LAOS TO HOST REGIONAL RELIGIOUS CONFERENCE; NGO, DRL VISITS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 VIENTIANE 000579 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP/MLS (EMERY) DEPT FOR DRL (ADAMSON, BIRDSALL, ORONA) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KIRF PHUM PGOV PREL SOCI LA VM SUBJECT: LAOS TO HOST REGIONAL RELIGIOUS CONFERENCE; NGO, DRL VISITS PUSH RELIGIOUS FREEDOM SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED: PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY. ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Parallel visits by the Department's first Ambassador for Religious Freedom and a key DRL staff member helped promote the issue of religious freedom in Laos this past week. AMB (ret.) Robert Seiple brought an invitation from an NGO now headed by his son for Laos to host an international conference on religion in 2009; the NGO, the Institute for Global Engagement (IGE),is also proposing much-needed training on religion at the local level. The Seiple visit and the invitation were warmly received by Lao leaders. DRL's Clarissa Adamson, a specialist on the annual International Religious Freedom Report, heard from key religious leaders how important training for both local officials and local religious leaders remains six years after the Lao Prime Minister issued a decree on religion in Laos. End summary. ¶2. (SBU) COMMENT: Laos lacks capacity in many areas: one is the ability to communicate new government policies from Vientiane to the provinces, districts, and local levels. The right to religious belief was clearly annunciated in the Prime Minister's 2002 Decree No. 92 on Religion which also contains prohibitions against the use of enticement or force to make people leave their religion. Six years later, however, a senior central government official admits that 1 in 3 provincial officials still is not familiar with the decree - while a religious leader estimates that in reality fewer than 1 in 6 provincial officials clearly understands the decree and the protected rights announced therein. ¶3. (SBU) COMMENT continued: Having the Lao Government interested in hosting a major international symposium helps highlight throughout the Lao system the issue of religion, a positive result of IGE's invitation. Assuming the conference goes forward, that message will be repeated during the coming year - and may help decrease local problems involving religious freedom. Equally or possibly even more important is IGE's longer-term interest in working with the Lao Government on training programs in upcountry Laos for provincial, district, and local religious affairs and police officials, as well as for local religious leaders, to better understand Decree 92 - including the fact that attempts by local officials to force Christians to renounce their religion are illegal. End comment. AMB Seiple Visits -------------- ¶4. (U) Former U.S. Ambassador-At-Large for Religious Freedom (from 1998-2000) Robert Seiple visited Laos October 18-21. He was accompanied by his son, Dr. Chris Seiple, President of the Institute for Global Engagement, an NGO based in the Washington D.C. area that promotes religious freedom, and IGE staff specialist Ms. Hien Vu who has been working with IGE's Vietnam program. AMB Seiple, the former IGE President, has visited Laos more than ten times since 1989 and is well-known to senior Government of Laos (GOL) officials. His main goals for the visit were to introduce his son as IGE President to GOL officials and to win GOL agreement to host IGE's third annual International Conference on "Religion and the Rule of Law" in 2009. He also raised two cases of religious intolerance which had reportedly occurred in July. IGE's Regional Conferences -------------- ¶5. (U) IGE has partnered with local organizations to host previous conferences in Vietnam in November 2007 and in China in June 2008. These conferences bring together government officials from Asia responsible for religious and legal issues, regional religious leaders, and a range of international scholars to discuss the legal bases for religious practices throughout the world. This more academic approach to religious issues has been successful in achieving progress toward more religious freedom without being confrontational. For the June 2008 China conference, the GOL sent senior officials representing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP),and the Lao Front for National Construction (LFNC) - the mass organization under the LPRP responsible for religious and ethnic affairs. ¶6. (U) While in Vientiane, AMB Seiple met with key Government of Laos (GOL) officials including Deputy Prime Minster and Standing Member of Government Somsavat Lengsavat; LFNC Vice President Tong Yeu Tho; Ambassador Khouanta Phalivong, Director General of MFA's Europe-Americas Department; and senior officials of the LPRP's Mass Organization Department and the Ministry of Public Security, as well as Members of the Lao National Assembly. All concerned appeared positive about GOL agreement to host the IGE conference, and DPM Somsavat gave his personal support. IGE's invitation for Laos to host the conference was highlighted in the government-controlled media's coverage of the Seiple-Somsavat meeting, a positive sign. VIENTIANE 00000579 002 OF 003 ¶7. (U) Although a formal GOL response is still pending, the Lao Prime Minister's Office informed the Lao National Academy of Social Sciences (LNASS) that it would act as IGE's partner for the conference. During their meeting with LNASS President Dr. Sileua Bounkham, the IGE team members appeared to gain positive consideration for holding the conference in October 2009. When Dr. Sileua pointed out that LNASS, organized less than two years ago to bring together eight different GOL think-tanks, lacks resources, Dr. Seiple assured him of IGE's full support to ensure the success of the conference. Post-Conference Local Seminars -------------- ¶8. (U) During the IGE visit, AMB Seiple and Dr. Seiple briefed GOL interlocutors on the agreement IGE has achieved in Vietnam to hold training seminars on religion in the montagnard-populated Central Highlands region of Vietnam that will bring together local officials and religious leaders. In conjunction with holding the regional conference in Laos or after the conference is concluded, IGE also proposed working with the LFNC to hold a series of training seminars within Laos. These would bring together provincial, district, and local LFNC officials as well as police and religious leaders to discuss the GOL's policy toward religion as set out in the 2002 Prime Minister's Decree No. 92 on Religion. Religious Cases -------------- ¶9. (U) As he has done during past trips to Laos, AMB Seiple raised high-profile cases of religious intolerance during his meetings with the Lao leadership. One involved three people including a pastor reportedly incarcerated since an incident in July in Boukham Village in Ad-Sapangthong District of Savannaket Province. The same report stated that 55 Christians were forced to relocate from Boukham Village as a result of the incident. Another report involved Christians in Huay An Village in Jomphet District of Luang Prabang Province reportedly being forced in July produce their Bibles and hymn books which were subsequently burned by the local police, apparently as an attempt to force them to deny their faith. ¶10. (SBU) AMB Seiple emphasized not only that these cases appeared to violate the Lao Constitution as well as Prime Minister Decree 92 on Religion but also the damage caused to the reputation of Laos when cases like these are circulated on the Internet. Senior Lao leaders promised to look into both cases. ¶11. (SBU) During his meeting with AMB Seiple, the Deputy Director General for External Affairs at the Ministry of Public Security (MOPS) attempted to defend the actions of local authorities in the Savannakhet case, arguing the pastor involved had moved to Boukham Village in 2005 but had never changed his household registration as required by regulation. The Public Security official had no information about the Luang Prabang case. (Comment: The MOPS meeting was notable for the DDG's level of preparation and willingness to engage in discussion of the Savannakhet incident, although he did blame the incident on the Christian pastor. End Comment.) ¶12. (SBU) NOTE: A Lao religious leader told EmbOff on the margins of the AMB Seiple visit and repeated to DRL Ms. Adamson that the three people involved in the Boukham Village case had recently been released from incarceration. The religious leader also said the Luang Prabang situation had been resolved, without going into specifics; apparently none of the Christians in Luang Prabang wound up recanting his/her faith. End Note. Local Media Cover Religious Freedom Address -------------- ¶13. (U) AMB Seiple and Dr. Seiple also addressed more than 70 Lao officials from a broad range of ministries and organizations and religious representatives on "The Right and Freedom to Believe in Religion" at the Lao Institute of Foreign Affairs (IFA). IFA provides training for all Lao diplomats and MFA officials, in addition to foreign affairs department staff from the provinces. The Seiple addresses received favorable local radio and newspaper coverage. DRL Also Discusses Religious Issues -------------- ¶14. (SBU) Ms. Clarissa Adamson, a specialist representing the Bureau of Democracy, Rights, and Labor (DRL),visited Vientiane October 20-23. Ms. Adamson helps edit the annual International Religious Freedom (IRF) Report on Laos. In addition to meeting with senior MFA and LFNC officials in parallel with those visited by the IGE VIENTIANE 00000579 003 OF 003 delegation, Ms. Adamson met with religious leaders from the Adventists, Lao Evangelical Church, Catholic Church, and Baha'i group. In general, all of the religious representatives noted significantly improved conditions for religious worship in Laos despite continuing problems at the local level in various locations. ¶15. (SBU) The recurrent theme presented to Ms. Adamson by the religious leaders was the need for the GOL to do more to train officials on the provincial, district, and local levels in the rights and responsibilities contained in the 2002 Prime Minister's Decree 2002 on Religion. A senior LFNC official had admitted to Ms. Adamson that the process of educating officials has gone slowly; he estimated that only 65% of provincial officials, 30% of district officials, and relatively few local officials have become familiar with this new decree during the past six years. One of the religious leaders, in contrast, estimated only 15% of provincial officials are really familiar with Decree 92. HUSO