Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07VIENTIANE300
2007-04-10 09:59:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Vientiane
Cable title:  

INTOLERANCE FOR CHRISTIANS PERSISTS IN LAOS

Tags:  KIRF PHUM SCUL SOCI EINV CASC PREL LA 
pdf how-to read a cable
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DE RUEHVN #0300/01 1000959
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R 100959Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY VIENTIANE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1111
INFO RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 7243
C O N F I D E N T I A L VIENTIANE 000300 

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/09/2017
TAGS: KIRF PHUM SCUL SOCI EINV CASC PREL LA
SUBJECT: INTOLERANCE FOR CHRISTIANS PERSISTS IN LAOS

REF: A. 07 VIENTIANE 167


B. 07 VIENTIANE 138

C. 07 VIENTIANE 105

D. 07 VIENTIANE 86

Classified By: Ambassador Patricia M. Haslach for reasons 1.4 (b) and (
d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L VIENTIANE 000300

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DEPT FOR EAP/MLS
DEPT FOR DRL/IRF
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E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/09/2017
TAGS: KIRF PHUM SCUL SOCI EINV CASC PREL LA
SUBJECT: INTOLERANCE FOR CHRISTIANS PERSISTS IN LAOS

REF: A. 07 VIENTIANE 167


B. 07 VIENTIANE 138

C. 07 VIENTIANE 105

D. 07 VIENTIANE 86

Classified By: Ambassador Patricia M. Haslach for reasons 1.4 (b) and (
d)


1. (SBU) Summary: Christians in Bolikhamsay Province's
Nakun Village have faced pressure from local officials and
have been "reeducated" numerous times as a result of their
religious activities. Christians in Xunya Village, Luang
Namtha Province, have reportedly been prevented from
practicing their faith, although the Lao Front for National
Construction (LFNC) recently intervened to try to help.
Twelve ethnic Khmu Christians jailed since late 2006 remain
incarcerated. The status of Mr. Khamsone, the possibly
detained Christian employee of American company Natural
Products International (NPI),remains unknown, and efforts to
obtain information from provincial and central government
officials have not been effective. The Government of Laos
(GoL) has indicated that there is no reason to return a
church that was confiscated from Christians in Savannakhet
Province in 2000. Savannakhet officials argue that there is
an insufficient number of Christians in the village to
warrant having a church. Overall, the past year has been a
difficult period for Christians in many areas of Laos. End
Summary.

Nakun Village Christians
--------------

2. (U) In March, a French-based Lao exile group accused
officials in Nakun Village, Bolikhamsay Province, of
persecuting the local Christian community. The group alleged
that a low-level government committee made up of village
officials and at least one district official had been
established to eliminate Christianity from the area.
According to a Radio Free Asia report, Lao Ministry of
Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Mr. Yong Chanthalangsy had
claimed that tensions in the village were due to the movement

of new people into the village and that tensions developed
because of differences in religious beliefs and methods of
farming. He noted that the government had formed a mediation
committee to help the groups work out their differences.
When questioned whether or not the Christians had been asked
to renounce their beliefs, he was quoted as saying that this
was merely incitement employed by people who want to make
trouble and that Lao officials never repress people.


3. (SBU) Two Lao civil documents about the Nakun situation
were recently circulated among concerned religious groups in
the United States. One of the documents, prepared by local
officials, indicated that the villagers should move out of
the village to an area where there is an existing church and
indicated that they would not be granted permission to build
a church in their own village. The document also states that
(as the Christians apparently acknowledged) the Christians in
the village had used cassette tapes as a tool to spread
religion. Lao law forbids proselytizing. In a second
document, which was apparently written by the Christian
community on what appears to be official government
letterhead, the Christians indicated that Lao authorities at
all levels had advised them that believing in God is not a
good thing and that such beliefs are "the enemy's tactics
which will destroy the nation." While the Christian
community apparently asked local officials to sign the
document as acknowledgement, no official signatures appear on
the document.


4. (C) On March 30 PolOff met with Pastor Saykham of the Lao
Evangelical Church (LEC). Pastor Saykham confirmed reports
that Christians in Nakun Village had been asked to give up
their beliefs and had been asked to leave the village.
However, he informed PolOff that he did not consider the
situation in Nakun Village to be as significant as religious
problems in some other parts of Laos. He argued that,
because most of those responsible for repressing Christians
in Nakun Village were village-level officials, the chances
that the problems would be resolved by higher level
intervention were good. Nevertheless, he remarked that the
government has not yet done anything substantive to resolve
the issue.

LEC Says Other Areas More Worrisome
--------------

5. (C) Pastor Saykham remarked during the March 30 meeting
that five ethnic Yao Christians who had been arrested in
Luang Namtha Province in 2006 have now been out of jail for
more than three months (Ref C). Despite their release,
Saykham said they have not been allowed to worship. He also
noted that a Christian elder in Luang Namtha Province's Xunya
Village had recently died, and district officials would not
allow Christians in the village to hold a Christian funeral
service. Representatives of the Lao Front for National
Construction (LFNC) told the Ambassador during a late
February meeting that they had visited Xunya Village and that
religious issues there had been resolved (Ref A). According
to Saykham, however, the problems intensified in March, and
district-level officials had taken steps to prevent
Christians in Xunya from worshipping.


6. (C) A small group of Yao (also known as Mien)
representatives of the United Christians Overseas Mission
from the United States, accompanied by two LEC
representatives, attempted to visit Xunya Village in early
April. However, local police and military reportedly blocked
the group from visiting the village. During an April 9
meeting, Saykham told PolOff that the LFNC in Vientiane
issued a document on April 2 supporting the right of
Christians in Xunya Village to worship. The document was
reportedly sent to LFNC and police officials in Luang Namtha
Province on April 6. While he did not expect a total
resolution of religious issues in the village, Saykham was
hopeful that official intervention from the LFNC in Vientiane
via provincial officials would serve to improve the
situation.


7. (C) Saykham informed PolOff that Christians in Houaphan
Province have increasingly had difficulties with both village
and district-level officials. He indicated that three
Christian households in Punhong Village, Xiang Kho District,
had been told by village and district officials to give up
their faith or leave the village. Returning to Bolikhamsay
Province, Saykham noted that in Nam Deua Village, Pakading
District, Christians had also been told by both village and
district officials that they cannot believe in Christianity
because it is an American religion. He noted that they have
been threatened with expulsion but that none have been
expelled to date. There are reportedly more than 100
Christians in the village.

Khmu Christians Jailed in Vientiane Province
--------------

8. (C) Twelve ethnic Khmu Christians have been held in
prison or police detention centers in Vientiane Province
since November 2006 when they participated in a religious
celebration that was attended by foreigners (Ref C). The
three pastors within the group of 12 have reportedly been
held at Thong Harb Prison, while nine others have been held
at a police detention facility. During the April 9 meeting
Saykham repeated that the LFNC and the Prime Minister's
Office had approved their release several weeks ago.
However, he said the Governor of Vientiane Province remains
the obstacle to securing their release. One of the nine held
in the police detention center has been allowed to leave
detention for a few days periodically to seek medical care,
most recently on April 8. The Ambassador requested that the
LFNC provide an update on the group's status but has not
received a substantive response.

American Company Employee
--------------

9. (C) The whereabouts and status of Mr. Khamsone, a
Christian employee of American company Natural Products
International (NPI),remain unknown since his arrest in
Oudomsay Province in January (Refs B and D). PolOffs met
with the Chairman of NPI on April 5 to discuss Khamsone's
status. He informed us that he and Khamsone's wife had met
with a Lao attorney in Vientiane to discuss the case. After
asking Khamsone's wife a few questions, the attorney told
NPI's Chairman that the case was too sensitive and
potentially dangerous and refused to accept the case. Noting
that he had heard of an office within the National Assembly
that is set up to take citizen complaints against officials,
the NPI President indicated that Khamsone's wife was
considering sending a petition to that office. (Note: The
Ambassador and Deputy Chief of Mission have raised this case
with representatives of the LFNC as well as with the
Director-General of the Europe-Americas Department of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs on several occasions. The
Resident Representative of the World Food Program, which
purchases NPI products, has also raised the issue with the
Governors of Luang Prabang and Oudomsay Provinces. End Note).


Dong Nong Khun Church Remains a Government Office
-------------- --------------

10. (SBU) During his January visit to Laos, former U.S.
Ambassador-at-Large for Religious Freedom Robert Seiple
raised the issue of a church that was confiscated by local
officials in Savannakhet Province in 2000 (Ref C). Seiple
was told by Deputy Prime Minister Somsavat Lengsavad that he
would involve himself in making sure the situation was
addressed. The Embassy contacted the LFNC in February to
determine if the church had been returned to the Christian
congregation. The LFNC responded by sending the Embassy a
handwritten note from an official in Savannakhet Province
indicating that the village has no need for a church because
the number of Christians in the village is insufficient to
warrant a church. The note suggested that the Christians
attend another church two kilometers away. (Note: The church
two kilometers away in Keng Kok Village was once confiscated
for government use as well but was returned to the Christian
community following one of Ambassador Seiple's previous
visits. End Note). The note also stated that there are only
20 Christians in Dong Nong Khun Village, a significant
difference from the 130 reported to PolOff when visiting the
area in January.

Comment
--------------

11. (C) Despite some positive developments in regard to
religious freedom beginning in 2002, the overall situation
appears to have regressed in the past year. Rather than
using the Prime Minister's 2002 Decree 92 on Religious
Freedom as a means to promote religious freedom, Lao
officials have increasingly used the decree as a means to
restrict religious practice on the village level and to
forbid the construction of churches. For the resolution of
low-level religious issues, the LFNC has demonstrated
occasional willingness to encourage local, district, and
provincial officials to allow citizens the right to worship,
although sometimes without success. However, the government
has treated Christians who are seen as too influential as
"threats" to national security. This may be what is behind
Mr. Khamsone's apparent detention. In such cases, both Prime
Minister's Decree 92 on Religious Freedom and broader
constitutional protections have had little effect.
HASLACH