U.S. Department of State Country Reports on Terrorism 2006 - Laos

Although the Government of Laos had positive intentions regarding counterterrorism, weak enforcement procedures, inefficient security organizations, and a fundamental misunderstanding of how its law applies to the UNSC counterterrorism conventions, all served to hamper the implementation of multilateral agreements. Border security was negligible. Since 2002, Laos consistently denounced international terrorism and expressed a willingness to cooperate with the international community on counterterrorism. Its actions, however, have mostly been disappointing, due to both a lack of resources and an attitude among Lao officials that Laos could not become a target of international terrorism. In spite of the presence of a domestic insurgency that has employed terrorist tactics, such as ambushing civilian buses and bombing civilian targets, Lao officials at many levels saw terrorism as an issue of only marginal relevance to Laos; they believed that Laos, as a small and neutral country, would not be targeted by international terrorists.

The Bank of Laos vetted government and commercial bank holdings for possible terrorist assets, as identified by U.S.-provided lists of terrorist organizations and individuals, and has issued freeze orders for assets of organizations and individuals named on these lists. However, the Bank has yet to require the freezing of assets of individuals and entities included on the UN 1267 Sanctions Committee consolidated list.

In accordance with its obligations under UNSCR 1373, the Bank of Lao issued freeze orders for assets of organizations and individuals named in lists provided by the United States. Lao authorities issued orders limiting the amount of cash that could be withdrawn from local banks or carried into or out of the country and strengthened reporting requirements of state and privately owned commercial banks. Banking regulation remained extremely weak, however, and the banking system was vulnerable to money laundering and other illegal transactions.

Laos does not have a separate counterterrorism law, but the Lao judicial system was prepared to prosecute acts of terrorism as serious crimes under the Lao criminal code, and recent amendments to the criminal code sought to strengthen counterterrorism sanctions. Still, a November UN-sponsored workshop on counterterrorism illustrated a myriad of shortcomings and vagaries in the theoretical application of the Lao criminal code to deal with terrorism-related crimes, and successful prosecution under these laws is speculative.

Laos' border security was weak; border officials could not effectively control access to the country even at its most sophisticated border checkpoints. Border crossing along the Mekong River into the surrounding countries of Burma, Thailand, and Cambodia could be accomplished easily and without detection. In more remote sections of the country, along borders with Vietnam and China, it is likely that unmonitored border crossings by locals occurred on a daily basis. Since 9/11, Lao authorities have strengthened airport security, but security procedures at both airport and land immigration points remained lax compared with most other countries in the region. In addition, official Lao identity documents, including passports and ID cards, were easy to purchase from corrupt officials. Laos has a small insurgency numbering perhaps 1,000 to 2,000 persons, including women and children, based in very remote areas of north/central Laos.