Tag: ASEAN

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ASEAN must act on human rights

The enforced disappearances of Sombath Somphone, Jonas Burgos and Somchai and dozens of Southeast Asian activists highlight ASEAN’s insincerity in protecting the human rights of its peoples. Its failure to meaningfully respond to these cases is immoral and unjust, especially to the families of the victims. For the nth time, we strongly urge ASEAN to instruct its representatives in the regional human rights body, AICHR, to investigate these cases and formulate recommendations that will punish the perpetrators and eliminate cases of enforced disappearances. The true test of the legitimacy of AICHR and ASEAN’s commitment to human rights is when they finally act on these cases and help in the elimination of rights abuses in the region.

From Solidarity for Asian Peoples’ Advocacy (SAPA) statement made at Asian People’s Forum in Yangon. 24 March 2014

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Participants at APF in Yangon speak out for Sombath

APF-03 Over 3,000 people from the ASEAN region gathered together from March 21–23 for the ASEAN Civil Society Conference and ASEAN Peoples’ Forum (ACSC/APF). The conference in Yangon was the largest ACSC/APF event since its inception in 2005, as well as the largest of its kind in Myanmar’s recent history.APF-01

Entitled “Advancing ASEAN People’s Solidarity Toward Sustainable Peace, Development, Justice and Democratization,” the conference included plenaries and 35 workshops under four clusters: Peace, Development, Justice and Human Rights, and Democratization.

Continue reading “Participants at APF in Yangon speak out for Sombath”

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ASEAN human rights talks face major challenges

Jakarta Post: 04 March 2014

Emerlynne Gil, Bangkok

When the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) meets in Jakarta this week, its urgent priority must be improving how it communicates and engages with civil society in Southeast Asia and responds to human rights issues.

ASEAN civil society, representing more than 500 million people from the region, has signaled its eagerness to harness the potential of the AICHR. But the Commission has been widely criticized as being “toothless” and lacking a clear mandate since its creation in 2009.

Human rights issues among its member states need to be prioritized and addressed.

While some member states, including Indonesia and the Philippines have shown a degree of willingness to address them, others have not been so forthcoming. Continue reading “ASEAN human rights talks face major challenges”

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AICHR’s Continuing Inaction

The Asean Secretariat supports the four-year-old Asean Inter-governmental Commission on Human Rights. The group has actually shown no known concern for the uncounted violations of human rights in the region. The egregious and obvious offence of Mr Sombath’s abduction would be an excellent case for the Asean group to adopt, and press to a decision.

From Bangkok Post editorial “Sombath Case Needs Pressure” on 17 December 2013

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Editorial: Sombath case needs pressure

Bangkok Post: 16 December 2013

Sombath Somphone was probably the most effective and best-known NGO representative in Laos. One year and one day ago, on his way home for dinner, Mr Sombath was pulled from his car by several unknown men just outside Vientiane. He was bundled into a police vehicle and driven away. He has not been seen since, and his government has not just ignored the case, it has actively worked to cover it up.

A substantial number of concerned Lao and foreign citizens held a vigil at the Laos embassy on Pracha-Uthit Road yesterday. There was no surprise that diplomats showed no interest. That has been the response from all Vientiane ministries and departments since the evening that Mr Sombath failed to show up for dinner with his wife. The grainy closed-circuit TV video showing the actual abduction has roused no concern of any kind from authorities, even though it was a government CCTV camera.

One of the most puzzling facts about the Sombath case is that the victim posed no known threat to the government, the ruling Marxist party or any official. He was 60 when he was taken. He did not take part in, let alone lead, any political group. Continue reading “Editorial: Sombath case needs pressure”

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The Sombath crisis has implications for Asean

Bangkok Post: 14 December 2103

International groups say Laos is struggling to explain the disappearance of the civil rights activist.

It reads like fiction straight from a Colin Cotterill novel. The setting is Vientiane, capital city of the People’s Democratic Republic of Laos.

Sombath Somphone is a gentle and unassuming man aged 63. Married to a Singaporean, Dr Ng Shui Meng, a former senior Unicef official, Mr Sombath was conferred the prestigious Magsaysay Award for Community Development – the region’s equivalent of the Nobel Peace Prize – in 2005. He spent the majority of his career in Laos, his native home, working with farmers and youths to promote a form of development that was mindful of the country’s values.

A group of Thai and Lao activists rally in Bangkok in January to pressure Lao authorities to speed up their probe into the disappearance of Sombath Somphone. CHANAT KATANYU
A group of Thai and Lao activists rally in Bangkok in January to pressure Lao authorities to speed up their probe into the disappearance of Sombath Somphone. CHANAT KATANYU

On Dec 15, 2012, Mr Sombath disappeared into thin air. Alone in his jeep, he was driving to his home in Vientiane. His family were in the car in front of him. Mr Sombath was stopped at a police checkpoint.Shortly afterwards, he was escorted away in another vehicle. Then his jeep was driven away.

The events were captured on a grainy CCTV video but poor picture quality makes it difficult to ascertain exactly who was filmed. Mr Sombath’s “offence” has been neither revealed nor acknowledged, yet he has not been seen since. All his family wants to know is whether he is alive. Continue reading “The Sombath crisis has implications for Asean”

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Pendant le sommet de l'Asean, les ONG s'inquiètent du sort de l'activiste lao Sombath Somphone

Radio France Internationale: 13 December 2013

Sombath Somphone (d.) en compagnie de l'archevêque sud-africain Desmund Tutu en 2006. Wikimedia Commons / Shui-Meng Ng
Sombath Somphone (d.) en compagnie de l’archevêque sud-africain Desmund Tutu en 2006.
Wikimedia Commons / Shui-Meng Ng

Les leaders de l’Association des nations de l’Asie du Sud-Est (Asean) se donnent rendez-vous ce vendredi 13 décembre à Tokyo pour discuter pendant deux jours de coopération économique et de sécurité. L’occasion pour plusieurs ONG d’attirer l’attention sur la situation des droits de l’homme dans de nombreux pays membres de cette association. Une lettre conjointe a été adressée à l’hôte du sommet, le Premier ministre Shinzo Abe. Parmi les nombreux sujets d’inquiétude, les ONG évoquent le sort d’un activiste au Laos, Sombath Somphone, disparu il y a un an dans des circonstances inquiétantes.

Figure respectée de la société civile, Sombath Somphone est connu pour son engagement en faveur des pauvres, des paysans et du développement durable. Il a été vu pour la dernière fois le soir du 15 décembre 2012 devant un poste de police de la capitale laotienne, Vientiane. Continue reading “Pendant le sommet de l'Asean, les ONG s'inquiètent du sort de l'activiste lao Sombath Somphone”

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ASEAN MPs support European delegation in efforts to secure safe return of Lao civil society leader

Asian Parliamentarians for Human Rights: 28 October 2013

LOGO_APHRBANGKOK (October 28) — ASEAN Parliamentarians today called on a European Parliament delegation to Vientiane to persevere with collective efforts to secure the safe return of Lao civil society activist Sombath Somphone, the victim of an enforced disappearance last year.

CCTV footage shows Sombath was last seen with local police in the Lao capital Vientiane on December 15, 2012. He has not been seen since and ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) has expressed both publicly and privately over the past 10 months the perceived failure of the Lao authorities in their sincerity to properly investigate his disappearance.

A delegation from the EU Parliament travelled to Vientiane on October 28. Continue reading “ASEAN MPs support European delegation in efforts to secure safe return of Lao civil society leader”