VIENTIANE, Laos (AP) – The light was fading over Vientiane on a cool December evening when a Jeep was stopped at a traffic light. CCTV video later showed the occupant of the car being pulled out and taken away in a pickup truck, never to be seen again.
The disappearance of Sombath Somphone nearly four years ago is a reminder of the dismal human rights record of the authoritarian government of Laos, which prepares to host President Barack Obama and Asian leaders at a regional summit starting Tuesday.
The government says it is investigating but has provided no leads into Sombath’s whereabouts, and no arrests have been made, leading critics of Laos’ communist government to believe that his disappearance was state-orchestrated.
“It’s a test case for Obama. If he mentions it publicly it would make it much more difficult for Laos to sweep it under the carpet. The fact that the most powerful man on the planet cares about Sombath will count for something,” said Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch.
The three-day summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is a rare opportunity to put the spotlight on the landlocked nation of Laos, which usually stays under the radar. Along with Brunei, it is the most under reported and under-scrutinized country in the 10-nation ASEAN.