Prisoners in Laos are routinely beaten, burnt and threatened with death, the human rights lobby Amnesty International (AI) charges in a report released last Friday on the widespread scale of torture in that country's prisons.

Once in jail, the prisoners, be they local or foreign, ''are stripped of their basic human rights,'' the London-based Amnesty adds in the report, 'Laos: Torture, Ill-treatment and Hidden Suffering'.

''Individuals are at the mercy of a system which lacks transparency, clarity or reason,'' it says in a statement accompanying the report.

''Basic safeguards are almost wholly absent and allow for frequent arbitrary detention and torture.''

What happened to one foreign national is typical of what prevails in this South-east Asian nation.

Immediately after he was arrested, the police beat him for an hour on ''the head, chest and body, while he was handcuffed,'' the report says. Questions came later.

Laotians are more vulnerable to abuse at the hands of the authorities, according to the report. And compounding such a dire situation is the absence of any rights monitoring groups in the country, it notes.

AI's researchers have uncovered over 12 forms of torture and ill-treatment common in Laotian prisons. They range from beating with sticks, long-term shackling in wooden stocks, suffocation, death threats, mock executions, use of electric shocks and burning with cigarettes — just to name a few.

Denial of medical care

Just as troubling is the denial of medical care for prisoners, the report states. ''A total lack of care has lead to the deaths of inmates in at least two prisons.''

''Laos has a poor human rights record and these revelations add to it,'' says Ampika Saibouyai, campaign coordinator at Amnesty's Thai office.

For one regional observer, the Amnesty report affirms just how far Laos is from meeting its international human rights obligations. ''Of late, thegovernment has been trying to comply with the international human rights

standards, but the reality is very different as we can see,'' says Sunai Phasuk, a political analyst at Forum Asia, a Bangkok-based regional human rights watchdog.

Laos' notoriety for suppressing political and civil liberties is evident in other areas too, he adds. They include denying the freedom of assembly, expression and religion.

Early this year, in fact, human rights groups drew attention to the Laotian government's harsh treatment of the small, but growing number of Christians in the country. In addition to attacking followers of the faith and arresting pastors, churches in some villages were forced to close.

Vientiane views the emergence of Christianity as a political threat in this country of 5.4 million people, for it is attracting people to an authority that the government has no control over.

At times, the government has even thrown Laotian Christians into prison after they refused to renounce their new faith, according to some human rights monitors.

This week, there was further evidence that exposed just how distant Laos was from enjoying a vibrant human rights culture.

One party state

Laos is ranked on the lower end of the human development scale in the 'Human development report 2002', which was released Wednesday by the United Nations Development Programme.

The report, whose theme was 'Deepening democracy in a fragmented world', lists Laos — a one-party state that has been ruled by a communist government since 1975 — among the countries with the poorest record of democracy and political and civil liberties.

Ranked alongside it were countries such as Bhutan, in South Asia, and Sudan and Rwanda, in Africa.

In fact, Laos earned a negative rating in the UNDP report for its respect for the rule of law, and was also exposed for not having ratified major international human rights conventions, such as the one upholding civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights.

''Authoritarian leaders promise better outcomes and argue that democracy must be sacrificed for economic growth and social progress. But there is noevidence of such a trade-off,'' the UNDP report argues.

''Human development in its fullest sense requires democratic governance — with all people able to participate in the institutions and decisions that shape their lives and all those who hold power held accountable for their actions,'' it adds.

Yet, an Asian grassroots activist who has worked many years in Laos wonders what degree of responsibility international non-governmentalorganisations (NGOs) must bear for letting the human rights climate in Laos descend to its current oppressive state.

''There are no local NGOs in Laos and the only ones active are the international development NGOs. But they choose not to make the lack of democracy and human rights an issue,'' the Bangkok-based activist, who spoke on condition of anonymity, asserts. ''They stick to their narrow development agendas.''

''Seeing this, the Laotian people who feel oppressed are reluctant to agitate for change, because they are not sure of support,'' she adds. ''So the status quo continues.'' — IPS