Tag: Enforced Disappearance

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Laos’ Rights Record Marred by Arbitrary Arrests, Forced Disappearances and Harsh Treatment in Custody

Radio Free Asia: 10 December 2020

Jailed Lao blogger ‘Mouay’ is shown in an undated photo

The situation “getting worse,” experts say, while the government blames lack of progress on COVID-19.

Citizens who criticize the Lao government are forcibly disappeared or arrested without due process, and endure harsh treatment and lengthy prison terms, experts said on the anniversary of key United Nations human rights pacts that the communist nation has ratified but regularly violates.

Human Rights Day Thursday marks the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the UN General Assembly on Dec. 10, 1948.

Laos, whose one-party communist government marked its 45th anniversary on Dec. 2, ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other key U.N. rights instruments in the 1990s, but the rights commitments are not honored, rights experts and activists say. Continue reading “Laos’ Rights Record Marred by Arbitrary Arrests, Forced Disappearances and Harsh Treatment in Custody”

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Few Answers on Missing Lao Citizens as World Marks Enforced Disappearance Victims

Radio Free Asia: 29 August 2020

The 10th annual International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearance Sunday offers a fresh reminder that Laos has done little or nothing to investigate citizens, including a highly respected development expert, who have vanished in the communist Southeast Asian nation, human rights groups said.

Rural education and development expert Sombath Somphone and others remain unaccounted for, years after disappearing, in most cases after last being seen in police hands.

On December 15, 2012, police stopped Sombath Somphone in his vehicle at a checkpoint on the outskirts of the capital Vientiane. He was then transferred to another vehicle, according to a police surveillance video, and has not been heard from since. Continue reading “Few Answers on Missing Lao Citizens as World Marks Enforced Disappearance Victims”

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Lao Democracy Activist Still Missing After a Year, as Thai Police Investigation ‘Stalls’

Radio Free Asia: 25 August 2020

[Od] had also called… for a U.N. investigation into the disappearance of rural development expert Sombath Somphone.

A Lao democracy activist who vanished under mysterious circumstances in Thailand last year is still missing, with Thai police saying no progress has been made in the investigation into his disappearance.

Od Sayavong, aged 34 at the time he went missing, disappeared in Bangkok on Aug. 26, 2019 after telling a roommate he would be home for dinner, Od’s roommate told RFA in an earlier report, adding that Od’s involvement in politics was the most likely reason for his disappearance.

“He had come out to protest against the [Lao] government, and most recently he had posted a video clip online criticizing the Lao government during the time of the ASEAN meetings in Thailand,” the roommate said. Continue reading “Lao Democracy Activist Still Missing After a Year, as Thai Police Investigation ‘Stalls’”

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Southeast Asia’s Desaparecidos

The Diplomat:  10 June 2020 by David Hutt

Enforced disappearances — a tragedy all too familiar in Latin America — are increasingly becoming a feature of Southeast Asian politics, too.

One of bloody characters of Latin American history is that of los desaparecidos, the activist or dissident or just unfortunate person who says the wrong thing who suddenly disappears, never to be heard of again. Sometimes their body is discovered years later, but in most cases they remain missing forever.   

In the English language, there is no word that conveys the sense of hopelessness and not knowing. The family who finds a murdered loved one can at least grieve – but for the families of those who remain disappeared, it is the not knowing that most consumes their anguish. Having spoken to families of desaparecidos from Argentina to Guatemala, the not-knowing is still as raw as it when their loved ones disappeared decades ago. Continue reading “Southeast Asia’s Desaparecidos”

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Don’t forget ‘disappeared’

Bangkok Post: 21 December 2019

One year ago this month, Thai activist Surachai Danwattananusorn disappeared mysteriously from his residence in the Lao capital of Vientiane, while the bodies of his two aides were found in the Mekong River. Also, seven years ago this month, Lao activist Sombath Somphone suffered a “forced disappearance” in Vientiane.

These men were all prominent critics of the state, and this is perhaps a good enough explanation as to why neither the Thai and Lao governments have managed to unearth the truth behind the disappearances and killings.

Mr Surachai fled Thailand a few days before the 2014 coup and lived in exile in Vientiane to avoid being thrown behind bars for alleged lese majeste offences. He was followed by his aides, Chatchan Bupphawan and Kraidej Luelert, who used their time in Laos to criticise the military junta and the institution. Continue reading “Don’t forget ‘disappeared’”

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Stopping Enforced Disappearances: Where is Sombath Somphone?

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https://youtu.be/1HtQ-MSvDww

On 17 December 2019 a panel discussion was held at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Bangkok, Thailand. Panelists included:

  • Angkhana Neelapaijit: Director, Justice for Peace Foundation; Magsaysay Prize Award winner 2019, and wife of Somchai Neelapaijit who was enforcibly disappeared in 2004
  • Ng Shui Meng: Wife of Sombath Somphone, who was enforcibly disappeared in 2012
  • Katia Chirizzi: Deputy Director, Office of the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights, Southeast Asia
  • Phil Robertson: Deputy Asia Director, Human Rights Watch

Click the link above for video of the event.

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Denuncian impunidad en desapariciones forzadas en Tailandia

El Siglo de Torreón: 18 December 2019

Numerosas víctimas de diferentes países asiáticos han sido contabilizadas por lo menos 20 años

Activistas y familiares de desaparecidos forzados denunciaron este martes en Bangkok la impunidad con que este crimen se comete en el sudeste asiático, donde hay decenas de casos sin resolver en medio de un ambiente de “miedo”.

Así lo expresaron en una conferencia sobre desapariciones forzadas celebrada con motivo del séptimo aniversario de la desaparición del activista laosiano Sombath Somphone, que continúa en paradero desconocido desde que fue detenido en un control policial en diciembre de 2012 en Vientián. Continue reading “Denuncian impunidad en desapariciones forzadas en Tailandia”

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Still No Progress on Seventh Anniversary of Sombath Somphone’s Disappearance

Radio Free Asia: 17 December 2019

Ng Shui Meng, wife of Sombath Somphone, who has been missing for seven years in what is widely believed to be an enforced disappearance, attends a press conference on Dec. 17, 2019. RFA

The wife of a missing Lao activist told a gathering to mark seven years since his disappearance that she has not heard any information from Lao authorities about his case in more than two years and believes they “stopped searching long ago.”

Sombath Somphone, who disappeared on Dec. 15, 2012—exactly seven years ago Sunday—when police stopped him in his vehicle at a checkpoint on the outskirts of the capital Vientiane.

Before his abduction, Sombath had challenged massive land deals negotiated by the government that had left thousands of rural Lao villagers homeless with little paid in compensation. The deals sparked rare popular protests in Laos, where political speech is tightly controlled. Continue reading “Still No Progress on Seventh Anniversary of Sombath Somphone’s Disappearance”

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Seit sieben Jahren ist der Bürgerrechtler Sombath Somphone verschwunden – die Regierung von Laos hat darauf keine Antwort

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[et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”]Neue Zürcher Zeitung: 15 Dezember 2019

Obwohl die laotischen Behörden versprochen haben, den Fall aufzuklären, gibt es keine Ergebnisse. Bald werden sie vor der Uno dazu Stellung nehmen müssen.

Wenige Wochen nachdem Sombath Somphone verschwunden ist, hängt ein Unterstützer im Januar 2013 in der laotischen Hauptstadt Vientiane ein Poster mit dem Porträt des Vermissten auf. Gilles Sabrie / LightRocket / Getty

Es ist dunkel. Die Aufnahmen der Überwachungskamera sind körnig und unscharf. Dennoch ist zu erkennen, wie ein Jeep vor einem Polizeiposten in der laotischen Hauptstadt Vientiane anhält. Der Fahrer steigt aus und geht in den Posten. Wenig später kommt der Mann wieder aus dem Polizeiposten, nun in Begleitung zweier Personen. Sie steigen in einen weissen Geländewagen, der davonbraust, noch bevor die Türen geschlossen sind. Continue reading “Seit sieben Jahren ist der Bürgerrechtler Sombath Somphone verschwunden – die Regierung von Laos hat darauf keine Antwort”