Laos launches all-out attack on civil society
The harsh prison sentences handed down to three Lao government critics are a shocking reminder of Vientiane’s intolerance for any form of peaceful dissent. The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and its Lao affiliate reiterate their call for the authorities to immediately and unconditionally release the three.
“By locking up dissidents for up to two decades, the Lao government has abandoned any pretence of compliance with the country’s international human rights obligations. It’s time for the international community to drop the diplomatic niceties and condemn the Lao government’s latest attack on civil society in the strongest possible terms,” said FIDH president Dimitris Christopoulos.
According to information received by LMHR, in early April, Somphone Phimmasone, 30, and Soukan Chaithad, 33, were sentenced to 20 and 18 years in prison respectively. Lodkham Thammavong, in her early 30s, received a 12 year-prison sentence. The three are currently detained in Samkhe prison, on the eastern outskirts of Vientiane.
Due to the difficulty of obtaining and verifying information in Laos, it was not immediately clear on what exact day Somphone, Soukan and Lodkham had been sentenced or what charges they had been found guilty of.
“The imprisonment of Somphone, Soukan and Lodkham sends a chilling message across Lao civil society that the government is determined to crush the slightest sign of activism and opposition to its authoritarian rule,” said LMHR president Vanida Thephsouvanh.
The arrest of Somphone, Soukan and Lodkham was due to their repeated criticism of the Lao government while they were working in Thailand. The three had posted numerous messages on Facebook that criticised the government in relation to alleged corruption, deforestation and human rights violations. On December 2 2015, Lodkham, Somphone and Soukan were among a group of about 30 people who protested against their government in front of the Lao embassy in Bangkok.
The trio was arrested in March 2016 after returning to Laos from Thailand to apply for passports in order to re-enter Thailand and obtain the necessary documents to work legally. On March 4 that year, police arrested Lodkham and Somphone at Lodkham’s family home in Nong Bok District, Khammuan Province. Soukan was arrested three weeks’ later at the Lao Ministry of Public Security head office in Savannakhet City.
On May 25 2016, state-run TV showed Somphone, Soukan and Lodkham in custody at police headquarters in Vientiane. The news report said the three had been arrested for threatening national security by using social media to tarnish the government’s reputation.
FIDH is the International Federation for Human Rights. LMHR (the Lao Movement for Human Rights) is its member organisation for Laos.
