In June, a group of rural farmers from southern Sekong province were arrested and jailed for their activities in opposing a Vietnam-Laos rubber plantation project, after their customary lands were seized and they were left without land for crop production, forest product collection, or livestock grazing. Earlier, in 2011, the farmers had travelled to Vientiane to submit their grievance to the National Assembly Petition Unit. The group had also been interviewed by a Lao National Radio call-in program, Talk of the News, which the Lao Government subsequently cancelled in January 2012.
In the lead up to the 9th Asia-Europe Meeting Summit of Heads of State (ASEM-9) held in Vientiane from 5-6 November, an Asia-Europe People’s Forum (AEPF) was organized by Lao and regional civil society organizations in cooperation with a division of the Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Laos only recently permitted the establishment of local civil society organizations – called non-profit associations (NPAs) – even if they continue to be closely regulated, monitored, and sometimes closely connected to the government. Whilst a relative freedom of speech was noted in the preparatory Lao provincial consultations for the AEPF, once the AEPF was underway in Vientiane it became apparent that Lao security personnel were filming individuals at the workshop and taking unwanted photographs. At least one Lao civil society member was intimidated and felt threatened in response to personal comments made by Lao officials during the forum. These issues and incidents unnerved several other speakers sufficiently for them to withdraw from the event, and few other Lao NPA members ended up speaking at the AEPF. The tensions surrounding the AEPF suggest that, while some within the Lao government have embraced the idea of a functioning civil society, others see it as a threat to established interests, and are willing to act on this.