Sombath Somphone

Sombath Somphone ( Lao: ສົມ ບັດ ສົມ ພອນ, pronunciation: [ sǒmbǎt sǒmp ʰ ɔ ː n]) ( born February 17, 1952 in the province of Khammuan in the Kingdom of Laos) is a qualified farmer and civil rights activist.

Life

Somphone was born the eldest of eight siblings of a poor peasant family. He received part of his education at a high school in Wisconsin in the United States. In the early 1970s he received a scholarship to study at the University of Hawaii. There he put 1974 Bachelor degree in Education from 1978 and graduated with a master degree in agriculture from.

After the founding of the Democratic People's Republic of Laos in 1975 Sombath returned to his home and taught the methods of sustainable agriculture, so that the country could achieve a safe food supply. Other things were to assess the local rural ways of working on a communal basis. The Lao government gave him 1996, the authorization for the establishment of the Participatory Development Training Center ( PADETC ), young people and government employees from lower management level with the principles of the development of community-based projects will become familiar in the. The center was the only non-governmental organization with this objective in Laos for a long time.

Sombath with Shui - Meng Ng, who is from Singapore, married.

Abduction

On the evening of December 15, 2012 Sombath was kidnapped in the country's capital, Vientiane. A video surveillance system noted that he was stopped by police and was then continued with a pickup. The Government does not accept any responsibility for the incident and can not give any information about the whereabouts of the civil rights leader. Protests against the kidnapping brought the European Union, the German Embassy in Vientiane, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights ( UNHCHR) and many others. The U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Amnesty International pressed for a clear investigation into the incident and a quick and safe return Sombaths in the circle of his family. A delegation of the European Parliament asked in August 2013 in Laos again according to the progress of the investigation. The MEP Søren Bo Søndergaard was found then extremely concerned about the lack of willingness to enlightenment by the Lao government and announced to continue to bring the case to the language until it is dissolved.

The end of 2013, the Commissioner of the UN Human Rights Council turned the anniversary of the abduction Sombaths to the Lao authorities with the renewed demand for rapid elucidation, including with regard to the target for 2015 membership of the country in the UN Human Rights Council.

Prizes and awards

• 2001: Human Resource Development Award from the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific of the United Nations.
• 2005: Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community - Leadership (CL).