[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 101 (Thursday, July 10, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S9236]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                  LAOS

  Mr. FEINGOLD. Madam President, I rise today to express my concern 
over recent events in Laos. As a member of the Subcommittee on East 
Asian and Pacific Affairs of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, 
I have consistently monitored the human rights situation in Laos and 
other East Asian nations. Recent news reports indicate that the human 
rights situation continues to deteriorate in Laos, specifically for the 
Hmong ethnic group.
  As many of you may know, two European journalists and their 
translator, a Hmong-American pastor from Minnesota, were captured by 
the Lao government on June 4, 2003 and sentenced to 15 years of prison. 
After serious diplomatic negotiations between the governments of 
Belgium, France, the United States and Laos, they were released from 
prison on Wednesday. While I am relieved that the Lao government has 
freed these people, I remain concerned about the continuous allegations 
of human rights violations by the Lao government. Amnesty International 
reports that Lao nationals who accompanied the journalists remain in 
detention without legal representation and are being tortured with 
sticks and bicycle chains, which I find horrifying. I also find 
troubling reports by the freed journalists regarding the ``sham'' 
trials they experienced.
  In addition, Time magazine has recently released two articles that 
accuse the government of waging a war against the Hmong ethnic 
community within Laos. The articles state that the Lao government 
attacked a Hmong village in October, killing 216 people and has 
threatened to ``eradicate'' the population of Hmong. Time magazine also 
claims that ``no political dissent has been allowed in [Laos for] 28 
years, nor any right of assembly. Scores of political prisoners and 
youths have been detained for years in dark cells without trial; many 
have been tortured.''
  While I cannot confirm the specific allegations of the article, many 
of my Hmong constituents have raised similar concerns about the human 
rights conditions in Laos and the welfare of their families and friends 
who are living there. I strongly believe that the United States cannot 
ignore violations in Laos. I have consistently supported efforts to 
promote human rights and democracy in Laos, and in the 106th Congress, 
sponsored a resolution calling upon the Government of Laos to recognize 
and to respect the basic human rights of all its citizens, including 
ethnic and religious minorities.
  Once again, I ask the Lao government to allow international 
humanitarian organizations to have access to areas in which Hmong and 
other ethnic minorities have resettled, to allow independent monitoring 
of prison conditions, and to release prisoners who have been 
arbitrarily arrested because of their political or religious beliefs. 
These violations must not continue.

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