{"id":44677,"date":"2020-08-30T10:43:48","date_gmt":"2020-08-30T10:43:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/queme.org\/?p=44677"},"modified":"2020-08-30T10:43:51","modified_gmt":"2020-08-30T10:43:51","slug":"cambodia-laos-thailand-vietnam-address-enforced-disappearances-deliver-justice-for-the-victims-and-their-families","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/cambodia-laos-thailand-vietnam-address-enforced-disappearances-deliver-justice-for-the-victims-and-their-families\/","title":{"rendered":"Cambodia\/Laos\/Thailand\/Vietnam: Address enforced disappearances, deliver justice for the victims and their families"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BANGKOK, PARIS, PHNOM PENH, 30 August 2020 (FIDH, VCHR, ADHOC, LICADHO, iLaw, LMHR, Manushya Foundation, TLHR, UCL):\u00a0 On the occasion of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances<\/strong>, our organizations call on the governments of Cambodia<\/strong>, Laos<\/strong>, Thailand<\/strong>, and Vietnam<\/strong> to adequately investigate all cases of enforced disappearances in their respective countries, determine the fate or whereabouts of the victims, and ensure the victims\u2019 families have effective access to justice and receive adequate reparations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are extremely disturbed by the dismal\nfailure of the authorities in each of these four countries to adequately and\neffectively investigate cases of enforced disappearances, particularly those\ninvolving human rights defenders, activists, and government critics. In many cases,\nauthorities professed ignorance of the disappearances, ignored appeals made by\nthe victims\u2019 families, or refused to provide information to international human\nrights mechanisms. This inaction by government authorities has reinforced the\nperception that recent cases of enforced disappearances in Cambodia, Laos,\nThailand, and Vietnam have occurred in a context of increasing efforts by these\ngovernments to pursue dissidents and critics beyond their national borders in\norder to punish them because of their peaceful and legitimate exercise of their\nrights, including the right to freedom of opinion and expression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest case of enforced disappearance of\nan activist in one of the four countries was that of Thai activist Wanchalearm Satsaksit<\/strong>, who was last\nseen on the afternoon of 4 June 2020 in Phnom Penh. According to eyewitness\ntestimonies, Wanchalearm was kidnapped in front of his condominium in Phnom\nPenh by a group of unidentified men dressed in black. Wanchalearm was taken\naway in a dark blue\/black SUV. Wanchalearm was an outspoken critic of the\nmilitary junta that ruled Thailand between 2014 and 2019 and was also reported\nto be on a list of individuals accused of violating Article 112 of the Thai\nCriminal Code (l\u00e8se-majest\u00e9), for whom the Thai police had issued arrest\nwarrants. He had fled Thailand after the May 2014 military coup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another case of disappearance that has\nremained unaddressed in Cambodia is that of Khem Sophath<\/strong>, a 15-year-old boy who was last seen near an\nindustrial zone on Phnom Penh\u2019s Veng Sreng Road on 3 January 2014, during the violent\ndispersal by government security forces of a demonstration of garment factory workers.\nAt least four workers were fatally shot by security forces and at least 39 were\nwounded in the crackdown. According to eyewitnesses, Khem Sophath was shot in\nthe chest by security forces but his fate or whereabouts have remained unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The disappearance of Wanchalearm Satsaksit\noccurred in the context of ongoing efforts by Thai authorities to pursue\ndissidents who fled to neighboring countries following the 2014 military coup. Since\n2016, at least eight other Thai dissidents who fled to Thailand\u2019s neighboring\ncountries are known to have disappeared under suspicious circumstances. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Five Thai political activists who fled to\nLaos after the May 2014 coup in Thailand are either dead or missing. Ittiphon Sukpaen<\/strong> and Wuthipong Kachathamakul<\/strong> disappeared on 22\nJune 2016 and 29 July 2017 respectively. Surachai\nDanwattananusorn<\/strong>, Chatchan Buphawan<\/strong>,\nand Kraidej Luelert<\/strong> were last seen\nin Vientiane on 12 December 2018. The bodies of Chatchan and Kraidej were found\nby the Mekong River in Thailand\u2019s Nakhon Phanom Province in late December 2018.\nThe fate or whereabouts of the other three activists remain unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Laos, the fate or whereabouts of at\nleast 11 other individuals remain unknown. They include: civil society leader Sombath Somphone<\/strong>, who was last seen on\nthe evening of 15 December 2012 in Vientiane; seven persons (two women – Kingkeo Phongsely<\/strong> and Somchit<\/strong> and seven men – Soubinh<\/strong>, Souane<\/strong>, Sinpasong<\/strong>, Khamsone<\/strong>, Nou<\/strong>, Somkhit<\/strong>, and Sourigna<\/strong>), who were detained by\nsecurity forces in November 2009; and Somphone\nKhantisouk<\/strong>, the owner of an eco-tourism business, who was abducted in Luang\nNamtha Province on 23 January 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three other Thai activists, Siam Theerawut<\/strong>, Chucheep Chivasut<\/strong>, and Kritsana\nThapthai<\/strong>, who also fled Thailand after the May 2014 coup, sought refuge in\nLaos, before moving to Vietnam after their fellow Thai activists in Laos were found\ndead. According to a Thai organization in exile in the US, in early 2019,\nVietnamese authorities arrested the three for illegal entry and use of fake\ntravel documents and, on 8 May 2019, handed them over to Thai authorities. To\ndate, the fate or whereabouts of all three activists remain unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Thailand, the most recent disappearance of\nan activist was that of Od Sayavong<\/strong>,\nwho was last seen in Bangkok on 26 August 2019. Od, a political activist from\nLaos, had been awaiting resettlement to a third country since the United\nNations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Bangkok had registered him as\na person of concern in December 2017. Od was an outspoken critic of the Lao\ngovernment and a member of \u201cFree Lao\u201d, an informal group of Lao migrant workers\nand activists based in Bangkok and neighboring provinces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Truong
Truong Duy Nhat<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Prior to Od\u2019s disappearance, on 26 January\n2019, Truong Duy Nhat<\/strong>, a Vietnamese\npolitical activist, went missing in Thailand, where he had fled to from Vietnam\nto seek political asylum. It is suspected that Nhat was abducted by unknown\nindividuals in Bangkok before being taken back to Vietnam against his will. In\nMarch 2019, he was revealed to be detained in a jail in Hanoi. In March 2020,\nNhat was sentenced to 10 years in prison at the end of a trial that fell far\nshort of international standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enforced disappearances violate numerous\nrights, including the right to liberty and security of the person, and\nconstitute a grave threat to the right to life. These rights are guaranteed by\nthe International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The ongoing\nfailure by these governments to adequately investigate all cases of enforced\ndisappearances is in breach of their obligation to fulfill the right to an\neffective remedy, which is guaranteed by Article 2 (3) of the ICCPR. Cambodia,\nLaos, Thailand, and Vietnam are all state parties to the ICCPR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also urge the governments of Laos,\nThailand, and Vietnam to ratify the International Convention for the Protection\nof All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED), incorporate its provision\ninto their domestic legislation, and implement them. To date, Laos and Thailand\nhave signed the ICPPED in September 2008 and January 2012 respectively, but\nhave not yet ratified it. Vietnam has neither signed nor ratified the treaty.\nCambodia became a state party to the ICPPED in June 2013.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our organizations will continue to work to ensure that enforced disappearances no longer occur and that all the victims of enforced disappearances can safely return to their families. We will also continue to provide assistance to the victims\u2019 families in their quest for truth, justice, and accountability for this heinous crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Joint statement by:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

FIDH\n\u2013 International Federation for Human Rights
\n<\/strong>and its\nmember organizations
\n<\/em>Cambodia\nHuman Rights and Development Association (ADHOC)
\nCambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO)
\nInternet Law Reform Dialogue (iLaw)
\nLao Movement for Human Rights (LMHR)
\nManushya Foundation
\nThai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR)
\nUnion for Civil Liberty (UCL)
\nVietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BANGKOK, PARIS, PHNOM PENH, 30 August 2020 (FIDH, VCHR, ADHOC, LICADHO, iLaw, LMHR, Manushya Foundation, TLHR, UCL):\u00a0 On the occasion of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, our organizations call on the governments of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam to adequately investigate all cases of enforced disappearances in their respective countries, determine …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":434,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[137,113,98,64],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","","category-latest-posts","category-news","category-press-release","category-vchr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/434"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44677\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}