The black market nothing to do with supply and demand? Nor market distortion and manipulation? So what exactly do you deal with in a black market economy or distort and manipulate by a command economy if not supply and demand?
From the RC (Revolutionary Council) through BSPP to SLORC, SPDC to the current USDP govt., all different incarnations of the same outfit. Who are you kidding?
” At least the Bolsheviks were sincere and committed to start with whereas the “Burmese Way to Socialism” was a mere fa├зade for a military dictatorship.”
Ko Moe Aung
How did they all end?
Socialism, Communism, Militarism, Totalitarianism etc are all fancy words for DICTATORSHIP.
Myanmar with the unique characteristics of a citizenry with Buddhism as faith and a history like no others can only be compared with itself in every respects.
Granted the closest similarity is Thailand.
Then “a Colonial era lasting 1824/1885-1948” as long if not longer as “Konbaung era 1752-1824” make the comparison rather useless as best idiotic at the worst.
I would hazard a guess that the estimated cost is $1.7764 billion, not million, which would make it roughly half the estimated cost of the Xayaburi Dam upstream. The estimated environmental and social costs of $20 million, would therefore be approx 0.00001% of total costs, quite clearly a patently inadequate amount by any standards (if the figures are correct).
It is quite interesting how the ADB have changed their tune with regards to hydro-dams:
“When asked about the ADB’s reasoning for not supporting Mekong Dams, Craig Steffensen, ADB’s Country Director for Thailand wrote, “[the] ADB’s view is that the potentially negative impacts of mainstream hydropower are not well known, and may well outweigh the development benefits, especially when taking into account cumulative effects, and therefore deserve further study.””
To pretend after 50 or more years of well-documented dam building worldwide that the impacts of large dams are not well known, is disingenuous to say the least. As is the argument that hundreds of dams built on major Mekong tributaries will be less detrimental environmentally and socially than a handful of dams on the mainstream. In fact a recent study by Ziv, Baran, Nam, Rodriguez-Iterbe, and Levin (2012) titled “Trading-off fish biodiversity, food security and hydropower in the Mekong Basin” concluded the following:
“We find that the completion of 78 dams on tributaries, which have not previously
been subject to strategic analysis, would have catastrophic impacts on fish productivity and biodiversity. Our results argue for reassessment of several dams planned, and call for a new regional
agreement on tributary development of the Mekong River Basin.”
The paper is available from the Princeton University website:
ADB no doubt would be more interested in approving of mainstream dam construction, (as they were in the past) if they were in the running for financing them, as they are for a handful of dams in Laos that are turning out (predictably and predicted by opponents) to be basket cases in terms of under-mitigated and compensated environmental and social impacts.
Sounds like a very good arrangement. Thanks for this bread and butter kind of a post, Andrew.
What about farming cooperatives in relation to contract farming? There’s empowerment and vertical integration involved I guess. The other crucial factors are security of land tenure, the availability of credit, seed grain, and small scale mechanisation as mentioned.
I’d love to see Burmese farmers drive around in pickup trucks, use power tools, farm equipment and machinery, set up a spin off repair and maintenance workshops, bridge the urban rural divide and keep the younger generation in the countryside, not just limited to motorbikes, trailers hooked to cannibalised Kubota water pump engines, cell phones and DVD players. Time we put the plough and harrow drawn by oxen and bullock carts into museums, fairs and festivals. Shame the ‘newly democratic’ govt seems hell bent on industrial scale farming in partnership with foreign and domestic tycoons, and has been engaged in a highland clearance and enclosure style policy driving our farmers out of their land and homes. A very skewed export oriented economy and agriculture with reliance on food imports and foreign aid – what a bright future to look forward to!
plan B persists in doggedly tilting at windmills I’m afraid, and his faith in the ‘economic determinism’ working for the betterment of the Myanmar citizenry driven by external players consistently ignores not only popular struggle but the elephant in the room that’s going nowhere, bless.
So then the commissars and nomenclatura became part of a new ruling elite controlling the political and economic life of the nation, with empowerment of the workers (the soviets) and socialist democracy gone out the window. Lenin’s concept of the dictatorship of the proletariat and later Trotsky’s War Communism that the civil war and capitalist encirclement (blockade and invasion by foreign powers) necessitated apparently set them off a tangent.
The era of Ma Hsa La (BSPP) was uncanny in its resemblance to the degenerated soviet state. The one unforgettable line from the doctrine of Innya Myinnya (The System of Correlation of Man and His Environment, 17 Jan 1963), “morality is possible only on a full stomach“, characterised the times. At least the Bolsheviks were sincere and committed to start with whereas the “Burmese Way to Socialism” was a mere fa├зade for a military dictatorship.
“Sombath was interviewed in September 2008 in Vientiane for TVEAP’s Saving the Planet Asian regional TV series, and excerpts appeared in the Lao story (It’s Alive!) that featured PADETC’s efforts to transform Lao education.
By releasing the full interview online, TVEAP salutes the soft-spoken visionary who sought viable development alternatives where no one gets left behind.”
To clarify, the concept of ‘state capitalism’ did not originally mean perestroika-style market-reform under continued authoritarian rule. Rather, the concept originally comes to us from CLR James and Raya Dunayevskaya’s 1950 text State Capitalism and World Revolution, in which they break with Trotsky’s ‘qualified support’ for the USSR under Stalin as a ‘degenerated workers’ state’. Taking as a point of departure Marx’s claim that the dynamics of capitalist competition would eventually lead to the consolidation of all means of production under a single capitalist, James and Dunayevskaya argued that complete nationalisation and central planning under state control is not socialism but (state) capitalism. The state capitalist concept is commonly used to argue that socialism entails not nationalisation and central planning, but rather (federated) self-management (collective, non-hierarchical, directly democratic), in which there is no division between managers and workers. Insofar as such as division between managers (whether private capitalists or ‘socialist’ state bureaucrats) exists (as was the case in state-owned enterprises under the BSPP), there cannot be said to exist a socialist arrangement.
In that sense was China just emulating the BSPP strategy but confident enough to open up the economy, and Burma in turn the USSR in Perestroika first and Glasnost two decades later?
Maybe it would have been more appropriate to have written that some in the government know what happened to Sombath. I agree that not everyone knows, but I don’t imagine that anyone thought that everyone knew in the first place.
your persistent failure to answer a simple question (asked twice) proves that you’re a lousy debater. but i don’t blame you… debating isn’t exactly myanmar’s strongest skill.
The abduction in Laos of one of Asia’s most respected activists has sent a wave of fear through the aid-worker community, forcing some to flee the country.
Laotian national Sombat Somphone is still missing more than two weeks after apparently being detained at a police check point in the capital, Vientiane.
Video footage obtained by Ng Shui Meng, Sombat’s Singaporean wife, showed the abduction was a highly co-ordinated job. First traffic police stopped him, ostensibly to check his documents. Soon after, he was taken to a jeep with flashing lights and driven away.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ only response has been to speculate that “business conflicts” could be behind the disappearance. Colleagues have rejected this argument, pointing out he had no business interests or personal enemies.
At least one analyst has linked the disappearance to Sombat’s role in conducting a recent nationwide survey of attitudes towards governance.
Sombat, the quietly spoken founder of the non-profit Participatory Development Training Centre, was a pioneer of participatory development and supporting the enforcement of land rights for poor farmers. He was also featured in the BBC TV documentary about the environment and development in Laos.
He is a past winner of the Ramon Magsaysay Award, named after a former Philippine president, but is not considered a political dissident among his peers.
Sombat’s disappearance follows the sudden expulsion of the country director of Swiss non-governmental organisation Helvetas, Anne-Sophie Gindroz, in early December. She was ordered to leave after being accused of “taking up a position of anti-governmental propaganda”, Helvetas said.
Several Lao and foreign non-government organisation workers have left in fear during the past two weeks.
[The Sombat case] smacks of sending a very strong message to an increasingly restive nation,” a foreign observer said. “Taking the highest profile man in Laos is the best way of subduing people. It worked. Now everyone is terrified.”
Although Laos is still tightly controlled by the ruling communist party, last year will be remembered for this small poverty-stricken nation’s entry into the WTO and its hosting of its first major summit, the Asia-Europe Meeting, in November, which was seen as a coming-out party for Laos.
“Laos has been opening itself up economically. This has created an illusion of Laos being more liberal,” said Pavin Chachavalpongpun, as South East Asia specialist at Kyoto University.
“In reality, in terms of freedom of expression, there is no room for critics.”
Sombat had a prominent role in conducting a nationwide survey of public sentiment, ahead of an NGO summit that ran in parallel to the Asia-Europe meeting.
The survey, conducted in all 16 provinces with the co-operation of the UN Development Programme, was considered ground-breaking in Laos and was endorsed by some ministries and party cadres.
It concluded the Lao people wanted good governance from their leaders, and more consultation about development projects.
“The people have spoken. We encourage the government to make a substantive response, so that this becomes a true national dialogue on common development concerns and interests as Laos moves forward,” the survey said.
Dr Pavin suggested that Sombat’s disappearance may be linked to his pivotal role in the survey.
“The only message to civil society is that freedom of expression is limited, and that self-censorship is a preferred method, when it comes to debating about any government’s policies,” he said.
“Instead of fixing the lack of accountability, the government has chosen to intimidate.”
Just as a point of reference, U Chit Hlaing, ideological architect of the BSPP, wrote the following in his memoires:
Anyway, the Burmese Way to Socialism that existed from March 1962 to September 1988 was truly a ‘State Capitalism’, which was a socialist system in name, and managed by the state apparatus under a communist-biased one party dictatorship.
Mystery surrounds the disappearance of high profile Lao activist Sombath Somphone, almost three weeks after he was last seen.
Mystery surrounds the disappearance of high profile Lao activist Sombath Somphone, almost three weeks after he was last seen.
Mr Sombath’s wife, Ng Shui Meng, says police have not contacted her about the case for over a week.
Audio: Missing Lao activist’s wife speaks out (ABC News)
“The CCTV footage shows that he was last stopped at the police post [in the capital Vientiane], that his jeep was driven away by a known person right at the police post and he was taken away in a truck which stopped at a police post,” Ms Ng told Radio Australia.
The government has denied any involvement, hinting at a possible business or personal conflict as the reason for his disappearance.
Mr Sombath is well known in the region, and received the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2005 for his work in community leadership.
He has been involved in a number of environmental and land rights causes but his wife denies he is a dissident.
“I don’t know whether such work would upset any vested interests, but from my own understanding his work has never been provocative.”
Ms Ng says she does not know if her husband is in police custody.
“I only believe what I’ve seen on the CCTV footage, and if the government says it does not have him in custody, I have nothing to counter that either.”
Thematics: Enforced Disappearances,Human rights & AICHR, Human Rights Defenders
Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), a regional human rights organization representing 47 non-governmental organizations across 16 countries in Asia, writes to you to express gravest concern on the disappearance of a prominent education and development worker in Laos, Mr. Sombath Somphone. He has been missing since 15 December 2012 and to this date, there has been little information regarding his safety or whereabouts. His wife, Ng Shui-Meng, last saw him at about 6.00pm that same day as they drove home separately from the office.
Sombath is the founder and retired director of the Participatory Development Training Centre (PADETC) in Laos, which promotes sustainable development. He is a highly respected educator who as a result of his work, received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership, one of Asia’s top civil awards, in 2005. He was also an instrumental figure as a co-organizer of the highly-successful Asia-Europe People’s Forum 9 (AEPF 9), held prior to the 9th Asia-Europe Summit Meeting (ASEM) in Vientiane, Laos last October 2012.
Available CCTV footage shows Sombath’s vehicle was stopped on KM3 Thadeua Road in the vicinity of Watnak village, Sisattanak District, Vientiane on 15 December 2012. He was then seen entering the police post. Following which, his vehicle was taken away by an unidentified man who arrived on a motorcycle. The motorcycle remained parked there while the man drove Sombath’s vehicle away. A white pick-up truck then arrived later flashing hazard lights at the police post. The footage showed that Sombath was escorted by two men who had arrived in the white truck and led him into the truck. He has since not been seen and we are deeply worried about his safety, physical and mental health and overall well-being.
There are many questions surrounding the troubling circumstances of his disappearance. For example, it is not known why Sombath was allowed to leave with the unidentified men in the white truck or why the police did not take any action regarding the alleged “kidnap” as highlighted in the government’s official statement on 19 December 2012.
In view of the urgency for the protection of the physical and mental wellbeing of Mr. Sombath Somphone, we urgently request the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), as the overarching body responsible for the promotion and protection of human rights in ASEAN, to communicate with the Lao authorities immediately to expedite the investigation of the case, to find out the whereabouts of Mr. Sombath Somphone and to ensure the safe return of Sombath to his wife and family.
FORUM-ASIA is committed to assist and cooperate with the AICHR in this case. If you require more information on the case, please kindly contact Joses Kuan at tel: (66) 83544 5166 or email: [email protected].
We thank you for your kind attention and hope to receive a positive response from you.
Yours truly,
Sayeed Ahmad
Country Program Manager
To:
H.E. Pehin Dato Dr. Awang Hj. Ahmad bin Hj. Jumat
Chairperson
ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR)
Jalan Subok, Bandar Seri Begawan Brunei Darussalam BD 2710
Tel: (673) 226 1177, 226 1291-5
Fax: (673) 226 1709, 2904
Email: [email protected], [email protected]
CC:
1. H.E. Le Loung Minh, Secretary-General of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
2. H.E. Om Yentieng, Representative of Cambodia to AICHR
3. H.E. Mr. Rafendi Djamin, Representative of Indonesia to AICHR
4. H.E. Mr. Bounkeut Sangsomsak, Representative of Laos to AICHR
5. H.E. Dato’ Sri Dr. Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, Representative of Malaysia to AICHR
6. H.E. Amb. Kyaw Tint Swe, Representative of Myanmar to AICHR
7. H.E. Amb. Rosario Gonzales Manalo, Representative of the Philippines to AICHR
8. H.E. Amb. Chan Heng Chee, Representative of Singapore to AICHR
9. H.E. Mr. Seree Nonthasoot, Representative of Thailand to AICHR
10.H.E. Amb. Nguyen Duy Hung, Representative of Vietnam to AICHR
11.Ms. Leena Ghosh, Assistant Director, AIPA, ASEAN Foundation, AICHR and Other ASEAN Associated Entities Division, ASEAN Secretariat
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Myanmar tourism after the boycott
right on Moe Aung, right on.
note too that “true supply & demand based economy” in myanmar EQUALS fooling the ordinary man he needs cheap chinese consumer goods (aka JUNK).
what burma needs first =
proper education & proper health care
aloha
(@plan b: no i’m not hawaiian either).
Myanmar tourism after the boycott
The black market nothing to do with supply and demand? Nor market distortion and manipulation? So what exactly do you deal with in a black market economy or distort and manipulate by a command economy if not supply and demand?
From the RC (Revolutionary Council) through BSPP to SLORC, SPDC to the current USDP govt., all different incarnations of the same outfit. Who are you kidding?
Distressing developments in Laos
Photos of Sombath Somphone’s community development work in Laos, always conducted in cooperation with Government of Laos partners :
http://sombath.org/2013/01/05/photos-of-sombaths-good-work/
Ng Shui Meng confirms: “My husband is not a dissident”
The Company in Dawei
Speak for yourself. Some people are probably best left happily confused in their own little chauvinist world.
Myanmar tourism after the boycott
Ko Moe Aung
Neither calling one a Kala for the darker skin nor Tayoke for the area of residence within Yangon does a truth made.
The truth is Myanmar has NEVER has a chance at “A true supply & demand based economy”.
Rather a controlled one that promoted rampant Black Market economy.
If the historical # of times in demonetization during BSPP era are not the reminders, you ARE indeed a closet BSPP fan.
The Company in Dawei
” At least the Bolsheviks were sincere and committed to start with whereas the “Burmese Way to Socialism” was a mere fa├зade for a military dictatorship.”
Ko Moe Aung
How did they all end?
Socialism, Communism, Militarism, Totalitarianism etc are all fancy words for DICTATORSHIP.
Myanmar with the unique characteristics of a citizenry with Buddhism as faith and a history like no others can only be compared with itself in every respects.
Granted the closest similarity is Thailand.
Then “a Colonial era lasting 1824/1885-1948” as long if not longer as “Konbaung era 1752-1824” make the comparison rather useless as best idiotic at the worst.
Development looms on the Mekong
I would hazard a guess that the estimated cost is $1.7764 billion, not million, which would make it roughly half the estimated cost of the Xayaburi Dam upstream. The estimated environmental and social costs of $20 million, would therefore be approx 0.00001% of total costs, quite clearly a patently inadequate amount by any standards (if the figures are correct).
It is quite interesting how the ADB have changed their tune with regards to hydro-dams:
“When asked about the ADB’s reasoning for not supporting Mekong Dams, Craig Steffensen, ADB’s Country Director for Thailand wrote, “[the] ADB’s view is that the potentially negative impacts of mainstream hydropower are not well known, and may well outweigh the development benefits, especially when taking into account cumulative effects, and therefore deserve further study.””
To pretend after 50 or more years of well-documented dam building worldwide that the impacts of large dams are not well known, is disingenuous to say the least. As is the argument that hundreds of dams built on major Mekong tributaries will be less detrimental environmentally and socially than a handful of dams on the mainstream. In fact a recent study by Ziv, Baran, Nam, Rodriguez-Iterbe, and Levin (2012) titled “Trading-off fish biodiversity, food security and hydropower in the Mekong Basin” concluded the following:
“We find that the completion of 78 dams on tributaries, which have not previously
been subject to strategic analysis, would have catastrophic impacts on fish productivity and biodiversity. Our results argue for reassessment of several dams planned, and call for a new regional
agreement on tributary development of the Mekong River Basin.”
The paper is available from the Princeton University website:
http://www.princeton.edu/~slevin/PDF/Levinpubs/466_ZivMekong.pdf
ADB no doubt would be more interested in approving of mainstream dam construction, (as they were in the past) if they were in the running for financing them, as they are for a handful of dams in Laos that are turning out (predictably and predicted by opponents) to be basket cases in terms of under-mitigated and compensated environmental and social impacts.
The benefits of contract farming
Sounds like a very good arrangement. Thanks for this bread and butter kind of a post, Andrew.
What about farming cooperatives in relation to contract farming? There’s empowerment and vertical integration involved I guess. The other crucial factors are security of land tenure, the availability of credit, seed grain, and small scale mechanisation as mentioned.
I’d love to see Burmese farmers drive around in pickup trucks, use power tools, farm equipment and machinery, set up a spin off repair and maintenance workshops, bridge the urban rural divide and keep the younger generation in the countryside, not just limited to motorbikes, trailers hooked to cannibalised Kubota water pump engines, cell phones and DVD players. Time we put the plough and harrow drawn by oxen and bullock carts into museums, fairs and festivals. Shame the ‘newly democratic’ govt seems hell bent on industrial scale farming in partnership with foreign and domestic tycoons, and has been engaged in a highland clearance and enclosure style policy driving our farmers out of their land and homes. A very skewed export oriented economy and agriculture with reliance on food imports and foreign aid – what a bright future to look forward to!
Myanmar tourism after the boycott
plan B persists in doggedly tilting at windmills I’m afraid, and his faith in the ‘economic determinism’ working for the betterment of the Myanmar citizenry driven by external players consistently ignores not only popular struggle but the elephant in the room that’s going nowhere, bless.
The Company in Dawei
Thanks, Stephen. Excellent.
So then the commissars and nomenclatura became part of a new ruling elite controlling the political and economic life of the nation, with empowerment of the workers (the soviets) and socialist democracy gone out the window. Lenin’s concept of the dictatorship of the proletariat and later Trotsky’s War Communism that the civil war and capitalist encirclement (blockade and invasion by foreign powers) necessitated apparently set them off a tangent.
The era of Ma Hsa La (BSPP) was uncanny in its resemblance to the degenerated soviet state. The one unforgettable line from the doctrine of Innya Myinnya (The System of Correlation of Man and His Environment, 17 Jan 1963), “morality is possible only on a full stomach“, characterised the times. At least the Bolsheviks were sincere and committed to start with whereas the “Burmese Way to Socialism” was a mere fa├зade for a military dictatorship.
Distressing developments in Laos
“Sombath was interviewed in September 2008 in Vientiane for TVEAP’s Saving the Planet Asian regional TV series, and excerpts appeared in the Lao story (It’s Alive!) that featured PADETC’s efforts to transform Lao education.
By releasing the full interview online, TVEAP salutes the soft-spoken visionary who sought viable development alternatives where no one gets left behind.”
http://vimeo.com/56735858
http://www.tveap.org/index.php?q=node/629
The Company in Dawei
To clarify, the concept of ‘state capitalism’ did not originally mean perestroika-style market-reform under continued authoritarian rule. Rather, the concept originally comes to us from CLR James and Raya Dunayevskaya’s 1950 text State Capitalism and World Revolution, in which they break with Trotsky’s ‘qualified support’ for the USSR under Stalin as a ‘degenerated workers’ state’. Taking as a point of departure Marx’s claim that the dynamics of capitalist competition would eventually lead to the consolidation of all means of production under a single capitalist, James and Dunayevskaya argued that complete nationalisation and central planning under state control is not socialism but (state) capitalism. The state capitalist concept is commonly used to argue that socialism entails not nationalisation and central planning, but rather (federated) self-management (collective, non-hierarchical, directly democratic), in which there is no division between managers and workers. Insofar as such as division between managers (whether private capitalists or ‘socialist’ state bureaucrats) exists (as was the case in state-owned enterprises under the BSPP), there cannot be said to exist a socialist arrangement.
The Company in Dawei
Stephen #9.1.1.1.2,
In that sense was China just emulating the BSPP strategy but confident enough to open up the economy, and Burma in turn the USSR in Perestroika first and Glasnost two decades later?
Interestingly this China expert Mark DeWeaver believes State Capitalism is an oxymoron.
So I agree with plan B that some people are confused. The question is which ones.
Distressing developments in Laos
Maybe it would have been more appropriate to have written that some in the government know what happened to Sombath. I agree that not everyone knows, but I don’t imagine that anyone thought that everyone knew in the first place.
Myanmar tourism after the boycott
your persistent failure to answer a simple question (asked twice) proves that you’re a lousy debater. but i don’t blame you… debating isn’t exactly myanmar’s strongest skill.
Quod erat demonstrandum.
Distressing developments in Laos
Abduction of Sombat Somphone has aid workers ‘terrified’
South China Morning Post
by Tom Fawthrop
January 2, 2013
http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1117767/abduction-sombat-somphone-has-aid-workers-terrified
The abduction in Laos of one of Asia’s most respected activists has sent a wave of fear through the aid-worker community, forcing some to flee the country.
Laotian national Sombat Somphone is still missing more than two weeks after apparently being detained at a police check point in the capital, Vientiane.
Video footage obtained by Ng Shui Meng, Sombat’s Singaporean wife, showed the abduction was a highly co-ordinated job. First traffic police stopped him, ostensibly to check his documents. Soon after, he was taken to a jeep with flashing lights and driven away.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ only response has been to speculate that “business conflicts” could be behind the disappearance. Colleagues have rejected this argument, pointing out he had no business interests or personal enemies.
At least one analyst has linked the disappearance to Sombat’s role in conducting a recent nationwide survey of attitudes towards governance.
Sombat, the quietly spoken founder of the non-profit Participatory Development Training Centre, was a pioneer of participatory development and supporting the enforcement of land rights for poor farmers. He was also featured in the BBC TV documentary about the environment and development in Laos.
He is a past winner of the Ramon Magsaysay Award, named after a former Philippine president, but is not considered a political dissident among his peers.
Sombat’s disappearance follows the sudden expulsion of the country director of Swiss non-governmental organisation Helvetas, Anne-Sophie Gindroz, in early December. She was ordered to leave after being accused of “taking up a position of anti-governmental propaganda”, Helvetas said.
Several Lao and foreign non-government organisation workers have left in fear during the past two weeks.
[The Sombat case] smacks of sending a very strong message to an increasingly restive nation,” a foreign observer said. “Taking the highest profile man in Laos is the best way of subduing people. It worked. Now everyone is terrified.”
Although Laos is still tightly controlled by the ruling communist party, last year will be remembered for this small poverty-stricken nation’s entry into the WTO and its hosting of its first major summit, the Asia-Europe Meeting, in November, which was seen as a coming-out party for Laos.
“Laos has been opening itself up economically. This has created an illusion of Laos being more liberal,” said Pavin Chachavalpongpun, as South East Asia specialist at Kyoto University.
“In reality, in terms of freedom of expression, there is no room for critics.”
Sombat had a prominent role in conducting a nationwide survey of public sentiment, ahead of an NGO summit that ran in parallel to the Asia-Europe meeting.
The survey, conducted in all 16 provinces with the co-operation of the UN Development Programme, was considered ground-breaking in Laos and was endorsed by some ministries and party cadres.
It concluded the Lao people wanted good governance from their leaders, and more consultation about development projects.
“The people have spoken. We encourage the government to make a substantive response, so that this becomes a true national dialogue on common development concerns and interests as Laos moves forward,” the survey said.
Dr Pavin suggested that Sombat’s disappearance may be linked to his pivotal role in the survey.
“The only message to civil society is that freedom of expression is limited, and that self-censorship is a preferred method, when it comes to debating about any government’s policies,” he said.
“Instead of fixing the lack of accountability, the government has chosen to intimidate.”
——————-
The Company in Dawei
Just as a point of reference, U Chit Hlaing, ideological architect of the BSPP, wrote the following in his memoires:
(Quoted from the MLP translation)
Distressing developments in Laos
“My husband is not a headline, he is a person. I hope that he will not slip away, and be forgotten.”
– Ng Shui Meng, Wife of Sombath Somphone
Distressing developments in Laos
“Lao activist still missing three weeks on”
4 January 2013
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/2013-01-04/lao-activist-still-missing-three-weeks-on/1069920
Mystery surrounds the disappearance of high profile Lao activist Sombath Somphone, almost three weeks after he was last seen.
Mystery surrounds the disappearance of high profile Lao activist Sombath Somphone, almost three weeks after he was last seen.
Mr Sombath’s wife, Ng Shui Meng, says police have not contacted her about the case for over a week.
Audio: Missing Lao activist’s wife speaks out (ABC News)
“The CCTV footage shows that he was last stopped at the police post [in the capital Vientiane], that his jeep was driven away by a known person right at the police post and he was taken away in a truck which stopped at a police post,” Ms Ng told Radio Australia.
The government has denied any involvement, hinting at a possible business or personal conflict as the reason for his disappearance.
Mr Sombath is well known in the region, and received the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2005 for his work in community leadership.
He has been involved in a number of environmental and land rights causes but his wife denies he is a dissident.
“I don’t know whether such work would upset any vested interests, but from my own understanding his work has never been provocative.”
Ms Ng says she does not know if her husband is in police custody.
“I only believe what I’ve seen on the CCTV footage, and if the government says it does not have him in custody, I have nothing to counter that either.”
Distressing developments in Laos
Open Letter: Request for AICHR to ensure the safety and wellbeing of disappeared development worker, Mr. Sombath Somphone
Friday, 04 January 2013
http://www.forum-asia.org/?p=15722&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=open-letter-request-for-aichr-to-ensure-the-safety-and-wellbeing-of-disappeared-development-worker-mr-sombath-somphone
Thematics: Enforced Disappearances,Human rights & AICHR, Human Rights Defenders
Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), a regional human rights organization representing 47 non-governmental organizations across 16 countries in Asia, writes to you to express gravest concern on the disappearance of a prominent education and development worker in Laos, Mr. Sombath Somphone. He has been missing since 15 December 2012 and to this date, there has been little information regarding his safety or whereabouts. His wife, Ng Shui-Meng, last saw him at about 6.00pm that same day as they drove home separately from the office.
Sombath is the founder and retired director of the Participatory Development Training Centre (PADETC) in Laos, which promotes sustainable development. He is a highly respected educator who as a result of his work, received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership, one of Asia’s top civil awards, in 2005. He was also an instrumental figure as a co-organizer of the highly-successful Asia-Europe People’s Forum 9 (AEPF 9), held prior to the 9th Asia-Europe Summit Meeting (ASEM) in Vientiane, Laos last October 2012.
Available CCTV footage shows Sombath’s vehicle was stopped on KM3 Thadeua Road in the vicinity of Watnak village, Sisattanak District, Vientiane on 15 December 2012. He was then seen entering the police post. Following which, his vehicle was taken away by an unidentified man who arrived on a motorcycle. The motorcycle remained parked there while the man drove Sombath’s vehicle away. A white pick-up truck then arrived later flashing hazard lights at the police post. The footage showed that Sombath was escorted by two men who had arrived in the white truck and led him into the truck. He has since not been seen and we are deeply worried about his safety, physical and mental health and overall well-being.
There are many questions surrounding the troubling circumstances of his disappearance. For example, it is not known why Sombath was allowed to leave with the unidentified men in the white truck or why the police did not take any action regarding the alleged “kidnap” as highlighted in the government’s official statement on 19 December 2012.
In view of the urgency for the protection of the physical and mental wellbeing of Mr. Sombath Somphone, we urgently request the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), as the overarching body responsible for the promotion and protection of human rights in ASEAN, to communicate with the Lao authorities immediately to expedite the investigation of the case, to find out the whereabouts of Mr. Sombath Somphone and to ensure the safe return of Sombath to his wife and family.
FORUM-ASIA is committed to assist and cooperate with the AICHR in this case. If you require more information on the case, please kindly contact Joses Kuan at tel: (66) 83544 5166 or email: [email protected].
We thank you for your kind attention and hope to receive a positive response from you.
Yours truly,
Sayeed Ahmad
Country Program Manager
To:
H.E. Pehin Dato Dr. Awang Hj. Ahmad bin Hj. Jumat
Chairperson
ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR)
Jalan Subok, Bandar Seri Begawan Brunei Darussalam BD 2710
Tel: (673) 226 1177, 226 1291-5
Fax: (673) 226 1709, 2904
Email: [email protected], [email protected]
CC:
1. H.E. Le Loung Minh, Secretary-General of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
2. H.E. Om Yentieng, Representative of Cambodia to AICHR
3. H.E. Mr. Rafendi Djamin, Representative of Indonesia to AICHR
4. H.E. Mr. Bounkeut Sangsomsak, Representative of Laos to AICHR
5. H.E. Dato’ Sri Dr. Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, Representative of Malaysia to AICHR
6. H.E. Amb. Kyaw Tint Swe, Representative of Myanmar to AICHR
7. H.E. Amb. Rosario Gonzales Manalo, Representative of the Philippines to AICHR
8. H.E. Amb. Chan Heng Chee, Representative of Singapore to AICHR
9. H.E. Mr. Seree Nonthasoot, Representative of Thailand to AICHR
10.H.E. Amb. Nguyen Duy Hung, Representative of Vietnam to AICHR
11.Ms. Leena Ghosh, Assistant Director, AIPA, ASEAN Foundation, AICHR and Other ASEAN Associated Entities Division, ASEAN Secretariat