Freedom in the World 1998 - Laos

1998 Scores

Status: Not Free
Freedom Rating: 6.5
Civil Liberties: 6
Political Rights: 7

Overview

In 1998, Laos was marked by changes in leadership, a downturn in its struggling economy, the death of an imprisoned political activist, and increased repression of religious freedoms.

This landlocked, mountainous Southeast Asian country became a French protectorate in 1893. In October 1953, following the Japanese occupation during World War II, the Communist Pathet Lao (Land of Lao) won independence from the French. Royalist, Communist, and conservative factions turned on each other in 1964. In May 1975, the Pathet Lao took the capital, Vientiane, from a royalist government and seven months later established a one-party state under Prime Minister Kaysone Phomvihane's Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP).

In theory, the 85 member National Assembly is elected for a five-year term and names the president. In reality, the parliamentary elections are tightly controlled, and the presidential election is decided by the LPRP leadership. The 1991 constitution codified the leading political role of the LPRP and transition to a limited market economy. Kaysone subsequently took over as president, while veteran revolutionary Khamtay Siphandone succeeded him as prime minister. The constitution also expanded the powers of the president, who heads the armed forces and can remove the prime minister.

Kaysone died in 1992. Assembly Speaker Nouhak Phoumsavan and Prime Minister Khamtay became state president and LPRP chairman, respectively. The government permitted pre-approved independents to compete for the first time in the December 1992 parliamentary elections. Four independents have won seats.

In March 1996, the sixth LPRP congress carried out personnel changes that continued a generational shift in leadership. But the congress also strengthened the military's political role and promoted several hard-liners who feared that privatization and other economic reforms could erode the LPRP's authority. At the December 21, 1997 parliamentary elections, the party's pre-approved roster of candidates supported old-guard conservatives over technocrats favoring market reforms.

In February 1998, the national assembly chose Khatmay to replace Nouhak as president. Former minister of agriculture and vice-president Sisvath Keobounphanh filled the vacated prime minister's seat. These changes continued the trend towards more conservative leadership in Laos.

The LPRP introduced market reforms in 1986 to revive an economy that had been decimated by a decade of central planning. The authorities have privatized farms and some state-owned enterprises, removed price controls, and encouraged foreign investment. By 1998, Thailand was the biggest source of foreign direct investment in Laos, pouring $3 billion into the country over the last ten years. Nonetheless, annual per capita-income in Laos for 1998 was $400. Fears of Thai economic hegemony along with continued poverty and international isolation led to the government's successful push for membership in the Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) in 1997. Since then, however, the government has been concerned that ASEAN may pressure Laos to abide by international legal and human rights standards. And ASEAN membership has done little to protect Laos from the Asian economic crisis. By June 1998, Laos' national currency, the kip, had depreciated 70 per cent to the dollar and inflation was 60 per cent annually. The economy's poor performance has increased government skepticism towards market reforms.

Political Rights and Civil Liberties

Laos is a one-party state controlled by the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, and citizens cannot change their government democratically. Opposition parties are not expressly banned, but in practice are not tolerated by the government.

Some elements of state control, including the widespread monitoring of civilians by police, have been relaxed in recent years. Domestic and international travel restrictions were eased in 1994. However, the security services still search homes without warrants, monitor some personal communications, and maintain neighborhood and workplace committees that inform on the population.

The rule of law is nonexistent. The judiciary is not independent of the government, and trials lack adequate procedural safeguards. Prison conditions are harsh.

In February 1998, one of three former government officials imprisoned in 1990 for advocating peaceful political reform died because he was denied medical treatment for diabetes. The two other men remain in prison. Most of the tens of thousands of people who were sent to "re-education" camps following the Communist victory in 1975 have been released. Unconfirmed reports, however, suggest that the regime may be holding several hundred political prisoners.

Although the constitution allows for freedom of speech and expression, they are extremely limited in practice. The government owns all newspapers and electronic media and uses them to spread state propaganda. The LPRP controls all associations, and the government does not permit independent elements of civil society. Political assemblies, except for those organized by the government, are usually prohibited. In February, however, 350 Hmong tribespeople protested in front of the U.S. embassy in Vientiane over land policy and did eventually win some concessions from the Laotian government.

The government's record on religious freedom took a turn for the worse in 1998. According to Open Doors International, Laos went from 23rd to seventh among the world's least tolerant countries for religious expression. Buddhists can generally worship freely, but the Catholic Church is unable to operate in the north. In January, a group of 44 Christians, including five citizens from France, the United States, and Thailand, was arrested for holding bible study classes. They were charged with carrying out unauthorized activities and using Christianity to slander government officials. The foreigners were deported. Ten Laotians were sentenced to one to three year prison terms. Three others received one year suspended sentences. The appeal of a former military officer who was charged with sedition for his work as a Christian activist in 1996 was rejected in January. He was then sent back to prison and has not been heard from since. Amnesty International estimated that at least two dozen people had been imprisoned in 1998 for either practicing their religious beliefs or associating with foreign religious organizations.

Women and members of minority groups are represented in the national assembly, although not proportionate to their overall presence in the population. There are no women and only a few minorities in the Politburo and Council of Ministers.

The Hmong, the largest of several hill tribes, have conducted a small-scale insurgency since the Communist takeover, although they have become less active in recent years. Both the Hmong guerrillas and the armed forces have previously been accused of occasional human rights violations in the context of the insurgency, including extra judicial killings. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is still investigating reports in July that the Laotian government had harassed Hmong tribes people returning from Thailand. Voluntary repatriation of Laotians from Thailand has been implemented with few problems since international accords closed Southeast Asian refugee camps in 1989.

A ministerial decree from 1990 allows for independent trade unions at private companies. These unions, however, are only permitted if they operate within the framework of the party-controlled Federation of Lao Trade Unions. There is no legal right to bargain collectively. The right to strike does exist, but sweeping bans on "subversive or destabilizing activities" prevent strikes from occurring.