Thai government urged to pressure for safe return of abducted Lao Magsaysay Awardee

BANGKOK, January 10 (TNA) - Thailand, Laos' close neighbor and the country associated in many problems caused by Laos' rapid economic development, has been urged to help pressure for safe return of a Lao senior development worker, Sombath Somphone, who was a Ramon Magsaysay Awardee in 2005. Panelists of a round-table discussion themed “What does Sombath Somphone’s abduction signal to ASEAN”, held in Bangkok on Wednesday, claimed the abduction of Sombath as serious human rights abuse, saying that the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), thus, needs to look into the issue and to help put an end to the existing emphasis on a non-interference principle among ASEAN member countries, which has been seen a major obstacle for achieving human security in the region. The panelists have called on Thailand, as a close neighbor and a customer of the controversial hydroelectric project of Laos’ Xayaburi dam, to also help call for Vientiane to ensure the transparency of an official investigation on the abduction case and of its disclosure of the probing result. Sombath Somphone, the founder of the Participatory Development Training Center (PADECT), an organisation which works for balanced development in Lao PDR through youths and official training, went missing while driving home in Vientiane, Laos' capital, on December 15, 2012. A video footage from a street-side close circuit TV showed that he had stopped at a police checkpoint before being kidnapped. ASEAN’s non-interference policy has, meanwhile, barred other member countries from pressuring Lao PDR to urgently probe the case, as the 2005 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee's disappearance has raised global attention on how ASEAN can achieve regional economic development, in parallel with upholding human rights. Wednesday's round-table discussion was attended by a combination of academics specializing in ASEAN affairs, non-governmental organizations (NGO) activists, a national human rights commissioner and eminent Thai human rights advocates. (TNA)