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Laos

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From the Communiqué

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NEW LEADER URGED TO EASE CENSORSHIP

Laos is known as one of the most isolated and information-starved countries in Southeast Asia. Ruled by the People's Revolutionary Party (PPRL) since 1975, its media is tightly controlled by authorities. All mass media outlets are state-owned, and Internet access is highly controlled and monitored. Visa regulations discourage foreign journalists from entering the country and those that do must be escorted by government agents.

SEAPA, RSF HIGHLIGHT LACK OF PRESS FREEDOM

With Laos hosting the 10th summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) this week, the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) and Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) are calling attention to press freedom conditions in one of the most restrictive countries in the region.

JOURNALISTS EXPECTED TO BE FREED

Following an international outcry led by IFEX members and other press-freedom groups, the government of Laos has indicated that it will release two foreign journalists and an interpreter from prison on 14 July, says Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF).

NEW PENALTIES FOR PROVIDING "FALSE INFORMATION" PLANNED

The government of Laos intends to define the "truths" that the media should report and introduce new penalties for journalists who provide "false information" about the country, report the International Press Institute (IPI) and the World Association of Newspapers (WAN). On 8 June, Information and Culture Minister Phandouangchit Vongsa told Reuters news agency that his ministry was amending present laws to "promote the standards" of the media, reports IPI. "We need to raise the professionalism of the Laotian media . . . their reporting must be responsive to the [ruling Lao People's Revolutionary Party's] long-term target to bring the country out of poverty by 2020," Phandouangchit said. The minister also stated that new media guidelines would define which "truths" should be reported for the benefit of the country.

BOUND FOR POLITICAL CHANGE?

Economic pressures along with political dissent from both within and outside of the country may force government reforms, says Bertil Lintner in the "Irrawaddy" (Vol. 8, No. 6, June 2000), a publication of the Irrawaddy Publishing group (IPG), formerly known as the Burma Information Group. Increasingly, groups within Laos have been openly challenging the current regime's authoritarian political system. On 26 October 1999, the government moved quickly to quash a pro-democracy demonstration by teachers and students in Vientiane - the first of its kind in the regime's 25 years of power, says Lintner. Protesters were demanding "political reform, the release of all political prisoners; and a return to the 1974 coalition government, which included communist as well as neutralist forces," reports the "Irrawaddy". Authorities followed the protests with a series of political seminars, where participants were required to review the ruling communist party's doctrines. In addition, local community leaders gathered young people to advise them against the counter revolutionaries' messages and ideas.