Overview of Human Rights in Laos

The Lao People’s Democratic Republic is a Communist state and the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP) is the only political party allowed in the nation. The LPRP is not overly concerned with respecting the human rights of its citizens. Indeed, the government’s human rights record is very poor and it continues to commit serious abuses.

Citizens are denied the right to change their government. Restrictions are also placed on freedoms of speech, press, assembly, association, movement and religion. Privacy and workers rights are also infringed upon by the government and security forces.

Security forces in Laos are known to arbitrarily arrest, detain, and abuse suspects, especially ones suspected of "anti-government" activities.

The judiciary is not independent of the executive and legislative branches of government. A lengthy pretrial detention and often incommunicado detention is the norm.

Meanwhile, the internal conflict between the Lao and ethnic Hmong minority is continuing unabated. Many Hmong are denied access to food and medical attention. The authorities continue to refuse access humanitarian agencies from the United Nations to access Hmong needs. In the past few years, refugees of the conflict have started surfacing in Thailand.

Human Development Index (HDI) Rank:

133rd out of 177

Note: Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite index that measures the level of well-being of nations in the world. It uses factors such as poverty, literacy, life-expectancy, education, gross domestic product, and purchasing power parity to assess the average achievements in each nation. It has been used in the United Nation’s Human Development Report since 1993.