3 years on, rights groups demand answers on

Sombath Somphone disappearance

Human rights representatives speak at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT) in Bangkok,
Monday.

By John Quinley III

ON the eve of the third anniversary of acclaimed community
development leader Sombath Somphones forced disappearance, human
rights groups on Monday in Bangkok urged the Lao government to
provide information regarding Mr. Sombaths whereabouts and fate.
Sombath was abducted in Vientiane Laos on the evening of December

15, 2012, at a police check-point where he was then transferred to

another vehicle according to police surveillance video. At the press
conference in Bangkok newly made public CCTV footage, found by
Sombaths family, showed the car further south on the road as the car
traveled back into the capital.

Object 1

representative from the Sombath Initiative said in a written statement,

that the police refused to look at the additional evidence from the family,
which,demonstrates the authorities have absolutely no interest in
conducting a serious investigation, as they so often claim.
According to Sam Zarifi, Regional Director of Asia and Oceania for the
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), at the press conference, the
government [of Laos] has shown no political will to solve the case.
Sombaths family repeatedly asked the Lao government to check the
footage from other CCTV cameras along the road, but to no avail.
Zarifi went on to state that, ICJ believes, This case is eminently
solvable.
Lao government has legal obligations to investigate the case, Zarifi

added.

Sombath did not engage actively against the government. He believed

deeply in people-centered sustainable development, education and
youth development and worked to foster these programs for his country.
In 2005, Sombath was awarded the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award
for Community Leadership Asias equivalent of the Nobel Prize for his
community mobilization, activism and work in agricultural development
in Laos. He himself was raised in a rural village in Laos.
The last time the family heard from the Lao authorities or received any
new information from them was almost 3 years ago. Since December
2013, the family and the public have only been told that, the
investigation is still ongoing according to Laurent Meillan, Deputy Head
of Office for the Office of High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR)
for Southeast Asia. Meillan went on to say that the enforced
disappearance of Sombath has brought about a culture of fear among
NGO workers in Lao.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states have
remained silent on Sombaths disappearance. Laos has been appointed
the ASEAN Chairmanship for 2016 and should make the Sombath
investigation a major goal during the upcoming year.

Sombath Somphone. Pic: AP.

ASEAN should not invoke the principle of non-interference when it comes
to cases of enforced disappearance. ASEAN member states should stand
by their commitment to their Human Rights Declaration, which states,
Every person has the right to personal liberty and security. No person
shall be subject to arbitrary arrest, search, detention, abduction or any
other form of deprivation of liberty.
Phil Robertson, the Deputy Director of Human Rights Watch in Asia, said
the international community and civil society organizations (CSO) need
to keep asking, Where is Sombath?
Robertson went on to say that the ASEAN Peoples Forum in Laos will not
go ahead in 2016 because of lack of funding. He added that the CSOs
refused to censor themselves on issues including Sombaths enforced
disappearance, dams along the Mekong, land rights, ethnic or indigenous
people, and LGBT community rights.
As Laos takes over the chairmanship of ASEAN for 2016, Vientianes

leaders have become aggressively regressive when it comes to human

rights, he added.
The ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR)
should urge ASEAN member states, and especially the Lao government,
to uphold human rights, stand by CSOs and be a part of the investigation
of the enforced disappearance of Sombath.
Meillan of OHCHR went on to say that the absence of progress in the
investigation of Sombath casts an ominous shadow over Laos
governments pledge to act.
State authorities have denied any role in Sombaths disappearance;
however, it is widely believed to have been carried out by police or other
government-linked actors.
About the author:
John H. Quinley III is a Bangkok-based researcher focused on human
rights, refugees, migrants, and development in Southeast Asia,
particularly Burma (Myanmar) and Thailand. He can be followed on
Twitter@johnquinley3
Posted by Thavam