcibly disappeared after being stopped at a police checkpoint in Vientiane. Police closed-circuit television shows officers stopping Sombath’s jeep and bringing him into the checkpoint. Within minutes, Sombath reappears and is taken away in another vehicle. His jeep is later driven away by another individual. Last December, Sombath’s family released new footage showing the vehicle being driven to the centre of Vientiane.

There has been no government investigation into Sombath’s disappearance and Laos authorities have not held a briefing on the status of his case since June 2013. Continue reading “Four years since Laos activist Sombath Somphone’s ‘disappearance’”

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NGOs urge search for Laos activist 4 years after he vanished

Washington Post: 15 December 2016

By Dake Kang | AP

BANGKOK — Ng Shui Meng hasn’t given up hope.

Thursday was the fourth anniversary of the day her husband, Laotian community organizer Sombath Somphone, vanished at a police checkpoint on the outskirts of Vientiane, the capital — a suspicious disappearance reflecting the repressive tactics of the country’s Communist rulers, who have quashed political dissent since taking power in 1975.

After Sombath vanished, Laotian authorities denied responsibility and promised investigations that never materialized, though video evidence showed that his last known location was in police custody.

“Nobody contacted me, I know nothing,” Singaporean native Ng said by phone from Vientiane, where she still lives, waiting for her husband. “The last update I heard was over two years ago.” Continue reading “NGOs urge search for Laos activist 4 years after he vanished”

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The Mystery of Sombath Somphone Still Resonates in Laos

Radio Free Asia: 15 December 2016

A 2005 photo of Sombath Somphone in the Philippines. AFP/Somphone family

The disappearance of Sombath Somphone remains one of the most enduring and heartbreaking mysteries of modern Laos as the abduction of the world-recognized rural development activist at a police checkpoint four years ago remains unsolved.

“As the fourth anniversary of Sombath’s disappearance approaches, my heart becomes heavier by the day,” his wife Shui Meng Ng told RFA’s Lao Service on Tuesday. “I never expected that I would still have no news of Sombath after so long.”

Video footage show’s Sombath’s Jeep being stopped at a police checkpoint on the evening of Dec. 15, 2012. In the video Sombath is herded into a white truck and taken away, and a man dressed in white returns and drives off in his Jeep. Continue reading “The Mystery of Sombath Somphone Still Resonates in Laos”

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On fourth anniversary of enforced disappearance, civil society demands to know: “Where is Sombath Somphone?”

FIDH: 15 December 2016

Sombath Somphone-032On the fourth anniversary of the enforced disappearance of prominent Lao civil society leader Sombath Somphone, we, the undersigned organizations, condemn the Lao PDR government’s ongoing failure to adequately investigate Sombath’s disappearance. We urge the authorities to act to conduct an effective investigation with a view to determining his fate or whereabouts. In particular, we condemn the Lao PDR government’s inaction after the discovery of new video evidence made public 12 months ago.

Sombath was last seen at a police checkpoint on a busy street of the Lao capital, Vientiane, on the evening of 15 December 2012. Sombath’s abduction was captured on a CCTV camera placed near the police checkpoint. CCTV footage showed that police stopped Sombath’s car and, within minutes, unknown 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. The footage also showed an unknown individual driving away from the city in Sombath’s car.

In December 2015, Sombath’s family obtained new CCTV footage from the same area and made it public. The video shows Sombath’s car being driven back towards the city by an unknown individual. At a minimum, this should have prompted a review of other CCTV cameras along the main route the car was taking back into the city.  Continue reading “On fourth anniversary of enforced disappearance, civil society demands to know: “Where is Sombath Somphone?””

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SSBP Speaks out for Sombath

Sombath’s vision for sustainable development aims to foster respects for nature and humanity. He advocates for mindful education and inclusive development highlighting ordinary people, especially young people who are the potential of change.
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It has been 4 years since the last time his family heard from him. The night of December 15, 2012 became a horrid silence that continues until today. For the past 4 years, family and friends of Sombath Somphone have called the Lao government and world leaders to bring forth Sombath’s whereabouts. Sadly, our leaders have failed us. We would like to reiterate the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights’s (APHR) question “If the Lao government really wants to solve Sombath Somphone case and is as concerned as the rest of us, then why is it blocking all possible avenues for the investigation?” Continue reading “SSBP Speaks out for Sombath”

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Sombath Somphone: Son of the Soil

padect-fair-20162016 PADETC Fair

Thursday, 15th December 2016

PADETC Office, Vientiane, Lao PDR

15 December 2016 marks the fourth year of the disappearance of Sombath Somphone, Founder of PADETC.

To commemorate Ajarn Sombath Somphone, PADETC will organize its Annual Fair under the title ‘Sombath Somphone – Son of the Soil’.

 

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FÖRSVUNNEN SEDAN 2012

Amnesty Press: 2016

Den 15 deshuimeng-2016-amnesty-presscember 2012 stoppades Sombath Somphones bil av polis. Sedan dess har ingen sett honom. – Jag hoppas att han lever. Att inte veta är det allra svåraste, säger hustrun Ng Shui Meng. Text: Ivar Andersen

Ng Shui Meng vill inte trä as i sitt hem. Hon misstänker att det är övervakat.

Istället föreslår hon ett möte i den lilla butik för rättvisemärkta och lokalproducerade varor som hon driver i centrala Vientiane. Hon startade rörelsen som en extra inkomstkälla för att nansiera de landsbygdsutvecklingsprojekt hon drev tillsammans med maken och livskamraten Sombath Somphone. Det var också här hon såg honom sista gången – den 15 december 2012 – för nästan fyra år sedan. Continue reading “FÖRSVUNNEN SEDAN 2012”

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Development partners: Where are the people?

declaration-word-cloud

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?