|
Welcome to one of the CPPA's webpages regarding the current Laos Hmong Refugee
Crisis. Please select from the list below to find press releases or articles of interest. Please also see other resources
on this site including "CPPA In The News" and "East Asia Press Releases,"--and other pages. 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.” ### 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, 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 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 Christians
Center
for Public Policy Analysis
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.
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.
Compass Direct News, Cross Walk, and others
have reported on similar incidents of egregious religious persecution in Laos in recent months
and years.
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.
###
Contact:
Maria Gomez
CPPA - Center for Public Policy
Analysis 2020 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Suite #220 Washington, DC 20006 USA Businesswire - 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.
www.businesswire.com/.../Laos-Hmong-Crisis-Rights-Groups-International-Appeal
Dec 27, 2009 ... CPPA - Center for Public Policy Analysis Juan Lopez
or Philip Smith ... info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org · http://www.cppa-dc.org
...
www.businesswire.com/.../Senate-Questions-U.S.-Thailand-Military
-Funding-Anupong-Abhisi Laos, Hmong Refugee Crisis - Thailand's PM Abhisit, Anupong Should Stop Forced Douglas and the Center for Public
Policy Analysis (CPPA) are urging Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to seriously
address this humanitarian crisis and emancipate the Lao Hmong refugees for resettlement abroad. Douglas and
the Center for Public Policy Analysis
(CPPA) are urging Thailan
www.businesswire.com/ portal/ site/ home/ permalink/ ?ndmViewId=news_view &newsId=20091208006445
&newsLang=en Thailand's Predator General Unwelcome in Washington, D.C. Following Forced Return of Laos, Hmong Refugees 12/02/2010, General Anupong's
grotesque and ill-timed visit to Washington, D.C. is shameful and inappropriate; Anupong should receive zero additional funding
for U.S. military assistance or training in light of his brutal acts against the freedom loving and peaceful people living
in Thailand, including ordinary Thai citizens, Lao Hmong refugees, Karen and Burmese asylum seekers and others," said
Philip Smith of the CPPA in Washington, D.C. Royal Laos Veterans Stress National Need for Burial Honors
08/06/2010, The Lao Veterans of America is urging national support for Congressman Costa's efforts to honor Laotian
and Hmong veterans who served in combat in the Kingdom of Laos battling Pathet Lao communist and North Vietnamese forces during
the Vietnam War Laos' Secret Jails, Camps: Minnesota Hmong Appeal for Families, US Citizens Jailed in Gulag 01/13/2010, Minnesota Twin Cities’
Hmong families are appealing for the release of their relatives held in secret prisons and camps in Laos. Laos Refugee Crisis: Thailand's General Anupong Paochinda, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva Denounced 12/28/2009,
As the result of the ongoing mass forced repatriation of Hmong refugees to Laos, Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva
and Army Chief of Staff Anupong Paochinda have been accused of serious violations of international law and erasing Thailand's
record of compassion toward refugees by senior, current and former, American officials, including Members of Congress, former
U.S. Ambassador H. Eugene Douglas and other policymakers. Vietnam, Laos Crackdown: SEA Games Avoided By Overseas Lao, Hmong in Protest
Laotians from the United States, Canada, France, Australia, Thailand and other countries have joined the protest
boycott refusing to attend the SEA Game events that are being held in the coming days in Vientiane, Laos. Abhisit, Anupong’s Thanksgiving Day Final Solution to the Laos, Hmong Problem: Thailand Moves More Troops Against Unarmed
Hmong Refugees 11/26/2009
Thailand’s Defense
Prawit Wongsuwon and Minister of Interior (MOI) Chavarat Charnvirakuland and Army Chief Anupong Paochinda have ordered more
Royal Thai Third Army and special MOI troops to prepare for the mass forced repatriation of over 5,100 Lao Hmong political
refugees. There are growing indications that mass forced repatriations of the Laotian refugees may occur over the American
Thanksgiving Day holiday period or prior to the start of the Southeast Asia Games (SEA Games or SEAG) in early December. The
Thai military and General Anupong Paochinda have threatened to return all Lao Hmong refugees in Thailand to Laos by the end
of the year. St. Paul Americans Imprisoned in Laos: Hmong Urged to be Released Before SEA Games 11/25/2009
Mr. Hakit Yang, Mr.
Congshineng Yang, and Mr. Trillion Yunhansion were arrested by Lao military and security forces in the summer of 2007 without
charges and are still being imprisoned and held in LaosLaos in early December. It is hoped that Laos may release the men as
a good will gesture prior to the start of the SEA Games. after over two years without due process. The Southeast Asia
Games (SEAG or SEA Games) are to begin in
Thailand SEA Games Crisis in Laos : Prawit Wongsuwon, Abhisit, Anupong Send Soldiers Against Hmong Refugees 11/21/2009
Thailand's Prime Minister
Abhisit Vejjajiva, Army Chief-of-Staff General Anupong Paochinda, Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, and Ministry of Interior
(MOI) Minister Chavarat Charnvirakuland, and other Thai policymakers, have newly deployed hundreds more special troops to
the Lao Hmong refugee camps and are coercing and threatening to force all Lao Hmong refugees back to the communist regime
in Laos they fled before the start of the SEA Games, or by the end of this year.
Corruption High in Laos As SEA Games Approach in Vientiane
Systemic human rights abuses and corruption in the Lao Peoples Army, which dominates Laos’ communist politburo
and government, has fueled civil unrest and mass arrests by the LPDR government in recent weeks as hundreds of Laotians have
sought to protest against the Lao government prior to the start of the Southeast Asia Games (SEA Games). Laos Crisis: SEA Games Preceded By Human Rights Concerns, Violations
The Lao Peoples Army (LPA) is launching renewed military attacks on Lao and Hmong civilians and political and
religious dissident groups in-hiding in the Phou Bia and Phou Da Phao areas of, Xieng Khouang Province, Laos, prior to the
start of the upcoming Southeast Asia games (SEA Games) in Vientiane, Laos. Laos Crisis: SEA Games Preceded By Human Rights Concerns, Violations
The Lao Peoples Army (LPA) is launching renewed military attacks on Lao and Hmong civilians and political and
religious dissident groups in-hiding in the Phou Bia and Phou Da Phao areas of, Xieng Khouang Province, Laos, prior to the
start of the upcoming Southeast Asia games (SEA Games) in Vientiane, Laos. U.S. Congress Advances Laos Bill To Help Combat Veterans 11/04/2009 America's giving Lao and Hmong veterans burial benefits is a fitting tribute and a distinguishing
honor to the men and boys who survived the bloody fighting in the Lao theater of the Vietnam War and came to the U.S. as refugees.
Laos, Thailand Refugee Crisis: SEA Games May Suffer More Political Violence, Unrest
11/17/2009 "The Thailand
and Laos refugee crisis may stir more unwanted political violence and civil unrest prior to the SEA games start if a military
solution continues to be pursued by Thai Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, General Anupong and Prime Minister Abhisit as
well as the Lao military," said Philip Smith, of the Center for Public Policy Analysis in Washington, D.C. Urgent Appeal During SEA Games For Laos Prisoners of Conscience, Hmong Refugees
"Prior to the SEA Games in Laos, the Laotian groups from Vientiane
as well as other parts of Laos were seeking change and reforms in Laos, including expressing solidarity and concerns about
imprisoned Lao students, religious persecution, the military intervention of Vietnam's security forces and troops from Hanoi,
and very high-levels of corruption within the one-party military regime in the LPDR,” said Philip Smith of the Center
for Public Policy Analysis in Washington, D.C. 2009/12/09  Vietnam, Laos Crackdown: SEA Games Avoided By Overseas Lao, Hmong in Protest
Laotians from the United States, Canada, France, Australia, Thailand and other countries have joined the protest
boycott refusing to attend the SEA Game events that are being held in the coming days in Vientiane, Laos. 2009/12/07
EP: Thailand Urged to Liberate Hmong refugees, Laos Urged To Free Students
The European Parliament has adopted a major resolution condemning
egregious and systemic human rights violations in Laos by the one-party, authoritarian Lao Peoples Democratic Republic (LPDR)
military regime. The resolution also appeals to Thailand to immediately free Lao Hmong refugees facing forced repatriation
back to the communist regime in Laos so they can be resettled in third countries such as France, Canada, Australia, New Zealand,
The Netherlands and the United States. 2009/11/27
Abhisit, Anupong’s Thanksgiving Day Final Solution to the Laos, Hmong Problem: Thailand
Moves More Troops Against Unarmed Hmong Refugees
Thailand’s Defense Prawit Wongsuwon and Minister of Interior
(MOI) Chavarat Charnvirakuland and Army Chief Anupong Paochinda have ordered more Royal Thai Third Army and special MOI troops
to prepare for the mass forced repatriation of over 5,100 Lao Hmong political refugees. There are growing indications that
mass forced repatriations of the Laotian refugees may occur over the American Thanksgiving Day holiday period or prior to
the start of the Southeast Asia Games (SEA Games or SEAG) in early December. The Thai military and General Anupong Paochinda
have threatened to return all Lao Hmong refugees in Thailand to Laos by the end of the year. 2009/11/25
St. Paul Americans Imprisoned in Laos: Hmong Urged to be Released Before SEA Games
Mr. Hakit Yang, Mr. Congshineng Yang, and Mr. Trillion Yunhansion
were arrested by Lao military and security forces in the summer of 2007 without charges and are still being imprisoned and
held in Laos after over two years without due process. The Southeast Asia Games (SEAG or SEA Games) are to begin in Laos in
early December. It is hoped that Laos may release the men as a good will gesture prior to the start of the SEA Games. 2009/11/23
Thailand SEA Games Crisis in Laos : Prawit Wongsuwon, Abhisit, Anupong Send Soldiers Against Hmong
Refugees
Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Army Chief-of-Staff
General Anupong Paochinda, Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, and Ministry of Interior (MOI) Minister Chavarat Charnvirakuland,
and other Thai policymakers, have newly deployed hundreds more special troops to the Lao Hmong refugee camps and are coercing
and threatening to force all Lao Hmong refugees back to the communist regime in Laos they fled before the start of the SEA
Games, or by the end of this year. 2009/11/20 Corruption High in Laos As SEA Games Approach in Vientiane
Systemic human rights abuses and corruption in the Lao Peoples
Army, which dominates Laos’ communist politburo and government, has fueled civil unrest and mass arrests by the LPDR
government in recent weeks as hundreds of Laotians have sought to protest against the Lao government prior to the start of
the Southeast Asia Games (SEA Games). 2009/11/18 Laos, Thailand Refugee Crisis: SEA Games May Suffer More Political Violence, Unrest
"The Thailand and Laos refugee crisis may stir more unwanted
political violence and civil unrest prior to the SEA games start if a military solution continues to be pursued by Thai Defense
Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, General Anupong and Prime Minister Abhisit as well as the Lao military," said Philip Smith,
of the Center for Public Policy Analysis in Washington, D.C. 2009/11/17 Laos, Vietnam Army Crackdown in the Kingdom of A Million Elephants
As President Barack Obama arrives in Southeast Asia for talks,
over eleven hundred and seventy-six Laotians have been arrested in Laos for suspected opposition to the authoritarian military
regime and the increasingly violent intervention of Hanoi's armed forces in Laos. Thirty-eight (38) more people were brutally
arrested in midnight, door-to-door raids by secret police and army units of the Lao Peoples Army (LPA) and Vietnam last night
in Vientiane, Laos. With the start of the Southeast Asia Games (SEA Games) slated to begin just weeks from now in early December,
Laos is seeking to renew a major faltering military effort to maintain civil order against Lao and Hmong pro-democracy, human
rights and political and religious dissidents, as well as ordinary citizens, who have sought to mobilize in mass opposition
to the authoritarian regime in the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic (LPDR). 2009/11/13
Mortars Slam Jungle Enclaves in Laos Killing, Wounding 6 Hmong
In Laos, six (6) Lao Hmong women and children were wounded or killed
by army artillery and mortar attacks directed against Laotian civilians hiding from government forces in remote mountain and
jungle areas of Laos. 2009/11/07 Laos, Vietnam Crisis: Activists Mobilize for Human Rights, Religious Freedom Before SEA Games
In Vientiane, hundreds of Lao and Hmong students and activists
have sought to organize peaceful demonstrations in Laos against widespread government corruption and Stalinist policies in
the one-party communist regime. 2009/11/06
Hundreds More Laotians Arrested by Laos Army As SEA Games Approach
The military regime in Laos has engaged in a massive new round
of arrests of suspected political and religious dissidents prior to the SEA Games opening in December. In Laos, 346 people
preparing for anti-government demonstrations in support of human rights and democracy were arrest beginning on November 2
in Vientiane. Many are still being jailed. Ethnic Hmong and Laotian civilians and dissidents are also being attacked and persecuted
by Lao military and security forces. 2009/11/04
Laos Crisis: SEA Games Preceded By Human Rights Concerns, Violations
The Lao Peoples Army (LPA) is launching renewed military attacks
on Lao and Hmong civilians and political and religious dissident groups in-hiding in the Phou Bia and Phou Da Phao areas of,
Xieng Khouang Province, Laos, prior to the start of the upcoming Southeast Asia games (SEA Games) in Vientiane, Laos. 2009/11/01
Laos General in Charge of Hmong Repatriation Denies UN, Amnesty Reports of Attacks
Laos Human Rights Council Expresses Concerns About Hmong Refugees in LPDR
Obama Urged By Hmong Veterans To Intervene to Help Stop Thailand’s Forced Return of Refugees
Blood Everywhere: Abhisit, Anupong Order More Hmong Refugees Beaten, Tazered By Thai Soldiers
Leahy May Review Funding of U.S.-Thailand Military Relations as Anupong, Abhisit Move Against
Hmong
HRW Letter to Thailand's Abhisit: More Christmas Day Hope for Hmong Refugees Who Fled Persecution
in Laos
U.S. State Department, Senate Urge Thailand’s Abhisit, Anupong to Stop Hmong Refugee Return
to Laos
No Return from Laos: Thailand Army Column, Buses Arrive At Hmong Refugee Camp
More Laos, Hmong Refugees Forcibly Returned By Thailand Arrested, Killed by LPDR
Southeast Asia Games: SEA Games Raise Laos, Hmong Human Rights Problems
SEA Games: Laos, Hmong Arrested Prior To SEAG of Concern to Amnesty International
Boycott of SEA Games Widens As Thousands of Americans Ostracize Laos PDR Regime For Violations
McWilliams Appeals To End Repatriation of Laos, Hmong Refugees in Thailand
European Parliament Urges Emancipation of Lao Hmong Refugees in Thailand, Freedom for Jailed Laos
Students
SEA Game Attacks: Vietnam, Laos Military Kill 23 Lao Hmong Christians on Thanksgiving
Thailand’s MOI Chief Chavarat Charnvirakuland, Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwon Prepare
Abhisit, Anupong's Final Solution to Laos, Hmong Problem
U.S. Amb. Douglas: Halt Urged To Abhisit's Hmong, Laos Repatriation Tragedy in Thailand
Laos Urged To Free 3 Jailed Americans Before SEA Games: St. Paul, Minnesota Hmong Men in Limbo
International Communiqué on Laos Urges Release of Lao Hmong Refugees in Thailand
SEA Games Crisis in Laos: Lao PDR Listed As Among World’s Most Corrupt Nations
We Salute You: Hmong, Lao Veterans of America to Kham Xiong and U.S. Army Victims
Laos Rocked By Students, Activists: Army Violence as SEA Games Approach
Laos SEA Games: Lao, Hmong Demonstrators Beaten, Dragged Screaming to Prisons
Laos: Mass Arrests of 346 Protesters Prior to SEA Games
Support Grows For Laos, Hmong Veterans Bill in U.S. Congress
Southeast Asia Games in Laos Overshadowed by Army Intervention
SEA Games Problems: Psych Ops, Machine Guns Directed Against Laos, Hmong Refugees By Thailand’s
PM Abhisit Vejjajiva, General Anupong
“You Will Never Be Forgotten”: Lao Hmong Vets Bill Spearheaded by Jim Costa, Nunes,
Cardoza, Radanovich, Kagen
Laos Students, Persecuted Religious Believers, Christians Memorialized on Anniversary of Crack
Down
Veterans of Laos Secret War Mobilize on Capitol Hill
U.S. Congress, President Obama Urged to Honor Lao Hmong Veterans With Burial Benefits
Shooting Erupts With M-16s in Thailand Against Laos, Hmong Refugees
Laos, Hmong Crisis: Thailand’s General Anupong Paojinda, Prime Minister Abhisit Open Fire
on Refugees
Thailand’s Abhisit Vejjajiva, Gen. Anupong Paojinda, Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha Mobilize Troops
Against Laos, Hmong Refugees
Abhisit Vejjajiva Ignores Appeals To Thailand's King on Laos, Hmong Crisis
Laos Students Appeal To Senator Jim Webb for Release of Student Leaders
Vietnam, Laos War Criminal Meets with Senator Jim Webb
Virginia Laotians Appeal to Senator Jim Webb To Stop Abuses Against Families, Students
U.S. Senator Jim Webb: Lao Hmong Shot Raped by LPA Soldiers During Visit
Thailand Again Urged to Halt Refugee Push Back of Hmong
Forced Back to Laos: Thailand 3rd Army, MOI Troops Brutalize 24 Hmong Refugees
Ambassador Douglas Issues Key Statement on Laos, Hmong Crisis in Thailand
Clinton, Webb Talks To Stop Laos, Hmong Refugee Crisis in Thailand Praised
Laos, Hmong Prison Hell: St. Paul Americans, Students Still Jailed
Laos: Hundreds Trapped As Military Attacks Lao Hmong Civilians
Report on Laos Violations, Hmong Crisis Discussed During Thailand Camp Visit
Laos Support for North Korea in Opposition to Obama, Clinton
Laos Troops Gang Rape Hmong Girl, Kill 5 Civilians - UPDATED
Laos, Hmong Letter Released in U.S. Congress, Washington, D.C.
Reps. Ron Kind, Tammy Baldwin, Steve Kagan, Frank Wolf, Dana Rohrabacher sign Laos,Hmong Letter
McWilliams Spotlights Reps. Kennedy, Rep. Cardoza's letter in Opposing to Laos, Hmong Abuses
U.S. Congress Urges Sec. Clinton, Thailand to Stop Forcing Hmong to Laos
Washington, D.C. Observes National Lao Hmong Veterans Recognition Day Events
Laos Ethnic Cleansing Task Force Kills 12 Hmong Children
MSF Hmong, Laos Refugee Effort in Thailand Lauded By Dr. Hamilton-Merritt, Congress
Laos, Hmong Mobilize to Appeal to U.S. Congress, President Obama To Help Feed, Save Refugees
Abhisit Vejjajiva, Thailand Army Abuses Force Hmong, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) To Leave
St. Paul Hmong Wife Urges Laos To Release Jailed Americans
Laos, Hmong Community of Minnesota Speaks in U.S. Congress
Laos Army Targets Hmong Christian, Shaman Believers in Thailand
Military in Laos Targets Hmong Civilians, Kills 9
Laos Movement for Human Rights: LPDR on U.S. Watch List
Abhisit’s Starvation of Laos, Hmong Refugees in Thailand Sparks Suicides
National Policy Conference on Laos, Hmong Thailand Crisis
Kay Danes, Sheng Xiong to Speak About Laos, Hmong Human Rights Issues
Hmong Americans Still Held in Laos From St. Paul Minnesota
Laos Student Movement for Democracy Issues Statement in Vientiane, Washington DC
Laos, Vietnam Troops Slaughter Lao, Hmong: Over 6500 Face Death
Laos, Thailand Hmong Refugee Crisis: Australian Author to Speak at World Affairs, Washington,
D.C. Events
World Hmong Congress Officially Recognized Hmong Pahawh Written Langauge
Laos, Thailand Hmong Crisis: President Obama, Secretary Clinton Urged To Save Refugees
U.S. Senate Briefing on Laos, Hmong Crisis: Tragic Mountains Commemorated
U.S. Congressional Briefing on the Laotian and Hmong Refugee Crisis in Thailand and Laos
Laos, Hmong Refugee Crisis: Tragic Mountains and the Human Rights Challenge in Thailand
Hmong Refugees Forced Back To Laos By Thailand's Military Draws Fire in Washington
U.S. Congress Raises Concerns About Hmong Americans in Laos
Thailand, Laos Crisis: Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva Deploys Troops Against Hmong
Hmong Community and NGOs in the U.S. condemned Vietnam
Hmong Persecution in Laos: US Congress, Norm Coleman Urge Action
Laos military launches bloody attacks on Hmong civilians in hiding
Hmong: Institutional Violence, Racism By Laos Regime
St. Paul Hmong Americans Imprisoned in Laos: US Senator Coleman Urges Bush To Act
Hmong, Laos Community in California, Veterans Honor Tragic Mountains Author
Hmong, Laos Crisis: No Christmas for Hmong Refugees, Kue Xiong, As Thailand’s Third Army
Mobilizes
Hmong Joint Statement Appeal Issued: Text of International Communique
Hmong Joint Diaspora Statement: Communique Appeals For Solution to Thailand, Laos Refugee Crisis
Laos, Hmong Crisis: LMHR Commemorates Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Somchai’s Thailand, Laos Crisis: Torture, Abduction of Lao Hmong Refugees as Amnesty International,
UN Appeal
Laos Movement for Human Rights Calls For Release of Jailed Student Leaders
United League for Democracy in Laos Demands Release of Vientiane Student Protesters
Hmong Students, College Discuss Human Rights, Refugee Crisis in Laos, Thailand
Dr. Jane Hamilton Merritt Speaks To Hmong, Laos Students in Green Bay, Wisconsin
Wisconsin Hmong Students, Laos Community Welcome, Honor Human Rights Advocate
Thailand, Laos’ Hmong Crisis: Somchai Urged to Reverse Policy, Stop Pressuring refugees
to return to Stalinist regime
Thailand’s Somchai Visits Laos Following Bloody Military, Chemical Weapons Attacks on Hmong
Laos, Hmong Refugee Crisis: Human Rights Watch Questions Thailand’s Forced Repatriation,
Plight of Protest Marchers
Hmong Students in Wisconsin Discuss Tragic Mountains: Laos History, Refugee, Human Rights Crisis
Thailand, Laos Crisis: Officials Demand Hmong Refugees Return to Killing Fields
Thailand, Laos Human Rights, Refugee Advocate, Author Honored By Hmong Across America
Hmong New Year, Laos Community Honors Nobel Peace Prize Nominee Jane Hamilton-Merritt
Laos, Thailand Crisis: 31 Hmong Arrested Following Renewed LPDR Military Attacks
Laos, Thailand Hmong Crisis: LMHR Says More Laotian Christians Persecuted Following New Arrests
Laos, Hmong Crisis: European Parliament, LMHR Address Human Rights Violations By Lao Military
Junta
Thailand Laos Samak Crisis: Open Letter By Ambassador Douglas To President Bush on Hmong
Samak, George Bush Thailand, Laos Crisis: US Congress urges Samak,Bush to Address Hmong Crisis
Thailand, Samak Crisis: Ambassador Douglas Appeals to President Bush On Hmong, Laos Repatriation
Thailand, Samak Crisis: Secretary Condoleezza Rice Urged by 20 US Congressmen to Stop Sending
Hmong to Laos
Laos: Release of Political Prisoners, Hmong Refugee Reeducation Camp Victims Urged
Hmong Laos Human Rights Council Reports New Ethnic Cleansing Attacks By LPDR
Human Rights Crisis in Laos Continues: Lao Students Jailed, Hmong Under Attack
Laos, Thailand Crisis: Forced Repatriation of Hmong Refugees Concerns Human Rights Watch
Laos Crisis: Samak’s Forced Repatriation Leads To New Military Attack Against Hmong
Samak’s Thailand, Laos Crisis: Appeal to King, Gen. Nipat Thonglek Condemned
U.S. Congress: Crisis in Laos and Thailand Facing the Laotian and Hmong People
Thailand Samak Crisis: 13 Hmong Leaders Disappear, Thousands More Fear Laos
Samak, Thailand Crisis: Over 800 Hmong Forcibly Repatriated to Laos
Laos, Thailand Crisis: Action Urged by U.S. Ambassador, Congress on Hmong
U.S. Congress to Laos: Stop Attacks Against Hmong Now
US Senators Urge Samak To Halt Hmong Crisis
Laos, Vietnam: Withdrawal of Troops Urged At Protest, Conference
Thailand, Laos: US Senators Urge Samak To Halt Hmong Crisis, Repatriation
Samak Damaging Thailand's Relation With United States: Forcing Hmong To Laos
Samak's Thailand, Laos Crisis: Hmong Refugee Camp Burns, Hunger Strike Continues
Laos, Thailand Crisis: Eight Senators Urge Action on Hmong
Thailand, Samak Crisis: Senators Respond to Hmong Crisis, Hunger Strike
Laos, Vietnam: Attacks Against Hmong Civilians Mount
Thailand Arrest: 7,000 Hmong on Hunger Strike
Vietnam, Laos National Ceremonies to Honor Hmong Veterans
Religious Persecution of Laos, Hmong Citizens Increases
Laos Arrests Christian Pastors: Crackdown Expands
Laos: Religious Persecution Puts Regime on Watch List
Vietnam: Corruption, Illegal Logging in Laos Linked to Killing of Hmong
Samak Attacks in Laos Against Hmong Refugees Stain Washington Visit
Thailand, Laos Crisis: Samak Attacks Stain Washington Visit
Hmong Laos Protesters Condemn Visit of Ambassador Ravic Huso to Minnesota
Wisconsin and Minnesota Organize for Lao-Hmong Community
Samak Blasted Over Laos Killings: Attacks on Hmong in Thailand, Laos
Concerns Regarding Thailand, Laos Prompt Letter to United States Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice
US Senate Letter To Secretary Rice Raises Serious Concerns About Laos, Thailand Crisis
|
