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Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) Recent Press Releases Recent Press Releases Death in the Mekong, Laos:
Ceremonies in U.S. Senate, Arlington, Vietnam Memorial, Mark Exodus of Hmong, Lao People
May 17, 2016, Washington, D.C.
Laotian- and Hmong-American veterans, who served during the Vietnam War in Laos, are
conducting national memorial and policy events, including those at Arlington National Cemetery (ANC), the Vietnam War Memorial
and Congress, according to Philip Smith of the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA). They are mourning the 40th anniversary
of the exodus and mass killings of tens of thousands of Lao and Hmong refugees fleeing across the Mekong River in 1975-76,
following the fall of Laos to invading North Vietnamese Army (NVA) forces and communist Pathet Lao guerrillas. The
somber, week-long events and ceremonies to honor the veterans are being held in Washington, D.C., Bryant University, New
England, Alaska, Wisconsin and California.
The CPPA, Special Forces Association (SFA), and ANC Deputy Superintendent, Brion Moore,
are providing remarks and participating in the Arlington and Washington events, as are U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska),
Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota), Al Franken (D-Minnesota), Dianne Feinstein (D-California), Barbara
Boxer (D-California), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island), Jack Reed (D-Rhode Island) and Maria Cantwell (D-Washington).
Congressmen Jim Costa (D-California), Devin Nunes (R-California), and David Cicillini (D-Rhode Island) are also participating.
“I
am here to honor and thank the Lao and Hmong veterans and their refugee families,” said Senator Sheldon Whitehouse,
at Bryant, whose father was U.S. Ambassador to the Royal Kingdom of Laos.
“The sacrifices of the Lao and Hmong veterans during the Vietnam War were
crucial,” proclaimed Senator Jack Reed.
“On May 11-12, Lao and Hmong veterans, and their refugee families
from across America, arrived in Congress for meetings and special events,” said Philip Smith, Director of the CPPA.
“The
Hmong 'Angels' troupe, from Minneapolis and St. Paul, performed honorary traditional dances at the U.S. Senate, Arlington
National Cemetery and Vietnam War Memorial. Amy Vang, Miss Hmong America, 2016, spoke.
“These events help to educate U.S. Senators
and Congress, and are generating additional support for the Lao 'Hmong Veterans' Service Recognition Act' (S. 1358/H.R.
2327), to honor the veterans, and somberly mark the tragic anniversary of the genocide and horrific exodus across the Mekong
River, in 1975-76, during the fall of the Royal Kingdom of Laos.
“On May 13th, a special memorial wreath-laying ceremony was held at the
Lao Veterans of America monument, in Arlington National Cemetery and the Vietnam War Memorial, with the U.S. Department
of Defense (DOD), to remember and honor all those who sacrificed, fought, and died defending the Kingdom of Laos and U.S.
national security interests during the Vietnam War.
“A solemn ceremony, and posting of the colors, was conducted in Arlington
by a U.S. Armed Forces Joint Honor Guard, the 'Old Guard,' and an Army wreath-bearer, and bugler, who played 'Taps,' in
sad remembrance of the fall of the Royal Kingdom of Laos to invading North Vietnamese Army forces, and the bloodbath and
refugee exodus that followed across the Mekong River.
“The Arlington ceremony was conducted by the CPPA, Lao Veterans of America,
Inc.(LVA), and the Lao Veterans of America Institute (LVAI), and was cosponsored by the U.S. Congress, Arlington National
Cemetery, the DOD, Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps,” Smith concluded.
“On May 12-13, in a historic series of cultural dances performed at the
U.S. Senate, Arlington National Cemetery and the Vietnam War Memorial, for the first time in the history of the Lao-Hmong
people, the Hmong 'Angels' performed traditional dances at these important places in Washington to honor the veterans and
remember those who died in Laos and the Mekong,” commented Pang Mang Thao, President, Minnesota LVA.
“I was honored to serve alongside Lao and
Hmong forces in combat in Xieng Khouang and elsewhere in Laos,” said General Victor J. Hugo, Jr., (USA-Ret.), SFA.
“The Hmong and Laotian involvement in the
Vietnam conflict was to help contain the spread of Soviet- backed communism in Southeast Asia and the region, and to interdict
and disrupt military activities conducted by the NVA on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, ” stated Richard Xiong, President,
LVAI.
“We
come here to pay our respect for our Lao, Hmong, Khmu and Mien soldiers who sacrificed their lives to protect the Kingdom
of Laos during the Vietnam War,” said Chong Vang, son of General Vang Pao.
“I witnessed seeing North Vietnamese
rockets blowing up before my eyes; We were among the lucky people that survived through the many close calls during the U.S.
'Secret War',” recounted Peter Vang, Executive Director of the Fresno, California-based LVA.
“These
indigenous forces, fighting shoulder to shoulder with U.S. soldiers, conducted direct missions against the Communist forces
and their North Vietnamese supporters; Hmong soldiers saved countless American lives,” stated Congressman Jim Costa.
“Serving at the U.S. Embassy in Laos I witnessed
the Communist assaults on fleeing civilians which included automatic weapons fire as they desperately sought to swim across
the Mekong. Subsequently, as an officer at the Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, I visited with and interviewed scores of these
refugees about the horror they had faced in Laos. They told of aerial attacks on their mountain villages, including Communist
use of chemical munitions...,” stated Edmund McWilliams, a U.S. Department of State officer.
“Thank you for your kind invitation to today's
memorial service honoring Hmong Veterans at Arlington National Cemetery... to honor the Hmong-American veterans of
the Vietnam War and their families as they commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the crossing of the Mekong River by tens
of thousands of refugees fleeing genocide,” stated Senator Al Franken.
Remarks at Arlington include those by: Congress, Richard Xiong, LVAI; Philip
Smith, CPPA; Pang Mang Thao, Minnesota LVA; Chong Vang; Peter Vang, LVAI; SFA Green Berets (U.S. Army-Ret.) General
Victor J. Hugo, Jr., and Frank Levesque; Matthew Schroeder, USAF; Brion Moore, ANC; Mai Ka Thao, Hmong “Angels”;
and, Amy Vang, Miss Hmong America 2016.
LVAI President Emeritus, Colonel Wangyee Vang, was honored.
Meetings in Congress continue.
###
Contacts:
CPPA
Laos, Hmong, Vietnam Veterans, CPPA, Hold
National Ceremonies WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 3, 2015 Lao- and Hmong-American
veterans, who served during the Vietnam War, are concluding national memorial and policy
events including those at Arlington National Cemetery (ANC), the Vietnam War Memorial and
the U.S. Congress, according to Philip Smith of the Center for Public Policy Analysis
(CPPA). The somber events are being held in Washington to mourn the 40th anniversary of the fall
of Laos to invading North Vietnamese Army forces of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), and
communist Pathet Lao guerrillas. The CPPA, Special Forces Association (SFA), and ANC Chief of Staff,
Colonel Joseph Simonelli (U.S. Army), provided remarks, as did U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski
(R-Alaska), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota), Al Franken (D-Minnesota), Sheldon Whitehouse
(D-Rhode Island), and Dan Sullivan (R-AK). Congressmen Jim Costa (D-California), Paul Cook
(R-California), Don Young (R-Alaska), Devin Nunes (R-California), James Langevin (D-Rhode
Island), and Sean Duffy (R-Wisconsin) also participated.
“On May 14, Lao and Hmong veterans, and their refugee families from across the United
States, arrived in Congress for meetings,” said Philip Smith, Director of the CPPA.
“Thereafter, Congress reintroduced the 'Hmong Veterans' Service
Recognition Act' (S. 1358/H.R. 2327), to honor the veterans, and somberly mark the anniversary of the fall of Laos,
and the joint Air America, CIA, and Hmong base at Long Chieng. “On May 15th, a special veterans' memorial wreath-laying ceremony was
held at the Lao Veterans of America monument, in Arlington National Cemetery, with
the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), to remember and honor all those who sacrificed, fought,
and died defending the Kingdom of Laos and U.S. national security interests during the Vietnam War. “A solemn
40th anniversary ceremony, and posting of the colors, was conducted in Arlington
by a U.S. Armed Forces Joint Honor Guard, the 'Old Guard,' and an Army wreath-bearer,
and bugler, who played 'Taps,' in sad remembrance of the fall of the Kingdom of Laos,
and Long Chieng, to invading North Vietnamese Army and PAVN forces, and the bloodbath
and refugee exodus that followed. “The ceremony was conducted by the CPPA and
Lao Veterans of America, Inc. (LVA), and was cosponsored by Arlington National Cemetery, the U.S. DOD, Army,
Air Force, Marine Corps and Congress,” Smith concluded. “This
is a powerful reminder of the actions of the Hmong, Lao and American service members who
fought together as allies during the Vietnam War,” said Colonel Joseph Simonelli,
ANC. “These courageous U.S. allies were left largely on their own as they
fled the prospect of execution or deadly re-education camps that the Communists immediately began
establishing, or the ethnic cleansing perpetrated against the Hmong and Montagnard. Hmong,
who struggled across the Mekong, fleeing aerial bombardment, including chemical
warfare, were left to bare survival in rough camps on the Thailand shore...” stated
Edmund McWilliams, a U.S. Department of State officer.
Keynote speakers
at Arlington include: Richard Xiong, President, Lao Veterans of America Institute (LVAI);
Philip Smith, CPPA; Pang Mang Thao, Lao Veterans, Minnesota; Pasert Lee, Hmong Alaska
Community; Toua Kue, LVAI, Rhode Island; Chi Neng Vang, California; SFA Green Berets
(U.S. Army-Ret.) Colonel John H. “Scotty” Crerar, LTC. James K. Bruton, LTC. Ray
Oden, and SGT. Jim J.E. Hooker; U.S. Air Force Majors Matthew Altman and Taona Enriquez; Grant McClure,
Counterparts; and Jane Hamilton-Merritt.
President Emeritus of the LVAI,
Colonel Wangyee Vang, received honors. On May 15, a Vietnam War Memorial wreath-laying ceremony
was conducted. On Memorial Day, flowers were laid at the Air Force, Marine Corps
and Kennedy monuments. Meetings in Congress will conclude in the coming days.
View source version on
businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150603006545/en/ Lao, Hmong Veterans Arrive in U.S. Congress, Arlington, For 40th Anniversary
Ceremonies, New Legislation
Washington,
DC, and Arlington, Virginia, May 14, 2015
Lao- and Hmong-American veterans of the Vietnam War and their families have arrived on Capitol
Hill and Washington, DC to somberly mourn the 40th anniversary of the fall of the Kingdom of
Laos, and the joint CIA, Air America, and Hmong headquarters at Long Chieng (Long Tieng), to
invading North Vietnamese Army forces on May 14-15, 1975. Lao- and Hmong-Americans will also
join with the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) and key members of the U.S. Senate and
House of Representatives for the introduction today of the "Hmong Veterans' Service Recognition Act" in the
new session of Congress. The
bill is being introduced today in the U.S. Congress by U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK),
Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Al Franken (D-MN), Barbara
Boxer (D-CA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and others. In the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressmen
Jim Costa (D-CA) and Paul Cook (R-CA) are spearheading the introduction of the legislation along with Representatives
Sean Duffy (R-WI), Collin Peterson (D-MN), Jim McDermott (D-WA), Madeleine Bordallo (D-GU), Mike
Honda (D-CA), Don Young (AK) and others. The bill, if enacted by Congress and signed by President
Obama, would allow Lao- and Hmong-American veterans to be buried with honors at U.S. national
veterans cemeteries administered by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. “Lao-
and Hmong-American veterans of the Vietnam War and their families from across the United States
have arrived on Capitol Hill and Washington, DC to somberly mourn the 40th anniversary of the
fall of the Royal Kingdom of Laos, and the joint CIA, Air America, and Hmong headquarters at Long Chieng (Long Tieng),
to invading North Vietnamese Army forces in May 14-15, 1975,” said Philip Smith, Executive
Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) in Washington, D.C. Smith continued: “As part of the 'Laos Freedom
Ride' commemoration, hundreds of Lao- and Hmong-American veterans of the Vietnam War and their
families from Minnesota, California, Wisconsin, Rhode Island, Alaska, and other states have
traveled many miles and are arriving on buses, planes and cars for events in the U.S. Congress and Capitol Hill
as well as for a special veterans' memorial and wreath-laying service on Friday, May 15, in
Arlington National Cemetery with the U.S. Department of Defense.” “Truly,
I am honored to be here in our nation's Capital, Washington, D.C., and Arlington National Cemetery,
to be part of the 40th Anniversary Ceremony to honor and pay respect to the Lao- and Hmong veterans,
and our U.S. military and clandestine advisors, and to help conduct a wreath-laying ceremony at the Lao Veterans
of America monument,” said Richard Vang, President of the Fresno, California-based Lao
Veterans of America Institute. “I want to also express my deepest thanks to the U.S. Congress
for the introduction of the 'Hmong Veterans' Service Recognition Act' today, when we arrive and
meet with the Senators and Representatives.”
“In addition to the veterans' memorial
commemoration that we will be holding tomorrow in Arlington National Cemetery to mark the 40th Anniversary
of the end of the Vietnam War in the Kingdom of Laos, I would like to stress that the legislation
introduced by U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski with Congressman Jim Costa, Congressman Don Young,
Senator Dan Sullivan and others; 'The Hmong Veterans' Service Recognition Act', is very
important to our Lao and Hmong-American community and veterans; We appreciate them honoring
our Lao and Hmong-American veterans and their families, and we are hopeful that the bill will be passed and signed
into law by President Obama, so that our veterans can be buried with honor at U.S. national
veterans' cemeteries administered by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs,” said Pasert
Lee, President of the Hmong Alaska Community, Inc. and a wounded combat veteran of the Vietnam
War.
“We
are very grateful to U.S. Congressmen Jim Costa, Paul Cook, Don Young, Sean Duffy, Devin Nunes, Collin
Peterson and many others for their leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives for introducing
and supporting the 'Hmong Veterans Service Recognition Act' and the events here today in Washington,
D.C.; Here in the U.S. Senate, we want to especially thank Senators Lisa Murkowski, Al
Franken, Amy Klobuchar, Tammy Baldwin, Sheldon Whitehouse, and many others for their efforts on Capitol
Hill in introducing the bill today in the U.S. Congress on this important day, May 14, just prior to our memorial
service and wreath laying-ceremony tomorrow at Arlington National Cemetery at the Lao Veterans
of America monument,” said Pang Mang Thao, the President of the Lao Veterans of America
of Minnesota.
Pang
Mang Thao is leading a delegation of some 60 Laotian and Hmong veterans, widows, and elders, from
St. Paul, Minneapolis, and the Twin Cities area to Washington, DC and Arlington for the events
today and Friday (May 14-15). Lao and Hmong-American veterans of the Vietnam War and their
families from Minnesota, California, Wisconsin, Rhode Island, Oklahoma, Alaska, Arkansas, Pennsylvania,
North Carolina, Maryland, Texas, Virginia and other states are participating in the events in
the U.S. Congress, Washington, DC and the Lao Veterans of America monument (“Laos Monument”)
in Arlington National Cemetery.
In
addition to military uniforms, many of the Laotian and Hmong participants will be dressed in
traditional, ethnic Laotian and Hmong tribal clothing and outfits for the events. May
14-15 also commemorates National Lao Hmong Recognition Day, Hmong- Appreciation Day, and Lao
Hmong Veterans Memorial Day, and is a day of commemoration for the Lao and Hmong people who lost their lives
and country during the Vietnam War when the Kingdom of Laos fell to invading Soviet-backed North Vietnamese
Army troops and communist Pathet Lao guerrillas.
### Contact: Jade
Her or Philip Smith
Center for Public Policy
Analysis (CPPA)
Tele. (202)543-1444
Still No Christmas in Laos: State-Sponsored Persecution
Directed Against Lao Hmong Believers,
Political Dissidents, Increases
December 25, 2014,
For Immediate Release
Washington,
D.C. & Vientiane, Laos
On Christmas Day, 2014,
the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) is raising concern about the increased persecution of minority Christian, Animist
and independent Buddhist believers in Laos at the hands of military and security forces of Laos and the Socialist Republic
of Vietnam. Religious freedom and human rights violations have dramatically increased under the Hanoi-backed, one-party communist
government in Laos, especially against various Laotian and Hmong minority groups, including religious believers and political
dissidents.
“Intensified religious freedom violations
directed against ethnic Laotian and Hmong Christian believers are increasingly violent and egregious, with independent religious
ceremonies and Christmas celebrations prohibited, or under attack, by the Lao military and security forces,” said Philip
Smith, Executive Director of the CPPA in Washington, D.C. “In the latest crackdown, Lao and Hmong Christians, and Animist,
believers have been arrested, tortured, killed , or have simply disappeared, on a systematic and more frequent basis, as the
Marxist government of Laos, working in coordination with the Vietnam People's Army and authorities in Hanoi, continues its
policy of attacking independent religious believers who wish to worship freely outside of state-controlled, and state-monitored,
religious institutions.”
“Clearly, under
these dark and grim conditions, there is still no Christmas in Laos for those who seek to celebrate and worship outside of
the watchful eye of the military, secret police and communist authorities in Vientiane and Hanoi,” Smith stated.
“It is also clear, and unfortunate, that the current Stalinist government in Laos
is unwilling to cooperate on the many international appeals for the release of prominent political dissidents and prisoners,
including Sombath Somphone, the Lao Students' Movement for Democracy protesters, and significant numbers of Hmong refugees,”
Smith concluded.
Earlier this month, the CPPA and a coalition
of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) urged the United Nations to address ongoing serious human rights violations, as well
as religious and press freedom violations, by the government of the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic (LPDR). The NGOs also
raised concern about the plight of a growing number of Lao and Hmong people who have disappeared at the hands of Lao military
and security forces, including Sombath Somphone, Lao student protest leaders, Hmong refugees and others.http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
###
Contact(s): Maria Gomez or Philip Smith Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org Tele. (202)543-1444
NGOs Call for United Nations to Pressure Laos on Sombath Somphone, Human Rights, Press and Religious Freedom Violations
Geneva, Switzerland, Washington, D.C., and New York, 3 December 2014 – For Immediate Release Center
for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA)
Tele. (202)543-1444
The Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA), the Lao Movement for Human Rights (LMHR),
and a coalition of civil society and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are calling for United Nations' (UN) members
to urge the government of Laos to cease ongoing human rights violations, religious freedom violations, and to restore
fundamental human freedoms, including press freedom. They are also calling for the release of Sombath Somphone and other
imprisoned Lao and Hmong political and religious dissidents. Joining the CPPA and LMHR, in coalition,
are the: Lao Human Rights Council, Inc.; the United League for Democracy in Lao, Inc.; Lao Veterans of America, Inc.;
Laos Institute for Democracy; Lao Students Movement for Democracy; Hmong Advance, Inc.; Hmong Advancement, Inc.; and, others. “We are calling for increased transparency and human rights reforms by the Lao government, military and
communist party, as well as press and religious freedom,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for
Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) in Washington, D.C. “The NGOs and civil society organizations have also joined together
to call for the immediate release of Sombath Somphone, and others who have disappeared at the hands of the Lao military
and secret police, including the leaders of the Lao Students Movement for Democracy of 1999, ethnic Hmong refugee leaders,
Lao and Hmong minority Christian believers, and many other political prisoners and religious and political dissidents.”
http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org Smith continued: “Unfortunately, in Laos, the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPRD or Lao PDR)
is still a one-party Marxist government largely controlled by the military and communist party; It continues to be strongly
allied with Stalinist North Korea.” Mrs. Vanida Thephsouvanh of the Paris, France-based
Lao Movement for Human Rights [(LMHR or Mouvement Lao pour les Droits de l’Homme (MLDH)] expressed: “deep
concerns about violations of freedom of expression, enforced disappearances and religious freedom in Laos.” http://www.mldh-lao.org Mrs. Thephsouvanh said the LMHR along with other civil society organizations are urging
United Nations' members to press the Lao PDR government for urgent reforms at its upcoming Universal Periodic Review (UPR)
schedule for the 20th
of January, 2015 in Geneva.
“In advance of Lao People’s Democratic Republic (LPDR)'s Universal
Periodic Review (UPR) scheduled for 20 January 2015 in Geneva, the Geneva-based UPR-Info
invited diplomats to hear the concerns of civil society organizations at a UPR pre-session in Geneva today,”
stated Thephsouvanh.
“The UPR is a key mechanism for addressing the state of human rights in all
193 United Nations member states. The UPR is designed to treat all states equally with respect to their human rights records.
The UPR process includes the opportunity for each state to declare what efforts they have undertaken to fulfill their
obligations to respect human rights;
“We have deep concerns about violations of freedom of expression,
enforced disappearances and religious freedom in Laos. Regretting that Lao PDR has not implemented recommendations it
accepted at its first UPR in 2010, she urged States to raise concerns on these human rights abuses and presented concrete
recommendations for human rights progress in Laos,” continued Thephsouvanh, speaking on behalf of the LMHR, which
is also a member of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH). Twenty one representatives from the Geneva-based
missions attended the pre-session.
The following
is the full statement made today by Mrs. Thephsouvanh in Geneva, Switzerland, regarding concerns about the serious situation
in Laos (full text below in English translation): STATEMENT
ON THE SECOND UNIVERSAL PERIODIC REVIEW OF
LAOS
at
the Pre-session organized by UPR- Info
Geneva, 3 December 2014 I speak on behalf of the
Lao Movement for Human Rights, a non- political human rights organisation based in France, a member of FIDH, the International
Federation for Human Rights. We have been involved with the UPR process since the Lao PDR first review in 2010 and have
closely monitored the Lao PDR’s pledges and implementation of recommendations it accepted. The Lao PDR is a one-party State with no independent
national human rights institution. No independent civil society organisations were involved in preparing the State report
for the UPR. Only state-affiliated CSOs were consulted. Therefore, it is most necessary
that independent information be provided here and I thank UPR-info for making this pre-session possible. At its first UPR in 2010, Lao PDR made a voluntary
pledge to ‘’fulfill the reporting obligations under human rights treaties, cooperate with the Special
Procedures by extending invitation to Special Rapporteurs on thematic issues to visit the country [...]’’ (149).
To this day, the Lao PDR has 3 overdue reports: ICCPR (due in 2011), ICESCR (due in 2009) and CRPD (due in 2011). The Lao PDR
has also pending requests for visits from three Special Procedures, namely the Special Rapporteur on Summary Executions
(request made in 2006), the Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing (request made in 2009) and the Special Rapporteur on
the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association (requests made in 2011 and in 2013). For the second (2nd) UPR on the Lao PDR government,
scheduled for 20 January 2015, the report we submitted jointly with FIDH highlighted the situation
of land rights, which has become a key issue in the country. Today, I will focus on the following 3 issues: Press freedom, freedom of expression, and freedom of assembly.
Enforced
disappearances. Religious
freedom.
I - Press Freedom, freedom
of expression, and freedom of assembly In 2010, Laos accepted recommendations by Australia (5), Canada (27), Italy (48), the Netherlands (66),
New Zealand (99), and Slovakia (115) to guarantee freedom of expression and strengthen
press freedom. Although a party to the ICCPR, the Lao PDR has failed to protect the rights
to freedom of expression and assembly.In practice, the Penal Code severely limits freedom
of expression under the pretext of protecting national security. There is still no free press in the Lao PDR and no legal protection for Lao
journalists who do not follow the party line. The Lao PDR government still controls all TV, radio, and press
outlets in the country. Self-censorship is still widespread. In January 2012, the Ministry of Information and Culture
cancelled the only live call-in radio program after farmers called in to complain about
government land grabs. In December 2012, the government expelled within 48 hours the director of a Swiss NGO for sending a letter to
some donor countries, criticising the authorities for creating a hostile environment for development and civil society
groups by stifling freedom of expression and association.
In September 2014, the Lao PDR enacted an internet law that prohibits online criticism
of government policies and the one-party State.
Peaceful assembly is still restricted under Article 72 of the Penal Code. Three people
have been imprisoned since 1999 for having planned a peaceful protest. Laos refused the recommendation made by Belgium in
2010 to release them. Another 9 persons were arrested for the same reason in November 2009 and have since disappeared. We invite States
to urge the Lao PDR to: Set
a firm time frame for the reform of the Penal Code and ensure that all new laws conform with international human rights
standards and ensure that they are implemented. Repeal
all provisions of the Constitution, the Penal Code, the law on media, and the new decree on internet that criminalise
basic human rights and subordinate individual rights to the interests of the state. Extend a standing invitation
to the UN Special Rapporteurs on Freedom of Opinion and Expression and on Human Rights Defenders to visit the Lao PDR. Release all prisoners detained owing to their participation in peaceful demonstrations,
and in particular the student leaders who were arrested in 1999. II- Enforced disappearances
In 2010,
the Lao PDR accepted recommendations by France (46) and Spain (122) to ratify the International
Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. Furthermore, the Lao PDR made a voluntary pledge
ratify this Convention. To this day, the Lao PDR has not yet ratified it. However,
by signing this Convention in 2008, Laos has the obligation to adhere to the Convention and to
prevent and suppress the practice of enforced disappearances. For two years now, the Lao
PDR has been obstructing the investigation on the disappearance of prominent activist and civil society leader Sombath
Somphone in December 2012. Closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage showed that police stopped Sombath’s car at a
police checkpoint. Analysis of the video footage shows that Sombath was taken away in the presence of police officers.
A few weeks before his disappearance, Sombath played a key role in organizing the Asia-Europe People’s Forum (AEPF),
a civil society forum that preceded the official Asia-Europe Summit Meeting. At the forum, the topic of land issues was
discussed openly for the first time in the Lao PDR. His disappearance is emblematic of
the Lao PDR government’s lack of accountability for rights abuses. Over
the years the Lao PDR government has used enforced disappearances as a means to intimidate and silence its citizens, including
the disappearance in 2007 of Somphone Khantisouk, an outspoken critic of large-scale
rubber concessions that damaged the environment, and, in 2009, the enforced disappearance
of 9 persons who planned peaceful demonstrations to call for social justice.
We call on States to urge the Lao PDR to: - Ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Person from Enforced Disappearance without delay followed by a time-bound implementation.
- Amend domestic
laws to include specific provisions in line with the ICCPR, the CAT, and the ICPPED and implement them.
- Accept 'foreign experts’ assistance
in examining evidence in the case of Sombath Somphone, including the closed circuit video taken on the night he was taken
away in front of police authorities. - Investigate all cases of enforced disappearances in a transparent manner.
III- Religious freedom The Lao PDR accepted recommendations from Australia (7), Denmark
(37), France (47), Italy (64), Netherland (90), New Zealand (98) and the United Kingdom (141) to adopt adequate measures
to fulfill the right to practice religion freely. The Lao PDR government pledged
to amend Decree 92 on Religious Practice in accordance with the ICCPR. However, to
date, Decree 92 has remained unchanged. Decree 92 still contains numerous mechanisms for government control of, and interference
in, religious activities. Decree 92 regulates up to the smallest detail of control that the government exercises over
religious organizations. In the Lao PDR, Christian
minorities in remote areas remain persecuted. Repression of Christians,
mainly Protestants, has not diminished. Throughout 2014, in remote areas of every part of the Lao PDR, Christians have
been victims of arbitrary arrest, intimidation, and forced eviction from their village by the authorities for practicing
their faith. The central government denied responsibilities for the abuses by blaming local authorities. But Vientiane
has never taken any action to hold local authorities accountable. Christians also face repression on the basis of ethnicity
as many of them belong to ethnic minorities. We invite States to urge
Laos to: - Amend Decree 92 on Religious
Practice to bring it in line with Article 18 of the ICCPR. - Implement
measures through revised legislation to protect all citizens from discrimination due to their religion.
- End all restrictions on the right to practice one's religion of choice without discrimination.
- Prosecute all those involved in the persecution of religious groups.
(Ends)
###
Contact: Maria Gomez or Philip Smith
Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA)
Tele. (202)543-1444 Vietnam Veterans of U.S. Secret Army in Laos Urge Congress to Act Washington, D.C., October 24, 2014 The Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) and Lao- and Hmong-American leaders are meeting
with key members of the U.S. Congress, and Senate and House offices on Capitol Hill, urging the passage of legislation to
grant burial honors, and benefits, to veterans who served in the U.S. Secret Army in Laos during the Vietnam War. Meetings are being held with the offices of Senators Lisa Murkowski
(R-Alaska), Mark Begich (D-Alaska), Carl Levin (D-Michigan), Bernard Sanders (I-Vermont), Richard Burr (R-North Carolina),
Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island), Diane Feinstein (D-California), Barbara Boxer (D-California), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Amy
Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) and Al Franken (D-Minnesota), who support the bill, “The Hmong Veterans’ Service Recognition
Act” (S. 200; S. 2337). In the House, Lao and Hmong-American leaders are slated to meet with
Congressmen Jim Costa (D), Devin Nunes (R), Paul Cook (R), and Jeff Denham (R) of California, the Veterans’ Affairs
Committee, and others. “The Lao-
and Hmong-American veterans and their families seek to educate policymakers and Congress about the unique and historic role
of the veterans in covert support of the U.S. Special Forces, CIA, and clandestine U.S. Air Force units in Laos during the
Vietnam War,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the CPPA. “It is important to honor
these extraordinary veterans with burial honors.” Colonel Wangyee Vang, National President of the Lao Veterans of America Institute (LVAI) stated: “We are grateful
for the support of over fifty members of Congress and appreciate their efforts to advance legislation to honor our veterans
and their families with burial benefits.” “The
community in Anchorage, and across America, is requesting that the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, led by Chairman
Sanders and Vice Chairman Burr, and Senators Begich and Murkowski, continue to work to pass our veterans bill,” said
Pasert Lee, President of the Hmong Alaska Community, Inc. “We are talking to our Senators, and Congress, about the sacrifices of Hmong veterans in assisting the United
States to secretly combat the North Vietnamese Army’s invasion of the Kingdom of Laos during critical years of the Vietnam
War,” commented Richard Xiong, Vice President of the LVAI. “It is important that President Obama and the White House also remember and support our Lao Hmong veterans
and this bill,” concluded Erik Xiong, Secretary of the LVAI. ### Contact: Christy Her or Philip Smith Center for Public Policy Analysis Tele. (202)543-1444
Arlington National Cemetery, U.S.
Congress, Officials Honor Lao, Hmong-American Veterans
WASHINGTON,
DC Lao- and Hmong-American veterans
who served in Laos during the Vietnam War, and their American advisors, were honored at Arlington National Cemetery (ANC)
at a special veterans’ memorial ceremony held on Thursday by the Lao Veterans of America Institute (LVAI), Center
for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA), Members of the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Department of Defense, Army, Marine Corps, and
Air Force. Keynote remarks were offered by the offices of Congressman Jim Costa (D-California), Alaska Senators Lisa Murkowski
(R) and Mark Begich (D), ANC Deputy Superintendent Jack Lechner and other officials. “We are here to remember and honor our fellow Lao
and Hmong soldiers and our U.S. Special Forces, CIA and Air America counterparts and advisors who served and died in Laos
fighting invading communist forces from North Vietnam in defense of the Royal Kingdom of Laos and our American allies,”
commented Colonel Wangyee Vang, President of the LVAI. Senator Murkowski stated: “…the Lao Veterans of America Institute has
put together a beautiful tribute to Lao and Hmong veterans on these most hallowed grounds…a very fitting location
given our on-going efforts to authorize the interment in national cemeteries of Hmong veterans who served in support of
U.S. forces during the Vietnam War…. I am pleased to announce that just yesterday I reintroduced the Hmong Veterans’
Service Recognition Act along with broad support from seven other Senators.” “The U.S. Marine Corps provided an honor guard
to post colors and open the ceremony at the Lao Veterans of America monument,” observed Philip Smith, Director of
the CPPA. “A U.S. Army ‘Old Guard’ wreath-bearer assisted in the wreath laying; and, a U.S. Army Band
bugler played ‘Taps’ to honor the sacrifices of the dead.” “As a young soldier who served on the battlefields of Vietnam, I am here to
help honor our veterans,” said Albert Santoli, Director of the Asia America Initiative. “Until
there is comprehensive recognition by the U.S. government and U.S. society of the service of all veterans in the struggle
to overcome tyranny in Indochina, America can be said to have failed in its obligation to honor fully all those who fought
and died there,” stated Edmund McWilliams, Vietnam veteran and U.S. Foreign Service Officer (USFSO-Ret.), Bangkok,
Thailand. Hugh Tovar, former CIA station chief in Laos stated: “I want to thank you
for your kind invitation to participate in the memorial events at Arlington National Cemetery. It would be an honor to participate
in the memorial events in Arlington National Cemetery. Those soldiers are my own heroes. Their war was my war, against
a common enemy, and now they are my fellow American citizens.” Keynote remarks
were also given by: Colonel Wangyee Vang, LVAI; Philip Smith, CPPA; Grant McClure, Counterparts; Mike Benge, USFSO-Ret.,
and former Vietnam War POW; Jane Hamilton-Merritt and others. The ceremonies
marked, May 14-15, National Lao Hmong Recognition Day.
Contact: Center for Public Policy Analysis
Juan Lopez
or Philip Smith
202-543-1444
Laotian, Hmong-Americans Join U.S. Senators, CPPA,
in Renewed Offensive in Congress
May 14, 2014 WASHINGTON, DC -The Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA)
and Lao- and Hmong-American veterans gathered together on Wednesday in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives
for the introduction of key legislation spearheaded by U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Mark Begich (D-AK), and
a bipartisan coalition in the U.S. Congress, that seeks to provide burial benefits and honors to Laotian- and
Hmong-American veterans of the Vietnam War. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Amy
Klobuchar (D-MN), Al Franken (D-MN), Carl Levin (D-MI), and Mark Pryor (D-AR) also joined in co-introducing the new
bill, building further support for the House version of the legislation originally introduced by Congressmen
Jim Costa (D-CA) and Paul Cook (R-CA). “Lao- and Hmong-American veterans and their families from many communities across
the United States are joining together and mobilizing in Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Congress, seeking the advancement
and passage of legislation to grant burial honors and benefits at U.S. national veterans cemeteries for those
who served in the ‘U.S. Secret Army’ in Laos during the Vietnam War,” said Colonel Wangyee Vang,
President of the Lao Veterans of America Institute (LVAI). “Many more Senators and Congressmen are cosponsoring the legislation
that continues to gain support for passage, including over 40 in the House and eight Senators,” stated Philip
Smith, Executive Director of the CPPA. “We need the U.S. Congress, Senate and the American people to support this important
new legislation introduced by Senators Lisa Murkowski, Mark Begich and others,” commented Pasert Lee, President
of the Hmong Alaska Community, Inc. “The Lao-Hmong veterans lost 10-30 soldiers just to rescue and save
one American pilot shot down .” “This legislation is very important to the minority Laotian and Hmong veterans
who fought for, and helped, America during the Vietnam War at the ‘U.S. Secret Army’ base at Long Tieng,
Xieng Khouang Province and elsewhere in Laos,” said Bouakeo Chansombath of the LVAI in Oklahoma. “Over
1500 of my people died during the war to help the Americans, including many Laotian Khmu soldiers.”
The LVAI, CPPA, Lao Veterans of America,
Inc., U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps, will hold a veterans’ memorial ceremony
in Arlington National Cemetery on May 15 to honor the Lao and Hmong veterans, and their American advisors.
Contacts Center for Public Policy Analysis
Jade Her or Philip Smith, 202-543-1444 Australia Announces Award to Laos, Hmong Human Rights Activist Washington, D.C., and Canberra, Australia, January 30, 2014 Kay Danes is being honored with the prestigious Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for her social
justice and human rights work. Danes is an outspoken voice for the victims of extra-judicial abduction, forced disappearance
and torture in Laos, where she suffered imprisonment by communist officials as a political prisoner. “Kay Danes’ determination and courage
to give voice to the voiceless has been invaluable in helping to understand the hidden reality surrounding the authoritarian
regimes in Laos and Vietnam, especially in light of the abduction of civic activist and Magsaysay Award winner Sombath Somphone
by Lao security forces, and the international outcry for his release,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the
Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA). http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org “Kay Danes often travels to Washington to speak in the
U.S. Congress about human rights violations in Laos and the plight of the Lao and Hmong people, including imprisoned political
and religious dissidents. “She has repeatedly testified about the status of ethnic Hmong refugees facing forced repatriation
in Thailand, prisoners tortured in Laos, religious persecution, and Lao- and Hmong-American men from St. Paul, Minnesota,
still imprisoned in Laos, including Hakit Yang. Congshineng Yang and Trillion Yunhaison.” The OAM award is
the principal and most prestigious means of recognizing outstanding citizens in Australia.
Her Majesty Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom, established the OAM. “Indeed,
human rights are the foundation of civil societies and set the guidelines on how we ought to act towards one another,”
stated Kay Danes. "I am grateful to be a recipient of this
award and hope that the human rights conversation continues to strengthen throughout the world. “My long-standing
relationship with the Centre for Public Policy Analysis, and in particular, with Mr. Philip Smith, has very much played an
important part in this award to which I am recognized today. Together, and with other humanitarians and U.S. Government officials,
we hope to secure greater human rights’ freedoms for the thousands of those still oppressed by totalitarian regimes.” Danes is the author
of key books on Laos and foreign prisoners’ abuse. Smith contributed
the preface to Danes’ most recent book, authored with her husband Kerry, “Standing Ground” (New
Holland Australia, 2009). ###
Contact: Jade Her/Philip
Smith (202)543-1444
Center for Public Policy Analysis
Australia OAM Honors Laos, Hmong Human Rights Advocate Washington,
D.C., January 28, 2014 Center
for Public Policy Analysis Kay Danes, who suffered
imprisonment and torture in Laos at the hands of communist officials, is being honored in Australia with the prestigious
Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for her social justice and human rights work. Danes often travels to Washington,
D.C., on invitation, to speak in the U.S. Congress about human rights violations in Laos and the plight of the Lao and Hmong
people, including imprisoned political and religious dissidents. She has testified about the status of
Hmong refugees facing forced repatriation in Thailand, foreign prisoners tortured in Laos, religious persecution, and Lao-
and Hmong-American men from St. Paul, Minnesota, still imprisoned in Laos, including Hakit Yang. Congshineng Yang,
and Trillion Yunhaison. The OAM is the principal and most prestigious means of recognizing
outstanding members of the community in Australia. It was established by the Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom
and the Commonwealth nations, Elizabeth II. "I am grateful to be a recipient of this award and hope that the human rights conversation
continues to strengthen throughout the world,” said Kay Danes. “Human
rights are the foundation of civil societies and set the guidelines on how we ought to act towards one another. “My
long-standing relationship with the Centre for Public Policy Analysis and in particular, with Mr. Philip Smith, has very
much played an important part of this award to which I am recognized today. Together, and with other humanitarians and U.S.
Government officials, we hope to secure greater human rights freedoms for the thousands of those still oppressed by totalitarian
regimes.”
“Kay Danes had provided
critical research, evidence and testimony to the U.S. Congress, government policymakers and the Center for Public Policy
Analysis (CPPA), over the years, regarding ongoing human rights and religious freedom violations in Laos, Vietnam and elsewhere
in Southeast Asia,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the CPPA. http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
“Kay Danes’
courage to give voice to the voiceless has been invaluable in helping to understand the hidden reality of the communist regimes
in Laos and Vietnam, especially in light of the abduction of civic activist and Magsaysay Award winner Sombath Somphone
by Lao security forces and the international outcry for his release.
“We congratulate Kay Danes
for being honored with the Medal of the Order of Australia. We are happy for her, and her husband Kerry, especially after
the horrific human rights abuses they both suffered and witnessed in Laos during their imprisonment by the Lao communist
government as political prisoners.”
“The Lao and Hmong community are grateful to Kay Danes
for her important human rights efforts,” said Sheng Xiong, of St. Paul, Minnesota, whose husband was imprisoned and
tortured in Laos with other Hmong-Americans. “We thank Kay Danes for bringing awareness about terrible human rights violations in Laos
and the suffering in the prisons, detention centers and refugee camps,” said Bounthanh Rathigna of the United League
for Democracy in Laos (ULDL). Two Lao-American members of the ULDL from St. Paul, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, who participated
in public policy events with Kay Danes in Washington, D.C., disappeared last year in Savannakhet Province, Laos, and are
feared dead in an incident involving Lao security and military forces. The three men traveling together
during the incident were Souli Kongmalavong, Bounma Phannhotha and Bounthie Insixiengmai. Kay Danes
is an author of several books on Laos and the plight of foreign prisoners. ### Laos, Hmong Human Rights Advocate Honored With Medal of the Order
of Australia Washington,
D.C., and Canberra, Australia, January 26, 2014, Center for Public Policy Analysis Human rights and humanitarian advocate Kay Danes, who suffered imprisonment and torture in Laos
at the hands of communist officials, is being honored today on Australia Day with the prestigious Medal of the Order of
Australia (OAM). She is one of Australia's 2014 OAM recipients for service to the community through social
justice and human rights. For over
a decade, Mrs. Danes has repeatedly traveled to Washington, D.C., on official invitation, to speak in the U.S. Congress about
human rights violations in Laos and the plight of the Lao and Hmong people, including imprisoned political and religious
dissidents. She has testified about the status of refugees facing forced repatriation, foreign prisoners
tortured in Laos, religious persecution, and three Hmong-Americans from St. Paul, Minnesota, still imprisoned and missing
in Laos, including Mr. Hakit Yang. Mr. Congshineng Yang, and Mr. Trillion
Yunhaison, “Kay
Danes had provided critical and important research, evidence and testimony to the U.S. Congress, government policymakers
and the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA), over the years, regarding ongoing human rights and religious freedom violations
in Laos, Vietnam and elsewhere in Southeast Asia,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the CPPA.
http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org “This vital information, and Mrs. Danes’ courage to
give voice to the voiceless, has been invaluable in helping to understand the hidden reality of the situation under the
communist regimes in Laos and Vietnam, especially in light of the recent abduction of civic activist and Magsaysay Award
winner Sombath Somphone by Lao security forces in Vientiane, and the international outcry for his release,” Smith
commented. Smith continued: “Joining with many U.S.-based
non-governmental organizations, including Lao and Hmong-American human rights and refugee groups, and victims’ families,
we wish to sincerely congratulate Mrs. Kay Danes for being honored today with the Medal of the Order of Australia by Her
Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the government and people of Australia. We are very happy for Kay Danes as well as her husband
Kerry Danes and family, especially after the horrific human rights abuses they both suffered and witnessed in Laos during
their terrible imprisonment and abuse by the Lao government.” “Among
other important humanitarian efforts, Kay Danes also provided crucial evidence and testimony about the Lao government’s
recent and unfettered role in human rights abuses, torture, extra-judicial abductions and killings as well as its role in
the forced repatriation of Hmong refugees and the brutal persecution of Lao student dissidents and religious believers,
especially minority Christians,” Smith observed. “The
Medal of the Order of Australia is the principal and most prestigious means of recognizing outstanding members of the community
at a national level and nominations are encouraged from all members of the Australian public,” states the Australian
Honours Secretariat of the Australian government. "I am
grateful to be a recipient of this award and hope that the human rights conversation continues to strengthen throughout the
world,” said Mrs. Danes. “Human rights are the foundation of civil societies and set the guidelines
on how we ought to act towards one another.” Danes states further: “My long-standing relationship with the Centre for Public Policy Analysis
and in particular, with Mr. Philip Smith, has very much played an important part of this award to which I am recognized
today. Together, and with other humanitarians and U.S. Government officials, we hope to secure greater human rights freedoms
for the thousands of those still oppressed by totalitarian regimes." Queensland’s
Bayside Bulletin and The Redland Times (Fairfax Regional Media
– Australia) helped to announce the news of the award today and cited Danes’ “…passion for social
justice.”
“The Lao and Hmong community are very pleased and also grateful to Kay Danes, and her husband
Kerry Danes, for their important human rights and humanitarian work,” said Sheng Xiong, of St. Paul, Minnesota, whose
husband was also imprisoned and tortured in Phonthong Prison along with other Hmong-Americans. “We
want to thank Kay Danes for helping to bring awareness about terrible human rights violations in Laos and the suffering
in the prisons, detention centers and refugee camps of Laos, including Phonthong prison; We commend Australia’s government,
and Queen Elizabeth II, for awarding the Medal of the Order of Australia to Mrs. Danes,” said Bounthanh Rathigna,
President of the United League for Democracy in Laos (ULDL). Two Lao-American
members of the ULDL from St. Paul, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, who participated in public policy events with Kay Danes in
Washington, D.C., disappeared last year in Savannakhet Province, Laos and are feared dead in an incident involving Lao security
and military forces. Three Lao-Americans were traveling together during the incident including Souli Kongmalavong, Mr. Bounma Phannhotha and Mr. Bounthie Insixiengmai. Kay
Danes has authored several books on human rights violations in Laos and the plight of foreign prisoners unjustly abused,
tortured and killed abroad including: Standing Ground and Families Behind Bars.
Philip Smith was asked to write the preface and Foreword to her most recent book, Standing Ground
(2009, New Holland Publishers Australia).
According to the Australian
government, the Order of Australia also serves to define, encourage and reinforce community standards, national aspirations
and ideals by acknowledging actions and achievement and thereby identifying role models. The award was
established by the Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth nations, Elizabeth II.
HM Queen Elizabeth II is the Sovereign Head of the Order.
###
Contact:
Maria Gomez, Jade Her or Philip Smith Tele (202)543-1444
Center for Public Policy Analysis 2020 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington,
DC USA 20006 USA
Vietnam, Laos: Officials Involved in Abduction, Trafficking,
and Sex Slavery of Women, Children Washington, D.C. and Hanoi, Vietnam, November 1, 2013 Ethnic Hmong
and Lao girls, and children, are being abducted and forced into marriage and prostitution at an alarming rate by corrupt government
and military officials in Vietnam and Laos according to statements issued jointly today by non-governmental organizations.
The Lao Human Rights Council and the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) are raising concerns
about the increasing role of government and military officials in the abduction, abuse, forced marriage, sexually enslavement
and violently trafficking of women and children in Vietnam, Laos and Southeast Asia. “The problem of institutional violence,
abduction, forced marriage, abuse, sexual exploitation and human trafficking directed against Hmong and Lao women and children
by corrupt government and military officials is increasing and especially egregious in the border areas of Laos and Vietnam,
including Vietnam’s province of Nge Anh bordering Laos’ Xiang Khouang province,” said Philip Smith of the
CPPA in Washington, D.C., which focuses on human rights and public policy issues in Southeast Asia and other regions. “In some
areas in Vietnam and Laos, ethnic Lao and minority Hmong girls and children are being abducted and forced into a life of violent
abuse and sex slavery by government and military officials,” Smith continued. “Many girls and women suffer unspeakable
cruelty, rape and domestic violence, or are trafficked internationally; the unfortunate victims, including
many children, are sometimes murdered or commit suicide as a result.”
According to Vaughn Vang, President of the
Lao Human Rights Council, Inc.: “We recently received tragic information about a 17 year old Vietnamese Hmong girl, Miss Pang Nhia
Lor (Paaj Nyiag Lauj), who lives in the Ky Son District area of Nge Anh Province in Vietnam, bordering Laos. On
October 16, 2013, two men who
are local high-ranking communist and government leaders from other Hmong villages in Nge Anh Province forced the poor young
girl into marriage and abducted her from the village area of Ban Nam Khyen Xa Nam. The men stated their names as Mr. Doua Yang (Nruas Yaaj) and his father Mr. Nhia Vws Yang (Nyiaj Vws
Yaaj). They visited Miss Pang Nhia Lor’s parents’ residence and misused their authority and power by forcing
Pang Nhia’s parents to sell her to them as Doua’s wife against the girl’s and parents’ will.” Vang stated
further: “During their conversation with the government officials who demanded the girl for forced
marriage, Pang Nhia’s alarmed parents put her in a small room in their house and told her to stay put. While in
the room, Pang Nhia overheard Nhia Vws Yang stating that Doua demanded to buy Pang Nhia to be his wife. Pang Nhia managed
to escape from the room and ran outside. Doua and his father heard Pang Nhia leave and ran after her. The two men chased
her and wrestled her to the ground in the mud. They then forcefully took her, covered in mud, blood and tears, to their car
and drove away. “After the government officials drove away in their car, they arrived at Doua
Yang’s house. Doua tied Pang Nhia’s hands with a rope and locked her in his bedroom. Pang Nhia is
being continually abused by Doua Yang, both sexually and physically, on a daily basis. Doua has also threatened Pang Nhia
that he will continue to physically and sexually abuse her until she consents to marry him. If she is continually refuses
to marry Doua, he will continue the violent abuse. “Pang Nhia sends her last message and appeal to Vietnam
leaders in Hanoi, and the international community, including the United Nations, about what is currently happening to her.
Pang has requested that Vietnamese authorities in Hanoi, and United Nation officials, as well as all concerned
people, including Hmong women around the world, to help save her life from Doua Yang, and other corrupt local and provincial
government and communist party officials in Vietnam who are abusing their power and
exploiting minority Hmong, Vietnamese and Lao women and children.
“Without your immediate intervention
and assistance to rescue her from this dangerous government sex predator, Miss Pang Nhia will join the rest of her friends
in her village who have killed themselves because they had been sexually and physical abused like animals by corrupt government
officials in Vietnam and Laos such as Mr. Doua Yang. “Pang Nhia Lor also wants the Vietnam leaders in Hanoi
and the international community to know that she will likely be critically tortured or possibly killed before any possible
rescue of her from her captors who have boasted that they are wealthy and powerful men capable of doing such deeds with impunity
because they are members of the government, and communist party, and therefore above the law. “We are,
therefore, urging an immediate investigation and international intervention to help save the life of this innocent Vietnamese
Hmong girl and other girls, and children, like her in Vietnam and Laos,” Vang concluded. ### Contact: Maria Gomez
or Philip Smith Center for Public Policy Analysis
Tele. (202) 543-1444
Cambodia, Buddhist Monks’ Rally at United Nations: Prelude to Upcoming Phnom Penh Demonstrations
WASHINGTON & PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, September 6, 2013 --
A major, but largely unnoticed, demonstration held
in front of the United Nations (UN) in New York on August 19 by Cambodians and Buddhist monks was an important prelude to
planned mass demonstrations in Phnom Penh tomorrow, September 7th, according to the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA),
a non-governmental research organization.
“This major demonstration of Cambodians and Buddhist monks in front of the UN headquarters,
on August 19, as well as rallies in Long Beach, California, were an important prelude to the mass demonstrations in Phnom
Penh tomorrow, September 7” “As a result of the UN protest, it appears that Buddhist monks will help stand peacefully against the army tanks
and soldiers to seek to protect the Cambodian people in the coming days at the planned mass protests in Phnom Penh on September
7th,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the CPPA in Washington, D.C. http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org “There
was little news coverage of the historic Cambodian and Buddhist monks’ demonstration at the United Nations on August
19, but the estimated 1500 peaceful protestors made an important statement in appealing to the UN and the United States, as
well as the international community, to address the problematic and contested July election results in Cambodia as well as
the current crisis in Phnom Penh,” Smith observed.
“The protestors have appealed to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon as well as U.S. Secretary
of State John Kerry to help intercede in Cambodia so that Prime Minister Hun Sen’s security forces, along with the army
and tanks, are withdrawn from Phnom Penh, and so that the July 28 election results are fully investigated by the UN and international
observers,” Smith commented. “This major demonstration of Cambodians and Buddhist monks in front of the UN headquarters, on August 19, as well
as rallies in Long Beach, California, were an important prelude to the mass demonstrations in Phnom Penh tomorrow, September
7," Smith said. “Unfortunately, Hun Sen has deployed tanks, heavy weapons, army troops and security forces in an
apparent attempt to intimidate opposition groups including Sam Rainsy’s Cambodia National Rescue Party.” “We want the United Nations to get involved
in the July election results in Cambodia because we feel the National Election Committee is not fair and because many Cambodian
citizens were not allowed to vote,” said Ms. Reasmy Sou, a young, educated Cambodian-American who participated in the
UN rally. “There was widespread voter fraud and intimidation in the Cambodian elections in July; the election results
were not fair and are being challenged."
Ms. Sou explained: "The United Nations should get involved to help to make the election results
fair and right. Prime Minister Hun Sen should not use the army against the people who are seeking fair election results and
peaceful protests. Hun Sen should not be sending frontline army troops and tanks into the capital. We want the withdrawal
of all army troops and security forces prior to the upcoming peaceful, mass demonstrations planned on September 7, 2013, to
contest and protest the election results.” Contacts Center for Public Policy Analysis
Maria Gomez or Philip Smith
202-543-1444
Cambodia, Buddhist Monks’ Rally
in America, United Nations, a Prelude to Upcoming Phnom Penh Rally
Washington, D.C.,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and Bangkok, Thailand, September 5, 2013
A largely unreported major demonstration of Cambodians and Buddhist
monks in front of the United Nations headquarters, in New York, on August 19, 2013, is a prelude to planned upcoming demonstrations
in Cambodia’s capital of Phnom Penh on Saturday, according to the Washington, D.C.-based think tank, and non-governmental
research organization, the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA).
“Although, at the time, there was little independent news
coverage of the historic Cambodian and Buddhist monks' demonstrations at the United
Nations (UN), in New York City, on August 19, the estimated 1500 peaceful protestors made a major and important symbolic statement
in appealing to the United Nations , the United States, and the international community,
to help address the problematic and contested July
election results in Cambodia as well as the current crisis in Phnom Penh facing
the Cambodian people, ” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the CPPA in Washington, D.C. http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
“The
protestors have appealed to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon as well as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to help intercede
in Cambodia so that Hun Sen ’s police and security forces, and army tanks, are withdrawn from the streets of Phnom
Pen and the July election results are investigated and are deemed fair by the UN and international observers.”
Many of the protestors have family members in Cambodia.
They waved banners, protest placards and Cambodian, American and Canadian flags outside the UN.
“This largely unreported major demonstration of Cambodians and
Buddhist monks in front of the United Nations headquarters,
in New York, on August 19, 2013, as well as similar rallies in Long Beach, California, on August 19,
is an important prelude to the planned upcoming demonstrations in Cambodia’s
capital of Phnom Penh on Saturday, September 7, where Prime
Minister Hun Sen has, unfortunately, deployed army tanks, armored personnel carriers, and army and security force troops,
in an apparent attempt to intimidate supporters of opposition groups including Sam Rainsy’s political party, the Cambodia
National Rescue Party (CNRP),” Smith commented.
Smith continued: “In New York City, Cambodian Buddhist monks in traditional saffron robes were joined by a diverse crowd of
some 1500 Cambodia-Americans, and Cambodians from Canada, of all ages, young and
old, in front of the United Nations, to peacefully protest and challenge the results of the July 28 elections which appear
to be severely unfair, and riddled with widespread irregularities, voter intimidation, and fraudulent results that again
give Prime Minister Hun Sen, and his party, control of Cambodia.”
Similar peaceful demonstrations were also held the same day, on August
19, in Long Beach, California, by hundreds of Cambodian-Americans.
“Clearly, after well over two long decades of Hun Sen’s
rule in Cambodia, many Cambodian people, including Cambodian-Americans, just want change, and new leaders in Phnom Penh,
that are elected in free and fair elections, without interference from Hun Sen’s party or elements in the Cambodia’s
army and security forces, ” Smith observed.
“Hun Sen’s statement that he wishes to rule Cambodia for another 13 years, until he is
74 years of age, has many people and policymakers concerned and troubled for a variety of reasons, including economic and
political.”
“We want the United Nations to get involved in the July election results in Cambodia because we feel
the National Election Committee is not fair and because a lot of people with Cambodian citizenship were not allowed to vote
because their names were missing from the voter registration rolls,” said Ms. Reasmy Sou, a 36 year old Cambodian-American
woman, who participated in the UN demonstrations in New York City.
Ms. Sou was born and grew up in Cambodia and still has family and friends there who are concerned
about the July 28 elections and the deployment of army tanks and troops following the elections.
She further stated: “There was widespread voter fraud,
voter intimidation and voter fraud in the Cambodian elections in July; Prime Minister Hun Sen should not use the Army against
the people who are seeking fair election results and peacefully protesting.”
Ms. Sou
explained: “The election results were not fair and are being challenged.
The United Nations should get involved to help to make the election results fair and right.
We need everything to be free and fair. Prime Minister Hun Sen should not be sending frontline army
troops, tanks and soldiers from the Cambodian armed services into the capital. We
are asking for a withdrawal of all of these army troops and security forces so that they can be removed prior to the upcoming
peaceful demonstrations planned on September 7 to protest the contested election results. Because Hun Sen has deployed the Army in the capital, many ordinary Cambodian people are scared, and fearful, and
are hoarding rice, food, gasoline and other items they need in Phnom Penh to survive. This
is bad for the economy and ordinary Cambodian people, since prices are skyrocketing on many daily commodities.”
One demonstrators sign, carried by a young Cambodian
college student at the UN in New York City simply stated: “Hun Sen must step down.”
On yet another student’s protest sign outside the UN were painted the words:
“We need the United Nations to Help Cambodia: We need
to change the National Election Committee in Cambodia. ”
Cambodian groups are planning a protest rally in
Phnom Penh on July 7 led by Sam Rainsy’s political party, the CNRP.
###
The
Center for Public Policy Analysis is a non-governmental public policy think tank and research organization headquartered
in Washington, D.C.
Contact(s):
Maria Gomez or Philip Smith Center for Public Policy Analysis Tele. (202)543-1444
U.S. Senate Nears Passage of Veterans Bill Honoring Laos, Hmong Veterans WASHINGTON, DC, July 29, 2013 The U.S. Senate is closer to taking up legislation to honor Lao- and Hmong-American
veterans following passage last Wednesday in the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of a bill that includes language
to recognize those who served in the U.S. ‘Secret Army’ in Laos during the Vietnam War. The bill would advance,
and study, granting burial honors and benefits to the Lao-Hmong at national cemeteries administered by the Department
of Veterans Affairs.
“The Senate
omnibus veterans bill, and the effort to further honor, and review, the Lao- and Hmong-American veterans’ service,
is being spearheaded by Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Vice Chairman Richard Burr (R-North Carolina), Lisa Murkowski
(R-Alaska), Senator Mark Begich (D-Alaska), Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) and others,” said Philip
Smith, Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) in Washington. “Congressman Jim Costa (D-California)
previously introduced the bill in the House.”
Smith continued: “Shortly, we expect the full Senate to consider, and pass, in bipartisan fashion, this crucial
and historic veterans legislation, in the form of an omnibus veterans bill, that includes important language to recognize
and study the unique role of Lao and Hmong veterans who served in the U.S. ‘Secret Army’ in Laos during the
Vietnam War.”
“This progress
is the result of the passage last week, in the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, of key legislation, including
S. 944, an omnibus veterans bill that incorporates language regarding Lao and Hmong-American veterans--especially as
advanced in the ‘Lao Hmong Veterans Burial Honors Bill,’ S. 200, introduced by Senators Murkowski, Begich
and Whitehouse,” stated Smith. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1307/S00429/us-senate-laos-hmong-veterans-burial-honor-effort.htm “The anticipated passage of this legislation
in the full Senate will be historic for the ethnic Laotian- and Hmong-American veterans who seek to be honored and buried
at U.S. national veterans cemeteries administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs,” Smith concluded. http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org “We are pleased that the U.S. Senate has advanced
critical legislation that recognizes and honors our Laotian- and Hmong-American veterans who served, sacrificed and
died during the Vietnam War in Laos,” said Colonel Wangyee Vang, President of the Lao Veterans of America Institute,
in Fresno, California. “We welcome this important progress in the Senate as well as the continued advancement of
the ‘Lao Hmong Veterans Burial Honors Bill’ in Congress.” 
### Contact: Maria Gomer or Philip Smith Center
for Public Policy Analysis Tele. (202)543-1444 info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org Senate Slated to Address Laos, Hmong Veterans
Burial Honors WASHINGTON, D.C., July 16, 2013 The U.S.
Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs will conduct a markup hearing tomorrow to press forward veterans’ legislation,
and further examine and study the unique service of ethnic Laotian and Hmong veterans who served in covert operations
in Laos with American special forces during the Vietnam War. Chairman Bernie Sanders, Vice Chairman Richard Burr, along
with Senators Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich, and others, have worked to bring the bill, S. 200, before the Senate Veterans’
Affairs Committee for hearings. The bill was introduced previously in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressman
Jim Costa (D-California) and a bipartisan coalition of 32 Members of Congress. “We are pleased that U.S. Senate
Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Sanders, and Vice Chairman Burr, are hosting a markup hearing regarding pending
veterans legislation and will address a bill to provide long overdue burial honors to Lao and Hmong veterans who served
in covert operations in support of the U.S. clandestine forces in Laos during the Vietnam War,” said Philip Smith,
Executive Director for the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA). http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org “‘The Lao and Hmong Veterans Burial Honors Bill,’ S. 200, introduced by U.S. Senators Lisa
Murkowski (R- Alaska) and Mark Begich (D-Alaska), if enacted by Congress and signed into law by President Obama, would
permit some 9,700 Laotian- and Hmong-America veterans of the U.S. ‘Secret Army’ in Laos to be buried in national
Department of Veterans Affairs’ cemeteries,” Smith stated. “From 1961-1975, the Hmong and
Lao ethnic soldiers of the U.S. ‘Secret Army’ lost about 40,000 men and women for the accomplishment of covert
missions, including some impossible and hopelessly dangerous missions, where the Lao-Hmong soldiers had to pay in blood
with many, many, countless Lao-Hmong lives lost…,” said Colonel Wangyee Vang, President of the Lao Veterans
of America Institute, in Senate testimony. Mr. Vang stated: “Now it is 38 years after the war ended in 1975. Unfortunately,
our veterans still have not received any kind of burial honors benefit, or other veterans’ benefits, from the U.S.
government especially for our Hmong, Khmu, Lao, Mien and other ethnic veterans of the ‘U.S. Secret Army.’
We are, therefore, strongly urging the U.S. Congress, as soon as possible, to pass S. 200 for those veterans still surviving
from the Vietnam War.” ### Laos: Coalition Opposes U.S. Taxpayers’
Funding of Bomb Removal From Vietnam War April 12, 2013, Washington, D.C.,
and Vientiane, Laos
The Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) and a coalition
of Lao and Hmong non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are opposing a controversial multi-million dollar U.S. Department
of State project to remove unexploded Vietnam War-era ordnance and bombs from Laos. In opposition to the project, which
the State Department is presently promoting with a U.S. tour, the NGOs are citing increased human rights abuses as well
as religious and minority persecution in Laos. The organizations are also raising concerns about the recent
arrest and abduction of Laotian civic activist Sombath Somphone, widespread government corruption in Laos and illegal logging
by Lao and Vietnamese military-owned companies. The Lao government’s support for North Korean (DPRK) is
also being cited.
“We oppose U.S. funding for bomb removal in Laos, given
the Lao regime’s ongoing persecution and killing of the Laotian and Hmong people,” said Vaughn Vang, Director
of the Lao Human Rights Council (LHRC).
“Before any further funds are given for bomb removal efforts
in Laos by U.S. taxpayers, the Lao regime must release Sombath Somphone, and jailed Lao Students for Democracy (LSFD) protest
leaders, as well as information about the three Lao-Americans from Minnesota who disappearance in Laos at the hands of the
Lao police and military in January,” stated Bounthanh Rathigna, President of the United League for Democracy in Laos
(ULDL). “Many Laotian and Hmong-Americans advocate cutting all U.S. foreign aid
to Laos given the Lao government’s recent arrest of Sombath Somphone and its role in the disappearance of three Lao-Americans
from Minnesota,” said Khampoua Naovarangsy, President of the Laos Institute for Democracy (LIFD). The coalition of NGOs opposed to
U.S. funding for the bomb removal program in Laos include the CPPA, ULDL, LIFD, LSFD, United Lao for Human
Rights and Democracy, Hmong Advance, Inc., Hmong Advancement, Lao Veterans of America, Lao Veterans of
America Institute and others.
“No U.S. taxpayers’ money should be used for the
clean-up of bombs and unexploded ordnance in Laos from the Vietnam War-era, while corrupt Lao officials are engaged in brutal
human rights violations, religious persecution, the abduction of civic activists, and ethnic cleansing waged against many
of their own Lao and Hmong people,” said Philip Smith, Director of the CPPA in Washington, D.C. “The Lao military continues
to drop bombs and launch horrific and bloody attacks against peaceful civilian minority communities, including the Hmong
people, in the mountains and jungles of Laos,” Smith stated. “The Lao Peoples Army (LPA) continues
to attack and heavily shell and bomb its own freedom-loving people, with artillery and aircraft, and is engaged in widespread
illegal logging in Laos in cooperation with Vietnam Peoples Army-owned companies.” “Currently, the
one-party communist regime in Laos is routinely engaged in machine-gunning, rocketing, bombing, and starving to death many
innocent Laotian and Hmong civilians, and religious and dissident communities, in the mountains and jungles of Laos, including
groups of Christian and Animist believers,” Smith observed. http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130304006755/en/Laos-Attacks-Intensify-Lao-Hmong-People
“Given the U.S. budget crisis, there is growing opposition
to this misguided and highly questionable bomb-removal project in Laos,” Smith commented.
“Clearly, Laos should meet basic conditions, including the release of Sombath Somphone, and imprisoned Lao
student and dissident leaders, before any further U.S. foreign aid is provided.” “Moreover, the Lao military
and politburo are closely allied with North Korea,” Smith stated. “No U.S. taxpayers’ money should go toward
bomb removal programs in Laos until the Lao regime ends its cooperation with Stalinist North Korea.” ### Center for Public Policy Analysis Contact: Maria
Gomez or Philip Smith info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org CPPA Lauds Philippines, Australia for Release of Hostage Monday, 25
March 2013, 2:08 pm
Press Release: Center for Public Policy Analysis CPPA Lauds Philippines, Australia for Release
of Hostage Warren Rodwell March 22, 2013, Washington, D.C., Manila, Philippines, Canberra, Australia The Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA)
is lauding the governments of the Philippines and Australia for their tireless efforts in negotiating the successful release
of Australian hostage Warren Rodwell held captive on Mindanao island by Islamic militants linked to the Abu Sayaf (Abu Sayyaf)
organization. Philippine
Islamist militants believed to be with the Abu Sayaf organization released the former Australian army officer in Pagadian
City, Philippines, today, after holding him captive for some 15 months. “Today we congratulate and laud the governments of the Philippines
and Australia for their tireless efforts in negotiating the successful release of Australian hostage Warren Rodwell in Mindanao
from Islamic militants and kidnappers affiliated with the Abu Sayaf organization, a group linked to al Qaeda,” said
Philip Smith, Executive Director of the CPPA in Washington, D.C. http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
“It
is encouraging and impressive that a special Australian government task force worked seriously, and relentlessly ,with their
counterparts in the government of the Philippines, including the Philippine military and intelligence services, to locate
the Abu Sayaf captors of Warren Rodwell and negotiate his safe release in Mindanao,” Smith continued. “This
was apparently done without paying the major ransom demanded by the captors.” “At this time, it is also important
to note that much credit goes to the ordinary people of the Southern Philippines and Mindanao, including the suffering Islamic
community and those people sympathetic to the Abul Sayaf organization, for their sincere cooperation and reasonable efforts
to sustain and keep Warren Rodwell alive and ultimately to agree to his safe release, alive, to his family in Australia,”
Smith stated. “The release of Warren Rodwell marks an important landmark and precedent for peaceful crisis resolution,
counter-terrorism and successful hostage negotiations in the Philippines, Australia, and internationally.” “Clearly, however, it is important to
note that Warren Rodwell’s case demonstrates that it is critical for the government of the Philippines, Australia,
and the international community, to more seriously address the fundamental crisis of poverty, economic despair, discrimination
and human rights violations in Mindanao and the southern Philippines,” Smith concluded. Mr Warren Rodwell was kidnapped by a group
of Islamists, affiliated with the Abu Sayaf (Abu Sayyaf , AKA Abu Sayaff ) organizations, on December 5, 2011, in southern
Zamboanga Sibugay province by armed men who are believed to have fled with Rodwell in speedboats. http://www.theage.com.au/national/kidnapped-australian-has-no-hope-of-release-20121227-2bwqo.html#ixzz2OK3KuAaK The
CPPA is a Washington, D.C.-based think-tank and non-governmental research organization (NGO). Over the years, the CPPA has repeatedly raised
concerns about human rights violations, civil society matters, economic development, and freedom of the press issues in
the Southern Philippines and the island of Mindanao. http:/www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/02/11/11/us-think-tank-massacre-victims-kin-need-counseling%20 ###
Contact(s) Maria Gomez or Philip Smith
CPPA – Center for Public Policy Analysis Tele. (202) 543-1444
Laos Officials Criticized for Obstructing Investigation Into
3 Missing Americans From Minnesota
Washington, D.C., Minneapolis, Minnesota, Bangkok, Thailand, and Vientiane, Laos
March 17, 2013
The Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA), United Lao for Democracy and Human Rights (ULDHR),
the Lao Human Rights Council (LHRC), the United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc. (ULDL), the Laos Institute for Democracy
(LIFD), and a coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are criticizing the government of Laos for
its failure to cooperate with the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Embassy in Laos regarding an attempted American investigation
into the disappearance in January of three Lao-American men from the Twin Cities of Minnesota. Reports
about the Lao government’s efforts to obstruct the U.S. investigation about the whereabouts and status of the three
missing Americans from Minneapolis and St. Paul are being reported by Radio Free Asia (RFA), family members, and others
today.
“The disappearance of the three Lao-Americans
is troubling to all Laotian people and we are concerned that the Lao government is deeply involved in a major cover-up about
this case by blocking, and not allowing, the U.S. Embassy and international community from finding the full truth of what
has really happened to these missing Americans,” stated Boon Boualaphanh, President of the Minnesota-based ULDHR. “Now,
we are very concerned about the ongoing disappearance of civic activist Sombath Somphone as well as the three Lao-Americans
from Minnesota; Clearly, they should all be returned to their families, if alive or dead, immediately.” http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1303/S00009/three-lao-americans-from-minnesota-missing-in-laos.htm
“It
is deplorable that the Lao government, including key communist party officials, are not cooperating with the U.S. Embassy
in Laos as well as independent journalists, family members, and non-governmental organizations who are all seeking concrete
answers into the recent disappearance in Southern Laos, of three Lao-American men from Minnesota’s Twin Cities,”
said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the CPPA in Washington, D.C.
Smith continued: “Mr. Souli Kongmalavong, Mr. Bounthie Insixiengmai and
Mr. Bounma Phannhotha, of Minnesota, all disappeared in Southern Laos’ Savannakhet Province in January, and are feared
dead, under suspicious circumstances involving corrupt Lao officials.”
Smith stated further: “The three Lao-American
from Minnesota were last seen in Laos on January 6th and appear to have gone missing under mysterious circumstance
involving the Lao secret police and military who, we believe, extrajudically arrested the group without charges ; We
have received credible reports that the three Americans may have been met with violence and deadly force by the Lao
police and military when traveling in the Keng Kok area of Savannakhet Province, Laos.”
“Brutal and corrupt elements of the Lao security services, including the
secret police, military and communist party apparatus, appear to be seeking to cover-up what has happened to these three
Americans who have gone missing in Savannakhet Province and are now feared dead in Laos,” Smith stated.
“We have new information that the three Lao-Americans from Minnesota were apparently subject to arrest, police
brutality and extortion by corrupt elements of the Lao police and military who are seeking to hide their abuses of the American
men .”
“A disturbing pattern of egregious human rights violations, ethnic and religious persecution, official corruption
and state-sponsored extrajudicial killings, including targeted killings, has once again reemerged in Laos with full force
under the current Marxist regime in Vientiane,” concluded Smith.
Three bodies were recently found in a burnt out
van in Southern Laos, one of whom was reportedly identified as Souli Kongmalavong, of Minnesota, by a relative in Laos.
###
Contact(s) Maria Gomez or Philip
Smith CPPA – Center for Public Policy Analysis Tele. (202) 543-1444
Appeal for Justice
in Laos Following Abductions, Killings, Disappearances
Vientiane, Laos,
Bangkok, Thailand, and Washington, D.C.
March 17, 2013 The Lao Human Rights
Council (LHRC), the United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc. (ULDL), the Laos Institute for Democracy (LIFD), the Center
for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA), and a coalition of non-governmental organizations are calling for an international
investigation into a string of recent human rights violations, disappearances, and killings in Laos involving Lao security
forces and government officials. “In the wake of the Lao government’s extrajudicial
abduction and detention of Sombath Somphone and other important activists in Laos, as well as the Lao military’s
killing of four Hmong civilians in February, the United Nations, European Union and the international community should
launch and immediate investigation into the upswing in political violence and human rights violations in Laos,” said
Philip Smith, Executive Director of the CPPA in Washington, D.C. “The UN and the European Union should also address, in an emergency human
rights investigation, the disappearance of three Lao-American citizens from Minnesota in January,” Smith stated. “Souli
Kongmalavong, Bounthie Insixiengmai and Bounma Phannhotha, of Minnesota, disappeared in Southern Laos in January, and
are feared dead, under suspicious circumstances involving corrupt Lao officials.” http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org According to Smith: “Mr. Souli Kongmalavong, of the Twin
Cities-area of Minnesota, was recently found dead in a burnt out van with at least two other bodies in Laos.
Corrupt Lao police and government officials are believed to be involved in the deaths and disappearances.
Mr. Kongmalavong reportedly owed property, and invested, in Laos, and disappeared at the hands of government officials
and security forces while attending a funeral in Southern Laos.” http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1303/S00009/three-lao-americans-from-minnesota-missing-in-laos.htm Many Laotians remain concerned about recent developments. “We are calling
for a complete and thorough international investigation regarding the Lao police’s, and military’s, apparent
direct role in the disappearance of three Lao-Americans from Minnesota who went missing in Laos in January,”
said Bounthanh Rathigna, President of the United League for Democracy in Laos (ULDL). “We
are also calling on the Lao regime to immediately release Sombath Somphone as well as the Lao students movement for democracy
leaders, and other civic activists, that it has unjustly imprisoned in Laos.” “Lao and
Vietnamese military and security forces continue to arrest, persecute, imprison, and kill the Laotian and Lao-Hmong people,”
Mr. Rathigna concluded. “Laos is also targeting foreign business investors, both large and small,
to confiscate and steal their money, property, business and investment profits; tourists are also being targeted, especially
Lao and Hmong-Americans from Minnesota, Wisconsin, California, and elsewhere traveling to Laos.” The LHRC, and its President Vaughn Vang, has also issued a statement and appeal
today regarding human rights violations and the killing of four Lao-Hmong civilians last month:
“Sadly,
Lao-Hmong villagers were arbitrarily attacked by Lao soldiers who killed four Hmong people and wounded one other in February,”
said Vaughn Vang, President of the Wisconsin- and Minnesota-based LHRC.
“Lao
Peoples Army (LPA) soldiers, armed with AK-47 machine guns, fired upon a group of ten Hmong men southwest of the Phou
Bia mountain-area.
“The Hmong men killed by the
Lao military include: Hue Xiong, 32 years old; Cha Xiong, 30; Ze Xiong, 20; and Bee Vang, 30.
“Three of the deceased, murdered by the LPA soldiers, were ordinary teachers for a nearby school.
“These unarmed Hmong people left their village to seek food when they were attacked
and killed by Lao troops. Mr. Year Chang was also shot and wounded, but survived.
“The families of the dead are requesting that they be permitted to retrieve the bodies of their family
members in order to perform traditional Hmong Animist and Christian religious ceremonies, and burial rituals, to rest the
souls of those who were killed in the recent government attack. Unfortunately, however, the Lao authorities have refused
their requests.
“We urge the United Nation Human Rights and the world communities to investigate these murders
immediately and bring these killers to justice. “The Laotian Government, in its official
state propaganda, has announce to the world that they have opened the doors for the world to conduct
business within their country. They have also announced for all the Lao-Hmong living in other countries to return to Laos
and assist the Laotian Government in developing a better government and country for them to live in. If this is their
claim, then what is the reasoning behind the fact that Sombath Somphone was an intelligent individual who had a passion
to help his own Laotian people, however, the Laotian Government arrested him, and his whereabouts are
unknown? “Furthermore, the Hmong people who live in Laos
are being killed daily by the LPA and Lao military and security forces. With all these atrocities, how can the Laotian
Government falsely claim that their country is at peace? How could the Lao-Hmong people and international community trust
that they will not be at harm once they cross the borders into communist Laos ? “Sadly, corrupt
Laotian Government officials have sold to other countries their natural resources including forests, their gold and silver,
and much of their farmland. With no free and secure land to live, where would the Hmong Lao from other countries live
once they enter the country of Laos? “The Laotian Government's propaganda and false
announcement of peace is just another front to bring the Lao-Hmong people from other countries back to Laos for the government
to abuse, kidnap, arrest, rob, extort and slaughter them as they are doing with the current Lao-Hmong
living in Laos. Their country is still not at peace and any Hmong Lao entering their borders is often guaranteed to be at
harm's way and their lives at stake. “We, the Lao and Lao-Hmong
communities all over the globe, strongly urge the United Nations, European Parliament, and international community to put
an end to the Laotian Government's hate crimes, human rights violations, abductions and killings. We strongly urge the
United to investigate the recent murders of these innocent Lao-Hmong men and strongly urge the investigation of the whereabouts
of Sombath Somphone and the three Lao-Americans from Minnesota who disappeared recently in Laos. “We want
the Lao government to also release Hakit Yang and the other three Lao- and Hmong-Americans from Minnesota currently jailed
in Laos. “There is no peace within the country of Laos and there will be no peace in
the hearts of the families of the deceased, the families of the missing, and the families of all Lao and Hmong people
all over the world until justice has been served, ” Vang concluded in his statement. ### Contact:
Maria Gomez or Philip Smith CPPA - Center for Public Policy Analysis (202) 543-1444 Laos:
Attacks Intensify Against Lao, Hmong People Washington, D.C., Bangkok, Thailand and St. Paul, Minnesota, March 4,
2013 The Lao Human Rights Council (LHRC),
the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA), and a coalition of non-governmental organizations are raising concerns about
a surge in political violence and ethnic and religious persecution in Laos following the arrest of a prominent Laotian activist
and the disappearance of three Lao-American men from Minnesota. “There is a major surge in political violence and ethnic and
religious persecution in Laos following the arrest of Lao civic activist Sombath Somphone and the disappearance of three
Lao-American men from Minnesota who traveled recently to Laos,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Washington,
D.C.-based CPPA. "The abduction of Mr. Sombath Somphone, who disappeared at the hands of Laotian security forces in
December, was discussed at the European Parliament on February 7th,” Smith stated. “Regrettably, the
Lao regime has still not released Sombath as requested in a resolution passed by the European Union.” Sombath Somphone is a Ramon Magsaysay
Award-winner. Souli Kongmalavong, Bounthie Insixiengmai and Bounma Phannhotha, of Minnesota, disappeared in Southern Laos
in January, and are feared dead, under suspicious circumstances involving corrupt Lao officials. “Instead of releasing Mr. Sombath,
and others unjustly imprisoned in Laos, it is clear that Lao security forces, including the military and secret police,
are once again violently cracking down on key elements of society in Laos to seek to maintain political power and economic
control,” Smith said.
“Many visiting Lao- and Hmong-Americans are also being targeted by the regime,” Smith commented. “The Marxist regime in Laos is
engaged in a new and intensified round of military attacks and brutal security force operations, including those on February
22nd that killed four innocent Hmong civilians,” Smith concluded. http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org “Lao-Hmong villagers were arbitrarily
attacked by Lao soldiers who killed four Hmong people and wounded one other,” said Vaughn Vang, President of the Wisconsin
and Minnesota-based LHRC. “Lao Peoples Army (LPA) soldiers, armed with AK-47 machine guns, fired upon a group of ten Hmong men
southwest of the Phou Bia mountain-area,” Vang stated. “The Hmong men killed by the Lao military
include: Hue Xiong, 32 years old; Cha Xiong, 30; Ze Xiong, 20; and
Bee Vang, 30.”
“Three of the deceased, murdered by the LPA soldiers, were ordinary teachers for a nearby school,”
Vang observed. Mr. Vang continued: “These unarmed Hmong people left their village to seek food
when they were attacked and killed by Lao troops. Mr. Year Chang was also shot and wounded, but survived.’ Vang lamented: “The
families of the dead are requesting that they be permitted to retrieve the bodies of their family members in order to perform
traditional Hmong Animist and Christian religious ceremonies, and burial rituals, to rest the souls of those who were killed
in the recent government attack. Unfortunately, however, the Lao authorities have refused their requests.
” ### Contact: Maria Gomez or Philip Smith Center for Public Policy Analysis (202) 543-1444 info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org --- Three
Lao-Americans From Minnesota Missing in Laos
February 27, 2013,
Washington, D.C., Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Bangkok, Thailand For Immediate Release
The Center for Public Policy Analysis
(CPPA) and the United Lao for Democracy and Human Rights, Inc. (ULDHR) have expressed concern about reports that three
Laotian-Americans from Minnesota are missing in Laos.
Souli Kongmalavong,
Mr. Bounma Phannhotha and Mr. Bounthie Insixiengmaiof the Twin Cities-area of Minnesota have reportedly gone missing in
Laos..
“The Lao and Hmong-American community in Minnesota and
across the United States is very concerned about the reports that three Laotian-American citizens have disappeared in
Laos,” said Boon Boualaphanh, President of the ULDHR in Minneapolis, Minnesota. “We are deeply worried that,
based upon some reports, they may have been wrongly detained or arrested by the Lao military or secret police.
“We are calling on the U.S.
Embassy in Laos to find these missing Americans and return them to their families, if they are alive," Mr. Boualaphanh stated. “We
are appealing for a full investigation as to what is happening to Lao and Hmong Americans who continue
to disappear in Laos.”
“We have received disturbing
reports from Laos, and the Laotian community in the United
States that three more Lao-American citizens have disappeared in Laos under mysterious and troubling circumstances apparently involving the secret police and the Lao military,”
said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the CPPA in Washington, D.C. http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
Smith continued: “The
three Lao-American from Minnesota were last seen in Laos on January 6th and appear to have
gone missing under mysterious circumstance involving the Lao secret police and military who, by some accounts, reportedly
arrested the group ; We have received a
number of preliminary and credible reports that the three Americans may have been met with violence and deadly force by
the Lao police and military when traveling in the Keng Kok area of Savannakhet Province, Laos.”
“Unfortunately, the Lao military
and security forces are systemically corrupt and are notorious for
their recent acts of political violence, religious persecution and brutal oppression of their own citizens,” Smith stated.
“In recent years, the Lao military and secret police have also been involved with the arrest
and detention of Lao and Hmong-American citizens from Minnesota, Wisconsin and elsewhere, including Hakit Yang, Pastor Naw Karl Moua, Houa Le, Michael Vang and others.”
“In light of the recent abduction in Laos by the secret police of the high level Laotian
civic activist Sombath Somphone in December of last year, and the failure of the Lao government to address this matter,
we are very concerned about the disturbing reports that we continue to receive about the fate of the three Lao-Americans
from Minnesota who are missing in Laos,” Smith said. “We
are calling upon U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and the U.S. Ambassador to Laos to raise this matter with the highest
levels of the Lao government and urge a full accounting regarding the three Lao-Americans, so that justice can be served,
and they may be returned to their families in Minnesota.
Note: The spelling(s) of the names of Souli
Kongmalavong, Mr. Bounma Phannhotha and Mr. Bounthie Insixiengmai are
transliterated from the Lao language and, therefore, vary. ###
Contact:
Maria
Gomez or Philip Smith Center for Public
Policy Analysis Tele.
(202) 543-1444
CPPA: Laos Should Abide By New European Parliament Resolution,
Release Sombath
Washington, D.C., Strasbourg and Paris, France,
February 11, 2013 Center for Public Policy Analysis
The
Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA), the Lao Movement for Human Rights (MLDH) the International Federation for Human
Rights (IFHR), the United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc. (ULDL), and a coalition of
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are hailing the passage of a resolution by the European Parliament
expressing its deep concerns regarding the recent disappearance of Laotian civic activist Sombath Somphone at the hands
of Laotian authorities. The international NGOs, joined by scores of Lao and Hmong organizations, are urging Laos to abide
by the resolution and immediately release Mr. Sombath.
"We are encouraged that the terrible
plight of Sombath Somphone, who was extra-judicially abducted and disappeared at the hands of Laotian security forces last
December, was discussed at the highest levels of a plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg
on February 7th,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the CPPA in Washington, D.C.
“The
result has been the unanimous and historic passage by the European Parliament of a multi-point resolution expressing its
deep concerns regarding the disappearance of Laotian activist Sombath Somphone at the hands of Laotian authorities and
calling for the government of Laos to cooperate in the case,” Smith commented. “We are calling
on the Lao government to abide by the European Parliament’s resolution and to respect basic human rights and international
law regarding Sombath Somphone’s case.”
“In recent years, significant numbers of Laotian and Hmong political and
religious dissidents, as well as ordinary Laotians and U.S. citizens, have been arrested and disappeared
in Laos at the hands of Lao and Vietnamese security forces,” Smith stated. “Other ordinary freedom-loving
Laotian people, as well as members of the ethnic Hmong minority, have been tortured, subjected to horrific and
deplorable prison sentences, or summarily executed in Laos by the Lao government, often in coordination with the Vietnamese
military and secret police sent by Hanoi.”
“It is important to highlight that Sombath was a humble, yet high-level international figure, and
was previously awarded the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership because he returned to his native
Laos in 1979 to help farmers, young people and the poor,” Smith concluded.
“As a signatory to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance,
the Lao government has the duty to take all possible means to guarantee the safe return of Sombath,”
stated Souhayr Belhassen, FIDH President.
“Sombath has merely been involved in education and capacity-building programs for the youth,
initiating alternative development models to tackle rural poverty. His disappearance therefore sends a chilling message
to the fragile civil society in Laos”, said Vanida S. Thephsouvah, President of the MLDH.
“The European
Union, in its engagement with Lao authorities, should continue demanding for more freedom of expression in the country and
the cultivation of a more enabling environment for human rights defenders working on economic, social and cultural rights,
including development workers,” Ms. Thephsouvah stated further.
We are grateful for the recent resolution by the European
Parliament expressing its deepest concerns about Sombath Somphone,” said Bounthanh Rathigna, President of the ULDL.
“Sombath should be immediated released by the Lao authorities to rejoin his family.”
Sombath was a U.S.-educated agronomist.
In 2005, he was awarded the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership.
### Laos, Hmong Veterans
Burial Honors Bill Introduced in U.S. Senate
February 7, 2013, Washington, D.C. For Immediate Release
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Representative Jim Costa (D-California), and a bipartisan coalition
in the U.S. Congress, are advancing legislation that would grant burial honors to Lao and Hmong-American veterans of the Vietnam
War in Laos, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) and leading Lao and Hmong-American
organizations. “Americans who served and fought and put their lives on
the line receive a resting place in our national cemeteries; the men who saved American lives deserve the same honor,”
Senator Murkowski stated. “We are grateful that U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski has
introduced new legislation in the U.S. Senate to grant burial honors, and burial benefits, to the Laotian and Hmong veterans
who heroically served in the ‘U.S. Secret Army’ in Laos during the Vietnam War,” said Colonel Wangyee Vang,
National President of the Lao Veterans of America Institute (LVAI), headquartered in Fresno, California.
“We continue to work, and make progress, on this important effort in Washington, D.C., to honor our
fellow Lao and Hmong veterans, their families and the entire Lao and Hmong-American community,” Colonel Vang stated
further. “Senator Murkowski’s bill is crucial companion legislation to a counterpart bill in the U.S. House of
Representatives authored by U.S. Congressman Jim Costa.” “We
seek to provide our veterans burial benefits at U.S. national veterans’ cemeteries so they can rest with honor and dignity,”
Vang commented. The LVAI has spearhead efforts in Washington, D.C., and across
the United States, in support of the initiative to grant burial honors to Lao and Hmong veterans.
“Senator Murkowski’s and Congressman Costa’s historic legislation,
if passed in Congress and signed by President Obama, would authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to permit Laotian and
Hmong veterans of the Vietnam War in Laos to be buried, or cremated, at U.S. national veterans cemeteries,” said Philip
Smith, Executive Director of the CPPA. http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org “Clearly,
it is long overdue and important for the U.S. government to proactively recognize and honor the sacrifices of the Lao and
Hmong veterans of the ‘U.S. Secret Army,’ especially their critical and unique contribution to U.S. national security
interests during the Vietnam War,” Smith stated. “America should grant the surviving Lao and Hmong veterans historic
burial rights, and honors, at U.S. national veterans’ cemeteries.”
According to Smith, “In the previous session of Congress, which ended in December, a bipartisan coalition
of 32 Members of Congress in the House cosponsored the ‘Lao Hmong Veterans’ Burial Honors Act’, H.R. 3192.”
“The Laotian and Hmong veterans’ extraordinary efforts, over the year,
to host honorary national recognition ceremonies, in partnership with the U.S. Congress, Arlington National Cemetery, the
Department of Veterans of Affairs, and others, remains unique and important,” Smith concluded. “The ‘Lao
Hmong Veterans Burial Honors Act’ symbolizes the need to address the debt of honor still owed by America to the veterans
and their families.” http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100608007501/en/Laos-Hmong-Community-Concludes-National-Memorial-Ceremonies ,###
Contact: Maria Gomez Center for Public Policy Analysis
(CPPA) Tele. (202)543-1444 info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
______________________ Laos, Hmong Veterans Honored At National Ceremonies
May 14, 2012, Washington, D.C., Arlington, Virginia, and Fresno, California Center for Public Policy Analysis National
memorial and wreath-laying ceremonies are being held in Washington, D.C., Arlington National Cemetery, and the U.S. Congress,
to honor Lao and Hmong veterans of the “U.S. Secret Army” in Laos, their American clandestine advisors, and
their refugee families in the United States and Southeast Asia. “Today, we have come from across the United States to pay tribute and remember our
fallen soldiers who have died to secure the freedom that we all enjoy today,” said Colonel Wangyee Vang, National
President of the Lao Veterans of America Institute, headquartered in Fresno, California. “It is also important to
remember that our people, who were left behind in the jungles of Laos, are still suffering from the causes of the Vietnam
War,” Colonel Vang commented further.
National veterans and commemorative events are continuing on Capitol Hill
and Washington, D.C., today.
On Friday, May 11, a special wreath-laying ceremony and memorial service was conducted
at the Lao Veterans of America monument at Arlington National Cemetery. “I am very honored and pleased that we are once again gathered here today at Arlington
National Cemetery, as we first did in 1997, at this monument and tree that are dedicated to the Lao and Hmong veterans and
their American advisors,” said Dr. Jane Hamilton-Merritt, Laos and Hmong scholar. “This is a sacred and solemn
place where we are gathered to help honor the Lao and Hmong veterans and their families at Arlington National Cemetery,”
stated Dr. Hamilton-Merritt who is a historian, journalist and author of the book “Tragic Mountains: The Hmong, the
Americans and the Secret Wars for Laos.”
“As part of the annual commemoration of the Lao and Hmong Veterans National Recognition
Day Ceremonies, we are gathered to place flowers at the apex of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C.,” Dr.
Hamilton-Merritt concluded.
Flowers
were laid at the Vietnam War Memorial on Saturday, May 12, 2012, at 11:30 A.M., to honor and remember the Lao and Hmong
veterans and their refugee families who served in Laos during the Vietnam War and its aftermath. “A U.S. Department of Defense
Joint Armed Forces Honor Guard, U.S. Army wreath-bearer, and bugler, participated in the ceremony at Arlington National
Cemetery to assist in honoring the Lao and Hmong veterans,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Washington,
D.C. –based Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA). http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org Smith
continued: “Following the official wreath-laying ceremony at the Lao Veterans of America memorial in Arlington National
Cemetery, the U.S. Department of Defense’s honor guard also posted colors, and the bugler played ‘Taps', in
memory of the Lao and Hmong veterans and their American military and clandestine advisors, who served in Southeast Asia
during the Vietnam War.” “Lao and Hmong special forces who served in combat in Laos during the Vietnam War
were backed by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Army Special Forces, operating in a
largely covert fashion in defense of the Kingdom of Laos during the conflict,” Smith stated. “We are grateful to Arlington
National Cemetery, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Army and Members of Congress, for their efforts in support
of the national memorial ceremonies to honor Lao and Hmong veterans and their American advisors,” Smith commented. Participants and speakers at
the ceremonies are highlighting the importance of pending legislation introduced by U.S. Congressmen Jim Costa (D-CA), and
Frank Wolf (R-VA), to grant burial benefits at U.S. national veterans’ cemeteries to Lao and Hmong veterans.
Meetings and policy events are also being held in the U.S. Congress regarding issues of concern, including H.R.
3192, the Lao Hmong Veterans Burial Benefits Act. Cosponsors of the events include the Lao Veterans of America Institute (LVAI), the Lao
Veterans of America, Inc., the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA), the U.S. Department of Defense, Arlington National
Cemetery, U.S. Army Military District of Washington, Hmong Advance, Inc., Hmong Advancement, Inc., and Members of the
U.S. Congress. Keynote speakers, and those providing statements at the veterans memorial events, include:
Colonel Wangyee Vang, LVAI; Philip Smith, Executive Director, CPPA; Dr. Jane Hamilton-Merritt, Southeast Asian scholar;
Mike Benge, former POW/MIA and Counterparts Veterans’ Association member; Hugh Tovar, Former CIA Station Chief,
Laos; Toua Kue, Former Royal Lao Army officer, Lao Veterans of America, Inc.; D. L. Hicks, U.S. Special Forces Association,
Texas; Christy Lee, Hmong Advance, Inc.; Members of the U.S. Congress: and, Congressional staff. Laotian and Hmong veterans and
their families from Washington, D.C., Virginia, Maryland, California, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Texas, Oklahoma, North
Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Alabama, and other
states, are participating in the national veterans’ memorial and policy events. The events also mark Lao and
Hmong Veterans National Recognition Day ceremonies held in May of each year by the Laotian and Hmong community across
the United States and in Washington, D.C.
### Contact: Ms. Maria Gomez or Mr. Philip Smith,
CPPA
Center for Public Policy Analysis 2020 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Suite 220
Washington, DC 20006
Tele. (202) 543-1444
Congress Presses Laos, Hmong Veterans Bill Forward
Twenty-six Members of the U.S.
Congress are moving forward with legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives to grant burial honors to Lao and Hmong
veterans of the U.S. 'Secret War' in Laos. The historic legislation is gathering more momentum, and bipartisan support , on Capitol Hill and Washington, D.C.
April 21, 2012 – For Immediate Release
Washington, D.C. and Fresno, California
Additional Members of the U.S. Congress are rallying in bipartisan support of historic legislation that seeks to
grant burial honors to Lao and Hmong-American veterans of the Vietnam War in Laos, according to the Washington, DC-based
Center for Public Policy Analysis and Laotian and Hmong veterans’ groups.
“U.S.
Congressmen Jim Costa, Frank Wolf, and twenty-six Members of the U.S. House of Representatives, are moving forward to advance
H.R. 3192 in Congress to seek to authorize the U.S. Secretary of Veterans of Affairs to allow Lao and Hmong veterans to
be buried, or cremated, with honor, at national veterans’ cemeteries,” said Colonel Wangyee Vang, National President
and founder of the Fresno, California-based Lao Veterans of America Institute (LVAI).
“In the last several weeks, three additional Members of Congress have signed on to the bill to help the Lao and Hmong
veterans, and we continue to work, and make progress, on this important effort in Washington, D.C., and on Capitol Hill,”
Wangyee Vang stated.
“Now, at this important time, more and more Members of the
U.S. Congress are signing on as cosponsors and supporters of this bill to help honor our Lao and Hmong veterans and their
families,” Colonel Vang observed.
“Currently, a total of 26 Members of Congress
from both political parties are officially signed on to the H.R. 3192 and more are likely to support it as it moves forward
in the U.S. Congress over the coming months,” Colonel Wangyee Vang commented. “With the further help of our
colleagues and friends in the Laotian and Hmong-American community across the United States, we expect more Members of Congress
to support and sign on to this historic legislation that helps to honor our community and our people.”
“At present, H.R. 3192, if passed in the U.S. Congress and signed by President Obama, would
amend title 38 of U.S. law, and authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to allow Laotian and Hmong veterans of the Vietnam
war in Laos, to be buried or cremated in U.S. veterans’ cemeteries across the United States,” commented Philip
Smith, Executive Director of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA). http://www.cppa-dc.org
“Clearly, it is important for the U.S. government to proactively recognize the legacy of
the Lao and Hmong veterans, especially their critical contribution to U.S. national security during the Vietnam War, and
grant them this special burial honor at U.S. national veterans’ cemeteries as well as Arlington National Cemetery
in Washington, D.C.,” Smith stated.
“The Lao and Hmong veterans’ extraordinary
partnership with Arlington National Cemetery, the U.S. Congress, and the Department of Veterans Affairs, to host veterans’
ceremonies and seek burial honors continues to be a unique and important effort that has rightly gained recognition and
further support on Capitol Hill,” Smith commented.
“It is hoped that the
pending Lao and Hmong veterans’ legislation will become law in a timely fashion, before more of these Vietnam War
veterans pass away as they grow older,” concluded Smith.
The LVAI and the CPPA have
worked to spearhead efforts in Washington, D.C., and across the United States, in support of the initiative to grant burial
benefits to Lao and Hmong veterans. Delegations from the LVAI traveled to Washington, D.C., in October of 2011, to host special
events and meetings in the U.S. Congress, and Capitol Hill, in partnership with the CPPA, to help educate Members of Congress
about the importance of granting veterans’ burial benefits to the former Lao and Hmong soldiers. ###
U.S. Congressional Support for Laos, Hmong Veterans’ Burial Benefits Grows April 3, 2012, Washington,
D.C. and Fresno, CA The U.S. Congress is advancing legislation in the House of Representatives that seeks to grant burial honors to Lao
and Hmong-American veterans of the Vietnam War in Laos, according to the Washington, DC-based Center for Public Policy Analysis
and Lao and Hmong veterans organizations. “U.S. Congressmen Jim Costa, Devin Nunes and a bipartisan group of twenty-two Members of the
U.S. House of Representatives, continue to advance H.R. 3192 in Congress to seek to authorize the U.S. Secretary of Veterans
of Affairs to allow Lao and Hmong veterans to be buried, or cremated, with honor at national veterans cemeteries,”
said Colonel Wangyee Vang, National President of the Lao Veterans of America Institute, headquartered in Fresno, California.
“We continue
to work, and make progress, on this important effort in Washington, D.C., and on Capitol Hill,” Wangyee Vang stated
further. “Additional Members of Congress are signing on as cosponsors and supporters of this bill
to help honor our Lao and Hmong veterans and their families.”
The Lao Veterans of America Institute has helped to spearhead efforts in
Washington, D.C., and across the United States, in support of the initiative to grant burial benefits to Lao and Hmong veterans.
Delegations from the Lao Veterans of America Institute (LVAI) traveled to Washington, D.C., in October of 2011, to
host special events and meetings in the U.S. Congress, and Capitol Hill, to help educate Members of Congress about the importance
of granting veterans’ burial benefits to the former Lao and Hmong soldiers. “Currently,
a total of 23 Members of Congress from both political parties are officially signed on to the H.R. 3192 and more are likely
to support in as it moves forward in the U.S. Congress over the coming months,” Colonel Wangyee
Vang commented. “With the further help of our colleagues and friends in the Laotian and Hmong-American
community across the United States, we expect more Members of Congress to support and sign on to this historic legislation
that helps to honor our community and our people.”
“H.R. 3192, if passed in the U.S. Congress and signed by President Obama,
would amend title 38 of U.S. law, and authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to allow Laotian and Hmong veterans of
the Vietnam war in Laos, to be buried or cremated in U.S. veterans cemeteries across the United States,” said Philip
Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) in Washington, D.C. “The
Lao and Hmong veterans’ initiative with Arlington National Cemetery, the U.S. Congress, and the Department of Veterans
Affairs, to host veterans’ ceremonies and seek burial honors continues to be a unique and important effort that has
rightly gained further recognition and support on Capitol Hill,” Smith commented. “It is hoped
that the pending legislation will become law in a timely fashion, before more of the Lao and Hmong veterans pass away as
they grow older.” ### Contact: Lilly Her, Yer Vang, or Philip Smith Center for
Public Policy Analysis ( CPPA ) 2020 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, D.C. 20006
The Life and Death of Robert Jambon: An Act of
Love and War For A Forgotten People December 13, 2011, Washington, D.C., Paris, France, Bangkok, Thailand and Vientiane, Laos For Immediate Release The Center for Public
Policy Analysis, and a coalition of Lao and Hmong non-governmental organizations (NGOs), have issued a statement today
honoring the life and legacy of retired French Colonel Robert Jambon and his valiant fight for human rights and freedom
for the Laotian, Hmong and Vietnamese people. The NGOs also expressed their condolences to the Jambon family.
According to his final statements as reported recently by an investigation concluded by French police, Colonel Jambon
sacrificed himself in Dinan, France, as a veteran of the Indochina war, where he took his own life in seeking to bring international
attention to the ongoing persecution and killing of the Lao Hmong people in Laos, Vietnam and Thailand. “The Lao and Hmong
veterans salute the supreme sacrifice of Colonel Robert Jambon in seeking to offer up his life to help bring international
attention to the ongoing military attacks, and human rights violations in Laos and Vietnam, directed against freedom-loving
people, including the Hmong,” said Colonel Wangyee Vang, National President of the Lao Veterans of America Institute
(LVAI), the largest Laotian and Hmong non-profit veterans' organization in the United States , with chapters and members
in France and internationally. “Colonel Jambon wanted to help to save our Lao and Hmong
people and the refugees, and ordinary people, who are being persecuted now in Laos by the military and communist regime,”
Colonel Wangyee Vang stated. “Colonel Jambon is a hero to our Laotian and Hmong people;
He recently killed himself in France as an dramatic and important international statement of protest to try to help our
people and to try to save those in the jungles and refugee camps in Laos and Thailand who have fled terrible religious
and political persecution, genocide and bloody military attacks,” Wangyee Vang said. “The Laotian and
Hmong people will never forget Colonel Robert Jambon for his sacrifices in defense of the Royal Kingdom of Laos during the
Indochina war and his efforts to bring awareness about the plight of Laotians and Hmong people who are the victims of
human rights violations,” said Bounthanh Rathigna, President of the United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc. (ULDL). “Colonel Robert
Jambon’s life, and recent suicide in France, is an important and symbolic act of selfless love, and of calculated
moral war, against systemic injustice and oppression that continues to be directed against thousands of innocent people
in Laos, including the Hmong minority,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis
(CPPA) in Washington, D.C. “Robert Jambon’s final tragic act of love, and war,
for the forgotten nation of Laos, and the persecuted Lao Hmong minority people there, has been heard in Washington, D.C.
and has resonated with many in the Laotian community around the world,” Smith observed. The CPPA continues to document
human rights violations in Laos and Southeast Asia regard the Hmong and other peoples. Thousands of Hmong from Vietnam were arrested, or killed, earlier this
year by the Vietnam Peoples' Army (VPA) in Dien Bien province after staging peaceful gatherings and protests.
Hmong Christians in Laos have suffered increased persecution, atrocities and attacks by the Lao military and VPA forces.
http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
“Despite the indifference of the international
community, the war in Laos is, unfortunately, not over for the Lao Hmong people,” Smith continued. “The
Lao People’s Army, and the secret police of the Stalinist regime in Laos, backed by military leaders in Hanoi, continue
to kill and persecute the Laotian and Hmong people in the most brutal and egregious manner resulting in many refugees
fleeing to neighboring Thailand and the ongoing deaths and casualties of thousands of innocent civilians as well as political
and religious dissidents.” “Colonel Jambon’s bold death, like the self-immolation
of Tibetan and Vietnamese monks, is a fiery monument to heroism and self-sacrifice on behalf of the Hmong people of Laos
and Vietnam whom he loved and knew, and served with in combat on behalf of France during the first Indochina war,”
Smith commented. “The violent forced repatriation of tens of thousands of Lao Hmong refugees from Ban Huay Nam Khao
in Thailand, back to the communist regime in Laos, where they fled mass starvation and genocide in recent years, remains
as a stain upon the international community as well as the hearts and minds of those concerned about human rights in Southeast
Asia,” Smith stated. “Colonel Robert Jambon rightly understood the horrific crimes,
and incomprehensible abuses, that are still being violently inflicted upon thousands of innocent Hmong and Laotian civilians
and religious and political dissident groups in Laos,” Smith continued. “Colonel Jambon’s
passionate and Gauguin-like suicide at the Indochina monument in Dinan, France, is a powerful symbol of devotion and understanding
regarding the suffering plight of the Lao and Hmong people,” Smith concluded. “Robert Jambon’s courage
in speaking truth to power to a world that has largely forgotten thousands of Lao Hmong people who have been abandoned
by France and the United States in the mountains and jungles of Laos, and the refugee camps in Thailand, speaks volumes;
The themes of love, war, betrayal, and the need to address the ongoing social injustice in Laos and Vietnam, resonate
in the final gunshot that ended Robert Jambon’s amazing and important life” Joining the CPPA, LVAI
and ULDL in issuing a statement on behalf of Colonel Robert Jambon’s life and legacy include the United Lao for Human
Rights and Democracy (ULHRD), Laos Institute for Democracy, Hmong Advance, Inc., Hmong Advancement, Inc., Lao Students
for Democracy, Hmong Students Association and others.
Amnesty International,
Doctors Without Borders (MSF - Medecins Sans Frontieres), the CPPA and independent NGO and journalists have reported about
the forced repatriation, persectution and human rights violations directed against the Lao Hmong people in Thailand and
Laos.
### Contact: Jade Her or Philip Smith CPPA - Center for Public Policy Analysis 2020 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Suite 220 Washington, DC
20006 USA Tele. (202) 543-1444 Laos Reeducation Camp Survivor
Dies Washington, D.C. , and Vientiane,
Laos, November 25, 2011 For Immediate Release info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
Contact: Jade Her or Philip Smith Center for Public Policy
Analysis Tele. (202) 543-1444 Khampet Moukdarath, a human rights advocate for the people of Laos, and a survivor of the
Lao gulag and reeducation system, died on November 6, 2011, in the Washington, D.C.-metropolitan area. He was honored
at recent events in Washington, D.C., by the Laotian-American community, the United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc. (ULDL),
United Lao for Human Rights and Democracy (ULHRD), Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) and others. “Because of his devotion
to his Buddhist faith and his love of the nation of Laos, Colonel Khampet Moukdarath suffered from torture and abuse in
reeducation camps in Laos for over 13 long years following the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) invasion of the Royal Kingdom
of Laos and the Pathet Lao communist guerilla takeover,” said Bounthanh Rathigna, President of the United League
for Democracy in Laos, Inc. “We remember the Lao veterans and Lao people who suffered unbelievable torture and pain for their
beloved nation and people following the brutal communist military takeover by Vietnam, and for those Laotian people who
were persecuted, tortured and killed in the reeducation camps,” said Colonel Khamthene Chinvayong, of the Lao Veterans
Association. “We will never forget Khampet Moukdarath’s deep and compassionate love for the suffering Laotian people,
and his devotion to their future as well as the historical legacy of the sovereign nation of Laos, the Royal Kingdom of
Laos,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) in Washington, D.C.
“On many occasions Khampet Moukdarath courageously testified at the U.S. Congressional Forum on
Laos and at other policy events in Washington, D.C., about the plight of Laos and the Laotian people and about human rights
violations in Southeast Asia.” http://www.centerforpublicpollcyanalysis.org
“Colonel Khampet Moukdarath’s life, and unique kindness,
in the face of overwhelming difficulty, and suffering, has been a great inspiration to the freedom-loving people of Laos
and to so many in Washington, D.C., and internationally,” Smith continued.
Smith concluded: “We are grateful for Khampet Moukdarath’s
important life and his compassionate efforts over the years; we are especially mindful of the incomprehensible
and prolonged suffering he endured for 13 years as a reeducation camp victim and survivor—as well as his vision and
hope for a brighter future for the freedom-loving Laotian and Hmong people.”
“We remember all those who suffered and died for their country,
as veterans of the conflict in Laos, in defense of the Royal Kingdom of Laos,” said Colonel Wangyee Vang, National
President of the Lao Veterans of American Institute. Khampet Moukdarath rose to the rank of Colonel in the Royal Lao Army during the Vietnam
War. Following Moukdarath’s
release from reeducation camps in Sam Neua and Xieng Khouang provinces in Laos, he fled Laos as a political refugee and lived
in Thailand before being granted asylum in the United States. He frequently participated in pro-democracy and human
rights events on Capitol Hill and in front of the Lao Embassy in Washington, D.C. On numerous occasions, from 1998-2010,
Moukdarath served as a keynote speaker at the U.S. Congressional Forum on Laos held in the U.S. House of Representatives,
U.S. Senate and Library of Congress. Colonel Moukdarath was affectionate and fond of the Laotian people, as well as the minority
peoples of Laos, including the minority Hmong ethnic group, whom he often worked with on key human rights issues. He
advocated for the release of the Lao Students Movement for Democracy demonstrators, who were arrested in October of
1999 in Vientiane, Laos, and who continue to be subjected to harsh imprisonment in Laos.
In 2009, Moukdarath spoke out at international policy events held
on Capitol Hill, and at the National Press club in Washington, D.C., in support of Kay Danes and other
political prisoners, who were imprisoned in Laos’ notorious Phonthong and Sam Khe prisons.
Three Lao Hmong-American citizens from St Paul, Minnesota, including Mr. Hakit Yang, who were also arrested
and imprisoned in recent years in Laos, were also the subject of Moukdarath’s concerns and testimony at the U.S.
Congressional Forum on Laos held at that time. Moukdarath boldly called for their immediate release by
the Lao government. Colonel Moukdarath was
honored by the CPPA and many others at funeral ceremonies held in Alexandria, Virginia, that were attended by hundreds from
the Laotian community across the United States on November 14-15. Organizations honoring the life and legacy of Colonel Khampet Moukdarath
include the ULDL, CPPA, United Lao for Human Rights and Democracy, Inc. (ULHRD), Lao Veterans Association, Lao Veterans
of America, Inc., Lao Veterans of America Institute, Laos Institute for Democracy, Laos Students Association, Hmong Advancement,
Inc., Hmong Advance, Inc. and others. ###
http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
Laos, Vietnam
Human Rights Appeal Issued in Washington
November 15, 2011, Washington, D.C., Vientiane, Laos
and Bangkok, Thailand
For Immediate Release
The United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc., (ULDL) has
released the text of a seven-point international appeal and statement following events it hosted last week in Washington,
D.C., which included representatives of the Laotian, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Hmong and Asian-American community The Center
for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) and other non-governmental organizations (NGO) and policymakers were invited to speak
and participate in policy events, Capitol Hill meetings and a human rights rally held in front of the Lao Embassy in Washington,
D.C. www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
The following is the text of the statement issued by Bounthanh Rathigna, President of the ULDL:
Statement of Bounthanh Rathigna, President
United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc.
Washington, D.C.
November 5-8, 2011
Laos International Policy Conference &
Demonstration and Protest Rally In Front of the
Lao Embassy in Washington, D.C.
Honored Guests, American policymakers, Members of the U.S. Congress and
staff, Fellow Laotian leaders, Lao and Hmong students, fellow NGO and non-profit organization leaders, representatives of
the Free Vietnamese Community and other freedom loving people of Asia and America, Ladies and Gentleman, I am Bounthanh
Rathigna, President of the United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc. (ULDL) and I welcome you here today at our international
policy conference and protest rally and demonstration in front of the Lao Embassy in Washington, D.C.
It is
good to see so many friends and supporters from across the country and from Laos gathered here in Washington to discuss
the problems of the one-party, corrupt authoritarian regimes in Laos and Vietnam that continue to persecute their own citizens.
I deeply appreciate your efforts to discuss and to protest human rights violations in Laos and the dictatorship of the Hanoi-backed
Stalinist regime in Laos that continues to imprison and persecute the freedom-loving Laotian people.
We have
gathered here in Washington, D.C., to memorialize and remember all of the Laotian, Vietnamese, Hmong and Asian people who
continue to suffer human rights violations, religious persecution, torture and harsh imprisonment, without due process,
and the rule of law. We remember, and are here, to demonstrate against the oppressive corruption and ongoing attacks by
the secret police and military forces of the Lao regime in Vientiane, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, against ordinary
Lao and Hmong people who seek political, religious and economic freedom for Laos. We especially remember the Lao Student
Movement for Democracy protesters of October 26, 1999, who peacefully demonstrated in Vientiane for democracy, human rights
and political and economic reform but were arrested and continue to suffer in jail. After 12 years they are still suffering
in prison in Laos for their beliefs and for their efforts to bring about reform and change in Laos.
We are here
to bring attention to and remember the Laotian and Hmong hiding in the jungles and mountains of Laos who continue to suffer
military attacks by Vietnam People’s Army Forces and the Lao Army because they wish to live in peace and freedom apart
from the Communist regime in Laos’s persecution and religious freedom violations and human rights violations.
We, therefore, are calling for:
1.) An end to the dictatorships in Laos and Vietnam. In Laos, we are
calling for the hosting of truly free and fair multi-party elections in Laos monitored by the international community and
an end to one-party Communist rule in Laos by the Lao People’s Army, and its military junta, that controls the Politburo
in Vientiane;
2.) The immediate withdrawal of all Hanoi-backed army units and secret police of the Vietnam
People’s Army that remain on the territory of Laos in support of the Lao communist regime’s (the Lao People’s
Revolutionary Party) efforts to oppress and persecute the Laotian and Hmong people and exploit the economic resources of
Laos and destroy its environment; We want the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to immediately withdrawal alls its troops, soldiers
and police from Laos—as well as its covert security advisors;
3.) An immediate end to illegal logging
by Vietnam People’s Army owned companies in Xieng Khouang, Sam Neua, Khammoune, Luang Prabang and other provinces
in Laos that is destroying the environment, killing minority peoples such as the Lao Hmong people, and exploiting the natural
resources of Laos without just compensation to ordinary Laotians;
4.) Stop the persecution, imprisonment, torture
and killing of religious believers in Laos, including dissident Buddhists, minority Catholics, Protestant Christians and
independent Animist believers; We, the Laotian people, want true freedom of religion for all Laotians of all religious faiths;
5.) Allow international humanitarian access to, and release, all political prisoners, prisoners of conscience,
and foreign prisoners, including the Lao Students for Democracy Movement leaders, Hakit Yang and other two other Lao-Hmong
American citizens from St. Paul Minnesota;
6.)Allow international humanitarian access to, and release, the over
8,500 Lao Hmong refugees and asylum seekers who fled persecution in Laos and who were tragically and brutally forced from
Huay Nam Khao, Thailand, back to the regime in Laos in 2009 and 2010;
7.) Release the Ban Vang Tao patriots,
the Laotian citizens, who were forced back to Laos from Thailand after their courageous efforts to raise the Royal Flag
of Laos, the true and traditional flag of Laos, in opposition to the arrest and imprisonment of the Lao Student leaders and
in support of freedom for their beloved country of Laos.
At these events in Washington, D.C. and the demonstration
and protest in front of the Lao Embassy, we are here to give voice to the millions of suffering people of Laos and Vietnam
who continue to live under the brutal Stalinist regimes in Vientiane and Hanoi. We are here to call for freedom and human
rights for Laos, Vietnam and all of the people of Asia.
Thank you.
(End Statement by Bounthanh Rathigna,
President, the United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc.)
Invited participants and cosponsors included the ULDL,
CPPA, United Lao for Human Rights and Democracy (ULHRD), Laos Institute for Democracy, Inc., Lao Students for Democracy,
Lao Veterans of America, Inc., Free Vietnam Community, Hmong Advance, Inc., Hmong Advancement, Inc., and other NGOs and
Asian-American organizations.
Laotian-American, and Asian-American, delegations from Washington, D.C., Maryland,
Virginia, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, California, Wisconsin, Connecticut, Rhode Island and other
states, also attended and participated.
Thank you.
###
CPPA -- Center for Public Policy
Analysis
Contact: Jade Her or Philip Smith
Tele. (202) 543-1444
info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
2020 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Suite 220
Washington, DC 20006 USA
www.cppa-dc.org
###
Laos Policy Events, Protest Rally in Washington, DC For Immediate Release,
November 8, 2011, Washington, D.C.
Center for Public Policy Analysis
info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
Laotian and Hmong non-profit and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have concluded an international policy
conference in Washington, D.C. and protest demonstration in front of the Lao Embassy. The Center for Public Policy Analysis
(CPPA) and U.S. policymakers participated in the events held from November 5-8, 2011.
Lao, Hmong, Vietnamese,
Cambodian, and Asia-American NGOs from across the United States and internationally participated in the events.
NGO participants expresses concerns about ongoing environmental and refugee issues in Laos, Thailand and Southeast Asia
as well as human rights violations linked to the influx of VPA-backed logging and mining companies in Laos.
“We don't need the Vietnamese military cutting down and stealing our trees in Laos,” said Boon Boualaphanh,
President of the United for Lao Human Rights and Democracy, Inc. These trees and forests belong to Laos and the Laotian
people who should be allowed to benefit it by themselves, our country needs freedom and human rights, not economic and military
exploitation by Vietnam People’s Army-owned companies and soldiers.”
“The role of Laotian
and Hmong-American NGOs in raising concerns about ongoing human rights and environmental abuses in Laos, Vietnam and Southeast
Asia is significant,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director for the Center for Public Policy Analysis. “We were
pleased to be invited to speak at these events and to discuss the plight of Laotian and Hmong refugees and political and
religious dissidents that continue to be persecuted and imprisoned in Laos.” www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
“We are especially concerned about the plight of imprisoned Lao student leaders, the detention of thousands
of Lao Hmong political refugees, and the horrific ongoing persecution of independent Lao Hmong Christian and Animist believers
in Laos,” Smith stated. www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1110/S00785/laos-rights-groups-urge-re ..
The CPPA and non-profit humanitarian, human rights, research and policy organizations also participated in
the Washington, D.C., international policy conference held on current issues in Laos and Southeast Asia.
The
policy conference was followed by meetings with U.S. policymakers in Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Congress, regarding Laos
and Southeast Asia. ###
2020 Pennsylvania
Ave., NW
Suite 220
Washington, DC
20006 USA
Contact Person:
Jade Her or Philip Smith
Communications & Public Affairs Dept.
Phone: 202-543-1444
email: info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
Web:
http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org ### Laos, Hmong Human Rights Activist
Nominated For Australian of the Year AwardWashington, D.C., Brisbane and Canberra, Australia,
November 3, 2011
Author, human rights advocate and humanitarian activist Kay Danes has been nominated for the
Queensland category of the Australian of the Year Award. The nomination was hailed by the Center for Public Policy Analysis
(CPPA) and a coalition of Laotian and Hmong non-governmental and human rights organizations including: the United League
for Democracy in Laos, Inc.; the Lao Students Movement for Democracy; United Lao for Human Rights
and Democracy, Inc.; Lao Institute for Democracy; Hmong Advance, Inc.; Hmong Advancement, Inc.; the Lao Veterans of America,
Inc.; and, others.
Danes, who was arrested in 2000, was brutally interrogated and tortured in the notorious
Phonthong prison in Vientiane, Laos, along with Laotian, Hmong and foreign prisoners. She is now an author and human rights
activist.
“Her critical testimony about her interrogation and torture in Laos,
and that of other victims, helped to develop deeper understanding and awareness about the terrible fate of those languishing
in foreign prisons who are often imprisoned unjustly in horrific and inhumane conditions in violation of international
law,” Smith stated. http://centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
“Kay Danes has been a tireless and effective international advocate for human rights, womens' rights,
the suffering of torture victims, and the plight of refugees and those imprisoned in horrific conditions in Laos, Afghanistan,
and other nations around the world,” Smith said.
“Kay Danes distinguished
work, especially as it relates to the Laotian and Hmong people, refugees and foreign prisoners, has been crucial in helping
to bring international attention to the suffering and voiceless people of Laos and other countries,” Smith continued.
"Danes has researched and spoken about the fate of imprisoned and missing Lao student pro-democracy demonstrators
as well as three Hmong-Americans from St. Paul, Minnesota, including Mr. Hakit Yang, who have been jailed in harsh conditions
for years under the Communist regime in Laos."
The awards will be announced in Brisbane
on November 17, 2011. Winners will join recipients from other states and territories in Australia as finalists for the
national awards that will presented in Canberra, Australia, in January 2012.
Kay Danes
has authored important books about human rights violations and torture in Laos including “Standing Ground”
(New Holland Publishers, Australia), released in 2009. In the same year, she was invited to speak in the United States
about her experiences in Laos, and as an advocate for the Foreign Prisoners Support Service, at the World Affairs Council,
National Press Club and U.S. Congressional Forum on Laos.
presszoom.com/story_148273.html
www.media-newswire.com/release_1089564.html
www.newholland.com.au/product.php?isbn=9781741107579
Dane's book "Standing Ground" was cited and acclaimed by the American Authors'
Association and others.
www.americanauthorsassociation.com/ images/ Standing%20Ground%20Press%20Release%20March%2009.pdf
Contact: Maria Gomez or Philip Smith
info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
Tele. (202) 543-1444
CPPA - Center for Public Policy Analysis
2020 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Suite 220
Washington, D.C. 20006 USA
www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
Contact Information:
CPPA - Center
for Public Policy Analysis
2020 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Suite 220
Washington, D.C. 20006 USA
Contact Person:
Maria Gomez or Philip Smith
Communications / Public Affairs Department
Phone: 202-543-1444
Laos: Rights Groups Urge Release of Student Protestors 26
October 2011
Press Release: Center for Public Policy Analysis
October 26, 2011, Vientiane, Laos, Bangkok, Thailand, Washington, D.C. and Paris, France
Center for Public
Policy Analysis
info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org In solemn memory of the 12th anniversary of peaceful student demonstrations in Vientiane, Laos,
a coalition of non-governmental organizations is calling for the immediate release of Lao student leaders who continue to
be imprisoned in harsh conditions, without charge, for over a decade. The . Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) was
joined by the Lao Movement for Human Rights [(Mouvement Lao pour les Droits de l’Homme (MLDH)], United League for Democracy
in Laos, Inc., Lao Students Movement for Democracy, Lao Veterans of America Institute, Lao Veterans of America, Hmong Advance,
Inc., Hmong Advancement, Inc . and other non-governmental organizations in calling on the one-party authoritarian government
in Laos to release the Lao student leaders and other Laotian and Hmong political prisoners, prisoners of conscience and refugees.
Events and statements issued to mark the occasion were held in Washington, D.C., Paris, France and Bangkok, Thailand. The Lao student demonstrations held 12 years ago on October 26, 1999, sparked major calls for political, economic
and institutional reform in Vientiane, the capital, and throughout the nation of Laos. Ten years later, follow-on demonstrations
were held in Laos in October 2009 that also resulted in the arrest and imprisonment of many Laotian protestors demonstrating
against the one-party governemnt. “The Stalinist regime in Laos should immediately release
all of the Lao student protestors as well as ethnic Hmong refugees and religious and political dissidents it continues to
brutally imprison and persecute,” stated Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA)
at events held in the U.S. Congress today to mark the occasion of the 12th anniversary of the Lao military crackdown. http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org “We want the military regime in Laos and the communist officials to release all of the
peaceful Lao student demonstrators and other innocent religious believers and political prisoners it has placed in jail without
charges or trial,” said Bouthanh Rathigna, President of the United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc. “The Lao people need freedom and democracy and want Vietnam’s military troops and secret police out of
Laos,” said Bounleuam Boualaphanh, President of United Lao for Human Rights and Democracy, Inc. of Minnesota. “We
want the Lao government to change and reform and to release the Lao student leaders who peacefully protested in support of
human rights and democracy for Laos.” “It is time for the military and communist party
leaders of the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic (LPDR) to release the Lao students because the peaceful demonstrations sought
to help the nation and because the Lao student leaders arrested and young people are the future of the country,” said
Colonel Wangyee Vang, National President of the Lao Veterans of America Institute. The Paris-based
Lao Movement for Human Rights [(Mouvement Lao pour les Droits de l’Homme (MLDH)] said in a statement read at the Capitol
Hill anniversary events in Washington today: “4380 days after their arrest, the four human rights defenders of the
Student Movement of 26 October 1999 remain in detention. The Lao Movement for Human Rights expresses its extreme concern about
the prolonged arbitrary detention of four members of the Student Movement of 26 October 1999, a group that tried to organize
a peaceful march in Vientiane to claim for social justice, human rights respect and democratic reforms.” “Twelve years after their arrest, MM. Thongpaseuth Keuakoun, Seng-Aloun Phengphanh, and Bouavanh Chanmanivong
Keochay are still jailed in the prison of Samkhe, in the province of Vientiane, whereas Mr. Sisa-At Khamphouvieng died in
prison from torture in 2001,” the MLDH, Lao Movement for Human Rights organization stated. The
MLDH continued: “ (we are) highly worried by their plight …as during the final adoption of the Universal Periodic
Review (UPR) of Laos at the UN in September 2010, the LPDR had totally ignored the recommendation 'to release those detained
for participating in peaceful demonstrations, including the leaders of the Movement of 26 October 1999, and rejected the primary
recommendation for the creation of an independent national commission on human rights in accordance with the Paris Principles.’” The MLDH stated further: “In accordance with Article 5 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights (ICCPR) ratified by the Lao People’s Democratic Republic in September 2009, the prisoners must be treated in
compliance with international human rights standards The arrest of peaceful protesters, and the death of one of them in detention
show the failure of the Lao government in the implementation of the international human rights instruments it has ratified.” The MLDH statement concluded: “The Lao Movement for Human Rights urges to the international community - including
the European Union and its Member States, the United Nations, the United States, Japan, Australia and ASEAN - to take urgent,
concrete and concerted actions so that the Lao government applies the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR), as well as other international agreements related to the United Nations declaration of 1988 on human rights defenders
and proceed to the immediate and unconditional release of MM. Thongpaseuth Keuakoun, Seng-Aloun Phengphanh, Bouavanh Chanmanivong
and Keochay and also those arrested on 2 November 2009 - Ms. Kingkèo (39), MM. Soubinh (35), Souane (50), Sinpasong
(43) and Khamsone (36) arrested in Phon Hong, M. Nou (54) arrested in Pakkading, Miss Somchit (29), MM. Somkhit (28 years)
and Sourigna (26), arrested in Vientiane - while they were heading to Vientiane to claim for social justice and basic human
rights.” ###
Laos,
Hmong Veterans of Vietnam War Fight For Burial Honors Sunday,
23 October 2011, 5:02 pm
Press Release: Center for Public Policy Analysis
Laos, Hmong Veterans of Vietnam War Fight For Burial
Honors
Washington, D.C. and Fresno, California, October 21,
2011
Center for Public Policy Analysis The Center for Public Policy
Analysis (CPPA), the Lao Veterans of America Institute (LVAI), the Lao Veterans of America, Inc. (LVA), and a coalition of
Laotian and Hmong-American organizations, joined today to express gratitude and support for the re-introduction of a bill
in Congress that would honor Laotian and Hmong veterans by permitting their burial in national veterans cemeteries across
the United States. The non-governmental organizations hailed the leadership of U.S. Congressman Jim Costa (D-CA), and a bipartisan
group of Members of the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, D.C., for helping to spearhead the legislation on Capitol
Hill that bestows further respect and overdue honor to the Laotian and Hmong-American community for their efforts during the
Vietnam War. “We again sincerely thank U.S. Congressman Jim Costa
and seven key Members of Congress for reintroducing critical legislation that honors the Laotian and Hmong veterans of the
Vietnam War in Laos,” said Colonel Wangyee Vang, National President of the Lao Veterans of America Institute, who helped
to educate Congress about the plight of Lao Hmong veterans in the United States and Southeast Asia. “Our Laotian and Hmong veterans courageously served in combat alongside U.S. forces in the secret
theatre of operations in Laos alongside U.S. special forces and American intelligence community members, and they should be
rightly honored with burial in U.S. national veterans cemeteries alongside their American counterparts,” Colonel Vang
stated. “Hmong veterans served side-by-side with American forces
in Vietnam, and these veterans deserve the honor of a final resting place next to their brothers in arms,” stated U.S.
Congressman Jim Costa said. “These veterans defended our American
ideals long before any of them called our country home. Extending burial benefits to our Hmong veterans recognizes their sacrifice
and honors their patriotic service,” U.S. Representative Costa further stated. “This important legislation, if passed by the U.S. Congress and enacted, would permit several thousand Laotian
and Hmong-American veterans who served in the Kingdom of Laos during the Vietnam War to be buried, or their ashes interred,
in veterans cemeteries across the United States,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director for the Washington, D.C.-based
CPPA. http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org “Commendably, Laotian and Hmong veterans and their family members
across America are continuing the fight for burial honors in Washington, D.C. and are educating Members of the U.S. Congress
and policymakers about their sacrifices during the Vietnam War in Laos and Southeast Asia,” Smith commented. In Washington, D.C., over the years, the LVAI, LVA and CPPA have helped to conduct
and lead national ceremonies in the U.S. Congress, Arlington National Cemetery and the Vietnam War Memorial to honor Laotian
and Hmong veterans and their refugee families. http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100608007501/en/Laos-Hmong-Community-Concludes-National-Memorial-Ceremonies The new legislation, H.R.3192 would authorize the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs to inter in national cemeteries individuals who supported the United States in Laos during the Vietnam War era in
combating invading communist forces from North Vietnam as well as Marxist Pathet Lao guerrillas. Support for the initiative in Congress have received the support of various historians, scholars and
advocates, including prominent Southeast Asia scholar Dr Jane Hamilton-Merritt. http://www.tragicmountains.org Organizations today hailing the new effort in Congress on behalf of
burial honors for Lao Hmong veterans include the LVAI, LVA, CPPA, the United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc., Hmong Advance,
Inc., Hmong Advancement, Inc. and others. Will Thai Army Eventually Halt Yingluck Victory ? Bangkok, Thailand and Washington, D.C. For Immediate Release: July 3, 2011 info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
Contact: Maria Gomez Tele. (202) 543-1444 With polls closing in Thailand today, concerns have been raised
by the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Public Policy Analysis that elements of the Royal Thai Army may militarily intervene
in the post-election aftermath of Thailand’s recent election where the Pheu Thai Party is predicted to sweep control
of a majority of seats in Parliament and potentially usher in Thailand’s first female Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra. “There are concerns that elements of the Royal Thai Army may intervene militarily,
at some point down the road, in the post-election aftermath of today’s elections, in opposition to a majority victory
by Pheu Thai Party candidates in Parliament, or the potential that Yingluck Shinawatra will become Thailand’s first
female prime minister,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) in Washington,
D.C., a public policy research organization. The CPPA is a Washington,
D.C.-based, think-tank and non-governmental organization focused on public policy research--especially in the areas of international
security, economics, trade, human rights, religious freedom, humanitarian and refugee issues. http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org “Will Thailand’s Army intervene, overtly or covertly,
to halt Yingluck Shinawatra, or a Red-Shirt Victory, that will likely occur if Pheu Thai Party candidates sweep control
of Parliament in a supermajority ?” Smith questioned. “If so, how will Washington and the Obama Administration
respond to a new round of political violence in Thailand, down the road, in the aftermath of the election results ?”
“Ongoing political violence in Thailand, while less likely if
the elections results are overwhelmingly in favor of Pheu Thai Party candidates, and the ushering in of Thailand’s
first female Prime Minister is still significant, especially given the Thai Army’s crackdown of Red Shirt demonstrators
in Bangkok last year,” Smith stated. Smith questioned: “Will
there be a peaceful transfer of political power in Thailand, some policymakers wonder in Washington ?” “In addition to other issues, some elements of the Thai Royal family’s
circle and the Royal Thai Army have concerns about the Shinawatra family’s previous business and political ties, as
well as corruption allegations, and this may lead to ongoing post-election political turmoil in Bangkok,” Smith observed. “Clearly, Washington policymakers, including the Obama Administration and
Secretary of State Clinton, are hopeful for greater stability in Thailand, and an enhanced partnership, as well as election
results that reflect the will of the Thai people,” Smith explained. “Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s Administration, and some elements of the Democratic Party and Royal
Thai Army, were criticized domestically, and internationally, for a number of key issues, including the violent crackdown
on demonstrators in Thailand as well as the unnecessary forced repatriation of Hmong refugees from Thailand to Laos,”
Smith stated. “It is hoped that today’s elections in
Thailand will help to usher in a new era of stability, unity and prosperity for the people of Thailand, and the Royal Family,
with whom the United States shares a special affection and relationship; The election of Thailand’s first female Prime
Minister would indeed be historic, if the polls confirm this prediction, and apparent unfolding new political reality, ”
Smith concluded. ### Canada National Day, Royals' Visit, Commemorated Monday,
4 July 2011, 12:36 pm
Press Release: Centre for Public Policy Analysis
Canada National Day, Royals' Visit, Commemorated Ottawa
and Toronto, Canada and Washington, D.C., July 1, 2011 The Center for Public Policy
Analysis marked Canada’s 144th National Day, and the visit of the United Kingdom’s Prince William and Catherine,
Duchess of Cambridge, at ceremonies and events in Ottawa and Toronto held today. “We are
humbled and pleased to be here to join the Canadian people in celebration of the 144th anniversary of Canada’s independence
and to welcome Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Washington,
D.C.-based Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA). http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org “The Canadian people have a special affection for the newlyweds and Royal Family,”
Smith observed. “The timing of their visit to Canada could not have been better, more meaningful and symbolic.” “The enduring importance of the Atlantic alliance, and the leadership role of the United Kingdom and Canada,
is in many ways symbolized by the visit of Price William and Catherine to Ottawa today,” Smith stated. “As Canadian armed forces celebrate their final National Day in Kandahar, Afghanistan, we are reminded of
Canada’s important leadership role with the United Kingdom and other allies in support of international security, peacekeeping
and the ongoing war on terrorism,” Smith concluded. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper
, Governor General David Johnston and other dignitaries joined thousands of Canadians in welcoming the royal couple to Ottawa
yesterday and today. Ceremonies were conducted at Rideau Hall, the National War Memorial and Parliament Hill. Prince William and the Duchess laid a wreath at a special ceremony held yesterday at the National War Memorial to
honor Canada’s veterans. In a statement the visiting royals said: “Because Canadian
Forces are always to the fore, the sacrifices have been great...For this, the Canadian Forces are respected around the world,
They have made a difference to the lives of many thousands who most need assistance through compassion and humanity. We are
honoured to thank you and congratulate you for a job well done.'' Prince William serves with Britain's
Royal Air Force.
Crowds at Parliament Hill today, where the Prince spoke, were in the tens of thousands. The CPPA also attended and participated in National Day ceremonies in Toronto’s Queens Park. Winston Churchill on visiting Canada in 1954 prior to his death said: “Canada is the master-link in Anglo-American
unity apart from her own glories.” Canada became an independent nation on July 1, 1867. The CPPA is a Washington, D.C.-based, non-governmental organization focused on public policy research, especially
in the areas of international security, economics, trade, human rights, religious freedom, humanitarian and refugee issues.
************* Contact Maria Gomez
Center for Public Policy Analysis Vietnam,
Laos: MI-24 Helicopter Gunships Bring Death to Hmong in Dien Bien
May 21, 2011, Dien Bien Province, Vietnam, Phongsali,
Laos, and Washington, D.C. Center
for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA)
Contact: Ms. Helen Cruz,
Tele. (202) 543-1444
The Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) has
unleashed attack helicopters on unarmed Vietnamese civilians and those suspected of participating in mass rallies involving
an estimated 8,500 Viet-Hmong protesters, including thousands of Catholic, Protestant Christian and animist religious
believers seeking human rights and land reforms. Today, newly deployed squadrons of MI-24 “Hind” helicopter
gunships flew bloody combat sorties against ethnic Hmong villagers and protesters fleeing into the rugged interior
of Dien Bien province and across the border into Laos, according to the Center for Public Policy Analysis and Hmong and
Vietnamese sources in Vietnam and Laos.
An estimated
thirty-four (34) Soviet-era “HIND” MI-24 assault helicopters remain in the SRV’s current arsenal.
Older MI-8 helicopters have also been deployed. Special units of the Vietnam People’s Army, including “Dac Cong”
special forces units with Viet-Hmong translators, have been mobilized to assist heliborne troops in tracking, arresting,
interogating and summarily executing suspected Hmong demonstrators who have fled into the rugged interior.
“Our Hmong people are being attacked without
mercy and killed and wounded by the helicopters sent from Hanoi to machine gun and bomb their villages and pursue them into
the mountains and jungles of Dien Bien province in Vietnam and Laos,” said Christy Lee, Executive Director for Hmong
Advance, Inc.
Ms. Lee stated further:
"Some Vietnamese clerics with ties to the Vietnamese Ministry of Interior, and secret police, have join Vietnamese
government officials in declaring that all of the Hmong protestors are cult members and irredentists, a theme often repeated
by Hanoi’s state-run media, and parroted by the official propaganda apparatus, to justify the use of armed force against
ethnic Hmong-Vietnamese and Vietnamese Christians who have previously joined peaceful Catholic and mainstream Protestant
demonstrations, including demonstrations in Hanoi in previous years for religious freedom and government reforms. "
“What have the Viet-Hmong people done wrong that
would allow them to be slaughtered and attacked by the Vietnamese military and police, and why has the government in Hanoi
escalated the attacks with these new helicopters being deployed against many innocent Catholic, mainstream Protestant Christians
and Animist believers who participated in recent protests,” Ms. Lee said.
“Do they deserve to be
attacked by armed force by the Army for their non-violent appeals for civil rights, human rights and reform?” Ms. Lee
questioned.
"On the Laos side of the border, next to
Dien Bien province, Vietnam People's Army troops, and special advisors and police, are active and working with the Lao People's
Army, along the Vietnam-Laos border area in the Laotian provinces of Luang Prabang and Phongsali, to help with military
operations to seal the border area off from independent journalists and newsmedia and to arrest or attack the Hmong who
have attempted to flee," said Bounthanh Rathigna of the United League for Democracy in Laos (ULDL). http://www.onlineprnews.com/news/136891-1304943947-vietnam-army-kills-14-more-hmong-prostesters-hundreds-more-missing.html
“The General Staff of
Vietnam's armed forces and the Ministry of Defense in Hanoi, including General Phung Quang Thanh, appear to be alarmed
and have apparently ordered the deployment of significant numbers of the very lethal MI-24 attack helicopters to fly
additional strafing and bombing sorties against the Hmong people fleeing Vietnam's military crackdown in the Dien Bien province
area,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) in Washington, D.C. http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
“M-24 ‘Hind”
attack helicopters are now being deployed by Hanoi to fire their machine guns and launch deadly rockets at the Hmong who
are fleeing into the rugged mountain interior of Dien Province and across the border into Laos,” Smith said.
“Today, two Hmong mountain villages, and several enclaves, in Vietnam
were attacked by helicopter gunships and we are awaiting final casualty figures since there were more killed and many
wounded in the havoc and the aftermath of the aerial bombardment.” “Viet-Hmong casualties and those arrested
by Vietnam People's Army soldiers continue to mount with each passing day as the military continues its bloody crackdown
and security operations in Dien Bien province have intensified,” Smith stated.
“Vietnam's Minister of Defense, General Phung Quang Thanh, and others in the military and politburo, are concerned
about mass demonstrations spreading to the general population who may also appeal for reforms, greater freedom and regime
change in Vietnam and Laos,” Smith commented.
Smith explained:
“By pursuing a policy of using overwhelming, violent, armed force against the peaceful Hmong demonstrators, Communist
party officials and the military elite in Vietnam are hoping to bring things to a rapid conclusion in the Dien Bien area,
but they cannot control the crisis situation because of the mountainous terrain and determination of many of the Vietnamese
and Hmong demonstrators who have dispersed. What if the demonstrations in Dien Bien, and their demands for reform,
spread to other parts of Vietnam and Laos ? Cozy Communist party officials in Hanoi fear that the ethnic Hmong and
other minority populations in the Hanoi and Red River Delta area, and other parts of Vietnam, will join together with other
ordinary Vietnamese citizens in calling for greater religious freedom, human rights, political reforms and in opposition
to corrupt and draconian government policies, including the recent violence directed against the Viet-Hmong Christians and
other citizens in Dien Bien.”
“We are
also concerned that the Lao People's Army, lead by Vietnamese troops and advisors, has mobilized in Luang Prabang Province
and the Phongsali area in Laos, in support of the efforts to seal off Dien Bien province to journalists and assist in interdicting
and capturing Hmong demonstrators fleeing Vietnam,” Smith concluded.
Vietnam has sealed key areas of Dien Bien province off to independent journalists as it continues military operations
against targeting the Viet-Hmong citizens who engaged in peaceful, non-violent protests that began earlier this month.
Protesters were demanding greater religious freedom, land reform, human rights and an end to illegal logging and the exploitation
of their lands and resources by Vietnam People's Army-owned companies. The
SRV government in Hanoi has also denounced and attacked Human Rights Watch's (HRW) recent report and statement on Dien
Bien province and the plight of the Viet-Hmong demonstrators.
###
Online PR News (press release) (Photo Courtesy: Center For Public Policy Analysis,License CC.2.0) The Vietnamese People's Army has
killed at least 72 Hmong Christian and animist ... Vietnam Forces Kill 72 Hmong, Hundreds Arrested and Flee
Online PR News (press release), May 17, 2011
The Vietnamese People’s Army has killed at least 72 Hmong Christian and
animist religious believers, many of them mainstream Catholic and orthodox Protestant Christians, according to the Center
for Public Policy Analysis and Hmong and Laotian non-governmental organizations with sources inside the region that borders
on Laos. The beatification of Pope John Paul II, in Rome on May 1st was a factor in sparking the mass gatherings and peaceful,
non-violent demonstrations by thousands of Viet-Hmong Catholics, Protestant and Animist believers according to Philip
Smith of the CPPA and other sources inside the northern province of Vietnam. At
least nine more Vietnamese-Hmong Catholic believers, who were part of a mass demonstration for religious freedom, land
reform and an end to illegal logging by Vietnam People’s Army owned military companies, were confirmed killed by
army soldiers, and police, as of Tuesday, May 17, for taking part in the peaceful rallies that occurred earlier in the
month. Many Hmong Catholics had helped form the core of demonstrations in Dien Bien to mark ceremonies in honor of Pope
John Paul II in Rome on May 1st.
Vietnam security forces, including over 15,000 soldiers from various Vietnam
People’s Army units, backed by allied armed forces from Laos, have sealed off much of Dien Bien province in Vietnam
and arrested over 2,400 ethnic Hmong citizens from Vietnam. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1105/S00366/nine-hmong-catholics-killed-during-mass-arrests-in-vietnam.htm
Online PR News (press release) Nine Hmong Catholics Killed During Mass Arrests in Vietnam Dien Bien Phu, Phongsali, Laos, and Washington, D,C. May 16, 2011,
2:15 PM EST.
Contact:
Maria Gomez, CPPA- Center for Public Policy Analysis Tele. (202)
543-1444
Vietnam security forces,
including over 15,000 soldiers from various Vietnam People’s Army units, backed by allied armed forces from Laos,
have sealed off much of Dien Bien province in Vietnam and arrested over 2,400 ethnic Hmong citizens of Vietnam, according
to the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) and Hmong and Laotian non-governmental organizations with sources inside
the region that borders on Laos and Northern Vietnam. Nine (9) more Vietnamese-Hmong Catholic believers, who
were part of a mass demonstration for religious freedom, land reform and an end to illegal logging by Vietnam People’s
Army owned military companies, were known killed by army soldiers, and police, as of Monday, May 16, for taking part in
the peaceful rallies that occurred earlier in the month. The beatification of Pope John Paul II, in Rome on May 1 helped to spark the mass gatherings
and peaceful, non-violent demonstrations by thousands of Viet-Hmong Catholics, Protestant and Animist believers according
to Philip Smith of the CPPA and other sources inside the northern province of Vietnam.
“The Hmong Catholic
and Protestant Christian believers in Vietnam’s Dien Bein province continue to be wrongly targeted and defamed by
the Vietnam People’s Army soldiers and secret police who are arresting, beating and persecuting them by the hundreds,”
said Christy Lee of Hmong Advance, Inc. “ Ordinary Vietnamese Catholic, Christian and Animist believers, and Vietnamese citizens, engaged
in peaceful mass protests against the government for reform are being arrested, tied up and blindfolded, by the hundreds
and forcibly loaded onto military trucks where they being taken away and out of the sealed off province,” Ms. Lee
said.
“We fear that many
Viet-Hmong will be summarily executed after interrogation like the nine Catholic believers who were killed last week by
the soldiers and police because of their faith and peaceful appeals for an end to religious persecution and injustice,”
Lee stated. “Now, over 2400 innocent Hmong have been arrested on baseless and false charges as many people
had gathered initially in Dien Bien to honor Pope John Paul II, and his message of hope to the suffering people and Christians
worldwide who are being persecuted.” “Multiple sources in Vietnam have confirmed that nine more Vietnamese-Hmong Catholic believers,
who were part of a demonstration for religious freedom, land reform and an end to illegal logging by Vietnam People’s
Army owned military companies, have been killed by security forces,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the
Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) in Washington, D.C. http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
“Many of our Hmong
and Vietnamese sources in Dien Bien province and in the bordering areas of Laos have reported that the beatification of
Pope John Paul II, in Rome on May 1st played a significant factor in sparking the mass gatherings and
peaceful, non-violent demonstrations by thousands of Viet-Hmong Catholics, Protestant and Animist believers,” said
Mr. Smith.
“The Hmong people of
the Catholic diocese in Dien Bien were brutally beaten and killed by army soldiers, and police for allegedly taking part
in the peaceful rallies that occurred earlier in the month calling for an end to religious persecution, the lifting of
oppressive government restrictions on Christian and Animist believers and the celebration of the beatification of
Pope John Paul II in Rome on May 1st, of this year and the former Pope’s important message to fearlessly confront
government injustice and Stalinist authoritarianism,” Smith commented. “The Polish Pope, who had opposed Nazi forces during World II, and
the spread of Communist totalitarianism and its attacks on the Catholic and Protestant Church , has been a source of inspiration
to many Vietnamese, Laotian, Cambodian and Hmong Christian believers by the courageous moral conduct of his life and his
profound words to ‘be not afraid’ in challenging social injustice and Stalinist regimes around the world,”
Smith stated. “Now,
in Vietnam’s Dien Bien Province, the Vietnamese People’s Army has killed at least 72 Christian believers,
many of them mainstream Catholic and orthodox Protestant Christians believers,” said Smith. “Senior generals and defense ministry officials in Hanoi responsible
for these terrible bloody acts against peaceful demonstrators in Dien Bien province have sealed the area off to independent
journalists and the news media so the truth and facts cannot be easily learned,” Smith observed.
Smith continued: “Communist
officials in Hanoi, and senior Vietnamese army generals have enlisted the support of Lao People’s Army troops, lead
by Vietnamese military advisors, to help seal the border area off and persecute and arrest Hmong and Vietnamese citizens
and church members suspected of being involved with the mass protests.” “Vietnam and Lao People’s Army troops have also mobilized
along the Laos and Vietnamese border to cut-off and attack the freedom-loving Lao and Hmong people around Dien Bien province,
including many ordinary Christians and Catholics, who are only seeking human rights, religious freedom and an end to the
exploitation by certain corrupt communist generals in Hanoi who have engaged in illegal logging and the destruction of
churches, temples and religious shrines as well as the sacred mountain forests of the Hmong indigenous people,” Smith
concluded.
“We want the Vietnam
People’s Army troops out of Laos and to stop killing the Laotian and Hmong people, including many Christian, Catholic
, Animist and independent Buddhist believers,” said Bounthanh Rathigna, President of the United League for Democracy
in Laos, Inc. (ULDL). “Persecuted Vietnamese citizens, including many Hmong Catholic and Protestant believers
from Dien Bien, are trying to flee from Vietnam to Laos but are being arrested and killed in Laos as well by the Lao and
Vietnamese army units and police in recent days.” “The horrific illegal logging, religious persecution and environmental destruction
by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Lao People’s Army, in cooperation with the Vietnam People’s Army,
in Laos, and on the Laos -Vietnam border areas of Dien Bien province, must be stopped by the international community before
more people are driven off their homeland and are killed by corrupt communist officials,” Rathigna concluded in
a statement by the ULDL today. ###
Contact: Maria Gomez
CPPA- Center for Public
Policy Analysis (202) 543-1444 Online PR News (press release) - May 9, 2011At least sixty-three Hmong have been killed by the Vietnam People's Army
to date. ... Fourteen (14) more Viet-Hmong people were confirmed dead in overnight ... Today, new combat regiments of Vietnam Peoples Army's soldiers are converging, in a key province of Northern
Vietnam, to attack and arrest thousands of Hmong Catholic, Protestant and independent Animist religious believers demonstrating for human rights, religious freedom,
land reform and an end to illegal logging and deforestation. Fourteen (14) more Viet-Hmong people
were confirmed dead in overnight clashes between Vietnam's army and ethnic Hmong demonstrators who are Vietnamese citizens.
At least 63 protesters have been killed since the outbreak of the peaceful, mass demonstrations, according to the Center
for Public Policy Analysis, Hmong non-governmental organizations, and Hmong, Vietnamese and Laotian sources in Dien Bien
province, and along the Vietnam- Laos border, where the demonstrations began over a week ago. The Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) has announced that
it has sealed off the area of the demonstrations to independent journalists and news media, baring journalists from covering
the events involving thousands of protesters, and has deployed army troops to end the public rallies and appeals. Thousands
of Vietnam People's Army troops have been deployed to the area in recent days. 
Online PR News (press release) Vietnam: Army Convoys, Troops Converge On Hmong Protests, 14 Killed May 9, 2011, Washington, D.C., Dien Bein Phu, Vietnam, and Phongsali, Laos Fresh combat regiments of Vietnam Peoples Army's soldiers are now converging in
a key province of Northern Vietnam to attack and arrest thousands of Hmong Catholic, Protestant
and independent Animist religious believers demonstrating for human rights, religious freedom,
land reform and an end to illegal logging and deforestation. Fourteen (14) more Viet-Hmong people
were confirmed dead in overnight clashes between Vietnam's army and ethnic Hmong demonstrators who are Vietnamese citizens.
At least 63 protesters have been killed since the outbreak of the peaceful, mass demonstrations,
according to the Center for Public Policy Analysis, Hmong non-governmental organizations, and
Hmong, Vietnamese and Laotian sources in Dien Bien province, and along the Vietnam- Laos border,
where the demonstrations began over a week ago..
The Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) has announced
that it has sealed off the area of the demonstrations to independent journalists and news media, baring journalists from
covering the events involving thousands of protesters, and has deployed army troops to end the
public rallies and appeals.
“On completely false pretext, and wrong information, the military generals
in Hanoi have sent more army troops to attack and arrest our freedom-loving Hmong people which
it continues to falsely accuse with wild distortions and misinformation, while at the same time not allowing
independent news media and journalists to visit the ordinary Hmong people in Vietnam who have protested against
the current injustices, suffering, and religious persecution,” said Christy Lee, Executive
Director of Hmong Advance, Inc. in Washington, D.C. “Why are Vietnam's Party leaders afraid
of the truth as to why the people are demonstrating in Dien Bien for meaningful and real change
and reform in Vietnam ?”
“The mass demonstration for reform in Vietnam's Dien Bien province included
nearly 5,000 peaceful Hmong Protestant Christians and 2,000 Hmong Catholics with the rest being peace-loving Hmong
Animists.” Ms. Lee said. “The Vietnam People's Army has now killed at least 63 people
who were unarmed and peace-loving citizens of Vietnam, many hundreds have been injured or have
now disappeared at the hands of the Army which has loaded the Hmong people onto trucks with the
soldiers beating them”
Ms. Lee stated further: “The Vietnamese and Viet- Hmong people in Dien Bien
province and along the Vietnam – Laos border area in Northern Vietnam have told us that are poor people simply
calling on the government in Hanoi, and Communist politburo officials, to restore basic human
rights and justice to the Vietnamese common people, and minority citizens, in the province of
Dien Bien.”
“The Vietnamese Hmong want Hanoi to institute land reform policies and grant them
greater freedom of religion and basic human rights, including an end to oppressive religious persecution
as well as halting illegal logging in the province whereby the government is driving the Hmong people from their
sacred forest and mountain homelands in Vietnam and Laos,” Lee concluded.
“Today, local
sources have reported that fresh regiments of Vietnam People's Army troops in military trucks
and vehicles are converging in greater force strength at the sites of the Hmong demonstrations
in Dien Bien province from key highways leading to the area including the strategic Route 6 and Route
42,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) in Washington,
D.C.
“We
are concerned that many hundreds of Hmong protesters, who are Vietnamese citizens, are being
arrested, beaten and forced onto Army trucks by soldiers where they are disappearing after being
transported out of the area to unknown locations in Vietnam or Laos,” Smith said.
“The
new Vietnam People's Army (VPA) army units deployed against the protesters include regimental-strength
convoys of military trucks and armored personnel carriers targeting the Hmong demonstrators for
arrest and transport,, by force, to unknown locations,” Smith said.
“At least
eight more Hmong Christian demonstrators, five men and three women, were killed overnight in clashes with the Army and
Vietnamese security forces in Dien Bien province,” Smith said citing Hmong, Vietnamese and
non-governmental sources on location in Dien Bien province and the Laos and Vietnamese border
area of Northern Vietnam.
“Fresh regiments of Vietnam People's Army soldiers are being deployed
to Dien Bien province and are continuing to attack and pursuing many of the peaceful Hmong Catholic
and Protestant demonstrators pursuing them into their villages and the mountains,” Smith stated. “ Heliborne
combat troops have been deployed as well as M-8 helicopter gunships to attack and pursue the Hmong
in the highland areas.”
“Additionally, early this morning, five Hmong demonstrators, 3 men
and 2 women, were machined gunned to death by an armored personnel carrier when the were caught
fleeing the protest region, on Route 42, and had the misfortune of running into a mechanized regiment
of Vietnam People's Army troops that were being newly deployed to the area,” Smith commented.
“Unfortunately,
the group of five Hmong who were machine-gunned to death this morning by the Army were ordinary
and poor people— mountain-dwelling, Animist believers who had joined the demonstrations
only to seek land reform, human rights and greater religious freedom for their suffering people
in this neglected area of Northern Vietnam,” Smith said. ### Contact: Helen Cruz CPPA
- Center for Public Policy Analysis (202) 543-1444 info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
Vietnam Crackdown: More Hmong Killed As Army Deploys
May 7, 2011, Washington, D.C., Vientiane, Laos and Bangkok Thailand
More
Hmong protesters have been killed or arrested in Dien Bien province today as Vietnam deployed additional army units
and thousands of soldiers and police to seek to contain mass demonstrations and the spread of discontent with the policies
of the government in Hanoi, and local communist party officials. Hundreds of additional ethnic Hmong are missing or
have disappeared, many have been arrested and loaded onto military trucks where they are being sent to unknown locations
in Vietnam or Laos..
Vietnam People's Army troops and security forces have killed at least 21
more ethnic Hmong protesters on May 6-7, in the Dien Bien province area of Northern Vietnam and seriously wounded 132 more
according to the Center for Public Policy Analysis, non-governmental organizations and Hmong, Vietnamese and Lao sources
in the province and border area. Casualties continue to mount with a total of 49 now know dead since the crackdown by Vietnam's
army More Hmong demonstrators have also disappeared at the hands of Vietnamese security forces as Hanoi seeks to seal the
remote, mountainous border area, with Laos off from independent journalists.
“Innocent
Hmong protesters seeking basic reforms, and to address fundamental injustices, are now being attacked by Vietnam People's
Army troops and propaganda and false allegations from Hanoi; ” said Christy Lee, Executive Director of Hmong Advance,
Inc. in Washington, D.C.
“The soldiers have killed another 21 more people and have wounded
and arrested hundreds more according to what our Hmong people are reporting and from our sources in the Dien Bien province
area of Vietnam and the border area with Laos,” Ms. Lee stated. “Another Hmong person is on the verge of death
from her wounds inflicted by any AK-47 army rifle-butt and bayonet”
“We
know that the Army has falsely accused the Vietnamese and Hmong people engaged in the recent protests and rallies and has
moved in many armored vehicles and trucks to take the Hmong people away to unknown locations in Vietnam, or Laos, where
they may be tortured or killed, or simply disappear,” Lee concluded.
“The situation is in flux in Northern
Vietnam, but presently, we know that 21 more Hmong have been killed by Vietnam People's Army soldiers and police in Dien
Bien Province in the last 24 hours,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy (CPPA) in
Washington, D.C.
“Currently, a total of at least 49 Hmong people are known to have been killed by Vietnam People's
Army troops and special police since Hanoi's crackdown was launched by the military against peaceful Hmong demonstrators,”
Smith commented.
“At the height of the rallies, the Hmong demonstrations for land
reform and religious freedom involved more that 8,500 people in Dien Bien province and the Dien Bien Phu area along the
border of Vietnam and Laos,” Smith said. “The Hmong were peacefully calling for basic human rights and government
reform.”
“We have received credible reports that 1263 Hmong have been
arrested and loaded onto military trucks where they are being sent to unknown locations by Vietnam People's Army soldiers
and special paramilitary police,” Smith stated.
“Most of the Hmong killed
and wounded in recent days by the Vietnamese troops suffered gunshot wounds from automatic weapons, or were apparently beaten
and bayoneted to death,” Smith said.
“Unfortunately, thousands of Vietnamese soldiers
and police began attacking the Hmong demonstrators to try to disperse the crowds voicing calls for land reform, human rights
and religious freedom,” Smith commented. “We are urging the government of Vietnam and the Army to immediately
cease these senseless and blood attacks against the Hmong protesters and their families.
“Casualties
continue to mount and more Hmong demonstrators have disappeared at the hands of Vietnamese security forces as Hanoi seeks
to seal the area off and pursue the people into the mountains and jungles,:” Smith observed.
“We
have reports that over 1263 Hmong demonstrators are missing at the hands of Vietnamese People's Army soldiers and secret
police who have brought in military trucks to force Hmong protesters arrested, ” Smith concluded. The ongoing
religious persecution of minority Christians and independent Animist, and Buddhist believers, by the state security apparatus
and military in Vietnam, and Laos, remains problemati and is a serious problem for the Hmong and other ethnic groups.. According
to the CPPA and other sources, at least seventeen Viet-Hmong Christians were killed and 33 wounded on May 3rd in the Dien
Bien Province, and Dien Bein Phu, areas of Vietnam bordering Laos n attacks by VPA military forces. All of these people
were independent Catholic and Protestant Christian believers. Additionally, eleven independent Viet-Hmong animist believers
were also known, and confirmed, to have been killed on the same day by Vietnam People's Army forces.
### Contact: Maria Gomez Tele. (202) 543-1444 CPPA - Center for Public Policy Analysis 2020 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Suite 220 Washington, DC 20006 USA Vietnam, Laos Uprising: 28 Hmong Protesters Killed
Washington, D.C., Bangkok, Thailand, and
Vientiane, Laos, May 5, 2011 Center for Public Policy Analysis
Thousands of Viet-Hmong minority political and religious dissidents along
the Laos - Vietnam border, who are staging mass protests demanding religious freedom and land reforms from the communist
regime in Hanoi, have been attacked by Vietnam People's Army (VPA) troops and security forces in the remote Dien Bien
province of Vietnam. Twenty-eight (28) ethnic Hmong people, protesting against government policies, are confirmed dead
in recent days, with hundreds more missing, along the Laos -Vietnam border area of the the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
(SRV), according to Lao Hmong non-governmental organizations, and the Center for Public Policy Analysis in Washington,
D.C.
Large
numbers of Vietnam People's Army infantry and mechanized troops, as well as Lao People's Army (LPA) soldiers, were rushed
to the Dien Bein border area at the direction of the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the SRV on May 3-5, 2011. Ground
attack helicopters were also reportedly dispatched from bases in Laos and Vietnam by the VPA, at the direction of the armed
forces Chef of Staff of Vietnam. General Tran Quang Khue, and
other VPA generals, who dominate the politburo in Vietnam, have reportedly played a major role
in the crack-down, and deployment of the armed forces, against the peaceful Hmong protesters.
“We are concerned about credible
reports that many poor and ordinary Hmong people in the Dien Bein area, as well as other people along the Vietnam and
Laos border, have been arrested or killed by Vietnamese Army, and Lao Army, soldiers and police because of their protests
for land reform to Communist officials in Hanoi, their opposition to illegal logging, or because of their independent
Christian and Animist religious beliefs ,” said Christy Lee, Executive Director of Hmong Advance, Inc.(HAI) in Washington,
D.C.
Ms.
Lee continued: “Ordinary Hmong people, and other highland and forest-dwelling minority peoples in Laos and Vietnam,
have also been subjected to a new and increasing injustice by the authorities and Vietnam People's Army-owned companies,
which continue their oppressive methods, religious persecution, and to engage in illegal logging in Vietnam and Laos,
including the Dien Bien area in Vietnam, as well as the Laotian provinces of Xieng Khouang, Khammoune, Luang Prabang and
elsewhere.”
“The Hmong, and other minority Christian and Animist religious believers, are being driven of their lands
and killed and persecuted by corrupt Communist party officials and the military elite in Vietnam and Laos,” Ms.
Lee stated.
“At
least twenty-eight Viet-Hmong are known to have been killed, and 33 wounded, in recent attacks by Vietnam People's Army
troops in the Dien Bien area of Vietnam,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy
Analysis (CPPA) in Washington, D.C.
The non-governmental organizations, including the CPPA, HAI, Hmong Advancement, Inc. and others,
cite Hmong, Vietnamese and Lao sources inside the area of Dien Bien provice where the Hmong are currently staging
mass protests against Vietnam's communist and military authorities.
“The Viet-Hmong people fleeing to Laos from Dien Bien province,
during the recent anti-government protests and crackdown in Vietnam, have also been arrested by Lao security forces and
VPA troops who are working closely together to jointly seek to arrest, persecute and kill them,.” Smith stated.
“In
recent days, significant numbers of Vietnam People's Army troops from Hanoi, and security forces from Laos, have been
deployed for special military operations directed against the Hmong minority people, and independent religious believers
and political dissidents, along the Vietnam – Laos border and the Dien Bein province area of Vietnam,” Smith
observed.
Smith
continued: “At least seventeen Viet-Hmong Christians were killed and 33 wounded on May 3rd in the Dien Bien Province,
and Dien Bein Phu, areas of Vietnam bordering Laos n attacks by VPA military forces. All of these people were independent
Catholic and Protestant Christian believers. Additionally, eleven independent Viet-Hmong animist believers were also known,
and confirmed, to have been killed on the same day by Vietnam People's Army forces. .”
“Hundreds of Viet and Lao-Hmong
minority peoples are also missing after the attacks directed against the peaceful protesters by the Vietnamese government
forces in the Dien Bein area,” Smith stated.
“In addition to the seventeen Hmong Christians, an additional eleven
independent Viet-Hmong animist believers were also confirmed killed on the same day by VPA forces because they also were
accused of worshiping outside of the communist government's control in Hanoi and because they were standing up for land
reform and the religious freedom of the Viet-Hmong and Lao-Hmong people,” Smith continued.
“Lao-Hmong forest and highland-dwelling
people who have fled horrific religious persecution as well as illegal logging by Vietnam People's Army-owned companies
in Laos continue to flee to Vietnam and Thailand as political refugees by the hundreds each year,” Smith concluded.
In December
of 2009, Thailand forced some eight thousand Lao Hmong political refugees back to Laos, despited international protests.
They were put under the direction of the Deputy Chief of the Lao Armed Forces who was previously accused by human rights
and international humanitarian organizations of taking a leadership role in perpetuating atrocities and egregious human
rights violations against Lao Hmong civilians, including the rape, murder and mutilation of Lao Hmong women and children.
Lately, the
VPA and SRV have played a significantly increased role in Laos, with hundreds of additional troops and security forces from
Vietnam being deployed in Laos in recent years.
### Contact: Ms. Helen Cruz Center for Public Policy Analysis Tele. (202) 543-1444
2020 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. Suite No.#212 Washington, DC 20006 USA Online PR News –
30-April-2011 –Washington, DC and St. Paul, Minnesota, April 30, 2011
CPPA - Center for Public Policy Analysis
Minnesota Twin Cities' Hmong-American families have renewed an international plea for amnesty for their wrongly-jailed
family members in Laos. St. Paul, and Minneapolis, Laotian and Hmong-American families, community members
and human rights organizations, continue to speak out requesting the release of three Hmong-American citizens who were arrested
in Laos by Lao People's Army soldiers and secret police in August of 2007. The families, joined by Laotian
and Hmong non-governmental and non-profit organizations, have appealed to U.S. President
Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Lao President and communist party leader, Lt. General Choummaly Sayasone,
General Choummaly Sayasone heads the one-party military junta in Vientiane and also serves as the President. “Our families in Minnesota, and many in the Laotian and
Hmong-American community, are appealing to President Barack Obama, the White House and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
to press the Lao government to immediately release the three Hmong men who were arrested and wrongly imprisoned in Laos for
over three and a half years, without charges being filed,” said Sheng Xiong of Minnesota, a spokeswoman for the families
of the men. The three American citizens
of ethnic Lao Hmong descent, Congshineng Yang, Trillion Yunhaison and Hakit Yang, traveled from Minnesota in July of 2007
to Laos as tourists, and to seek potential business investment opportunities in Laos. Mrs. Sheng Xiong recently voiced a renewed international appeal for the families, and
many in the Lao Hmong-American community, to Scoop News in New Zealand, Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) in Minneapolis, Businesswire
in Washington, D.C., the Washington Times and other newspapers and radio stations..
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1104/S00536/laos-appeal-for-release-of-3-hmong-americans.htm
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/04/21/hmong-americans-held-in-laos/
"We want answers from the Lao government about Hakit Yang, and
the other Hmong-Americans, that were arrested while traveling with him in Laos," Mrs. Xiong stated.
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110423005016/en/Laos-Obama-Urged-Rights-Groups-Hmong-Free
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/apr/26/embassy-row-852424642/ The Australia-based Foreign Prisoners Support Service
(FPSS), and author and human rights activist Kay Danes, has repeatedly raised the case of the three jailed Hmong men in Laos.
Danes was a keynote speaker at the World Affairs Council and public policy events in Washington, DC in 2009, held in the U.S.
Congress and National Press Club, to discuss the plight of the three men jailed in Laos and other human rights and refugee
issues regarding Laos, Thailand and Southeast Asia. Mrs. Danes, Sheng Xiong, and others, spoke about the three American's
arrest in Laos, imprisonment in Phonthong Prison in Vientiane, and later forced move to a secret Lao People's Army (LPA) military
prison in Sam Neua province in the Northeastern part of the Southeast Asian nation. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1001/S00247.htm Mrs. Danes is also the author of “Standing Ground”
( New Holland Publishers, Australia ) a book about her ordeal as a political prisoner suffering, and witnessing torture, in
Vientiane's Phonthong Prison in Laos. Kay and Kerry Danes were jailed by corrupt Lao communist party officials, who sought
to seize the assets for foreign investors in Laos. The Danes were released after the high-level intervention of human rights
activists, the Australian Embassy in Laos, Australian Foreign Ministry and others. http://www.newholland.com.au/product.php?isbn=9781741107579 The Washington, D.C.-based Center for Public Policy
Analysis (CPPA) and its Executive Director, Philip Smith, as well as others concerned about human rights and foreign policy
issues in Laos, and Southeast Asia, continue to raise concerns about this humanitarian case and other issues.
http:www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org “We are concerned that the White House, and President
Barack Obama and Secretary Hillary Clinton, appear to be unaware of the serious human rights violations being committed by
the Lao People's Army, and senior communist party officials, against American citizens traveling to Laos as well as independent
Laotian and Hmong religious believers, student leaders, political refugees, dissidents and peaceful opposition groups,”
Smith said. “We are requesting
that the White House, President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, vigorously and repeatedly address this
terrible injustice; We want the Obama Administration and U.S. Embassy in Laos to raise the issue of the ongoing imprisonment
of the three Hmong-American citizens from Minnesota, at the highest diplomatic levels with the Lao government, and urge that
the three American men be immediately released from Laos' notorious and secret gulag system,” Smith stated. “The continued imprisonment of American citizens in Laos--
and other critical human rights, religious freedom, refugee and other issues -- should be raised with the Lao President Lt.
General Choummaly Sayasone , and other senior LPA military generals and communist politburo members at meetings with Obama
Administration and State Department officials,” Smith said. “Unfortunately, corruption and human rights violations in Laos, by Lao communist party and military
officials is rampant, and we are concerned that the White House, President Obama and Secretary Clinton, not be perceived as
appeasing the Lao military junta while it continues to wrongly jail and abuse American citizens and many of its own Laotian
people, including the Hmong and Lao student pro-democracy leaders; Currently, the one-party regime in Laos is a close ally
of authoritarian regimes in Burma and North Korea, which is another serious concern,” Smith concluded.
### Contact: Maria Gomez
Center for Public Policy Analysis
2020 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Suite 220
Washington, D.C. 20006
Tele. (202) 543-1444
info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
Amnesty Urged for Laos, Hmong Prisoners from Minnesota
Washington, DC and St. Paul, Minnesota,
April 28, 2011 Center for Public Policy Analysis Minnesota Twin Cities'
Hmong-American families have renewed an international plea for amnesty for their wrongly-jailed family members in Laos. St. Paul, and Minneapolis, Laotian and Hmong-American families, community members and human rights organizations,
continue to speak out requesting the release of three Hmong-American citizens who were arrested in Laos by Lao People's Army
soldiers and secret police in August of 2007. The families, joined by Laotian and Hmong non-governmental and non-profit organizations,
have appealed to U.S. President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Lao President and communist party leader,
Lt. General Choummaly Sayasone, General Choummaly Sayasone heads the one-party military junta in Vientiane and also serves
as the President.
“Our families in Minnesota, and many in the Laotian and Hmong-American community, are appealing to President
Barack Obama, the White House and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to press the Lao government to immediately release the
three Hmong men who were arrested and wrongly imprisoned in Laos for over three and a half years, without charges being filed,”
said Sheng Xiong of Minnesota., a spokeswoman for the families of the men.
The three American citizens of ethnic Lao Hmong descent,
Congshineng Yang, Trillion Yunhaison and Hakit Yang, traveled from Minnesota in July of 2007 to Laos as tourists, and to seek
potential business investment opportunities in Laos.
Mrs. Sheng Xiong recently voiced a renewed international appeal for
the families, and many in the Lao Hmong-American community, to Scoop News in New Zealand, Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) in
Minneapolis, Businesswire in Washington, D.C., the Washington Times and other newspapers and radio stations.. "We want answers
from the Lao government about Hakit Yang, and the other Hmong-Americans, that were arrested while traveling with him in Laos,"
Mrs. Xiong stated.
The
Australia-based Foreign Prisoners Support Service (FPSS), and author and human rights activist Kay Danes, has repeatedly raised
the case of the three jailed Hmong men in Laos. Danes was a keynote speaker at the World Affairs Council and public policy
events in Washington, DC in 2009, held in the U.S. Congress and National Press Club, to discuss the plight of the three men
jailed in Laos and other human rights and refugee issues regarding Laos, Thailand and Southeast Asia. Mrs. Danes, Sheng Xiong,
and others, spoke about the three American's arrest in Laos, imprisonment in Phonthong Prison in Vientiane, and later forced
move to a secret Lao People's Army (LPA) military prison in Sam Neua province in the Northeastern part of the Southeast Asian
nation. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1001/S00247.htm
Mrs.
Danes is also the author of “Standing Ground” ( New Holland Publishers, Australia ) a book about her ordeal as
a political prisoner suffering, and witnessing torture, in Vientiane's Phonthong Prison in Laos. Kay and Kerry Danes were
jailed by corrupt Lao communist party officials, who sought to seize the assets for foreign investors in Laos. The Danes were
released after the high-level intervention of human rights activists, the Australian Embassy in Laos, Australian Foreign Ministry
and others. http://www.newholland.com.au/product.php?isbn=9781741107579
The
Washington, D.C.-based Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) and its Executive Director, Philip Smith, as well as others
concerned about human rights and foreign policy issues in Laos, and Southeast Asia, continue to raise concerns about this
humanitarian case and other issues.
“We are concerned that the White House, and President Barack Obama and Secretary Hillary
Clinton, appear to be unaware of the serious human rights violations being committed by the Lao People's Army, and senior
communist party officials, against American citizens traveling to Laos as well as independent Laotian and Hmong religious
believers, student leaders, political refugees, dissidents and peaceful opposition groups,” Smith said.
“We are requesting that the White House, President Obama and Secretary of
State Hillary Rodham Clinton, vigorously and repeatedly address this terrible injustice; We want the Obama Administration
and U.S. Embassy in Laos to raise the issue of the ongoing imprisonment of the three Hmong-American citizens from Minnesota,
at the highest diplomatic levels with the Lao government, and urge that the three American men be immediately released from
Laos' notorious and secret gulag system,” Smith stated.
“The
continued imprisonment of American citizens in Laos-- and other critical human rights, religious freedom, refugee and other
issues -- should be raised with the Lao President Lt. General Choummaly Sayasone , and other senior LPA military generals
and communist politburo members at meetings with Obama Administration and State Department officials,” Smith said.
“Unfortunately, corruption and human rights violations in Laos, by Lao communist
party and military officials is rampant, and we are concerned that the White House, President Obama and Secretary Clinton,
are not be perceived as appeasing the Lao military junta while it continues to wrongly jail and abuse American citizens and
many of its own Laotian people, including the Hmong and Lao student pro-democracy leaders; the one-party regime in Laos is
a close ally of authoritarian regimes in Burma and North Korea which is another serious concern,” Smith concluded. ###Contact: Maria Gomez Center for Public Policy
Analysis 2020 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20006 Tele. (202) 543-1444 April 23, 2011 05:10 PM Eastern Daylight
Time Laos, Obama Urged
By Rights Groups, Hmong, to Free 3 Americans WASHINGTON
& MINNEAPOLIS & ST. PAUL, Minn. April 23, 2011 --(BUSINESS WIRE)--A coalition of Laotian and Hmong non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA),
have joined the families of three Hmong-Americans from Minnesota in issuing an international appeal for the release of their
relatives who have been imprisoned in Laos for over three years. The appeal requests that the Lao government, and U.S. President
Barack Obama, work at a higher diplomatic level, with urgent priority, to release the three Hmong-American citizens. In August 2007, for unknown reasons, Lao People's Army
(LPA) troops and secret police arrested the three Americans: Mr. Hakit Yang, 24; Mr. Congshineng Yang, 34; and Mr. Trillion
Yunhaison, 44. The Hmong-Americans remain
imprisoned in Laos' Sam Neua province by LPA troops and secret police. The three are being held without charges being filed,
or due process, according to the Foreign Prisoners Support Service (FPSS), the CPPA, human rights organizations, family members
and others. Mrs. Sheng Xiong, a spokeswoman
for the families, and Philip Smith of the CPPA, spoke to Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) about the case. “I just wish the Lao government would be upfront ...,” Xiong
told MPR.
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/04/21/hmong-americans-held-in-laos/ “We want answers now from the Lao
government about the arrest and continued imprisonment of my husband, Hakit Yang, and the other two Hmong-Americans...,”
Xiong, stated further. “We would
like to ask the President, Barack Obama, and the U.S. Government, to please seriously help to press the Lao military and government
to cooperate in telling the truth about the arrest and imprisonment of our families in Laos so that they can be released and
come home to their loved ones, including their wives and children,” Mrs. Xiong said. “Our Lao Hmong families, and the community in St. Paul and Minneapolis,
are appealing to the Lao government... to release my husband, Hakit Yang, and his colleagues...,” Xiong commented. “We are grateful to Kay Danes and the FPSS in
Australia for helping to bring new and updated information, and evidence, about the arrest and continued jailing of my husband
in Laos-- and we appreciate her book 'Standing Ground' regarding... the plight of prisoners at Phonthong Prison, in Vientiane,
where my husband was jailed...,” Xiong concluded. “The LPA, and secret police, later moved the three Americans, including Sheng Xiong's husband Hakit Yang, from
Xieng Khouang province, where they were arrested, to Laos' notorious Phonthong Prison, in the capital of Vientiane, where
the men were interrogated, beaten and tortured, according to eyewitness and multiple sources...,” said Philip Smith,
Director of the CPPA in Washington, D.C.
http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org “In 2009, the three Hmong-American
men were again moved... and are now being held in a secret LPA military-operated prison camp in Sam Neua Province, Laos,”
Smith stated. “We are urging President Obama to press the Lao military and government, at a higher diplomatic level,
to release the three Americans...” “Additionally,
we are also appealing to President Obama, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to assist with the release of other Lao
and Hmong political prisoners and religious dissidents in Laos...,” Smith concluded. “We condemn, in the strongest terms, the continued imprisonment by
the Lao military and communist officials in Laos of Mr. Hakit Yang, Mr. Conghineng Yang and Trillion Yunhaison, who are U.S.
citizens still being held without charge in horrific conditions in Laos by the LPA and secret police,” said Christy
Lee, Director of Hmong Advance, Inc. (HAI) in Washington, D.C.
http://www.hmongadvance.org The NGOs joining the Hmong-American families
in urging Laos, and the White House, to help release the Americans include the CPPA, HAI, Hmong Advancement, United Lao for
Human Rights and Democracy, Lao Human Rights Council, Hmong Students Association, Lao Students for Democracy, United League
for Democracy in Laos, Laos Institute for Democracy and Lao Veterans of America. On March 16, the CPPA issued an appeal regarding the imprisoned Hmong-Americans and human
rights violations in Laos.
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110316007171/en/Laos-Hmong-Crisis-Rights-Groups-International-Appeal CPPA - Center for Public Policy Analysis
info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org Contacts Center for Public Policy Analysis
Helen Cruz,
202-543-1444
info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org Laos: Appeal for Release of 3 Hmong-Americans
Washington, D.C., Minneapolis and St. Paul,
Minnesota, April 21, 2011 Center for Public
Policy Analysis
The Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) and a coalition of Laotian and Hmong non-governmental
organizations have joined the Minnesota families of three Hmong-Americans in issuing an appeal for the release of their relatives
being held in Laos for over three years by military and communist party officials. The appeal was issued from Washington,
D.C., and the Twin Cities of Minnesota, to the Lao government and U.S. President Barack Obama to request that they work at
a higher diplomatic level, with urgent priority, to release three Hmong-American citizens arrested and currently imprisoned
in Laos.
The three jailed Americans, of ethnic Hmong descent from the Twin Cities of Minneapolis
and St. Paul, have been imprisoned in Laos for over three years-- according to eye-witness sources, human rights groups, prisoner
support organizations, and humanitarian activists, including Australian author and humanitarian advocate Kay Danes. . http://www.presszoom.com/print_story_140676.htm
According to the Foreign Prisoners Support Service in Australia, CPPA, family members
and other sources, the three Minnesota men were arrested in Laos by Lao military and security forces while they were visiting
Laos in the summer of 2007 as tourists and potential investors.. The three Hmong-Americans remained imprisoned in Laos' Sam
Neua Province by Lao military and ministry of interior police.. They are currently being held without charges being filed,
or due process.
“We want answers now from the Lao government about the arrest and continued imprisonment
of my husband, Hakit Yang, and the other two Hmong-Americans traveling with him from Minnesota,” said Sheng Xiong, a
spokeswoman for the families of the three Hmong-Americans arrested in the summer of 2007 in Xieng Khouang Province. http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1089564.html
“Our Lao Hmong families, and the community in St. Paul and Minneapolis, are appealing
to the Lao government once again to release my husband Hakit Yang and his colleagues immediately, and unconditionally,”
Mrs. Xiong further stated.
“We would like to ask the President of the United States,
Barack Obama, and the U.S. government to please seriously help to press the Lao military and government to cooperate in telling
the truth about the arrest and imprisonment of our families in Laos so that they can be released and come home to their loved
ones, including their wives and children,” Xiong said.
“We are grateful to Kay
Danes and the Foreign Prisoners Support Service in Australia for helping to bring new and updated information and evidence
about the arrest and continued jailing of my husband in Laos and we appreciate her book 'Standing Ground' regarding her experience
and first-hand knowledge about the the plight of prisoners at Phonthong Prison in Vientiane were my husband was jailed by
the Lao authorities,” Xiong concluded.
Lao People's Army (LPA) troops and secret
police arrested the three Americans: Mr. Hakit Yang, 24; Mr. Conghineng Yang,, 34; and Trillion Yunhaison, 44. The three were
U.S. citizens from St. Paul, Minnesota and the Twin Cities area of Minnesota where their immediate families remain. A fourth
Hmong individual Mr. Pao Vang, of unknown nationality and age, was reportedly acting as tour guide for the group, and was
also reportedly arrested and jailed with them according to sources inside Laos.
“The
LPA and secret police later moved the three Americans, including Sheng Xiong's husband Hakit Yang, to Laos' notorious Phonthong
Prison, in the capital of Vientiane, where the men were interrogated, beaten and tortured according to eyewitnesses as well
as numerous and redundant Hmong, Laotian, Australian, and other sources,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director for
the CPPA in Washington, D.C. http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
“In 2009, the three Hmong-American men were again moved a second time in army
trucks and vehicles, and are now being held in a secret LPA military-operated prison camp in Sam Neua Province, Laos, “
Smith stated.
“Australian human rights activist and author Kay Danes as well as the Foreign
Prisoners Support Service have also uncovered more details of the Lao government's continued imprisonment and mistreatment
of the three American's from Minnesota.,” Smith continued.
“We are urging
President Barack Obama to press the Lao military and government, at a higher diplomatic level, to release the three Americans
from the Twin Cities of Minnesota,” Smith said.
“We are also appealing
to President Obama, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to assist with the release of Lao and Hmong political prisoners
and religious dissidents in Laos, including jailed Lao student pro-democracy leaders and the Hmong translator for Pastor Naw
Karl Mua, of St. Paul, and two European journalists who were also previously arrested and imprisoned in Laos,” Smith
concluded.
“We condemn, in the strongest terms, the continued imprisonment by the Lao military
and communist officials in Laos of Mr. Hakit Yang, Mr. Conghineng Yang and Trillion Yunhaison, who are U.S. citizens still
being held without charge in horrific conditions in Laos by the Lao Peoples Army and secret police,” said Christy Lee,
the Executive Director of Hmong Advance, Inc. (HAI) in Washington, D.C.
“Laotian and
Hmong-Americans are concerned that this is yet another brutal example of the Lao government's, and LPA military's, institutional
violence and endemic racism directed against the Hmong people in Laos who continue to suffer mistreatment, gross human rights
violations, extra-judicial killings, religious persecution, the confiscation of their land, and many other terrible abuses
from the Lao military and corrupt communist party officials,” Ms. Lee stated from HAI offices in Washington..
On March 16, 2011, the CPPA and others issued and international appeal regarding the plight of the three
Hmong-Americans from Minnesota as well as political prisoners and religious dissidents being jailed in Laos.
The United Nations' Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) in
Geneva has repeated cited the government of Laos, and Lao People's Army soldiers and commanders, for egregious human rights
violations and institutional racism, including the rape and killing of unarmed Lao Hmong civilians.
“We want the one-party communist regime in Laos to abide by international law
and release the three Lao Hmong-American citizens from St. Paul who have been jailed in Laos for over three years, ”
said Boon Boualaphanh , of the Minneapolis -based United Lao for Human Rights and Democracy (ULHRD). “These America
citizens and other prisoners , including prisoners of conscience and political prisoners, should also be released by the Lao
military and communist party authorities including the Lao student leaders of the October 1999 Movement for Democracy in Vientiane.” .. The Hmong-Americans currently being jailed in Laos, have no known political or family ties to opposition
or dissident factions and had departed the United States for travel to Laos on July 10, 2007, from the Twin Cities of Minnesota
as tourists and to potentially seek business and investment opportunities in Laos, prior to their arrest and imprisonment.
Australian Kay Danes, a former political prisoner in Laos, spoke in the U.S. Congress and the National
Press Club in Washington, D.C., in April 2009, with Sheng Xiong about the current imprisonment and plight of the three Americans
in Laos. Danes is the author of “Standing Ground” a book about her ordeal in Phonthong Prison in Vientiane, Laos,
where the three Americans were also imprisoned and tortured before being moved to secret military prison in Sam Neua Province
by Lao military and security forces.
Laos is governed by a one-party communist regime whose leadership
has repeatedly been deemed as “Press Predators” by the Paris, France-based Journalists Without Borders ( JSF ).
Amnesty International and other independent human rights organizations have also raise serous concerns http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGASA260022006
For nearly a decade, a Hmong translator with links to the Twin Cities, who assisted
Minnesota Hmong-American Pastor Naw Karl Mua (Naw Karl Moua) and two European journalists, Thierry Falise and Vincent Reynaud,
is still imprisoned in Laos on allegations regarding their efforts to document human rights violations. The group documented
horrific attacks and atrocities committed by the LPA on Laotian and Hmong civilians, independent Animist and Christians communities,
and dissident groups.
Over 8,000 Lao Hmong refugees were forced back to Laos in 2009,
and were placed in charge of a LPA General, General Bouasieng Champaphanh, who has repeatedly involved with answering serious
human rights and religious freedom violations, and atrocity, charges by the United Nations and independent human rights and
religious freedom organizations. http://media-newswire.com/release_1108993.html
The non-profit and non-governmental organizations joining the three Hmong-American
families in urging Laos to release the three Americans from Minnesota include the CPPA, HAI, Hmong Advancement, Inc., ULHRD, Lao Human Rights Council, Inc., Hmong Students Association, Lao Hmong Students For Democracy, United
League for Democracy in Laos, Laos Institute for Democracy, Lao Veterans of America, Inc., and others.
##
Contact: Jade Lee CPPA - Center for Public Policy Analysis Tele. (202) 543-1444
2020 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. Suite No. 220 Washington,
D.C. 20006 USA Laos, Vietnam
Troops Execute 4 Hmong ChristiansSaturday, 16 April 2011, 3:55 pm
Press
Release: Center for Public Policy Analysis
Laos, Vietnam Troops Execute
4 Hmong Christians
Center for Public Policy Analysis
info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
April 15, 2011, Washington, D.C. and Vientiane, Laos
Christian persecution and religious freedom
violations have continued to expand and spread to key provinces in Laos, according to the Center for Public Policy Analysis
and other rights organizations tracking the issue. Yesterday, four Lao Hmong Christian women were executed for their Christian
faith in Xieng Khouang Province, after their Bible was confiscated, by government soldiers and police from Laos and Vietnam. Vietnam
People's Army troops and secret police from Hanoi have been deployed in increasing numbers in key provinces in Laos to boost
the Lao People's Army, and communist party efforts, to hunt, persecute and eliminate independent Christian, Animist and Buddhist
congregations and religious believers who seek to worship outside of strict state monitoring and control. Laotian and Hmong
minority Christian and Animist believers continue to be hunted , brutally tortured, and killed by the Lao military in significant
numbers in key provinces in Laos. “There has been a tragic and major upswing in religious persecution in Laos
by Lao and Vietnamese military and communist party officials in the latter part of last year, 2010 as well as within recent
months, this year,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) in Washington,
D.C.
http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org Smith continued: “An unarmed group of four Lao Hmong Christian women were summarily executed yesterday, on April
14, 2011, in Xieng Khouang Province, Laos, by government troops for their Christian faith.” A special unit totally
some 150 Lao Peoples Army soldiers, led by Vietnam secret police and military advisors from Hanoi and Vinh, confiscated the
group's only Bible and brutally and repeatedly raped at least two of the younger Lao-Hmong women prior to shooting them at
point blank range in the head and torso with automatic weapons; their husbands and 26 children, who were forced to witness
the atrocity, were beaten, tied up, later blindfolded, and have now disappeared.” “The upswing in religious
persecution in Laos is in part the result of the increased intervention by Vietnam military-civilian authorities in Laos,
and Lao Peoples Army (LPA) communist leaders, who are aggressively cracking down on independent Christian, Buddhist and Animist
believers with secret police, army and militia units,” Smith said. “Clearly, there has been a very dramatic
increase in the persecution, imprisonment, torture and killing of Lao and Hmong Christians and independent Buddhist and Animist
believers in the provinces of Vientiane, Khammoune, Saravan, Xieng Khouang, Luang Prabang and elsewhere in Laos in 2010 and
2011 by the secret police and Lao Peoples Army backed by supporting armed forces and special task units from Hanoi,”
Smith observed. “In a coordinated and expanded fashion, the Vietnam Peoples Army and LPA troops, and security
forces, are especially determined to hunt down and kill independent Christian and Animist believers in the highlands of Vietnam
and Laos,” Smith stated. Last Christmas (2010), and in recent years, Lao Christians have often been repeatedly
persecuted, jailed or killed for celebrating Christmas or worshiping independently, as documented by the CPPA and other rights
and humanitarian organizations. “We are deeply concerned about the increased persecution, starvation and killing
of Laotian and Hmong Christians, and independent Buddhist and Animist believers, by Lao and Vietnam People's Army troops in
the provinces of Xieng Khouang, Khammoune, Saravan, Luang Prabang and Vientiane Provinces,” said Boon Boualaphanh ,
of United Lao for Human Rights and Democracy (ULHRD). “We want the Socialist Republic of Vietnam ( SRV ), and
the Vietnam Peoples Army, to remove all of its security forces and troops from Laos, and we want the Lao military and communist
regime to respect the human rights and religious freedom of the Laotian and Lao Hmong people,” said Bounthanh Rathigna
of the United League for Democracy in Laos (ULDL). In February of this year, in Saravan Province, Lao officials reportedly
destroyed crops to prevent food from reaching a some 60 impoverished Laotian Christians in rural Saravan province. One man
from the group has already died during this time, according to the United Kingdom-based advocacy group Christian Solidarity
Worldwide (CSW) and other reliable sources. Food and water was also cut off the the Laotians in an effort to have them
renounce their Christian faith which follows the pattern of the LPA's efforts to starve and kill other Laotian and Hmong Christian
groups hiding in the jungles and mountains of Laos. "The wells are drying up as they are going into the dry season,
and their food supplies are exhausted after villagers thwarted their attempts to plant new crops," stated Human Rights
Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF), a non-governmental organization monitoring the plight of Laotian Christians. “The
authorities have successfully gotten them into a situation where they feel defeated.” Laotian Christians were
marched by gunpoint in February of this year from villages in Saravan Province according to reliable and redundant reports,
and sources, from both inside and outside Laos. Many terrified Laotian villagers faced starvation in the jungles of Laos on
Sunday, February 27, 2011, after they were driven from their village at gunpoint by Lao officials for refusing to give up
their Christian faith according to reliable reports from International Christian Concern (ICC) and other sources with contacts
inside Saravan Province, Laos.
http://www.persecution.org/ 2011/ 02/ 28/ news-alert-laos-christians-facing-starvation-officials-cutting-off-fo od-water/
Compass Direct News, Cross Walk, and others have reported on similar incidents of egregious religious persecution in
Laos in recent months and years.
http://www.crosswalk.com/news/religion-today/christianity-banned-in-lao-village-officials-announce-11606152.html Last year, in February of 2010, the Christian Post documented similar reports regarding the pattern of religious persecution,
and religious freedom violations, in communist Laos.
http://www.christianpost.com/news/lao-officials-force-christians-from-worship-at-gunpoint-43671/ Concerns Raised As Burma Targets Refugees
in Thailand, ASEAN Parliament
April 11, 2011, Washington, D.C. & Bangkok, Thailand Center for Public Policy Analysis info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
The
Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) has issued a statement today welcoming the retirement of Burma’s General Than
Shwe and calling on the new Burmese hybrid government, in its road map to “disciplined democracy”, to adopt true
political, social and economic reforms. Burma is expected to seek to join the Association of South East Asia Nations’
(ASEAN) Inter-Parliamentary Assembly as a long-term member by sending representatives to upcoming meeting in Cambodia in September.
The CPPA also expressed
concerns today about the recent announcement by elements of Thailand’s government, and powerful military, to deport
tens of thousands of Burmese refugees back to Burma in the wake of the transfer of military-civilian power in Burma, and after
the retirement of Gen. Than Shwe.
“General Than Shwe's historic retirement as head of the military junta in Burma is an important
first step and we welcome it with skeptical optimism and a variety of very deep concerns,” said Philip Smith, Executive
Director for the CPPA in Washington, D.C. http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org/
“We
urge the newly elected Burmese Union Parliament, and military-civilian government under President Thein Sein and Army General
Min Aung Hlaing, to adopt true political, social and economic reforms, which are badly needed by the people of Burma and widely
hoped for by the international community,” Smith stated.
Gen. Than Shwe headed Burma's military junta for nearly two decades,
out of the Burmese military’s five decade rule. He has ruled Burma, in an authoritarian fashion, since 1992.
Burma’s Union
Parliament reported announced on March 28th its intention to seek formal,
long-term membership in ASEAN’s AIPA. The eight present members of AIPA include Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore,
Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.
“Clearly, more substantive reforms should be undertaken by the new Burmese hybrid,
military-civilian government prior to Burma being admitted to ASEAN’s Inter-Parliamentary Assembly,” Smith said.
“Burmese political
refugees and asylum seekers should not be deported by Thailand, or forced back to Burma by the Thai military, until concrete
reforms and changes have taken place in Burma under the new government, including serious human rights reforms,” Smith
said.
“The
Burmese military has long targeted many of the refugees who have fled to Thailand from persecution or worse, ” Smith
observed.
President
Thein Sein is a former Army office and Prime Minister under the General Than Shwe’s State Peace and Development Council,
previous know as the State Law and Order Council (SLORC). SLORC engaged in widespread human rights violations against pro-democracy
advocates, human rights defenders, minority peoples (including the Karen and Kareni) as well as independent Buddhist monks
and Christian and Animist believers.
Gen. Than Shwe and SLORC were staunch allies of brutal authoritarian and communist regimes
in Laos, North Korea and elsewhere.
“The new hybrid, military-civilian government in Burma, which has replaced the old military junta
under General Than Shwe, is already being criticized in many quarters for being a sham and charade because it combines senior,
and extensive, elements of the previous military junta with a nominal number of new civilian elements,” Smith continued.
“The recent
end of the old junta in Burma should not merely usher in a new military-run Burma under the guise of ‘disciplined democracy’”,
Smith stated.
“Perhaps most importantly, we remain deeply concerned about the exclusion of the Aung San Suu Kyi’s National
League for Democracy (NLD) party in Burma’s new Union Parliament and the overwhelming predominance of the military-backed
Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) in the recent elections,” Smith concluded.
The CPPA is a Washington, D.C.-based
think tank and research organization focused on foreign and national security policy issues as well as economic development,
humanitarian, human rights and refugee matters.
## Contact:
Maria Gomez info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org (202) 543-1444 Center for Public Policy Analysis Aquino,
Philippines Urged to Halt Epidemic of Attacks on Journalists Washington, D.C., and Manila, Philippines, March 28, 2011 Center for Public Policy Analysis info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
The Center for Public
Policy Analysis in Washington, D.C., has issued an international appeal today calling upon President Benigno Aquino and the
Philippine government to make it a higher national priority to address political violence directed against journalists and
press freedom in the Philippines. The statement condemns the apparent assassination of radio talk show host and journalist
Maria Len Flores Somera who was murdered last Thursday near her home in Malabon city, in metropolitan Manila.
In the wake of the radio journalist “Len” Somera's murder, the international appeal also urges support
for Bishop Felixberto Calang's request that the United Nations monitor the ongoing Maguindanao (Mindanao) massacre trial.
“We urge President Benigno Aquino, and the Philippine government, to make it a higher national priority to
address the recent murder of journalist Maria Len Flores Somera as well as the epidemic of violent attacks on press freedom,
and individual journalists, in the Philippines,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy
Analysis (CPPA).
The statement regarding the murder of journalists in the Philippines was issued in
Washington, D.C. and Manila by Philip Smith, Director of the CPPA.
The CPPA is a Washington, D.C.-based
think tank and research organization focused on foreign policy, human rights, humanitarian affairs, economic development and
other public policy issues. http://centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
“We condemn, in the strongest terms, the unconscionable murder of radio talk show
journalist Maria Len Flores Somera which appears to many in the international community as yet another example of political
violence and efforts to silence freedom-loving journalists and people in the Philippines seeking reform,” Smith stated.
Somera, 44, was a broadcaster for DZME radio in Manila, prior to being killed on March 24. According to Philippine
National Police (PNP) sources, she was shot with a pistol, execution-style, point blank, by a male assailant.
“Mrs. Somera was popular to radio listeners in Manila, in part, for her tireless dedication to freedom of expression
and investigative reporting on issues of concern to the public and ordinary people, including matters of government inefficiency,
incompetence and corruption among some officials in the Philippines,” Smith said in the CPPA's statement.
Excerpts of the CPPA's international appeal and statement continued:
“Tragically, this
appears to be another act of political violence, and horrific human rights violations, directed against journalists in the
Philippines who seek to freely and fairly inform the public about current events and developments, including issues of governance,
public service and corruption;”
“We urge President Benigno Aquino, and the Philippine government,
to make it their highest priority to apprehend and bring to justice those responsible for this terrible crime against Maria
Len Flores Somera, and her family, as well as the Philippine people, civil society, and the Philippine nation;”
“The international community and Filipinos around the world have expressed shock, outrage and sadness regarding
the murder of Mrs. Somera and the ongoing pattern of systemic violence directed against journalists in the Philippines, which
urgently needs to be addressed by President Aquino and the Philippine government;
“We urge President Benigno
Aquino, and the Philippine government, including the judiciary and courts, to do significantly more to seriously provide full
justice, and comprehensive psycho-social assistance, to the suffering family members of the 57 people, including 32 journalists,
murdered in the political violence and attack in Mindanao, Maguindanao province
( Magindanaw ), on November 23, 2009...; 'We appeal to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to monitor the Maguindanao massacre trial
as requested by Bishop Felixberto Calang of the Philippine Independent Church, and others, especially given troubling reports
of ongoing delays, the resignation of state prosecutors, and the disappearance and intimidation of witnesses; “Seriously address the concerns and complaint filed earlier this month before
the UNHRC by the families of journalists Maricel Vigo, Juan Pala, Dennis Cuesta, Fernando Lintuan, and William Yap Yu who
reportedly assert that the Philippine government has egregiously violated the rights of their loved ones, who were killed
between 2000-2007, in apparent disregard of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)...; “We are concerned that press freedom, and key institutions
of civil society, are increasingly under attack in the Philippines as sadly symbolized by the murder of Maria Len Flores Somera
and other journalists,” Smith concluded in the CPPA's international appeal and statement.
The
CPPA has issued previous statements and appeals regarding the world's largest known single massacre of journalists which occurred
in Mindanao, Philippines on November 23, 2009. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1102/S00381/philippines-urged-to-assist-families-of-slain-journalists.htm
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the National Union of Journalists of
the Philippines ( NUJP), and others, have also called on authorities in the Philippines to promptly investigate the murder
of Mrs. Somera.
According to reports by DZME Radio, GMA News, and others, the National Press Club of
the Philippines and the Alyansang ng Filipinong Mamamahayag, two media groups in the Philippines, have said they have raised
thousands in monetary funds, some 50,000 Philippine Pesos (PHP), for anybody who can provide information leading to the arrest
of the gunman and plotters in Mrs. Sumera's bloody killing
In New York, the Committee to Protect
Journalists issued a statement earlier this month expressing concern that an accused Maguindanao province mastermind, allegedly
involved in the mass killing of 32 journalists in Ampatuan, Mindanao, on November 23, 2009, may go free. http://www.cpj.org/2011/03/accused-maguindanao-mastermind-may-go-free.php
## Contact: Maria
Gomez Center for Public Policy Analysis 2020 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. Suite 220 Washington, DC 20006 info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org Tele. (202) 543-1444 VIENTIANE, Laos & WASHINGTON--March 16, 2011 --A coalition of Laotian
and Hmong organizations have issued a joint statement with the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) urging Laos to release
political and religious dissidents, and jailed American citizens, prior to an upcoming communist party congress. The international appeal also urges Laos to halt illegal logging by Vietnam People's
Army-owned companies and release thousands of Lao Hmong refugees forcibly repatriated from Thailand. The communist party congress of the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic (LPDR) is being held from March 17-21.
“There needs to be transparency by the Lao communist government
and a voice for the voiceless, suffering people of Laos,” said Khampoua Naovarangsy an internet blogger for the Laos
Institute for Democracy (LIFD)... “Clearly, we are concerned about
egregious human rights violations in Laos and the continued imprisonment of Lao political and religious dissidents as well
as Hmong refugees and American citizens,” said Philip Smith, Director of the CPPA in Washington, D.C.
http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org “The Lao communist party is losing more credibility with the
Laotian people, in part, because it continues to take a closed-door, monopolistic approach to governing,” Smith said.
“It has repeatedly failed to provide international access to, or release, prisoners of conscience as well as Lao Hmong
political refugees.” (See full release at Businesswire.com ) http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110316007171/en/Laos-Hmong-Crisis-Rights-Groups-International-Appeal
Philippines Urged To Assist Families of Slain Journalists During
Trial Washington, D.C., and Manila, Philippines,
February 11, 2011 Citing the unprecedented
murder of journalists in the Philippines, the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Public Policy Analysis issued an appeal to
the government of the Philippines and a Quezon City Court to grant assistance to the family members of slain journalists and
victims of the November 23, 2009, killings that left 57 people dead in Mindanao (Maguindanao). “The brutal murder of 57 people, including
32 journalists, in Mindanao, in November of 2009, is an act of political violence and factional rivalry, that continues to
shock the world community and societies around the globe that value press freedom,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director
of the Center for Public Policy Analysis in Washington, D.C. The Center for Public
Policy Analysis is a Washington, D.C.-based think tank and public policy research organization focused on international relations,
human rights, refugee and security issues. “As the trial goes forward, we urge the Philippine government and
Quezon City Court to act responsibly toward the surviving family members that have been severely traumatized as a result of
the massacre and gross human rights violations,” Smith continued. “Clearly the massacre victims’ families should be granted psychosocial
help during the judicial process and its aftermath since the mass killings of the journalists and their colleagues in 2009
was a unique and terrible violation of human rights and international law,” Smith said. “The magnitude of the atrocity on that horrific
day, November 29, 2009, warrants the full assistance of the Philippine government to help the survivors of the many slain
journalists and victims,” Smith stated further.
The
CPPA has raised repeated concerns about the infamous “Mindanao Massacre” involving the horrific mass murder of
journalists in the town of Ampatuan in the Philippines in 2009 as well as the overall crisis situation in Mindanao. http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1108506.html “The recent courtroom collapse
of Myrna Reblando, wife of the murdered Manila Bulletin journalist Bong Reblando, is but one example of why the surviving
family members need the Philippine government’s emergency help in providing psychosocial help, especially during this
important trial that is being watched by the international community,” Smith concluded. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
has documented recent attacks on the press in the Philippines, and the Mindanao Massacre, and has assisted family members
of the victims. http://www.cpj.org/2010/02/attacks-on-the-press-2009-philippines.php The Brussel, Belgium-based International
Crisis Group has also issued repeated statements and reports about the killing of the journalists and has shed light on the
national and political context. __________ ### Contact: Helen Cruz info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org http://www.cppa-dc.org Tele.
(202) 543-1444 --------------- Egypt Crisis:
Mubarak Urged to Halt Attacks on Internet, Journalists, Protesters Mubarak Urged to Halt Attacks on Journalists, Internet The Washington, D.C.-based Center for Public Policy Analysis is calling on Egyptian President Mubarak,
and his public security and military forces, to immediately and unconditionally restore unfettered internet use to the people
of Egypt and allow independent journalists access to the developing crisis in the country.
For Immediate
Release, Washington, D.C., Friday, January 28 2011 Center for Public Policy Analysis The Washington, D.C.-based Center for Public Policy Analysis is
calling on Egyptian President Mubarak, and his public security and military forces, to immediately and unconditionally restore
unfettered internet use to the people of Egypt and allow independent journalists access to the developing crisis in the country. Thousands of largely peaceful protestors have clashed with police
and army units in recent hours, including at Ramsis Square, Tahrir Square and the October 6th Bridge in Cairo
Police and Egyptian Army units are firing rubber bullets and tear gas at the demonstrators, who have also been bludgeoned
with batons. Many are calling on the President Mubarak to step down as President. “During this crisis, we are calling on President Hosni Mubarak to embrace transparency
and restore full internet access to the people of Egypt as well as cease the censorship of independent news sources, and internet
communications, which are important to a free and open society in Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa,”
said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) in Washingiton, D.C. Internet usage and traffic by providers, including Telecom Egypt,
Link Egypt, Vodafone/Raya and Etisalat Mist has reportedly been blocked today in Cairo and much of Egypt. Mr. Smith further commented: “We are very concerned that,
in the aftermath of the ongoing internet censoring and blockage, large numbers of Egyptian military and security forces have
been mobilized as a result of demonstrations in Cairo and elsewhere in the Nile Delta and across the country.” “There is growing concern in Washington, D.C., and in the
U.S. Congress, that given the billions of dollars in American taxpayers’ money given to Egypt over the years, that Egyptian
Army units, including those with armored vehicles, have been to deployed in Cairo in an apparent effort to head off peaceful
protestors as well as silence journalists and news reporters seeking to cover these recent events,” Smith said. “Based upon credible reports about the recent harassment
and beating by Egyptian police of journalists from Al Jazeera, CNN, and the Arabic service of the BBC, we are also urging
President Mubarak to intervene to stop the attacks on journalists and permit press freedom and accurate news reporting of
breaking developments in Cairo and elsewhere in Egypt,” Smith further stated. “We are strongly urging Mubarak to halt attacks on journalists and cease the internet
censorship,” Smith concluded. “Military and security force attacks against peaceful protestors should also cease.”
http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org Internet instant messaging, social network sites
and other forms of internet and mobile telephone communications have been blocked by the Mubarak government in an apparent
effort to stifle protestors, anti-government opposition groups and political dissidents in Egypt. President Mubarak has ruled Egypt for three decades.. The United States provides some $1.3 billion dollars in annual military assistance
to the Mubarak government in Egypt--with tens of billions in U.S. taxpayers’ assisting being provided to the Egyptian
military over the last three decades of President Mubarak’s rule. State-run television has announced a curfew in Egypt. Egypt is besieged with rampant unemployment, rising food prices and other problems. The Egyptian crisis follows earlier protests in Tunisia that resulted in the ousting
of its former President Ben Ali Zine El Abidine who was given asylum in the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia earlier this month.
Protests in Jordan are calling for the resignation
of its Prime Minister. ### Contact: Maria Gomez mgomez@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org or info@centerorpublicpolicyanalysis.org Tele. (202) 543-1444 CPPA - Center for Public Policy Analysis 2020 Pennsylvania Ave., NW. Washington, D.C.
20006 USA http://www.cppa-dc.org
Events kicking off the new thriller “Deep Driller”
by Henry F. Merritt were launched in the New York-city hinterland of Connecticut in recent days.
Press Release - 2009-10-21 23:15:55 -( Washington, D.C., Center for
Public Policy Analyss, October 21, 2009 via PR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung) - Oct 21, 20092009-10-21 23:15:55 - Events kicking off the new thriller “ Deep
Driller” by Henry F. Merritt were launched in
“Contemporary issues
of national identity, security, counter-terrorism operations and the struggle for energy resources come to vivid life in the
book’s colorful international cast of characters who engage in a timeless struggle against the rugged sea and conflicting
personal, corporate and national interests,” observed Philip Smith of the CPPA in Washington, D.C.Milford, CT, Washington,
D.C., New York, NY and Edinburgh, Scotland, October 21, 2009 Events kicking off the new thriller “Deep Driller”
( Xlibris ) by Henry F. Merritt were launched in the New York-city hinterland of Connecticut in recent days. www.amazon.com/Deep-Driller-Henry-F-Merritt/dp/143638656XOn Saturday, October 17, 2009, Henry F. Merritt spoke at a special book signing event and party in the Milford
area of Connecticut attended by a seemingly endless number of enthusiasts and interested people. Guests, colleagues
and friends of the author from New England and across the United States enjoyed readings from “Deep Driller” as
well as reflections by Mr. Merritt on his new suspense novel and 40 years experience in world-wide petroleum exploration.
A gifted and insightful writer, “Deep Driller” is Merritt’s first novel. search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?WRD=deep+drille ..Henry F. Merritt has spent the better part of a lifetime in petroleum exploration in the U.S., Canada, Asia, Africa,
South America and the North Sea, where he worked on a drilling rig off Scotland. “ ‘Deep Driller’
is a page- turner thriller about political plotting and terrorist violence on a North Sea oil rig. Henry Merritt, 50 years
in the business, shows that he knows what he writes about in his detailed description of the rig and its equipment, life on
board and the diverse mix of men involved in this specialized and sometimes dangerous work. The political intrigue is realistically
based on the sentiments of many in Scotland today. The suspense keeps building up in Merritt's story to a smashing climax.
‘Deep Driller’ is a very good read, and you'll learn a lot about a fascinating business. You will wish there was
a sequel, as I do,” stated Camille Lamont and Ted Lamont, from Oyster Bay, NY, in a recent review of the book. B. Jenkins Middleton, of the Washington, D.C.-area explained: “Deep Driller rhymes with ‘thriller,’ which
is what this fast-paced tale is, in spades. But it's much more than that: A detailed education in the culture and intricacies
of the oil exploration business in general and offshore drilling platforms in particular - in this case, a 250-foot tall behemoth
in the midst of a raging storm in the North Sea. The author, who spent his career in financing exploration for oil and gas
around the globe, obviously knows whereof he writes, weaving a story of industrial spying and potential terrorist sabotage
linked to the Scottish nationalism of the 1970's. His characters come alive through well-crafted dialogue, whether straight
Yankee English or tinged with the Scottish, Norwegian or Cajun accents of the polyglot crew of the rig. You won't be tempted
to read this one to put you to sleep!” According to Howard E. Douglas, of Austin, Texas, in a recent review:
“Once upon a time in the history of Western Civilization, there were men and women who pursued their professions or
calling yet still found time to keep diaries or create literature and art for the sheer joy of the undertaking and as affirmation
of the human genius. Alas, that element of our culture would seem in decline. Henry (Buzz) Merritt's new book, ‘Deep
Driller’, gives us hope that modern pop culture has not leveled everyone into a homogeneous blob of inarticulate matter.
Howard Douglas further observed: “Mr. Merritt has created a whopping good story infused with his love of
the sea, a practitioner's grasp of the oil industry and a natural storyteller's eye for the richness of human nature. Despite
the very contemporary setting, there is a kind of 19th century flair for wild places, for character and suspense. He knows
his subject and geography and describes places and events with the sureness of having ‘been there and done that’.
At the last page, the reader can feel that he has been told a compelling story by a character in the book itself. And perhaps
that is so. Who knows?” “ ‘Deep Driller’ is a penetrating and captivating novel about the
pioneering, wild-West days of North Sea oil exploration, corporate and international espionage and the rise of Scottish Nationalism,”
said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) in Washington, D.C. “Contemporary
issues of national identity, security, counter-terrorism operations and the struggle for energy resources come to vivid life
in the book’s colorful international cast of characters who engage in a timeless struggle against the rugged sea and
conflicting personal, corporate and national interests.” www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.orgMr. Smith attended the opening kick-off event in Connecticut, along with other invited participants from across
the United States and internationally. He was delighted to receive an autographed and personalized copy of the book from the
author along with many of the guests. The book signing event and reception with Mr. Merritt was attended by a diverse
and eclectic crowd of community leaders, businessmen, professionals, writers, artists, veterans, policy analysts as well as
colleagues and friends of the author, and others. -- Contact: Ms. Maria Lopez 2020 Pennsylvania Ave.,
N.W. Suite No. #212 Washington, D.C. 20006 USA |
