LEGAL FRAMEWORK

The constitution provides for “the right and freedom to believe or not to believe in religion” and states citizens are equal before the law regardless of their beliefs or ethnic group. The constitution also states the government respects and protects all lawful activities of Buddhists and followers of other religions and “mobilizes and encourages Buddhist monks and novices as well as the clergy of other religions to participate in activities that are beneficial to the country and people.” It prohibits all acts that create division among religious groups and classes of persons. The government officially recognizes four religions: Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baha’i Faith.

Decree 315, issued by the government in 2016, sets forth rules for religious practice, which includes “respect for the religious rights and freedom” of both believers and nonbelievers. It also sets forth rules and regulations concerning the governance and protection of religious activities for clergy, teachers of religion, believers, and religious groups, with the stated goals to preserve and promote national culture, increase solidarity among members of religious groups, and “preserve and develop the nation.” The decree specifies rules for religious practice and defines the government as the final arbiter of permissible religious activities. The decree reiterates the constitutional priority that religious practice should serve national interests by promoting development and education and by instructing believers to be good citizens.

The decree requires any religious group operating in the country to register with MOHA. Groups may, but are not required to, affiliate with an officially recognized religious group. Under the decree, religious groups must present information on elected or appointed religious leaders to national-, provincial-, district-, and village-level MOHA offices for review and certification. Religious groups operating in multiple provinces must obtain national MOHA approval; groups operating in multiple districts must obtain provincial-level approval; and groups operating in multiple villages are required to obtain district-level approval. If a group seeks to operate beyond its local congregation, it must obtain approval at the corresponding level. A religious activity occurring outside a religious group’s property requires approval from village authorities. Activities in another village require approval from district authorities, from provincial authorities for activities in another district, and from national authorities for activities in another province. Religious groups must submit annual plans of all activities in advance, including routine events, for local authorities to review and approve.

The decree states that nearly all aspects of religious practice – such as congregating, holding religious services, travel of religious officials, building houses of worship, modifying existing structures, and establishing new congregations in villages where none existed – require permission from a provincial, district-level, and/or central MOHA office. MOHA may order the cessation of any religious activity or expression of beliefs not in agreement with policies, traditional customs, laws, or regulations within its jurisdiction. It may stop any religious activity it deems to threaten national stability, peace, and social order, cause serious damage to the environment, or affect national solidarity or unity among tribes and religions, including threats to the lives, property, health, or reputations of others. The decree requires MOHA to collect information and statistics on religious operations, cooperate with foreign countries and international organizations regarding religious activities, and report religious activities to the government.

The decree states the government may sponsor Buddhist facilities, incorporate Buddhist rituals and ceremonies in state functions, and promote Buddhism as an element of the country’s cultural and spiritual identity and as the predominant religion of the country. While sponsorship does not include government funding, it may include in-kind contributions or participation by high-level leaders in a Buddhist activity to help generate increased financial contributions from other sources.

The decree requires Buddhist clergy to hold identification cards, and clergy of other religions are required to hold certificates issued by their own religious organizations to confirm they have received legitimate religious training.

Per Decree 315, the building permit process for constructing houses of worship begins with an application to local authorities and then requires district, provincial, and ultimately central-level LFND and MOHA permission. All houses of worship must register under the law and conform to applicable regulations. Religious organizations must own 5,000 square meters (54,000 square feet, or 1.24 acres) of land to construct a place of worship. MOHA officials at all levels must approve plans for any maintenance, restoration, or construction activities at religious facilities in advance. Local authorities may provide input regarding the building, care, and maintenance of religious facilities, present their findings to their respective provincial governors and city mayors for consideration, and subsequently request MOHA officials review and approve activities conducted in religious facilities.

According to the Ministry of Education and Sports (MOES), although Buddhist curriculum is not taught as religion in public schools, the government promotes the teaching of Buddhist practices in public schools as part of national culture. Cultural sessions include lessons taught in Buddhist temples. Students are required to attend prayers during these lessons. MOES states parents may remove their children from the classes if they are dissatisfied with the program. A number of private schools affiliated with various religious groups exist throughout the country and accept students from any religious group. These schools may organize religious activities but may not provide religion courses as part of the formal curriculum. Students from other religious groups may opt out of those activities.

Individuals entering the clergy for more than three months require prior approval from district and village authorities, agreement from the receiving religious establishment, and agreement from a guardian or spouse, if applicable. For a period of less than three months, the village authority as well as a guardian or spouse, if applicable, must first approve. The shorter period stipulations are particularly relevant to Buddhists because every Buddhist male is expected to enter the monkhood at least once in his life, often for fewer than three months.

MOES and MOHA must approve the travel abroad of clergy and religious teachers for specialized studies. Students going abroad for any kind of study (including religious studies) generally require prior MOES approval. Domestic religious organizations that also conduct religious activities overseas must receive approval from MOHA.

According to the law, LFND may educate and meet with religious leaders, clergy, teachers, and members to ensure compliance with laws and regulations, emphasize their part in reducing ethnic and religious tensions, and underscore that religious groups should “contribute to the development of the nation.”

The government controls the distribution of written materials for religious audiences. Decree 315 regulates the importation and printing of religious materials and production of books, documents, icons, and symbols of various religions. The Ministry of Information, Culture, and Tourism and MOHA must approve religious texts or other materials before they are imported. MOHA may require religious groups to certify that the imported materials are truly representative of their respective religions, address issues of authenticity, and ensure imported materials comport with values and practices in the country. The law prohibits the import or export of unapproved printed or electronic religious materials.

A government decree sets forth principles and rules for “ethnic management.” One section of the decree provides for protection and preservation of traditional burial practices.

The country is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), with a reservation that Article 18 on freedom of religion shall not be construed as authorizing or encouraging any activities to directly or indirectly coerce or compel an individual to believe or not to believe in a religion or to change his or her religion or belief, and that all acts that create division and discrimination among ethnic groups and religious groups are incompatible with the article.

GOVERNMENT PRACTICES

The government continued its multiyear process to amend and codify into law Decree 315 on Religious Management, with expected completion postponed until after the next national legislature takes office in 2026. MOHA officials stated full implementation of Decree 315 was delayed because of bureaucratic and budgetary obstacles and that MOHA would issue additional guidance to address some of those challenges by the end of the year, particularly regarding an increased role for local authorities in the oversight of religious groups in their jurisdictions. As of year’s end, however, authorities had not issued any such guidance.

On January 30, the LFND hosted a meeting with officials from MOHA and the Ministry of Public Security, together with Catholic, Seventh-day Adventist, Baha’i, Muslim, and other religious leaders, to discuss together activities of the previous year and interfaith relationships. LFND President Sinlavong Khoutphaythoune chaired the meeting and emphasized national unity in the discussion.

Media reported in December that MOHA authorized Christmas celebrations. An LEC member in Savannakhet Province told Radio Free Asia that the Ministry of Interior sent a notice of authorization to all provinces and provincial authorities with instructions to convey the notice to the districts. Unlike in past years, Christians did not need to request permission from local authorities to hold Christmas services and gatherings, a district official reportedly told LEC members.

Abuses Involving Violence, Detention, or Mass Resettlement

Religious leaders continued to state authorities in urban areas and in some districts had a fuller understanding of laws governing religious activities, compared with authorities in rural areas, including provisions of Decree 315. Consequently, they said restrictions on religious freedom outside legal parameters remained more prevalent in rural areas. Some minority religious group leaders also stated both central and local government officials at times cited Decree 315 (or its predecessor, Decree 92) and “social harmony” as reasons for continuing to restrict and monitor certain religious activity, especially the activities of new or small Christian organizations whose adherents belonged to minority ethnic groups. Religious leaders continued to state many local officials were still unaware of the content of Decree 315 and how to properly apply it. As a result, religious minority leaders and adherents in some rural areas, including Luang Namtha, Savannakhet, and Salavan Provinces, continued to be targets of threats and intimidation by local authorities, which sometimes led to detention or arrest.

Government officials said the case of LEC Pastor Sy Sengmanee, who was abducted, badly beaten, and then killed in Khammouane Province in October 2022, remained under investigation by local authorities. As of year’s end, however, authorities had not reported any further information or developments in the case. The pastor, who converted from animism to Christianity in 2015, was arrested and released in 2018 for holding religious meetings in his house. Officials reportedly pressured him frequently to renounce his faith, including in the days leading up to his disappearance. He disappeared several days before his body was found.

On September 3, according to media reports, village officials in Tabong Village, Sa Mouay District, Salavan Province, destroyed the home of a family of seven for refusing to renounce their Christian faith. Police detained but later released the family. At year’s end, the family members reportedly continued to shelter at a government school and were unable to return to their village unless they renounced their faith.

In September, according to media reports, authorities in Kamap Village, Toumlane District, Salavan Province destroyed the rice barn and home of a family of six for refusing to renounce their Christian faith. The family was reportedly evicted from the village and in police detention pending reconstruction of their home.

Media sources reported that in October, Sa Mouay District authorities forced eight or more families from three villages and destroyed their homes following their conversion to Christianity. District authorities reportedly later arranged for the families to have land in one of the villages on which they could rebuild their homes but did not otherwise provide compensation or assistance.

A civil society organization reported in May that two ethnic Hmong Protestant Christians in Pang Xa As Village, Khamkeut District, Bolikhamxai Province were beaten by villagers and police for refusing to renounce their faith. The two individuals had tried, reportedly without success, to register their religious affiliation with the government. Authorities reportedly interrogated one individual and detained him for 24 hours.

Abuses Limiting Religious Belief and Expression

Local media outlets and numerous Christian groups reported increased intimidation and pressure on Christians to convert, or in some cases to reconvert, to Buddhism or animism, especially in Luang Namtha, Sekong, Khammouane, Oudomxay, Salavan, Savannakhet, and Attapeu Provinces. The LEC reported that local authorities pressured 79 Christian families in Khammouane Province from Xaybuathong, Yommalath, and Bualapha Districts to sign documents renouncing their faith.

The LEC reported that in June, officials from the Phonthong District Office of the Luang Prabang Department of Education and Sports admonished a Christian teacher, ordering her to refrain from engaging in Christian or other religious activities that violate policies applying to her government employment.

Abuses Involving the Ability of Individuals to Engage in Religious Activities Alone or In Community with Others

MOHA officials stated no new religious groups were approved or denied registration during the year and that review of registration applications already in process continued. According to religious leaders, MOHA continued to request some Christian groups seeking registration, such as the Church of Jesus Christ and the Methodist Church, to consider registering under one of the three Christian groups that were recognized already, the Catholic Church, LEC, or Seventh-day Adventists. The religious leaders said this request may have been the result of the government not having sufficient staff or resources to process pending applications.

Religious groups continued to report problems obtaining the proper legal titles for parcels of land for places of worship. MOHA officials required groups to place land titles in the name of the religious group rather than in the name of a member or religious leader. Religious groups, however, reported experiencing lengthy delays with the Department of Land of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment when they sought to change names on their titles.

The local leader of the Church of Jesus Christ said the church continued to seek registration, a process begun in 2021, but that during the year, it was unable to comply with MOHA’s requirement that it first transfer the name on a land title from an individual to the church before resubmitting a registration application.

According to a MOHA official, the ministry continued to meet with unregistered groups to answer questions about the registration process but did so infrequently. MOHA continued to hold quarterly meetings with all registered religious groups, which, religious leaders said, increased opportunities to express concerns and report on their groups’ activities. Unregistered religious groups reported, however, that MOHA prohibited their attendance as observers. At the September quarterly meeting, MOHA invited officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to attend for the first time.

Although Decree 315 prohibits members of religious groups not registered with MOHA or LFND from practicing their faith, some members of unregistered groups stated they continued to do so for several years quietly and without interference, often in home churches. Other religious leaders said, however, that local authorities in many areas still considered group worship in homes illegal and advised villagers they needed permits to worship in groups at a private home.

Some registered religious groups, including the LEC, reported continuing to experience threats and intimidation during worship services conducted at house churches. Local authorities in Sonbury District, Savannakhet Province, disrupted a service in a house church on October 1, threatening arrest and fines, according to media reports. Authorities stated the Christians angered the spirits in the village by converting to Christianity and threatened to impose penalties on the Christian villagers if non-Christian villagers became ill or died. Media sources further stated that in 2019, 180 of the villagers converted to Christianity, but the number had declined to 15. The NGO Human Rights Watcher for Lao Religious Freedom attributed the renunciations to official coercion and threats.

Local and provincial officials continued to enforce rules that required programs or activities conducted outside houses of worship to receive prior approval from local or higher authorities, although patterns of enforcement by authorities were not consistent across all jurisdictions.

While religious groups continued to state Decree 315 further clarified processes for meeting administrative requirements, some requirements remained burdensome and restrictive when fully enforced. Among these were requirements to submit detailed travel plans of group leaders and requests for government approval in advance to hold basic religious services or activities, which some religious groups continued to state the government did not fully or uniformly enforce. Religious leaders continued to report various incidents throughout the country related to the requirement that they seek permission prior to travel. Some religious leaders stated authorities sometimes detained Christians who were traveling without permission to attend religious events outside their regular locales. Several minority religious group leaders also continued to report that they often traveled, both within the country and abroad, without prior government approval because obtaining permission took too much time and officials often ultimately denied the requests. MOHA officials acknowledged the difficulties related to these travel requirements and stated that they would address them in planned draft legislation that would ultimately replace Decree 315.

According to Catholic Church officials, the government continued to routinely monitor their members and leaders ostensibly to protect against foreign influence. Church leaders also said the government often monitored foreigners attending services at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Vientiane.

Christian religious leaders said the government continued to strictly enforce a prohibition, including on foreigners, against proselytizing in public areas. The government did not restrict proselytizing inside recognized places of worship. Both the Church of Jesus Christ and Seventh-day Adventists reported they had missionaries in the country but that the government restricted their activities to teaching English and promoting good health practices, such as hygiene and sanitation. The government did not permit missionaries to engage in religious discussions with nonmembers of their religious group outside their places of worship. Representatives of the Church of Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church said they relied on informal person-to-person communication to attract new members.

Authorities reported prisoners and detainees could observe some personal religious practices, but authorities did not provide facilities for communal worship.

Authorities continued to control imports of religious materials, but several groups said they could access most religious texts and documents online. MOHA officials again said they coordinated with religious groups to review imported materials to ensure these were in accordance with the organization’s beliefs. Due to these requirements, sources from the Baha’i community and other groups again said they chose to produce and print their own religious documents in the country.

Some sources said the legal requirement that a religious organization own 5,000 square meters (54,000 square feet, or 1.24 acres) of land to build a church or temple limited some smaller congregations, which lacked sufficient resources to obtain a space of that size. Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders said the largest Seventh-day Adventist church, located in Vientiane, sat on less than 3,300 square meters (35,000 square feet). Construction also commenced on a Seventh-day Adventist church in Champasak Province, with official approval, although the land the group owned there was smaller than the minimum legal requirement.

Several minority religious groups continued to state restrictions on land acquisition hindered building and renovating places of worship, although the LFND Religious Affairs Department stated it continued to emphasize that designated church structures should replace house churches whenever possible. The Seventh-day Adventist Church continued to attribute the large number of house churches to difficulties in obtaining enough land to meet Decree 315 requirements.

Some religious leaders also stated they continued to experience lengthy delays in obtaining permits for church construction and generally received no response to requests. According to a church representative, the Catholic Church continued to seek government approval in its attempt to renovate a church building in Kaoyod Village, Chanthabouly District, Vientiane Capital, pending since 2007. In 2020, government officials seized a former primary school building on the same property, which the government used as office space and temporary housing for Chinese construction workers building a new government high school funded by the government of China. The new high school was built on land that formerly belonged to the Catholic Church. In February, after completion of construction, officials returned the primary school building to the church. When the high school opened in June the church agreed to cede an additional 1,000 square meters of land for parking, after receiving an additional request from the school through local officials. Officials also approved an application from church officials to renovate the church building, although upon formal inspection officials advised the structure needed full reconstruction, requiring an amendment to the land title to reflect changed boundaries, which was pending with the local government at year’s end.

In Bokeo Province, LEC, Seventh-day Adventist, and Catholic officials reported local officials denied requests to repair existing churches or build new ones, citing lack of adequate land holdings and insufficient members among the grounds for refusals. When some churches moved forward with repairs or renovations without approval, local authorities intervened to stop the work.

Abuses Involving Discrimination or Unequal Treatment

In Sekong Province, Christian residents reported facing discrimination in education, housing, and access to public services and facilities, including cemeteries. In some areas, Christian middle school students were not allowed to enroll in school and had to relocate to live with relatives in areas where they were allowed to attend school. In other areas, the government excluded Christians from receiving government or development agency assistance that was otherwise available to non-Christians. In some cases, officials removed the names of Christians from the list of residents of that village. Some village chiefs refused to sign required paperwork for Christian students to complete their applications to attend higher education institutions. Christian residents of Sekong Province reported local authorities and fellow villagers forced them out of their own village in December, claiming they “violated the customs and traditions of the village.” The residents moved to live with relatives in a nearby village after authorities shut off water and electricity to their houses.

Leaders of the Catholic and Seventh-day Adventist Churches continued to state Christian officials were informally advised to conceal their religion in order to join the LPRP, government, or military and to avoid facing discrimination in these institutions. Some non-Buddhists identified as Buddhist in their family book (a household registration document). Seventh-day Adventist officials continued to state there was a “hidden law” mandating that a citizen could not be both a Christian and a member of the LPRP. Members of other minority religious groups said it was difficult for their members to join the government, advance to higher-level positions, or become village chiefs. As of year’s end, there were no reported non-Buddhists or non-animists in government leadership positions.

Central government officials continued to state authorities conducted programs nationwide to disseminate and implement Decree 315 for the protection of minority religious groups. As in previous years, however, conducting such programs remained particularly difficult in isolated areas, and resource constraints limited the number of events officials could hold. Central authorities also held workshops with local authorities and religious leaders that reviewed the basic tenets of Buddhism, Christianity, the Baha’i Faith, and Islam, to promote interfaith tolerance and understanding. During the year, MOHA and LFND officials, with support from the local NGO SANTI Corps (affiliated with the Institute for Global Engagement), organized only two provincial training sessions on Decree 315 out of five sessions that were originally planned. MOHA officials said that moving forward, Decree 315 dissemination training would no longer include religious leaders from the central offices but only include local and provincial religious leaders.