[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 169 Engrossed in House (EH)]


                 In the House of Representatives, U.S.,

                                                     November 16, 1999.
Whereas since the 1975 overthrow of the existing Royal Lao Government, Laos has 
        been under the sole control of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party;
Whereas the present Lao constitution provides for a wide range of freedoms for 
        the Lao people, including freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and 
        freedom of religion, and Laos is a signatory to international 
        conventions on genocide, racial discrimination, discrimination against 
        women, war crimes, and rights of the child;
Whereas since July 1997, Laos has been a member of the Association of Southeast 
        Asian Nations (ASEAN), an organization which has set forth a vision for 
        the year 2020 of a membership consisting of ``open societies * * * 
        governed with the consent and greater participation of the people'' and 
        ``focus(ed) on the welfare and dignity of the human person and the good 
        of the community'';
Whereas, despite the Lao constitution and the membership by Laos in ASEAN, the 
        Department of State's Laos Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 
        1998 states that the Lao Government's human rights record deteriorated 
        and that the Lao Government restricts freedom of speech, assembly, 
        association, and religion;
Whereas Amnesty International reports that serious problems persist in the Lao 
        Government's performance in the area of human rights, including the 
        continued detention of prisoners of conscience in extremely harsh 
        conditions, and that in one case a prisoner of conscience held without 
        trial since 1996 was chained and locked in wooden stocks for a period of 
        20 days;
Whereas Thongsouk Saysangkhi, a political prisoner sentenced to 14 years 
        imprisonment in November 1992 after a grossly unfair trial, died in 
        February 1998 due to complications of diabetes after having been 
        detained in harsh conditions with no medical facilities;
Whereas there are at least 5 identified, long-term political prisoners inside 
        the Lao Government's prison system and the possibility of others whose 
        names are not known;
Whereas there continue to be credible reports that some members of the Lao 
        Government's security forces commit human rights abuses, including 
        arbitrary detention and intimidation;
Whereas two United States citizens, Mr. Houa Ly, a resident of Appleton, 
        Wisconsin, and Mr. Michael Vang, a resident of Fresno, California, were 
        traveling along the border between Laos and Thailand on April 19, 1999;
Whereas the families of Messrs. Ly and Vang have been able to learn very little 
        from the United States Government regarding the whereabouts or current 
        circumstances of their loved ones; and
Whereas the Congress will not tolerate any unjustified arrest, abduction, 
        imprisonment, disappearance, or other act of aggression against United 
        States citizens by a foreign government: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That--
            (1) it is the sense of the House of Representatives that the present 
        Government of Laos should--
                    (A) respect internationally recognized norms of human rights 
                and the democratic freedoms of the people of Laos and honor in 
                full its commitments to those norms and freedoms as embodied in 
                its constitution and its participation in international 
                organizations and agreements;
                    (B) issue a public statement specifically reaffirming its 
                commitment to protecting religious freedom and other basic human 
                rights;
                    (C) institute fully a democratic electoral system, with 
                openly contested, free, and fair elections by secret ballot, 
                beginning no later than the next National Assembly elections, 
                currently scheduled to be held in 2002; and
                    (D) allow unrestricted access by international human rights 
                monitors, including the International Committee of the Red Cross 
                and Amnesty International, to all prisons and to all regions of 
                the country to investigate alleged abuses of human rights, 
                including those against the Hmong minority; and
            (2) the House of Representatives--
                    (A) decries the disappearance of Houa Ly and Michael Vang, 
                recognizing it as an incident worthy of congressional attention;
                    (B) urges the Lao Government to return Messrs. Ly and Vang, 
                or their remains, to United States authorities and their 
                families in America at once, if it is determined that the Lao 
                Government is responsible for the disappearance of Messrs. Ly 
                and Vang;
                    (C) warns the Lao Government of the serious consequences, 
                including sanctions, of any unjustified arrest, abduction, 
                imprisonment, disappearance, or other act of aggression against 
                United States citizens; and
                    (D) urges the Department of State and other appropriate 
                United States agencies to share the maximum amount of 
                information regarding the disappearance of Messrs. Ly and Vang.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.