The persecution, imprisonment and killing of minority Christians and independent Animist and Buddhist believers who seek to worship in freedom outside the control of the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic (LPDR) government’s control in Laos has intensified. Laos is slated to host the South East Asia Games ( SEA Games ) in December.
Luang Prabang and Vientiane, Laos and Washington, D.C., November 29, 2009
The persecution, imprisonment and killing of minority Christians and independent Animist and Buddhist groups who seek to worship in freedom outside the control of the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic (LPDR) government’s control in Laos has intensified.
Release International, Open Doors, Compass Direct, International Christian Concern, Persecution International, Human Rights Watch for
Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF), Christian Aid, Voice of the Martyrs, Barnabas Fund, the Lao Movement for Human Rights (LMHR), the Lao Hmong Human Rights Council (LHHRC), the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), United League for Democracy in Laos (ULDL), Hmong Advance, Inc. (HA), Hmong Advancement, Inc. (HAI), Lao and Hmong student organizations, the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) and others have documented the upswing in efforts by the LPDR to use its military and security forces to seek to oppress religious believers who operate independently of the LPDR regime.
The LPDR regime in Laos is a staunch ally of Burma and North Korea. The LPDR in Laos provided sanctuary and support to the military junta leader and their families in Burma during the mass arrest and crackdown against Burmese Buddhist monks. The families of Burmese generals involved in military action against the peaceful Buddhist protests were given sanctuary in Laos during the peaceful protests by Buddhist monks in Yangoon and elsewhere in Burma in 2007. The LPDR regime has engaged in the persecution, arrest and imprisonment of independent Buddhist believers and dissident Buddhist monks seeking to practice their faith independently of the LPDR secret police who monitor many of the Buddhist temples in Laos.
"Many of our Lao Buddhist believers, who oppose the Lao regimes oppression and manipulation of the Buddhist faith and Buddhist temples seeking to operate outside of the government’s strict control, and who support the Lao Student’s peaceful demonstrations, are also being persecuted by the Lao military regime said Mr. Bounthanh Rathigna, President of the United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc.
“We are urging the LPDR regime to release all of the Lao students, and other political and religious dissidents, prior to the upcoming South East Asia games ( SEA games ) in Vientiane,and give the... people amnesty Mr. Rathigna concluded.
On November 26, 2009, according to Laotian sources in Laos as well as the Center for Public Policy Analysis, twenty-three ( 23 ) unarmed Lao Hmong Christian civilians were recently killed by LPA and VPA soldiers in the early hours of Thanksgiving Day ( Vientiane Time ) during intense military attacks at the Phou Bia Mountain Area of Laos in Xieng Khouang Province as well as Vientiane Province by LPA and VPA soldiers.
media-newswire.com/release_1106723.html
Hundreds of Laotian and Hmong religious dissident and persecuted Buddhist, Animist and Christian religious believers have fled from Laos along with political dissidents and political refugees where they face persecution and forced repatriation in refugee camps in Thailand. Laos has send Lao Peoples Army officers to refugee camps in Thailand, including Ban Huay Nam Khao to persecute independent Christian and Animist religious leaders, close Christian House churches and Animist shrines and stop them from holding religious rituals and ceremonies.
www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0905/S00160.htm
www.media-newswire.com/release_1090786.html
As cited in “Christianity Today” (June 4, 2009), Release International recently .traveled to Laos to investigate the treatment of Christian prisoners. They uncovered a catalogue of abuse. Several had been imprisoned without trial. They include Stephen, whose real name cannot be given for security reasons, who was arrested and jailed after a village head man objected to him talking about his faith. He told Release: “The police put my feet in stocks and chains on my hands. I could not move. The cell smelled like a toilet. Sometimes I could not breathe because of the smell Pastor Timothy, whose real name has been concealed for security reasons, was arrested for bringing a foreign religion to Laos. He claims to have been beaten almost to death. He told Release: ‘They asked me to sign a piece of paper that said that I would not be a Christian because Christians are not good or not right for the Lao people. I didn't sign it because of my faith” www.christiantoday.com/article/release.warns.of.appalling.condit ..
“The Laos constitution professes freedom of religion in its Constitution: "Lao citizens, irrespective of their sex, social status, education, faith, and ethnic groups are all equal before the law" according to Article 22. Article 9, however, is loosely written to say, ‘The state respects and protects all lawful activities of the Buddhists and of other religious followers . . . to participate in the activities which are beneficial to the country and people So, practicing Christianity in any of its manifestations can be construed as not being beneficial to the country. Charges are made against Christians for ‘violating the religious traditions of their ancestors Worship services, religious gatherings, Christian burial services, marriage ceremonies, prayer meetings, evensong and praise all qualify as violations. Politics weigh heavily in the accusations made against Christians in Laos. This is just a sampling of letters from groups receiving help through Christian Aid: In July of last year, 17 Christian families were detained in the Katin village school. The district authorities ordered the families be detained without food. They brought with them a book entitled ‘The Tricks of the Enemy (The "enemy," being the United States of America.) The authorities accused all those believing in Christ as being helpers of the Americans, because ‘Christianity is the American religion Christian Aid said in April 2009 statement about Laos.
www.christianaid.org/Missionaries/MIR/mir20090429.aspx
International Christian Concern (ICC) has frequently raised the issue of Christians persecuted and killed in Laos, including the use of Hmong Christian children for target practice and mutilation by the Lao military.
www.persecution.org/suffering/newsdetail.php?newscode=10702&PHPS ..
Lao Authorities have repeatedly threatened to jail and kill Christians. In a September 11, 2009, statement by Compass Direct News and the HRWLRF: “Authorities in Laos last week jailed a church leader in Savannakhet Province for embracing Christianity and threatened to expel him unless he renounces his faith – and kill him if his arrest is made public, according to a human rights organization. Officials from Liansai village, from Saybouthong sub-district and from Ad-Sapangthong district on Sept. 3 arrested Thao Oun, an elder at Boukham Church, at his home and forced him at gunpoint to the Saybounthong sub‐district office, according to Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF). The organization said the officials turned him over to the chief of police of Saybouthong sub‐district, Thao Somphet, who detained, interrogated, and terrorized the Christian for nearly six hours. Oun was charged with bringing destruction to the Lao nation and government by embracing Christianity, which the officials consider a ‘foreign religion to be abhorred according to HRWLRF. The chief of police demanded that Oun immediately renounce Christianity or face expulsion from the village. He ‘further threatened Thao Oun that if word of his arrest and interrogation get out to the international community, he will be put to death according to HRWLRF
www.compassdirect.org/english/country/laos/9254/
“Police in Borikhamxay province, Laos, on March 19 destroyed a church building in Nonsomboon village while Christian residents attended a meeting called by district officials Compass Direct News said in a March 30, 2009 statement.
wwrn.org/articles/30608/?&place=cambodia-laos
“ Last Sunday (July 5, 2009) officials and residents of Katin village in Ta Oih district, Saravan province, Laos, confiscated and slaughtered livestock belonging to nine Christian families in an effort to force them to renounce their faith. In June village elders had warned the families, 53 people in total, to renounce the faith they had adopted in late May or face “serious consequences according to advocacy group Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF). When the Christians ignored this warning and attended worship services in a neighboring village, villagers broke into their pig pens and seized one pig per family, later slaughtering the animals and distributing the meat among themselves, according to HRWLRF stated Compass Direct News on July 10, 2009. wwrn.org/articles/31329/?&place=cambodia-laos
Following the confiscation of livestock from Christian families earlier this month, officials in a village in Laos on Saturday (July 11) called a special meeting for all residents and announced that they had “banned the Christian faith in our village Compass Direct News stated. www.compassdirect.org/english/country/laos/4576
On June 12, thirteen Christians were arrested by plain clothes police, after visiting Christian villages in Laos, according to The Voice of the Martyrs.
persecutedchurch.blogspot.com/2009/06/thirteen-christians-arrest ..
In a separate incident: “Fourteen Khmu Christian families in Laos are standing strong in their faith, despite the Communist government forcing them to relocate to another village and their homes and church building being destroyed… In 2003, the families were evicted by the government and relocated to another village where they were moved again. "After these 14 families stayed at this village for a year, the Communist Party members of the village found out that the head of the village loved them," VOM contacts said. The village leader] even allowed them to build a bamboo church on his land The Communist district governor was not happy with the head of the village. . [The] governor kicked him out from his post and then replaced [him] with another man. The new head of the village started persecuting them from 2006 to 2009," VOM contacts report. The leader refused to allow them to register, making them illegal residents and he stopped them from farming land, the contacts said The Voice of the Martyrs reported earlier this year.
www.persecution.com/public/newsroom.aspx?story_ID=MTEw
Laos placed the LPDR regime in Laos on its World Watch List as one of world’s worst regimes engaged in religious persecution and egregious violators of religious liberty. According to a 2009 study by Open Doors, of the 50 countries in which the worst Christian persecution exists in the world, Laos was listed among the worst 10 countries engaged in religious persecution and violations of freedom of religion. www.opendoorsusa.org/content/view/962/21/
In a 2009 statement and report, the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom placed Laos on its watch list for religious freedom violations and persecution on believers.
www.media-newswire.com/release_1090417.html
www.uscirf.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2668&It ..
Contacts: Ms. Maria Gomez or Mr. Juan Lopez
Center for Public Policy Analysis
info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
Tele. (202) 543-1444
2020 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
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Washington, D.C. 20006
Source
Monday, November 30, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
SEA Game Attacks: Vietnam, Laos Military Kill 23 Lao Hmong Christians on Thanksgiving
"Lao military helicopters are reportedly delivering, on almost a daily basis, food, ammunition and supplies to the Lao Peoples Army (LPA) military camp in Pha Phai and elsewhere in Phu Bia mountain, Laos that is being used to attack Lao Hmong civilians and religious believers and political dissidents hiding in the jungles and mountain there in Laos, " said Vaughn Vang of the Lao Hmong Human Rights Council in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
(Media-Newswire.com) - Vientiane, Laos, Chang Mai, Thailand, Washington, D.C. - November 26, 2009 - In apparent preparation for the upcoming SEA Games in Vientiane, Laos, in December, the Lao People’s Army ( LPA ) in Laos and the Vietnam People’s Army ( VPA ) have undertaken a major troop surge in key rural and mountainous provinces in Laos where Lao and Hmong civilians and religious believers, including Christians, have sought sanctuary.
Twenty-three ( 23 ) unarmed Lao Hmong Christian civilians were recently killed by LPA and VPA soldiers in the early hours of Thanksgiving Day ( Vientiane Time ) during intense military attacks at the Phou Bia Mountain Area of Laos in Xieng Khouang Province as well as Vientiane Province by LPA and VPA soldiers.
Two new battalions of LPA soldiers have been deployed to hunt and kill Lao Hmong Christian and animist believers seeking to practice their faith outside of the Lao government’s strict control. Ordinary Lao Hmong civilians as well and other religious and political dissidents have come under increased attack in Laos as Hanoi and Laos undertake a significant troop surge in apparent preparation for the start of the Southeast Asia Games ( SEAG or SEA games ) in early December.
“Lao military helicopters are reportedly delivering, on almost a daily basis, food, ammunition and supplies to the Lao Peoples Army ( LPA ) military camp in Pha Phai and elsewhere in Phu Bia mountain, Laos that is being used to attack Lao Hmong civilians and religious believers and political dissidents hiding in the jungles and mountain there in Laos, ” said Vaughn Vang of the Lao Hmong Human Rights Council in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Vang continued: “Hanoi and the Vietnam Peoples Army and LPA troops are also using ethnic Hmong communist commanders to track, hunt and kill their own Hmong people at Phou Bia Mountain, including LPA communist deputy commander Lor Vue and LPA Deputy Commander Vang Yang.
Vaughn Vang explained: “The LPA troops and commanders are intentionally targeting for military attack and starvation unarmed Lao and Hmong Christian and Animist groups of believers and civilian dissident groups that are largely comprised of women and children with very few male survivors left to defend themselves and their people and villages."
"The Lao military is using heavy machine guns, mortars, artillery, land mines and new battalions of soldiers from Hanoi’s VPA as well as regular Laotian LPA army troops to attack and kill the Lao Hmong Christians and Animist believers who seek to practice their faith outside the LPDR communist regime's strict control. Also leading the attack against Lao Hmong in-hiding are village commander and head Nhia Lee and radio operator and LPA Army translator Kee Vang,” Mr. Vaughn Vang observed.
“Twenty-three ( 23 ) unarmed Lao Hmong Christian civilians were recently killed by LPA and VPA soldiers in the early hours of Thanksgiving Day ( Vientiane Time ) during intense military attacks at the Phou Bia Mountain Area of Laos in Xieng Khouang Province as well as Vientiane Province by LPA and VPA soldiers,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Public Policy Analysis ( CPPA ).
“Many more Lao Hmong civilians, Christians and Animist believers are reportedly wounded or are trapped by LPA and Vietnam Army units and are being starved to death and hunted down. Suspected political dissident groups in hiding are also under attack, including peaceful supporters of the 1999 Lao Students Movement for Democracy,” Smith stated.
Smith continued: “Two new battalions of LPA soldiers with VPA advisers have been deployed in recent weeks to hunt and kill Lao Hmong Christian and aninimist believers seeking to practice their faith outside of the Lao government’s strict control at the Phou Bia Mountain area.”
The one-party, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic ( LPDR ) has been cited by the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom ( USCIRF ) and other organizations for religious persecution of Lao and Hmong religious believers, including Christians.
http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1072587.html
In recent months and years, the LPDR Lao military regime has engaged in military attacks and atrocities against Lao Hmong civilians and political and religious dissident groups according to independent human rights organizations and journalists.
http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1088802.html
http://asiapacific.amnesty.org/aidoc/ai.nsf/Index/ENGASA260042004
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA26/003/2007
http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1082838.html
http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1090673.html
###
Center for Public Policy Analysis
Washington, D.C.
Contact ( s ):
Mr. John Smith or Mr. Juan Lopez
Tele.( 202 ) 543-1444
info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
Source
(Media-Newswire.com) - Vientiane, Laos, Chang Mai, Thailand, Washington, D.C. - November 26, 2009 - In apparent preparation for the upcoming SEA Games in Vientiane, Laos, in December, the Lao People’s Army ( LPA ) in Laos and the Vietnam People’s Army ( VPA ) have undertaken a major troop surge in key rural and mountainous provinces in Laos where Lao and Hmong civilians and religious believers, including Christians, have sought sanctuary.
Twenty-three ( 23 ) unarmed Lao Hmong Christian civilians were recently killed by LPA and VPA soldiers in the early hours of Thanksgiving Day ( Vientiane Time ) during intense military attacks at the Phou Bia Mountain Area of Laos in Xieng Khouang Province as well as Vientiane Province by LPA and VPA soldiers.
Two new battalions of LPA soldiers have been deployed to hunt and kill Lao Hmong Christian and animist believers seeking to practice their faith outside of the Lao government’s strict control. Ordinary Lao Hmong civilians as well and other religious and political dissidents have come under increased attack in Laos as Hanoi and Laos undertake a significant troop surge in apparent preparation for the start of the Southeast Asia Games ( SEAG or SEA games ) in early December.
“Lao military helicopters are reportedly delivering, on almost a daily basis, food, ammunition and supplies to the Lao Peoples Army ( LPA ) military camp in Pha Phai and elsewhere in Phu Bia mountain, Laos that is being used to attack Lao Hmong civilians and religious believers and political dissidents hiding in the jungles and mountain there in Laos, ” said Vaughn Vang of the Lao Hmong Human Rights Council in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Vang continued: “Hanoi and the Vietnam Peoples Army and LPA troops are also using ethnic Hmong communist commanders to track, hunt and kill their own Hmong people at Phou Bia Mountain, including LPA communist deputy commander Lor Vue and LPA Deputy Commander Vang Yang.
Vaughn Vang explained: “The LPA troops and commanders are intentionally targeting for military attack and starvation unarmed Lao and Hmong Christian and Animist groups of believers and civilian dissident groups that are largely comprised of women and children with very few male survivors left to defend themselves and their people and villages."
"The Lao military is using heavy machine guns, mortars, artillery, land mines and new battalions of soldiers from Hanoi’s VPA as well as regular Laotian LPA army troops to attack and kill the Lao Hmong Christians and Animist believers who seek to practice their faith outside the LPDR communist regime's strict control. Also leading the attack against Lao Hmong in-hiding are village commander and head Nhia Lee and radio operator and LPA Army translator Kee Vang,” Mr. Vaughn Vang observed.
“Twenty-three ( 23 ) unarmed Lao Hmong Christian civilians were recently killed by LPA and VPA soldiers in the early hours of Thanksgiving Day ( Vientiane Time ) during intense military attacks at the Phou Bia Mountain Area of Laos in Xieng Khouang Province as well as Vientiane Province by LPA and VPA soldiers,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Public Policy Analysis ( CPPA ).
“Many more Lao Hmong civilians, Christians and Animist believers are reportedly wounded or are trapped by LPA and Vietnam Army units and are being starved to death and hunted down. Suspected political dissident groups in hiding are also under attack, including peaceful supporters of the 1999 Lao Students Movement for Democracy,” Smith stated.
Smith continued: “Two new battalions of LPA soldiers with VPA advisers have been deployed in recent weeks to hunt and kill Lao Hmong Christian and aninimist believers seeking to practice their faith outside of the Lao government’s strict control at the Phou Bia Mountain area.”
The one-party, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic ( LPDR ) has been cited by the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom ( USCIRF ) and other organizations for religious persecution of Lao and Hmong religious believers, including Christians.
http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1072587.html
In recent months and years, the LPDR Lao military regime has engaged in military attacks and atrocities against Lao Hmong civilians and political and religious dissident groups according to independent human rights organizations and journalists.
http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1088802.html
http://asiapacific.amnesty.org/aidoc/ai.nsf/Index/ENGASA260042004
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA26/003/2007
http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1082838.html
http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1090673.html
###
Center for Public Policy Analysis
Washington, D.C.
Contact ( s ):
Mr. John Smith or Mr. Juan Lopez
Tele.( 202 ) 543-1444
info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
Source
Laos Sea Games Crisis: Refugees Appeal To Not Be Forced Back to Laos LPDR
SEA Games Human Rights, Refugee Crisis in Laos, Thailand Faces Lao Hmong Appeals
25.11.2009 08:18:02 Lao Hmong refugees, are again appealing to His Majesty, Bhumibol Adulayadej, The King of Thailand as well as United States President Obama, U.S. Secretary of State Clinton, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejajjiva, Members of the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Senate including U.S. Senator Russ Feingold, U.S Senator Herb Kohl, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein, U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, U.S. Senator Al Franken and others.
(live-PR.com) - Washington, D.C., Ban Huay Nam Khao, Petchabun Province and Nong Khai, Thailand, Green Bay and Madison, Wisconsin, November 25, 2009
With the start of the SEA Games looming in Laos, Thailand has readied more troops and undertaken military preparations for the mass forced return of thousands of Lao Hmong political refugees back to the communist regime in Laos from where they fled persecution. In the last week, three (3) new razor wire and barbed wire circular-fenced holding areas have been built at the Lao Hmong refugee camp at Ban Huay Nam Khao in an apparent effort by the Thai military to begin the mass forced repatriation of over 5,000 Lao Hmong political refugees and asylum seekers in the coming days and weeks. Thailand’s Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Thai Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, Army Chief General Anupong Paochinda have repeatedly defied international appeals by humanitarian organizations and a bipartisan coalition in the U.S. Congress to His Majesty, Bhumibol Adulayadej, the King of Thailand, to grant political asylum to the Lao Hmong refugees at Ban Huay Nam Khao and Nong Khai, Thailand until they can be screened by the the United Nations and resettled in third countries that have agreed to take them, including Canada, France, New Zealand, Australia, The Netherlands and the United States.
Vaughn Vang, Director of the Lao Hmong Human Rights Council (LHHRC) in Wisconsin has issued a statement and appeal regarding what appears to be the mobilization Thai troops for a violent mass forced repatriation of Lao Hmong refugees from Thailand to Laos over the American Thanksgiving holiday and prior to the start of the Southeast Asia (SEA Games) Games in Laos.
The Former U.S. Ambassador at Large and Coordinator for Refugee Affairs, The Honorable Howard Eugene Douglas, has issued an international statement and communique in response to recent emergency appeals to Thailand and its Prime Minister Abhisit Vejajjiva by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty International (AI), the Lao Movement for Human Rights (LMHR) and others to end the forced repatriation of Lao Hmong refugees to Laos.
media-newswire.com/release_1106500.html
www.pr-inside.com/anupong-abhisit-s-laos-thailan ..
media-newswire.com/release_1106263.html
Edmund McWilliams, a Distinguished U.S Foreign Service officer who served in Laos and Thailand, has also made recent appeals and statements urging that the Lao Hmong refugees at Huay Nam Khao and Nong Khai not be sent back to the communist regime in Laos where they face persecution.
“Thailand’s Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Thai Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, Army Chief-of-Staff General Anupong Paochinda and Ministry of Interior (MOI) Minister Chavarat Charnvirakuland have come under growing international criticism for using increasingly brutal and coercive measures against the Lao Hmong refugees in Thailand to seek to force them back to Laos by the end of this year. Laos is slated to hold the Southeast Asia Games (SEA Games) in December and efforts to force the Lao Hmong refugees back to the Stalinist regime in Laos have violently intensified in recent weeks,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) in Washington, D.C.
“Unfortunately, Thailand’s Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Thai Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, Army Chief General Anupong Paochinda and Ministry of Interior (MOI) Minister Chavarat Charnvirakuland have repeatedly defied international appeals by humanitarian organizations and a bipartisan coalition in the U.S. Congress to His Majesty, Bhumibol Adulayadej, the King of Thailand, to grant political asylum to the Lao Hmong refugees at Ban Huay Nam Khao and Nong Khai, Thailand until they can be screened by the the United Nations and resettled in third countries that have agreed to take them, including Canada, France, New Zealand, Australia, The Netherlands and the United States,” Smith concluded.
www.pr-inside.com/his-majesty-bhumibol-adulayade ..
media-newswire.com/release_1101602.html
“The over 5,000 Lao Hmong refugees in Thailand are very afraid that there will be bloody, deadly mass forced repatriation in the middle of the night this Thanksgiving holiday or in the coming days and weeks and refugees lives will be endanger as they can tell and now see from the current movements of Thai military at Huay Nam Khao. It is clear that the Thai Army and MOI soldiers are preparing to force the Lao Hmong refugees back to the communist regime in Laos they fled; The refugees know that it could be at any time time now and they are appealing to the world community and their families in Wisconsin, California, Minnesota and around the United States to know thee terrible truth of the current situation,” said Vaughn Vang , Director of the Lao Hmong Human Rights Council in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Mr. Vang continued with the following statement:
“We are alarmed because we know that there are now three (3) new circular barbed wire holding areas that the Thai soldiers and military have built in the last week outside the perimeter of the razor wire and fences of Huay Nam Khao in the last week, and hundreds of heavily armed new soldiers have been deployed to the camp. The Thai military is clearly preparing to lock the refugees in three difference smaller groups like cattle and animals and herd them into holding these barbed wire holding areas before they force them back to Laos.
There is growing concern that Thai military and Ministry of Interior troops are ready to force the over 5,000 Lao Hmong refugees, or significant groups of them, back to Laos at any minute now., possibly during the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States or shortly thereafter. Hmong refugees sources are eye witness to Thai soldiers now openly carrying large numbers of electric taser and electric cattle prod guns, tear gas masks and other chemical agent equipment. The soldiers have also cut over a dozen new doors and openings into the Huay Nam Khao camp in an apparent effort to attack the refugees with these weapons and troops from all sides in the coming days.
We, and the Lao Hmong refugees, are again appealing to His Majesty, Bhumibol Adulayadej, The King of Thailand as well as United States President Obama, U.S. Secretary of State Clinton, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejajjiva, Members of the U.S. Congress and U.S. Senate including U.S. Senator Russ Feingold, U.S Senator Herb Kohl, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein, U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, U.S. Senator Al Franken and others.
We are also making an emergency appeal to the United Nations, the International community, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Thai Human Rights Organizations and Lao and Hmong organizations and communities around the world to help save the lives of these over 5,000 Lao Hmong political refugees and asylum seekers at Huaj Nam Khao, Petchebon Province and Nong Khai, Thailand.
We are very concerned about the safety of the Lao Hmong political refugees and asylum seekers at Huaj Nam Khao, Petchabun Province and Nong Khai, Thailand. The live’s of these Lao and Hmong men, women and children are very much endangered by the over one thousand new heavily armed Thai soldiers who are currently preparing to launch a deadly and bloody plan in the next several days and weeks to force the refugees back to Laos using heavy tear and poison gas, electric taser guns and cattle prods, night sticks and clubs to beat the refugees and machine guns and automatic weapons.
The Lao Hmong refugees at Huay Nam Khao and Nong Khai are human beings. They are political refugees and asylum seekers that have the right under international law to not be forced back to the military regime in Laos, the one-party communist regime that persecuted and hunted them with their military and security forces. The Lao Hmong refugees, they have the rights to live, to be protected from persecution, torture and human rights abuses against them. These Lao Hmong refugees they have not committed any crimes and have not violated any law. They only want to be alive, live in peace, free from persecution, torture and the ongoing killing by the Lao communist government and military regime, These over 5,000 Lao Hmong refugees must be protected by the United Nations, the United States, Thai government and the international community.”
(-- End Statement Mr. Vaughn Vang, Director Lao Hmong Human Rights Council, Inc. Green Bay and Madison, Wisconsin-- )
The SEA Games are slated to start in December in Vientiane at a time when the Thai and Lao armies have increased their attacks, persecution and forced repatriation of Lao and Hmong dissidents as well as political refugees and asylum seekers.
###
Contact: Mr. Juan Lopez
info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
Tele. (202) 543-1444
www.cppa-dc.org
Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA)
Washington, D.C.
Press Information:
CPPA - Center for Public Policy Analysis
2020 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Suite No.#212
Washington, DC 20006
Contact Person:
Ms. Maria Gomez or Mr. Juan Lopez
Deputy Communications Director (s)
Phone: 202.543.1444
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Web: http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
Source
25.11.2009 08:18:02 Lao Hmong refugees, are again appealing to His Majesty, Bhumibol Adulayadej, The King of Thailand as well as United States President Obama, U.S. Secretary of State Clinton, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejajjiva, Members of the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Senate including U.S. Senator Russ Feingold, U.S Senator Herb Kohl, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein, U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, U.S. Senator Al Franken and others.
(live-PR.com) - Washington, D.C., Ban Huay Nam Khao, Petchabun Province and Nong Khai, Thailand, Green Bay and Madison, Wisconsin, November 25, 2009
With the start of the SEA Games looming in Laos, Thailand has readied more troops and undertaken military preparations for the mass forced return of thousands of Lao Hmong political refugees back to the communist regime in Laos from where they fled persecution. In the last week, three (3) new razor wire and barbed wire circular-fenced holding areas have been built at the Lao Hmong refugee camp at Ban Huay Nam Khao in an apparent effort by the Thai military to begin the mass forced repatriation of over 5,000 Lao Hmong political refugees and asylum seekers in the coming days and weeks. Thailand’s Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Thai Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, Army Chief General Anupong Paochinda have repeatedly defied international appeals by humanitarian organizations and a bipartisan coalition in the U.S. Congress to His Majesty, Bhumibol Adulayadej, the King of Thailand, to grant political asylum to the Lao Hmong refugees at Ban Huay Nam Khao and Nong Khai, Thailand until they can be screened by the the United Nations and resettled in third countries that have agreed to take them, including Canada, France, New Zealand, Australia, The Netherlands and the United States.
Vaughn Vang, Director of the Lao Hmong Human Rights Council (LHHRC) in Wisconsin has issued a statement and appeal regarding what appears to be the mobilization Thai troops for a violent mass forced repatriation of Lao Hmong refugees from Thailand to Laos over the American Thanksgiving holiday and prior to the start of the Southeast Asia (SEA Games) Games in Laos.
The Former U.S. Ambassador at Large and Coordinator for Refugee Affairs, The Honorable Howard Eugene Douglas, has issued an international statement and communique in response to recent emergency appeals to Thailand and its Prime Minister Abhisit Vejajjiva by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty International (AI), the Lao Movement for Human Rights (LMHR) and others to end the forced repatriation of Lao Hmong refugees to Laos.
media-newswire.com/release_1106500.html
www.pr-inside.com/anupong-abhisit-s-laos-thailan ..
media-newswire.com/release_1106263.html
Edmund McWilliams, a Distinguished U.S Foreign Service officer who served in Laos and Thailand, has also made recent appeals and statements urging that the Lao Hmong refugees at Huay Nam Khao and Nong Khai not be sent back to the communist regime in Laos where they face persecution.
“Thailand’s Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Thai Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, Army Chief-of-Staff General Anupong Paochinda and Ministry of Interior (MOI) Minister Chavarat Charnvirakuland have come under growing international criticism for using increasingly brutal and coercive measures against the Lao Hmong refugees in Thailand to seek to force them back to Laos by the end of this year. Laos is slated to hold the Southeast Asia Games (SEA Games) in December and efforts to force the Lao Hmong refugees back to the Stalinist regime in Laos have violently intensified in recent weeks,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) in Washington, D.C.
“Unfortunately, Thailand’s Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Thai Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, Army Chief General Anupong Paochinda and Ministry of Interior (MOI) Minister Chavarat Charnvirakuland have repeatedly defied international appeals by humanitarian organizations and a bipartisan coalition in the U.S. Congress to His Majesty, Bhumibol Adulayadej, the King of Thailand, to grant political asylum to the Lao Hmong refugees at Ban Huay Nam Khao and Nong Khai, Thailand until they can be screened by the the United Nations and resettled in third countries that have agreed to take them, including Canada, France, New Zealand, Australia, The Netherlands and the United States,” Smith concluded.
www.pr-inside.com/his-majesty-bhumibol-adulayade ..
media-newswire.com/release_1101602.html
“The over 5,000 Lao Hmong refugees in Thailand are very afraid that there will be bloody, deadly mass forced repatriation in the middle of the night this Thanksgiving holiday or in the coming days and weeks and refugees lives will be endanger as they can tell and now see from the current movements of Thai military at Huay Nam Khao. It is clear that the Thai Army and MOI soldiers are preparing to force the Lao Hmong refugees back to the communist regime in Laos they fled; The refugees know that it could be at any time time now and they are appealing to the world community and their families in Wisconsin, California, Minnesota and around the United States to know thee terrible truth of the current situation,” said Vaughn Vang , Director of the Lao Hmong Human Rights Council in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Mr. Vang continued with the following statement:
“We are alarmed because we know that there are now three (3) new circular barbed wire holding areas that the Thai soldiers and military have built in the last week outside the perimeter of the razor wire and fences of Huay Nam Khao in the last week, and hundreds of heavily armed new soldiers have been deployed to the camp. The Thai military is clearly preparing to lock the refugees in three difference smaller groups like cattle and animals and herd them into holding these barbed wire holding areas before they force them back to Laos.
There is growing concern that Thai military and Ministry of Interior troops are ready to force the over 5,000 Lao Hmong refugees, or significant groups of them, back to Laos at any minute now., possibly during the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States or shortly thereafter. Hmong refugees sources are eye witness to Thai soldiers now openly carrying large numbers of electric taser and electric cattle prod guns, tear gas masks and other chemical agent equipment. The soldiers have also cut over a dozen new doors and openings into the Huay Nam Khao camp in an apparent effort to attack the refugees with these weapons and troops from all sides in the coming days.
We, and the Lao Hmong refugees, are again appealing to His Majesty, Bhumibol Adulayadej, The King of Thailand as well as United States President Obama, U.S. Secretary of State Clinton, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejajjiva, Members of the U.S. Congress and U.S. Senate including U.S. Senator Russ Feingold, U.S Senator Herb Kohl, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein, U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, U.S. Senator Al Franken and others.
We are also making an emergency appeal to the United Nations, the International community, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Thai Human Rights Organizations and Lao and Hmong organizations and communities around the world to help save the lives of these over 5,000 Lao Hmong political refugees and asylum seekers at Huaj Nam Khao, Petchebon Province and Nong Khai, Thailand.
We are very concerned about the safety of the Lao Hmong political refugees and asylum seekers at Huaj Nam Khao, Petchabun Province and Nong Khai, Thailand. The live’s of these Lao and Hmong men, women and children are very much endangered by the over one thousand new heavily armed Thai soldiers who are currently preparing to launch a deadly and bloody plan in the next several days and weeks to force the refugees back to Laos using heavy tear and poison gas, electric taser guns and cattle prods, night sticks and clubs to beat the refugees and machine guns and automatic weapons.
The Lao Hmong refugees at Huay Nam Khao and Nong Khai are human beings. They are political refugees and asylum seekers that have the right under international law to not be forced back to the military regime in Laos, the one-party communist regime that persecuted and hunted them with their military and security forces. The Lao Hmong refugees, they have the rights to live, to be protected from persecution, torture and human rights abuses against them. These Lao Hmong refugees they have not committed any crimes and have not violated any law. They only want to be alive, live in peace, free from persecution, torture and the ongoing killing by the Lao communist government and military regime, These over 5,000 Lao Hmong refugees must be protected by the United Nations, the United States, Thai government and the international community.”
(-- End Statement Mr. Vaughn Vang, Director Lao Hmong Human Rights Council, Inc. Green Bay and Madison, Wisconsin-- )
The SEA Games are slated to start in December in Vientiane at a time when the Thai and Lao armies have increased their attacks, persecution and forced repatriation of Lao and Hmong dissidents as well as political refugees and asylum seekers.
###
Contact: Mr. Juan Lopez
info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
Tele. (202) 543-1444
www.cppa-dc.org
Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA)
Washington, D.C.
Press Information:
CPPA - Center for Public Policy Analysis
2020 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Suite No.#212
Washington, DC 20006
Contact Person:
Ms. Maria Gomez or Mr. Juan Lopez
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Phone: 202.543.1444
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Web: http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
Source
Monday, November 23, 2009
Laos Urged To Free 3 Jailed Americans Before SEA Games: St. Paul, Minnesota Hmong Men in Limbo
Mrs. Sheng Xiong, a spokesperson for three Americans jailed in Laos, has repeatedly appealed to the LPDR government for the release of her husband and for answers to his current whereabouts in Laos. The Lao government has refused to allow the families of the three St. Paul American citizens to receive visitors from humanitarian groups, the U.S. Embassy in Laos or the family of the three arrested men. The Lao government is being urged to release the three prior to the start of the SEA Games.
(Media-Newswire.com) - St. Paul, Minnesota, Vientiane, Laos, Washington, D.C., November 23, 2009 - In Laos, the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic ( LPDR ) military regime has been urged to release, three Americans of Hmong descent from St. Paul, Minnesota, who were arrested in 2007 while traveling to Laos. The LPDR has been asked to release the three, which include Mr. Hakit Yang, of St. Paul, prior to the start of the Southeast Asia Games ( SEA Games ) in December. The three Americans were arrested by Lao Peoples Army ( LPA ) and LPDR security forces in Xieng Khouang Province in the summer of 2007 and moved to Laos’ notorious Phonthong Prison were they were tortured and interrogated before being moved to a secret prison in Sam Nuea Province, Laos, according to sources.
“We are asking the Lao government for answers about my husband Hakit Yang and the others that they arrested,” said Sheng Xiong, wife of Hakit Yang, at a two-day national policy conference on Laos earlier this year at the U.S. Congress and National Press Club where she appealed for help for the release of her husband and his colleagues to the LPDR government, U.S. Ambassador Ravic Huso and the U.S. Embassy and Department of State in Washington, D.C. http://media-newswire.com/release_1089561.html
The three Americans from St. Paul, Minnesota, arrested and imprisoned in Laos without charge by the Lao military are Mr. Hakit Yang, Mr. Congshineng Yang, and Mr. Trillion Yunhansion.
The LPDR regime and public sector in Laos have been listed as one of the most corrupt countries in the world in a recent study by Transparency International. http://media-newswire.com/release_1106258.html
In April, Australian author and former political prisoner Kay Danes spoke at a national policy conferences in Colorado, Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Congress on the horrific situation that prisoners in Laos face under the LPDR regime. http://presszoom.com/story_148273.html
http://media-newswire.com/release_1088730.html
Kay Danes new book ‘Standing Ground’ was released in the Spring of 2009 about her ordeal, along with her husband, in Vientiane, Laos’ infamous Phonthong Prison, where she was imprisoned and was an eyewitness to torture and unspeakable abuses by LPDR officials and prison guards. http://www.amazon.com/Standing-Ground-Imprisoned-Struggle-Communist/dp/1741107571
Mrs. Sheng Xiong was a keynote speaker at the events with Danes and other policy experts and Laotian and Hmong non-profit organizations.
http://media-newswire.com/release_1089564.html
Mrs. Sheng Xiong, a spokesperson for three Americans jailed in Laos, has repeatedly appealed to the LPDR government for the release of her husband and for answers to his current whereabouts in Laos. The Lao government has refused to allow the families of the three St. Paul American citizens to receive visitors from humanitarian groups, the U.S. Embassy in Laos or the family of the three arrested men. The three Americans were traveling to Laos as tourist and seeking potential business investment opportunities in Laos according to family members.
“Hakit Yang and the other two American citizens have disappeared into the Lao LPDR gulag system and secret prison system like so many others after their arrest in 2007,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis ( CPPA ) in Washington, D.C. “The LPDR regime is being urged to release the three Americans from St. Paul, Minnesota before the SEA Games so they can be reunited with their families before Christmas and the New Year; the Hmong community in St. Paul, Minnesota, and across the United States is anxious to see the three Hmong-American men returned safely to their families and released from jail in Laos where they are being held without charges or due process.” http://media-newswire.com/release_1096024.html
In Thailand, the Thai military and Prime Minister Abhisit and Army Chief-of-Staff General Anupong are mobilizing more troops to force nearly 5,000 Lao Hmong political refugees from Thailand back to Laos. Members of the U.S. Congress, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees ( UNHCR ), Human Rights Watch ( MSF ), Amnesty International ( AI ), Doctors Without Borders ( MSF ), the Lao Hmong Human Rights Council ( LHHRC ), CPPA and others have repeatedly urged Thailand to end the repatriation of these refugees and allow them to be screened and resettled in third countries that have agreed to grant them political asylum including France, Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand and The Netherlands.
"Clearly, given the arrest and ongoing imprisonment of Hakit Yang and the Hmong-Americans from St. Paul, Minnesota, these 5,500 Lao Hmong refugees should not be sent back to Laos; there should especially be no more forced repatriations of Lao Hmong refugees from Thailand back to the communist regime in Laos that the refugees fled until Hakit Yang and his America colleagues are released from jail in Sam Neua Province, Laos by the Lao government," said Philip Smith of the CPPA earlier this year in Washington, D.C.
http://media-newswire.com/release_1090996.html
“Mrs. Sheng Xiong has issued numerous heart-felt and courageous appeals regarding her husband’s arrest and the ongoing imprisoned of the three St. Paul Hmong-Americans in Laos who were seeking business and investment opportunities in Laos,” stated Philip Smith of the CPPA. “We now know the three American citizens were transferred from Phonthong Prison in Vientiane, Laos, to a secret prison site in Sam Nuea Province, where they are still being held against their will and with out charge or due process,” Smith concluded.
http://presszoom.com/print_story_147295.html
Ms. Sheng Xiong provided an official statement in January 2008 in the U.S. Congress regarding Hakit Yang’s arrest and imprisonment in Laos by Lao military and security forces along with Mr. Congshineng Yang, and Mr. Trillion Yunhansion. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/record.xpd?id=110-s20080625-19
A number of key Minnesota Twin Cities Lao Hmong community leaders and delegations from St. Paul and Minneapolis spoke at, and participated, at a series of Capitol Hill and Washington, D.C. policy events on the plight of the three St. Paul men as well as human rights and refugee issues in Laos and Thailand including: Mr. Phoukhio Khaochonetham, Mr. Boon Boualaphanh, Mr. Phoumy Phanthavong, Mr. Sangvane Phommachanh, Ms. S. Thao, Beth Xiong and others. http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1090990.html
Some 1200 Laotians have been arrested in Laos in November in reform and anti-government marches, rallies and protests in Vientiane and elsewhere in Laos. Many, including political and religious, students and ordinary Laotians, are being imprisoned in Laos notorious Sam Khe Prison. The marches and protests began on November 2 in Laos. Vietnam has intervened with more troops and security forces deployed in Laos to seek to prop up the Stalinist LPDR regime prior to the start of the SEA Games.
http://media-newswire.com/release_1105478.html
__
Contacts: Juan Lopez or Maria Gomez
e-mail: info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
Telephone contact: ( 202 ) 543-1444
Center for Public Policy Analysis
2020 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Suite No.# 212
Washington, D.C. 20006
USA
Source
(Media-Newswire.com) - St. Paul, Minnesota, Vientiane, Laos, Washington, D.C., November 23, 2009 - In Laos, the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic ( LPDR ) military regime has been urged to release, three Americans of Hmong descent from St. Paul, Minnesota, who were arrested in 2007 while traveling to Laos. The LPDR has been asked to release the three, which include Mr. Hakit Yang, of St. Paul, prior to the start of the Southeast Asia Games ( SEA Games ) in December. The three Americans were arrested by Lao Peoples Army ( LPA ) and LPDR security forces in Xieng Khouang Province in the summer of 2007 and moved to Laos’ notorious Phonthong Prison were they were tortured and interrogated before being moved to a secret prison in Sam Nuea Province, Laos, according to sources.
“We are asking the Lao government for answers about my husband Hakit Yang and the others that they arrested,” said Sheng Xiong, wife of Hakit Yang, at a two-day national policy conference on Laos earlier this year at the U.S. Congress and National Press Club where she appealed for help for the release of her husband and his colleagues to the LPDR government, U.S. Ambassador Ravic Huso and the U.S. Embassy and Department of State in Washington, D.C. http://media-newswire.com/release_1089561.html
The three Americans from St. Paul, Minnesota, arrested and imprisoned in Laos without charge by the Lao military are Mr. Hakit Yang, Mr. Congshineng Yang, and Mr. Trillion Yunhansion.
The LPDR regime and public sector in Laos have been listed as one of the most corrupt countries in the world in a recent study by Transparency International. http://media-newswire.com/release_1106258.html
In April, Australian author and former political prisoner Kay Danes spoke at a national policy conferences in Colorado, Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Congress on the horrific situation that prisoners in Laos face under the LPDR regime. http://presszoom.com/story_148273.html
http://media-newswire.com/release_1088730.html
Kay Danes new book ‘Standing Ground’ was released in the Spring of 2009 about her ordeal, along with her husband, in Vientiane, Laos’ infamous Phonthong Prison, where she was imprisoned and was an eyewitness to torture and unspeakable abuses by LPDR officials and prison guards. http://www.amazon.com/Standing-Ground-Imprisoned-Struggle-Communist/dp/1741107571
Mrs. Sheng Xiong was a keynote speaker at the events with Danes and other policy experts and Laotian and Hmong non-profit organizations.
http://media-newswire.com/release_1089564.html
Mrs. Sheng Xiong, a spokesperson for three Americans jailed in Laos, has repeatedly appealed to the LPDR government for the release of her husband and for answers to his current whereabouts in Laos. The Lao government has refused to allow the families of the three St. Paul American citizens to receive visitors from humanitarian groups, the U.S. Embassy in Laos or the family of the three arrested men. The three Americans were traveling to Laos as tourist and seeking potential business investment opportunities in Laos according to family members.
“Hakit Yang and the other two American citizens have disappeared into the Lao LPDR gulag system and secret prison system like so many others after their arrest in 2007,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis ( CPPA ) in Washington, D.C. “The LPDR regime is being urged to release the three Americans from St. Paul, Minnesota before the SEA Games so they can be reunited with their families before Christmas and the New Year; the Hmong community in St. Paul, Minnesota, and across the United States is anxious to see the three Hmong-American men returned safely to their families and released from jail in Laos where they are being held without charges or due process.” http://media-newswire.com/release_1096024.html
In Thailand, the Thai military and Prime Minister Abhisit and Army Chief-of-Staff General Anupong are mobilizing more troops to force nearly 5,000 Lao Hmong political refugees from Thailand back to Laos. Members of the U.S. Congress, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees ( UNHCR ), Human Rights Watch ( MSF ), Amnesty International ( AI ), Doctors Without Borders ( MSF ), the Lao Hmong Human Rights Council ( LHHRC ), CPPA and others have repeatedly urged Thailand to end the repatriation of these refugees and allow them to be screened and resettled in third countries that have agreed to grant them political asylum including France, Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand and The Netherlands.
"Clearly, given the arrest and ongoing imprisonment of Hakit Yang and the Hmong-Americans from St. Paul, Minnesota, these 5,500 Lao Hmong refugees should not be sent back to Laos; there should especially be no more forced repatriations of Lao Hmong refugees from Thailand back to the communist regime in Laos that the refugees fled until Hakit Yang and his America colleagues are released from jail in Sam Neua Province, Laos by the Lao government," said Philip Smith of the CPPA earlier this year in Washington, D.C.
http://media-newswire.com/release_1090996.html
“Mrs. Sheng Xiong has issued numerous heart-felt and courageous appeals regarding her husband’s arrest and the ongoing imprisoned of the three St. Paul Hmong-Americans in Laos who were seeking business and investment opportunities in Laos,” stated Philip Smith of the CPPA. “We now know the three American citizens were transferred from Phonthong Prison in Vientiane, Laos, to a secret prison site in Sam Nuea Province, where they are still being held against their will and with out charge or due process,” Smith concluded.
http://presszoom.com/print_story_147295.html
Ms. Sheng Xiong provided an official statement in January 2008 in the U.S. Congress regarding Hakit Yang’s arrest and imprisonment in Laos by Lao military and security forces along with Mr. Congshineng Yang, and Mr. Trillion Yunhansion. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/record.xpd?id=110-s20080625-19
A number of key Minnesota Twin Cities Lao Hmong community leaders and delegations from St. Paul and Minneapolis spoke at, and participated, at a series of Capitol Hill and Washington, D.C. policy events on the plight of the three St. Paul men as well as human rights and refugee issues in Laos and Thailand including: Mr. Phoukhio Khaochonetham, Mr. Boon Boualaphanh, Mr. Phoumy Phanthavong, Mr. Sangvane Phommachanh, Ms. S. Thao, Beth Xiong and others. http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1090990.html
Some 1200 Laotians have been arrested in Laos in November in reform and anti-government marches, rallies and protests in Vientiane and elsewhere in Laos. Many, including political and religious, students and ordinary Laotians, are being imprisoned in Laos notorious Sam Khe Prison. The marches and protests began on November 2 in Laos. Vietnam has intervened with more troops and security forces deployed in Laos to seek to prop up the Stalinist LPDR regime prior to the start of the SEA Games.
http://media-newswire.com/release_1105478.html
__
Contacts: Juan Lopez or Maria Gomez
e-mail: info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
Telephone contact: ( 202 ) 543-1444
Center for Public Policy Analysis
2020 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Suite No.# 212
Washington, D.C. 20006
USA
Source
Saturday, November 21, 2009
End Hmong detention
A file photo of Hmong boys in the Huay Nam Khao village in Thailand's northeastern province of Petchabun. -- PHOTO: AP
BANGKOK - A LEADING rights group on Saturday called on the Thai government to allow 158 Lao Hmong refugees, who have been detained for three years pending deportation, to be resettled in four western countries.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said the group were being 'held in poor and abusive conditions' and should be allowed to leave for the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, and Australia, which have agreed to resettle them.
'Thai authorities have kept Lao Hmong refugees in fear and uncertainty for years to pressure them into giving up hope of refuge in Thailand or resettlement elsewhere,' said Brad Adams, the group's Asia director.
'The government should immediately end this immoral and unlawful policy,' he said in a statement.
Human Rights Watch in the statement said it had sent a letter to Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva that also raised concerns about the ongoing detention of some 5,000 Hmong being held in Phetchabun in north-east Thailand.
The immigrants are expecting to be deported to Laos following an agreement between the countries. -- AFP
Source
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