To mark the second anniversary of sombaths disappearance, fco minister for south east asia. Poised and steadfast, shui meng ng again recounted the evening of december 15, 2012, when she witnessed her husbands disappearance at a police check point in vientiane, the. Shui meng ng is a singaporean national and has lived in laos. Jan 16, 20 sombath somphone, a development economist and educator from laos, was last seen on december 15, 2012. Ng shui meng, wife of sombath somphone, who has been missing for. For the past 4 years, family and friends of sombath somphone have called the lao government and world leaders to bring forth sombaths whereabouts.
Fa ngum, with 10,000 khmer troops, conquered many lao principalities in the mekong river basin, culminating in the capture of vientiane. According to a biography of sombath somphone published in 2005, padetc has undertaken numerous initiatives in promoting ecofriendly technologies and microenterprises, including the introduction of organic fertilizers, garbage recycling, fuelefficient stoves, and new processing techniques for small agribusiness enterprises. Afpsomphone family nearly six months after the disappearance of prominent lao activist sombath somphone, police have reported little progress. For the past 4 years, family and friends of sombath somphone have called the lao government and world leaders to bring forth sombath s whereabouts. Lao civil society archives page 5 of 9 sombath somphone. Despite having close circuit television footage documenting his abduction, the laotian government has denied any knowledge of sombath somphones whereabouts. Sombath somphone, 60, a community worker and green activist from laos, is the 2005 ramon magsaysay awardee for community leadership. With laos disappearance, signs of a liberalization in backslide nyt, january 10, 20 thanks to tom for pointing this out.
Oct 21, 2016 sombath somphone started what is widely recognised as the first civil society organisation in laos when he registered the participatory development training centre padetc as a private, nonprofit school with the ministry of education in 1996. Sample letter for sombath somphone american friends service. The laos government has led investigation efforts and continues to claim no wrongdoing. The castan centre of human rights law and friends of international humanitarian law of the red cross present. Sombath somphone is a lao community development worker. Sombath somphone, 64, is a wellrespected member of lao civil society. Guardian australiaguardian australia mon 10 mar 2014 01.
Mar 23, 2014 closedcircuit television footage shows 61yearold sombath somphone being stopped by police, then entering a police station. Substantially supported through development aid, statebuilding is quickly. Sombath somphone, a development economist and educator from laos, was last seen on december 15, 2012. As the fourth anniversary of sombath s disappearance. The case of sombath somphone sims, kearrin 20 the case of sombath somphone. Aug 30, 2016 on december 15, 2012, sombath somphone, a wellknown and highly respected leader in sustainable development, was last seen stopped by police in vientiane. Sombath somphone is an internationally acclaimed community development worker and prominent member of lao civil society. It has been nearly 11 months since laos most famous advocate of the rights of the poor, sombath somphone, vanished, leaving a string of troubling questions and suspicions of a highlevel coverup. Sombath somphones shadow continues to hang over laos, with the rural development experts disappearance in 2012 still haunting the country as it prepares to host the annual meeting of the association of southeast asian nations. Sombath somphone was born into a poor farming family, the eldest of eight brothers and sisters. Somphone beasley, samcare express family medicine doctor. I raised sombaths disappearance with laoss then foreign minister, now prime minister, dr thongloun sisoulith, when we opened the new lao embassy in london in november 2014.
A former unicef consultant in cambodia, he has dedicated his life to sustainable development and poverty reduction, encouraging the lao government to deliver the benefits of development to the countrys population as a whole. In the early1970s he received a scholarship to study at the university of hawaii where he received a bachelors degree in education 1974 and a masters degree in agriculture 1978. Laos traces its history to the kingdom of lan xang million elephants, which was founded in the 14th century by a lao prince, fa ngum. In march, a former military general heading a nonprofit organization widely believed to be a government proxy made a failed attempt to have sombath somphone s name removed from the agenda of the asean peoples forum event. Sombath grew up experiencing poverty, hunger and insecurity first hand. Until recently, most communities, particularly in rural areas, were largely self sustaining and locallygoverned. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read remembering tiananmen. Participatory development training centre padetc was founded by sombath somphone, the eldest son of a poor farming family from ban don khio, khammouane province, lao pdr. He attended high school in the us state of wisconsin. A month after his mysterious disappearance, his friends and supporters from around the world are asking the lao government to intensify the search for sombath. To mark the second anniversary of sombaths disappearance, fco minister for south east asia, hugo swire, tweeted. Sombath somphone, laotian activist disappeared in 2012, with desomond tutu prachatai. The adult 94 the national university of laos is the laos states public university. Mar 11, 2014 sombath somphone, a laotian development worker, was last seen on 15 december, 2012, being bundled into a car at a police checkpoint in vientiane.
As members of the religious society of friends, commonly known as quakers, we are proud to be associated with the work of quaker service laos, which contributed to the development of laos from 1974 to 2006. Later, i remembered that my mother took me to uncle sombaths house and. Sombath somphone was last seen at a police checkpoint on a busy street in vientiane on the evening of 15 december 2012. New york times on the disappearance of sombath somphone in. Of the people of laos 67% are theravada buddhist, 1. We will continue to highlight our interest in this particular case.
Feb 01, 20 updatereport on sombat somphone s disappearance. He is the founder of the participatory development training centre in laos, and has worked in agronomy, education and poverty alleviation for more than three decades. All structured data from the file and property namespaces is available under the creative commons cc0 license. Dec 20, 2012 in this august 31, 2005 file photo, sombath somphone of laos, winner of the ramon magsayay award for community leadership, poses with other award recipients in manila, philippines. The 9th asiaeurope peoples forum, held in vientiane from 16 to 19 october 2012, was the largest such event held in laos, drawing more than 1,000 people from the region and from europe. Wikimedia commons advertisement today marks the third year anniversary of the enforced disappearance of sombath somphone, an. Family, day job, and other priorities trapped me and kept me too busy and with no writing for next few years.
The disappearance of sombath somphone remains one of the most enduring and heartbreaking mysteries of modern laos as the abduction of the worldrecognized rural development activist at a police. Mar 10, 2014 somphone was last seen on 15 december, 2012, being bundled into a car at a vientiane police checkpoint. The mystery of sombath somphone still resonates in laos. A month after his mysterious disappearance, his friends and supporters from around the world are asking the lao government to intensify the search for sombath sombath somphone was last seen in vientiane on the evening of saturday 15th december when he was driving home in his jeep. Extract this october marks the 4th anniversary of the founding of the asean intergovernmental commission of human rights aichr. Shades of southeast asia among hong kongs missing book sellers. Sombaths disappearance was raised at the annual eulaos human rights dialogue in october. Missing sombath a test for asean asian studies association. Since aichr was formed asean has had a mixed track record with. I was around 4yearsold and running around in front of my grandmothers house in thakhek, khammuane province. I spotted a woman smiling at me and said to me that i had beautiful eyes. Media in category sombath somphone the following 2 files are in this category, out of 2 total. Sombath somphone from outside a police post on saturday, 15 december 2012. Central to the story is the disappearance of sombath somphone on dec.
Sombath somphone, a laotian development worker, was last seen on 15 december, 2012, being bundled into a car at a police checkpoint in vientiane. The disappearance of sombath somphone remains one of the most enduring and heartbreaking mysteries of modern laos as the abduction of the worldrecognized rural. Wife remembers sombath somphone, 15 months after he was. As his story has been told over the past few years, is there anything about sombath that in your. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read. Paradoxically for the lao government, it is a network of cameras that the municipal police installed over the past three years to monitor antisocial behavior that have pointed to signs of the governments involvement in mr. The government of laos should immediately disclose the fate or whereabouts of the prominent civil society leader sombath somphone, who was forcibly disappeared in the capital, vientiane, in. The event marked the 120 th day of his disappearance and protested the seeming inaction of the laos government. Apr 30, 20 sombath somphones early life took place amidst uncertainty and turbulence as laos was swept into the indochina war. Sombath somphone, respected teacher and development worker disappeared on december 15, 2012 in vientiane. As the founder, tell us more about the history of how saoban crafts started. I talked recently with ng shui meng, the wife of sombath somphone, a laotian man and close associate of afsc who ran civil society programs in laos until he disappeared in december, 2012. Somphone was last seen on 15 december, 2012, being bundled into a car at a vientiane police checkpoint.
Since aichr was formed asean has had a mixed track record with human rights. He eventually escaped this by winning a scholarship to the university of hawaii, where he earned degrees in education and agriculture. Dec 15, 2015 sombath somphone, pictured here with desmond tutu. The disappearance of sombath somphone remains one of the most enduring and heartbreaking mysteries of modern laos as the abduction of the worldrecognized rural development activist at a police checkpoint four years ago remains unsolved. Sombath somphone sombath somphone is a community development worker, activist, community development, and community developmentworker. A recipient of the ramon magsaysay award for community leadership one of the most prestigious awards for human development in asia, and the founder of the participatory development training centre padetc in laos, sombath somphone. Although there have been some impressive political reforms across the region, particularly in burma, some states appear to have grown increasingly confident in their ability to. Bangkok at a recent reception in vientiane, a western diplomat approached a senior laotian government official with a query about sombath somphone, a respected civil society leader who was grabbed off the streets of the capital on a december evening and has not been seen since. After i was expelled, and especially after civil society activist sombath somphone was abducted in 2012, it became urgent for me to share my experience in laos, to tell about the repression and suppression of dissent. Human rights defender sombath somphone in laos case study. This page was last edited on 12 october 2019, at 15.
Human rights defender sombath somphone in laos case. The first and most immediate challenge is to locate sombath somphone. Sombath somphones early life took place amidst uncertainty and turbulence as laos was swept into the indochina war. Closedcircuit television footage shows 61yearold sombath somphone being stopped by police, then entering a police station. A 2005 photo of sombath somphone in the philippines. The night of december 15, 2012 became a horrid silence that continues until today. Afp somphone family nearly six months after the disappearance of prominent lao activist sombath somphone, police have reported little progress. Sombath somphone abc news australian broadcasting corporation. Bangkok the government of laos should immediately disclose the fate or whereabouts of the prominent civil society leader sombath somphone, who was forcibly disappeared in the capital. Seven years on, the enforced disappearance of sombath. Caught on camera the enforced disappearance of sombath somphone asa 2600220 8 june 20 in june 2012, eight villagers were arrested for petitioning the authorities over a land dispute with a.
The political cartoons of rebel pepper ebook written by radio free asia. May 07, 2014 i talked recently with ng shui meng, the wife of sombath somphone, a laotian man and close associate of afsc who ran civil society programs in laos until he disappeared in december, 2012. The grainy vision also reveals his jeep being driven away by a man who pulled up on a motorbike, and sombath getting into a big white truck with flashing lights. We are writing to you concerning the forced disappearance of mr. Sombath somphone, a 2005 magsaysay award winner for community and youth development in laos, was enforcedly disappeared on 15 december 2012, more than a year ago. Its been going for a very long time of course because there is no critical discussion publicly about policy, about governance, about how the affairs of the state and society is conducted.
The disappearance of sombath somphone remains one of the most enduring and. Almost five years later, he has yet to return home to his family. A book on silent repression in laos, five years after activist. Jul 09, 2016 a 2005 photo of sombath somphone in the philippines. Briefing paper prepared by the sombath initiative historically, the lao pdr is a country of remarkable ethnic, linguistic and geographic diversity. Sombath somphone, a prominent civil society member who was abducted outside a police post in the capital, vientiane, in december 2012, remained disappeared with no progress in his case. Somphone beasley is a practicing family medicine doctor in corvallis, or. Mar 12, 2015 human rights defender sombath somphone in laos. Wikimedia commons advertisement today marks the third year anniversary of the. It has been 4 years since the last time his family heard from him. There was no progress in the 2012 abduction of sombath somphone, a prominent civil society leader and retired founder of a nonprofit training center, by persons in plainclothes after what appeared to be an orchestrated stop of his vehicle by traffic. More than a year after vanishing, the mystery of missing laotian development worker highlights southeast asias cruel record of forced disappearances. Still no progress on seventh anniversary of sombath somphones. Sombath somphone may have attracted hostile attention from the authorities for his work on an independent civil society event.
All this suddenly changed, however, following the enforced disappearance of mr. Files are available under licenses specified on their description page. Sombath somphones shadow continues to hang over laos, with the rural development experts disappearance in 2012 still haunting the country as it prepares to host the. In this august 31, 2005 file photo, sombath somphone of laos, winner of the ramon magsayay award for community leadership, poses with other award recipients in manila, philippines. Somphone is the former director of the participatory development training centre, a nongovernmental organization he founded in 1996 to promote education, training and sustainable development. Finally, my first book was published in november 2014.
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