Disappeared in Laos but not forgotten in ASEAN

10:30am, Wednesday, 12 December 2018
Bangkok Art and Culture Center (BACC), Bangkok
Friends of BACC room, 6th floor
Lao civil society leader Sombath Somphone disappeared on the evening of 15 December 2012, after being stopped at a police checkpoint on a busy street of Vientiane, Laos. Footage from a CCTV camera near the police checkpoint showed that unknown individuals forced Sombath into another vehicle and drove away in the presence of police officers. Sombath has never been seen again. His fate or whereabouts remain unknown to this day.
Six years after Sombath Somphone’s disappearance, what has been done to safely return Sombath? What are the regional implications of his disappearance? What are the next steps?
A panel of four distinguished speakers will answer these questions and provide an update on the quest for truth and justice for Sombath Somphone’s disappearance.
- Ms. Shui-Meng Ng: Spouse of Sombath Somphone
- Mr. Edmund Bon: Malaysia’ s representative to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights
- Ms. Premrudee Daoroung: Project SEVANA South-East Asia Coordinator
- Mr. Charles Santiago: Malaysian Member of Parliament (via Skype)
Moderated by FIDH (International Federation for Human Rights)



Briefing paper prepared by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED) defines “enforced disappearance” as:

Pada konferensi pers yang diadakan oleh The Sombath Initiative di Foreign Correspondents Club, Bangkok, Thailand, kelompok-kelompok tersebut mempublikasikan satu set dokumen terkait dengan penghilangan paksa pemimpin masyarakat sipil, Sombath Somphone, pembatasan demokrasi dan HAM oleh pemerintah Laos, kurangnya kebebasan berpendapat, kegagalan pemerintah dalam menjalankan kewajiban HAM, dan dampaknya pada bantuan dan investasi asing.