<div><em>A human rights activist from Thailand’s Deep South speaks about her motivation for co-founding a human rights organization, after her own experience of a family member being harassed. Since the start of 2016, she has been repeatedly harassed by the military due to a report, co-written by her, revealing allegations of torture by the state.&nbsp;</em></div> <p></p>

<p>August 30 marks the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. Thailand has not been immune to enforced disappearances. Over the past two years, two United Nations (UN) bodies, the Committee Against Torture and the Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, have expressed concern over the numerous cases of enforced disappearances in Thailand.</p>

<div>December 14, 2014 - Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird issued the following statement today on the second anniversary of the disappearance of Sombath Somphone, a prominent civil society leader in Laos, who was last seen at a police checkpoint in Vientiane on December 15, 2012:</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>“Canada is concerned that after two years, the Laotian government has been unable to provide further information on Mr. Sombath’s whereabouts. We call upon Laos to respect its international commitments, and to fully and transparently investigate and report on Mr. Sombath’s disappearance. </div>

<div><span>On the second anniversary of the enforced disappearance of prominent Lao civil society leader Sombath Somphone, we, the undersigned regional and international organizations, firmly condemn the Lao government’s ongoing refusal to provide any information regarding Sombath’s fate or whereabouts.</span></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The Lao government’s deliberate silence on Sombath is part of a strategy that aims at consigning to oblivion the heinous crime of enforced disappearance. </div>

<div> <div>Two years after the abduction of the prominent, internationally acclaimed Lao development worker Sombath Somphone by Lao state agents, the Lao government has done very little to find the truth, experts say. Meanwhile, the disappearance and lack of justice has effectively created a climate of fear which has worsened the human rights situation in Laos.&nbsp;</div> </div>