Authorities look the other way as activists disappear in Asia

[Lite Beer]

Authorities look the other way as activists disappear in Asia

BANGKOK: -- The wife of missing Laotian activist Sombath Somphone says his abductors still enjoy impunity two years after his disappearance - an ugly reality across a region where powerful business interests and murky state actors stand accused of routinely "disappearing" opponents.

Sombath disappeared from the streets of the capital of Laos, Vientiane, after he was pulled over at a police checkpoint.

The disappearances continue in the region: from a Cambodian teenager last seen covered in blood during a labour protest, to an ethnic minority activist who vanished in Thailand after confronting national park officials.

The case of Sombath - an award-winning champion of sustainable development but one who avoided direct confrontation - horrified civil society in Laos, a one-party communist state slowly emerging from decades of isolation.

His disappearance on December 15, 2012 stood out partly because the evidence pointing to abduction was so compelling - and also because a stream of international figures called for his safe return including Hillary Clinton, John Kerry and Desmond Tutu.

"The crime of disappearance is particularly cruel," Sombath's wife Ng Shui-Meng, a soft-spoken Singaporean who lived in Laos with him, told AFP in Bangkok. "It’s very difficult to live with the unknown."

There are no hard numbers. But dozens - and likely hundreds - of people have vanished across Southeast Asia in the past two decades, often after coming up against local business, criminal or political interests.

In Thailand, there are at least 81 open cases of enforced disappearance dating back as far the mid-1990s, according to Angkhana Neelapaijit from the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances.

Few cases make headlines

Others have been killed, apparently silenced in retribution for their work to raise community grievances including two activists shot dead last week in Thailand.

In the Philippines, relatives of 58 people killed five years ago in the country's worst political massacre are still waiting for justice. No one has been convicted and witnesses have been murdered.

Angkhana's husband Somchai, a human rights lawyer, was last seen being taken into custody by police in Bangkok in March 2004. His fate remains unknown.

"There are many others in the Asia region who have disappeared but their mishaps were never mentioned or received any attention," she said this week at a news conference in Bangkok.

One case that has largely flown under the international radar is that of Por Cha Lee Rakcharoen, a Karen rights activist also known as Billy, who was apprehended by national park officials in Thailand on April 17, ostensibly for illegal honey gathering.

He was en route to meet fellow ethnic minority Karen villagers to help them file a lawsuit accusing authorities of torching the homes of 20 families in Kaeng Krachan National Park in 2011.

The local park chief says he was the last person to see Billy alive, but a police probe has yet to declare a suspect.

In Cambodia, 16-year-old Khem Sophath has been missing since January 2014, when security forces opened fire on striking garment workers near an industrial park in southwest Phnom Penh, killing four.

Rights groups say Khem, a factory worker, was last seen by friends lying on the ground, conscious, but with blood streaming from what they believed to be a gunshot wound to his chest.

"Wholly inadequate" investigation

Diplomats and rights groups in Laos told AFP that the last time the authorities gave an update on their investigation into Sombath's disappearance was June 2013.

CCTV cameras in Vientiane captured the moment his battered jeep stopped at the police checkpoint.

But Sam Zarifi, from the International Commission of Jurists, describes the investigation from the Laotian authorities as "wholly inadequate".

The official apathy has had a chilling effect on activist groups and civil society, rights groups say. Many now steer clear of controversial subjects such as land seizures and environmental damage caused by companies, local officials or powerful individuals.

Phil Robertson from Human Rights Watch said the "silence" from the Laotian government was a tactic "favoured by an increasing number of governments in the region". They are using disappearances "to instil fear in communities wanting to raise grievances against the authorities," he said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Authorities-look-the-other-way-as-activists-disapp-30249787.html

-- The Nation 2014-12-14

[chainarong]

Whilst you stand a law unto yourself and can basically do what you want without any real pressure from the RTP, lawlessness will continue, until public opinion call for something to be done and better policing methods are adopted, the status Quo will remain.

[englishoak]

And many more people come to Asia to do exactly that, disappear.

[ezzra]

They disappear because no one has created an in-active posts for them yet...

[H1w4yR1da]

Authorities look the other way as activists disappear in Asia

No shit Sherlock!

It's usually the 'authorities who are making them disappear.

What're they going to do? Arrest themselves?

Silly story

[CTO]

Good friends of mine, Sombat is a great man, doing Many good things in Laos, avoiding conflict. Very sad.

[Krataiboy]

Authorities look the other way as activists disappear in Asia

No shit Sherlock!

It's usually the 'authorities who are making them disappear.

What're they going to do? Arrest themselves?

Silly story

No, what is silly is your comment. The press, particularly under the present administration, needs to be encouraged to do its job, not sneered at. Activists, who put their lives and livelihoods on the line in the public interest deserve our support and protection from the kind of thuggery exposed in this excellent article. More power to the media watchdogs.

[H1w4yR1da]

Authorities look the other way as activists disappear in Asia

No shit Sherlock!

It's usually the 'authorities who are making them disappear.

What're they going to do? Arrest themselves?

Silly story

No, what is silly is your comment. The press, particularly under the present administration, needs to be encouraged to do its job, not sneered at. Activists, who put their lives and livelihoods on the line in the public interest deserve our support and protection from the kind of thuggery exposed in this excellent article. More power to the media watchdogs.

You really need to work on your reading comprehension. I'm no sure how long youve lived here but there is a reason there is NO investigative journalism. Now if the headline had read something like "Activists Face Threats From Forestry officials" or something a bit more honest, then it wouldn't be sneered at.

The press here are a joke.

[SOTIRIOS]

........human rights.............

[Nowisee]

Authorities look the other way as activists disappear in Asia

No shit Sherlock!

It's usually the 'authorities who are making them disappear.

What're they going to do? Arrest themselves?

Silly story

when the 'authorities' start disappearing, then the game is fair

[ggt]

The quickest way to attain Nirvana...is to become an activist in SE Asia...