Anousa 'Jack' Luangsuphom was shot in the face and side in a Vientiane cafe on April 29 but survived the attack.- JOSEPH AKARAVONG/FACEBOOK
BANGKOK (AFP) A Laotian political activist who was reported to have died after being shot twice at close range in fact survived the attack, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday (May 4).
Anousa 'Jack' Luangsuphom was shot in the face and side in a Vientiane cafe on Saturday and was reported dead by HRW, Amnesty International, a Laos newspaper and the dissident Facebook page he helped to run.
On Thursday, however, HRW said it had received confirmation from family and other sources that Anousa was still alive and being treated in hospital.
"Reports received from multiple sources that Anousa 'Jack' Luangsuphom died on the way to the hospital on April 29, 2023, proved to be false," HRW said in a statement.
"On the evening of May 3, Anousa's family and other sources provided Human Rights Watch verbal confirmation and photographic evidence that Anousa survived the shooting and is now receiving medical treatment in a hospital."
The HRW statement came after a post late Wednesday on the "Driven by Keyboard" Facebook page -- of which Anousa was an administrator -- saying he had survived the attack.
Photos on the post, also shared by HRW, show a young man in a hospital bed with a gunshot wound to the cheek.
The post by Joseph Akaravong, an activist and friend of Anousa, said the family had said that the 25-year-old was dead as a deliberate ploy to deter the gunman from trying to kill him as he lay helpless in hospital.
"Now Jack is still alive and his condition has improved accordingly, but he is worried about his safety, afraid that someone will attack him again if he is still treated in Laos," Akaravong, who is based in France, told AFP.
"I spoke directly to his family, who took care of him at the hospital. His family would like to bring Jack to Thailand for treatment, but the process is very difficult, we are trying now."
The "Driven by Keyboard" page, which regularly carries posts critical of the hardline communist government in Laos, had earlier posted Anousa's photo along with a message saying he had died.
Poor, landlocked Laos has long been criticised for its dismal rights record, with government critics often dying or disappearing.
Both HRW and Amnesty International issued statements on Wednesday saying Anousa had died and calling for an investigation, while the Laotian Times, an online publication operating under tight government supervision, also ran a story saying he was dead.
"A 25-year-old man was shot dead by an unknown assailant at a cafe in Chanthabouly District, Vientiane Capital on Saturday," the story said, identifying the victim as Anousa.
Laotian state news agency KPL posted chilling security camera footage online showing the attack.
The video shows a gunman in a brown shirt and black cap stepping briefly inside the cafe, seemingly to confirm his target is there, before drawing a handgun from his waistband and re-entering to fire two shots at close range.
Anousa falls to the floor as two women in the cafe cry for help and the gunman makes his escape.
