Founder of PADETC missing after detention by police
Wednesday 19th December 2012
tve is joining international calls for the safe return of Sombath Somphone, founder of the Laos-based NGO, PADETC. On Tuesday 18th December we received news from colleagues based in South East Asia that Mr Somphone, a longstanding partner and associate, had disappeared after allegedly being detained by police in the Laotian capital Vientiane.
Mr Somphone was last seen by his colleagues on 15 December at 5 pm, as he was leaving his office to go home. He did not reach home and his family has had no news about him since then.
On the 18th December, 61 Thai Civil Society groups sent an emergency letter to top officials in the Lao PDR to request an emergency investigation into his disappearance.
US officials have also raised the matter with the Laos authorities. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the US is urging the Lao government to make every effort to locate the activist.
Mr. Somphone is well-known nationally and internationally. In 2005, he received the prestigious international Ramon Magsaysay Award, often referred to as Asia's Nobel Prize, for Community Leadership. He is highly respected in the field of community education and development through his work as founder and former Director of PADETC Participatory Development Training Centre.
There is growing international coverage of his disappearance with articles appearing in the Economist, Bangkok Post, and as well as AP, The Seattle Times, Washington Post, and The Guardian.
Avaaz has launched a community petition in support of Sombath
Notes:
The Thai Civil Society joint letter was directed to the Lao PDR's Prime Minister's Office, President of The National Assembly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Interior, Minister of Public National Security, Governor of Vientiane Prefecture; and copied to Secretary General of ASEAN Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, as well as Vientiane-based Embassies/consulates of Australia, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Thailand and USA; and reads:
We, civil society organizationsin Thailand, urge concerned Lao authorities to take every urgent action with regard to Mr. Somphone's disappearance. We look forward to hearing that all immediate and necessary efforts are made to search his whereabouts and investigate the cause of his disappearance.
Above all and last, we hope that Mr. Sombath remains safe and will re-appear to resume his unfinished mission. For this will be encouraging to not only those sharing a similar mission, but, those committed to the course of making this world a better place for us all
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Founder of PADETC missing after detention by police 
