On February 21-22, a group of 4-5 officials from Saybuli District traveled to Kengweng Village and held a seminar titled "Tricks of the Enemy". Residents and officials from the village were asked to attend the seminar. When the seminar ended on the 22nd at around 4pm, the officials summarized the teaching and ordered the church building in Kengweng confiscated and banned the Christians from using it with immediate effect. Furthermore, the villagers were forbidden to meet for any kind of religious assembly in the village. All future gatherings must be approved by the authorities. The confiscation of the church in Kengweng took place just two months after officials confiscated the church in Nadaeng in the same district.
The Christians recognized only three of the officials who ordered the confiscation, namely: 1: Mr. Saysamorn, Communist Party member for Saybuli district, 2: Mr. Bountha, responsible official for religious affairs in Saybuli district, and 3: Captain Saysana, Deputy Police Chief for Saybuli district. The officials further explained that if the Christians want to use the church building, they have to submit a written application which has to be approved at three levels: village, district and provincial level.
The church in Kengweng was founded in 1972 with two Christian families. In 1975, the Christians in Kengweng built their church building and used it for worship services until it was confiscated. Currently, there are 25 Christian families in Kengweng, totaling 178 people.
Today, there are 30 churches in Savannakhet province and only seven of these are approved by the authorities; the rest are considered illegal. Now that three of them (churches in Nadaeng, Dongpaiwan and Kengweng) have been confiscated, the remaining 22 church buildings are in danger of also being confiscated by the authorities in Laos.
Although the Lao Constitution guarantees freedom of religion and assembly and Laos is a signatory to the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Lao government refuses to recognize the existence of Christians and churches in Savannakhet province beyond the seven approved churches. By confiscating the church in Kengweng, the law on property rights has thus been broken by government officials.
Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom urges the government to respect the Lao Constitution, as well as international conventions, and recognize the church in Kengweng and its right to exist, as well as to respect the right of believers to choose their own religion and assemble to practice their faith. Furthermore, they call on the government to give the Christians in Kengweng back their church building so that they can exercise their religious freedom as they are entitled to.
Source: Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom
