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Amnesty International Report 2004 - Laos

Covering events from January - December 2003

The long-running armed conflict between government and ethnic Hmong forces, hidden from international scrutiny largely by restricted access, gained increased international attention following a visit to a rebel group hiding in the jungle by two foreign journalists. The subsequent publicity and embarrassment for the Lao authorities appeared to prompt a military crack-down, resulting in scores of reported civilian casualties. At the same time, armed opposition forces increased deliberate or indiscriminate bombings in areas crowded with civilians and on civilian buses. Responsibility for these attacks was unclear as several armed opposition groups appeared to be active including ethnic Hmong insurgents. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) comprehensively criticized the country's civil and political human rights record in August. Lack of freedom of expression, the administration of justice and corruption in the judicial sector remained of serious concern.

Background

Laos continued to delay ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which it signed in December 2000. It is ranked as one of the world's poorest countries and is reported to be the third largest producer of opium in the world. Tourism is a mainstay of economic activity. Major infrastructure projects receiving international assistance included a large dam project to provide hydro-electric power to neighbouring Thailand, and the construction through Laos of a highway linking China with Thailand.

Bilateral meetings and assistance projects, including on defence and security, continued with Viet Nam and increased with China. The powerful Hmong lobby in the USA raised human rights concerns and issues of religious freedom when the US government moved towards normalizing trade relations to underpin its policy of engagement with Laos.

New ministers and provincial governors were appointed in a government reshuffle in January. In October, Bouasone Bouphavanh was made Deputy Prime Minister, responsible for internal affairs. He was reportedly also in charge of security, at a time of mounting tension over insurgencies.

Arrests and harassment of members of unauthorized Christian churches reportedly continued. Verifiable information about religious persecution and other human rights violations was extremely difficult to obtain because of official restrictions on freedom of expression and lack of access by independent human rights monitors.

The Lao authorities continued to seek the extradition from Thailand of 16 Lao nationals alleged to be members of an opposition group involved in an armed attack in Champassak province in 2000, despite a surprising Thai court decision in June turning down the extradition request on unclear grounds.

Ethnic Hmong conflict

In January two Australian journalists visited an ethnic Hmong rebel group that had fought the authorities since the fall of the previous Lao government in 1975. Their reports brought the long-running insurgency by ethnic Hmong and other minority groups into the international spotlight. The Lao authorities appeared to react by increasing military pressure on isolated rebel groups that included large numbers of children, women, people with disabilities and the chronically sick. Such groups rely on foraging for food, and the military stranglehold reportedly led to scores of civilian deaths from starvation and disease, including at least 200 women and children.

In August, Laos came up for periodic examination by CERD. The Committee called for the office of the UN Secretary-General to take further measures including the despatch of a mission "to assist [Laos] in honouring its obligations to protect human rights and to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination". In response to the recommendations and reports of increasing civilian casualties, UN agencies in Laos reportedly tried to gain access to rebel groups to provide desperately needed humanitarian assistance, including food and medicines.

Detention conditions

There was no indication that appalling conditions of detention reported in previous years had improved significantly. Widespread torture and ill-treatment continued to be reported. In one case, prison guards reportedly burned a detainee's testicles. In general, detainees, particularly those without family support, lacked medical care and sufficient food. Detainees suffering from mental illness were particularly harshly treated. Much of the violence between detainees in detention facilities was said to be instigated by guards. In one reported case, the dates of birth of two ethnic Hmong minors were falsified so that they could be detained as adults. Evidence continued to suggest that ethnic Hmong prisoners received harsher treatment than other inmates.

• Pa Fue Khang and Thao Moua were driver and guide respectively to two European journalists and their US interpreter who, with a number of Lao nationals, were arrested in early June after they visited an encampment of ethnic Hmong rebels and their families in Xieng Khouang province. International pressure secured the swift release of the foreign nationals after they were sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment following a grossly unfair two-hour trial that appeared to be politically motivated. They were convicted of obstructing an official, collaboration in the commission of an offence, possession of firearms and explosives, possession of drugs, destruction of evidence and attempting to flee. At the same trial Pa Fue Khang and Thao Moua were sentenced to 15 and 12 years' imprisonment respectively after being convicted on the same charges. Unlike the foreign nationals, they were not allowed legal representation. They were still imprisoned at the end of 2003. The Lao nationals among the group were reportedly shackled in leg irons after their arrest, beaten with sticks and bicycle chains by the police and one of them was knocked unconscious. The fate of at least one other Hmong detainee reportedly arrested at the same time was unclear.

Political prisoners

Official secrecy about political imprisonment continued. The collection of independent and impartial information remained hampered by lack of access to the country and restrictions on freedom of expression.

• Khamtanh Phousy, a prisoner of conscience, was released in April after completing a seven-year prison sentence imposed following his conversion to Christianity and because of his contacts with people abroad.

• During the course of the year conflicting information emerged regarding the fate of five prisoners of conscience imprisoned since 1999. All members of the Lao Students' Movement for Democracy, they were arrested after attempting to hold a peaceful demonstration in Vientiane in October 1999 to call for respect for human rights, the release of political prisoners, a multi-party political system and elections for a new National Assembly. In reply to appeals from AI members, the authorities said that three of them – Thongpaseuth Keuakoun, Khamphouvieng Sisaath and Seng-Aloun Phengphanh – had been convicted of treason and sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment, and that two others, Phavanh Chittiphong and Khamlane Kanhot, had been convicted of a "subversive attempt against the nation" and sentenced to five years' imprisonment each. Unofficial sources reported that the five had been sentenced to life imprisonment, or, alternatively, that some of the group had died in custody. The authorities disputed the identity of Bouavanh Chanhmanivong and Keochay, two others reportedly detained with the group in 1999.

• Prisoners of conscience Feng Sakchittaphong and Latsami Khamphoui, both 62-year-old former government officials, remained in Prison Camp 7 in a remote area of Houa Phan province. They had been arrested in 1990 after advocating peaceful political and economic change and were sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment in 1992 under national security legislation after an unfair trial. Their conditions of detention remained extremely harsh, with access to their families severely restricted.

• Sing Chanthakoummane and Pangtong Chokbengboun continued to be imprisoned at Prison Camp 7. They had been arrested in 1975 and detained without charge or trial for 17 years, for "re-education", before they were sentenced to life imprisonment after an unfair trial in 1992.

Death penalty

Twenty-seven people were reportedly sentenced to death during the year, at least four for drug-related offences. No executions were reported. A number of offences remained punishable by the death penalty, but no executions are known to have been carried out for over 10 years.

Topics: Hmong,