[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 402 Engrossed in House (EH)]


                 In the House of Representatives, U.S.,

                                                           May 6, 2004.
Whereas, in 1975, the Kingdom of Laos, a constitutional monarchy and important 
        ally of the United States during the Vietnam War, was overthrown by the 
        Marxist Lao People's Revolutionary Party with the assistance of the 
        People's Army of North Vietnam;
Whereas the Lao People's Democratic Republic was established as a one-party 
        regime in 1975 following the communist takeover;
Whereas tens of thousands of Laotian and Hmong people, a prominent highland 
        minority group, were killed or died at the hands of communist forces 
        while attempting to flee the Lao communist regime, and many others 
        perished in reeducation and labor camps;
Whereas tens of thousands of Laotian and Hmong became refugees, eventually 
        resettling in the United States where they now reside as American 
        citizens and lead constructive lives as members of their communities;
Whereas the only political party allowed by law in Laos is the communist Lao 
        People's Revolutionary Party;
Whereas, in 1989, Laos held its first elections since the establishment of the 
        Lao People's Democratic Republic, but only candidates who were approved 
        by the communist Lao People's Revolutionary Party were allowed to seek 
        public office;
Whereas, in 1991, Laos adopted its first constitution which purports to 
        guarantee the people of Laos a wide range of freedoms, including the 
        freedoms of speech, assembly, and religion;
Whereas the Lao People's Revolutionary Party Congress meets every five years and 
        controls or influences the organs of the state in Laos, including the 
        armed forces, the security services, and the National Assembly;
Whereas the Lao People's Revolutionary Party promulgates the five-year state 
        plans that control the economy and do not need to receive the approval 
        of the National Assembly;
Whereas, in 1999, peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations held by Laotian students 
        in the capital of Vientiane calling for political and economic reforms 
        were suppressed by force by the Lao government, which arrested many of 
        the students;
Whereas Amnesty International reports that many Laotian student leaders from the 
        1999 pro-democracy demonstrations continue to be held by the Lao 
        government and languish in the Lao prison system or remain unaccounted 
        for;
Whereas, in 2001, Olivier Dupuis, a Member of the European Parliament, was 
        arrested and jailed in Laos along with a group of pro-democracy 
        activists after peacefully protesting for the release of the Lao 
        students and for democratic and human rights reforms in Laos;
Whereas international election monitors are currently not permitted to enter 
        Laos to monitor elections;
Whereas Laos remains a one-party communist state that continues to prohibit the 
        organizing of opposition political parties to the Lao People's 
        Revolutionary Party;
Whereas, in 2002, elections for the Lao People's Democratic National Assembly 
        were held nearly a year earlier than scheduled and excluded all 
        candidates from political parties other than the Lao People's 
        Revolutionary Party, as well as all overseas Laotians;
Whereas Amnesty International and other independent human rights organizations 
        are not permitted to enter Laos to monitor or investigate the human 
        rights situation or reports of alleged human rights violations;
Whereas, in 2003, the United States Commission on International Religious 
        Freedom issued a country report on religious persecution in Laos, 
        recommending that the President designate Laos as a ``country of 
        particular concern'';
Whereas the Department of State reported in its most recent Country Report on 
        Human Rights Practices in Laos that Laos restricts its citizens from 
        enjoying the freedoms of speech, assembly, and religion, and from 
        undertaking activities to change their government;
Whereas, in 2003, the United Nations Committee on Elimination of Racial 
        Discrimination stated that the Lao government had failed to honor its 
        obligations, and the Committee expressed its grave concerns at the 
        information it had received of serious and repeated human rights 
        violations in Laos;
Whereas, in October 2003, Amnesty International issued a statement detailing its 
        concern about the use of starvation by the Lao government as a weapon of 
        war against civilians in Laos and the deteriorating situation facing 
        thousands of family members of ethnic minority groups, predominantly the 
        Hmong;
Whereas, in 2003, Amnesty International's International Secretariat, in a 
        statement further detailing its concerns about Laos, condemned in the 
        strongest terms the use of starvation as a weapon of war against 
        civilians and cited it as a clear and serious violation of the Geneva 
        Conventions that Laos has ratified;
Whereas because many Laotians and Hmong, including those in the overseas 
        communities, are not members of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, 
        they do not meet with its approval as political candidates, but they are 
        nevertheless successful businessmen, technocrats, and community and 
        religious leaders with democratic aspirations and concern for the people 
        of Laos; and
Whereas the United States has a vital interest in the worldwide promotion of 
        democratic principles and respect for human rights, and supports 
        democratic reforms in Laos: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives strongly supports the following 
points and urges the Government of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, the 
United Nations, the European Union, and the Association of South East Asian 
Nations--
            (1) to work to provide unrestricted access to Laos by international 
        election monitors for upcoming presidential and National Assembly 
        elections;
            (2) to work to provide unrestricted access to Laos, including 
        special closed military zones and closed provinces, by international 
        human rights organizations, the United Nations, the United States 
        Commission on International Religious Freedom, and humanitarian aid 
        organizations;
            (3) to work to ensure that opposition political parties and their 
        candidates are allowed to run for public office in multi-party elections 
        without regard to gender, race, ethnicity, religion, economic standing, 
        or political affiliation, and that all adult citizens of Laos, including 
        overseas Laotian citizens, are permitted to vote and run for public 
        office;
            (4) to allow the citizens of Laos to assemble and peacefully protest 
        against the Government of Laos, the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, 
        and individual public officials, and to freely organize opposition 
        groups and independent political parties;
            (5) to heed the call by the United Nations Committee on Elimination 
        of Racial Discrimination for the Lao People's Revolutionary Party to 
        halt immediately all acts of violence against the Hmong population and 
        provide them with humanitarian assistance;
            (6) to work to gain the immediate release of those students and 
        their family members arrested and jailed in connection with the 1999 
        pro-democracy demonstrations, as well as all other political prisoners, 
        prisoners of conscience, and those jailed for their religious beliefs or 
        ethnicity; and
            (7) to work to implement the recommendations of the United States 
        Commission on International Religious Freedom with respect to promoting 
        religious freedom in Laos.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.