Laos Sea Games Crisis: Refugees Appeal To Not Be Forced Back to Laos LPDR

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.
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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.
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“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.

Laos (Lao PDR) ranks 30th in Asia and 158th in the world in this year’s corruption index

Laos (Lao PDR) ranks 30th in Asia and 158th in the world in this year’s corruption index released by the global graft watchdog….

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).

 The Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party rules Laos as a one-party communist military junta where corruption is widespread and systemic. Laos has been rated as among the most corrupt nations in the world according to a new study. (Photo Credit: Center for Public Policy Analysis License Creative Commons 2.0)

Online PR News – 18-November-2009 – Washington, D.C., Chang Rai, Thailand, and Luang Prabang, Laos, November 18, 2009, For Immediate Release

Contact:
Mr. Juan Lopez or Ms. Maria Gomez, CPPA – Center for Public Policy Analysis,
Washington, D.C., USA, Tele. 202.543.1444
info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
http://www.cppa-dc.org

The Lao Peoples Democratic Republic (LPDR) has scored almost at the bottom of countries globally as a result of high-levels of corruption, and is listed as among the globe’s most corrupt nations, in a new report and index regarding public sector corruption in nations around the world. Laos is a major risk to investors, businesses and tourists and is one of the most corrupt nations in the world today, according to study by a leading non-governmental organization. The LPDR is slated to hold the Southeast Games (SEA Games) in the coming weeks in Vientiane, Laos. The one-party communist regime in Laos, closely allied with the communist regime in North Korea has been besieged by marches, rallies, demonstrations and internal opposition to the one-party military regime that rules the country since its seized power in 1975 with the intervention of North Vietnam’s army. Religious and political dissidents, as well as average Laotian and Hmong citizens opposed to the Stalinist military junta, have cited endemic corruption as one of the key sources of civil discontent with the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic (LPDR) leadership that has boiled over into marches and demonstrations in Vientiane in recent weeks. http://www.onlineprnews.com/news/11593-1258153263-laos-crackdown-on-38-more-dissidents-as-obama-sea-games-near.html
http://www.onlineprnews.com/news/10586-1257366404-hundreds-more-laotians-arrested-by-laos-army-as-sea-games-approach.html

“Stemming corruption requires strong oversight by parliaments, a well performing judiciary, independent and properly resourced audit and anti-corruption agencies, vigorous law enforcement, transparency in public budgets, revenue and aid flows, as well as space for independent media and a vibrant civil society,” said Huguette Labelle, Chair of Transparency International (TI).

“Corrupt money must not find safe haven. It is time to put an end to excuses,” said Labelle.

“When essential institutions are weak or non-existent, corruption spirals out of control and the plundering of public resources feeds insecurity and impunity. Corruption also makes normal a seeping loss of trust in the very institutions and nascent governments charged with ensuring survival and stability,” TI said in a recent statement about its newly released report.

“Unfortunately, this tragic month, in November, the SEA Games have already been overshadowed by widespread, mass arrests and military intervention by Lao army and secret police units in Vientiane and elsewhere in Laos who, along with special units of the Vietnam Peoples Army (VPA), have arrested or imprisoned over 1189 Laotians this month, including students, political and religious dissidents, activists and ordinary Laotian and Hmong citizens, many of who were seeking reform and an end to systemic corruption among the governing political elite in Laos who are members of the communist party or military,”

As of November 18, over 1189 people have been arrested or imprisoned in Laos in November by the LPDR authorities as pro-democracy, human rights and anti-corruption protests, rallies and marches seeking change and reform in Laos were undertaken in Vientiane and elsewhere in the communist country. Many are being held in Laos’ notorious Sam Khe prison along with Lao student leaders of the October 1999 student protests. Thirteen more Laotians were arrested in the last several days by the Lao Peoples Army (LPA) and secret police.http://www.onlineprnews.com/news/10856-1257565794-laos-vietnam-crisis-activists-moblize-for-human-rights-religious-freedom-before-sea-games.html

Systemic human rights abuses and corruption in the LPA, 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.

In emergency measures, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) has deployed more special combat troops and secret police to Laos in recent weeks to seek to stop the spread of opposition to the LPDR regime in recent weeks as the opening of the SEA games approaches in December.

“The LPDR in Laos is listed among the bottom countries in the world, in TI’s recent study, as one of the most corrupt nations’s globally, and gives low marks based upon a corruption perception index (CPI) of public sector corruption. Business, and personal risk, is among the highest in the world in Laos as it relates to systemic corruption within the public sector in Laos,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Washington-D.C. based Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA).

Smith stated further: “Widespread bribery and extortion are common within the Lao government and public sector in the LPDR as well as other more elaborate and sophisticated forms of corruption in Laos.”

“Currently, since Laos still does not have an independent judiciary under the LPDR military regime, efforts to report corruption by the government, army and public officials in Laos usually results in the arrest or imprisonment of the individual, company or business raising allegations of corruption,” Smith commented. http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2009/cpi_2009_table

“Unfortunately, this tragic month, in November, the SEA Games have already been overshadowed by widespread, mass arrests and military intervention by Lao army and secret police units in Vientiane and elsewhere in Laos who, along with special units of the Vietnam Peoples Army (VPA), have arrested or imprisoned over 1189 Laotians this month, including students, political and religious dissidents, activists and ordinary Laotian and Hmong citizens, many of who were seeking reform and an end to systemic corruption among the governing political elite in Laos who are members of the communist party or military,” Smith commented.

“Now, today, people should be aware of the significant and serious corruption issue within the public-sector in Laos as pointed out by Transparency International and other non-governmental and human rights organizations, especially if they are thinking of traveling to Laos for the SEA Games, as tourists or doing business there. Ordinary Laotians from abroad should also be aware of this tragic ongoing reality and the cancer of corruption that continues to infect the public sector in Laos and erode Lao civil society under the LPDR regime,” Mr. Smith continued.
http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1105230.html

Over five-thousand and two-hundred (5,200) Laotian and Hmong political refugees are being threatened with forced repatriation back to the LPDR regime in Laos which they fled by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva of Thailand, Army General and Chief-of-Staff Anupong Paochinda, Minister of the Interior (MOI) Chavarat Charnvirakulhave and other Thai officials.
http://www.onlineprnews.com/news/11896-1258503373-laos-thailand-refugee-crisis-sea-games-may-suffer-more-political-violence-unrest.html

“Lack of discipline, low morale and widespread atrocities, looting, rape and corruption are common in the Lao Peoples Army, which along with VPA owned military companies from Vietnam, are engaged in illegal and environmentally destructive logging in key provinces in Laos,” Mr. Smith concluded. http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1094929.html
http://www.onlineprnews.com/news/10907-1257617640-mortars-slam-jungle-enclaves-in-laos-killing-wounding-6-hmong.html

According to independent non-governmental organizations, journalists and human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Lao Hmong Human Rights Council, the BBC, New York Times, Al Jazeera and others, the Lao Army and VPA are also engaged in military attacks and atrocities against Laotian and Hmong civilians and political and religious dissident groups at Phou Bia Mountain, Phou Da Phao, Xieng Khouang Province, Vientiane Province, Luang Prabang Province, Khammoune Province and elsewhere in Laos.
http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1091943.html
http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?lang=e&id=ENGUSA20070323001

Thousands of Laotian and Hmong refugees have fled religious and political persecution in Laos in recent years and are living as refugees in Ban Huay Nam Khao and Nong Khai, Thailand. The United States Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) in Washington, D.C. has listed Laos, under the LPDR, on its watch list of countries engaged in religious persecution, violations of religious freedom and persecution of religious believers including minority Lao and Hmong Christians and animists.

In Washington, D.C. earlier this year, Freedom House, the non-profit and non-governmental human rights organization, has listed Laos, under the LPDR regime, as among the worst regimes for its egregious human rights violations in its recent “Worst of the Worst” reports of 2009.
http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1095599.html

TI is a global civil society organization leading the fight against corruption. TI’s mission is to create change towards a world free of corruption. TI’s annual report is available online.
http://www.transparency.org

His Majesty, Bhumibol Adulayadej, The King of Thailand Asked to Save Laos …

Thailand urged to release Hmong

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UN urges Thailand to allow Hmong to resettle in West

Reuters – Stephanie Nebehay, Jonathan Lynn – ‎Nov 17, 2009‎ GENEVA, Nov 17 (Reuters) – The United Nations on Tuesday urged Thailand to end the three-year detention of 158 ethnic Hmong from Laos and let them resettle …

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Jakarta Post – ‎Nov 17, 2009‎ AP , Geneva | Tue, 11/17/2009 6:43 PM | World The UN refugee agency says Thailand should release 158 ethnic Hmong refugees detained for 3 years and allow …

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MSN Philippines News – ‎Nov 17, 2009‎ The UNHCR on Tuesday called on the Thai government to allow 158 Lao Hmong refugees, who have been detained for three years pending deportation, …

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PR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung) – ‎Nov 16, 2009‎ 2009-11-17 05:53:33 – With the upcoming Southeast Asia Games (SEA

President Obama Urged To Address Laos, Hmong Crisis During Asia Trip, Student Protests in Vientiane

Cached page from: http://www.pr-inside.com/print1583086.htm

More special units of the Vietnam Peoples Army (VPA) have been deployed in Laos from Hanoi as Lao students, activists and political and religious dissidents seek to rally prior to the SEA Games and the visit of President Barack Obama to Singapore and Southeast Asia. (Photo Credit: Center for Public Policy Analysis License Creative Commons 2.0)

2009-11-14 06:46:09 – U.S. President Barack Obama is being urged to address the Laos, Hmong crisis during his Asia trip and visit to Singapore by Laotian student, human rights and humanitarian organizations. President Obama is also being urged to address the current Lao Hmong refugee crisis in Thailand where some 5,000 Lao Hmong political refugees face forced repatriation back to the Stalinist regime in Laos that they fled. The Peoples Army of Vietnam has sent more troops to Laos from Hanoi to assist the LPDR military regime in Laos during the planned protests and anti-government rallies.

Bangkok, Thailand and Washington, D.C., November 14, 2009

Contact: Mr. Juan Lopez
info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
Tele. (202) 543-1444

With the start of the APEC meeting in Singapore attended by U.S. President Barack Obama and the Southeast Asia Games ( or SEA Games) on the horizon, the Lao military is seeking to renew a major faltering effort to stem civil unrest and intervene against Laos and Hmong anti-government activists.
Lao students, pro-democracy and human rights groups as well as political and religious dissidents in Laos have sought to mobilize in mass opposition to the one-party, military junta in Vientiane in recent weeks. President Obama is being urged to address the Laos, Hmong crisis during his Asia trip by Laotian student, human rights, humanitarian and non-governmental organizations. Obama is also being urged to address the current Lao Hmong refugee crisis in Thailand where some 5,000 Lao Hmong political refugees face forced repatriation back to the Stalinist regime in Laos that they fled.

The Lao Peoples Democratic Republic (LPDR) is a one-party, authoritarian regime closely allied with Burma and North Korea. The LPDR regime has held rallies this year in support of the Marxist-Leninist regime in Pyongyang despite President Obama’s efforts to remind Communist leaders in Laos that they are a post-Marxist Leninist Communist regime. www.pr-inside.com/laos-north-korea-hold-rally-prior-r1402606.htm

As U.S. President Barack Obama prepares to meet with Southeast Asia leaders in Singapore, more Lao students and human rights activists have been imprisoned for advocating peaceful reform of the communist regime in Laos. The total number of Laotian political and religious dissidents arrested in Laos by secret police and army units since November 2nd has been confirmed at 1176 from sources inside Laos, including multiple sources inside the Lao government and Lao military. Lao Hmong civilians and anti-government groups, including dissident Protestant and Catholic Christians, are also suffering increased attacks as the government has intensified its crackdown prior to the start of the Southeast Asia games in Vientiane in December.

The U.S.-based Radio Free Asia (RFA) has also reported about some of the activists in Laos seeking to demonstrate for reform in the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic (LPDR).

“We are very concerned that the new Laotian protesters and pro-democracy activists in Laos are being jailed in terrible and harsh conditions in Sam Khe prison where they are suffering in horribly from the abuses of communist authorities,” said Mr. Oudong Saysana and Ms. Nouamkham Khamphylavong of the Lao Students Movement for Democracy ( LSMD ). “By the 5th of November we received reports and confirmation from Lao student movement members inside Laos that the arrests of over 300 Laotian people had indeed occurred.”
www.media-newswire.com/release_1105004.html

Currently, as of November 14, 2009, over 1176 people have been arrested by Lao government for suspected roles in organizing or participating in rallies in opposition to the Lao government’s policies and oppressive

Ms. Nouamkham Khamphylavong, along with other Lao students, participated in the October 26, 1999, peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations in Vientiane, Laos seeking political freedoms and change in Laos. Many of her colleagues and fellow students have been imprisoned in Laos for over 10 years by the Lao military junta.
asiapacific.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA260042000?open&of=EN ..
www.media-newswire.com/release_1096784.html

“The Socialist Republic of Vietnam has intervened in Laos with special police and army units to seek to halt the spread of anti-government opposition in key provinces inside Laos, including Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Xieng Khouang, Khammoune, Sam Neua and Savanakhet Provinces and others,” said Bounthanh Rathigna of the United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc (ULDL).

Mr. Rathigna continued: “Religious and political dissidents are seeking to protest the corrupt LPDR regime in Laos and the soldiers from Hanoi that are continuing to oppress and exploit the Laotian and Hmong people; Hundreds more have been arrested by the LPDR secret police in Laos and Lao army along with troops from Hanoi, more and more each day.”
www.pr-inside.com/virginia-laos-hmong-appeal-to-senator-r1436647 ..
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“The Laotian people who are trying to demonstrate against the Lao government want political change and reform in Laos; they want true religious freedom for all Lao Buddhists, Christians and Animists, and to end the LPDR regime’s Stalinist and one-party communist control of the Lao peoples’ religious affairs, political affairs and economic freedom. The Lao students, activists and protesters in Laos, along with Laotian people, want an end to the LPDR regime’s corruption and military rule; The Lao and Hmong people want the soldiers and troops from Vietnam and Hanoi out of Laos,” said Boon Boulaphanh, of the Laotian Community of Minnesota.

“More attacks have occurred against the Lao Hmong Christians and Animist dissident groups hiding in Phou Bia and Phou Da Phao mountain areas in Laos in recent days,” said Vaughn Vang, Executive Director of the Lao Hmong Human Rights Council. “We are appealing to President Obama to help urge the Lao government to stop these attacks on religious and political dissidents as well as ordinary Laotian and Hmong civilians who wish to live in peace and freedom away from the corrupt one-party communist regime in control of Laos.”http://www.pr-inside.com/laos-8-lao-hmong-children-captured-r1434824.htm

“The Lao Peoples Army (LPA) backed by special units and battalions of the Vietnam Peoples Army (VPA) have mobilized forces in key provinces of Laos to attack enclaves of Laotian and Hmong civilians hiding in the mountains and jungles of Laos as well as groups of religious and political dissidents opposed to the Communist regime in Laos, especially dissident Christian, Animist and Buddhist groups,” Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) in Washington, D.C.

“The growing movement of support for the Lao Students Movement for Democracy of October 1999, has come under heavy attack by the Lao security forces following efforts to organize various protests and events to mark the 10th anniversary of the peaceful protests that occurred in Vientiane, Laos,” Smith said.

“The confirmed total number of Laotian political and religious dissidents arrested in Laos in November now stands at 1176 with scores jailed in Vientiane’s infamous Sam Khe prison,” said “The ongoing and unnecessary arrests of ordinary Laotians and students peacefully opposed to the Lao military junta as well as political and religious dissidents is overshadowing the start of the Southeast Asia Games ( SEA Games ) slated to begin in weeks. Laos’ Sam Khe prison has swelled with the arrest of dozens more Laotian political and religious dissidents in recent days, including 38 more people today in Vientiane,” Smith continued.

The Lao Movement for Human Rights (MLDH – Mouvement Lao pour les Droits l’Homme, or LMHR ), the Lao Students Movement for Democracy (LSMD), the United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc. (ULDL), the Lao Hmong Human Rights Council (LHHRC), the Laos Institute for Democracy (LIFD), the Lao Veterans of America, Inc. (LVA), Lao Community of Minnesota (LCMN) Hmong Advance, Inc. (HA), Hmong Advancement, Inc. (HAI), the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) and other organizations have issued statements and appeals in opposition to the arrests of the some 1176 Laotians in recent days.
http://www.onlineprnews.com/news/10586-1257366404-hundreds-more-laotian ..

—

Center for Public Policy Analysis – CPPA

Contact (s): Ms. Maria Gomez or Mr. John Smith,
Communications Department
CPPA
Telephone contact. (202)543-1444
e-mail contact: info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org

CPPA – Center for Public Policy Analysis
2020 Pennsylvania Ave., North West
No. # 212
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www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org

Laos, Vietnam Army Crackdown in the Kingdom of A Million Elephants

Cached page from: Online PR News: http://www.onlineprnews.com/news/11593-1258153263-laos-crackdown-on-38-more-dissidents-as-obama-sea-games-near.html

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).

In Vientiane Province and elsewhere in Laos, the Vietnam Peoples Army has deployed more troops and secret police from Hanoi to support the Communist Lao Peoples’ Army crackdown on anti-government and student organizers in recent weeks. As the SEA Games opening approaches in December, the LPDR military regime has sought to aggressively arrest those suspected of opposing the one-party regime and its communist leadership. Vladmir Lenin and Karl Marx are still held in esteem by many aging LPA Generals in the Army and Politburo in Laos Despite President Obama declaring Laos no longer a Marxist-Leninist regime. (Photo Credit: CPPA – Center for Public Policy Analysis License Creative Commons 2.0)

Online PR News – 13-November-2009 – Vientiane, Laos, Hanoi, Vietnam, Bangkok, Thailand and Washington, D.C., November 14, 2009, For Immediate Release

Vietnam has deployed more combat troops, security forces and secret police from Hanoi to Laos ahead of the SEA Games and U.S. President Barack Obama’s trip to Southeast Asia in an attempt to quell anti-government marches and demonstrations from spreading and to crackdown on those opposed to the Lao military regime, the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic (LPDR). Vietnam army units are also assisting the LPDR in renewed and intensified military operations and attacks directed against Lao and Hmong dissident groups and civilians in key provinces in Laos.

As U.S. President Barack Obama prepares to meet with Southeast Asia leaders in Singapore, thirty-eight more Lao political and human rights activists have been imprisoned for advocating peaceful reform of the communist regime in Laos, including Laotian students.

As of November 14, the total number of Laotian political and religious dissidents, as well as ordinary Laotian citizens urging peaceful reform and change in the LPDR, that have been arrested in Laos by secret police and army units since November 2nd has been confirmed at 1176. The arrests have been confirmed from sources inside Laos, including multiple sources inside the Lao government and Lao military.

“It is important to note, that the Laotian students and Lao people, including Lao political and religious dissidents, are now continuing to seek true freedom and human rights for Laos and are seeking political change and regime change in Laos, and to rid Laos of the old Stalinist, communist LPDR regime,” said Khamphoua Naovarangsy, President of the Laos Institute for Democracy (LIFD).

Khamphoua Naovarangsy said further: “The corrupt communist regime in Vientiane and bogus communist flag of Laos are not the real and true government and flag of Laos and the Lao people, Laos was once the peaceful, free and proud Royal Kingdom of a million elephants during the time of our beloved King and Queen whom the Hanoi-backed communist leaders starved and killed in the reeducation camp after they took power in 1975.”

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) has intervened in Laos with its armed forces and secret police. Thirty-eight (38) more people were arrested in midnight door-to-door raids by secret police and army units last night in Vientiane. With the start of the Southeast Asia Games (SEA Games) just weeks away, Laos is seeking to renew a major faltering effort to maintain civil order against Lao and Hmong pro-democracy, human rights and political and religious dissidents who have sought to mobilize in mass opposition to the one-party, authoritarian regime in Laos.

“The Socialist Republic of Vietnam has intervened in Laos with special police and army units to seek to halt the spread of anti-government opposition in key provinces inside Laos, including Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Xieng Khouang, Khammoune, Sam Neua and Savanakhet Provinces and others,” said Bounthanh Rathigna of the United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc (ULDL). “Marxist Leninism is a foreign system imposed on the Lao people by the army of North Vietnam and corrupt communist leaders in Hanoi and Vientiane.”

“Communism in Laos was imposed by armed force and the armies of North Vietnam on our peace and freedom-loving people who installed the puppet LPDR regime, and the people are tired and sick of its failures, military dictatorship and corruption,” Mr. Rathigna said further.

“More and more, from North to South in Laos, ordinary Lao people as well as students and religious and political dissidents are seeking to protest the corrupt LPDR regime in Laos and the soldiers from Hanoi that are continuing to oppress and exploit the Laotian and Hmong people,” Mr. Rathigna at a ULDL meeting in the U.S. Congress yesterday.

“Communism in Laos was imposed by armed force and the armies of North Vietnam on our peace and freedom-loving people who installed the puppet LPDR regime, and the people are tired and sick of its failures, military dictatorship and corruption,”

“Hundreds more have been arrested by the LPDR secret police in Laos and Lao army along with troops from Hanoi, more and more each day,” Rathigna said
http://www.onlineprnews.com/news/10586-1257366404-hundreds-more-laotians-arrested-by-laos-army-as-sea-games-approach.html

“We want Vietnam and its army from Hanoi out of Laos now, that is what the Laotian people want. The Laotian people who are trying to demonstrate against the Lao government all across Laos want political change and reform in Laos; they want true religious freedom for all Lao Buddhists, Christians and Animists, and to end the LPDR regime’s Stalinist and one-party communist control of the Lao peoples’ religious affairs, political affairs and economic freedom. The Lao students, activists and protesters in Laos, along with Laotian people, want an end to the LPDR regime’s corruption and military rule; The Lao and Hmong people want the soldiers and troops from Vietnam and Hanoi out of Laos,” said Boon Boulaphanh, of the Laotian Community of Minnesota (LCMN). http://www.onlineprnews.com/news/10856-1257565794-laos-vietnam-crisis-activists-moblize-for-human-rights-religious-freedom-before-sea-games.html

“More attacks have occurred against the Lao Hmong Christians and Animist dissident groups hiding in Phou Bia and Phou Da Phao mountain areas in Laos in recent days,” said Vaughn Vang, Executive Director of the Lao Hmong Human Rights Council. “We are appealing to President Obama to help urge the Lao government to stop these attacks on religious and political dissidents as well as ordinary Laotian and Hmong civilians who wish to live in peace and freedom away from the corrupt one-party communist regime in control of Laos.”
http://www.onlineprnews.com/news/10907-1257617640-mortars-slam-jungle-enclaves-in-laos-killing-wounding-6-hmong.html

“The Laotian and Hmong people, along with international human rights and humanitarian NGOs, are urgently appealing to U.S. President Barack Obama to help end the political violence and institutional violence in Laos that the Lao Army and LPDR continue to inflict of ordinary people who want only to live in peace and freedom; On behalf of the Laotian and Hmong political and religious dissidents, as President Obama prepares to meet with Southeast Asia leaders in Singapore in a follow-on to recent meetings by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the recent ASEAN summit in Hua Hin, Thailand, we appeal to him and the United States Congress to continue to press the LPDR to respect international human rights and stop its military attacks against its own people.” concluded Vaughn Vang. “We are urging the Lao government to cease these arrests of political and religious dissidents and the killing of Lao and Hmong civilians and minority opposition groups.” http://www.onlineprnews.com/news/10212-1257129045-laos-crisis-sea-games-preceded-by-human-rights-concerns-violations.html/preview

“Currently, the Lao Peoples Army (LPA) backed by special units and battalions of the Vietnam Peoples Army (VPA) have mobilized forces in key provinces of Laos to attack enclaves of Laotian and Hmong civilians hiding in the mountains and jungles of Laos as well as groups of religious and political dissidents opposed to the Communist regime in Laos, especially dissident Christian, Animist and Buddhist groups,” Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) in Washington, D.C.

“The growing movement of support for the Lao Students Movement for Democracy of October 1999, has come under heavy attack by the Lao security forces following efforts to organize various protests and events to mark the 10thanniversary of the peaceful protests that occurred in Vientiane, Laos,” Smith said.
http://www.pr-inside.com/sea-games-crisis-in-laos-mldh-r1578605.htm

“The confirmed total number of Laotian political and religious dissidents arrested in Laos in November now stands at 1176 with scores jailed in Vientiane’s infamous Sam Khe prison,” said “The ongoing and unnecessary arrests of ordinary Laotians and students peacefully opposed to the Lao military junta as well as political and religious dissidents is overshadowing the start of the Southeast Asia Games ( SEA Games ) slated to begin in weeks. Laos’ Sam Khe prison has swelled with the arrest of dozens more Laotian political and religious dissidents in recent days, including 38 more people today in Vientiane,” Smith continued.

Smith concluded: “Laos is seeking to renew a major faltering effort to maintain civil order against pro-democracy, human rights and political and religious dissidents who have mobilized in mass opposition to the Laos regime, according to multiple sources in Laos as well as the United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc., Lao Students Movement for Democracy and a coalition of Lao and Hmong non-governmental organizations (NGOs).”
http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1105478.html

The Lao Movement for Human Rights (MLDH – Mouvement Lao pour les Droits l’Homme, or LMHR ), the Lao Students Movement for Democracy (LSMD), the United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc. (ULDL), the Lao Hmong Human Rights Council (LHHRC), the Laos Institute for Democracy (LIFD), the Lao Veterans of America, Inc. (LVA), Lao Community of Minnesota (LCMN) Hmong Advance, Inc. (HA), Hmong Advancement, Inc. (HAI), the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) and other organizations have issued statements and appeals in opposition to the arrests of the some 1176 Laotians in recent days.
www.onlineprnews.com/news/10586-1257366404-hundreds-more-laotian ..

“We are very concerned that the new Laotian protesters and pro-democracy activists in Laos are being jailed in terrible and harsh conditions in Sam Khe prison where they are suffering in horribly from the abuses of communist authorities,” said Mr. Oudong Saysana and Ms. Nouamkham Khamphylavong of the Lao Students Movement for Democracy ( LSMD ). “By the 5th of November we received reports and confirmation from Lao student movement members inside Laos that the arrests of over 300 Laotian people had indeed occurred.”
http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1105004.html

Currently, as of November 14, over 1176 Laotian people have been arrested by the Lao government and VPA troops from Hanoi for suspected roles in organizing or participating in rallies in opposition to the Lao government’s policies and oppressive regime.

Ms. Nouamkham Khamphylavong, along with other Lao students, participated in the October 26, 1999, peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations in Vientiane, Laos seeking political freedoms and change in Laos. Many of her colleagues and fellow students have been imprisoned in Laos for over 10 years by the Lao military junta.
http://asiapacific.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA260042000?open&of=ENG-LAO
http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1096784.html

President Barack Obama is also being urged to address the current Lao Hmong refugee crisis in Thailand where over 5,000 Laotian and ethnic Hmong political refugees face forced repatriation back to the Stalinist regime in Laos that they fled. The Lao Hmong refugees do not want to return to the communist regime in Laos where they fled political and religious persecution as well as armed attacks by the Lao army.

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Center for Public Policy Analysis – CPPA

Contact: Mr. Juan Lopez
Tele. (202)543-1444
info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org

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