Officials crack down in three provinces; some believers held in wooden
stocks.

DUBLIN (Asia News Wires) -- Authorities in Laos have detained or
arrested at least 90 Hmong Christians in three provinces in recent weeks,
including an arrest last Sunday of a pastor and two other
believers from a house church in Boukham village, Savannakhet province.

Arrests were reported in the southern provinces of Saravan and
Savannakhet and in Luang Prabang province in the north.

In one incident, Compass sources said officials detained 80
Hmong Christians in Katin village, in the Tah Oih district of Saravan
province, after residents seized a Christian neighbor identified only as
Pew and poured rice wine down his throat. The wine flooded his lungs and
killed him, according to the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.

When mourning family members buried him – an immediate necessity because
of the warm climate – and put a wooden cross on the grave, village
officials accused them of “practicing the rituals of the enemy of the
state” and seized a buffalo and pig from the family as a fine.

A few days later, officials rounded up 17 of the 20
Christian families in the village – a total of 80 men, women and
children – and detained them in a local school compound, denying them
food for three days in an attempt to force the adults to sign documents
renouncing their faith.

Three other Christian families in the village had already renounced
their faith under increasing pressure from authorities, according to a
report from Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF).

As their children grew weaker, 10 families signed the documents and on
July 30 were allowed to return home. The remaining seven families,
however, were evicted from the village and have since settled in an open
field outside the village, building small shelters and surviving on food
found in the nearby jungle.

Arrests in Boukham

The most recent arrests occurred last Sunday in Boukham
village, Savannakhet. Officials arrested a leader of a house church
identified only as Pastor Sompong, during a Sunday worship service at
his home, along with two young people identified only as Boot and Khamvan.

HRWLRF reported they were detained at an area police station. On another
day,
authorities arrested another villager in Boukham, identified only as
Menoy, charging her with “believing in Jesus and worshiping God.”

They handcuffed Menoy and took her to a prison in Ad-Sapangthong
district, where she joined two other believers, identified as Kantalee
and Loong Peng, who had been arrested the previous day and charged with
the same religious offense.

Authorities had previously arrested Pastor Sompong and four other
believers from the Boukham church, detaining them for two
days in a prison in nearby Dong Haen. Police stormed into the church
that Sunday and ordered the 63 Christians present to cease worshiping or
they would face arrest and imprisonment for “believing and worshiping God.”

When the Christians refused to comply, stating that Sunday was a
Christian holy day and they must continue worshiping, the police
arrested Pastor Sompong and two other church leaders identified only as
Kai and Phuphet.

While some of the officers handcuffed the three church leaders and took
them to a prison in Dong Haen, other policemen stayed in the village.
When the service continued, police entered the house again and arrested
a man identified only as Sisompu.

When the believers again failed to cease worshiping, police arrested a
17-year-old girl, identified only as Kunkham, who was actively leading
the group. All five Christians were detained in Dong Haen prison with
their feet secured in wooden stocks.

Officials charged the five with spreading the gospel and holding a
religious meeting without permission. Although the Lao constitution
“guarantees” freedom of religion and worship, church fellowships must be
registered with government-approved institutions. Such registration
comes with strict limitations on the activity of the church, however,
and many Christians prefer not to register.

Three Christians approached the provincial religious affairs
office in Savannakhet to challenge the arrest of Pastor Sompong and his
fellow church members, asking how the five Christians could be charged
for “spreading the gospel” during a worship service.

Officials then released the five on condition that they would cease
holding worship meetings. They ordered them to seek permission from
village authorities if they wanted to continue meeting together.

Elsewhere, authorities in Saiphuthong district of
Savannakhet summoned the pastor of a church in Nachan village and
questioned him about the increasing number of villagers who had elected
to believe in God.

Compass sources also reported that officials detained a
family of Hmong Christians in northern Luang Prabang province.

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