Laos is facing mounting international pressure over the disappearance of
civil rights worker Sombath Somphone last December.
Some have called for the
Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to intervene, with high level
diplomatic efforts underway by the United States and Australia.
Australian Foreign Minister Bob
Carr raised the issue with his Laotian counterpart and Laos Prime Minister
Thongsing Thammavong during a visit this week, telling them that Sombath had
many friends in Australia who admire his work who were very worried about his
disappearance.
Carr chose his words carefully,
saying he did not want to stress Sombath’s wife, Singaporean Ng Shui Meng, who
has campaigned for her husband’s release. He said he had gained assurances from
the Laos leader that the relevant departments would continue to pursue the
issue and added that Australia would also continue to take an active interest
in the case.
Carr was speaking to reporters in
Bangkok after his visit, following an appeal by Daniel Baer, Deputy Assistant
Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, to Laos for more
information on the missing 62-year-old, who campaigned tirelessly for
sustainable development.
Laos maintains that Sombath may
have been the victim of a personal dispute and say they have no knowledge of
his whereabouts. Observers remain skeptical, given that he was last seen in
police custody. Further, there is CCTV footage that shows him being taken from
a police post by two unknown people after he was pulled over while driving home
from work.
“It’s been incredibly frustrating
to not have more visibility into the progress of the investigation,” Baer told
Agence France-Presse by telephone after talks with the Lao vice foreign
minister. “I was assured that they are investigating — that’s what the vice
minister told me — but I made sure that he understood that not having more
information is not helpful.”
New York-based Human Rights Watch
has also urged ASEAN to intervene, which is unlikely given ASEAN members’
insistence that they do not interfere in the internal affairs of neighboring
countries.
“The Lao government’s long
silence about Sombath Somphone’s whereabouts increase our concerns for his
safety,” said Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch.
“The authorities seem more
focused on deflecting international criticism than genuinely investigating
Sombath’s disappearance,” Adams added in a letter to the ASEAN human rights
commission.
Adams is right. Laos is on a
borrowing binge, with billions of dollars being invested in the country by Chinese,
Thai and Malaysian investors for the construction of roads, dams and power
stations. The government hopes these infrastructure projects will lift the dirt
poor communist country out of poverty.
However, the poor human rights
record, fanatical grip on freedom of the press and entrenched corruption of the
one-party state are images the country has long struggled to dispel. The
disappearance of Sombath only adds to the negative perceptions.
Sombath’s disappearance came
barely a month after ASEAN signed off on its human rights declaration, after
years of debate. While ASEAN leaders described the declaration as a landmark
moment, critics said it was insufficient and actually gives countries the right
to ignore human rights rather than protecting them. The ongoing situation in
Laos unfortunately seems to support this view.
Luke Hunt
Business & Investment Opportunities
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