Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1986
LAOS
The Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR) is ruled by a
Communist Government established in December 1975 after an
insurgency of 20 years supported by North Vietnam. The sole
political party, the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP),
takes its political ideology from Marx, Lenin, and Ho Chi
Minh. It is dependent on Vietnamese and Soviet military and
economic support to retain power. Laos' approximately 3.6
million ethnically diverse people, scattered over more than
91,000 square miles of rugged terrain, have no common national
history and share few traditions. National institutions
remain weak. The Fourth Party Congress held in November 1986
failed to indicate the status of preparations of a
constitution or even to repeat the 1982 Congress' goal to
draft one as soon as possible. There is no codified body of
law. No national elections have been held since the
establishment of the regime.
The Government is seeking to establish a Communist political
and economic structure largely based on the Soviet and
Vietnamese models. Laos' geographical position among far
larger and mutually hostile neighbors, plus the incursions of
resistance groups across the country's long and hardly
defensible lines of communication, have imposed something of a
siege mentality on the narrowly based Lao leadership. In
1986, however, the impact of regional tensions on Laos
lessened, and by late in the year there were indications that
the Lao were seeking to improve relations with both Thailand
and China.
The Lao Government continues to be faced with a number of
resistance groups seeking its overthrow, but they do not
currently appear to present a serious threat. The
approximately 50,000 Vietnamese troops in Laos regularly
conduct operations with the Lao People's Army (LPA) against
resistance groups and serve as the ultimate guarantor of the
Government's survival. The state security apparatus, which
reinforces central control through threats, intimidation,
fear, and imprisonment is a primary source of human rights
abuses .
Laos is an extremely poor, underdeveloped country. Although
it apparently met its food needs with a successful 1985/86
crop year, nutritional levels remain barely adequate.
Government intervention in general has led to various supply
shortages and disruptions.
Human rights violations continued in 1986, and the individual
remained subject to the arbitrary control of the State and the
LPRP. Compared with the period just after the Communist
takeover, there have been very limited improvements in the
human rights situation. In 1986 some people were released
from reeducation camps, and the conditions of some who remain
under detention reportedly improved. However, serious abuses
such as arbitrary arrests and detention without trial
continue. Government controls and pressures against private
economic activity continue, although the Fourth Party Congress
endorsed continuing use of the "positive" elements of the
private sector for furthering economic development.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
Freedom from:
a. Political Killing
There have been reports that Lao government and Vietnamese
patrols have fatally shot persons fleeing from Laos and those
entering the country illegally, usually smugglers or suspected
members of the Lao resistance, but in recent years such
reports have decreased. Refugee reports of toxic weapon use
by government or Vietnamese forces against villagers have
virtually ceased.
One incident which received international attention involved
the killing by Lao forces on June 14, 1986, of 35 persons in a
settlement in Ban Huai Pong, Thailand, just across the
border. Complete details still are unavailable, but it
appears certain that elements of the LPA entered Thailand at
that time and massacred noncombatants , including women and
children; allegedly, the motivation arose out of a local
vendetta .
An unknown number of people are killed annually in combined
Lao/Vietnamese military operations against resistance forces.
Many of the insurgents appear to be former Royal Lao Army
troops and Hmong tribesmen. Both sides are reported to use
brutal tactics, with the antigovernment forces attempting
assassination and ambush of Lao, Vietnamese, and other
Communist military and civilian personnel. There are also
recurrent reports of attacks by bandit groups in isolated or
interior areas on vehicles bearing government officials and on
civilian buses. Official policy calls for the execution of
resistance leaders, but no such executions were reported in
1986.
b. Disappearance
Although there were numerous cases of secret arrest and
removal of persons to "reeducation" camps in the first years
of the present regime, disappearance has been reported only
infrequently in the last several years and not at all in 1986.
c. Torture and Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment
A relatively small number of "reeducation" prisoners continue
to be held in harsh conditions. Former prisoners have
reported that punishment for misbehavior could include brutal
public beatings, shackling, deprivation of food, and
sometimes, for those who tried to escape, execution. Some
inmates have died from malnutrition. Lao government officials
have publicly denied reports of mistreatment of persons in
"reeducation camps."
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
The Lao Government continues to maintain a number of
"reeducation camps" in which persons associated with the
previous Government are imprisoned. Firm figures are
unavailable, but detainees likely number over 1,000.
Since 1979 conditions in most of the "reeducation" camps have
improved, and a number of camps reportedly have been closed.
Most detainees now live in a kind of internal exile with
severe restrictions on their freedom of movement. Generally,
these conditions are no worse than those of poor Lao living in
the countryside. Many reportedly have been assigned to
collective farms or construction units inside their former
camps. Some are on probation or cannot arrange necessary
travel documents. Others who have lost property and families
are reported to have chosen to remain in areas near the camps
to begin new lives. In its 1986 Report, Amnesty
International, citing an internal Lao government estimate,
asserted that 5,000 people remained in "reeducation," and it
continued to work on behalf of 40 persons confined in
"reeducation camps."
In 1986 government officials claimed, as they had in 1985,
that nearly all soldiers and officials sent to "reeducation
camps" in 1975-76 had been "released" and that "only a few"
people remained under detention. In 1986 the Governinent
permitted at least 85, and possibly as many as 119,
"reeducation camp" prisoners to return to Vientiane.
Those accused of hostility to the regime or of what the
Government calls "socially undesirable habits," such as
prostitution, drug abuse, idleness, and "wrong thought," are
sent to "rehabilitation" centers, usually without trial. Most
of these persons have been allowed to return to their homes
after periods ranging from a few months to several years of
hard labor, political indoctrination, and admission of guilt.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
No code of law exists in Laos, and there is no guarantee of
due process. In addition to working on the rehabilitation of
the court system, the Government in the last year transferred
some personnel with legal backgrounds to the Justice Ministry,
reportedly to speed up the revision of the pre-1975 law code.
It has promulgated interim rules and regulations for the
arrest and trial of those accused of specific crimes,
including armed resistance to the Government. Although the
regulations allow an accused person to make a statement
presenting his side of the case, they provide no real
opportunity for the accused to defend himself and do not
permit bail or use of an attorney. Rather, the Government has
issued instructions on how to investigate, prosecute, and
punish wrongdoers. These instructions are applied
capriciously and inconsistently. People can be arrested on
the unsupported accusations of others and detained while the
accusations are being investigated, without being informed of
the charges or the identity of the person making the
accusations. Investigations often take a long time unless
family members and friends take a strong interest in the
case. Government officials and their families easily can
influence the judgments reached. There is some provision for
appeal, although important political cases tried by "people's
courts" are without an appeals process. Death sentences must
be approved by the Council of Ministers. Lao regulations call
for judgment to be given in public. This is, in effect, a
public announcement of the sentence and not a public trial.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence
Search and seizure are authorized by the security bureaus
themselves rather than by an impartial judicial authority, and
government regulations, which are not always followed, provide
little protection for the persons affected. International and
domestic mail is selectively opened on a routine basis. Mail
from China and non-Communist countries is particularly
suspect. Telephone calls frequently are monitored. Privately
owned land may not be sold but may be inherited. Houses,
appliances, and other private property can be sold only with
difficulty in most cases, since the possession of large
amounts of cash in this poor country draws immediate
government suspicion. Inheritances cannot be passed on to
relatives who have left the country as refugees and acc[uired
another nationality.
The Government makes no attempt to stop Lao from listening to
foreign radio stations such as the Voice of America, nor from
setting up antennas to bring in Thai television from across
the Mekong River. The state security apparatus monitors
family life extensively through a system of neighborhood
wardens and informers .
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
The Lao press, owned by the Government and the LPRP, is
dedicated to the dissemination of the official line. Only
government officials and others whom the Government determines
have a professional need are authorized to possess
non-Communist foreign newspapers, magazines, and other
publications. Neither written nor spoken expressions of
opposition to the Government are permitted. Persons who have
engaged in such activity have been imprisoned. Most Lao are
discouraged from serious discussion or association with
foreigners. Academic freedom does not exist.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
The Government controls all meetings and, except for
religious, athletic, and communal events, organizes them.
Individuals do not have the right to join together to promote
nonregime-sponsored activities nor to protest government
policies. All associations — such as those for youth, women,
workers, and a "peace organization" — are government-controlled
and authorized "mass organizations." These are organized to
exercise government control and disseminate government
policy. All professional groups are organized by the party,
and their leadership is ordinarily drawn from party ranks.
Lao associations are permitted to maintain relations with
like-minded politically acceptable organizations in other
countries, particularly those in Communist countries.
Ordinary Lao citizens are permitted association or contact
with foreigners only in unusual circumstances, usually
involving their work.
Trade unions are organized as "mass organizations" of the
party without the right to engage in collective bargaining.
They have no real influence in determining working conditions.
c. Freedom of Religion
Nearly all Lao are Buddhists or, in the case of most hill
tribesmen, animists. In official statements, the Government
has recognized the right of the people to free exercise of
religious belief as well as the contributions religion can
make to the development of the country.
Many Lao believe, however, that the Government is engaged in a
long-term effort to subvert the role of religion because it
considers the maintenance of temples and the activities of
monks nonproductive and because it objects to an active group
with an independent system of beliefs. This effort includes
carefully controlling the education of young monks and
compelling the Buddhist clergy to propagate elements of
Marxist-Leninist doctrine. Further, since 1975, the
Government has periodically taken over Buddhist and Christian
places of worship for use as government schools, offices, fire
and police stations, as well as political indoctrination
centers and warehouses. While some limited restoration and
construction of Buddhist temples has resumed, at least in the
Vientiane area, this practice is seriously discouraged by the
Government .
In spite of these efforts, monks remain the only social group
still entitled to special honorific terms of address, and even
high party and government officials continue to use them. Lao
Buddhist clergy were prominently featured among those invited
to attend the opening session of the Fourth Party Congress.
Religious festivals are permitted to take place without
hindrance. Young people regularly enter into religious orders
for short periods.
Links may be maintained with coreligionists and religious
associations in other countries only in cases approved by the
Government, usually other Communist countries. Most
traditional links to Thai Buddhists have been severed,
although the Lao did host a leftist 10-member Thai Buddhist
delegation in February. Missionaries are not formally banned
from entering Laos to proselytize, but in most cases they are
denied permission. Many top party officials still participate
in religious ceremonies, but members of the military are
forbidden even to have Buddhist funerals.
Roman Catholics and Protestants are permitted to worship, but
the activities of their churches are closely observed. A few
church leaders remained under detention, either without being
charged or for alleged antiregime activity.
Since 1975 Christians have not been permitted to operate
schools, seminaries, or associations, although a Catholic
priest was ordained in 1986 after private study, and some
short-term training sessions for local Protestant church
leaders have been permitted. In Vientiane during August 1986,
50 Lao children received confirmation in the Catholic church.
Overseas Catholic church officials visited Laos in 1986 to
meet with local church leaders as well as government officials.
The Government takes steps including the use of media to
persuade hill tribe minority groups to abandon their "old
fashioned" animist beliefs.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
Lao citizens must obtain permission from the authorities for
all internal travel of any distance and in all cases when
crossing provincial boundaries. Non-Lao residents in
Vientiane must in principle obtain permission to travel
outside it, and in practice, except for nationals of a very
few other countries, such permission is rarely granted. A
curfew is enforced intermittently in the capital and other
major cities. Its rules change from time to time, often
without notice. Government officials have cited threats of
"disorders" created by "reactionary elements" as the reason
for the restrictions.
Foreign travel is permitted for officials, students in
government-approved programs, and some others who have access
to foreign exchange. Lao rarely are permitted to study or
train in non-Communist countries, even at their own expense.
Exit visas, which are required, have been difficult to obtain
in the past, but for some classes of applicants, especially
the elderly, the process seems to be getting easier. Since
1983 the number of Lao travelling to the West has increased.
Border crossing permits are available for those with business
in Thailand. Such permits, however, may be denied if the
Government finds the business unnecessary.
Although the Government has said that those wishing to
emigrate will be allowed to do so, as a practical matter legal
emigration is rarely authorized for ethnic Lao and, when it
is, reportedly requires substantial bribes. Since 1975 over
300,000 of the Lao who have fled Laos have registered as
refugees in Thailand. An unknown number of other Lao who have
fled the country have simply settled in with kindred ethnic
groups .
Some of those fleeing are fired upon and killed by Lao or
Vietnamese border patrols as they attempt to cross the Mekong
River. Government authorities have imprisoned many Lao
seeking to leave the country illegally, although in some cases
they have only been sent to short indoctrination seminars and
then released.
The Lao and Thai Governments have agreed to take back, on a
case-by-case basis, those of their respective citizens who
have illegally crossed into the other country and now wish to
return home. Since May 1980, when agreement was reached with
Thailand and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) on a voluntary repatriation program, some 3,000 Lao
voluntarily have returned to Laos under the auspices of the
UNHCR. Those accepted for return receive several days of
political indoctrination and then are released to return to
their homes, where they are placed under the control of
village authorities. The UNHCR provides basic necessities for
the returnees and monitors their treatment and living
conditions thereafter. In addition, perhaps as many as 10,000
individuals have repatriated themselves without official
involvement. There appears to be no pattern of official
harassment or maltreatment of these voluntary returnees.
The LPDR also has agreed in principle to take back Lao in
Thailand whom the Thai have determined do not meet the
requirements for refugee status. Procedures for the return of
these Lao were being worked out in late 1986 with the help of
the UNHCR.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens
to Change Their Government
Laos is ruled by a small elite of the LPRP, the sole party.
There is neither freedom to participate in politics outside
the party nor popular choice of policies or officials. After
the Communists seized power in May 1975, but before the
establishment of the present regime in December of that year,
local elections were held in which voters chose from a list of
candidates selected by the party. Reportedly, those local
officials not only constituted the National Council of
People's Representatives, which proclaimed the LPDR, but also
chose the Supreme People's Assembly, although the latter
process was not publicized. There have been no national
elections. A few "by-elections" have been organized to
replace representatives who have died or been transferred.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
of Human Rights
Laos has refused to cooperate with the UN Secretary General's
investigation of the use of chemical/toxin weapons in Laos.
It also does not cooperate with private international
organizations interested in human rights. It does
occasionally permit visits by officials of international human
rights organizations if the purpose of the visit is not
specifically related to allegations of human rights
violations. In the past, the Lao Government has permitted the
UNHCR to investigate to a limited degree the status of Lao
voluntarily repatriated from Thailand. In both 1985 and 1986,
the Lao received a brief visit from a high UNHCR official.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
Language, or Social Status
Traditionally, women in Lao society have been subservient to
men and often discouraged from obtaining an education. Today
the active. Government-controlled Lao Women's Federation has
as one of its stated goals the achievement of rights for women
"equal" to those of men. The Government claims that a higher
percentage of women make up the school population now than
before 1975, and women are being encouraged to assume a
greater role in economic and state-controlled political
activity.
Approximately half of the population in Laos is ethnic Lao,
also called "lowland Lao"; 20 percent are tribal Thai; 15
percent are Phoutheung (or Kha); and other mountain tribes
constitute another 15 percent (Hmong, Yao, and others). The
Lao Government is attempting to integrate these groups and
overcome traditional antagonisms between lowland Lao and
minority groups.
The Hmong are split on clan lines. Many were strongly
anti-Communist; others sided with the Communist Pathet Lao and
the Vietnamese. The Government is repressive toward all
groups that fought against it, especially those continuing to
resist its authority by force. The Hmong tried to defend some
of their tribal areas after 1975 and some continue to support
anti-LPDR resistance groups. Vietnamese and Lao armed forces
conduct military operations against both resistance groups,
the tribally based ones in the north and the resistance forces
from lowland Lao groups, mainly in southern Laos.
The Government wants to resettle in the lowlands some ethnic
minorities who now inhabit mountainous areas. After
resettlement they would be under closer government control and
engage in settled agricultural production rather than
destructive slash-and-burn techniques. For this purpose, the
Government has reportedly abandoned the use of force in favor
of a voluntary program based on material inducements. The
situation for local ethnic Chinese has been marked by
Government suspicion and surveillance in the period after 1979
when Sino-Lao relations deteriorated seriously. These
relations appear to be on the mend after a recent Chinese vice
ministerial visit which should improve the atmosphere for the
approximately 3,000 Chinese who remain in Laos. A majority of
the Chinese community departed in the post-1975 period,
largely for economic reasons. Those who remain have
maintained Chinese schools in Vientiane and Savannakhet and
Chinese associations in several provincial capitals.
CONDITIONS OF LABOR
Laos has set neither minimum wage, maximum workweek, nor
safety or health standards for the workers in its almost
entirely rural and agricultural economy. Public wages in
particular remain extremely low. Workweeks typically are
under 48 hours, with some exceptions, such as during urgent
road-building or construction projects. Workplace conditions
are not systematically exploitative, but they sometimes fail
to protect workers adequately against sickness or accident.
Work permits customarily are not issued to persons under age
18, although children frequently work with their parents in
traditional occupations such as farming and shopkeeping.
