Houayheuang Xayabouly

Last updated
Houayheuang Xayabouly
Born
Houayheuang Xayabouly

(1988-11-04) November 4, 1988 (age 35) [1]
Phonthong District, Champassak Province
Nationality Laotian
Occupation Activist

Houayheuang "Muay" Xayabouly (born November 4, 1988) is a Laotian environmental and human rights activist. She is currently serving a 5 year prison sentence for criminal defamation and distributing anti-state propaganda. [2] Her case has been taken by journalists as characteristic for the repressive climate of Laos's regime. [3]

Contents

Life

Muay was born on November 4, 1988, in Phonthong District, Champassak Province, as the third child and only daughter of wealthy parents. After studying tourism, she started working as a tour guide. She also opened a shop for traditional clothes. [4]

Muay's activism began in 2017, when she posted a Facebook video about a new toll being charged to cross a bridge connecting Laos with Thailand, especially about connections between the company that had built the bridge and the Laotian government. In response, the government held a press conference where it announced no more tolls would be collected, but the construction company did not change the collection practices. In 2018, she again posted a video about the buying and selling of official positions, taking her brother's case as an example. She organised a concert protesting against this corruption, which took place on October 15, 2018, in Savannakhet, but was shut down by police. Following these posts, she was fired from her job as a tour guide due to government pressure on her employer. [4] [1]

She then began posting about the harsh competition Laotian businesses faced from Chinese competitors. She especially highlighted the selling of land to Chinese enterprises for the construction of banana plantations, which affected the large portion of the Laotian population that depends on agriculture. She also criticised the labour conditions on these plantations, where the contamination of land by chemicals, including Prochloraz, led to water becoming undrinkable and land inarable. [1] In response, the Laotian government announced that citizens who spread untrue information on social media would be prosecuted. [4]

Following the 2018 collapse of a dam that killed at least 40 people and displaced 6,600, Muay posted videos from IDP camps in Champassak Province despite tight government restrictions on informations regarding the disaster. She criticised the slow government response and the failure to use the available aid money. [4] [1]

In late August and early September 2019, the same region suffered again severe floods. [5] On September 5, Muay posted a 17-minute long video to Facebook Live in which the criticised the slow government response to the disaster. The video was viewed 500,000 times. On September 12, she was arrested, without warrant, while eating at a restaurant. She had been arrested before. [6] During detention at Phonthong police station, police forced her to confess that she was guilty of defamation against the Laotian state and ruling party under Article 117 of the Laotian Criminal Code. [7]

Muay was denied bail and visitors. [8] Independent monitoring of prison conditions was also prohibited. She was tried and found guilty on 22 November 2019. She was sentenced to a money fine and five years in prison, for which she was moved to Champassak Provincial Prison. The NGOs Manushya Foundation and US-based Human Rights Foundation as well as Thai student organisation Humanity Beyond Borders condemned the proceedings against Muay and filed a report concerning her imprisonment to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in December 2020. [1] Reporters without Borders, the International Federation of Journalists, the International Federation for Human Rights and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders also expressed concern. [9] [10] [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laos</span> Country in Southeast Asia

Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. At the heart of the Indochinese Peninsula, Laos is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and southwest. Its capital and largest city is Vientiane.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lao People's Armed Forces</span> Combined military forces of Laos

The Lao People's Armed Forces, is the armed forces of the Lao People's Democratic Republic and the institution of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, who are charged with protecting the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vang Pao</span> Laotian-American soldier

Vang Pao was a major general in the Royal Lao Army. He was a leader of the Hmong American community in the United States. He was also known as General Vang Pao to the people in the Hmong community.

The music of Laos includes the music of the Lao people, a Tai ethnic group, and other ethnic groups living in Laos. The traditional music of Laos has similarities with the traditional music of Thailand and Cambodia, including the names of the instruments and influences and developments. To categorize Lao music, it seems helpful to distinguish between the nonclassical folk traditions, the classical music traditions and its basic ensembles, and vocal traditions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human rights in Laos</span>

The situation of human rights in Laos has often been, and remains, a recognized cause for serious concern. Laos is one of a handful of Marxist-Leninist governments and is ruled by a one-party communist government backed by the Lao People's Army in alliance with the Vietnam People's Army and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in Hanoi.

Kerry Arthur Danes and wife Kay Frances Danes née Stewart were imprisoned in Laos as civilians on 23 December 2000 and later convicted of embezzlement, tax evasion and destruction of evidence. They were ordered to pay fines and compensation of $AUD1.1 million.

Human rights in Thailand have long been a contentious issue. The country was among the first to sign the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 and seemed committed to upholding its stipulations; in practice, however, those in power have often abused the human rights of the Thai nation with impunity. From 1977 to 1988, Amnesty International (AI) reported that there were whitewashed cases of more than one thousand alleged arbitrary detentions, fifty forced disappearances, and at least one hundred instances of torture and extrajudicial killings. In the years since then, AI demonstrated that little had changed, and Thailand's overall human rights record remained problematic. A 2019 HRW report expanded on AI's overview as it focuses specifically on the case of Thailand, as the newly government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha assumes power in mid-2019, Thailand's human rights record shows no signs of change.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Ressa</span> Filipino and American journalist (born 1963)

Maria Angelita Ressa is a Filipino and American journalist. She is the co-founder and CEO of Rappler. She previously spent nearly two decades working as a lead investigative reporter in Southeast Asia for CNN. She will become Professor of Professional Practice in the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University on July 1, 2024, and will be a Distinguished Fellow at Columbia's new Institute of Global Politics beginning in the fall of 2023.

This page is about the Laotian Penal System.

Internet censorship in Vietnam prevents access to websites critical of the Vietnamese government, expatriate political parties, and international human rights organizations, among others or anything the Vietnamese government does not agree with. Online police reportedly monitor Internet cafes and cyber dissidents have been imprisoned. Vietnam regulates its citizens' Internet access using both legal and technical means. The government's efforts to regulate, monitor, and provide oversight regarding Internet use has been referred to as a "Bamboo Firewall". However, citizens can usually view, comment and express their opinions civilly on the internet, as long as it does not evoke anti-government movement, political coup and disrupt the social stability of the country.

The Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA), or Centre for Public Policy Analysis, was established in Washington, D.C., in 1988 and describes itself as a non-profit, non-partisan, think tank and research organization. The CPPA is a non-governmental organization (NGO) focused on foreign policy, national security, human rights, refugee and international humanitarian issues. Its current executive director is Philip Smith.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sombath Somphone</span> Lao civil society member

Sombath Somphone is an internationally acclaimed community development worker and prominent member of Lao civil society. Sombath was abducted from a Vientiane street in 2012 and has not been seen since.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khadija Ismayilova</span> Azerbaijani investigative journalist and radio host

Khadija Rovshan qizi Ismayilova, also Ismailova, is an Azerbaijani investigative journalist and radio host who is currently working for the Azerbaijani service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, until recently as the host of the daily debate show İşdən Sonra. She is a member of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.

The United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc. (ULDL) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO) based in the Washington, D.C.-area with chapters and members in the United States, Thailand, and Laos. The ULDL has worked to provide information about developments in Laos regarding civil society, human rights, pro-democracy, religious freedom, political prisoners, and environmental issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mehman Huseynov</span> Azerbaijani journalist and human rights activist

Mehman Huseynov is an Azerbaijani journalist and human rights activist. He was imprisoned from 2017-2019.

Sivanxai Phommalath is a vegetable vendor who became an activist in Laos. She was jailed for protesting the Government of Laos seizing her land for development.

Freedom of the press in Bangladesh refers to the censorship and endorsement on public opinions, fundamental rights, freedom of expression, human rights, explicitly mass media such as the print, broadcast and online media as described or mentioned in the constitution of Bangladesh. The country's press is legally regulated by the certain amendments, while the sovereignty, national integrity and sentiments are generally protected by the law of Bangladesh to maintain a hybrid legal system for independent journalism and to protect fundamental rights of the citizens in accordance with secularism and media law. In Bangladesh, media bias and disinformation is restricted under the certain constitutional amendments as described by the country's post-independence constitution.

Soulaimane Raissouni is a Moroccan journalist, editorialist, and human rights activist. He was working as the chief editor of the newspaper Akhbar Al Yaoum, being notable for his editorials, criticizing government corruption and advocating political reform. On May 22, 2020, Raissouni was arrested over charges of “indecent assault” against another man. His arrest triggered a movement of solidarity among his sympathizers, both in Morocco and internationally, alleging that his case is part of a defamation campaign targeting journalists and rights activists critical of Moroccan authorities.

Anousa "Jack" Luangsuphom is a Laotian human rights activist who is described as one of the few well-known critics of the government of Laos, who uses two Facebook groups to report on corruption and human rights abuses in the country and to call for democratic reforms.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Akum K. Singh (2020-12-15). Individual Complaint Concerning the Case of Houayheung ("Muay") Xayabouly (PDF) (Report). Human Rights Foundation, Manushya Foundation, Humanity Beyond Borders.
  2. ↑ "Free Lao Woman Human Rights Defender Ms. Houayheuang Xayabouly (Muay) and stop the Human Rights Violations against her". Manushya Foundation.
  3. ↑ Mu Sochua (2021-02-19). "Laos' Pointless Election". The Diplomat .
  4. 1 2 3 4 Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal (2020-03-02). "Muay, The Conscience of Laotian Society". New Bloom Magazine .
  5. ↑ "Flooding in Laos' Southern Provinces Displaces 100,000, Kills at Least 28". Radio Free Asia . 2019-09-19.
  6. ↑ Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal; Adam Bemma (2020-02-20). "In Laos, price of free speech a heavy one". Bangkok Post .
  7. ↑ "Lao Authorities Arrest Woman for Criticizing Flood Relief Efforts on Facebook". Radio Free Asia. 2019-09-16.
  8. ↑ "Woman Held For 'Defaming' Laos is Refused Family Visits". Radio Free Asia. 2019-09-26.
  9. ↑ Pete Cobus (2019-12-12). "Laotian Blogger Gets Five Years for Questioning Flood Response". Voice of America .
  10. ↑ "Laos: Activists and rights groups demand release of Mouay" (Press release). International Federation of Journalists. 2020-09-16.
  11. ↑ Mong Palatino (2020-09-24). "#FreeMuay: Groups call for release of Laotian net idol and environment advocate". Global Voices .
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.