Tag: Sombath’s Family

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Sombath Somphone Education Fund

Sombath Somphone has devoted his entire life working to promote education and sustainable development among young people in Laos PDR. His enforced disappearance in 2012 unfortunately cut short his work. His wife Ng Shui Meng has written a book entitled Silencing of a Laotian Son – the Life, Work and Enforced Disappearance of Sombath Somphone. The book was launched in Bangkok, Siam (Thailand) on 14 December 2021. Proceeds from the sale of the book will go towards the Sombath Somphone Education Fund to continue Sombath’s work.

The Sombath Somphone Education Fund will provide scholarships to children, especially girls, ages 7-17 to receive primary and secondary education, and to young school drop-outs or graduates, ages 14-20 to attend vocational training schools where they can learn some life-skills.

The Sombath Family will match each donation to the fund dollar for dollar.

The book (e-copy and hard-copy) can be bought through clicking on this link:https://www.inebnetwork.org/product/silencing-of-a-laotian-son-the-life-work-and-enforced-disappearance-of-sombath-somphone/

Donations to the Sombath Education Fund can be made through clicking on this link: https://www.inebnetwork.org/donation/ When making the donation, please specifically note that it is for the Sombath Somphone Education Fund.

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Shui Meng Ng publishes memoir of husband, disappeared Laotian human rights defender Sombath Somphone

UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders

It was with a mix of profound sadness and deep admiration that I read Shui Meng Ng’s recently published biography of her husband, Silencing of a Laotian Son: The Life, Work and Enforced Disappearance of Sombath Somphone. Sadness because this December will mark 10 years since Sombath was disappeared, 10 years since CCTV footage showed his jeep being stopped by police and his being bundled into a truck before it speeds away. As Shui Meng writes in the book, these were “the last images I have seen of Sombath since.”

Admiration because in all of that time Shui Meng Ng has never stopped pressing for answers, never stopped fighting to prevent Sombath from being forgotten about and never stopped believing that despite the huge power imbalance, she can hold the Laotian authorities to account. I invited Shui Meng to the Dublin Platform in 2013, ten months after Sombath’s disappearance, and the words she spoke then epitomise how she has lived the last decade:

Despite the concerns for safety of myself and my family, Sombath’s disappearance has taught me that silence is a form of defeat. I cannot accept such defeat and I cannot ignore such violations of my husband’s rights.

This type of courage, and commitment to do what is right, is apparent in great supply in the pages of Silencing of a Laotian Son which details Sombath’s journey from a childhood of poverty and hardship, a year of which was spent as a refugee on the Thai side of Laos border, to academic excellence in the USA.

Above all though what shines through is Sombath’s absolute dedication to improving the lives of his fellow Laotians. Following the Communist takeover of Laos in 1975, it would have been easy for him to settle and make his life in the US, where he was studying at the time, but he chose to return to Laos in the 1980s to try to introduce new farming and land management techniques that he had developed through his studies. Shui Meng remembers that when Sombath first arrived in the US, he was astounded by the abundance of food in American households, and “food security was one of the reasons why, later in life, Sombath chose to study agronomy. His aim was to find ways to reduce food insecurity for poor farming households in Laos.”

Sadly Sombath’s efforts were blocked at every turn by the Laotian government who were suspicious of him because he studied in the USA. Ironically, when he was in the USA, the FBI were interested in him because he wanted to go home to Communist Laos. This absurd situation is what happens when politics is placed above human rights. Sombath persevered and founded the first indigenous non-profit in Lao PDR providing training to rural communities to foster development on their own terms.

It is believed that Sombath was finally disappeared as a result of his involvement in the Asia-Europe People’s Forum in November 2012, a biennial conference to promote exchange between civil society in Asia and Europe. It was the first time that an international civil society event was held in Lao PDR, and during it Sombath spoke on the importance of government dialogue with civil society, and listened as fellow Laotians spoke out about illegal land seizures. Some of those who spoke out were reportedly threatened by officials and Sombath, unsurprisingly, wanted an investigation into those threats. He vanished a few weeks later.

My predecessors have written a number of times to the Laotian authorities on Sombath but only received repeated claims of ignorance about his fate. In February of last year I joined with the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and two other Special Rapporteurs in writing once again to the Laotian government asking why no further updates on the investigation had been provided to Shui Meng or published since shortly after his disappearance. We also asked why the authorities had not met with Shui Meng since 2017, despite their assurances that they would regularly provide her with updates. The authorities have yet to respond.

In Sombath’s disappearance, Laos has lost one of its best. In writing this book, Shui Meng has ensured that Sombath can continue to serve as an inspiration to future generations of Laotians and to human rights defenders everywhere.

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Review:  Picking up the pieces of a man’s disappearance

The Straits Times: 23 January 2022

Nirmal Ghosh Non-Fiction

Silencing of A Laotian Son: The Life, Work and Enforced Disappearance of Sombath Somphone

By Ng Shui Meng

Community development worker Sombath Somphone (left) has not been seen since the photo on the book cover. Photos: Courtesy of Ng Shui Meng, International Network of Engaged Buddhists

International Network of Engaged Buddhists/Paperback/292 pages/ US$10 (S$13.50) before delivery costs/ Buy at inebnetwork.org/book-shop

The image on the cover is the last-known one of the man, a grainy screen grab from a closed-circuit television camera from the evening of Dec 15, 2012, in front of a police post in Vientiane, Laos. Community development worker Sombath Somphone, who would be 70 this February, has not been seen since. Even his Jeep has not been found.

His Singaporean wife Ng Shui Meng, who moved to Laos to be with him in 1986, covers more than half a century in the book, which is written in a simple, straightforward and gentle manner.

Like thesoft-spoken Sombath himself, it has no unnecessary flourishes. Continue reading “Review:  Picking up the pieces of a man’s disappearance”

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Dear Sombath…from Shui Meng (25)

My dearest Sombath,

Today is Christmas Eve and I am in Singapore where I will be celebrating Christmas with my family. In the past, you and I also often came back to Singapore to celebrate Christmas and New Year with my family. But now it’s only me!

Sombath, to mark the ninth anniversary of your disappearance, I went to Bangkok to launch a book I wrote about you. It is called, “Silencing of a Laotian Son –the Life, Work and Enforced Disappearance of Sombath Somphone”.  The book launch took place on 14 December at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT) and it was very well attended.  Many people are still concerned about you and they are still outraged that after 9 years the Lao authorities still did not provide any information of the investigation of your abduction. It was clear to all that such withholding of information of your whereabouts is a cover-up. Continue reading “Dear Sombath…from Shui Meng (25)”

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‘I Don’t Know What Normal Is Anymore’: One Woman’s Search for Her Kidnapped Husband

Vice World News:  23 December 2021

Shui-Meng’s favourite photo of her husband Sombath, taken in 2020 two years before his abduction. Photo: Shui-Meng

“I wish I had gone up to hug him,” she recalls of the last time she saw him on that December evening in 2012. Today, she’s still fighting for answers.

By Alastair McCready

Shui-Meng’s husband had just finished playing table tennis when he arrived at her shop as she was closing up one early evening. Glancing over across the small handicraft store—adorned with traditional handwoven silk, rattan baskets and bamboo goods—she would tell Sombath that she’d be ready to set off home shortly and to meet her outside.

Driving home in separate cars, Shui-Meng could see her husband’s black Jeep following close behind as they made the short drive through downtown Vientiane—the sleepy, low-lying capital of Laos sitting on the banks of the Mekong river.

It’s a route they’d driven countless times before with no issue. But today, between glances in her rearview mirror, his car would vanish from view. Initially assuming he’d been held up by a phone call, she’d only start panicking as the clock struck 9pm and he still hadn’t come home. Continue reading “‘I Don’t Know What Normal Is Anymore’: One Woman’s Search for Her Kidnapped Husband”

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Dear Shui-Meng…from Anne-Sophie Gindroz (5)

Dear Shui-Meng,

Another year has passed. We do not forget. We do not need an anniversary to remember.

I think of you and Sombath every single day. Let me tell you why.

When I first met Sombath, I was impressed by his calm and wisdom. His talk was soft and powerful. Then I got to know Sombath on his farm. I realised that not only was he practising sustainable living, but that his strength was rooted into his love for nature. A bright intellectual and a passionate farmer. He had built a coherent vision and developed concrete actions. He has been sharing his knowledge consistently, investing in young generations.  At the time, I did not know how deep his imprint would be.

Today, I know that I would not have had the courage to make certain decisions, would I not have met Sombath. From a role model I admired at first in a diffuse way, Sombath guided our steps when setting-up an organic farm here in Indonesia, and he gave me the confidence to engage in a more sustainable way of living. Sombath and his beautiful thinking now continue clearly to inspire our engagement with the community and our willingness to operate as an open learning space. To me, Sombath is more present than ever, through the daily practice of what I have learnt from him. And his vision about a harmonised cohabitation with a generous nature proves increasingly relevant in our world, threatened by greed and destruction.

Another year has passed. Sombath is being remembered, not just for this sad anniversary. Sombath is remembered every day, and will continue to be, by the many people he has inspired and continues to inspire for the better.

Dear Shui-Meng, you and Somath are in our hearts. Today and every day to come.

With love, Anne-Sophie

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Special Book Launch: Silencing of a Laotian Son

Note: A video recording of this event is available here, and a copy of Shui Meng’s remarks here.

FCCT clubhouse, Bangkok, Thailand and online

Tuesday, 14 December, 10am

This Silencing of a Laotian Son – the Life, Work and Enforced Disapppeance of Sombath Somphone is a thoughtful portrayal of Sombath Somphone’s 30-year life journey to improve the lives of rural communities in Laos, and his subsequent enforced disappearance on December 15 2012. It tells of how Sombath’s ground-breaking community and youth development work has earned him widespread recognition as Laos leading development specialist. It also documents the Lao authorities’ denial of state involvement of Sombath’s disappearance and his wife’s tireless and agonizing struggle to rally international support for his safe return since his disappearance.

This event brings together a panel of well-known speakers to launch this important book.

  1. Ajaan Sulak Sivaraksa, a friend and mentor of Sombath for over 30 years and has greatly influenced Sombath’s work on Education and Engaged Buddhism.
  2. Ms Cynthia Veliko, Head of the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights based in Bangkok. Her organization continues to champion the enhancement of human rights in the region.
  3. Ms Angkhana Neelapaijit is the wife of the famous human rights lawyer, Dr Somchai Neelapaijit who was disappeared in 2004, and she is the founder of Justice for Peace, an organization founded to support victims of Enforced Disappearance and to advocate for improved state laws against the perpetration of Enforced Disappearances.
  4. Shui Meng Ng is the wife and author of the book. She has continued tirelessly to seek truth and justice for her husband Sombath Somphone.

Moderator Phil Robertson, deputy director for Asia, Human Rights Watch

To view online: https://www.facebook.com/FCCThailand/

The event is free and open to all.

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Dear Sombath…from Shui Meng (24)

Letter to Sombath Somphone 30 August 2021 to mark International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances

My dearest Sombath

Today is August 30 again, a day when the world is once more reminded that it is the International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearances (IDD); a day where we are reminded that there are many thousands of victims who have been abducted and snatched from the bosom of their loved ones. People around the world are urged to spare a moment to remember them and their families, and especially to remember that their families are still waiting desperately for answers of where their disappeared loved ones are, and for their safe return.

For me, my desperate wait for news of your whereabouts and your situation has already spanned nine years – nine long years of wait, and nine long years of unrelenting pain. Each year when August 30 comes around, my pain and despair heightens and the unhealed wound is reopened once more.  For many others, the wait has been even longer – 15 years, 20 years…

Each year, the UN and Human Rights Organizations and Victims Organizations that work on the issue of Enforced Disappearance use the IDD to reiterate that Enforced Disappearance is a heinous crime, a violation of human dignity, and it is the worst form of human rights violations. In so doing, they hope to once again remind state-governments of their obligations under international human rights law to stop Enforced Disappearance and to render truth and justice to the victims and their families.

If not for the global Covid-19 pandemic, I would probably be spending IDD at various meetings and workshops. I would be with many other victims from across the region to bear testament to our plight, to provide solace and show solidarity with one another, and to pledge that we would continue our mutual struggle without fear or retreat until we have truth and justice. More importantly we would use the day to commemorate our loved ones and tell the world that their lives and deeds are not going to be so easily wiped out by the cowardly act of enforced disappearance.

However, the on-going Covid-19 has restricted travel and cancelled many face-to-face meetings.  Despite such restrictions, we have not been silenced. We have continued to use various social network platforms and webinars to mark the IDD and to continue our advocacy and struggle against Enforced Disappearances.  We do this to bear witness to the memory of all the disappeared.

Sombath, your memory and the memories of all other victims can be never be erased now or in the future.  In fact with each passing day and year that the disappeared are not found or returned, their memories will echo even louder and stronger and their unjust abduction will spread further and further through their families, friends, their community and beyond.  It is in this collective memory that your lives will not be lived in vain, and your legacies will be passed on.

Sombath, I take some small comfort that in being part of the movement against Enforced Disappearances, I will, together with other victims, stand up strong and bold against such violations and against those who want us to give up or to forget. We cannot forget and shall never forget, not only as long as we are alive, but even after we pass on. Your memory will be etched in the memory of the present and future generations.  This is because Enforced Disappearance is a continuing crime and it is recorded in the UN as an ongoing crime until we know the truth about what happened to you.

My dearest Sombath, I must tell you, that even here in Laos, where the perpetrators of this crime want us to forget what happened to you, you have not been forgotten.  Even now people in the international community and organizations and networks continue to ask “Where is Sombath?”  They keep asking for your whereabouts to show they still care about your case, and to remind the Lao authorities, that despite the deliberate wall of silence erected around your disappearance, you will not be forgotten until you are safely returned.

So Sombath, my love, stay strong and be well.  My love, know that I am not alone in my search for you. I am joined in solidarity and unity with all freedom and justice loving people from across the globe, especially on this International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, that you and other victims are very much in our memory.  We will never forget and we will not stop our search until we find you and have you returned safely.

Love you always, Shui Meng

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Dear Sombath…from Shui Meng (23)

My dearest Sombath,

It has been awhile since I last wrote you. Even though I have not been writing to you much, I have not forgotten you, nor have I given up on the struggle to get truth and justice for you.

Since March 2020, our world has been turned upside down by the global Covid-19 pandemic. Many countries have closed their borders to travel and many countries have also mandated lockdowns to control the spread of the virus.

Many human rights organizations and activists across the world have seen their international and regional meetings and conferences, and advocacy and mobilization activities greatly reduced or even halted.  This has caused a great blow to the continued momentum and growth of human rights movements and activities nationally, regionally and globally.

Following the cessation of most international face-to-face events, my participation in many of these human rights and enforced disappearances activities have also become largely reduced to only a few zoom meetings and webinars. Hence, I have become less active, and my voice has not been heard much at regional and international human rights meetings and conferences.  But this does not mean I have given up seeking truth and justice for you and for other victims of enforced disappearance.

I need to find ways to keep up my struggle and I know that one way is to keep reminding people that you are still missing and the facts of your unjust disappearance is still hidden by a wall of denial and lies.

My dearest Sombath, let me reassure you once more that as long as I still draw breathe, you will not be forgotten. Recently, I spoke at opening of the 13th AEPF Meeting through Zoom. I told those who attended the meeting that despite my disappointment of the lack of progress, and my anger at the injustice done to you, I also know that to give up on fighting for truth and justice is not an option. To give up is to give in to what the perpetrators most want; and to lose hope is to lose part of my dignity, my humanity, and my love for you.

So, my dearest Sombath, I promise you that I will soldier on against all odds and to continue my fight for truth and justice for you and to continue my plea for solidarity and support for the resolution of this inhuman and unjust crime.

The last week of May each year is dedicated as the International Week of the Disappeared to remind everyone that there are hundreds of thousands of people who have been unjustly disappeared and whose families are still waiting for their return. So I too want to use my letter to you to remind people who remember and love you that we too will not forget you. We too want you to come home to us.

Dearest Sombath, words cannot express how much I continue to miss you and pine for your return. Be well and stay healthy til the day we meet again.

Love you so much

Shui Meng

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Remarks by Shui Meng Ng at 13th Asia-Europe People’s Forum

17 May 2021

Good day to all. We are gathered together again for another AEPF, the 13th AEPF. This is the 4th time I have been asked to speak at the opening of an AEPF Meeting. While I am grateful that the organizing committee has once more given me the space and time to speak at such an important forum for development activists and practitioners, I must admit, it does not give me much pleasure to give another commemoration talk about my husband, Sombath Somphone, who was disappeared on 15 December 2012, two months after he co-charied the 9th AEPF in Vientiane.

Nine years have passed since Sombath was abducted right in front of a police post in Vientiane, and with evidence of his abduction by uniformed police recorded on CCTV. Yet the Lao government has kept up the charade and denied any knowledge of what happened to Sombath, while at the same time refusing to conduct any thorough and transparent investigation. Over the past 9 years, I have travelled the globe giving countless talks about Sombath – who he is, his life and his work, and his enforced disappearance. I have knocked on the doors of world leaders, representatives of United Nations organizations, and appealed to almost all human rights agencies to take up Sombath’s case and pressure the Lao government and officialdom to give me answers as to what happened to Sombath and to return him safely to me and my family. After 9 years of struggle and campaign to get truth and justice, I still have gotten no answers of Sombath’s whereabouts or his fate. All I get from the Lao officialdom is a wall of silence and lies.

In fact with the passing of time the official smear campaign against Sombath has become more viscious. Whenever confronted with demand for answers of Sombath’s disappearance at international and UN meetings, the Lao officials regularly mouthed the official line of their continued investigations, while at the same time casting aspersions of Sombath’s character by accusing him of amassing wealth though dubious means. Even though such baseless lies gained little credibility among people who know Sombath and are aware of the background and circumstances of the case, these lies nonetheless cause me great pain and anger.

I am enraged by the fact that the perpetrators of such a heinous crime and violation of Sombath’s and my rights could continue to get away with such impunity. I am enraged at the futility of international laws and pressure, against authoritarian governments who could disregard international standards and the rule of law.

Yet, despite my disappointment of the lack of progress on Sombath’s case, and my anger at the injustice caused to my husband and my family, I also know that to give up on fighting for truth and justice is not an option. To give up is to give in to what the perpetrators most want; and to lose hope is to lose part of my dignity, my humanity, and my love for Sombath. So I soldier on against all odds and continue my fight for truth and justice for Sombath and continue my plea for solidarity and support for the satisfactory resolution of Sombath’s case.

This is why I have overcome my despondency and agree to address you at this 13th Asia-Europe People’s Forum. I believe that is also what Sombath wants.

Many of the AEPF participants and development activists already know of Sombath and his work, and many of you, especially those in the Asia region, have also worked with him to promote a more equitable, just, and sustainable development that places people, and not profits, at the center of the development agenda.

Sombath’s development vision and aspiration did not come from theory but are learned from direct experience of growing up in a poor rural family and working in communities all over Laos.  His ideas and approaches are not shaped by any political or development imperatives from outside or from above; they have been learned from consultative partnerships and practical experimentation with communities and families, and especially with young people with whom he placed the greatest hope for real change. Sombath always urged the young people to remain mindful of their traditional values and wisdom even as global forces grow stronger. Development is good, he used to say, but for development to be healthy, it “must come from within.” That was what made Sombath’s work so authentic and so trusted by those he worked with.

Now, even though Sombath’s vision and voice has been silenced for more than 9 years, I am struck at how relevant and important they still are. He had warned that past and ongoing development and political mistakes are the root causes of many of the current political, social, economic, and religious fissures across many of our societies, and why we are now living in such a destabilized world where the social fabric of our communities have become torn by hate and distrust.

Nine years ago, at the 9th AEPF Opening speech, he said, “our development model is not balanced, not connected, and definitely not holistic. We focus too much on economic growth and ignore its negative impacts on the social, environmental, and spiritual dimensions. This unbalanced development model is the chief cause of inequality, injustice, financial meltdown, global warming, climate change, loss of bio-diversity, and even loss of our humanity and spirituality. …We are blinded by the power of money and let the corporations rule the world and even over-ride the power of the state. Ordinary people, and civil society, have very little say in all this”

What Sombath believed and worked for to change all his life is becoming even more urgent today, as we face the global crisis of the Covid-19 pandemic. As we are now forced to work-from-home, meet through zoom, have our children learn online, close our businesses, and lose our jobs, we need to think about how we can survive this crisis as families, as communities, as societies, and as a globalized world.

Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic has made it more convenient for authoritarian regimes to use the pandemic as an opportunity to disregard people’s democratic rights and escalate political and physical repressions and violence against their opponents.  These autocrats know well that with the domestic challenges posed by the pandemic, international attention is less focused on their violations and they can get away, just as we are witnessing happening in Myanmar, in Palestine, and in Kashmir.

What should we do under such circumstances? As Sombath would often say, “we must think outside the box”. Indeed the old strategies may not be enough for the challenges we face today. Sombath may not be here to brainstorm or share his ideas with you, but he always believe in the collective wisdom and experience of sincere and committed people who havespent their lives working on the ground and know the kinds of challenges people face.

This 13th AEFP will provide opportunities for policy makers, dedicated practitioners, and ordinary people to share and debate and put forth new strategies to address and overcome thechallenges we face today.  Indeed through strategic networking, and solidarity of purpose between the people of Asia and Europe, we will strengthen our collective resistance against the trampling of our rights, and the political, social, economic, environmental, and public health injustice we face today.

I close by once more by thanking the organizers of the 13th AEPF and I wishing you great success in your deliberations.

Thank you.