INTRODUCTION
Human rights issues, especially regarding enforced disappearances and arbitrary arrests, remain an ongoing concern in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. However, despite years of international calls for investigations into human rights abuses, the lack of progress underscores systemic problems (Arun, 2025).
While the Lao government has stated in its latest National Report that it has made progress in human rights areas such as health and gender equality, human rights groups emphasised that there has been limited progress in holding the Lao government accountable for resolving critical issues involving the disappearances of activists and government critics (Arun, 2025).
CURRENT ISSUES
The most visible cases of enforced disappearance in Laos involve the case of Sombath Somphone. More than a decade later, it remains unresolved. At the same time, arbitrary arrest and detention of other activists continue to occur, highlighting the need for broader protection mechanisms in the country.
2.1. The Case of Sombath Somphone
Sombath Somphone is a Laotian development worker who worked towards poverty reduction and sustainable development in Laos, and was a former consultant for the United Nations Children’s Fund in Cambodia (Amnesty International, 2016). He also established Padetc, an organisation that provided training for youth and government officials in community-based development (Slow, 2022).
According to reports, Sombath disappeared when he was stopped at a police checkpoint in Vientiane on December 15, 2012 and has never been found (OHCHR, 2024). Grainy video footage showed that Sombath’s vehicle was pulled over by the police at the checkpoint, and minutes later, a pickup truck arrived and pushed Sombath inside the truck (Slow, 2022). While Sombath’s wife initially believed that the video footage would help the government proceed with an investigation into her husband’s case, she later believed that there was an official denial and cover-up from the government after a decade of no progress (Slow, 2022).
According to Sombath’s wife, there is a profound emotional impact of the loss of her husband, “Despite the passing of time, the pain, the suffering does not go away. It remains as time passes because the fear that he will not come back looms larger and larger” (OHCHR, 2024).
Sombath’s case was publicly raised during the first, second, and third Universal Periodic Reviews (UPRs) conducted by the United Nations (UN). During the fourth UPR, Laos again received hundreds of recommendations from other countries reiterating past concerns about the country’s human rights abuses, including investigation cases into enforced disappearances against activists (Human Rights Watch, 2025). However, the Lao government has not made any progress or given any updates on the investigations regarding Sombath’s case (Human Rights Watch, 2025).
2.2. Other cases of enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention
Aside from the famous case of Sombath Somphone, similar cases of enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention have also occurred in Laos over the past few years.
In 2019, Muay was an activist who spoke out against government corruption related to the Xe-Pan-Xe-Namnoy dam, which collapsed and displaced villagers in the area. When Muay spoke about the inaction of the Lao government regarding the corruption on social media, she was arbitrarily arrested in 2019, detained, and sentenced to five years in prison for criminal defamation and anti-state propaganda (Manushya Foundation, 2024). However, while in prison, she was mistreated and tortured, and was only released in September 2024 (Manushya Foundation, 2024).
In a similar case, in 2023, two activists were targeted by the government, reflecting the use of arbitrary detention to silence critical voices. Savang Phaleuth was arrested by the police, and his detention lacked transparency, while Jack Luangsuphom was shot and critically wounded (Human Rights Watch, 2025).
More recently, in 2024, Chilikham, a Member of the Alliance for Democracy, disappeared when he was on his way to pick up his passport in Southern Laos (Manushya Foundation, 2024). His whereabouts are still unknown, and since that Chilikham also spoke against the government, human rights groups suspect possible state involvement (Manushya Foundation, 2024).
In the same year, another activist, Thao Bua Sawan Prommachan, staged a protest against the government’s corruption in front of the UN Center in Vientiane, Laos. While witnesses revealed that he was arrested by the police, he was never seen again, which also raised concerns of another enforced disappearance orchestrated by the government (Manushya Foundation, 2024). While these examples do not cover all the activists targeted by the Lao government, these cases illustrate that there is a pattern of arresting or harassing government critics, either through detention, enforced disappearance, or arbitrary arrests.
POLICY IMPLICATIONS
The Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) has signed but not yet ratified the UN Convention for the Protection of all Persons against Enforced Disappearances (OHCHR, 2024). Nevertheless, the non-ratification does not excuse the government from failing to act in good faith in adhering to the objective and purpose of the Convention, which is to protect individuals against abuses and enforced disappearances.
The Convention provides that “no one shall be subjected to enforced disappearance”. Also, under Article 2 of the Convention, enforced disappearance is defined as the “arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty” either by the agents of the State or those who act with State authorisation, followed by the refusal to acknowledge the detention of the person, resulting to a situation where the person is placed outside the protection of the law (International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, 2006).
Since Laos has not ratified the Convention, it is not legally bound by the specific obligations to prevent enforced disappearances. However, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) has ratified other instruments such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention against Torture (CAT). These instruments oblige state parties to prohibit cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, torture, ill-treatment, and arbitrary arrest, and detention. While there is a protection gap relating to enforced disappearances as a distinct human rights violation due to the non-ratification by the Lao PDR, the ICCPR can be used to prevent arbitrary arrests of political activists.
This problem is evident in cases such as the longstanding disappearance of Sombath Somphone. The absence of binding legal frameworks specific to enforced disappearances also creates legal ambiguity and weakens government accountability, particularly whengovernment officials or agents of the state are implicated in the act and perpetuate the crime. However, despite international pressure to strengthen human rights mechanisms, progress towards the realisation of this goal in Laos has stagnated.
There will be another UN UPR in 2025, and for some human rights defenders, it is critical for other States to use this opportunity to make the Lao government take a public stance on Sombath’s case and ensure justice for the victims of enforced disappearances (Giorgetta, 2025).
CONCLUSION
More than a decade later, the unresolved issues of enforced disappearances in Laos highlight the vulnerabilities of the legal system and limitations of due process to afford protections to individuals who speak against the government.
Hence, the PDR should ratify the UN Convention for the Protection of all Persons against Enforced Disappearances and resume investigations into the disappearance of Sombath Somphone and other affected individuals. In the interim, the government should establish an independent investigative body to offer support to the families of the victims, and assist in gathering evidence and protecting witnesses. The government of Laos is also encouraged to continue communicating with UN bodies and human rights organisations, and to submit regular updates on the status of ongoing investigations and the missing individuals, to provide relief to the affected families.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Amnesty International. (2016, August 30). Laos: #WhereIsSombath – Amnesty International. Amnesty International. Retrieved August 22, 2025, from https://www.amnesty.nl/actueel/laos-whereissombath.
Arun, N. (2025, May 3). UN review of Laos human rights record spurs international concern. JURISTnews. Retrieved August 22, 2025, from https://www.jurist.org/news/2025/05/un-review-of-laos-human-rights-record-spurs-international-concern/.
International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, A/RES/61/177 (2006).
Giorgetta, A. (2025, May 28). Who’s Afraid of Talking About Sombath Somphone? The Diplomat. Retrieved August 22, 2025, from https://thediplomat.com/2025/05/whos-afraid-of-talking-about-sombath-somphone/.
Manushya Foundation, & Power By Keyboard. (2024). Echoes of Injustice: Civil and Political Freedoms Under Siege in Laos. Manushya Foundation. Retrieved August 22, 2025, from https://www.manushyafoundation.org/jointcivilsocietyuprshadowreport-echoesofinjustice-civilandpoliticalfreedomsundersiege.
OHCHR. (2024, October 4). “Where is Sombath?” Family of disappeared Lao activist demands answers. United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner. Retrieved August 22, 2025, from https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2024/10/where-sombath-family-disappeared-lao-activist-demands-answers.
Slow, O. (2022, December 14). Sombath Somphone: The activist who disappeared at a police checkpoint. BBC. Retrieved August 22, 2025, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-63949456.
