[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 104 (Wednesday, July 29, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9317-S9318]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




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

  Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 429, S. Res. 
240.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 240) expressing the sense of the 
     Senate with respect to democracy and human rights in the Lao 
     People's Democratic Republic.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution which had been reported from the Committee on Foreign 
Relations with amendments.

  (The parts of the resolution intended to be stricken are shown in 
boldface brackets and the parts of the resolution intended to be 
inserted are shown in italic.)

                              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 its 
     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, and Laos is a signatory 
     to international agreements on civil and political rights;
       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 divisions among the people, undermining the 
     government, and accepting foreign funds to promote 
     religion'': Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, 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 its Protocol and 
     the 1973 Vientiane Agreement on Laos;
       (2) issue a public statement specifically reaffirming its 
     commitment to protecting religious freedom and other basic 
     human rights; [and]
       (3) 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[.]; and
       (4) allow access for international human rights monitors, 
     including the International Committee of the Red Cross to Lao 
     prisons, and to all regions of the country to investigate 
     allegations of human rights abuses, including those against 
     the Hmong people, when requested.


[[Page S9318]]


  Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
committee amendments be agreed to, as amended, the preamble be agreed 
to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements 
relating to the resolution appear at this point in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The committee amendments were agreed to.
  The resolution, (S. Res. 240) as amended, was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.

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