BANGKOK, Feb 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department has sharply criticised the communist government of the tiny landlocked Southeast Asian nation of Laos for its poor human rights record in 2000.
The State Department's annual report on human rights worldwide, issued on Monday, said there were "a number of serious problems" in the Lao People's Democratic Republic, a one-party state ruled by the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP).
The report, obtained by Reuters from the department's website Tuesday, said people in one of the world's least developed nations had few of the basic rights enjoyed by their neighbours.
"The government's human rights record remained poor throughout the year, and there were a number of serious problems," the report said.
"Although the 1991 Constitution outlines a system composed of executive, legislative, and judicial branches, in practice the LPRP continued to influence governance and the choice of leaders through its constitutional 'leading role' at all levels."
The report said Laotians had no right to change their government, or freedom of speech, religion, or movement.
"The government infringed on citizens' privacy rights...restricts freedom of speech and imposes some restrictions on press freedom, assembly, and association," the statement said.
It accused the Laotian government of arresting and detaining approximately 95 Christians, and more than 25 members of religious communities remained in custody at the end of the year.
The communist party has ruled the country since 1975 after the defeat of the U.S.-backed civilian government.
"NEW ERA"
At least 360,000 persons, or 10 percent of the population, later fled the country to escape the Government's harsh political and economic policies.
The government last December celebrated a quarter century of communism and called the period a "new era for Laos to enjoy unity and freedom."
But economists say the country still has a long way to go toward prosperity, peace and democracy.
The agriculture-based economy is principally agricultural with 85 percent of the population engaged in subsistence agriculture.
The country, with a population of 5.2 million, is rated almost at the bottom of the World Bank's list of the least developed nations for income and other social indicators.
Life expectancy is just 54 years compared with an average of 60 in low-income nations while illiteracy for people over the age of 15 years is 53 percent against 15 percent in the Asia-Pacific.
Surrounded by China, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, and with no direct access to the sea, Laos' per capita gross national product in 1999 was about $300, or less than a dollar a day.
Washington said there were unconfirmed accusations that government troops deliberately killed noncombatant civilians during clashes with ethnic insurgents in the north last year.
Organised Hmong insurgent groups were responsible for occasional clashes with government troops. These exchanges reportedly were brutal on both sides.
A Hmong insurgent group, the Chao Fa, was responsible for the killing of more than 15 civilians in four incidents in Vientiane and Xieng Khouang provinces and in Saysomboune Special Zone.
These incidents appeared to be acts of deliberate terror against people who did not support resistance to the Government.
The U.S. report said a spate of bomb attacks in Vientiane last year were "small-scale explosive devices" detonated in urban areas causing one death and dozens of injuries.
Official statements initially played down the incidents, attributing them to personal quarrels and vendettas. Some government officials later blamed "foreign terrorists."
03:55 02-27-01
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