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Writer's pictureManushya Foundation
Dec 14, 2022

#WhereIsSombath: 10 long years since Sombath Somphone’s enforced disappearance




#WhereIsSombath ⚖️ Today marks a full decade, 10 long years since Sombath Somphone’s enforced disappearance, and there is still no justice in sight from the Lao government.


📍 Sombath is a prominent member of Lao civil society: his work aimed at setting up a community-based development by incorporating the knowledge and opinion of rural people in the planning and management of development projects and programmes.


🚨 On 15 December 2012, Sombath was abducted from a police checkpoint in Vientiane, Laos. CCTV footage captured Sombath being stopped by the police before being taken away in a pick-up truck. Since then, the fate and whereabouts of Sombath remain unknown.


🇱🇦 The Lao authorities have completely failed to investigate Sombath’s case and to reveal the truth about it, and show a total lack of commitment to address the situation.


✍️ 10 years later, we have not forgotten Sombath. Manushya Foundation along with 64 other civil society organizations worldwide endorse the FIDH’s statement of 13 December 2022 asking the Lao government for justice and accountability. Check out our joint statement: https://www.manushyafoundation.org/post/laos-after-10-years-civil-society-worldwide-is-still-asking-where-is-sombath


📣 We urge the Lao government to thoroughly, independently and impartially investigate the case so it can answer our simple question : WHERE IS SOMBATH?


✊ Manushya stands in complete solidarity with Sombath Somphone and his family and friends. We will not stop until the Lao government breaks its silence and reveals the truth about Sombath’s enforced disappearance!


#WeAreManushyan ♾ Equal Human Beings

Learn more about Sombath and our efforts to urge the Lao government to undisclose its findings to the public about it 🔗


While you are here…


➡️ Find out more about Manushya Foundation’s our efforts to call on the government of Laos to reveal the truth about Sombath:

  • Joint statement: Laos - After eight years, civil society worldwide demands the government establish and reveal Sombath’s fate and whereabouts, 15 December 2020

  • Where Is Sombath? We Want The Truth!, 15 December 2020

  • Joint statement: Laos : Nine years on, civil society worldwide still demands answers on Sombath’s enforced disappearance, 16 December 2021

➡️ Find out more about Manushya Foundation’s previous work on Laos:

  • News release: Laos must undertake transparent and independent investigation to ensure effective remedies for the victims of the am collapse – and Thailand should also bear responsibility, 20 August 2018;

  • Statement of the Thai Business & Human Rights Network on the Lao Dam Collapse, 20 August 2018;

  • Manushya Foundation's Submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights on the situation in Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), March 2019;

  • Joint Submission with the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP) to the UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) for Lao PDR Third UPR Cycle, 21 July 2019;

  • Joint Statement: One year after Xe Pian-Xe Namnoy dam collapse, civil society from Korea and the Mekong call for immediate accountability and redress, 23 July 2019;

  • Manushya’s Foundation UPR Factsheet to inform Lao PDR’s Third UPR: Overview of the Human Rights Situation in Lao PDR - Legal Framework, Challenges, Case Studies & Community-led UPR Recommendations, January 2020;

  • News release: Nam Theun 1 Dam: Responsible Govts & Companies Must Ensure Safety of Communities living nearby!, 22 August 2022.


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