International Religious Freedom Report, 2010: Laos (July-December 2010).

摘要

The constitution and some laws and policies protect religious freedom; however, other laws and policies restricted this right in practice. The prime minister's Decree on Religious Practice (Decree 92) is the principal legal instrument defining rules for religious practice; it institutionalizes the government's role as the final arbiter of permissible religious activities. Although this decree has contributed to greater religious tolerance since it was promulgated in 2002, authorities, particularly at the provincial and district levels, have sometimes used its many conditions to restrict some aspects of religious practice. During the reporting period, the overall status of respect for religious freedom continued to be mixed. As during previous reporting periods, officials in urban areas tended to show more acceptance of minority religious practice, with difficulties more frequently encountered in rural areas. The law does not recognize a state religion; however, the government's financial support and promotion of Buddhism, along with its willingness to exempt Buddhist groups from a number of restrictions, gave the religion an elevated status. In most areas officials typically respected the constitutionally guaranteed rights of members of most religious groups to worship, albeit within strict constraints imposed by the government. Authorities in some of the country's 17 provinces continued to be suspicious of non-Buddhist religious communities and occasionally displayed intolerance for minority religious groups, particularly Protestants, whether or not they were officially recognized.