A/HRC/13/40/Add.4 religion (CERD/C/LAO/CO/15, para. 20). In addition, the Government was informed by a letter of 13 March 2009 that the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination considered information received on the situation of the Hmong indigenous people in Xaisomboune province under its early warning and urgent action procedure.5 9. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women considered the country report of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic in July 2009. The Committee expressed its concern at the persistence of adverse norms, practices and traditions as well as patriarchal attitudes and deep-rooted stereotypes regarding the roles, responsibilities and identities of women and men in all spheres of life, especially within some ethnic groups. The Committee was also concerned that such customs and practices perpetuate discrimination against women and girls, and that they were reflected in disadvantageous and unequal status in many areas, including in education and public life and decisionmaking, and the persistence of violence against women and that, thus far, the State party had not taken sustained and systematic action to modify or eliminate stereotypes and negative traditional values and practices (CEDAW/C/LAO/CO/7, para. 21). III. Domestic legal framework on freedom of religion or belief A. Constitutional provisions 10. Laos traces its history to the kingdom of Lane Xang, which was founded in 1353. Under French colonial rule, a first constitution was passed in 1947, in which Buddhism was declared the state religion and Laos became a parliamentary monarchy. The country gained full sovereignty in 1954, however it subsequently plunged into civil war in which the Royal Lao Government and the communist Pathet Lao both received external support from the cold war superpowers. The monarchy was abolished when the Pathet Lao came to power in 1975. The Constitution of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic was adopted in 1991 and significantly amended in 2003. 11. Article 3 of the Constitution of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic provides that the rights of the multi-ethnic people to be the masters of the country are exercised and ensured through the functioning of the political system, with the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party as its leading nucleus. Further constitutional provisions emphasize that all types of enterprises operate according to the principle of the market economy, competing and cooperating with each other to expand production and business while being regulated by the State in the direction of socialism. 12. Pursuant to article 9 of the Constitution, the “State respects and protects all lawful activities of Buddhists and of followers of other religions, and mobilizes and encourages Buddhist monks and novices as well as the priests of other religions to participate in activities that are beneficial to the country and people”. The same article also prohibits “all acts creating division between religions and classes of people”. According to article 35 of the Constitution, Lao citizens are all equal before the law irrespective of their gender, social status, education, beliefs and ethnic group. Article 43 of the Constitution states that Lao citizens have the right and freedom to believe or not to believe in religions. The Constitution also guarantees the right of Lao citizens to receive education as well as the right of freedom of settlement and movement as provided by the law. 5 6 http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/docs/early_warning/Lao130309.pdf. GE.10-10542