[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 69 (Tuesday, June 2, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5573-S5575]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 240--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE WITH RESPECT 
 TO DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE LAO PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC

  Mr. THOMAS (for himself, Mr. Grams, and Mr. Smith of Oregon) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on Foreign Relations.

                              S. Res. 240

       Whereas in 1975, the Pathet Lao party supplanted the 
     existing Lao government and the Lao Royal Family, and 
     established a ``people's democratic republic,'' in violation 
     of the 1962 Declaration on the Neutrality of Laos and it's 
     Protocol, as well as the 1973 Vientiane Agreement on Laos;
       Whereas since the 1975 overthrow of the existing Lao 
     government, Laos has been under the sole control of the Lao 
     People's Democratic Party;
       Whereas the present Lao Constitution provides for human 
     rights protection for the Lao people, the Laos is a signatory 
     to international agreements on civil and political rights; 
     and
       Whereas Laos has become a member of the Association of 
     Southeast Asian Nations, which calls for the creation of open 
     societies in each of its member states by the year 2020;
       Whereas despite that, the State Department's ``Country 
     Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1997'' notes that the 
     government has only slowly eased restrictions on basic 
     freedoms and begun codification of implementing legislation 
     for rights stipulated in the Lao Constitution, and continues 
     to significantly restrict the freedoms of speech, assembly 
     and religion; and
       Whereas on January 30, 1998, the Lao government arrested 
     and detained forty-four individuals at a Bible study meeting 
     in Vientiane and on March 25 sentenced thirteen Christians 
     from the group to prison terms of three to five years for 
     ``creating division among the people, undermining the 
     government, and accepting foreign funds to promote 
     religion;'' Now therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate, That it is the sense of the Senate 
     that the present government of Laos should--
       (1) respect international norms of human rights and 
     democratic freedoms for the Lao people, and fully honor its 
     commitments to those norms and freedoms as embodied in its 
     constitution and international agreements, and in the 1962 
     Declaration on the Neutrality of Laos and it's Protocol and 
     the 1973 Vientiane Agreement on Laos;
       (2) issue a public statement specifically reaffirming its 
     commitment to protecting religious freedom;
       (3) fully institute a process of democracy, human rights 
     and openly-contested free and fair elections in Laos, and 
     ensure specifically the National Assembly elections--
     currently scheduled for 2002--are openly contested.


[[Page S5574]]


  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, today as the Chairman of the Subcommittee 
on East Asian and Pacific Affairs I submit S. Res. 240, a resolution 
expressing the sense of the Senate with respect to democracy and human 
rights in Laos.
  In 1975, the Pathet Lao party supplanted the legitimate Lao 
government and the Lao Royal Family, and established a ``people's 
democratic republic,'' in violation of the 1962 Declaration on the 
Neutrality of Laos and its Protocol, as well as the 1973 Vientiane 
Agreement on Laos. Since that time, Laos has been under the sole 
control of the communist Lao People's Democratic Party.
  Although the present Lao Constitution provides for human rights 
protection for the Lao people, is a signatory to international 
agreements on civil and political rights, and has become a member of 
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations--which calls for the 
creation of open societies in each of its member states by the year 
2020--the State Department's ``Country Reports on Human Rights 
Practices for 1997'' notes that the government has only slowly eased 
restrictions on basic freedoms and begun codification of implementing 
legislation for rights stipulated in the Lao Constitution, and 
continues to significantly restrict the freedoms of the press, speech, 
and assembly.
  Mr. President, would-be opposition political leaders in Laos continue 
to be jailed in horrible conditions solely because they espouse 
democratic ideals. While Laos recently conducted the country's most 
open elections since 1975, that is not to say that the elections came 
close to meeting even the minimal norms for what we would consider free 
and fair; Laos is still a one-party state and all of the candidates for 
election were vetted by the party. And the Hmong and Yao ethnic 
minorities continue to face discrimination and, in some cases, 
persecution.
  In addition, on January 30 of this year, a group of 44 people, 
including five foreigners, were arrested at a Bible study meeting in 
Vientiane. Charged with creating divisions among the people, 
undermining the government and accepting foreign funds to promote 
religion, a Laotian court sentenced 13 Christians from the group to 
prison on March 25. Eight were sentenced to three-year prison terms, 
including five Lao affiliated with Partners in Progress (PIP), a U.S.-
based evangelical humanitarian aid organization. Lao authorities had 
prevented the prisoners from meeting with their families until the 
sentencing.
  Last month the Lao Foreign Ministry accused the group of making 
negative comments about the government and interfering in the internal 
affairs of the country by insulting the reputation of Lao leaders. A 
foreign ministry spokesman added that the three Americans, all PIP 
workers, had taken advantage of their non-governmental organization 
status to ``promote the worship of Christ'' to Lao nationals.
  Mr. President, Laos doesn't receive a lot of attention from the 
outside. It is a land-locked, impoverished country of just slightly 
over five million people, where only three percent of the land is 
arable. Subsistence farming accounts for more than half of the GDP, and 
provides more than eighty percent of total employment. It has few 
roads, no railroads, and electricity in only a few scattered urban 
areas. Needless to say, it is of little strategic or economic interest 
to the rest of the world.
  But Mr. President, that does not mean that we can or should turn a 
blind eye to the human rights situation in that country. We need to 
urge Laos to respect international norms of human rights and democratic 
freedoms for the Lao people, and fully honor its commitments to those 
norms and freedoms as embodied in its constitution and international 
agreements. The resolution calls on the Lao government to issue a 
public statement specifically reaffirming its commitment to protecting 
religious freedom, and to fully institute a process of democracy, human 
rights and openly-contested free and fair elections in Laos, and ensure 
specifically that the National Assembly elections--currently scheduled 
for 2002--are openly contested. I hope they get the message.
  Mr. President, before I close I would like to thank my good friend 
from Minnesota, Mr. Grams, for cosponsoring--indeed, for inspiring--
this resolution. Senator Grams has significant Lao and Hmong 
populations in his state, and has been active in getting their message 
heard in Congress; I've attended several meetings, including one with 
members of the Lao royal family, which he sponsored. I would also like 
to thank my friend the Senator from Oregon, Mr. Smith, for his 
cosponsorship; there is a large Hmong population in Portland, and I 
know Senator Smith has followed events in Laos closely.
  Mr. GRAMS. Mr. President, I am pleased to join Senator Thomas as co-
sponsor of S. Res. 240, a resolution which hopefully will focus more 
Congressional attention on the situation in Laos. With 50,000 Hmong and 
7,000 other ethnic Lao living in Minnesota, I am well aware that the 
atrocities being committed in that country and the lack of progress 
toward a democratic government are far more serious than press reports 
would lead us to believe. It is rare indeed that any of us, even those 
of us who serve on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, ever hear 
anything about Laos. Yet many Lao and Hmong fought with us in the 
Vietnam War. In fact, they are still being ``punished'' for their 
loyalty to the United States through continued violence against them by 
the Lao government. But, the State Department recently responded to an 
inquiry I made by saying they do not see evidence of abuses.
  We owe the Hmong and other Lao a great debt of gratitude for their 
service during the Vietnam War. We owe them our renewed efforts to end 
the violence in Laos and to enforce the agreements signed by Communists 
in Laos in 1962 and 1973 which committed them to a coalition government 
including the Lao Royal Family. As you may know, this government was 
overthrown in 1975, and now the country is under sole control of the 
Lao People's Democratic Party.
  Since there has been so little focus on Laos, Mr. President, there 
has been little progress there. While the Lao government approved a 
Constitution in 1990 claiming human rights protection, and while Laos 
has signed international agreements on civil and political rights and 
is a member of ASEAN, the record shows these promises are being 
ignored.
  Several months ago, the United Lao Movement for Democracy of 
Minnesota hosted a staff briefing. The briefing included a videotape 
which showed death, violence, and evidence that ``yellow rain'' has 
been used against Lao citizens recently--despite comments by the State 
Department these atrocities do not exist. We were told during the 
briefing that the ``killing fields'' are still going on in the 
countryside, mostly against the Hmong. The leaders of the Minnesota 
group, Shoua Cha, Xiong Pao Moua, and Cha Vang have been instrumental 
in calling these atrocities to our attention and maintaining valuable 
contact with the people of Laos. There were many cries on the tape that 
war hero General Vang Pao should return to Laos to help stop the 
violence.
  Mr. President, the Thomas-Grams resolution expresses Senate 
opposition to human rights abuses in Laos, including religious 
persecution. It calls for free and fair elections and a process toward 
democracy.
  I would like to call attention to one American, Steve Young, an 
expert and activist in Indochinese matters for over 30 years. Steve has 
helped us focus on problems in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, and I have 
always valued his counsel. If Steve, and my many Hmong and Lao 
constituents, say there is a serious problem here, I believe them. Mr. 
President, I ask unanimous consent that an article by Steve Young 
printed in the May 14, 1998 edition of the Minneapolis Star Tribune be 
printed in the Record.
  Mr. President, to those seeking changes in Laos, this resolution 
provides hope. I ask that my colleagues give it their support, as an 
expression by the Senate of our renewed interest in improving the 
situation in Laos. Please join me in co-sponsoring this resolution and 
facilitating its passage in the near future.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

     In Putting Laos Out of Sight, America Has Abandoned Its Honor

                            (By Steve Young)

       Laos: on the losing side of history, one of only four 
     remaining Communist states, a

[[Page S5575]]

     genuine backwater in international affairs, a little country 
     with no geopolitical importance, no raw materials, no 
     seaport, no beautiful beaches, no ski resorts.
       Why should I, or anyone else, care a whit about Laos?
       The Lao people have no Dalai Lama to win friends and 
     influence Hollywood; their ancient royal family is also in 
     exile but commands no attention. Their holy relic, the 
     Prabang Buddha statue, is rumored to be in Moscow, hidden 
     away as a now-forgotten and irrelevant trophy of the Cold 
     War.
       Fifty thousand Hmong people from Laos now live in 
     Minnesota, along with some 7,000 ethnic Lao. But is that any 
     reason to care about the tiny, faraway homeland of a people 
     who don't speak English?
       Life in Laos is hard, especially for the Hmong, for the 
     ethnic Khamu people and for the poor. The country's Communist 
     leadership is awful. There are arbitrary arrests, no economic 
     development, lousy schools, no free speech. Corruption is 
     rampant.
       The self-centered whims of Communist Party cadres are the 
     law.
       Opium is still a cash crop in Laos, feeding the world's 
     supply of heroin. Communist officials, it is said, protect 
     and profit from the vile traffic.
       With help from the United States, many Lao and Hmong fought 
     the Communists until 1973. Then, the United States walked 
     away to ``give peace a chance,'' as John Lennon demanded.
       Today, years later, fighting still goes on. The Hmong in 
     the hills are still loyal to the cause of the United States 
     in the Cold War. They don't understand why the Americans went 
     into a sulk and gave up fighting an evil political movement.
       In December and January, and again in March, Communist Lao 
     forces numbering several battalions attacked Hmong hamlets on 
     the slopes of the Phu Bia mountain massif. Communist forces 
     were repulsed. Their wounded filled the military hospital in 
     the capital city of Vientiane.
       In the far south of Laos, the Khamu people have turned 
     against their former patrons--Lao and Vietnamese Communists. 
     Young Khamu men have taken to the jungles to fight and put on 
     their left arms the white elephant patch of the Lao royal 
     family.
       American officials in Vientiane make the best of a tour of 
     duty in a place that counts for nothing except oppression. 
     They argue for a form of appeasement, calling it 
     ``constructive engagement.''
       Poor little Laos: Back then, its needs were hidden behind 
     the secrecy of an unpublicized war. The grim fighting, the 
     terror for innocent villagers, the heroism of the Hmong, the 
     illegalities of the Vietnamese Communists in invading a 
     neutral country were out of sight and out of mind for the 
     experts and gurus whose duty it is to tell our collective 
     national psyche when, and how, and for whom to emote 
     compassion.
       Today, Laos is equally forgotten and still the victim of 
     that past war. The bad guys won.
       In putting Laos out of sight, America has abandoned its 
     honor.
       Promises were made to the peoples of Laos by the American 
     government, among others. International agreements were 
     signed in 1962 by all the great powers, pledging peace, 
     neutrality, multiparty government. In 1973 the promises were 
     renewed; yet again treaties were signed. International law 
     protected the peoples of Laos, so it was said. Henry 
     Kissinger got a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
       In 1975 the Communists broke their agreements, killed the 
     king, queen, crown prince and many others--all to impose the 
     justice of a really stupid ideology and, let us not forget, 
     to gain a little joie de vivre for themselves.
       A solution to the continuing troubles in Laos is at hand. 
     The Communists need only return to the agreements they signed 
     in 1962 and 1973, restoring coalition government, the 
     monarchy and human freedoms. Such a Laos would be a buffer 
     between Thailand and Vietnam, adding to the peaceful 
     stability of Southeast Asia. Such a Laos would also protect 
     Vietnam from penetration by China through the mountains 
     around Dien Bien Phu.
       To forget the promises made is willfully to choose 
     dishonor.
       We can mediate successfully in Northern Ireland, we send 
     troops to watch over ethnic brutality in Bosnia, we mobilize 
     to crack down on Saddam Hussein's inhumanities. Why can't we 
     care as well about Laos?

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