Starting Points: Laos

Showing posts with label Laos. Show all posts

Mar 31, 2010

In Asia - World Water Day: Laos Hardest Hit by Mekong’s Falling Water Levels

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In Asia - World Water Day: Laos Hardest Hit by Mekong’s Falling Water Levels

Dec 29, 2009

Laos General in Charge of Hmong Repatriation Denies UN, Amnesty Reports of Attacks

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"Brigadier General Bouasieng Champaphanh, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Lao Armed Forces, has also been in charge of denying all human rights violations regarding the Hmong, including denying all charges by Amnesty International and others," said Philip Smith of the Center for Public Policy Analysis in Washington, D.C.
(Media-Newswire.com) - Washington, D.C., December 29, 2009 - The head of the Hmong effort to forcibly repatriate Lao Hmong refugees from Thailand to Laos is a senior Lao Peoples Army ( LPA ) general who has a track record of denying findings of war crimes and atrocities by Amnesty International, the United Nations and others. Brigadier General Bouasieng Champaphanh ( AKA Bouaxieng Champaphanh ), chairman of the Lao-Thai general border sub-committee, is also the Deputy Chief of Staff for the Lao Armed Forces which has target the Hmong in Laos for military attacks and political and religious persecution. General Bouasieng Champaphanh has been put in charge of the Hmong repatriated from Thailand to Laos.

“Lao Brigadier General Bouasieng Champaphanh, along with other senior Lao Peoples Army commanders and Politburo members, have engaged in efforts before the United Nations to cover-up atrocities and war crimes committed in recent years to exterminate Hmong dissidents and unarmed civilians in the jungles and mountains of Laos, including in Xieng Khouang Province Boulikhamxai and Vientiane Provinces,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis.

Smith continued: “This is the equivalent of putting SS-Obersturmbannführer Adolf Eichmann in charge of the plan for the so-called ‘Jewish resettlement’ in Poland and Germany during World War II,” Smith continued.

http://www.universalhumanrightsindex.org/documents/824/960/document/en/pdf/text.pdf

In 2003, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination passed a resolution in Geneva condemning the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic ( LPDR ) for atrocities against the Hmong including the rape and murder of Hmong children by LPA forces. Thereafter, it again raised concerns about attacks against Hmong civilians and opposition groups in Laos.

http://www.universalhumanrightsindex.org/documents/824/1223/document/en/pdf/text.pdf

http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGASA260022006〈=e

http://www.universalhumanrightsindex.org/documents/824/1223/document/en/pdf/text.pdf

Amnesty International has also repeatedly documented atrocities against the Hmong by the LPA against Hmong civilians which were also denied by Laos and General Bouasieng and other LPA Generals. The LPA controls the central committee of the LPDR politburo with a majority of senior military officers controlling the communist party in Laos.

http://asiapacific.amnesty.org/aidoc/ai.nsf/Index/ENGASA260042004

http://www.amnesty.org.au/hrs/comments/2421/

“Ironically, General Bouasieng Champaphanh, an officer in charge of military operations directed against the Hmong in Laos, placed LPA officers in charge of investigating the war crimes they were accused of committing in Xieng Khoang Province and elsewhere for the purpose of denying it to the United Nations after the passage of the resolution by the United Nations Committee in Geneva in 2004,” Smith said. “Earlier this year, Thailand’s Prime Minister and General Anupong Paochinda allowed General Bouasieng Champaphanh to visit the Hmong refugee camp at Ban Huay Nam Khao and speak to the refugees who repeatedly refused his demands to volunteer to return to Laos.”

“Brigadier General Bouasieng Champaphanh, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Lao Armed Forces, has also been in charge of denying all human rights violations regarding the Hmong, including denying all charges by Amnesty International and others,” Smith stated.

“The Chief of Staff of the Army and Deputy Chief of Staff, including the office of General Bouasieng Champaphanh, have authorized repeated ‘Einstatzgruppen’ ethnic cleansing operations, military operations and a campaign of mass starvation against many Lao Hmong civilians and dissident groups in recent months and years,” Smith said.

Laos does not have an independent judiciary. It is a one-party, authoritarian military regime.

In 2004, the U.S. Congress passed H. Res. 402 in response to the Hmong crisis in Laos and Thailand and attacks and human rights violations against Hmong and Laotian civilians and dissidents.

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=108_cong_bills&docid=f:hr402ih.txt.pdf

“Over the last three years, political analysts have painstakingly documented evidence that supports the ongoing persecution of Lao Hmong and Political Prisoners in secret detention centres throughout Laos. It is a broadly accepted view held by the International Community that the Lao Hmong Refugees will face similar persecution, arbitrary detention, torture, and possibly death, if forced back to Laos. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Foreign Prisoner Support Service have independently reported returnee abuse in Laos” says Kay Danes, advocate for the Foreign Prisoner Support Service in Australia and a former political prisoner in Laos.

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Contact: Maria Gomez
Telephone ( 202 ) 543-1444
Center for Public Policy Analysis
info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org

US lawmakers demand access to expelled Hmong

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WASHINGTON — US lawmakers on Tuesday denounced Thailand for expelling more than 4,000 Hmong into Laos and demanded that the Vientiane government allow immediate international monitoring to ensure their safety.

The senators representing Minnesota and Wisconsin, states home to much of the Hmong community in the United States, said they "strongly condemn" Thailand for going ahead with Monday's mass expulsion despite US and UN pleas.

"This action violates humanitarian and refugee principles and could have serious repercussions," said the statement by Senators Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl of Wisconsin and Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.

"We share the concern of many of our Hmong-American constituents whose loved ones have been forced to return, and we will be paying close attention as the Hmong are resettled in Laos," said the senators, all members of President Barack Obama's Democratic Party.

The senators urged Laos "to ensure the safety and well-being of these individuals and to allow immediate and ongoing monitoring by international observers at all stages of the resettlement and reintegration process."

In a separate joint statement, the top Democrat and Republican on the House Foreign Relations Committee said that the repatriation "marks a dangerous precedent" for refugees worldwide.

"The Lao government must ensure that they are treated humanely, guarantee access to the international community for independent monitoring, and let those who are eligible for resettlement be resettled promptly," wrote Representatives Howard Berman, the committee chair, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the ranking Republican.

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Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont had earlier held out the threat of scaling back military cooperation with Thailand, a long-standing US ally, if it went ahead with the expulsions.

Both Thailand and Laos said that the Hmong were illegal immigrants and not political refugees as they contended. Thailand said it had received assurances that Laos would treat them well.

But Hmong activists say that the ethnic group continues to face persecution in communist Laos stemming from the time of the Vietnam War, when the mountain people were recruited to fight alongside US forces.

Doctors Without Borders said earlier this year that Hmong who fled to Thailand recounted killings, gang-rape and malnutrition inflicted by Laotian forces.

Thailand and the US behave like traitors

Image by Adrian Whelan via Flickr

Published on December 29, 2009

On Sunday your paper reported that Thailand will begin using the Army to repatriate several thousand Hmong refugees back to Laos. The story deserves more coverage than you gave it.

It is a very sad situation that people are being forced at gunpoint back to a place they want to leave. In the midst of this sad story, however, a real tragedy is taking place - one that brings shame to both America and Thailand.

First, remember that the Hmong were the Lao mountain soldiers who fought on behalf of the USA and Thailand during the Vietnam War. They were highly regarded as fighters, and they played a major part in keeping Laos in the control of our allies until the end.

Image by eliodoro via Flickr

Among the present Hmong refugees is a small group known as the "Jungle Hmong" who will be going back to predictable brutality and likely death. They are a rebellious group that remained in the jungle after the communist victory and refused to assimilate or cooperate. They thought of themselves as patriots, and awaited the day when they might help free their country from their old enemy - likely with ongoing encouragement from some Hmong who escaped to other countries. Over the years, the Lao government, regarding them as criminals and traitors, has been systematically exterminating them. Many, maybe most, of them would now like to find a way to assimilate, but, with good reason, they believe they will be jailed and/or killed if they come under the control of Lao officials.

Image by jackol via Flickr

The Jungle Hmong in Thailand (mostly women, children, and old men) have been officially and properly designated as political refugees, and other governments have stated a willingness to accept them. Last April it appeared that common sense and compassion might prevail when the Thai foreign minister announced that Thailand would facilitate the resettlement of 158 of the Jungle Hmong held at Nong Khai. A month later, however, Laos insisted that they be sent back, and Thailand caved in. A couple of months ago, Laos became a party to an important UN human rights accord, but many observers believe that the communists' hatred for the Jungle Hmong is so deep and strong that, in spite of the now official policy, those Hmong will likely be brutally received if returned to Laos.

Image by Eric Bagchus via Flickr

Thailand and America have both paid some lip service to resettlement of the Jungle Hmong, but both governments have been fundamentally spineless. They know that the Jungle Hmong are legitimate political refugees, they know that they are terrified to return to Laos, they know that they have good reason to so feel, they know they are our former allies, and they know that most of the persons in Thailand pose no possible threat to anyone. Nevertheless they will not do what it takes to move them on. One wonders if the Afghans will notice this sense of ongoing commitment that America has for former military allies.

In a related story, the legendary old Hmong general, Vang Pao, announced a couple of weeks ago that he would like to travel back to Laos to see if he could ease the tensions between his followers and the present government. The Lao government, however, expressed contempt for the idea by saying he must serve his death sentence first.

LARRY FRASER

CHIANG MAI

Dec 25, 2009

Thailand may send Hmong back to Laos

By John Pomfret
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 25, 2009; A15

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An estimated 4,200 ethnic Hmong, many of whom fought for the CIA during the Vietnam War or are related to soldiers who worked with the agency, are set to be expelled from Thailand back to Laos, where they could face political persecution.

The State Department said Thursday that it was deeply concerned about the fate of the Hmong, an ethnic minority that battled the communist government of Laos for years with U.S. support.

The Thai military had dispatched more than 30 trucks Thursday evening to a refugee camp in central Thailand containing about 4,000 Hmong and had shut off satellite and cellphone service from the camp, according to human rights officials. The Thai military was also thought to be preparing to expel an additional 158 Hmong from a camp near the border with Laos, even though members of that group have been granted refugee status by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

The forced resettlement, which the Thai government had announced would take place before the end of this year, would mark the second such repatriation of refugees in Southeast Asia in a week. On Saturday, Cambodia sent 20 Uighur refugees back to China for certain punishment because of their links to violent protests over the summer in northwestern China.

Image by HKmPUA via Flickr

The Obama administration sent Eric Schwartz, assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and migration, to Thailand this week to present senior Thai officials, including military officers, with a letter committing the United States and other Western countries, such as the Netherlands and Australia, to resettle any Hmong who are deemed to be refugees. As a legacy of the Vietnam War, the United States has accepted 150,000 Hmong.

Despite Schwartz's entreaties, all indications were that Thailand had decided to go ahead with its operation.

"The tragedy of this issue is that this is a solvable problem," Schwartz said in an interview. "We've got the resources; we've got the commitment to get into those camps and work with the Thai to achieve the results the Thai want to achieve."

Thai officials say that if more Hmong are granted refugee status, then more will flood into Thailand. At the same time, Thailand is seeking warmer ties with Laos as it deals with a tense standoff with another neighbor, Cambodia.

Schwartz said the imminent expulsion of the Hmong, along with this week's repatriation of the Uighurs, highlighted concerns about Southeast Asia's commitment to protecting refugees.

"We're concerned about the entire regime of protection breaking down," Schwartz said.

Dec 20, 2009

As Laos Joins the Globalized World, The Price It Pays Is Independence

Image by ZedZap(Nick) via Flickr

The slow emergence of Laos, once the backwater of French Indochina, since the end of the Vietnam War has received a huge new boost. Supported largely by China, Laos has hosted a major international event and is integrating more closely with the regional economy. Billboard-sized posters for the Southeast Asian Games, Internet cafes and cell phone towers all serve to show that Laos has joined the globalized world. For Laos this world begins with China; but for Beijing, Laos is yet another step in its rising power.

The SEA Games, which bring together the 11 countries in the region for a biannual sporting event, may not be the Olympics or the World Cup in football. But land-locked Laos, long considered one of the world’s poorest countries, hosted the event with pride and enthusiasm. News of the Games top the usually dreary bulletins of the Lao News Agency, a state-run institution in this still communist nation in Southeast Asia.

The Games also come at a time when Laos is more than ever before engaging the outside world in business and development. The World Bank stated in a report this year that Laos is weathering the global financial crisis better than many of its neighbors. Although GDP growth is expected to be 5 percent this year, down from 7 percent in 2008, it is still an impressive performance. Exports of electricity to power-hungry countries in the region, mining and now tourism are the engines behind this growth. New buildings are going up in Vientiane and elsewhere, and previously pot-holed, dusty roads have been spruced up. The Internet and mobile phones are no longer novelties.

But all this has come at a price. A foreign observer once described Laos not as a “land-locked but a land-linked country” with different economic, political and cultural influences coming in from all directions. In a 1982 report, the Washington-based monthly Indochina Issues said that “Laos’s strategic location, coupled with its chaotic terrain, ethnic complexity and economic backwardness, has convinced Lao leaders that the country’s options are either chaos or dependency on a more powerful ally.” A generation later, that assessment remains true. And that ally is increasingly becoming China.

For China, Laos is attractive both for its natural resources and for its strategic location as a gateway to Southeast Asia. Although logging is supposedly strictly controlled by the authorities, recent visitors to the northern province of Phong Saly observed convoys of trucks with freshly felled timber crossing the border into China. In other northern areas, vast tracts of forest have been cut down to make way for rubber plantations geared toward the Chinese market. The Chinese have assisted Laos in road construction, hydroelectric power development, and mineral extraction. Moreover, China has paid for the construction of showcase buildings in the capital. The first was a huge “Cultural Center” in Vientiane — and now, hardly surprisingly, the stadium for the SEA Games.

Though China is not among the 11 countries competing in Vientiane, without Beijing’s assistance the venue for the Games would not have been nearly as spectacular. Not wanting to be outdone, Laos’s old ally, Vietnam, decided to pay for the construction of the adjacent Athletes’ Village.

Part of the original deal with China was that as many as 50,000 Chinese workers and their families would be part of a “New City Development” scheme around the stadium. But, unusual for Laos where few dare to criticize official policies, this plan was met with opposition from even within the country’s National Assembly. It’s now going to be a much smaller “Chinatown,” but the trend is obvious. Newly arrived Chinese migrants have set up shops and other businesses in Vientiane and elsewhere.

The changing nature of Laos’s international allegiances is perhaps best reflected in the history of three apartment blocks on the road to Vientiane’s Wattay Airport. Completed in the 1960s to accommodate operatives of the US Central Intelligence Agency and other American advisers, the buildings were taken over by Soviet experts and technicians when the communist Pathet Lao seized power in December 1975. Today, they are called the Mekong Hotel and Apartments and cater to a mainly Chinese clientele. One floor houses the Beijing Restaurant, with signs in Chinese, Lao and Roman script, and a Chinese-style nightclub with a karaoke bar. The road from the airport into the city is also lined with new company offices, shops and restaurants displaying the names of the establishments in Chinese characters.

In October, the links between China and Laos — and beyond — were cemented in an agreement to build a new fourth bridge across the Mekong River. This fourth bridge will span the Mekong River between the cities Ban Houei Xai in Laos and Chiang Khong in Thailand, replacing the existing, slow and cumbersome ferry connection between the two towns. A new, all-weather highway already connects Ban Houei Xai with Boten on Laos’s border with China. The new bridge will provide the first direct road link between China and Southeast Asia.

Lao authorities expect that the 480-meter-long bridge will be finished within 30 months with the cost shared equally by Thailand and Laos. Laos’s share of the project will be paid with a grant of $20 million from China.

China’s expanding influence in Laos is particularly significant in the light of its long-term rivalry with Vietnam for influence. Since the early 1950s, when the Vietnamese Communist Party helped found the Pathet Lao, Hanoi had a dominating influence: North Vietnamese regular units fought alongside the Laotians they had trained to overthrow the US-backed Rightist government. Vietnamese officials ran much of the administration during the French colonial era, which ended in 1953, and many stayed on as businessmen and private entrepreneurs. Newly arrived Vietnamese often have relatives in Mekong river-valley towns like Vientiane, and can more easily obtain local identification documents — and, eventually, citizenship. Vietnamese economic influence, and investment, is especially evident in the south.

But even there, cheap Chinese consumer goods abound in local markets, and it’s only a matter of time before China’s entrepreneurs become more firmly established. A foothold in southern Laos would give China more direct access to Cambodia — another country that has moved closer to China in recent years — and comparatively prosperous urban areas in northeastern Thailand. But despite recent economic progress, Laos’s small population alone will never provide the sufficient volume of demand for Chinese goods that Beijing seeks.

On Oct. 23, Chinese President Hu Jintao and his Laotian counterpart, Choummaly Sayasone, met in Beijing to reaffirm their cordial relationship. A member of the Lao delegation stated that Laos and China would strengthen their “comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation,” and that “with joint efforts, Laos-China traditional friendship will last forever.” Although shrouded in traditional, communist rhetoric, the message was clear: China is in Laos to stay — well beyond the SEA Games.

Bertil Lintner is a Swedish journalist based in Thailand and the author of several works on Asia, including “Blood Brothers: The Criminal Underworld of Asia .” Copyright YaleGlobal 2009 , Yale Center for the Study of Globalization.

Sep 25, 2009

UNICEF - Resources on child protection in Southeast Asia

Image by Eddie C via Flickr

Reversing the Trend : Child Trafficking in East and Southeast Asia
This report is a regional assessment of UNICEF’s efforts to address child trafficking, drawing on country assessments conducted in China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam in early 2008. It also highlights trends, gaps, lessons learned, promising and good practices across the region. Despite varying contexts and different experiences across these countries. Click to download the report.

Everyday fears: A study of children’s perceptions of living in the southern border area of Thailand
The study found that the children suffer anxiety and stress associated with the ongoing threat andanticipation of violence, as well as their own violent experiences and their proximity to places vulnerableto violent attacks. Their everyday experiences...

Someone that matters: The quality of care in childcare institutions in Indonesia
A joint report released by DEPSOS, Save the Children and UNICEF is the first ever comprehensive research into the quality of care in childcare institutions in Indonesia. The report provides a detailed assessment of 37 childcare institutions across 6 provi

Aug 14, 2009

Virginia Laos, Hmong Appeal to Senator Webb To Release Lao Students, End Hmong Abuses

2009-08-14 06:57:51 - An urgent action appeal letter and statement to U.S. Senator Jim Webb by many of the Laotian and Hmong organizations in Virginia, was sent just prior to his departure to Laos, Thailand, Burma and Southeast Asia on behalf of the Center for Public Policy Analysis and many in the Virginia Laotian and Hmong-American community.

Vientiane, Laos, Arlington, Virginia and Washington, D.C., August 14, 2009

The following are excerpts of an urgent action appeal letter and statement to U.S. Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) issued jointly by the Center for Public Policy Analysis ( CPPA ) and a coalition of Virginia and national Laotian and Hmong organizations to request his assistance in ending the current human rights, refugee and humanitarian catastrophe in Laos and Thailand facing the Laotian and Hmong people.

“An urgent action appeal letter and statement to U.S. Senator Jim Webb by many of the Laotian and Hmong organizations in Virginia, was sent just prior to his departure to Laos, Thailand, Burma and Southeast Asia on behalf of the CPPA and many in the Virginia Laotian and Hmong-American community,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the CPPA in Washington, D.C.

“The letter appeals to Senator Webb, while visiting Laos and Thailand, to raise key issue regarding the plight of jailed Lao Student Leaders (of the peaceful October 1999 Students Movement for Democracy protests in Vientiane, Laos) and the terrible forced repatriation of thousands of Lao Hmong refugees from refugee camps in Thailand back to the Stalinist regime in Laos that they fled,” Smith said. www.pr-inside.com/secretary-of-state-clinton-end-laos-r1427935.h ..

“The appeal letter and statement request that U.S. Senator Jim Webb raise key issues in Laos to seek to end the horrific religious persecution of Christians, Animists, independent Buddhists and other religious believers and political dissidents who continue to be persecuted and killed; It also asks the Senator Webb’s help in stopping the ongoing brutal military attacks and bloody atrocities against unarmed civilians in Laos, including the Hmong people,” Smith concluded.

During Senator Webb’s trip to Laos and Southeast Asia, eight Hmong children where captured by LPA forces in Laos during a recent attack on civilians that left 26 dead. www.pr-inside.com/laos-8-lao-hmong-children-captured-r1434824.ht ..

In recent days, elements of the Thai Third Army and Ministry of Interior (MOI) used tear gas, electric cattle prods and tazer-like guns to forced back 24 Hmong political refugees from Thailand to Laos following the visit of a Lao communist official to the camp at Ban Huay Nam Khao.

Foreign prisoners and dissidents continue to be jailed in Laos as well as three Hmong Americans from St. Paul, Minnesota.
www.live-pr.com/en/laos-lpdr-gulag-foreign-prisoners-dissidents- ..
www.live-pr.com/en/secret-prisons-in-laos-hold-hakit-r1048311013 ..

Former U.S. Ambassador H. Eugene Douglas, B. Jenkins Middleton, Esq., Distinguished U.S. Foreign Service Officer Edmund McWilliams, U.S. Department of State, Ret., and others have again recently issued appeals and statements regarding the dire plight of the Lao Hmong in Thailand and Laos facing persecution and forced repatriation.
www.pr-inside.com/honorable-h-eugene-douglas-urges-help-r1430464 ..
www.pr-inside.com/secretary-of-state-clinton-end-laos-r1427935.h ..

The following are excerpts of the appeal letter and statement sent to U.S. Senator Jim Webb prior to his departure to Laos, Thailand, Burma and Southeast Asia, by Mr. Philip Smith, Executive Director of the CPPA and a coalition of Laotian and Hmong community organizations in Virginia, and nationally.

”On behalf of the United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc. (ULDL), the Lao Veterans of America, Inc. (LVA), the Lao Veterans of America Institute (LVAI), the Lao Veterans organization and association (LVOA), Hmong Advance, Inc.(HA), Hmong Advancement, Inc., the Lao Students Movement for Democracy (LSMD); the Lao Students Association; the Lao Hmong Human Rights Council (LHHRC), the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA), and a coalition of Laotian and Hmong non-profit organizations in Virginia, and nationally in Washington, D.C., we would like to request that you, Senator Webb:

I. While on your trip to Thailand, urge the Royal Thai Government, and officials you meet with in Thailand, to:

1.) Allow international access to some 5,500 Lao Hmong political refugees being imprisoned in Ban Huay Nam Khao Camp (Petchabun Province) and Nong Khai Detention Center, Thailand and urge the Thai military and Royal Thai Government to cease repatriating them back to the communist regime in Laos they fled;

2.) Urge the Royal Thai government and Thai military to allow the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to have unfettered access to the Lao Hmong refugees and asylum seekers at Ban Huay Nam Khao and Nong Khai Detention Center for the purpose of screening the refugees so that they can be resettled in third countries such as France, Australia, New Zealand and other countries that have agreed to take the refugees;

II. When you travel to Laos, we request that you urge the communist Lao Peoples Democratic Republic (LPDR) regime, and officials that you meet with, to:

1.) Work to immediately seek the release, by the LPDR military junta, of the Lao Student Movement for Democracy pro-democracy dissidents (of the October 1999 Movement for Democracy) who the Lao Communist regime continues to imprison in Laos (as reported by Amnesty International and other independent human rights organizations);

2.) Urge the LPDR regime to provide unfettered access to the Hmong political refugees, and refugee camp leaders, forcibly repatriated from Thailand in June/July 2008 from Huay Nam Khao refugee camp in Petchabun Province, Thailand; many of the Lao Hmong camp leaders forcibly repatriated have disappeared or are imprisoned --or have disappeared in Laos;

3.) Work to immediately urge the LPDR regime to release three (3) Hmong-American citizens from St. Paul, Minnesota, including Mr. Hakit Yang, who were arrested and imprisoned in Laos in August, 2007, while engage in tourism and a business investment trip to Laos; they have since been moved from Vientiane, Laos, to a secret prison in Sam Neua Province;

4.) Urge the LPDR regime and Lao Peoples Army (LPA) to stop its horrific and bloody military attacks largely directed at unarmed Laotian and Hmong civilians, and political and religious dissidents, in hiding at Phou Da Phao mountain and Phou Bia Mountain areas as well as elsewhere in Luang Prabang Province, Vientiane Province, Khammoune Province, Xieng Khouang Province, Savanakhet Province and elsewhere in Laos; Urge the LPDR regime LPA to cease its campaign of starvation against Laotian and Hmong civilians and stop using food as a weapon of war like its ally in North Korea; Amnesty International and other human rights organizations and independent journalists, including reports by the New York Times, have documented this humanitarian and refugee crisis in Laos under the brutal LPDR regime that should warrant the attention of you, Senator Webb. and your colleagues in the U.S. Congress.

5.) Urge the Lao LPDR regime to respect religious freedom and cease its campaign of religious persecution, imprisonment and killing of Lao and Hmong Christians; Urge the LPDR regime in Laos to cease its confiscation of the property of Laotian and Hmong Christians, Animist and Buddhist believers who wish to practice their faith independently from the LPDR regime's close monitoring and oversight.

Again, the Lao and Hmong community in Virginia and nationally, including many of the Laotian and Hmong veterans and their families who served with U.S. clandestine and military forces during the Vietnam war, would appreciate your leadership and your assistance in raising these issues at the highest levels with officials in Thailand and Laos that you meets with on your trip, including Royal Thai and LPDR officials in Thailand and Laos.”

(--End excerpts of the August 2009, appeal letter and statement sent to U.S. Senator Jim Webb prior to his departure to Laos, Thailand, Burma and Southeast Asia, by Mr. Philip Smith, Executive Director of the CPPA and a coalition of Laotian and Hmong community organizations in Virginia, and nationally --)

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