Laos: UN expert warns against marginalizing religious minorities
 
UN News Centre
 
30 November 2009 – Religious minorities in Laos remain isolated with
little access to higher education, few opportunities for job
promotions in the public sector and effective exclusion from decision-
making processes, an independent United Nations human rights expert
said today.
 
Asma Jahangir, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or
belief, wrapped up a week-long visit to Laos by calling on authorities
in the South-East Asian country to sustain and foster respect for
religious diversity.
 
“The test of freedom of religion or belief lies with the level of
tolerance extended to religious minorities,” she said in a statement
issued in Vientiane, the capital.
 
She voiced concern that religious minorities appear to have little or
no access to higher education and other opportunities.
 
A “glass ceiling in terms of their promotion in public service and
their participation in decision making” exists, Ms. Jahangir added,
warning that religious minorities must not be marginalized.
 
The Special Rapporteur met with both Government officials and private
citizens during her visit but she said some people told her they
engaged in self-censorship and were hesitant about approaching
authorities on religious matters.
 
She stated that her office has received serious allegations in the
past decade about the treatment of religious followers, including
reports of official campaigns aimed at forcing Christians to renounce
their faith and arrests made on the basis of religion.
 
Lao authorities acknowledged to Ms. Jahangir that some incidents had
occurred, but assured her that they would not be tolerated in the
future and that fresh instructions have been passed down to lower-
level officials.
 
In her statement the Special Rapporteur welcomed Laos’ recent
ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights (ICCPR), which bans religious discrimination and unreasonable
restrictions on the movements of individuals, including in their
exercise of religious freedom.
 
Ms. Jahangir serves in an unpaid and independent capacity as a Special
Rapporteur and reports to the UN Human Rights Council, which is based
in Geneva.