[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 25, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S6152]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        HMONG DETAINEES IN LAOS

  Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. President, I would like to submit for the Record a 
statement given by Mrs. Sheng Xiong, a spokeswoman for her husband 
Hakit Yang and other families of Hmong-American citizens from St. Paul, 
MN, that are being detained by the the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, 
LPDR, regime. This statement was given by Mrs. Xiong at a congressional 
forum on Laos on January 31, 2008, organized by the Center for Public 
Policy Analysis.
  I ask unanimous consent that the Statement to which I referred be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record as follows:

                     Statement by Mrs. Sheng Xiong

       I want to thank Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, Congressman 
     Frank Wolf, Congressman Patrick Kennedy, Congresswoman Tammy 
     Baldwin and other Members of the U.S. House of 
     Representatives for co-hosting today's U.S. Congressional 
     Forum on Laos in cooperation with Mr. Philip Smith, Executive 
     Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis, Dr. Jane 
     Hamilton-Merritt, Lao Hmong scholar; Vaughn Vang of the Lao 
     Human Rights Council of Wisconsin and Minnesota; Khamphet 
     Moukdarath of the United League for Democracy in Laos and T. 
     Kumar, Advocacy Director of Amnesty International. I 
     appreciate their leadership on the current human rights 
     crisis in Laos, especially facing the Hmong people, and the 
     serious situation regarding the arrest and imprisonment in 
     Laos of my husband, Hakit Yang, and his two Hmong-American 
     colleagues from St. Paul, Minnesota last year.
       The U.S. Government granted Normalized Trade Relations 
     (NTR) to Laos in 2005. Today, it encourages citizens to 
     consider foreign investments in the communist state despite 
     the country's atrocious human rights records and the 
     unjustified arrest, jailing and continued detention of three 
     Hmong-American citizens from St. Paul, Minnesota including my 
     husband Mr. Hakit Yang.
       On July 10, 2007, Hakit Yang, Congshineng Yang and Trillion 
     Yuhaison departed the United States for Laos to pursue 
     business investment opportunities. The men were staying at 
     the #5 Guest House in Phousavan, Laos when they were arrested 
     by secret police forces. They were detained in Phonthong 
     Prison and later transferred to an unknown destination. 
     Several unofficial reports suggest they are being detained in 
     the North of Laos near the Vietnam border.
       The last phone call and communication was received from 
     Yuhaison on August 26, 2007 at approximately 9:00 am (CST). 
     Yuhaison called Hakit's older brother Xai Yang, and stated 
     that he was calling from a security guard's cell phone and 
     confirmed that all three men had been arrested without 
     warrant. Yuhaison sounded very worried and wanted Xai to 
     contact the U.S. Embassy in Vientiane right away.
       A U.S. Embassy staff confirmed with local Lao authorities 
     that three U.S. Citizens were arrested, however, the 
     authorities refused to release any names. According to the 
     U.S. Embassy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs could not 
     confirm the situation over the phone, but it appeared they 
     knew about the cases.
       The U.S. Embassy contacted the Lao government who denied 
     having any record of the men entering their country and any 
     U.S. Citizens being detained or arrested. Later, the Lao 
     government changed their previous denials and admitted that 
     the men did indeed enter Laos, but allegedly claimed that 
     they had allegedly departed Laos via the Lao-Thai Friendship 
     Bridge on August 29, 2007. Despite repeated requests from the 
     U.S. Embassy no departure cards have ever been produced as 
     evidence for their departure. Other documents produced are 
     clearly bogus and fabricated allegedly claiming to support 
     the Lao government's false claims that my husband and the 
     other two departed from Laos to Thailand, which is not 
     factual.
       It has been many months since the arrest and disappearance 
     of Hakit Yang, Congshineng Yang and Trillion Yuhaison. To 
     this day, our family has not received any concrete answers 
     from the U.S. Embassy in Laos nor the State Department. I 
     have been in contact with the other men's families and they 
     also have not received any answers.
       The U.S. Government and U.S. Embassy have a responsibility 
     to inform U.S. Citizens that there are no real protections in 
     place to safeguard their civil and legal rights. The U.S. 
     Government has failed to properly hold the Laos Government 
     accountable for the disappearance of these U.S. investors.
       Hakit, Congshineng, and Trillion represent the first of 
     many U.S. investors and tourists to travel to Laos under the 
     new Normalised Trade Relations agreement but their 
     disappearance clearly proves that no U.S. Citizen is safe in 
     Laos and no U.S. citizen should invest in the current Lao 
     regime until proper protections can be put in place, to 
     safeguard the civil, legal and human rights of all U.S. 
     Citizens traveling to Laos.
       I respectfully ask that the U.S. Government and U.S. 
     Embassy in Laos continue to investigate the arrest and 
     disappearance of Hakit, Congshineng, and Trillion and to 
     press the Lao government for humanitarian access to the three 
     U.S. citizens and their unconditional and immediate release.
       The Lao government continues to jail my husband and the two 
     other Americans from St. Paul that he was traveling with in 
     clear violation and contempt of international law. Lao and 
     Hmong Americans should not invest in the current regime in 
     Laos, the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic. NTR Trade Status 
     to Laos should be revoked by the U.S. Congress; and, U.S. 
     foreign aid and assistance to the Lao regime should also be 
     cut by the U.S. Congress and U.S. Government completely, 
     including all de-mining funding, until at least such time as 
     my husband Hakit Yang, Congshineng and Trillion, as Hmong-
     American citizens, are released from prison in Laos and 
     brought home safely to America and their homes and families 
     in St. Paul, Minnesota.
       We will not forget and not give up fighting until we have 
     truthful answers and the Lao regime releases Hakit Yang, 
     Congshineng and Trillion. We appeal to the U.S. Congress, the 
     U.S. Government and international community for assistance in 
     pressing the Lao regime to release our family members and 
     restore human rights and freedom to them so that we can be 
     reunited and these American citizens can return home once 
     again from this terrible darkness.

                          ____________________