A Lao human rights activist who posted articles critical of the government was shot and killed in Vientiane by an unidentified gunman, according to Radio Free Asia (RFA).
Anousa “Jack” Luangsuphom, 24, was the administrator of the Kub Kluen Duay Keyboard (Driven By Keyboard) Facebook group that uncovered and denounced human rights abuses in Laos and called for the end of one-party rule. The killing was captured on a security video posted on the Facebook page, RFA said on Tuesday.
The shooting took place at 10.26pm on Saturday in the After School Chocolate & Bar shop in Chanthabury district of the Lao capital city. The victim was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital at 4am Sunday, the Facebook page said.
The security video shows a man wearing a cap coming to the door of the shop and appearing to ask a question of a woman standing in the kitchen area. He briefly closes the door before entering again, stepping inside and firing two shots at Jack, and leaves, prompting two women to scream, “Jack, Jack!”
Separate footage from a security camera outside the back door shows the assailant, wearing a grey cap and brown shirt, come to the back door and use a handkerchief to grab the doorknob, presumably to avoid leaving fingerprints.
No arrests have been made.
Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), urged the Lao government to investigate and reveal the facts for the public to know.
“If they don’t do anything, people will think that state officials have a connection with the case,” he said. “Right now, we can’t say who did the killing.”
Those who have been critical of the government have paid a heavy price in the past, including getting kidnapped and disappearing, he noted. The most prominent example is the case of Sombath Somphone, who was stopped at a police checkpoint in 2012, forced into a white truck and driven away. He has not been seen since then.
HRW also cited the case of Od Sayavong, a Lao activist living in Bangkok, who has been missing since August 2019.
Lao government officials had denied any knowledge of both disappearances.
