Laos targets Akaravong and other activists abroad
Recently, a Laotian political refugee was seriously injured in Pau, France, where he has been living for three years after receiving threats for exposing corruption and the government’s role in the tragedy of the collapse of a dam. His is not an isolated case, some NGOs report. For their part, French authorities believe the attack was most likely politically motivated.
Milan (AsiaNews/Agencies) – A New Zealand citizen was arrested in connection with the attempted murder in Pau, south-west France, of Joseph Akaravong, a Laotian activist who has been a political refugee in the European country since 2022. Three other people were arrested but were later released.
The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it is aware of the arrest, but for privacy reasons, would not provide any further information.
Although the circumstances are not yet fully clear, the act appears to be politically motivated.
On 14 June, Akaravong was stabbed three times, once in the throat, in broad daylight on the Boulevard des Pyrénées, Pau.
That night, the wounded man posted a photo on Facebook from his hospital bed showing his bandaged wounds and describing the attack.
He writes that he was not alone that morning, but in the company of another Laotian activist, also in exile after spending five years in prison for her political views. The woman has been accused of being an accomplice in the attack, but he has defended her.
Joseph Akaravong is a Laotian political activist and an outspoken critic of the communist regime in Laos. His Facebook profile has over 600,000 followers, a lot considering that Laos has fewer than eight million people.
He began to attract attention in 2017, when he began reporting on his Facebook profile, government abuses against villagers in Attapeu, a province in southern Laos.
In that area, the government had begun building large hydroelectric dams, part of a plan to turn Laos into the "battery of Southeast Asia" and export electric power to neighbouring countries.
According to the activist, this project benefited only the ruling elite. Thousands of farmers were forcibly evicted, losing the lands they worked on for a living, in a country where most people live from agriculture.
In 2018, one of these dams collapsed, causing a disaster that the government tried to downplay; at that point, Akaravong spoke out publicly about the tragedy, directly blaming government corruption.
His actions forced him to flee the country, first to Thailand, where he was protected by a local NGO, the Manushya Foundation, then to France, where in 2022 he obtained political refugee status.
What made him a clear target of the regime was the case of Viphaphone Kornsin, a 36-year-old woman found dead. On Facebook Joseph Akaravong claimed that the victim had a relationship with the then Prime Minister Phankham Viphavanh, suggesting a direct link between the two events. Shortly after, Viphavanh resigned – officially for health reasons – boosting the activist's support and influence.
According to French authorities, the attack was not robbery-related and the most realistic motive seems to be political.
On social media, Akaravong states that he is certain of the complicity of the Laotian government and that his case is not an isolated one.
According to several reports, the country’s authoritarian regime, led by the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP), is increasingly resorting to transnational repression, a strategy that combines targeted killings, intimidation, disappearances, and other forms of pressure to suppress dissent outside the country’s borders.
According to the Manushya Foundation, before Akaravong, Od Sayavong went missing in Thailand. Founder of the Free Laos group, a resistance movement in the diaspora, he sought to break the veil of silence surrounding his country. Another dissident, Bounsuan Kitiyano, was killed in Thailand.
Transnational repression represents a particularly serious threat because, in addition to striking individuals, it calls into question the fundamental principles of state sovereignty and the right to asylum.
In the case of Laos, most dissidents are targeted in Thailand, fuelling suspicions that Thai and Laotian authorities are working together. In fact, many Thai dissidents have also mysteriously disappeared while in Laos.
Against this backdrop, Joseph Akaravong’s attempted murder in a country like France is unprecedented. Why now? According to The Diplomat, there are two main possibilities.
The first is that Laotian authorities feared the meeting between Akaravong and the other activist, perhaps a crucial step in the reorganisation of the opposition in exile or reboot the “Free Lao” movement.
The second concerns the international context. Amid the climate of global chaos and instability particularly in recent months, respect for rules seems to have been put aside, and this could have offered the regime a favourable opportunity to act in the shadows and wipe out an adversary without attracting the world's attention.
Another possible explanation for this attempt on Akaravong's life is a possible connection with his criticism of China's growing presence in Laos, including growing investments and the many Chinese nationals living in the country.
From this perspective, a direct or indirect involvement of Beijing cannot be ruled out.
Whatever the case, the story of this activist attacked in France and the little echo that this story is having internationally raise new disturbing questions about the methods of repression implemented by the Laotian government.
“In Laos, public condemnation of enforced disappearances is essential to legitimise those defending land and human rights and who continue to be at risk,” said Anne-Sophie Gindroz, a Swiss woman expelled from Laos for criticising the government. “Silence is never neutral. Silence is taking sides,” she lamented.
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27/08/2019 17:25
25/01/2005
