Laos Revisited: Perceptions of Reality

"How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg." ~Abraham Lincoln

Saying something is free doesn't necessarily make it so.  Rights can be promised on paper in Constitutions, but that does not guarantee them in real life.  This is the case for many Christians in Laos.  While there is supposed to be freedom to worship, in many rural areas that are governed by the whims of whoever is in charge, these rights are often denied.  Your experience as a Christian depends on many things; city vs rural, majority vs minority ethnicity, evangelical vs non-evangelical.  One thing that is consistent though is the need for discipleship and leadership training, and a cultural shift to encourage studying the Word of God.  As we pray for the Christians in Laos this month, remember to pray that they would treasure the Word of God and place their allegiance in Jesus Christ, and not in the rituals of the Christian faith.

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Laos

U.S. Relations: Laos is among the few remaining communist countries in the world and takes many of its cues from neighboring Vietnam, a fellow communist country and close ally. There are multiple channels of cooperation between the two countries, religion among them. Cooperation on religious issues began in 2002 with the signing of a cooperative agreement on religious affairs, and in 2014, Laos and Vietnam re-committed to this arrangement through the year 2020. Unlike Vietnam and Cambodia, Lao relations with the United States were never completely severed during the Vietnam War, though relations were downgraded and notably strained during this period, particularly after the communist takeover in 1975. The relationship has since improved, but the Lao government’s ongoing mistreatment of ethnic Hmong is a source of enduring tensions. Both the Administration and Congress regularly have raised concerns. The Lao government’s lasting wariness of the Hmong stems, in part, from their connection to the United States: thousands of ethnic Hmong were trained and armed by the United States and fought to prevent a communist takeover during the Vietnam War. Many since have fled to Thailand where they live in camps and/or face forced repatriation back to Laos. The United States has resettled approximately 250,000 Hmong refugees and continues to encourage Laos to improve transparency about the conditions of those forcibly returned from Thailand and to implement policies and practices to ensure the Hmong community no longer fears mistreatment. Since restoring full diplomatic relations with Laos in 1992, the United States gradually has expanded its engagement with the country. Bilateral relations are conducted through several mechanisms, including the U.S.-Laos Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue and others focusing on specific sectors, such as trade or investment. This engagement has broadened further in recent years through U.S. support of the Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI), a partnership agreement between the United States, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and Burma to cooperate in areas such as environment, health, education, and infrastructure development, as well as women’s and gender issues. The United States provides foreign assistance to Laos in a number of key sectors: public health, the environment and climate change, economic growth and trade, and peace and security, including the removal of unexploded ordnance (from the Vietnam War period). For fiscal year 2016, the Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and related agencies are requesting funds through the following accounts: Development Assistance ($11.1 million); International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement ($1 million); International Military Education and Training ($450,000); and Foreign Military Financing ($200,000). The requests also include funds for environment-related capacity-building in the LMI countries. In 2014, the United States officially opened its new Embassy in the capital of Vientiane. The previous Embassy site is being outfitted to house a new American Center. In 2016, Laos is scheduled to chair the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN); the United States is a participant of the ASEAN Regional Forum and the East Asia Summit. Leading up to and during this period of amplified regional and international attention on Laos, the United States is in a position to leverage its influential position to encourage Laos to improve conditions for religious freedom and related human rights.

Religious Freedom: Serious religious freedom abuses continue, particularly in ethnic minority areas, and restrictive laws remain in place. The Lao government seems either unable or unwilling to fully curtail religious freedom abuses in provincial areas, where officials and police are suspicious of Protestant growth. Over the past five years,however, religious freedom conditions have improved for the majority Buddhist groups and for other religious groups living in urban areas. The government of the ruling Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP) continued to allow ongoing abuses against religious minority groups, abuses that are most prominent in remote, rural areas. Moreover, the government’s suspicion of Protestant Christianity as a “Western” or “American” construct continued to result in discrimination, harassment, and arrests of Christians throughout the country, particularly in Savannakhet Province, where there were several reports of local officials ordering Christians to renounce their faith. The majority Buddhist community experiences religious freedom conditions that are generally free, as do some minority religious communities, such as animists, Baha’is, and Catholics. However, ethnic minorities tend to experience greater incidences of discrimination and harassment on many levels, including religious freedom.  However, the government agency tasked with monitoring religious activity and carrying out government religious policy has engaged with religious groups and with international NGOs to better understand religious freedom and occasionally has intervened in cases of detention or property confiscation. Nevertheless, based on ongoing concerns, in 2015 USCIRF again places Laos on Tier 2, where it has been since 2009.

Although the Lao constitution protects freedom of religion or belief, conflicting government decrees and policies routinely result in religious freedoms limitations. More than two-thirds of the population are Buddhists, while Christians are believed to comprise less than two percent. Animism, ancestor worship, and other traditional beliefs are common among ethnic minorities, and there are several other religious minority groups in the country. The Lao government’s toleration of religious activity continues to vary by region, ethnicity, and religious group. Buddhism, which is deeply embedded in Lao culture and state functions and is practiced by the majority of the population, is now generally free from restrictive oversight. Lao Catholics have been allowed to build churches and, in the past several years, to ordain priests and the first new bishop since 1975. Lao Protestants in urban areas also have reported an increased ability to worship and to re-open, build, and expand some religious venues. The small Baha’i community also reports better working relations with government officials and an expansion of its facilities. Animism is practiced by most rural ethnic minority groups and, while not officially recognized, is often tolerated by provincial officials. Still, there are reports that the government discourages some animist practice viewed as dangerous or “superstitious” and actively promotes Buddhism as an alternative to traditional beliefs. The Lao Constitution provides for freedom of religion, but the Prime Minister’s 2002 Decree on Religious Practice (Decree 92) contains language allowing government control of, and interference in, religious activities. Religious leaders have reported that legally-permitted religious activities, such as proselytizing and producing religious materials, are restricted in practice. The Decree also includes cumbersome approval requirements for any religious activity. Some religious groups are unable to legally register under the Decree and have faced serious problems in the past. The Decree also contains vague prohibitions on activities that create “social division” or “chaos” and reiterates parts of the Lao criminal code arbitrarily used in the past to arrest and detain dissidents. Provincial officials routinely cite the social and familial divisions caused by the spread of Protestantism as justification for serious religious freedom abuses.

Conditions 2013–2015:During the reporting period, provincial officials violated the freedom of religion or belief of ethnic minority Protestants through detentions, surveillance, harassment, property confiscations, forced relocations, and forced renunciations of faith—though there were fewer reports of these abuses this year than last. Local officials in Phin and Atsaphagthong districts, Savannakhet province, attempted to force Protestants to renounce their faith by requiring them to partake in animist ceremonies. In Borikan district, Borikhamsai province, ethnic minority converts to Christianity were ordered to recant their faith or lose their property. In Sanamsai district, Attapeu province, officials forcibly relocated a couple for converting to Christianity. Also in the past year, Lao authorities released Khamsone Baccam, a Protestant leader who was arrested in 2007 for religious reasons, and Protestant pastors Yohan and Vanna, arrested in January 2011 in for holding Christmas celebrations. Lao Front for National Construction (LFNC) authorities also reportedly held a series of meetings with registered religious groups seeking input for possible revisions to Decree 92. In 2014, one of the most high-profile acts of discrimination against Lao Christians occurred in the remote village of Saisomboon in Savannakhet Province. A recent convert to Christianity was ill, and when she died in June 2014, her family obtained approval from the village chief to hold a Christian funeral. This approval was later revoked, and the family was forced to hold a Buddhist memorial and burial ceremony. More over, police arrested the family’s pastor and four other Christians for allegedly contributing to the woman’s death. In August 2014, the five Christians were found not guilty of murder. Despite their acquittal, all five remained in custody and faced new charges in February 2015, when a provincial court convicted them of practicing medicine without a license in connection with her death. Contrary to the charges, the five Christians deny administering medicine to the woman, stating instead that they prayed by her side. All five subsequently have been imprisoned and fined. Additionally, in late September 2014, also in Savannakhet Province, a Christian pastor and six parishioners were arrested following a worship service in the pastor’s home. Reportedly, local officials in Boukham Village had banned Christian worship gatherings and used the ban to justify arresting the seven Christians. The Christians spent a week in custody before being released.  Also in 2014, the central government banned all celebrations and observances of the Christmas holiday. The move was considered by some to be pointedly directed at ethnic minority Hmong Christians, who have been the target of government harassment for decades. There also were reports throughout 2014 of Christian families being forced from their homes for refusing to renounce Christianity. Six Christian families left their homes in Savannakhet Province following pressure in their village to convert to Buddhism, and another six Hmong Christian families in Bolikhamxay Province were forcibly evicted for refusing to renounce Christianity and convert to animism.

Civilian Freedom: Moreover, limitations on freedom of religion or belief take place in a climate where political space is largely limited. Civil society operates in a highly limited environment, and civil society and independent media face continued harassment and arbitrary arrest for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association, or assembly. The suspicious disappearance of civil society leader Sombath Somphone is emblematic. Sombath, a well-known human rights defender, has not been seen since he disappeared in December 2012 after being stopped and detained by police, and the government has produced no meaningful information about his whereabouts. The government also tightly controls the print and broadcast media and recently increased restrictions on expression on the Internet, with new legislation that criminalizes criticizing the government or ruling party or circulating false information online.

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