Ambassador of the People’s Democratic Republic of Laos to Cambodia,
Embassy of the People’s Democratic Republic of Laos in Cambodia,
15-17 Mao Tse Tung Blvd.
Khan Chamcar Mon,
Phnom Penh,
Cambodia
15 January 2013
Open Letter to His Excellency Ambassador of the People’s Democratic
Republic of Laos to Cambodia Regarding the Disappearance of Human Rights
Defender Sombath Somphone
Your
Excellency,
The
Cambodian Center for Human Rights ("CCHR") would like to express its deep
concern regarding the disappearance of prominent human rights defender Sombath
Somphone, in Vientiane, on 15 December 2012. Sombath Somphone is well known for
his work educating and training youths to promote sustainable development in
Laos. He is the founder of the Participatory Development Training Center and
was awarded the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership in
2005.
Sombath
Somphone was last seen by his wife, Ng Shui Meng, as they drove separately
from his office at around 5pm on the evening of 15 December 2012.
Sombath Somphone did not return home as planned and so on the morning of December 16, Ng Shui Meng reported him
missing to the authorities. Closed-circuit camera footage obtained by his
family in the days after his disappearance shows Sombath Somphone being stopped
by traffic police on Thadeua Road
in Vientiane just after 6pm. The camera footage appears to show Sombath
Somphone leaving his car and being accompanied by the police to the police
station before later being driven away in a large white vehicle.
While
United Nations (“UN”) human rights officials have expressed fear that Sombath
Somphone is a victim of enforced disappearance, the Laotian authorities have
categorically denied any involvement in his case. On 19 December 2012 state
authorities issued a statement saying that their investigation into the
incident had led them to the conclusion that Sombath
Somphone was likely kidnapped as the result of personal business and that they were
unable to comment further. This position was reiterated on 4 January
2013 by Laos representative to the UN in Geneva, Yong
Chanthalangsy.
Enforced disappearance is defined under Article 2 of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance as “the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which place such a person outside the protection of the law”. The Laos Government is a signatory of this Convention and is currently preparing for its ratification.
This case is also extremely significant in
light of the recent signing of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Human Rights Declaration (“AHRD”), in November 2012 by all ten member
states including Laos. Despite several shortfalls, the AHRD, referring directly
to the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights mechanisms, is
symbolic in the move towards improving the protection and promotion of human
rights throughout the region. This case serves to further undermine the AHRD
and highlight its flaws.
Sombath
Somphone has now been missing for one month and there is growing concern for
his welfare. This concern is accompanied by a widely held belief that Sombath Somphone
was targeted as a result of his community development work and that he is being
made an example of by the Laotian authorities who are attempting to prevent the
growth of civil society in the country. CCHR
therefore calls upon your Embassy, Mr. Ambassador, to do all in
its power in order to urge the Laotian authorities to establish an immediate, thorough,
impartial and credible investigation into the disappearance of Sombath Somphone
and to ensure that justice is delivered to the human rights defender and his
family.
Yours
Sincerely,
Ou
Virak
President
CCHR
Phnom
Penh, Cambodia
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