On 11 October 2024, the ICJ filed two submissions to the UN Human Rights Council Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in advance of Lao PDR’s human rights review scheduled for April/May 2025.
In a joint submission by the ICJ, the Extra-Territorial Obligation Watch Coalition and EarthRights International, the human rights organizations provided detailed information and analysis to aid the Working Group in making recommendations addressing several critical human rights issues, particularly with regard to the implementation of development projects in Lao PDR, including:
- Insufficient legal protections for human rights in relation to development projects, particularly concerning compensation and resettlement for individuals affected by such projects;
- Human rights violations and abuses resulting from the establishment and development of Special Economic Zones and dam construction in Lao PDR, including alleged forced evictions and failures to provide adequate compensation, housing and livelihoods for displaced communities; detrimental impacts on the environment, ecosystems and cultural heritage sites; and labour rights abuses; and
- The lack of progress in uncovering the fate and whereabouts of a development activist who, according to credible reports and circumstantial evidence, was subjected to enforced disappearance, and in addressing the threats against and restrictions on human rights defenders and civil society organizations solely because of their work.
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The joint submission can be downloaded here in English
In a second submission authored exclusively by the ICJ, the organization focused on Lao PDR’s failure to effectively address gender-based discrimination and gender-based violence (GBV) in line with its international human rights obligations. This submission highlighted:
- Shortcomings in domestic legal frameworks, including the lack of sufficient legal guarantees against discrimination in the Constitution and gender-discriminatory provisions in the Penal Code; and
- Gaps in legal measures to combat GBV, along with barriers to justice for GBV victims/survivors, such as the de facto mandatory use of alternative dispute resolution, entrenched gender stereotypes in the administration of justice, the failure to protect victims/survivors from secondary victimization, and the lack of dedicated funds and assistance to prevent GBV and provide support to victims/survivors.
The ICJ further called upon the Human Rights Council and the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review to recommend that Lao PDR should take various measures to immediately cease all aforementioned human rights violations; ensure adequate legal protection against them; ensure the rights to access to justice and effective remedies for victims; and ensure that steps be taken to prevent any future violations.
Download
The ICJ submission can be downloaded here in English
Further reading
Contact
Melissa Upreti, Regional Director, ICJ Asia and the Pacific Programme, e: [email protected]
Sanhawan Srisod, Associate International Legal Adviser, ICJ Asia and the Pacific Programme; e: [email protected]