Joint Press Release: Pro-democracy student leaders must be released after 16 yearsof arbitrary detention
The Observatory for the Protection ofHuman Rights Defenders
LaoMovement for Human Rights (LMHR)
Paris-Geneva, 8 December 2015: TheLao government must immediately and unconditionally release two formerpro-democracy student leaders who have been arbitrarily detained for more than16 years and disclose the fate or whereabouts of two others, the Observatoryfor the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (a joint FIDH and OMCT programme)and the Lao Movement for Human Rights (LMHR) said today.
Mr. Thongpaseuth Keuakoun and Mr. SengalounPhengphanh, two former student leaders with the Lao Students Movement forDemocracy (LSMD), remain detained in Samkhe prison, located on the easternoutskirts of Vientiane. Thongpaseuth and Sengaloun were arrested in Vientianeon October 26, 1999, along with fellow LSMD members Mr. BouavanhChanhmanivong, Mr. Khamphouvieng Sisa-at, and Keochay, forplanning peaceful demonstrations that called for democracy, social justice, andrespect for human rights. All five were subsequently sentenced to 20 years inprison for “generating social turmoil and endangering national security.” Thegovernment, however, denied that it had detained Bouavanh, Khamphouvieng, andKeochay.
Thongpaseuth and Phengphanh are imprisoned insolitary confinement with their legs locked in wooden stocks at all times.Prison authorities allow them to go out of their cells once a week or onceevery two weeks to wash and empty their accumulated excrements. They areaccompanied by police officers and not by prison guards. Witnesses describedthem as looking like “human skeletons.” Prison authorities do not allow them toreceive visitors and have consistently prohibited them from receiving food andmedication sent from family members. For many years, the Lao government refusedto acknowledge the detention of Thongpaseuth and Phengphanh.
“The lengthy arbitrarydetention of the two former student leaders as well as the prolonged tortureinflicted upon them are gross and unacceptable human rights violations. Theauthorities must immediately and unconditionally release them, investigateallegations of torture and ill-treatment, and provide compensation for their wrongfuldetention,” said FIDHPresident Karim Lahidji.
Khamphouvieng Sisa-at died in Samkhe prison inSeptember 2001 as a result of serious food deprivation, prolonged heatexposure, and lack of adequate medical care. In 2006, the government statedthat Keochay had been released in 2002 upon completion of his prison term and“transferred to guardians to further educate him to become a good citizen.”However, Keochay’s family has never been informed about his alleged release andhis fate or whereabouts remain unknown. The government’s claim of Keochay’srelease and Sisa-at’s death in custody contradict Vientiane’s earlier statementthat only two LSMD members - Thongpaseuth and Phengphanh - had been arrested onOctober 26, 1999. To this day, the fate and whereabouts of the fifth formerstudent leader, Bouavanh, also remains unknown.
“Weurge the Lao authorities to investigate and ascertain the circumstances relatedto the death of Khamphouvieng Sisa-at in Samkhe prison, make theinvestigation’s findings public, and hold those responsible for his deathaccountable,” said OMCTSecretary General Gerald Staberock. “They must also disclose the fate orwhereabouts of Bouavanh and Keochay.”
In addition, the Observatory and LMHR call on theLao authorities to determine the fate or whereabouts of nine other activists -two women, Ms. Kingkeo and Ms. Somchit, and seven men, Messrs. Soubinh,Souane, Sinpasong, Khamsone, Nou, Somkhit,and Sourigna - who were detained in November 2009 for planning toparticipate in pro-democracy demonstrations.
“More international effortsare needed to press the Lao government to be transparent about the fate orwhereabouts of many missing student leaders, activists, and human rightsdefenders. Many of these cases amount to enforced disappearance – an issue thatthe Lao government has failed to address for far too long,” said LMHR President Vanida Thephsouvanh.
Article 2 of the International Convention for theProtection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED) defines enforceddisappearance as “the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form ofdeprivation of liberty by agents of the State or by persons or groups ofpersons acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State,followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or byconcealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person.” Despitesigning the ICPPED on September 29, 2008, Laos has not yet ratified theconvention.
On June 23, 2014, during its second UniversalPeriodic Review (UPR), Laos rejected all eight recommendations that called forinvestigations into all allegations of enforced disappearance in the countryand dismissed such allegations as “not true.”
The Observatory and LMHR reiterate their call forthe Lao government to conduct swift, thorough, and impartial investigationsinto all cases of enforced disappearances in the country and hold thoseresponsible accountable. The two organizations also urge the Lao government tospeed up the investigation into the enforced disappearance of prominent civilsociety leader Mr. Sombath Somphone, who was last seen at a policecheckpoint on a busy street of Vientiane on the evening of December 15, 2012.
Presscontacts
FIDH:Mr. Andrea Giorgetta (English) - Tel: +66 88 611 7722 (Bangkok)
FIDH:Mr. Arthur Manet (French, English, Spanish) - Tel: +33 6 72 28 42 94 (Paris)
OMCT:DelphineReculeau: +41 22 809 49 39 (Geneva)
OMCT: Miguel Martín Zumalacárregui: +41 22 809 49 24(Brussels)
