Passion and Pain

Government services. Some detainees held for their religious beliefs were released only after they agreed to renounce Christianity. Some civil servants were threatened with loss of their positions if they did not sign renunciations of their faith. In November 2001, a prominent LEC pastor was shot and killed near his home in Sayaboury.

LEC members and leaders are subjected also to arrest, detention, and imprisonment for their religious activities in Laos. In March 2002, authorities in Savannakhet arrested and detained two pastors who were presiding at a funeral. Both were detained for several weeks before being released. Two months later, Somsaad village officials in the same province detained twenty Christians who were attending a Sunday morning worship service. They were accused of holding an unauthorized meeting and taken to the district office where all twenty were detained for several weeks before being released. On the same day, three church leaders were arrested in Dongphoum village for conducting an unauthorized worship service. The three were manacled in a jail cell, where they are believed to remain today.

Other Christians have also been arrested and detained for their religious activities. In June 2002, four ethnic Yao were arrested in Luang Namtha Province for holding an unauthorized prayer service. All four were manacled in their cells, and are believed to be there still. That same month, in Kasi district of Vientiane Province, two ethnic Khmu church leaders were arrested for conducting an ―unauthorized‖ prayer service at the home of a sick church member. Both have since been detained.

Three Catholic churches and a school have been seized by the Communist authorities and never returned; bishops have spent time in jail, and catechists need more resources to undertake evangelisation.

In October 2002, the US Secretary of State designated Laos a country of particular concern under the International Religious Freedom Act, for particularly severe violations of religious freedom. In its International Religious Freedom Report released the same month, the US State Department observed: ―The Government's tolerance of religion varied by region and by religion, with Christian Protestants continuing to be the target of most harassment.‖ Despite its oppressive history, Laos has taken some positive steps in the area of religious freedom. In the summer of 2002, prison gates in Laos were literally thrown open to many Christians who were imprisoned for their faith. The Laotian government passed laws that summer which give official recognition to the Lao Evangelical Churches (LEC). We thank God for this unprecedented turn of events. As we engage consistently at a political and economic level on behalf of those who suffer for their faith, it is encouraging to know that such efforts can eventually bring progress. Only time will tell if the implementation of these new laws will bring true religious freedom, or simply more ―authorized‖ religious groups under Gvernment control.

There are still at least 19 religious prisoners and detainees in Laos, all of them Christians. Many have been singled out for mistreatment while in confinement, and have suffered as a result of inadequate food rations, lack of medical care, and cramped quarters. Our prayers are still desperately needed, as is our activism on behalf of those who continue to suffer in silence.

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