Statement at the 60th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council
Adoption of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) report of Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR)
Delivered by Olimjon Bakhtaliev
Mr. President,
CIVICUS, FORUM-ASIA and Amnesty International welcome Lao PDR’s engagement in the UPR. During the previous cycle, the country received 38 recommendations on civic space issues and supported 15 of them. However, in reality, the government has failed to implement any of the recommendations.
In this cycle, we note that Lao PDR received 24 recommendations on civic space. It supported seven recommendations but failed to accept 17 recommendations including to review and amend laws restricting fundamental freedoms, investigate all cases of enforced disappearances and prevent acts of intimidation and harassment against human rights defenders and journalists.
In recent years, our organisations have documented severe restrictions in laws imposed on civil society and cases of harassment, prosecution, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances and killings of human rights defenders. We have also seen restrictions in laws that criminalise freedom of expression, including by online critics, and the arbitrary detention of peaceful protesters, particularly in relation to land disputes.
We urge the government to take concrete steps to implement the UPR recommendations by repealing or amending Decree on Associations that imposes undue restrictions on CSOs as well as Decree No. 327, the Cybercrime Law and Article 117 of the Penal Code so they comply with the ICCPR. The government must immediately and unconditionally release all detained human rights defenders, ensure accountability for attacks on activists such as Anousa ‘Jack’ Luangsouphom, halt acts of transnational repression and undertake full, independent investigations into all unresolved cases of alleged enforced disappearances, including that of Sombath Somphone.
We thank you.
