(Geneva) – Laos is scheduled to be reviewed at the 21st session of the Universal Periodic Review in January 2015.
At its first UPR of May 2010, Laos committed to allow civil society space to carry out human rights activities and advocacy. Since then, official restrictions on activism and freedom of expression have accompanied reports of disappearances and detentions of human rights defenders. Defenders working on land and environment rights are particularly threatened.
Key recommendations that should be made to Laos at the UPR in early 2015 include the development of specific policies for the recognition and protection of the work of human rights defenders and the removal of judicial restrictions on freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, along with the decriminalisation of defamation and ‘misinformation’.
This Briefing Paper on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in Laos is intended to assist States and other stakeholders to formulate questions and recommendations regarding the protection of human rights defenders during the UPR.
For further information about the Briefing Paper or for any assistance or advice in the formulation of recommendations, please contact ISHR’s Heather Collister, on h.collister@ishr.
Photo: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
At the Human Rights Council, ISHR and CONTIOCAP warned that environmental destruction threatens Indigenous Peoples’ lives including natural and cultural heritage. States must respect their right to self-determination and end the criminalisation of Indigenous defenders.
The public session of the 89th session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) will be held in Dakar, Senegal, from 12 to 21 October. The public session will be preceded by a training session organised jointly by ISHR, Front Line Defenders and Defend Defenders on 6, 7 and 11 October, and the NGO Forum, organised by ACDHRS from 8 to 10 October.
ISHR calls on States to renew the mandate of the Working Group on peasants, preserving a dedicated UN mechanism to support implementation of the rights of those working in rural areas.
