Activists claim a Laos political activist who was shot in the face and body is alive.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) was informed by the family of Anousa Luangsuphom, 25, that he is recovering in a hospital after being wounded in a cafe in the capital city of Vientiane.
According to the rights group, they initially told people he had perished to prevent him from being targeted again.
The group added that this reflects the level of dread felt by dissidents in Laos.
“Friends and family essentially told people he was dead because they feared the gunman would return to finish the job if he knew they had failed to kill him,” said HRW spokesman Phil Robertson.
Mr. Luangsuphom is a prominent government critic in Laos. Saturday night’s security camera footage of his attack has been extensively shared on social media and reported by local media.
It depicts a gunman wearing a brown long-sleeved shirt and black cap opening the café door with a facemask before entering and firing twice at Mr. Luangsuphom, who is seated on the floor.
The video then depicts the shooter fleeing as bystanders race for Mr. Luangsuphom’s assistance.
The activist is known for administering the Facebook page Kub Kluen Duay Keyboard (Driven By Keyboard). Where people have expressed their disapproval of the Communist government.
On Wednesday night, the administrators of the page shared a message from a European-based Laos political commentator with a large online following in Laos and abroad.
Mr. Robertson stated that the family had requested that the Facebook influencer reveal that Mr. Luangsuphom was still alive.
Laos authorities found Mr. Luangsuphom in a Vientiane hospital after international media misreported his death.
Photos posted on the Facebook page appear to depict him incapacitated in a hospital bed with facial injuries.
The slow response of Laos authorities to the murder has been criticized. Authorities had not announced an investigation into it before Wednesday.
Mr. Robertson stated that police have yet to demonstrate that they are investigating the attack thoroughly.
He stated that the family’s “protective” actions demonstrated that “there is no confidence in the Laos government that it is there to protect the country’s citizens.”
It follows similar criticism regarding the disappearance or targeting of other activists.
HRW had previously noted the “enforced disappearance” of activist Sombath Somphone. Whose whereabouts remain unclear more than a decade after he was taken into Vientiane police custody.
It also referenced the case of Od Sayavong, a Bangkok-based Lao activist who has been missing since August 2019.
Officials of the government denied any knowledge of both disappearances.
In Communist-ruled Laos, one of Asia’s poorest countries, there is little space for political opposition or dissenting voices.
The landlocked country between Thailand and China is a one-party state governed by the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party, where, according to the US political advocacy group Freedom House, “authorities use legal restrictions and intimidation tactics against state critics.”
