On the fourth anniversary of the enforced disappearance of prominent Lao civil society leader Sombath Somphone, Civil Rights Defenders and 131 undersigned organisations in a statement have urged the authorities to immediately act in conducting an effective investigation with a view to determining his fate or whereabouts.
On the eve of the annual ASEAN leaders summit in Vientiane, human rights and advocacy groups called upon the Lao PDR Government to commit to address its widespread violations of human rights, including instances of enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention, and overall denial of basic civil and political rights. Visiting world leaders have a unique opportunity to publicly raise human rights concerns during the ASEAN summit in Vientiane from September 6-8.
The 11th of September 2015 marks 1000 days since prominent Lao civil society leader, Sombath Somphone, “disappeared” at a police checkpoint on a busy street in Vientiane. Civil Rights Defenders joins 10 regional and international organisations in reiterating our call for the Lao government to intensify its efforts to conduct a investigation into Sombath’s apparent enforced disappearance. The full statement can be read here.
Ahead of Laos’ second Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the UN Human Rights Council on 20 January 2015, 145 organisations worldwide including Civil Rights Defenders have called on UN members to make the enforced disappearance of prominent civil society leader Sombath Somphone a central issue at the UPR.
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