Zam-Zam
Senator
LAOS HUMAN RIGHTS
The over 6 million residents of Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) presently face a range of human rights violations. In particular, in late 2009 and early 2010, approximately 4,500 Lao Hmong asylum-seekers were forcibly repatriated from Thailand. Other human rights concerns include constriction freedom of expression, assembly, and religion. Increasingly forced evictions and displacement are emerging in the context of expanding state control of natural resources. Reports about conditions in Lao PDR prisons continue to suggest overcrowding and routine brutality. Denial of access by independent rights monitors complicates AI's work on the Lao PDR, and signals the need for continued activism and lobbying by those concerned with human rights in the country.
Laos (amnestyusa.org)
Enforced disappearances
Despite signing the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance in 2008, Laos had yet to ratify the treaty.
The government failed to establish the fate or whereabouts of Sombath Somphone, a prominent civil society member who was abducted in 2012 outside a police post in the capital, Vientiane. CCTV cameras captured him being stopped by police and driven away. Authorities also failed to establish the fate or whereabouts of Kha Yang, a Lao ethnic Hmong arrested after his forced return from Thailand in 2011, and of Sompawn Khantisouk, an entrepreneur who was active on conservation issues and abducted in 2007 by men believed to be police.
In July, Ko Tee, a Thai political activist sought by the Thai government, disappeared in Laos. The Lao government made no apparent efforts to investigate his disappearance.
Freedoms of expression, assembly and association
Various criminal code provisions and restrictive decrees were used to imprison activists and to suppress the rights to freedom of expression and assembly. Broadcast media, print media and civil society activity remained under stringent state control. Political parties other than the ruling Lao People’s Revolutionary Party remained banned.
After a secret trial held in April, activists Soukan Chaithad, Somphone Phimmasone and Lodkham Thammavong were convicted on charges relating to co-operating with foreign entities to undermine the state, distributing propaganda, and organizing protests to cause “turmoil”. They were sentenced to between 12 and 20 years in prison. The three had been arrested the previous year after returning from Thailand to renew their passports. They had previously participated in a protest outside the Lao embassy in the Thai capital, Bangkok, and posted a number of messages on Facebook criticizing the Lao government. In August, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared that their detention was arbitrary. Also in August, the government passed a Decree on Associations that imposed onerous registration requirements and restrictions on NGOs and other civic groups and stipulated harsh criminal penalties for failure to comply.
Everything you need to know about human rights in Laos 2017/2018 - Amnesty International Amnesty International
Human Rights Abuses in Laos Are Rampant. International Businesses Should Take Action.
Authoritarianism in Laos is at the root of illegal land grabs, land grievances, and ongoing human rights violations. The upcoming elections in Laos are unlikely to change this. International business stakeholders, however, can do more to support local communities and uphold fundamental human rights.
The Lao government will hold National Assembly elections on February 21. Parliamentary elections take place every five years, but are neither free nor fair. The government has boasted of voter turnouts close to 100% in previous elections.
Laos, or the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), is ruled by a fully authoritarian regime, according to the Human Rights Foundation’s political regime analysis. The Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP) is the only political party recognized in the Lao Constitution.
Human Rights Abuses in Laos Are Rampant. International Businesses Should Take Action. - The News Lens International Edition
Wherever Communism goes, oppression follows.
The over 6 million residents of Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) presently face a range of human rights violations. In particular, in late 2009 and early 2010, approximately 4,500 Lao Hmong asylum-seekers were forcibly repatriated from Thailand. Other human rights concerns include constriction freedom of expression, assembly, and religion. Increasingly forced evictions and displacement are emerging in the context of expanding state control of natural resources. Reports about conditions in Lao PDR prisons continue to suggest overcrowding and routine brutality. Denial of access by independent rights monitors complicates AI's work on the Lao PDR, and signals the need for continued activism and lobbying by those concerned with human rights in the country.
Laos (amnestyusa.org)
Enforced disappearances
Despite signing the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance in 2008, Laos had yet to ratify the treaty.
The government failed to establish the fate or whereabouts of Sombath Somphone, a prominent civil society member who was abducted in 2012 outside a police post in the capital, Vientiane. CCTV cameras captured him being stopped by police and driven away. Authorities also failed to establish the fate or whereabouts of Kha Yang, a Lao ethnic Hmong arrested after his forced return from Thailand in 2011, and of Sompawn Khantisouk, an entrepreneur who was active on conservation issues and abducted in 2007 by men believed to be police.
In July, Ko Tee, a Thai political activist sought by the Thai government, disappeared in Laos. The Lao government made no apparent efforts to investigate his disappearance.
Freedoms of expression, assembly and association
Various criminal code provisions and restrictive decrees were used to imprison activists and to suppress the rights to freedom of expression and assembly. Broadcast media, print media and civil society activity remained under stringent state control. Political parties other than the ruling Lao People’s Revolutionary Party remained banned.
After a secret trial held in April, activists Soukan Chaithad, Somphone Phimmasone and Lodkham Thammavong were convicted on charges relating to co-operating with foreign entities to undermine the state, distributing propaganda, and organizing protests to cause “turmoil”. They were sentenced to between 12 and 20 years in prison. The three had been arrested the previous year after returning from Thailand to renew their passports. They had previously participated in a protest outside the Lao embassy in the Thai capital, Bangkok, and posted a number of messages on Facebook criticizing the Lao government. In August, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared that their detention was arbitrary. Also in August, the government passed a Decree on Associations that imposed onerous registration requirements and restrictions on NGOs and other civic groups and stipulated harsh criminal penalties for failure to comply.
Everything you need to know about human rights in Laos 2017/2018 - Amnesty International Amnesty International
Human Rights Abuses in Laos Are Rampant. International Businesses Should Take Action.
Authoritarianism in Laos is at the root of illegal land grabs, land grievances, and ongoing human rights violations. The upcoming elections in Laos are unlikely to change this. International business stakeholders, however, can do more to support local communities and uphold fundamental human rights.
The Lao government will hold National Assembly elections on February 21. Parliamentary elections take place every five years, but are neither free nor fair. The government has boasted of voter turnouts close to 100% in previous elections.
Laos, or the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), is ruled by a fully authoritarian regime, according to the Human Rights Foundation’s political regime analysis. The Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP) is the only political party recognized in the Lao Constitution.
Human Rights Abuses in Laos Are Rampant. International Businesses Should Take Action. - The News Lens International Edition
Wherever Communism goes, oppression follows.