Cases / Killings and repression of defenders · Laos · 2012
Sombath Somphone disappeared at a Vientiane police checkpoint in 2012
Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.
Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Sombath Somphone disappeared on 15 December 2012 at a police checkpoint in Vientiane, Laos, after being recorded on CCTV. The government denies arresting him, and no specific conservation scheme is linked to the case in the sources reviewed.
What?
Sombath Somphone disappeared at a Vientiane police checkpoint; the government denies detaining him. ICJ
Where?
Vientiane, Laos
When?
15 December 2012; Laos's 2023 UN submission contained nothing new, according to the ICJ. ICJ
Who?
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Disappeared at a police checkpoint; the sources reviewed record no investigation outcome. ICJ
6 of 6 questions answered from the record
What happened
The record, in order.
The ICJ reported that Laos denies arresting Sombath Somphone and has refused outside help analysing the CCTV footage.
The ICJ also reported that Laos's 2023 submission to the UN Human Rights Committee contained nothing new.
In court and with insurers
Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.
Lawsuits and rulings
No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.
Insurers
No insurer decision on record.
What we don't know
Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Record
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: the investigation was closed (source tag unclear).
- None on record No specific conservation scheme is linked to the disappearance in the sources reviewed.
- None on record The content of the CCTV recording is not described in the sources reviewed.
Did the harm stop?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts— Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers
Communities and civil society
Connected cases
Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
- World Bank-backed dams displaced people, and reviews found incomes often not restored Global · 1985–2018
- Government of Laos (Government) — here: denies arresting him; refused outside analysis of CCTV; there: Host government for the Nam Theun 2 dam