A-sing village, Samuay district, Savannakhet province, Lao PDR | Human Rights Watcher for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF) | Advocacy Alert No. 02/2024 | March 17, 2024
On October 29, 2023 (local time), the authorities of A-sing village, Samuay district, Savannakhet province, dismantled the home (house) of four Lao orphans because they followed their father in turning from their animistic religion to the Christian faith. On March 3, 2017, the orphans, led by their father, chose to exercise their right and religious freedom to follow the Christian faith after the death of their mother. Later, their father passed away on February 23, 2022.
Then on October 29, 2023, a year and eight months after their father’s death, the village authorities took action against them on the account of their Christian faith by destroying their house, banishing them from the village, and forcing them to fight for their survival in the forest. The orphans made a temporary shelter from the pastic sheet they took with them and lived in the forest for one month before they returned to the village on their own risk and, with the encouragement from other Lao Christians, they repaired their home that was destroyed by the authorities. Now they are still continuing living in the village under ongoing threats from officials due to their Christian faith.
The four orphans are as follows:
- Win, male, age 22, oldest of the children
- Wia, male, age 13, second child
- Wen, female, age 10, third child
- Baeke, female, age 7, youngest child
The Lao Constitution, article 30, recognizes the RIGHT and FREEDOM of the Lao citizens “to believe or not to believe in religions.”
The UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares: “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief.”
The UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), article 18 (para. 1), specifies: “Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include freedom to have or adopt a religion or belief of his choice.”
The UN Declaration of the General Assembly, 1981, article 1 (para. 1), demands: “Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include freedom to have a religion or whatever belief of his choice.”
The UN Human Rights Committee, general comment 22, explains: “Article 18 does not permit any limitations whatsoever on the freedom of thought and conscience or the freedom to have or adopt a religion or belief of one’s choice [para. 1]…the Committee observes that the freedom to “have or to adopt” a religion or belief necessarily entails the freedom to choose a religion or belief, including the right to replace one’s current religion or belief with another or to adopt atheistic views, as well as the right to retain one’s religion or belief [para. 5].”
The Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by Lao PDR in 1991, article 2 (para. 3) states: “States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that the child is protected against all forms of discrimination or punishment on the basis of the status, activities, expressed opinions, or beliefs of the child’s parents, legal guardians, or family members.” Article 6 (para. 2) stipulates: “States Parties shall ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of the child.” Article 14, para. 1 further demands of the Lao government: “States Parties shall respect the right of the child to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.” Article 16, para. 1 and 2 requires of the Lao government: “No child shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his or her honour and reputation…The child has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.” Article 37, para. 1 (a) imposes on Lao PDR: “States Parties shall ensure that no child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
The Lao government is a party to all the agreements/declarations above.
The right to have, adopt, change, or replace religion or belief is an “absolute” right not to be subjected to any restriction, and limitations cannot be allowed, even for maintaining public order. In addition to the Lao government’s duty to respect every Lao person’s “absolute” right to have, adopt, change, or replace religion or belief, they are also obligated to prevent any religious right violation from non-government, or private, actors.
The Lao government is duty-bound to protect the Lao villagers who have adopted, changed, or replaced their former religion or belief with the new Christian faith. They are obligated to protect the Lao Christian believers from acts of aggression from government officials or other villagers based on their decision to have or adopt the Christian religion or belief.
Furthermore, article 2 (para. 3 [a]), ICCPR provides that States should “ensure that any person whose rights or freedoms as herein recognized are violated shall have an effective remedy, notwithstanding that the violation has been committed by persons acting in an official capacity.”
The HRWLRF urges the Lao government to respect the Lao Constitution and the Lao government-ratified UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and fulfill their duties as follows:
- To respect the freedom of religion or belief of the Lao Christians, in particular the four orphans, in A-sing village, Samuay district, Savannakhet province, to their adoption and practice of the Christian religion or belief,
- To protect the A-sing village Christians from all acts of aggression from the village authorities, in particular the destruction of the home of the four orphans and their banishment from the village,
- To investigate this incident of human rights violation per ICCPR, article 18 (para. 1), and per CRC, articles 2 (para. 3), 6 (para. 2), 14 (para. 1), 16 (para. 1 & 2), and 37 (para. 1).
- To punish the village authorities responsible for the acts of aggression against this Lao Christian family,
- To ensure effective remedy whereby the local officials’ human rights violations and discrimations with regard to freedom of religion or belief and child protection in A-sing village are ceased and the damage to the orphans is compensated,
- To ensure protection and safety for the orphans, especially the three orphans under the age of 18, and,
- To promote the freedom of religion or belief for the orphans and other Christians in A-sing village and throughout Samuay district.
Additionally, the HRWLRF is calling upon the UN Human Rights Committee, UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, and UN Special Rapporteur on Child Protection to hold the government of Lao PDR accountable for their violations and compliance according to the Declaration, Covenants, and Guidelines referenced above.
