“Sombath’s work touched the lives of many in Laos and across the ASEAN community. We hope Secretary Kerry raises his case directly with the Prime Minister. That kind of high-level discussion would be hard for the Lao authorities to ignore,” Santiago said.
JAKARTA – US Secretary of State John Kerry should raise concerns about the state of democracy and human rights in Laos and Cambodia when he meets with leaders in Vientiane and Phnom Penh this week, ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) said today.
“Secretary Kerry should make it clear that the United States views respect for human rights as a core component of bilateral relations, inseparable from trade and security concerns that too often overshadow it. He should seek firm, public commitments from Lao and Cambodian leaders on this front,” said APHR Chairperson and Malaysian MP Charles Santiago. Continue reading “Parliamentarians urge Secretary Kerry to raise human rights concerns on visit to Laos and Cambodia”
Nothing will upset an Asian government more than comparisons with the heinous dictatorships and juntas of South America in the 1980s. Gun-toting soldiers sporting Ray-Ban aviators on deserted city streets, backed by tanks and a sinister security apparatus, is one common image.
The forced disappearance – a euphemism for state-sponsored kidnappings – of critics, political opposition or just plain irritants is another. Nor are those disappearances uncommon in Southeast Asia.
The disappearance of agriculturalist and reformer Sombath Somphone in Laos, labor protester Khem Sophathin Cambodia and lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit in Thailand are three of the more notable examples in a region mired in human rights abuses.
Now that practice seems to have been extended to nearby Hong Kong, where residents have for years believed that such dreadful things could never happen in the former British colony.
Five people who are linked to a Chinese book shop in the well-known Causeway Bay shopping precinct have gone missing amid speculation they have been taken by mainland authorities. One is a British citizen another is Swedish-Chinese.
Pro-democracy lawmaker Albert Ho recently said that he believed publisher Lee Bo had been taken against his will into the Chinese mainland because he planned a book about the love affairs of China’s President Xi Jinping and his exploits while working in the provinces.
“It’s a forced disappearance … all those who have disappeared are related to the Causeway Bay bookshop and this bookshop was famous, not only for the sale, but also for the publication and circulation of a series of sensitive books,” he said in a recent television interview.
The alleged kidnappings have also earned comparisons with North Korean tactics, although there the abductions took place outside the country. In Beijing, the government has said little, which is not unlike the response from authorities in countries south of the Chinese border.
The third anniversary marking the disappearance of Sombath Somphone was held in December, while the first anniversary of the disappearance of Khem Sophath – who was last seen with a gunshot wound to the chest – was held earlier this week.
Government friendly and state-controlled media ignored both anniversaries while journalists in both countries confided privately that local reporters were pressured by their editors not to run commemoration stories.
“We were ready to go out and do this story on Khem Sophath,” one Cambodian reporter told this journalist. “Then the editor walks in and yells wait, wait, no, no, we’re not doing that story.”
That came just two weeks after a Thai court upheld the acquittal of five police officers accused of abducting Somchai Neelapaijit, a prominent human rights lawyer who vanished in 2004 while he was defending suspected Islamic militants who had accused authorities of torturing them. Thailand is now controlled by the military.
Over the years, forced disappearances have, sadly, not been uncommon in Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and the Philippines. Nor was mainland China an exception. If instigated by the government, then such practices do amount to one form of state-sponsored terrorism.
Hong Kong, however, was different. It had emerged as a vanguard for model behavior in a difficult part of the world during the 1990s and first decade of this century despite political dabbling by the communists in China and a fetish for pleasing Beijing among the ruling powers in the territory.
If allegations of kidnapping prove correct, then Beijing has failed in its obligation to ensure the security of its citizens and resentment among Hong Kongers will only build. And Xi will thoroughly deserve comparisons with the nastier leaders of Southeast Asia and those dictatorships of the 1980s in South America.
Not prepared to play the victim even after the recent ruling on the disappearance of her lawyer husband, Angkhana Neelapaijit is dedicating her life to helping others who suffer abuse of rights…
Angkhana was known in security quarters as a daring, stubborn and outspoken widow who has always reminded the world about Thailand’s chronic impunity. She strongly supported the wife of the missing Karen land rights activist Porlajee “Billy” Rakchongcharoen on her quest for justice. Angkhana is also a key member of The Sombath Initiative that is looking into the disappearance of Laos’ senior community development figure Sombath Somphone.
Paris, 30 August 2015: ASEAN member states must accelerate the process of ratification of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED), FIDH said today on the occasion of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.
“By becoming a state party to the ICPPED, states will have a legal obligation to investigate all cases of enforced disappearances and deliver justice to the victims and their families,” said FIDH President Karim Lahidji. “Governments will no longer be able to remain idle and rely on the belief that the passage of time will ultimately render cases of disappearances into obscurity.”
Between 1980 and 2014, the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID), transmitted 1,065 cases of enforced or involuntary disappearance to eight of the 10 current ASEAN member states (excluding Brunei and Singapore). Eight hundred and seventy-five (82%) of those cases have remained unresolved. The Philippines topped the list with 625 cases, followed by Indonesia, 163, and Thailand, 81. Continue reading “ASEAN: More progress needed on the ratification of ICPPED”
Edita Burgos and Shui Meng, wife of missing Ramon Magsaysay laureate and Laotian activist Sombath Somphone, find kinship in tragedy. They draw solace from UN SecGen Ban Ki-Moon’s strong condemnation of enforced disappearance, calling it like rain after a long drought.
MANILA – A Filipino mother and a Laotian wife, who have found solace in each other’s company since an encounter in an international forum on desaparecidos, are these days drawing comfort from the United Nations chief’s statement on the International Day of the Disappeared.
For Edita T. Burgos, widow of the world press freedom icon Jose G. Burgos Jr. and mother of missing farmer-activist Jonas, the past eight years since her son was seized while eating lunch at a mall – by men believed to be military agents – have been very difficult.
Shui Meng, wife of Ramon Magsaysay laureate Sombath Somphone, is in town to show her solidarity with other victims of enforced disappearances. She is a guest of the Asian Federation Against Enforced Disappearances (AFAD), where she and Mrs. Burgos met a few months ago.
On July 29-31, the Citizen’s Alliance on North Korean Human Rights organised a seminar “Enforced Disappearances – Lessons for Korea” in Seoul. Shuimeng Ng gave a presentation on the disappearance of Sombath Somphone, and the challenges faced by families in finding answers in the Lao context. Other presentations included perspectives from Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Guatemala, and many others.
The seminar also focussed on pressuring governments to ratify the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED).
Finally, participants joined the growing number of people from around the world who are asking “Where is Sombath?”
If Lao citizens, Lao media, and Lao civil society organisations, as well as UN and NGO agencies working in Laos, are not able to speak about Sombath Somphone, how many other enforced disappearances, unlawful detentions and other human rights violations are being hidden?
Laos is a signatory to the main international human rights instruments1 including the Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPED); yet, the practice of enforced disappearances in the Lao PDR is alarming.
…However, Laos has failed to prove that an impartial investigation had been conducted in regards with Mr. Somphone’s abduction. Only vague official statements have been formulated so far… This on-going situation demonstrates the Government of Laos’ lack of willingness to cooperate with the WGEID.
MANILA – An international human rights group on Monday asked the Laos government to hasten its investigation into the enforced disappearance of prominent civil society leader Sombath Somphone, who has been missing since 2012.
Sombath was a Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for community development. The award is Asia’s version of the Nobel Prize.
In its website, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) said the Laos government must turn words into action and step up the investigation into the enforced disappearance of Somphone.
“The Laos government must also publicly disclose the findings,” FIDH and its member organization, the Lao Movement for Human Rights (LMHR), said on Monday.
The two organizations made the call to mark 800 days since Sombath’s disappearance on the evening of 15 December 2012 in Vientiane, FIDH said.
The group said that at the second Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Laos, held in Geneva on January 20, 2015, government representative Phongsavath Boupha said that authorities were “still thoroughly conducting” an investigation into Sombath’s disappearance.
“Phongsavath also declared that the investigation committee was “ready to receive suggestions from any interested parties with regard to the ongoing investigation,” FIDH said.
Despite the Lao government’s claim of an ongoing investigation, Vientiane has failed to provide any update on the probe since June 2013, the group said.
“For too long, Vientiane has dragged its feet on Sombath’s disappearance. It’s time for the Lao government to fulfill its international obligations and implement the UPR recommendations concerning enforced disappearances,” said FIDH President Karim Lahidji.“The government must also keep its word and accept international technical assistance in the investigation.” Continue reading “800 Days Missing: Global human rights group asks Laos to step up probe on Sombath disappearance”
JAKARTA – US Secretary of State John Kerry should raise concerns about the state of democracy and human rights in Laos and Cambodia when he meets with leaders in Vientiane and Phnom Penh this week, ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) said today.
Not prepared to play the victim even after the recent ruling on the disappearance of her lawyer husband, Angkhana Neelapaijit is dedicating her life to helping others who suffer abuse of rights…
If Lao citizens, Lao media, and Lao civil society organisations, as well as UN and NGO agencies working in Laos, are not able to speak about Sombath Somphone, how many other enforced disappearances, unlawful detentions and other human rights violations are being hidden?
