Registration or Legal Status of Religious Groups in Member Nations, including LAOS, By Human Rights Council
During the Nineteenth Session of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council on December 22, 2011, the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief made recommendations to all member states, including LAOS, regarding legal status of religious groups in member nations:
(1) States should systematically ground any activities in the area of religion or belief in a clear understanding of the due respect for every person’s freedom of religion or belief as a universal human right based on the inherent dignity of all members of the human family;
(2) States should refrain from exercising pressure on religious or belief groups whose members prefer not to be registered as legal entities under domestic law;
(3) States should instruct members of law enforcement and other State agencies that religious activities of non-registered religious or belief communities are not illegal, as the status of freedom of religion or belief prevails over any acts of State registration;
(4) States should offer appropriate options and procedures for religious or belief communities to achieve a status of legal personality if they so wish. Administrative procedures for obtaining such a status should be enacted in a spirit of servicing the full enjoyment of freedom of religion or belief for everyone and should thus be quick, transparent, fair, inclusive and non-discriminatory;
(5) All registration decisions must be based on clearly defined formal elements of law and in conformity with international law. Registration should neither depend on extensive formal requirements in terms of the number of members and the time a particular community has existed, nor should it depend on the review of the substantive content of the belief, the structure of the community and methods of appointment of the clergy;
(6) States should ensure that no religious community has, de jure or de facto, the possibility to exercise a “veto” or otherwise influence the decision to register or not to register another religious or belief group;
(7) States have to provide effective legal remedies for individuals or groups complaining about the denial or arbitrary delay of registration as a legal personality;
(8) States should refrain from arbitrarily stripping certain religious or belief communities of legal status positions they had possessed before as an instrument of exercising control or marginalizing groups deemed not to fit into the cultural make-up of the country;
(9) When offering a privileged legal status position for certain religious or belief communities or other groups, such a specific status should be accorded in strict conformity with the principle of non-discrimination and should fully respect the right to freedom of religion or belief of all human beings;
(10) Any specific status positions given by the State to certain religious or belief communities or other groups should never be instrumentalized for purposes of national identity politics, as this may have detrimental effects on the situation of individuals from minority communities
LAOS: Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Heiner Bielefeldt (2011)
Addendum | Summary of cases transmitted to Governments and replies received*
(A/HRC/16/53/Add.1 | United Nations General Assembly | Distr.: General, 14 February 2011, English/French only | Human Rights Council, Sixteenth session, Agenda item 3 | Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development)
LAO PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
Urgent appeal sent on 12 February 2010 jointly with the Special Rapporteur on the right to food
(a) Allegations transmitted to the Government
268. The Special Procedures mandate holders brought to the attention of the Government information regarding regarding the situation of the members of 11 Christian families from Katin village of Ta-Oyl district in Saravan province, Lao People’s Democratic Republic.
269. According to the information received, on 10 January 2010, approximately 100 people, consisting of villagers and local officials, including the village chief, an official from the Lao Front for National Construction (LFNC), district police and village policemen, disturbed the Sunday morning worship service of the Christian community in Katin village of Ta-Oyl district, Saravan province. With guns pointed at the worshippers’ heads, these officials allegedly forced all members of the 11 Christian families present, including children, out of their place of worship to an open field in the village. Subsequently, the officials seized the personal belongings of the Christians from 11 homes and destroyed 6 of their homes. While they did not manage to persuade the Christians to renounce their faith, the officials forced the Christians to walk six kilometers away from their homes and then left them on the side of the road. Unable to return to their home village due to police posted at the entrance of Katin village, the Christians, including women and 27 children, have been sleeping on the ground in the woods with no food and shelter.
270. Around 18 January 2010, the Saravan provincial LFNC official and the Ta-Oyl district official met with the members of the 11 Christian families and tried to persuade them to renounce their faith. The two officials argued that neither the 56 villages in Ta-Oyl district nor the officials want Christians to reside in the district. However, the Christians confirmed their faith and emphasized that since they believe in God they no longer had to participate in any animal sacrifice as animist believers would do. The two officials then prohibited the members of the 11 Christian families from returning to their home village.
271. On 9 February 2010, the Deputy Head of Ta-Oyl District visited the field and directed the Christians to stop erecting temporary shelters and to sleep on the ground instead. It has also been reported that the Katin village authorities have confiscated livestock of Katin Christians in at least two occasions over the past year. The children of the Christians, who are still prevented from returning to their village, are reportedly starving for lack of food.
272. The Special Rapporteurs appealed to the Government to protect the human rights of the Christians from Katin village, and in particular to ensure their right to freedom of religion or belief in accordance with articles 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
(b) No response received from the Government
(c) Observations by the Special Rapporteur
273. The Special Rapporteur regrets that he has so far not received a reply from the Government of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic concerning the above mentioned allegations. He would like to reiterate that, according to article 18, paragraph 2, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, “no one shall be subject to coercion which would impair his freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice”. The Human Rights Committee indicated in its general comment 22 that “Article 18.2 bars coercion that would impair the right to have or adopt a religion or belief, including the use of threat of physical force or penal sanctions to compel believers or non-believers to adhere to their religious beliefs and congregations, to recant their religion or belief or to convert. Policies or practices having the same intention or effect […] are similarly inconsistent with article 18.2.”
274. Furthermore, the General Assembly, in its resolution 64/164, “urges States to step up their efforts to protect and promote freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief, and to this end: (a) To ensure that their constitutional and legislative systems provide adequate and effective guarantees of freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief to all without distinction, inter alia, by the provision of effective remedies in cases where the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief, or the right to practise freely one’s religion, including the right to change one’s religion or belief, is violated”. With regard to the alleged coercions and evictions of Christians, the Special Rapporteur would also like to refer to the observations and recommendations in his predecessor’s country report to the Human Rights Council on the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (see A/HRC/13/40/Add.4, para. 68): “Furthermore, the Special Rapporteur is concerned about the inadequate level of implementation of the legislative protection for freedom of religion or belief. The central and provincial authorities should ensure that the local administration level ceases ordering evictions or otherwise trying to coerce Christians to renounce their faith
Lao Officials Should Not Discriminate or Charge Religious Groups on the Basis of Registration or Legal Status Released: March 9, 2012
Lao local officials, consisting of all three levels of government—provincial, district, and village—continue to harass and arrest members of non-registered Protestant groups claiming they do not have legal status or approval to practice religion issued to them by proper authorities. Religious groups attempting to register with the governemnt authorities, namely the Lao Front for Nationa Construction (LFNC), continue face hardship and postponement. Since Decree 92 (Lao religious law) took effect in 2002, not one religious group or denomination has been approved for registration or legal status by the LFNC.
Additionally, present non-registered religious groups are reported to have been harassed by the only recognized Protestant denomination, Lao Evangelical Church (LEC), due to the groups' lack of legal status or official recognition. Some leaders of LEC are claiming that they alone have official recognition and other non-registered groups are considered illegal and liable for charges or arrest.
In order to bring clarity to the registration or legal status of religious groups or denominations in member nations, including Laos, the Human Rights Council’s UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion of belief recommends: “States should instruct members of law enforcement and other State agencies that religious activities of non-registered religious or belief communities are not illegal, as the status of freedom of religion or belief prevails over any acts of State registration.
The HRWLRF urges the Lao PDR, a member state of the UN, who has signed and ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to instruct its officials and authorities to respect religious right and freedom of religious groups in Laos and not to discriminate or deem illegal religious groups in Laos who may not have their registration or legal status or who may have decided against being registered. These groups should not be negatively treated on the basis of their registration or legal status.
