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Press Releases (Breaking News): International Communique: No Christmas in Laos
For Persecuted Christians
Washington, D.C., Paris, France and Vientiane,
Laos, December 25, 2011 Center for Public Policy Analysis
info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
The Lao Movement for Human Rights, the Center
for Public Policy Analysis, and a coalition of Laotian and Hmong non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have issued a
statement and international communique, on Christmas Day, to raise awareness about ongoing religious persecution in Laos directed
against Christian believers in the Southeast Asian nation.
“Sadly, Laotian and Hmong Christians continue
to be arrested, imprisoned and tortured in Laos by security forces and the army,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director
of the Center for Public Policy Analysis. “Again this year, many Protestant Christians and Roman Catholic believers
in Laos are prohibited from celebrating Christmas, or are being arrested and imprisoned for seeking to practice their religious
faith independent of government monitoring and control.” http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
The Paris, France – based Lao Movement for Human Rights (LMHR), in cooperation with
the CPPA and other NGOs issued the following international communique on Christmas Day in English and French:
“ LAOS : MERRY CHRISTMAS TO CHRISTIANS WHO ARE THE VICTIMS OF THREATS, INTIMIDATION AND ARREST,”
the LMHR proclaimed.
“On this day of joy, love and hope for Christians in the whole world, the Lao Movement for Human Rights wishes
a Merry Christmas to the Christian community of Laos, particularly to those Christians arrested in the year 2011 and still
detained to this day in the prisons of the Lao People’s Demcratic Republic (LPDR). The Lao Movement for Human Rights
expresses its deep concerns on the plight of the Christians in LPDR, victims of threats and arrests in different
provinces in the course of 2011, until these last days which were marked by an intimidation campaign aiming to prevent
them from celebrating Christmas.
“On 21 December 2011, authorities of Natoo village, Phalansay district, Savannakhet
province (South) threatened four leaders of a community of forty seven Christians and ‘’chasing them from
the village unless they renounce their faith’’. This intimidation happened less than a week after authorities
of Boukham village (3 km from Natou), Adsaphanthong district, Savannakhet province, arrested eight leaders of a community
of 200 Christians ---- Mr. Phouphet, Mr Oun, Mr Somphong, Mr Ma, Mr Kai, Mr Wanta, Mr Kingmanosorn and Mrs Kaithong --- for
having organized Christmas celebrations although a formal authorization has already been obtained. If Mr kingmanosone was
freed after a caution paid by the ‘’Lao Evangelical Church’’, the only Anglican Church recognised
by the LPDR, the other persons are still in prison, their hand and legs blocked by wooden stocks.
“ Just like the other past years, the
LPDR government has not given a rest to the Christians who have continued to suffer in 2011. The list is long. The Lao Movement
for Human Rights recalls some cases :
“ On January 4th, 2011, the police of Nakoon village, Hinboun district, Khammouane
province (Centre) arrested nine Christians for ‘’having celebrated Christmas without authorization’’.
To this day, pastor Vanna and Pastor Yohan are still continually imprisoned.
“ On March28th, 2011, four Christians
of Phoukong village, Viengkham district, Luang Prabang province (North) were arrested for ‘’spreading foreign
religion and evading Lao traditional religion’’. In the same village, on July 11th, 2011, another Christian,
Mr Vong Veu, was arrested for having chosen the Christian religion and is imprisoned until this day.
“ In Luang Namtha province (North), Namtha
district, village of Sounya, four Christians --- Mr Seng Aroun, Mr Souchiad, Mr Naikouang and Mr Kofa -- were
arrested on July 10th, 2011 , for ‘’ having practiced Christianism’.
“On July 16th, 2011, ten Christians were
forced by the authorities to leave their village Nonsavang, Thapangthong district, Savannakhet province (South), after
they refused to renounce their religion. These persons, including women and children, took refuge in their rice fields, 3
km from the village, by building a temporary bamboo shelter, but then, were again chased from their rice fields at the
end of August 2011, with the promises that they could return to the village the day they renounce their religion.
“ The Lao Movement for Human Rights firmly condemns these basic human rights violations against the Lao people,
that are contrary to the International Conventions ratified by the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and contrary to
the LPDR Constitution’s provisions on 'religious freedom.’ “The Lao Movement for Human Rights asks the LPDR government to implement its international engagements
and agreements related to the United Nations on Human Rights with the immediate and unconditional release of all prisoners
detained for their faith or their opinion and in ending all forms of religious repression,” the LMHR statement concluded.
The international coalition of Laotian and Hmong non-governmental organizations (NGOs) joining in support of the statement
and international communique include the LMHR, the CPPA, Hmong Advancement, Inc., Hmong Advance, Inc., the United League for
Democracy in Laos, United Lao for Human Rights and Democracy , the Laos Institute for Democracy, Inc., Laos Students for Democracy,
the Lao Veterans of America and others. In French:
Communiqué
LAOS : JOYEUX NOËL AUX CHRETIENS VICTIMES DE MENACES
, D ’INTIMIDATIONS ET D’ARRESTATIONS
En ce jour de joie, d'amour et d'espérance pour la chrétienté
du monde entier, le Mouvement Lao pour les Droits de l’Homme ( MLDH), présente ses vœux de Joyeux Noël
à la communauté chrétienne du Laos, et plus particulièrement aux chrétiens laotiens arrêtés
au cours de l'année 2011 et encore détenus à cette date dans les prisons de la République Démocratique
Populaire Lao (RDPL).
Le MLDH exprime ses profondes inquiétudes sur le sort des chrétiens en RDPL,
victimes de menaces et d’arrestations dans divers provinces au cours de cette année 2001, jusqu’à
ces derniers jours marqués par une campagne d’intimidations visant à les empêcher de célébrer
Noël.
Ainsi, le 21 décembre 2011, les autorités du village de Natou, district de Phalansay, province de Savannakhet
(Sud), ont convoqué quatre responsables d’une communauté de quarante sept chrétiens du village,
menaçant de les ’chasser du village à moins qu’ils ne renoncent à la pratique de leur
foi’’.
Cet événement intervient moins d’une semaine après que les autorités
du village Boukham ( localisé à cinq kilomètres de Natou), district Adsaphangthong, province de Savannakhet,
ont arrêté huit responsables d’une communauté de 200 chrétiens --- MM. Phouphet, Oun, Somphong,
Ma, Kai, Wanta, Kingmanosorn et Mme Kaithong --- pour avoir organisé les célébrations de Noël, malgré
une autorisation déjà obtenue en bonne et due forme. Si Mr Kingmanosone a été libéré
sous caution payée par le ‘’Lao Evangelical Church’’, seule église protestante reconnue
par la RDPL, les sept autres sont toujours en détention, leurs mains et pieds bloqués dans des carcans en bois.
Comme les autres années, le gouvernement de la RDPL n’a pas donné de répit aux chrétiens
qui n’ont pas fini de souffrir en 2011. La liste est longue. Le MLDH en rappelle quelques cas :
* Le 4 janvier 2011, la police du village de
Nakoun, district de Hinboun, province de Khammouane (Centre), a arrêté manu militari neuf chrétiens pour
avoir ‘’célébré Noël sans autorisation’’. A ce jour, le pasteur
Vanna et le pasteur Yohan sont toujours emprisonnés.
* Le 28 mars 2011, quatre chrétiens du village de Phoukong, district de Viengkham,
province de LuangPrabang (Nord) ont été détenus pour avoir ‘’propagé la religion
chrétienne’’. Dans le même village, le 11 juillet 2011, un autre chrétien, Mr Vong Veu
a été arrêté pour avoir choisi la religion chrétienne, et reste à ce jour en prison
pour avoir refusé de renoncer à sa foi.
*Dans la province de Luang Namtha, district Namtha, le village de Sounya, quatre chrétiens,
MM. Seng Aroun, Souchiad, Naikouang et Kofa sont arrêtés le 10 juillet 2011 pour ‘’avoir pratiqué
de la chrétienté’’.
*Le 16 juillet 2011, dix chrétiens ont été chassés du village
Nonsavang, district de Thapangthonh, province de Savannakhet (Sud) par les autorités après qu’ils aient
refusé de renoncer à la pratique de leur religion. Ces personnes, incluant femmes et enfants, se sont réfugiés
dans leurs rizières ( à 3 kms du village) en construisant des abris en bambous. Fin août 2011, ils furent
également chassés de leurs rizières, avec la promesses qu’ils pourraient retourner au village lorsqu’ils
auront quitté leur religion.
Le Mouvement Lao pour les Droits de l'Homme condamne fermement ces violations des
droits fondamentaux de la population laotienne, contraires aux Conventions Internationales ratifiées par la République
Démocratique Populaire Lao, et contraires à la Constitution de la RDPL traitant de "la liberté religieuse".
Le MLDH exige au gouvernement de respecter ses engagements internationaux liés à la déclaration
des Nations Unies sur les Droits de l’Homme en procédant à la libération immédiate et inconditionnelle
de tous les prisonniers détenus en raison de leur opinion ou de leur croyance et en mettant fin à toute répression
religieuse.
(end French language translation)
###
Contact:
Kristy Lee or Philip Smith (202) 543-1444 info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
Tele. (202) 543-1444 ------
Laos, Vietnam
Human Rights Defender Mourned At Arlington Cemetery December 23, 2011, Arlington,
Virginia, Washington, D.C. and Fresno, California
Center for Pubic Policy Analysis info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org Flowers, notes and candles were placed today at the Lao and
Hmong veterans’ monument in Arlington National Cemetery, Washington, D.C., by mourners wishing to honor and memorialize
the life and tragic death of former French Colonel Robert Jambon. Mr. Jambon, a decorated Indochina war
veteran previously honored by French President Nicholas Sarkozy, recently took his life in Dinan, France,
in protest to ongoing human rights violations directed against the Laotian and Hmong people in Laos and Vietnam. The
Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA), the Lao Veterans of America, Inc., the Lao Veterans of America Institute, the United
League for Democracy in Laos, Inc., and a coalition of Lao and Hmong non-governmental organizations (NGOs), cosponsored memorial
events in Arlington National Cemetery. They issued statements honoring the life and legacy of retired French
Colonel Robert Jambon and his valiant fight for human rights and freedom for the Laotian, Hmong and Vietnamese people of Indochina.
http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org The NGOs expressed their condolences to Jambon’s family
and friends. According to Robert Jambon’s final statements, as reported recently by an investigation concluded by French
police, he killed himself in Dinan, France, on the steps of an Indochina war monument, seeking to bring international attention
to the ongoing persecution and killing of the Lao Hmong people. The Hmong people in particular have faced
forced repatriation, human rights violations and persecution in Laos, Vietnam and Thailand.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1112/S00467/robert-jambon-a-bold-life-death-for-laos-and-hmong.htm Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Doctors Without
Borders (MSF - Medecins Sans Frontieres), the CPPA and others have documented recent human rights violations against the Laotian
and Hmong people, including the forced repatriation of thousands of Lao Hmong refugees and asylum seekers from Thailand to
Laos in 2007-2009. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0912/S00655.htm Colonel Wangyee Vang, National President and Founder of the
Lao Veterans of America Institute, offered condolences to Colonel Jambon’s family and friends. “On behalf of the Lao and
Hmong people and Hmong veterans, I wish to convey our deepest sympathy to you upon the death of your love one, Colonel Robert
Jambon,” stated Colonel Wangyee Vang.
“Colonel Jambon is a real friend and supporter of the Hmong people… You will be remembered
forever,” Vang said. “I extend my condolences to you and your family. I hope the memories will help lessen the burden
of your sorrow, and that you may draw some measure of comfort knowing that Hmong people care and share in your loss,”
Wangyee Vang’s statement concluded.
“Many are deeply shocked and saddened by the death of Colonel Robert Jambon whose heart-felt love
for the suffering Laotian, Vietnamese and Hmong people in Laos, Thailand and Vietnam caused him to take his own life in protest
to egregious ongoing human rights violations in Southeast Asia,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the CPPA in
Washington, D.C. “The indifference of the international community to the forced repatriation and persecution of
the Lao and Hmong people by the military authorities in Thailand, Laos and Vietnam is indeed troubling to many who have closely
followed these issues and tragic developments over the years,” Smith said. “The
Laotian and Hmong people will never forget Colonel Robert Jambon for his sacrifices in defense of the Royal Kingdom of Laos
during the Indochina war and his efforts to bring awareness about the plight of Laotians and Hmong people who are the victims
of human rights violations,” said Bounthanh Rathigna, President of the United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc. (ULDL). Colonel
Robert Jambon received numerous French and Royal Lao military honors and awards during his career, including official national
recognition by French President Nicholas Sarkozy in recent years. He was a Commander of the Legion of Honor and received the
Military Cross of Valor, the Order of National Merit and other medals. The
Lao and Hmong veterans monument in Arlington National Cemetery, established in 1997, is dedicated to the Lao and Hmong veterans
and their advisors who served in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/laos-hmong-veterans-memorial-ceremony-at-arlington-national-cemetery-58047832.html ###
The Life and Death of Robert Jambon: An Act of Love and War For A Forgotten People
December 13, 2011, Washington, D.C., Paris,
France, Bangkok, Thailand and Vientiane, Laos For Immediate Release
The Center for Public Policy Analysis, and
a coalition of Lao and Hmong non-governmental organizations (NGOs), have issued a statement today honoring the life and
legacy of retired French Colonel Robert Jambon and his valiant fight for human rights and freedom for the Laotian, Hmong
and Vietnamese people. The NGOs also expressed their condolences to the Jambon family. According to his final
statements as reported recently by an investigation concluded by French police, Colonel Jambon sacrificed himself in Dinan,
France, as a veteran of the Indochina war, where he took his own life in seeking to bring international attention to the
ongoing persecution and killing of the Lao Hmong people in Laos, Vietnam and Thailand. “The Lao
and Hmong veterans salute the supreme sacrifice of Colonel Robert Jambon in seeking to offer up his life to help bring international
attention to the ongoing military attacks, and human rights violations in Laos and Vietnam, directed against freedom-loving
people, including the Hmong,” said Colonel Wangyee Vang, National President of the Lao Veterans of America Institute
(LVAI), the largest Laotian and Hmong non-profit veterans' organization in the United States , with chapters and members
in France and internationally. “Colonel Jambon wanted to help to save our Lao and Hmong
people and the refugees, and ordinary people, who are being persecuted now in Laos by the military and communist regime,”
Colonel Wangyee Vang stated. “Colonel Jambon is a hero to our Laotian and Hmong people;
He recently killed himself in France as an dramatic and important international statement of protest to try to help our
people and to try to save those in the jungles and refugee camps in Laos and Thailand who have fled terrible religious and
political persecution, genocide and bloody military attacks,” Wangyee Vang said. “The Laotian
and Hmong people will never forget Colonel Robert Jambon for his sacrifices in defense of the Royal Kingdom of Laos during
the Indochina war and his efforts to bring awareness about the plight of Laotians and Hmong people who are the victims of
human rights violations,” said Bounthanh Rathigna, President of the United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc. (ULDL). “Colonel
Robert Jambon’s life, and recent suicide in France, is an important and symbolic act of selfless love, and of calculated
moral war, against systemic injustice and oppression that continues to be directed against thousands of innocent people
in Laos, including the Hmong minority,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis
(CPPA) in Washington, D.C. “Robert Jambon’s final tragic act of love, and war,
for the forgotten nation of Laos, and the persecuted Lao Hmong minority people there, has been heard in Washington, D.C.
and has resonated with many in the Laotian community around the world,” Smith observed. The CPPA continues
to document human rights violations in Laos and Southeast Asia regard the Hmong and other peoples. Thousands of Hmong from Vietnam were arrested, or killed, earlier
this year by the Vietnam Peoples' Army (VPA) in Dien Bien province after staging peaceful gatherings and protests.
Hmong Christians in Laos have suffered increased persecution, atrocities and attacks by the Lao military and VPA forces.
http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
“Despite the indifference of the international
community, the war in Laos is, unfortunately, not over for the Lao Hmong people,” Smith continued. “The
Lao People’s Army, and the secret police of the Stalinist regime in Laos, backed by military leaders in Hanoi, continue
to kill and persecute the Laotian and Hmong people in the most brutal and egregious manner resulting in many refugees fleeing
to neighboring Thailand and the ongoing deaths and casualties of thousands of innocent civilians as well as political and
religious dissidents.” “Colonel Jambon’s bold death, like the self-immolation
of Tibetan and Vietnamese monks, is a fiery monument to heroism and self-sacrifice on behalf of the Hmong people of Laos
and Vietnam whom he loved and knew, and served with in combat on behalf of France during the first Indochina war,”
Smith commented. “The violent forced repatriation of tens of thousands of Lao Hmong refugees from Ban Huay Nam Khao in
Thailand, back to the communist regime in Laos, where they fled mass starvation and genocide in recent years, remains as
a stain upon the international community as well as the hearts and minds of those concerned about human rights in Southeast
Asia,” Smith stated. “Colonel Robert Jambon rightly understood the horrific
crimes, and incomprehensible abuses, that are still being violently inflicted upon thousands of innocent Hmong and Laotian
civilians and religious and political dissident groups in Laos,” Smith continued. “Colonel
Jambon’s passionate and Gauguin-like suicide at the Indochina monument in Dinan, France, is a powerful symbol of devotion
and understanding regarding the suffering plight of the Lao and Hmong people,” Smith concluded. “Robert Jambon’s
courage in speaking truth to power to a world that has largely forgotten thousands of Lao Hmong people who have been
abandoned by France and the United States in the mountains and jungles of Laos, and the refugee camps in Thailand, speaks
volumes; The themes of love, war, betrayal, and the need to address the ongoing social injustice in Laos and Vietnam, resonate
in the final gunshot that ended Robert Jambon’s amazing and important life” Joining the CPPA,
LVAI and ULDL in issuing a statement on behalf of Colonel Robert Jambon’s life and legacy include the United Lao for
Human Rights and Democracy (ULHRD), Laos Institute for Democracy, Hmong Advance, Inc., Hmong Advancement, Inc., Lao Students
for Democracy, Hmong Students Association and others.
Amnesty International,
Doctors Without Borders (MSF - Medecins Sans Frontieres), the CPPA and independent NGO and journalists have reported about
the forced repatriation, persectution and human rights violations directed against the Lao Hmong people in Thailand and Laos.
###
Contact:
Jade Her or Philip Smith CPPA - Center for Public Policy Analysis 2020 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Suite 220 Washington, DC
20006 USA Tele. (202) 543-1444
Laos
Reeducation Camp Survivor Dies Washington, D.C. , and Vientiane, Laos, November 25, 2011 For Immediate Release
info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
Contact: Jade Her or Philip Smith Center for Public Policy
Analysis Tele. (202) 543-1444 Khampet Moukdarath, a human rights advocate for the people of Laos, and a survivor of the
Lao gulag and reeducation system, died on November 6, 2011, in the Washington, D.C.-metropolitan area. He was honored
at recent events in Washington, D.C., by the Laotian-American community, the United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc. (ULDL),
United Lao for Human Rights and Democracy (ULHRD), Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) and others. “Because of his
devotion to his Buddhist faith and his love of the nation of Laos, Colonel Khampet Moukdarath suffered from torture and abuse
in reeducation camps in Laos for over 13 long years following the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) invasion of the Royal Kingdom
of Laos and the Pathet Lao communist guerilla takeover,” said Bounthanh Rathigna, President of the United League
for Democracy in Laos, Inc. “We remember the Lao veterans and Lao people who suffered unbelievable torture and pain for their
beloved nation and people following the brutal communist military takeover by Vietnam, and for those Laotian people who were
persecuted, tortured and killed in the reeducation camps,” said Colonel Khamthene Chinvayong, of the Lao Veterans Association. “We will never forget
Khampet Moukdarath’s deep and compassionate love for the suffering Laotian people, and his devotion to their future
as well as the historical legacy of the sovereign nation of Laos, the Royal Kingdom of Laos,” said Philip Smith,
Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) in Washington, D.C. “On many occasions Khampet
Moukdarath courageously testified at the U.S. Congressional Forum on Laos and at other policy events in
Washington, D.C., about the plight of Laos and the Laotian people and about human rights violations in Southeast Asia.”
http://www.centerforpublicpollcyanalysis.org
“Colonel Khampet Moukdarath’s life, and unique kindness,
in the face of overwhelming difficulty, and suffering, has been a great inspiration to the freedom-loving people of Laos and
to so many in Washington, D.C., and internationally,” Smith continued.
Smith concluded: “We are grateful for Khampet Moukdarath’s
important life and his compassionate efforts over the years; we are especially mindful of the incomprehensible
and prolonged suffering he endured for 13 years as a reeducation camp victim and survivor—as well as his vision and
hope for a brighter future for the freedom-loving Laotian and Hmong people.”
“We remember all those who suffered and died for their country,
as veterans of the conflict in Laos, in defense of the Royal Kingdom of Laos,” said Colonel Wangyee Vang, National President
of the Lao Veterans of American Institute. Khampet Moukdarath rose to the rank of Colonel in the Royal Lao Army during the Vietnam
War. Following Moukdarath’s
release from reeducation camps in Sam Neua and Xieng Khouang provinces in Laos, he fled Laos as a political refugee and lived
in Thailand before being granted asylum in the United States. He frequently participated in pro-democracy and human
rights events on Capitol Hill and in front of the Lao Embassy in Washington, D.C. On numerous occasions, from 1998-2010,
Moukdarath served as a keynote speaker at the U.S. Congressional Forum on Laos held in the U.S. House of Representatives,
U.S. Senate and Library of Congress. Colonel Moukdarath was affectionate and fond of the Laotian people, as well as the minority
peoples of Laos, including the minority Hmong ethnic group, whom he often worked with on key human rights issues. He
advocated for the release of the Lao Students Movement for Democracy demonstrators, who were arrested in October of 1999
in Vientiane, Laos, and who continue to be subjected to harsh imprisonment in Laos.
In 2009, Moukdarath spoke out at international policy events held
on Capitol Hill, and at the National Press club in Washington, D.C., in support of Kay Danes and other
political prisoners, who were imprisoned in Laos’ notorious Phonthong and Sam Khe prisons.
Three Lao Hmong-American citizens from St Paul, Minnesota, including Mr. Hakit Yang, who were also arrested
and imprisoned in recent years in Laos, were also the subject of Moukdarath’s concerns and testimony at the U.S.
Congressional Forum on Laos held at that time. Moukdarath boldly called for their immediate release by
the Lao government. Colonel Moukdarath was
honored by the CPPA and many others at funeral ceremonies held in Alexandria, Virginia, that were attended by hundreds from
the Laotian community across the United States on November 14-15. Organizations honoring the life and legacy of Colonel Khampet
Moukdarath include the ULDL, CPPA, United Lao for Human Rights and Democracy, Inc. (ULHRD), Lao Veterans Association,
Lao Veterans of America, Inc., Lao Veterans of America Institute, Laos Institute for Democracy, Laos Students Association,
Hmong Advancement, Inc., Hmong Advance, Inc. and others. ###
http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
Laos, Vietnam Human Rights Appeal
Issued in Washington
November 15, 2011, Washington, D.C., Vientiane, Laos
and Bangkok, Thailand
For Immediate Release
The United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc., (ULDL) has released
the text of a seven-point international appeal and statement following events it hosted last week in Washington, D.C., which
included representatives of the Laotian, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Hmong and Asian-American community The Center for Public Policy
Analysis (CPPA) and other non-governmental organizations (NGO) and policymakers were invited to speak and participate in policy
events, Capitol Hill meetings and a human rights rally held in front of the Lao Embassy in Washington, D.C. www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
The following is the text of the statement issued by Bounthanh Rathigna, President of the ULDL:
Statement of Bounthanh Rathigna, President
United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc.
Washington, D.C.
November 5-8, 2011
Laos International Policy Conference &
Demonstration and Protest Rally In Front of the
Lao Embassy in Washington, D.C.
Honored Guests, American policymakers, Members of the U.S. Congress and staff,
Fellow Laotian leaders, Lao and Hmong students, fellow NGO and non-profit organization leaders, representatives of the Free
Vietnamese Community and other freedom loving people of Asia and America, Ladies and Gentleman, I am Bounthanh Rathigna, President
of the United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc. (ULDL) and I welcome you here today at our international policy conference
and protest rally and demonstration in front of the Lao Embassy in Washington, D.C.
It is good to see so many
friends and supporters from across the country and from Laos gathered here in Washington to discuss the problems of the one-party,
corrupt authoritarian regimes in Laos and Vietnam that continue to persecute their own citizens. I deeply appreciate your
efforts to discuss and to protest human rights violations in Laos and the dictatorship of the Hanoi-backed Stalinist regime
in Laos that continues to imprison and persecute the freedom-loving Laotian people.
We have gathered here in
Washington, D.C., to memorialize and remember all of the Laotian, Vietnamese, Hmong and Asian people who continue to suffer
human rights violations, religious persecution, torture and harsh imprisonment, without due process, and the rule of law.
We remember, and are here, to demonstrate against the oppressive corruption and ongoing attacks by the secret police and military
forces of the Lao regime in Vientiane, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, against ordinary Lao and Hmong people who seek
political, religious and economic freedom for Laos. We especially remember the Lao Student Movement for Democracy protesters
of October 26, 1999, who peacefully demonstrated in Vientiane for democracy, human rights and political and economic reform
but were arrested and continue to suffer in jail. After 12 years they are still suffering in prison in Laos for their beliefs
and for their efforts to bring about reform and change in Laos.
We are here to bring attention to and remember
the Laotian and Hmong hiding in the jungles and mountains of Laos who continue to suffer military attacks by Vietnam People’s
Army Forces and the Lao Army because they wish to live in peace and freedom apart from the Communist regime in Laos’s
persecution and religious freedom violations and human rights violations.
We, therefore, are calling for:
1.) An end to the dictatorships in Laos and Vietnam. In Laos, we are calling for the hosting of truly free and fair
multi-party elections in Laos monitored by the international community and an end to one-party Communist rule in Laos by the
Lao People’s Army, and its military junta, that controls the Politburo in Vientiane;
2.) The immediate
withdrawal of all Hanoi-backed army units and secret police of the Vietnam People’s Army that remain on the territory
of Laos in support of the Lao communist regime’s (the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party) efforts to oppress and
persecute the Laotian and Hmong people and exploit the economic resources of Laos and destroy its environment; We want the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam to immediately withdrawal alls its troops, soldiers and police from Laos—as well as its
covert security advisors;
3.) An immediate end to illegal logging by Vietnam People’s Army owned
companies in Xieng Khouang, Sam Neua, Khammoune, Luang Prabang and other provinces in Laos that is destroying the environment,
killing minority peoples such as the Lao Hmong people, and exploiting the natural resources of Laos without just compensation
to ordinary Laotians;
4.) Stop the persecution, imprisonment, torture and killing of religious believers in Laos,
including dissident Buddhists, minority Catholics, Protestant Christians and independent Animist believers; We, the Laotian
people, want true freedom of religion for all Laotians of all religious faiths;
5.) Allow international humanitarian
access to, and release, all political prisoners, prisoners of conscience, and foreign prisoners, including the Lao Students
for Democracy Movement leaders, Hakit Yang and other two other Lao-Hmong American citizens from St. Paul Minnesota;
6.)Allow international humanitarian access to, and release, the over 8,500 Lao Hmong refugees and asylum seekers who
fled persecution in Laos and who were tragically and brutally forced from Huay Nam Khao, Thailand, back to the regime in Laos
in 2009 and 2010;
7.) Release the Ban Vang Tao patriots, the Laotian citizens, who were forced back to Laos from
Thailand after their courageous efforts to raise the Royal Flag of Laos, the true and traditional flag of Laos, in opposition
to the arrest and imprisonment of the Lao Student leaders and in support of freedom for their beloved country of Laos.
At these events in Washington, D.C. and the demonstration and protest in front of the Lao Embassy, we are here to
give voice to the millions of suffering people of Laos and Vietnam who continue to live under the brutal Stalinist regimes
in Vientiane and Hanoi. We are here to call for freedom and human rights for Laos, Vietnam and all of the people of Asia.
Thank you.
(End Statement by Bounthanh Rathigna, President, the United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc.)
Invited participants and cosponsors included the ULDL, CPPA, United Lao for Human Rights and Democracy (ULHRD),
Laos Institute for Democracy, Inc., Lao Students for Democracy, Lao Veterans of America, Inc., Free Vietnam Community, Hmong
Advance, Inc., Hmong Advancement, Inc., and other NGOs and Asian-American organizations.
Laotian-American, and
Asian-American, delegations from Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, Minnesota,
California, Wisconsin, Connecticut, Rhode Island and other states, also attended and participated.
Thank you.
###
CPPA -- Center for Public Policy Analysis
Contact: Jade Her or Philip Smith
Tele. (202) 543-1444
info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
2020 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Suite 220
Washington, DC 20006 USA
www.cppa-dc.org
### Laos Policy Events, Protest Rally in Washington,
DC
For Immediate Release, November 8, 2011, Washington, D.C.
Center for Public Policy Analysis
info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
Laotian and Hmong non-profit and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have concluded an international policy
conference in Washington, D.C. and protest demonstration in front of the Lao Embassy. The Center for Public Policy Analysis
(CPPA) and U.S. policymakers participated in the events held from November 5-8, 2011.
Lao, Hmong, Vietnamese,
Cambodian, and Asia-American NGOs from across the United States and internationally participated in the events.
NGO participants expresses concerns about ongoing environmental and refugee issues in Laos, Thailand and Southeast Asia
as well as human rights violations linked to the influx of VPA-backed logging and mining companies in Laos.
“We
don't need the Vietnamese military cutting down and stealing our trees in Laos,” said Boon Boualaphanh, President of
the United for Lao Human Rights and Democracy, Inc. These trees and forests belong to Laos and the Laotian people who should
be allowed to benefit it by themselves, our country needs freedom and human rights, not economic and military exploitation
by Vietnam People’s Army-owned companies and soldiers.”
“The role of Laotian and Hmong-American
NGOs in raising concerns about ongoing human rights and environmental abuses in Laos, Vietnam and Southeast Asia is significant,”
said Philip Smith, Executive Director for the Center for Public Policy Analysis. “We were pleased to be invited to speak
at these events and to discuss the plight of Laotian and Hmong refugees and political and religious dissidents that continue
to be persecuted and imprisoned in Laos.” www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
“We are especially concerned about the plight of imprisoned Lao student leaders, the detention of thousands
of Lao Hmong political refugees, and the horrific ongoing persecution of independent Lao Hmong Christian and Animist believers
in Laos,” Smith stated. www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1110/S00785/laos-rights-groups-urge-re ..
The CPPA and non-profit humanitarian, human rights, research and policy organizations also participated in the
Washington, D.C., international policy conference held on current issues in Laos and Southeast Asia.
The policy
conference was followed by meetings with U.S. policymakers in Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Congress, regarding Laos and
Southeast Asia. ### 2020 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Suite 220
Washington, DC 20006 USA
Contact Person:
Jade Her or
Philip Smith
Communications & Public Affairs Dept.
Phone: 202-543-1444
email: info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
Web: http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org ### Laos, Hmong Human Rights Activist
Nominated For Australian of the Year AwardWashington, D.C., Brisbane and Canberra, Australia,
November 3, 2011
Author, human rights advocate and humanitarian activist Kay Danes has been nominated for the
Queensland category of the Australian of the Year Award. The nomination was hailed by the Center for Public Policy Analysis
(CPPA) and a coalition of Laotian and Hmong non-governmental and human rights organizations including: the United League
for Democracy in Laos, Inc.; the Lao Students Movement for Democracy; United Lao for Human Rights
and Democracy, Inc.; Lao Institute for Democracy; Hmong Advance, Inc.; Hmong Advancement, Inc.; the Lao Veterans of America,
Inc.; and, others.
Danes, who was arrested in 2000, was brutally interrogated and tortured in the notorious Phonthong
prison in Vientiane, Laos, along with Laotian, Hmong and foreign prisoners. She is now an author and human rights activist.
“Her critical testimony about her interrogation and torture in Laos, and that of
other victims, helped to develop deeper understanding and awareness about the terrible fate of those languishing in foreign
prisons who are often imprisoned unjustly in horrific and inhumane conditions in violation of international law,”
Smith stated. http://centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
“Kay Danes has been a tireless and effective international advocate for human rights, womens' rights,
the suffering of torture victims, and the plight of refugees and those imprisoned in horrific conditions in Laos, Afghanistan,
and other nations around the world,” Smith said.
“Kay Danes distinguished
work, especially as it relates to the Laotian and Hmong people, refugees and foreign prisoners, has been crucial in helping
to bring international attention to the suffering and voiceless people of Laos and other countries,” Smith continued.
"Danes has researched and spoken about the fate of imprisoned and missing Lao student pro-democracy demonstrators as
well as three Hmong-Americans from St. Paul, Minnesota, including Mr. Hakit Yang, who have been jailed in harsh conditions
for years under the Communist regime in Laos."
The awards will be announced in Brisbane
on November 17, 2011. Winners will join recipients from other states and territories in Australia as finalists for the national
awards that will presented in Canberra, Australia, in January 2012.
Kay Danes has authored
important books about human rights violations and torture in Laos including “Standing Ground” (New Holland Publishers,
Australia), released in 2009. In the same year, she was invited to speak in the United States about her experiences in Laos,
and as an advocate for the Foreign Prisoners Support Service, at the World Affairs Council, National Press Club and U.S.
Congressional Forum on Laos.
presszoom.com/story_148273.html
www.media-newswire.com/release_1089564.html
www.newholland.com.au/product.php?isbn=9781741107579
Dane's book "Standing Ground" was cited and acclaimed by the American Authors'
Association and others.
www.americanauthorsassociation.com/ images/ Standing%20Ground%20Press%20Release%20March%2009.pdf
Contact: Maria Gomez or Philip Smith
info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
Tele. (202) 543-1444
CPPA - Center for Public Policy Analysis
2020 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Suite 220
Washington, D.C. 20006 USA
www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
Contact Information:
CPPA - Center for Public Policy Analysis
2020 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Suite 220
Washington, D.C. 20006 USA
Contact Person:
Maria Gomez or Philip Smith
Communications / Public Affairs Department
Phone: 202-543-1444
Laos: Rights Groups Urge Release of Student Protestors Friday,
28 October 2011, 11:09 am
Press Release: Centre for Public Policy Analysis
October 26, 2011, Vientiane, Laos, Bangkok, Thailand, Washington, D.C. and Paris, France
Center for Public Policy Analysis
info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org In solemn memory of the 12th anniversary of peaceful student demonstrations in Vientiane, Laos,
a coalition of non-governmental organizations is calling for the immediate release of Lao student leaders who continue to
be imprisoned in harsh conditions, without charge, for over a decade. The . Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) was
joined by the Lao Movement for Human Rights [(Mouvement Lao pour les Droits de l’Homme (MLDH)], United League for Democracy
in Laos, Inc., Lao Students Movement for Democracy, Lao Veterans of America Institute, Lao Veterans of America, Hmong Advance,
Inc., Hmong Advancement, Inc . and other non-governmental organizations in calling on the one-party authoritarian government
in Laos to release the Lao student leaders and other Laotian and Hmong political prisoners, prisoners of conscience and refugees.
Events and statements issued to mark the occasion were held in Washington, D.C., Paris, France and Bangkok, Thailand. The Lao student demonstrations held 12 years ago on October 26, 1999, sparked major calls for political, economic
and institutional reform in Vientiane, the capital, and throughout the nation of Laos. Ten years later, follow-on demonstrations
were held in Laos in October 2009 that also resulted in the arrest and imprisonment of many Laotian protestors demonstrating
against the one-party governemnt. “The Stalinist regime in Laos should immediately release
all of the Lao student protestors as well as ethnic Hmong refugees and religious and political dissidents it continues to
brutally imprison and persecute,” stated Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA)
at events held in the U.S. Congress today to mark the occasion of the 12th anniversary of the Lao military crackdown. http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org “We want the military regime in Laos and the communist officials to release all of the
peaceful Lao student demonstrators and other innocent religious believers and political prisoners it has placed in jail without
charges or trial,” said Bouthanh Rathigna, President of the United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc. “The Lao people need freedom and democracy and want Vietnam’s military troops and secret police out of
Laos,” said Bounleuam Boualaphanh, President of United Lao for Human Rights and Democracy, Inc. of Minnesota. “We
want the Lao government to change and reform and to release the Lao student leaders who peacefully protested in support of
human rights and democracy for Laos.” “It is time for the military and communist party
leaders of the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic (LPDR) to release the Lao students because the peaceful demonstrations sought
to help the nation and because the Lao student leaders arrested and young people are the future of the country,” said
Colonel Wangyee Vang, National President of the Lao Veterans of America Institute. The Paris-based
Lao Movement for Human Rights [(Mouvement Lao pour les Droits de l’Homme (MLDH)] said in a statement read at the Capitol
Hill anniversary events in Washington today: “4380 days after their arrest, the four human rights defenders of the
Student Movement of 26 October 1999 remain in detention. The Lao Movement for Human Rights expresses its extreme concern about
the prolonged arbitrary detention of four members of the Student Movement of 26 October 1999, a group that tried to organize
a peaceful march in Vientiane to claim for social justice, human rights respect and democratic reforms.” “Twelve years after their arrest, MM. Thongpaseuth Keuakoun, Seng-Aloun Phengphanh, and Bouavanh Chanmanivong
Keochay are still jailed in the prison of Samkhe, in the province of Vientiane, whereas Mr. Sisa-At Khamphouvieng died in
prison from torture in 2001,” the MLDH, Lao Movement for Human Rights organization stated. The
MLDH continued: “ (we are) highly worried by their plight …as during the final adoption of the Universal Periodic
Review (UPR) of Laos at the UN in September 2010, the LPDR had totally ignored the recommendation 'to release those detained
for participating in peaceful demonstrations, including the leaders of the Movement of 26 October 1999, and rejected the primary
recommendation for the creation of an independent national commission on human rights in accordance with the Paris Principles.’” The MLDH stated further: “In accordance with Article 5 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights (ICCPR) ratified by the Lao People’s Democratic Republic in September 2009, the prisoners must be treated in
compliance with international human rights standards The arrest of peaceful protesters, and the death of one of them in detention
show the failure of the Lao government in the implementation of the international human rights instruments it has ratified.” The MLDH statement concluded: “The Lao Movement for Human Rights urges to the international community - including
the European Union and its Member States, the United Nations, the United States, Japan, Australia and ASEAN - to take urgent,
concrete and concerted actions so that the Lao government applies the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR), as well as other international agreements related to the United Nations declaration of 1988 on human rights defenders
and proceed to the immediate and unconditional release of MM. Thongpaseuth Keuakoun, Seng-Aloun Phengphanh, Bouavanh Chanmanivong
and Keochay and also those arrested on 2 November 2009 - Ms. Kingkèo (39), MM. Soubinh (35), Souane (50), Sinpasong
(43) and Khamsone (36) arrested in Phon Hong, M. Nou (54) arrested in Pakkading, Miss Somchit (29), MM. Somkhit (28 years)
and Sourigna (26), arrested in Vientiane - while they were heading to Vientiane to claim for social justice and basic human
rights.” ### Laos, Hmong Veterans of Vietnam War Fight For Burial Honors Sunday,
23 October 2011
Press Release: Center for Public Policy Analysis
Laos, Hmong Veterans of Vietnam War Fight For Burial Honors
Washington,
D.C. and Fresno, California, October 21, 2011
Center for Public Policy Analysis The Center
for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA), the Lao Veterans of America Institute (LVAI), the Lao Veterans of America, Inc. (LVA),
and a coalition of Laotian and Hmong-American organizations, joined today to express gratitude and support for the re-introduction
of a bill in Congress that would honor Laotian and Hmong veterans by permitting their burial in national veterans cemeteries
across the United States. The non-governmental organizations hailed the leadership of U.S. Congressman Jim Costa (D-CA),
and a bipartisan group of Members of the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, D.C., for helping to spearhead the legislation
on Capitol Hill that bestows further respect and overdue honor to the Laotian and Hmong-American community for their efforts
during the Vietnam War. “We again sincerely thank U.S. Congressman Jim Costa and seven key
Members of Congress for reintroducing critical legislation that honors the Laotian and Hmong veterans of the Vietnam War in
Laos,” said Colonel Wangyee Vang, National President of the Lao Veterans of America Institute, who helped to educate
Congress about the plight of Lao Hmong veterans in the United States and Southeast Asia. “Our
Laotian and Hmong veterans courageously served in combat alongside U.S. forces in the secret theatre of operations in Laos
alongside U.S. special forces and American intelligence community members, and they should be rightly honored with burial
in U.S. national veterans cemeteries alongside their American counterparts,” Colonel Vang stated. “Hmong veterans served side-by-side with American forces in Vietnam, and these veterans deserve the honor
of a final resting place next to their brothers in arms,” stated U.S. Congressman Jim Costa said. “These veterans defended our American ideals long before any of them called our country home. Extending burial
benefits to our Hmong veterans recognizes their sacrifice and honors their patriotic service,” U.S. Representative Costa
further stated. “This important legislation, if passed by the U.S. Congress and enacted,
would permit several thousand Laotian and Hmong-American veterans who served in the Kingdom of Laos during the Vietnam War
to be buried, or their ashes interred, in veterans cemeteries across the United States,” said Philip Smith, Executive
Director for the Washington, D.C.-based CPPA. http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org “Commendably, Laotian and Hmong veterans and their family members across America are continuing
the fight for burial honors in Washington, D.C. and are educating Members of the U.S. Congress and policymakers about their
sacrifices during the Vietnam War in Laos and Southeast Asia,” Smith commented. In Washington,
D.C., over the years, the LVAI, LVA and CPPA have helped to conduct and lead national ceremonies in the U.S. Congress, Arlington
National Cemetery and the Vietnam War Memorial to honor Laotian and Hmong veterans and their refugee families. http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100608007501/en/Laos-Hmong-Community-Concludes-National-Memorial-Ceremonies The new legislation, H.R.3192 would authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to inter in national
cemeteries individuals who supported the United States in Laos during the Vietnam War era in combating invading communist
forces from North Vietnam as well as Marxist Pathet Lao guerrillas. Support for the initiative
in Congress have received the support of various historians, scholars and advocates, including prominent Southeast Asia scholar
Dr Jane Hamilton-Merritt. http://www.tragicmountains.org Organizations today hailing the new effort in Congress on behalf of burial honors for Lao Hmong
veterans include the LVAI, LVA, CPPA, the United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc., Hmong Advance, Inc., Hmong Advancement,
Inc. and others.
| Will Thai Army Eventually Halt Yingluck Victory? | Bangkok, Thailand and Washington, D.C. For Immediate Release: July 3, 2011 info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
Contact: Maria Gomez Tele. (202) 543-1444 With polls closing in Thailand today, concerns have been raised
by the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Public Policy Analysis that elements of the Royal Thai Army may militarily intervene,
in the post-election aftermath of Thailand’s recent election, where the Pheu Thai Party is predicted to sweep control
of a majority of seats in Parliament and potentially usher in Thailand’s first female Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra. “There are concerns that elements of the Royal Thai Army may intervene militarily,
at some point down the road, in the post-election aftermath of today’s elections, in opposition to a majority victory
by Pheu Thai Party candidates in Parliament, or the potential that Yingluck Shinawatra will become Thailand’s first
female prime minister,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) in Washington,
D.C., a public policy research organization. The CPPA is a Washington,
D.C.-based, think-tank and non-governmental organization focused on public policy research--especially in the areas of international
security, economics, trade, human rights, religious freedom, humanitarian and refugee issues. http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org “Will Thailand’s Army intervene, overtly or covertly, to
halt Yingluck Shinawatra, or a Red-Shirt Victory, that will likely occur if Pheu Thai Party candidates sweep control of Parliament
in a supermajority ?” Smith questioned. “If so, how will Washington and the Obama Administration respond to a
new round of political violence in Thailand, down the road, in the aftermath of the election results ?” “Ongoing political violence in Thailand, while less likely if the elections
results are overwhelmingly in favor of Pheu Thai Party candidates, and the ushering in of Thailand’s first female Prime
Minister is still significant, especially given the Thai Army’s crackdown of Red Shirt demonstrators in Bangkok last
year,” Smith stated. Smith questioned: “Will there be
a peaceful transfer of political power in Thailand, some policymakers wonder in Washington ?” “In addition to other issues, some elements of the Thai Royal family’s circle and the Royal
Thai Army have concerns about the Shinawatra family’s previous business and political ties, as well as corruption allegations,
and this may lead to ongoing post-election political turmoil in Bangkok,” Smith observed. “Clearly, Washington policymakers, including the Obama Administration and Secretary of State Clinton,
are hopeful for greater stability in Thailand, and an enhanced partnership, as well as election results that reflect the will
of the Thai people,” Smith explained. “Prime Minister
Abhisit Vejjajiva’s Administration, and some elements of the Democratic Party and Royal Thai Army, were criticized domestically,
and internationally, for a number of key issues, including the violent crackdown on demonstrators in Thailand as well as the
unnecessary forced repatriation of Hmong refugees from Thailand to Laos,” Smith stated. “It is hoped that today’s elections in Thailand will help to usher in a new era of stability,
unity and prosperity for the people of Thailand, and the Royal Family, with whom the United States shares a special affection
and relationship; The election of Thailand’s first female Prime Minister would indeed be historic, if the polls confirm
this prediction, and apparent unfolding new political reality, ” Smith concluded. ### Vietnam, Laos: MI-24 Helicopter Gunships Bring
Death to Hmong in Dien Bien
May 21, 2011, Dien Bien Province, Vietnam, Phongsali, Laos, and Washington, D.C. Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA)
Contact: Ms. Helen Cruz, Tele.
(202) 543-1444
The Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) has unleashed
attack helicopters on unarmed Vietnamese civilians and those suspected of participating in mass rallies involving an estimated
8,500 Viet-Hmong protesters, including thousands of Catholic, Protestant Christian and animist religious believers
seeking human rights and land reforms. Today, newly deployed squadrons of MI-24 “Hind” helicopter gunships
flew bloody combat sorties against ethnic Hmong villagers and protesters fleeing into the rugged interior of Dien
Bien province and across the border into Laos, according to the Center for Public Policy Analysis and Hmong and Vietnamese
sources in Vietnam and Laos.
An estimated thirty-four
(34) Soviet-era “HIND” MI-24 assault helicopters remain in the SRV’s current arsenal. Older MI-8
helicopters have also been deployed. Special units of the Vietnam People’s Army, including “Dac Cong”
special forces units with Viet-Hmong translators, have been mobilized to assist heliborne troops in tracking, arresting,
interogating and summarily executing suspected Hmong demonstrators who have fled into the rugged interior.
“Our Hmong people are being attacked without mercy and killed and
wounded by the helicopters sent from Hanoi to machine gun and bomb their villages and pursue them into the mountains and
jungles of Dien Bien province in Vietnam and Laos,” said Christy Lee, Executive Director for Hmong Advance, Inc.
Ms. Lee stated further: "Some Vietnamese
clerics with ties to the Vietnamese Ministry of Interior, and secret police, have join Vietnamese government officials in
declaring that all of the Hmong protestors are cult members and irredentists, a theme often repeated by Hanoi’s state-run
media, and parroted by the official propaganda apparatus, to justify the use of armed force against ethnic Hmong-Vietnamese
and Vietnamese Christians who have previously joined peaceful Catholic and mainstream Protestant demonstrations, including
demonstrations in Hanoi in previous years for religious freedom and government reforms. "
“What have the Viet-Hmong people done wrong that would allow them to be slaughtered
and attacked by the Vietnamese military and police, and why has the government in Hanoi escalated the attacks with these
new helicopters being deployed against many innocent Catholic, mainstream Protestant Christians and Animist believers who
participated in recent protests,” Ms. Lee said.
“Do they deserve to be attacked by armed
force by the Army for their non-violent appeals for civil rights, human rights and reform?” Ms. Lee questioned.
"On the Laos side of the border, next to Dien Bien province, Vietnam People's
Army troops, and special advisors and police, are active and working with the Lao People's Army, along the Vietnam-Laos
border area in the Laotian provinces of Luang Prabang and Phongsali, to help with military operations to seal the border
area off from independent journalists and newsmedia and to arrest or attack the Hmong who have attempted to flee,"
said Bounthanh Rathigna of the United League for Democracy in Laos (ULDL). http://www.onlineprnews.com/news/136891-1304943947-vietnam-army-kills-14-more-hmong-prostesters-hundreds-more-missing.html
“The General Staff of Vietnam's armed forces
and the Ministry of Defense in Hanoi, including General Phung Quang Thanh, appear to be alarmed and have apparently
ordered the deployment of significant numbers of the very lethal MI-24 attack helicopters to fly additional strafing
and bombing sorties against the Hmong people fleeing Vietnam's military crackdown in the Dien Bien province area,”
said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) in Washington, D.C. http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
“M-24 ‘Hind” attack helicopters
are now being deployed by Hanoi to fire their machine guns and launch deadly rockets at the Hmong who are fleeing into the
rugged mountain interior of Dien Province and across the border into Laos,” Smith said.
“Today, two Hmong mountain villages, and several enclaves, in Vietnam were attacked by helicopter gunships
and we are awaiting final casualty figures since there were more killed and many wounded in the havoc and the aftermath
of the aerial bombardment.” “Viet-Hmong casualties and those arrested by Vietnam People's Army soldiers continue
to mount with each passing day as the military continues its bloody crackdown and security operations in Dien Bien province
have intensified,” Smith stated.
“Vietnam's Minister of Defense,
General Phung Quang Thanh, and others in the military and politburo, are concerned about mass demonstrations spreading to
the general population who may also appeal for reforms, greater freedom and regime change in Vietnam and Laos,” Smith
commented.
Smith explained: “By pursuing a policy
of using overwhelming, violent, armed force against the peaceful Hmong demonstrators, Communist party officials and the
military elite in Vietnam are hoping to bring things to a rapid conclusion in the Dien Bien area, but they cannot control
the crisis situation because of the mountainous terrain and determination of many of the Vietnamese and Hmong demonstrators
who have dispersed. What if the demonstrations in Dien Bien, and their demands for reform, spread to other parts of
Vietnam and Laos ? Cozy Communist party officials in Hanoi fear that the ethnic Hmong and other minority populations
in the Hanoi and Red River Delta area, and other parts of Vietnam, will join together with other ordinary Vietnamese citizens
in calling for greater religious freedom, human rights, political reforms and in opposition to corrupt and draconian government
policies, including the recent violence directed against the Viet-Hmong Christians and other citizens in Dien Bien.”
“We are also concerned that the Lao People's Army, lead by Vietnamese
troops and advisors, has mobilized in Luang Prabang Province and the Phongsali area in Laos, in support of the efforts to
seal off Dien Bien province to journalists and assist in interdicting and capturing Hmong demonstrators fleeing Vietnam,”
Smith concluded.
Vietnam has sealed key areas of Dien Bien province
off to independent journalists as it continues military operations against targeting the Viet-Hmong citizens who engaged
in peaceful, non-violent protests that began earlier this month. Protesters were demanding greater religious freedom,
land reform, human rights and an end to illegal logging and the exploitation of their lands and resources by Vietnam People's
Army-owned companies.
The SRV government in Hanoi has also denounced
and attacked Human Rights Watch's (HRW) recent report and statement on Dien Bien province and the plight of the Viet-Hmong
demonstrators.
### 
Online PR News (press release) (Photo Courtesy: Center For Public Policy Analysis,License CC.2.0) The Vietnamese People's Army has
killed at least 72 Hmong Christian and animist ... Vietnam Forces Kill 72 Hmong, Hundreds Arrested and Flee
Online PR News (press release), May 17, 2011
The Vietnamese People’s Army has killed at least 72 Hmong Christian and animist
religious believers, many of them mainstream Catholic and orthodox Protestant Christians, according to the Center for Public
Policy Analysis and Hmong and Laotian non-governmental organizations with sources inside the region that borders on Laos.
The beatification of Pope John Paul II, in Rome on May 1st was a factor in sparking the mass gatherings and peaceful, non-violent
demonstrations by thousands of Viet-Hmong Catholics, Protestant and Animist believers according to Philip Smith of the CPPA
and other sources inside the northern province of Vietnam. At least nine more
Vietnamese-Hmong Catholic believers, who were part of a mass demonstration for religious freedom, land reform and an end
to illegal logging by Vietnam People’s Army owned military companies, were confirmed killed by army soldiers, and police,
as of Tuesday, May 17, for taking part in the peaceful rallies that occurred earlier in the month. Many Hmong Catholics
had helped form the core of demonstrations in Dien Bien to mark ceremonies in honor of Pope John Paul II in Rome on May
1st.
Vietnam security forces, including over 15,000 soldiers from various Vietnam People’s Army units,
backed by allied armed forces from Laos, have sealed off much of Dien Bien province in Vietnam and arrested over 2,400 ethnic
Hmong citizens from Vietnam. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1105/S00366/nine-hmong-catholics-killed-during-mass-arrests-in-vietnam.htm
Online PR News (press release) Nine Hmong Catholics Killed During Mass Arrests in Vietnam Dien Bien Phu, Phongsali, Laos, and Washington, D,C. May 16, 2011,
2:15 PM EST.
Contact:
Maria Gomez, CPPA- Center for Public Policy Analysis Tele. (202)
543-1444
Vietnam security forces,
including over 15,000 soldiers from various Vietnam People’s Army units, backed by allied armed forces from Laos,
have sealed off much of Dien Bien province in Vietnam and arrested over 2,400 ethnic Hmong citizens of Vietnam, according
to the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) and Hmong and Laotian non-governmental organizations with sources inside
the region that borders on Laos and Northern Vietnam. Nine (9) more Vietnamese-Hmong Catholic believers, who
were part of a mass demonstration for religious freedom, land reform and an end to illegal logging by Vietnam People’s
Army owned military companies, were known killed by army soldiers, and police, as of Monday, May 16, for taking part in
the peaceful rallies that occurred earlier in the month. The beatification of Pope John Paul II, in Rome on May 1 helped to spark the mass gatherings
and peaceful, non-violent demonstrations by thousands of Viet-Hmong Catholics, Protestant and Animist believers according
to Philip Smith of the CPPA and other sources inside the northern province of Vietnam.
“The Hmong Catholic
and Protestant Christian believers in Vietnam’s Dien Bein province continue to be wrongly targeted and defamed by
the Vietnam People’s Army soldiers and secret police who are arresting, beating and persecuting them by the hundreds,”
said Christy Lee of Hmong Advance, Inc. “ Ordinary Vietnamese Catholic, Christian and Animist believers, and Vietnamese citizens, engaged in
peaceful mass protests against the government for reform are being arrested, tied up and blindfolded, by the hundreds and
forcibly loaded onto military trucks where they being taken away and out of the sealed off province,” Ms. Lee said.
“We fear that many
Viet-Hmong will be summarily executed after interrogation like the nine Catholic believers who were killed last week by
the soldiers and police because of their faith and peaceful appeals for an end to religious persecution and injustice,”
Lee stated. “Now, over 2400 innocent Hmong have been arrested on baseless and false charges as many people had
gathered initially in Dien Bien to honor Pope John Paul II, and his message of hope to the suffering people and Christians
worldwide who are being persecuted.” “Multiple sources in Vietnam have confirmed that nine more Vietnamese-Hmong Catholic believers,
who were part of a demonstration for religious freedom, land reform and an end to illegal logging by Vietnam People’s
Army owned military companies, have been killed by security forces,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the
Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) in Washington, D.C. http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
“Many of our Hmong
and Vietnamese sources in Dien Bien province and in the bordering areas of Laos have reported that the beatification of
Pope John Paul II, in Rome on May 1st played a significant factor in sparking the mass gatherings and peaceful,
non-violent demonstrations by thousands of Viet-Hmong Catholics, Protestant and Animist believers,” said Mr. Smith.
“The Hmong people of the
Catholic diocese in Dien Bien were brutally beaten and killed by army soldiers, and police for allegedly taking part in
the peaceful rallies that occurred earlier in the month calling for an end to religious persecution, the lifting of oppressive
government restrictions on Christian and Animist believers and the celebration of the beatification of Pope John Paul
II in Rome on May 1st, of this year and the former Pope’s important message to fearlessly confront government injustice
and Stalinist authoritarianism,” Smith commented. “The Polish Pope, who had opposed Nazi forces during World II, and the spread of Communist
totalitarianism and its attacks on the Catholic and Protestant Church , has been a source of inspiration to many Vietnamese,
Laotian, Cambodian and Hmong Christian believers by the courageous moral conduct of his life and his profound words
to ‘be not afraid’ in challenging social injustice and Stalinist regimes around the world,” Smith
stated.
“Now, in Vietnam’s
Dien Bien Province, the Vietnamese People’s Army has killed at least 72 Christian believers, many of them mainstream
Catholic and orthodox Protestant Christians believers,” said Smith. “Senior generals and defense ministry officials in Hanoi responsible
for these terrible bloody acts against peaceful demonstrators in Dien Bien province have sealed the area off to independent
journalists and the news media so the truth and facts cannot be easily learned,” Smith observed.
Smith continued: “Communist
officials in Hanoi, and senior Vietnamese army generals have enlisted the support of Lao People’s Army troops, lead
by Vietnamese military advisors, to help seal the border area off and persecute and arrest Hmong and Vietnamese citizens
and church members suspected of being involved with the mass protests.” “Vietnam and Lao People’s Army troops have also mobilized along
the Laos and Vietnamese border to cut-off and attack the freedom-loving Lao and Hmong people around Dien Bien province,
including many ordinary Christians and Catholics, who are only seeking human rights, religious freedom and an end to the
exploitation by certain corrupt communist generals in Hanoi who have engaged in illegal logging and the destruction of churches,
temples and religious shrines as well as the sacred mountain forests of the Hmong indigenous people,” Smith concluded.
“We want the Vietnam People’s
Army troops out of Laos and to stop killing the Laotian and Hmong people, including many Christian, Catholic , Animist and
independent Buddhist believers,” said Bounthanh Rathigna, President of the United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc.
(ULDL). “Persecuted Vietnamese citizens, including many Hmong Catholic and Protestant believers from Dien Bien,
are trying to flee from Vietnam to Laos but are being arrested and killed in Laos as well by the Lao and Vietnamese army
units and police in recent days.” “The horrific illegal logging, religious persecution and environmental destruction by the Socialist Republic
of Vietnam and the Lao People’s Army, in cooperation with the Vietnam People’s Army, in Laos, and on the Laos
-Vietnam border areas of Dien Bien province, must be stopped by the international community before more people are driven
off their homeland and are killed by corrupt communist officials,” Rathigna concluded in a statement by the ULDL today.
### Contact: Maria Gomez CPPA- Center for Public Policy Analysis
(202) 543-1444 Online PR News (press release) - May 9, 2011At least sixty-three Hmong have been killed by the Vietnam People's Army
to date. ... Fourteen (14) more Viet-Hmong people were confirmed dead in overnight ... Today, new combat regiments of Vietnam Peoples Army's soldiers are converging, in a key province of Northern
Vietnam, to attack and arrest thousands of Hmong Catholic, Protestant and independent Animist religious believers demonstrating for human rights, religious freedom, land
reform and an end to illegal logging and deforestation. Fourteen (14) more Viet-Hmong people were
confirmed dead in overnight clashes between Vietnam's army and ethnic Hmong demonstrators who are Vietnamese citizens.
At least 63 protesters have been killed since the outbreak of the peaceful, mass demonstrations, according to the Center
for Public Policy Analysis, Hmong non-governmental organizations, and Hmong, Vietnamese and Laotian sources in Dien Bien
province, and along the Vietnam- Laos border, where the demonstrations began over a week ago. The Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) has announced that it
has sealed off the area of the demonstrations to independent journalists and news media, baring journalists from covering
the events involving thousands of protesters, and has deployed army troops to end the public rallies and appeals. Thousands
of Vietnam People's Army troops have been deployed to the area in recent days. 
Online PR News (press release) Vietnam:
Army Convoys, Troops Converge On Hmong Protests, 14 Killed May 9, 2011, Washington, D.C., Dien Bein Phu, Vietnam, and Phongsali, Laos
Fresh combat regiments
of Vietnam Peoples Army's soldiers are now converging in a key province of Northern Vietnam to
attack and arrest thousands of Hmong Catholic, Protestant and independent Animist religious believers demonstrating
for human rights, religious freedom, land reform and an end to illegal logging and deforestation.
Fourteen (14) more Viet-Hmong people were confirmed dead in overnight clashes between Vietnam's
army and ethnic Hmong demonstrators who are Vietnamese citizens. At least 63 protesters have been
killed since the outbreak of the peaceful, mass demonstrations, according to the Center for Public
Policy Analysis, Hmong non-governmental organizations, and Hmong, Vietnamese and Laotian sources in Dien Bien province,
and along the Vietnam- Laos border, where the demonstrations began over a week ago..
The Socialist Republic
of Vietnam (SRV) has announced that it has sealed off the area of the demonstrations to independent
journalists and news media, baring journalists from covering the events involving thousands of
protesters, and has deployed army troops to end the public rallies and appeals.
“On completely false
pretext, and wrong information, the military generals in Hanoi have sent more army troops to attack and arrest our freedom-loving
Hmong people which it continues to falsely accuse with wild distortions and misinformation, while
at the same time not allowing independent news media and journalists to visit the ordinary Hmong
people in Vietnam who have protested against the current injustices, suffering, and religious
persecution,” said Christy Lee, Executive Director of Hmong Advance, Inc. in Washington,
D.C. “Why are Vietnam's Party leaders afraid of the truth as to why the people are demonstrating in Dien Bien for
meaningful and real change and reform in Vietnam ?”
“The mass demonstration for reform in Vietnam's
Dien Bien province included nearly 5,000 peaceful Hmong Protestant Christians and 2,000 Hmong
Catholics with the rest being peace-loving Hmong Animists.” Ms. Lee said. “The Vietnam
People's Army has now killed at least 63 people who were unarmed and peace-loving citizens of
Vietnam, many hundreds have been injured or have now disappeared at the hands of the Army which has loaded the Hmong people
onto trucks with the soldiers beating them”
Ms. Lee stated further: “The Vietnamese and
Viet- Hmong people in Dien Bien province and along the Vietnam – Laos border area in Northern
Vietnam have told us that are poor people simply calling on the government in Hanoi, and Communist
politburo officials, to restore basic human rights and justice to the Vietnamese common people,
and minority citizens, in the province of Dien Bien.”
“The Vietnamese Hmong want Hanoi to institute land reform
policies and grant them greater freedom of religion and basic human rights, including an end to oppressive religious
persecution as well as halting illegal logging in the province whereby the government is driving
the Hmong people from their sacred forest and mountain homelands in Vietnam and Laos,”
Lee concluded.
“Today, local sources have reported that fresh regiments of Vietnam People's Army
troops in military trucks and vehicles are converging in greater force strength at the sites of the
Hmong demonstrations in Dien Bien province from key highways leading to the area including the strategic Route 6
and Route 42,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis
(CPPA) in Washington, D.C.
“We are concerned that many hundreds of Hmong protesters, who are Vietnamese
citizens, are being arrested, beaten and forced onto Army trucks by soldiers where they are disappearing
after being transported out of the area to unknown locations in Vietnam or Laos,” Smith
said.
“The
new Vietnam People's Army (VPA) army units deployed against the protesters include regimental-strength
convoys of military trucks and armored personnel carriers targeting the Hmong demonstrators for
arrest and transport,, by force, to unknown locations,” Smith said.
“At least
eight more Hmong Christian demonstrators, five men and three women, were killed overnight in clashes with the Army and
Vietnamese security forces in Dien Bien province,” Smith said citing Hmong, Vietnamese and
non-governmental sources on location in Dien Bien province and the Laos and Vietnamese border
area of Northern Vietnam.
“Fresh regiments of Vietnam People's Army soldiers are being deployed
to Dien Bien province and are continuing to attack and pursuing many of the peaceful Hmong Catholic
and Protestant demonstrators pursuing them into their villages and the mountains,” Smith stated. “ Heliborne
combat troops have been deployed as well as M-8 helicopter gunships to attack and pursue the Hmong
in the highland areas.”
“Additionally, early this morning, five Hmong demonstrators, 3 men
and 2 women, were machined gunned to death by an armored personnel carrier when the were caught
fleeing the protest region, on Route 42, and had the misfortune of running into a mechanized regiment
of Vietnam People's Army troops that were being newly deployed to the area,” Smith commented.
“Unfortunately,
the group of five Hmong who were machine-gunned to death this morning by the Army were ordinary
and poor people— mountain-dwelling, Animist believers who had joined the demonstrations
only to seek land reform, human rights and greater religious freedom for their suffering people
in this neglected area of Northern Vietnam,” Smith said. ### Contact: Helen Cruz CPPA
- Center for Public Policy Analysis (202) 543-1444 info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
Vietnam: Army Convoys, Troops Converge On Hmong Protests, 14 Killed May 9, 2011, Washington, D.C., Dien Bein Phu, Vietnam, and Phongsali,
Laos
Fresh
combat regiments of Vietnam Peoples Army's soldiers are now converging in a key province of Northern Vietnam to attack and
arrest thousands of Hmong Catholic, Protestant and independent Animist religious believers demonstrating for human rights,
religious freedom, land reform and an end to illegal logging and deforestation. Fourteen (14) more Viet-Hmong people were
confirmed dead in overnight clashes between Vietnam's army and ethnic Hmong demonstrators who are Vietnamese citizens. At
least 63 protesters have been killed since the outbreak of the peaceful, mass demonstrations, according to the Center for
Public Policy Analysis, Hmong non-governmental organizations, and Hmong, Vietnamese and Laotian sources in Dien Bien province,
and along the Vietnam- Laos border, where the demonstrations began over a week ago..
The Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) has announced
that it has sealed off the area of the demonstrations to independent journalists and news media, baring journalists from covering
the events involving thousands of protesters, and has deployed army troops to end the public rallies and appeals.
“On completely
false pretext, and wrong information, the military generals in Hanoi have sent more army troops to attack and arrest our freedom-loving
Hmong people which it continues to falsely accuse with wild distortions and misinformation, while at the same time not allowing
independent news media and journalists to visit the ordinary Hmong people in Vietnam who have protested against the current
injustices, suffering, and religious persecution,” said Christy Lee, Executive Director of Hmong Advance, Inc. in Washington,
D.C. “Why are Vietnam's Party leaders afraid of the truth as to why the people are demonstrating in Dien Bien for meaningful
and real change and reform in Vietnam ?”
“The mass demonstration for reform in Vietnam's Dien Bien province included
nearly 5,000 peaceful Hmong Protestant Christians and 2,000 Hmong Catholics with the rest being peace-loving Hmong Animists.”
Ms. Lee said. “The Vietnam People's Army has now killed at least 63 people who were unarmed and peace-loving citizens
of Vietnam, many hundreds have been injured or have now disappeared at the hands of the Army which has loaded the Hmong people
onto trucks with the soldiers beating them”
Ms. Lee stated further: “The Vietnamese and Viet- Hmong people in Dien Bien
province and along the Vietnam – Laos border area in Northern Vietnam have told us that are poor people simply calling
on the government in Hanoi, and Communist politburo officials, to restore basic human rights and justice to the Vietnamese
common people, and minority citizens, in the province of Dien Bien.”
“The Vietnamese Hmong want Hanoi to institute land reform
policies and grant them greater freedom of religion and basic human rights, including an end to oppressive religious persecution
as well as halting illegal logging in the province whereby the government is driving the Hmong people from their sacred forest
and mountain homelands in Vietnam and Laos,” Lee concluded.
“Today, local sources have reported that fresh regiments of
Vietnam People's Army troops in military trucks and vehicles are converging in greater force strength at the sites of the
Hmong demonstrations in Dien Bien province from key highways leading to the area including the strategic Route 6 and Route
42,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) in Washington, D.C.
“We are concerned
that many hundreds of Hmong protesters, who are Vietnamese citizens, are being arrested, beaten and forced onto Army trucks
by soldiers where they are disappearing after being transported out of the area to unknown locations in Vietnam or Laos,”
Smith said.
“The
new Vietnam People's Army (VPA) army units deployed against the protesters include regimental-strength convoys of military
trucks and armored personnel carriers targeting the Hmong demonstrators for arrest and transport,, by force, to unknown locations,”
Smith said.
“At
least eight more Hmong Christian demonstrators, five men and three women, were killed overnight in clashes with the Army and
Vietnamese security forces in Dien Bien province,” Smith said citing Hmong, Vietnamese and non-governmental sources
on location in Dien Bien province and the Laos and Vietnamese border area of Northern Vietnam.
“Fresh regiments of Vietnam People's
Army soldiers are being deployed to Dien Bien province and are continuing to attack and pursuing many of the peaceful Hmong
Catholic and Protestant demonstrators pursuing them into their villages and the mountains,” Smith stated. “ Heliborne
combat troops have been deployed as well as M-8 helicopter gunships to attack and pursue the Hmong in the highland areas.”
“Additionally,
early this morning, five Hmong demonstrators, 3 men and 2 women, were machined gunned to death by an armored personnel carrier
when the were caught fleeing the protest region, on Route 42, and had the misfortune of running into a mechanized regiment
of Vietnam People's Army troops that were being newly deployed to the area,” Smith commented.
“Unfortunately, the group of five
Hmong who were machine-gunned to death this morning by the Army were ordinary and poor people— mountain-dwelling, Animist
believers who had joined the demonstrations only to seek land reform, human rights and greater religious freedom for their
suffering people in this neglected area of Northern Vietnam,” Smith said. ### Contact: Helen Cruz CPPA
- Center for Public Policy Analysis (202) 543-1444 info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
Vietnam Crackdown: More Hmong Killed As Army Deploys
May 7, 2011, Washington, D.C., Vientiane, Laos and Bangkok Thailand
More Hmong protesters have been killed or arrested in Dien Bien province today as
Vietnam deployed additional army units and thousands of soldiers and police to seek to contain mass demonstrations and the
spread of discontent with the policies of the government in Hanoi, and local communist party officials. Hundreds of additional
ethnic Hmong are missing or have disappeared, many have been arrested and loaded onto military trucks where they
are being sent to unknown locations in Vietnam or Laos..
Vietnam People's Army troops and security forces have killed at least 21 more ethnic Hmong protesters on
May 6-7, in the Dien Bien province area of Northern Vietnam and seriously wounded 132 more according to the Center for Public
Policy Analysis, non-governmental organizations and Hmong, Vietnamese and Lao sources in the province and border area. Casualties
continue to mount with a total of 49 now know dead since the crackdown by Vietnam's army More Hmong demonstrators have also
disappeared at the hands of Vietnamese security forces as Hanoi seeks to seal the remote, mountainous border area, with Laos
off from independent journalists.
“Innocent
Hmong protesters seeking basic reforms, and to address fundamental injustices, are now being attacked by Vietnam People's
Army troops and propaganda and false allegations from Hanoi; ” said Christy Lee, Executive Director of Hmong Advance,
Inc. in Washington, D.C.
“The soldiers have killed another 21 more people
and have wounded and arrested hundreds more according to what our Hmong people are reporting and from our sources in the Dien
Bien province area of Vietnam and the border area with Laos,” Ms. Lee stated. “Another Hmong person is on the
verge of death from her wounds inflicted by any AK-47 army rifle-butt and bayonet”
“We know that the Army has falsely accused the Vietnamese and Hmong people engaged
in the recent protests and rallies and has moved in many armored vehicles and trucks to take the Hmong people away to unknown
locations in Vietnam, or Laos, where they may be tortured or killed, or simply disappear,” Lee concluded.
“The situation is in flux in Northern
Vietnam, but presently, we know that 21 more Hmong have been killed by Vietnam People's Army soldiers and police in Dien Bien
Province in the last 24 hours,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy (CPPA) in Washington,
D.C.
“Currently, a total of at least 49 Hmong people
are known to have been killed by Vietnam People's Army troops and special police since Hanoi's crackdown was launched by the
military against peaceful Hmong demonstrators,” Smith commented.
“At the height of the rallies, the Hmong demonstrations for land reform and religious freedom involved
more that 8,500 people in Dien Bien province and the Dien Bien Phu area along the border of Vietnam and Laos,” Smith
said. “The Hmong were peacefully calling for basic human rights and government reform.”
“We have received credible reports that 1263 Hmong have been
arrested and loaded onto military trucks where they are being sent to unknown locations by Vietnam People's Army soldiers
and special paramilitary police,” Smith stated.
“Most of the Hmong killed and wounded in recent days by the Vietnamese troops suffered gunshot wounds
from automatic weapons, or were apparently beaten and bayoneted to death,” Smith said.
“Unfortunately, thousands of Vietnamese soldiers and police began attacking the
Hmong demonstrators to try to disperse the crowds voicing calls for land reform, human rights and religious freedom,”
Smith commented. “We are urging the government of Vietnam and the Army to immediately cease these senseless and blood
attacks against the Hmong protesters and their families.
“Casualties continue to mount and more Hmong demonstrators have disappeared at the hands of Vietnamese
security forces as Hanoi seeks to seal the area off and pursue the people into the mountains and jungles,:” Smith observed.
“We have reports that over 1263 Hmong demonstrators
are missing at the hands of Vietnamese People's Army soldiers and secret police who have brought in military trucks to force
Hmong protesters arrested, ” Smith concluded. The
ongoing religious persecution of minority Christians and independent Animist, and Buddhist believers, by the state security
apparatus and military in Vietnam, and Laos, remains problemati and is a serious problem for the Hmong and other ethnic groups.. According to the CPPA and other sources, at least seventeen Viet-Hmong Christians were
killed and 33 wounded on May 3rd in the Dien Bien Province, and Dien Bein Phu, areas of Vietnam bordering Laos n attacks by
VPA military forces. All of these people were independent Catholic and Protestant Christian believers. Additionally, eleven
independent Viet-Hmong animist believers were also known, and confirmed, to have been killed on the same day by Vietnam People's
Army forces.
### Contact:
Maria Gomez Tele. (202) 543-1444 CPPA - Center for Public Policy Analysis 2020 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Suite 220 Washington,
DC 20006 Online PR News (press release) - - May 5, 2011 Deputy National
Defense Minister, Senior Lieutenant-General Nguyen Huy Hieu, was reportedly consulted, along with other officials in Hanoi,
prior to the bloody crackdown against the unarmed Hmong. Vietnam People's Army Chief of the General Staff, .. Online PR News – 05-May-2011 –Vientiane,
Laos, Bangkok, Thailand, and Washington, D.C. - Thousands of peaceful, unarmed Viet-Hmong minority political and religious dissidents
along the Laos-Vietnam border, who are staging mass protests demanding religious freedom and land reforms from the communist
regime in Hanoi, have been attacked by Vietnam People's Army (VPA) troops and security forces in the remote Dien Bien province of Vietnam. At least, twenty-eight ethnic Hmong people,
engaged in staging protests against government policies, are confirmed dead in recent days, with hundreds more missing,
along the Laos -Vietnam border area of Vietnam, according to Lao Hmong non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and the Center
for Public Policy Analysis in Washington, D.C. http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org The Socialist Republic of Vietnam's (SRV)information ministry,
and military officials charged with suppressing the open uprising against the government in Northern Vietnam, have accused
the protesters of being irredentists, which the Hmong in Dien Bein province have denied and deemed propaganda.
Significant numbers of Vietnam People's Army infantry, as well as hundreds of
mechanized troops, in cooperation with Lao People's Army (LPA) soldiers, were rushed to the Dien Bein border area at the direction of the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces
of the SRV on May 3-6, 2011.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1105/S00090/vietnam-laos-uprising-28-hmong-protesters-killed.htm Ground attack helicopters were also reportedly dispatched
from bases in Laos and Vietnam by the VPA, at the direction of the armed forces Chief of Staff of Vietnam. Lt. General Tran
Quang Khue, and other VPA generals, who dominate the military and politburo in Vietnam, have reportedly played a major role
in the crack-down, and deployment of the armed forces, against the peaceful Hmong protesters. .
Vietnam, Laos Uprising: 28 Hmong Protesters Killed
Washington, D.C., Bangkok, Thailand, and
Vientiane, Laos, May 5, 2011 Center for Public Policy Analysis
Thousands
of Viet-Hmong minority political and religious dissidents along the Laos - Vietnam border, who are staging mass protests demanding
religious freedom and land reforms from the communist regime in Hanoi, have been attacked by Vietnam People's Army (VPA) troops
and security forces in the remote Dien Bien province of Vietnam. Twenty-eight (28) ethnic Hmong people, protesting against
government policies, are confirmed dead in recent days, with hundreds more missing, along the Laos -Vietnam border area of
the the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), according to Lao Hmong non-governmental organizations, and the Center for Public
Policy Analysis in Washington, D.C.
Large numbers of Vietnam People's Army infantry and mechanized troops, as well as Lao People's Army (LPA)
soldiers, were rushed to the Dien Bein border area at the direction of the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the SRV on
May 3-5, 2011. Ground attack helicopters were also reportedly dispatched from bases in Laos and Vietnam by the VPA, at the
direction of the armed forces Chef of Staff of Vietnam. General
Tran Quang Khue, and other VPA generals, who dominate the politburo in Vietnam, have reportedly
played a major role in the crack-down, and deployment of the armed forces, against the peaceful Hmong protesters.
“We are concerned
about credible reports that many poor and ordinary Hmong people in the Dien Bein area, as well as other people along the Vietnam
and Laos border, have been arrested or killed by Vietnamese Army, and Lao Army, soldiers and police because of their protests
for land reform to Communist officials in Hanoi, their opposition to illegal logging, or because of their independent Christian
and Animist religious beliefs ,” said Christy Lee, Executive Director of Hmong Advance, Inc.(HAI) in Washington, D.C.
Ms. Lee
continued: “Ordinary Hmong people, and other highland and forest-dwelling minority peoples in Laos and Vietnam, have
also been subjected to a new and increasing injustice by the authorities and Vietnam People's Army-owned companies, which
continue their oppressive methods, religious persecution, and to engage in illegal logging in Vietnam and Laos, including
the Dien Bien area in Vietnam, as well as the Laotian provinces of Xieng Khouang, Khammoune, Luang Prabang and elsewhere.”
“The Hmong, and
other minority Christian and Animist religious believers, are being driven of their lands and killed and persecuted by corrupt
Communist party officials and the military elite in Vietnam and Laos,” Ms. Lee stated.
“At least twenty-eight Viet-Hmong are
known to have been killed, and 33 wounded, in recent attacks by Vietnam People's Army troops in the Dien Bien area of Vietnam,”
said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) in Washington, D.C.
The non-governmental organizations, including
the CPPA, HAI, Hmong Advancement, Inc. and others, cite Hmong, Vietnamese and Lao sources inside the area of Dien Bien provice where
the Hmong are currently staging mass protests against Vietnam's communist and military authorities.
“The Viet-Hmong people fleeing to Laos
from Dien Bien province, during the recent anti-government protests and crackdown in Vietnam, have also been arrested by Lao
security forces and VPA troops who are working closely together to jointly seek to arrest, persecute and kill them,.”
Smith stated.
“In
recent days, significant numbers of Vietnam People's Army troops from Hanoi, and security forces from Laos, have been deployed
for special military operations directed against the Hmong minority people, and independent religious believers and political
dissidents, along the Vietnam – Laos border and the Dien Bein province area of Vietnam,” Smith observed.
Smith continued: “At
least seventeen Viet-Hmong Christians were killed and 33 wounded on May 3rd in the Dien Bien Province, and Dien Bein Phu,
areas of Vietnam bordering Laos n attacks by VPA military forces. All of these people were independent Catholic and Protestant
Christian believers. Additionally, eleven independent Viet-Hmong animist believers were also known, and confirmed, to have
been killed on the same day by Vietnam People's Army forces. .”
“Hundreds of Viet and Lao-Hmong minority peoples are also missing
after the attacks directed against the peaceful protesters by the Vietnamese government forces in the Dien Bein area,”
Smith stated.
“In
addition to the seventeen Hmong Christians, an additional eleven independent Viet-Hmong animist believers were also confirmed
killed on the same day by VPA forces because they also were accused of worshiping outside of the communist government's control
in Hanoi and because they were standing up for land reform and the religious freedom of the Viet-Hmong and Lao-Hmong people,”
Smith continued.
“Lao-Hmong forest and highland-dwelling people who have fled horrific religious persecution as well as illegal
logging by Vietnam People's Army-owned companies in Laos continue to flee to Vietnam and Thailand as political refugees by
the hundreds each year,” Smith concluded.
In December of 2009, Thailand forced some eight thousand Lao Hmong political refugees back to Laos, despited
international protests. They were put under the direction of the Deputy Chief of the Lao Armed Forces who was previously accused
by human rights and international humanitarian organizations of taking a leadership role in perpetuating atrocities and egregious
human rights violations against Lao Hmong civilians, including the rape, murder and mutilation of Lao Hmong women and children.
Lately, the VPA and
SRV have played a significantly increased role in Laos, with hundreds of additional troops and security forces from Vietnam
being deployed in Laos in recent years.
### Contact: Ms. Helen Cruz Center for Public Policy Analysis Tele. (202) 543-1444 2020
Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. Suite No.#212 Washington, DC 20006 USA Online PR News –
30-April-2011 –Washington, DC and St. Paul, Minnesota, April 30, 2011
CPPA - Center for Public Policy Analysis
Minnesota Twin Cities' Hmong-American families have renewed an international plea for amnesty for their wrongly-jailed
family members in Laos. St. Paul, and Minneapolis, Laotian and Hmong-American families, community members
and human rights organizations, continue to speak out requesting the release of three Hmong-American citizens who were arrested
in Laos by Lao People's Army soldiers and secret police in August of 2007. The families, joined by Laotian
and Hmong non-governmental and non-profit organizations, have appealed to U.S. President
Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Lao President and communist party leader, Lt. General Choummaly Sayasone,
General Choummaly Sayasone heads the one-party military junta in Vientiane and also serves as the President. “Our families in Minnesota, and many in the Laotian and
Hmong-American community, are appealing to President Barack Obama, the White House and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
to press the Lao government to immediately release the three Hmong men who were arrested and wrongly imprisoned in Laos for
over three and a half years, without charges being filed,” said Sheng Xiong of Minnesota, a spokeswoman for the families
of the men. The three American citizens
of ethnic Lao Hmong descent, Congshineng Yang, Trillion Yunhaison and Hakit Yang, traveled from Minnesota in July of 2007
to Laos as tourists, and to seek potential business investment opportunities in Laos. Mrs. Sheng Xiong recently voiced a renewed international appeal for the families, and
many in the Lao Hmong-American community, to Scoop News in New Zealand, Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) in Minneapolis, Businesswire
in Washington, D.C., the Washington Times and other newspapers and radio stations..
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1104/S00536/laos-appeal-for-release-of-3-hmong-americans.htm
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/04/21/hmong-americans-held-in-laos/
"We want answers from the Lao government about Hakit Yang, and
the other Hmong-Americans, that were arrested while traveling with him in Laos," Mrs. Xiong stated.
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110423005016/en/Laos-Obama-Urged-Rights-Groups-Hmong-Free
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/apr/26/embassy-row-852424642/ The Australia-based Foreign Prisoners Support Service
(FPSS), and author and human rights activist Kay Danes, has repeatedly raised the case of the three jailed Hmong men in Laos.
Danes was a keynote speaker at the World Affairs Council and public policy events in Washington, DC in 2009, held in the U.S.
Congress and National Press Club, to discuss the plight of the three men jailed in Laos and other human rights and refugee
issues regarding Laos, Thailand and Southeast Asia. Mrs. Danes, Sheng Xiong, and others, spoke about the three American's
arrest in Laos, imprisonment in Phonthong Prison in Vientiane, and later forced move to a secret Lao People's Army (LPA) military
prison in Sam Neua province in the Northeastern part of the Southeast Asian nation. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1001/S00247.htm Mrs. Danes is also the author of “Standing Ground”
( New Holland Publishers, Australia ) a book about her ordeal as a political prisoner suffering, and witnessing torture, in
Vientiane's Phonthong Prison in Laos. Kay and Kerry Danes were jailed by corrupt Lao communist party officials, who sought
to seize the assets for foreign investors in Laos. The Danes were released after the high-level intervention of human rights
activists, the Australian Embassy in Laos, Australian Foreign Ministry and others. http://www.newholland.com.au/product.php?isbn=9781741107579 The Washington, D.C.-based Center for Public Policy
Analysis (CPPA) and its Executive Director, Philip Smith, as well as others concerned about human rights and foreign policy
issues in Laos, and Southeast Asia, continue to raise concerns about this humanitarian case and other issues.
http:www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org “We are concerned that the White House, and President
Barack Obama and Secretary Hillary Clinton, appear to be unaware of the serious human rights violations being committed by
the Lao People's Army, and senior communist party officials, against American citizens traveling to Laos as well as independent
Laotian and Hmong religious believers, student leaders, political refugees, dissidents and peaceful opposition groups,”
Smith said. “We are requesting
that the White House, President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, vigorously and repeatedly address this
terrible injustice; We want the Obama Administration and U.S. Embassy in Laos to raise the issue of the ongoing imprisonment
of the three Hmong-American citizens from Minnesota, at the highest diplomatic levels with the Lao government, and urge that
the three American men be immediately released from Laos' notorious and secret gulag system,” Smith stated. “The continued imprisonment of American citizens in Laos--
and other critical human rights, religious freedom, refugee and other issues -- should be raised with the Lao President Lt.
General Choummaly Sayasone , and other senior LPA military generals and communist politburo members at meetings with Obama
Administration and State Department officials,” Smith said. “Unfortunately, corruption and human rights violations in Laos, by Lao communist party and military
officials is rampant, and we are concerned that the White House, President Obama and Secretary Clinton, not be perceived as
appeasing the Lao military junta while it continues to wrongly jail and abuse American citizens and many of its own Laotian
people, including the Hmong and Lao student pro-democracy leaders; Currently, the one-party regime in Laos is a close ally
of authoritarian regimes in Burma and North Korea, which is another serious concern,” Smith concluded.
### Contact: Maria Gomez
Center for Public Policy Analysis
2020 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Suite 220
Washington, D.C. 20006
Tele. (202) 543-1444
info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org Amnesty Urged for Laos, Hmong Prisoners from Minnesota
Washington, DC and St. Paul, Minnesota,
April 28, 2011 Center for Public Policy Analysis Minnesota
Twin Cities' Hmong-American families have renewed an international plea for amnesty for their wrongly-jailed family members
in Laos. St. Paul, and Minneapolis, Laotian and Hmong-American families, community members and human
rights organizations, continue to speak out requesting the release of three Hmong-American citizens who were arrested in Laos
by Lao People's Army soldiers and secret police in August of 2007. The families, joined by Laotian and Hmong non-governmental
and non-profit organizations, have appealed to U.S. President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Lao President
and communist party leader, Lt. General Choummaly Sayasone, General Choummaly Sayasone heads the one-party military junta
in Vientiane and also serves as the President.
“Our families in Minnesota, and many in the Laotian and Hmong-American community,
are appealing to President Barack Obama, the White House and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to press the Lao government
to immediately release the three Hmong men who were arrested and wrongly imprisoned in Laos for over three and a half years,
without charges being filed,” said Sheng Xiong of Minnesota., a spokeswoman for the families of the men.
The three American
citizens of ethnic Lao Hmong descent, Congshineng Yang, Trillion Yunhaison and Hakit Yang, traveled from Minnesota in July
of 2007 to Laos as tourists, and to seek potential business investment opportunities in Laos.
Mrs. Sheng Xiong recently voiced a renewed
international appeal for the families, and many in the Lao Hmong-American community, to Scoop News in New Zealand, Minnesota
Public Radio (MPR) in Minneapolis, Businesswire in Washington, D.C., the Washington Times and other newspapers and radio stations.. "We
want answers from the Lao government about Hakit Yang, and the other Hmong-Americans, that were arrested while traveling with
him in Laos," Mrs. Xiong stated.
The
Australia-based Foreign Prisoners Support Service (FPSS), and author and human rights activist Kay Danes, has repeatedly raised
the case of the three jailed Hmong men in Laos. Danes was a keynote speaker at the World Affairs Council and public policy
events in Washington, DC in 2009, held in the U.S. Congress and National Press Club, to discuss the plight of the three men
jailed in Laos and other human rights and refugee issues regarding Laos, Thailand and Southeast Asia. Mrs. Danes, Sheng Xiong,
and others, spoke about the three American's arrest in Laos, imprisonment in Phonthong Prison in Vientiane, and later forced
move to a secret Lao People's Army (LPA) military prison in Sam Neua province in the Northeastern part of the Southeast Asian
nation. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1001/S00247.htm
Mrs.
Danes is also the author of “Standing Ground” ( New Holland Publishers, Australia ) a book about her ordeal as
a political prisoner suffering, and witnessing torture, in Vientiane's Phonthong Prison in Laos. Kay and Kerry Danes were
jailed by corrupt Lao communist party officials, who sought to seize the assets for foreign investors in Laos. The Danes were
released after the high-level intervention of human rights activists, the Australian Embassy in Laos, Australian Foreign Ministry
and others. http://www.newholland.com.au/product.php?isbn=9781741107579
The
Washington, D.C.-based Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) and its Executive Director, Philip Smith, as well as others
concerned about human rights and foreign policy issues in Laos, and Southeast Asia, continue to raise concerns about this
humanitarian case and other issues.
“We are concerned that the White House, and President Barack Obama and Secretary Hillary
Clinton, appear to be unaware of the serious human rights violations being committed by the Lao People's Army, and senior
communist party officials, against American citizens traveling to Laos as well as independent Laotian and Hmong religious
believers, student leaders, political refugees, dissidents and peaceful opposition groups,” Smith said.
“We are requesting that the White House, President Obama and Secretary of
State Hillary Rodham Clinton, vigorously and repeatedly address this terrible injustice; We want the Obama Administration
and U.S. Embassy in Laos to raise the issue of the ongoing imprisonment of the three Hmong-American citizens from Minnesota,
at the highest diplomatic levels with the Lao government, and urge that the three American men be immediately released from
Laos' notorious and secret gulag system,” Smith stated.
“The
continued imprisonment of American citizens in Laos-- and other critical human rights, religious freedom, refugee and other
issues -- should be raised with the Lao President Lt. General Choummaly Sayasone , and other senior LPA military generals
and communist politburo members at meetings with Obama Administration and State Department officials,” Smith said.
“Unfortunately, corruption and human rights violations in Laos, by Lao communist
party and military officials is rampant, and we are concerned that the White House, President Obama and Secretary Clinton,
are not be perceived as appeasing the Lao military junta while it continues to wrongly jail and abuse American citizens and
many of its own Laotian people, including the Hmong and Lao student pro-democracy leaders; the one-party regime in Laos is
a close ally of authoritarian regimes in Burma and North Korea which is another serious concern,” Smith concluded. ###Contact: Maria Gomez Center for Public Policy Analysis 2020 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20006 Tele.
(202) 543-1444 April 23, 2011 05:10 PM Eastern Daylight
Time Laos, Obama Urged
By Rights Groups, Hmong, to Free 3 Americans WASHINGTON
& MINNEAPOLIS & ST. PAUL, Minn. April 23, 2011 --(BUSINESS WIRE)--A coalition of Laotian and Hmong non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA),
have joined the families of three Hmong-Americans from Minnesota in issuing an international appeal for the release of their
relatives who have been imprisoned in Laos for over three years. The appeal requests that the Lao government, and U.S. President
Barack Obama, work at a higher diplomatic level, with urgent priority, to release the three Hmong-American citizens. In August 2007, for unknown reasons, Lao People's Army
(LPA) troops and secret police arrested the three Americans: Mr. Hakit Yang, 24; Mr. Congshineng Yang, 34; and Mr. Trillion
Yunhaison, 44. The Hmong-Americans remain
imprisoned in Laos' Sam Neua province by LPA troops and secret police. The three are being held without charges being filed,
or due process, according to the Foreign Prisoners Support Service (FPSS), the CPPA, human rights organizations, family members
and others. Mrs. Sheng Xiong, a spokeswoman
for the families, and Philip Smith of the CPPA, spoke to Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) about the case. “I just wish the Lao government would be upfront ...,” Xiong
told MPR.
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/04/21/hmong-americans-held-in-laos/ “We want answers now from the Lao government about the arrest and continued imprisonment of my husband, Hakit
Yang, and the other two Hmong-Americans...,” Xiong, stated further. “We would like to ask the President, Barack Obama, and the U.S. Government, to please
seriously help to press the Lao military and government to cooperate in telling the truth about the arrest and imprisonment
of our families in Laos so that they can be released and come home to their loved ones, including their wives and children,”
Mrs. Xiong said. “Our Lao Hmong
families, and the community in St. Paul and Minneapolis, are appealing to the Lao government... to release my husband, Hakit
Yang, and his colleagues...,” Xiong commented. “We are grateful to Kay Danes and the FPSS in Australia for helping to bring new and updated information, and
evidence, about the arrest and continued jailing of my husband in Laos-- and we appreciate her book 'Standing Ground' regarding...
the plight of prisoners at Phonthong Prison, in Vientiane, where my husband was jailed...,” Xiong concluded. “The LPA, and secret police, later moved the three
Americans, including Sheng Xiong's husband Hakit Yang, from Xieng Khouang province, where they were arrested, to Laos' notorious
Phonthong Prison, in the capital of Vientiane, where the men were interrogated, beaten and tortured, according to eyewitness
and multiple sources...,” said Philip Smith, Director of the CPPA in Washington, D.C.
http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org “In 2009, the three Hmong-American
men were again moved... and are now being held in a secret LPA military-operated prison camp in Sam Neua Province, Laos,”
Smith stated. “We are urging President Obama to press the Lao military and government, at a higher diplomatic level,
to release the three Americans...” “Additionally,
we are also appealing to President Obama, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to assist with the release of other Lao
and Hmong political prisoners and religious dissidents in Laos...,” Smith concluded. “We condemn, in the strongest terms, the continued imprisonment by
the Lao military and communist officials in Laos of Mr. Hakit Yang, Mr. Conghineng Yang and Trillion Yunhaison, who are U.S.
citizens still being held without charge in horrific conditions in Laos by the LPA and secret police,” said Christy
Lee, Director of Hmong Advance, Inc. (HAI) in Washington, D.C.
http://www.hmongadvance.org The NGOs joining the Hmong-American families
in urging Laos, and the White House, to help release the Americans include the CPPA, HAI, Hmong Advancement, United Lao for
Human Rights and Democracy, Lao Human Rights Council, Hmong Students Association, Lao Students for Democracy, United League
for Democracy in Laos, Laos Institute for Democracy and Lao Veterans of America. On March 16, the CPPA issued an appeal regarding the imprisoned Hmong-Americans and human rights
violations in Laos.
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110316007171/en/Laos-Hmong-Crisis-Rights-Groups-International-Appeal CPPA - Center for Public Policy Analysis
info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org Contacts Center for Public Policy Analysis
Helen Cruz, 202-543-1444
info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org Laos: Appeal for Release of 3 Hmong-Americans
Washington, D.C., Minneapolis and St. Paul,
Minnesota, April 21, 2011 Center for Public
Policy Analysis
The Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) and a coalition of Laotian and Hmong
non-governmental organizations have joined the Minnesota families of three Hmong-Americans in issuing an appeal for the release
of their relatives being held in Laos for over three years by military and communist party officials. The appeal was issued
from Washington, D.C., and the Twin Cities of Minnesota, to the Lao government and U.S. President Barack Obama to request
that they work at a higher diplomatic level, with urgent priority, to release three Hmong-American citizens arrested and currently
imprisoned in Laos.
The three jailed Americans, of ethnic Hmong descent from the
Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, have been imprisoned in Laos for over three years-- according to eye-witness sources,
human rights groups, prisoner support organizations, and humanitarian activists, including Australian author and humanitarian
advocate Kay Danes. . http://www.presszoom.com/print_story_140676.htm
According to the Foreign Prisoners Support Service in Australia, CPPA, family members
and other sources, the three Minnesota men were arrested in Laos by Lao military and security forces while they were visiting
Laos in the summer of 2007 as tourists and potential investors.. The three Hmong-Americans remained imprisoned in Laos' Sam
Neua Province by Lao military and ministry of interior police.. They are currently being held without charges being filed,
or due process.
“We want answers now from the Lao government about the arrest and continued
imprisonment of my husband, Hakit Yang, and the other two Hmong-Americans traveling with him from Minnesota,” said Sheng
Xiong, a spokeswoman for the families of the three Hmong-Americans arrested in the summer of 2007 in Xieng Khouang Province.
http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1089564.html
“Our Lao Hmong families, and the community in St. Paul and Minneapolis, are
appealing to the Lao government once again to release my husband Hakit Yang and his colleagues immediately, and unconditionally,”
Mrs. Xiong further stated.
“We would like to ask the President of the United States,
Barack Obama, and the U.S. government to please seriously help to press the Lao military and government to cooperate in telling
the truth about the arrest and imprisonment of our families in Laos so that they can be released and come home to their loved
ones, including their wives and children,” Xiong said.
“We are grateful to Kay
Danes and the Foreign Prisoners Support Service in Australia for helping to bring new and updated information and evidence
about the arrest and continued jailing of my husband in Laos and we appreciate her book 'Standing Ground' regarding her experience
and first-hand knowledge about the the plight of prisoners at Phonthong Prison in Vientiane were my husband was jailed by
the Lao authorities,” Xiong concluded.
Lao People's Army (LPA) troops and secret
police arrested the three Americans: Mr. Hakit Yang, 24; Mr. Conghineng Yang,, 34; and Trillion Yunhaison, 44. The three were
U.S. citizens from St. Paul, Minnesota and the Twin Cities area of Minnesota where their immediate families remain. A fourth
Hmong individual Mr. Pao Vang, of unknown nationality and age, was reportedly acting as tour guide for the group, and was
also reportedly arrested and jailed with them according to sources inside Laos.
“The
LPA and secret police later moved the three Americans, including Sheng Xiong's husband Hakit Yang, to Laos' notorious Phonthong
Prison, in the capital of Vientiane, where the men were interrogated, beaten and tortured according to eyewitnesses as well
as numerous and redundant Hmong, Laotian, Australian, and other sources,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director for
the CPPA in Washington, D.C. http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
“In 2009, the three Hmong-American men were again moved a second time in army
trucks and vehicles, and are now being held in a secret LPA military-operated prison camp in Sam Neua Province, Laos, “
Smith stated.
“Australian human rights activist and author Kay Danes as well as the Foreign
Prisoners Support Service have also uncovered more details of the Lao government's continued imprisonment and mistreatment
of the three American's from Minnesota.,” Smith continued.
“We are urging
President Barack Obama to press the Lao military and government, at a higher diplomatic level, to release the three Americans
from the Twin Cities of Minnesota,” Smith said.
“We are also appealing
to President Obama, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to assist with the release of Lao and Hmong political prisoners
and religious dissidents in Laos, including jailed Lao student pro-democracy leaders and the Hmong translator for Pastor Naw
Karl Mua, of St. Paul, and two European journalists who were also previously arrested and imprisoned in Laos,” Smith
concluded.
“We condemn, in the strongest terms, the continued imprisonment by the Lao
military and communist officials in Laos of Mr. Hakit Yang, Mr. Conghineng Yang and Trillion Yunhaison, who are U.S. citizens
still being held without charge in horrific conditions in Laos by the Lao Peoples Army and secret police,” said Christy
Lee, the Executive Director of Hmong Advance, Inc. (HAI) in Washington, D.C.
“Laotian and
Hmong-Americans are concerned that this is yet another brutal example of the Lao government's, and LPA military's, institutional
violence and endemic racism directed against the Hmong people in Laos who continue to suffer mistreatment, gross human rights
violations, extra-judicial killings, religious persecution, the confiscation of their land, and many other terrible abuses
from the Lao military and corrupt communist party officials,” Ms. Lee stated from HAI offices in Washington..
On March 16, 2011, the CPPA and others issued and international appeal regarding the plight of the three
Hmong-Americans from Minnesota as well as political prisoners and religious dissidents being jailed in Laos.
The United Nations' Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)
in Geneva has repeated cited the government of Laos, and Lao People's Army soldiers and commanders, for egregious human rights
violations and institutional racism, including the rape and killing of unarmed Lao Hmong civilians.
“We want the one-party communist regime in Laos to abide by international law
and release the three Lao Hmong-American citizens from St. Paul who have been jailed in Laos for over three years, ”
said Boon Boualaphanh , of the Minneapolis -based United Lao for Human Rights and Democracy (ULHRD). “These America
citizens and other prisoners , including prisoners of conscience and political prisoners, should also be released by the Lao
military and communist party authorities including the Lao student leaders of the October 1999 Movement for Democracy in Vientiane.” .. The Hmong-Americans currently being jailed in Laos, have no known political or family ties to opposition
or dissident factions and had departed the United States for travel to Laos on July 10, 2007, from the Twin Cities of Minnesota
as tourists and to potentially seek business and investment opportunities in Laos, prior to their arrest and imprisonment.
Australian Kay Danes, a former political prisoner in Laos, spoke in the U.S. Congress and the National
Press Club in Washington, D.C., in April 2009, with Sheng Xiong about the current imprisonment and plight of the three Americans
in Laos. Danes is the author of “Standing Ground” a book about her ordeal in Phonthong Prison in Vientiane, Laos,
where the three Americans were also imprisoned and tortured before being moved to secret military prison in Sam Neua Province
by Lao military and security forces.
Laos is governed by a one-party communist regime whose leadership
has repeatedly been deemed as “Press Predators” by the Paris, France-based Journalists Without Borders ( JSF ).
Amnesty International and other independent human rights organizations have also raise serous concerns http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGASA260022006
For nearly a decade, a Hmong translator with links to the Twin Cities, who assisted
Minnesota Hmong-American Pastor Naw Karl Mua (Naw Karl Moua) and two European journalists, Thierry Falise and Vincent Reynaud,
is still imprisoned in Laos on allegations regarding their efforts to document human rights violations. The group documented
horrific attacks and atrocities committed by the LPA on Laotian and Hmong civilians, independent Animist and Christians communities,
and dissident groups.
Over 8,000 Lao Hmong refugees were forced back to Laos in 2009,
and were placed in charge of a LPA General, General Bouasieng Champaphanh, who has repeatedly involved with answering serious
human rights and religious freedom violations, and atrocity, charges by the United Nations and independent human rights and
religious freedom organizations. http://media-newswire.com/release_1108993.html
The non-profit and non-governmental organizations joining the three Hmong-American
families in urging Laos to release the three Americans from Minnesota include the CPPA, HAI, Hmong Advancement, Inc., ULHRD, Lao Human Rights Council, Inc., Hmong Students Association, Lao Hmong Students For Democracy, United
League for Democracy in Laos, Laos Institute for Democracy, Lao Veterans of America, Inc., and others.
##
Contact: Jade Lee CPPA - Center for Public Policy Analysis Tele. (202) 543-1444
2020 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. Suite No. 220 Washington,
D.C. 20006 USA Laos, Vietnam
Troops Execute 4 Hmong ChristiansSaturday, 16 April 2011, 3:55 pm
Press
Release: Center for Public Policy Analysis
Laos, Vietnam Troops Execute
4 Hmong Christians
Center for Public Policy Analysis
info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
April 15, 2011, Washington, D.C. and Vientiane, Laos
Christian persecution and religious freedom
violations have continued to expand and spread to key provinces in Laos, according to the Center for Public Policy Analysis
and other rights organizations tracking the issue. Yesterday, four Lao Hmong Christian women were executed for their Christian
faith in Xieng Khouang Province, after their Bible was confiscated, by government soldiers and police from Laos and Vietnam. Vietnam
People's Army troops and secret police from Hanoi have been deployed in increasing numbers in key provinces in Laos to boost
the Lao People's Army, and communist party efforts, to hunt, persecute and eliminate independent Christian, Animist and Buddhist
congregations and religious believers who seek to worship outside of strict state monitoring and control. Laotian and Hmong
minority Christian and Animist believers continue to be hunted , brutally tortured, and killed by the Lao military in significant
numbers in key provinces in Laos. “There has been a tragic and major upswing in religious persecution in Laos
by Lao and Vietnamese military and communist party officials in the latter part of last year, 2010 as well as within recent
months, this year,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) in Washington,
D.C.
http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org Smith continued: “An unarmed group of four Lao Hmong Christian women were summarily executed yesterday, on April
14, 2011, in Xieng Khouang Province, Laos, by government troops for their Christian faith.” A special unit totally
some 150 Lao Peoples Army soldiers, led by Vietnam secret police and military advisors from Hanoi and Vinh, confiscated the
group's only Bible and brutally and repeatedly raped at least two of the younger Lao-Hmong women prior to shooting them at
point blank range in the head and torso with automatic weapons; their husbands and 26 children, who were forced to witness
the atrocity, were beaten, tied up, later blindfolded, and have now disappeared.” “The upswing in religious
persecution in Laos is in part the result of the increased intervention by Vietnam military-civilian authorities in Laos,
and Lao Peoples Army (LPA) communist leaders, who are aggressively cracking down on independent Christian, Buddhist and Animist
believers with secret police, army and militia units,” Smith said. “Clearly, there has been a very dramatic
increase in the persecution, imprisonment, torture and killing of Lao and Hmong Christians and independent Buddhist and Animist
believers in the provinces of Vientiane, Khammoune, Saravan, Xieng Khouang, Luang Prabang and elsewhere in Laos in 2010 and
2011 by the secret police and Lao Peoples Army backed by supporting armed forces and special task units from Hanoi,”
Smith observed. “In a coordinated and expanded fashion, the Vietnam Peoples Army and LPA troops, and security
forces, are especially determined to hunt down and kill independent Christian and Animist believers in the highlands of Vietnam
and Laos,” Smith stated. Last Christmas (2010), and in recent years, Lao Christians have often been repeatedly
persecuted, jailed or killed for celebrating Christmas or worshiping independently, as documented by the CPPA and other rights
and humanitarian organizations. “We are deeply concerned about the increased persecution, starvation and killing
of Laotian and Hmong Christians, and independent Buddhist and Animist believers, by Lao and Vietnam People's Army troops in
the provinces of Xieng Khouang, Khammoune, Saravan, Luang Prabang and Vientiane Provinces,” said Boon Boualaphanh ,
of United Lao for Human Rights and Democracy (ULHRD). “We want the Socialist Republic of Vietnam ( SRV ), and
the Vietnam Peoples Army, to remove all of its security forces and troops from Laos, and we want the Lao military and communist
regime to respect the human rights and religious freedom of the Laotian and Lao Hmong people,” said Bounthanh Rathigna
of the United League for Democracy in Laos (ULDL). In February of this year, in Saravan Province, Lao officials reportedly
destroyed crops to prevent food from reaching a some 60 impoverished Laotian Christians in rural Saravan province. One man
from the group has already died during this time, according to the United Kingdom-based advocacy group Christian Solidarity
Worldwide (CSW) and other reliable sources. Food and water was also cut off the the Laotians in an effort to have them
renounce their Christian faith which follows the pattern of the LPA's efforts to starve and kill other Laotian and Hmong Christian
groups hiding in the jungles and mountains of Laos. "The wells are drying up as they are going into the dry season,
and their food supplies are exhausted after villagers thwarted their attempts to plant new crops," stated Human Rights
Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF), a non-governmental organization monitoring the plight of Laotian Christians. “The
authorities have successfully gotten them into a situation where they feel defeated.” Laotian Christians were
marched by gunpoint in February of this year from villages in Saravan Province according to reliable and redundant reports,
and sources, from both inside and outside Laos. Many terrified Laotian villagers faced starvation in the jungles of Laos on
Sunday, February 27, 2011, after they were driven from their village at gunpoint by Lao officials for refusing to give up
their Christian faith according to reliable reports from International Christian Concern (ICC) and other sources with contacts
inside Saravan Province, Laos.
http://www.persecution.org/ 2011/ 02/ 28/ news-alert-laos-christians-facing-starvation-officials-cutting-off-fo od-water/
Compass Direct News, Cross Walk, and others have reported on similar incidents of egregious religious persecution in
Laos in recent months and years.
http://www.crosswalk.com/news/religion-today/christianity-banned-in-lao-village-officials-announce-11606152.html Last year, in February of 2010, the Christian Post documented similar reports regarding the pattern of religious persecution,
and religious freedom violations, in communist Laos.
http://www.christianpost.com/news/lao-officials-force-christians-from-worship-at-gunpoint-43671/ Concerns Raised As Burma Targets Refugees
in Thailand, ASEAN Parliament
April 11, 2011, Washington, D.C. & Bangkok, Thailand Center for Public Policy Analysis info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
The
Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) has issued a statement today welcoming the retirement of Burma’s General Than
Shwe and calling on the new Burmese hybrid government, in its road map to “disciplined democracy”, to adopt true
political, social and economic reforms. Burma is expected to seek to join the Association of South East Asia Nations’
(ASEAN) Inter-Parliamentary Assembly as a long-term member by sending representatives to upcoming meeting in Cambodia in September.
The CPPA also expressed
concerns today about the recent announcement by elements of Thailand’s government, and powerful military, to deport
tens of thousands of Burmese refugees back to Burma in the wake of the transfer of military-civilian power in Burma, and after
the retirement of Gen. Than Shwe.
“General Than Shwe's historic retirement as head of the military junta in Burma is an
important first step and we welcome it with skeptical optimism and a variety of very deep concerns,” said Philip Smith,
Executive Director for the CPPA in Washington, D.C. http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org/
“We
urge the newly elected Burmese Union Parliament, and military-civilian government under President Thein Sein and Army General
Min Aung Hlaing, to adopt true political, social and economic reforms, which are badly needed by the people of Burma and widely
hoped for by the international community,” Smith stated.
Gen. Than Shwe headed Burma's military junta for nearly two decades,
out of the Burmese military’s five decade rule. He has ruled Burma, in an authoritarian fashion, since 1992.
Burma’s Union
Parliament reported announced on March 28th its intention to seek formal,
long-term membership in ASEAN’s AIPA. The eight present members of AIPA include Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore,
Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.
“Clearly, more substantive reforms should be undertaken by the new Burmese hybrid, military-civilian
government prior to Burma being admitted to ASEAN’s Inter-Parliamentary Assembly,” Smith said.
“Burmese political refugees and
asylum seekers should not be deported by Thailand, or forced back to Burma by the Thai military, until concrete reforms and
changes have taken place in Burma under the new government, including serious human rights reforms,” Smith said.
“The Burmese
military has long targeted many of the refugees who have fled to Thailand from persecution or worse, ” Smith observed.
President Thein
Sein is a former Army office and Prime Minister under the General Than Shwe’s State Peace and Development Council, previous
know as the State Law and Order Council (SLORC). SLORC engaged in widespread human rights violations against pro-democracy
advocates, human rights defenders, minority peoples (including the Karen and Kareni) as well as independent Buddhist monks
and Christian and Animist believers.
Gen. Than Shwe and SLORC were staunch allies of brutal authoritarian and communist regimes
in Laos, North Korea and elsewhere.
“The new hybrid, military-civilian government in Burma, which has replaced the old military
junta under General Than Shwe, is already being criticized in many quarters for being a sham and charade because it combines
senior, and extensive, elements of the previous military junta with a nominal number of new civilian elements,” Smith
continued.
“The
recent end of the old junta in Burma should not merely usher in a new military-run Burma under the guise of ‘disciplined
democracy’”, Smith stated.
“Perhaps most importantly, we remain deeply concerned about the exclusion of the Aung
San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party in Burma’s new Union Parliament and the overwhelming predominance
of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) in the recent elections,” Smith concluded.
The CPPA is a Washington,
D.C.-based think tank and research organization focused on foreign and national security policy issues as well as economic
development, humanitarian, human rights and refugee matters.
## Contact:
Maria Gomez info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org (202) 543-1444 Center for Public Policy Analysis Aquino,
Philippines Urged to Halt Epidemic of Attacks on Journalists Washington, D.C., and Manila, Philippines, March 28, 2011 Center for Public Policy Analysis info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
The Center for Public
Policy Analysis in Washington, D.C., has issued an international appeal today calling upon President Benigno Aquino and the
Philippine government to make it a higher national priority to address political violence directed against journalists and
press freedom in the Philippines. The statement condemns the apparent assassination of radio talk show host and journalist
Maria Len Flores Somera who was murdered last Thursday near her home in Malabon city, in metropolitan Manila.
In the wake of the radio journalist “Len” Somera's murder, the international appeal also urges
support for Bishop Felixberto Calang's request that the United Nations monitor the ongoing Maguindanao (Mindanao) massacre
trial.
“We urge President Benigno Aquino, and the Philippine government, to make it a higher
national priority to address the recent murder of journalist Maria Len Flores Somera as well as the epidemic of violent attacks
on press freedom, and individual journalists, in the Philippines,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center
for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA).
The statement regarding the murder of journalists in the Philippines
was issued in Washington, D.C. and Manila by Philip Smith, Director of the CPPA.
The CPPA is a Washington,
D.C.-based think tank and research organization focused on foreign policy, human rights, humanitarian affairs, economic development
and other public policy issues. http://centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
“We condemn, in the strongest terms, the unconscionable murder of radio talk show journalist Maria
Len Flores Somera which appears to many in the international community as yet another example of political violence and efforts
to silence freedom-loving journalists and people in the Philippines seeking reform,” Smith stated.
Somera,
44, was a broadcaster for DZME radio in Manila, prior to being killed on March 24. According to Philippine National
Police (PNP) sources, she was shot with a pistol, execution-style, point blank, by a male assailant.
“Mrs.
Somera was popular to radio listeners in Manila, in part, for her tireless dedication to freedom of expression and investigative
reporting on issues of concern to the public and ordinary people, including matters of government inefficiency, incompetence
and corruption among some officials in the Philippines,” Smith said in the CPPA's statement.
Excerpts
of the CPPA's international appeal and statement continued:
“Tragically, this appears
to be another act of political violence, and horrific human rights violations, directed against journalists in the Philippines
who seek to freely and fairly inform the public about current events and developments, including issues of governance, public
service and corruption;”
“We urge President Benigno Aquino, and the Philippine government,
to make it their highest priority to apprehend and bring to justice those responsible for this terrible crime against Maria
Len Flores Somera, and her family, as well as the Philippine people, civil society, and the Philippine nation;”
“The international community and Filipinos around the world have expressed shock, outrage and sadness
regarding the murder of Mrs. Somera and the ongoing pattern of systemic violence directed against journalists in the Philippines,
which urgently needs to be addressed by President Aquino and the Philippine government;
“We urge President Benigno
Aquino, and the Philippine government, including the judiciary and courts, to do significantly more to seriously provide full
justice, and comprehensive psycho-social assistance, to the suffering family members of the 57 people, including 32 journalists,
murdered in the political violence and attack in Mindanao, Maguindanao province
( Magindanaw ), on November 23, 2009...; 'We appeal to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to monitor the Maguindanao massacre trial
as requested by Bishop Felixberto Calang of the Philippine Independent Church, and others, especially given troubling reports
of ongoing delays, the resignation of state prosecutors, and the disappearance and intimidation of witnesses; “Seriously address the concerns and complaint filed earlier this month before
the UNHRC by the families of journalists Maricel Vigo, Juan Pala, Dennis Cuesta, Fernando Lintuan, and William Yap Yu who
reportedly assert that the Philippine government has egregiously violated the rights of their loved ones, who were killed
between 2000-2007, in apparent disregard of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)...; “We are concerned that press freedom, and key institutions
of civil society, are increasingly under attack in the Philippines as sadly symbolized by the murder of Maria Len Flores Somera
and other journalists,” Smith concluded in the CPPA's international appeal and statement.
The
CPPA has issued previous statements and appeals regarding the world's largest known single massacre of journalists which occurred
in Mindanao, Philippines on November 23, 2009. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1102/S00381/philippines-urged-to-assist-families-of-slain-journalists.htm
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines
( NUJP), and others, have also called on authorities in the Philippines to promptly investigate the murder of Mrs. Somera.
According to reports by DZME Radio, GMA News, and others, the National Press Club of the Philippines and
the Alyansang ng Filipinong Mamamahayag, two media groups in the Philippines, have said they have raised thousands in monetary
funds, some 50,000 Philippine Pesos (PHP), for anybody who can provide information leading to the arrest of the gunman and
plotters in Mrs. Sumera's bloody killing
In New York, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued a statement
earlier this month expressing concern that an accused Maguindanao province mastermind, allegedly involved in the mass killing
of 32 journalists in Ampatuan, Mindanao, on November 23, 2009, may go free. http://www.cpj.org/2011/03/accused-maguindanao-mastermind-may-go-free.php
## Contact: Maria Gomez Center for Public Policy Analysis 2020 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. Suite 220 Washington, DC 20006 info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org Tele. (202) 543-1444 VIENTIANE, Laos & WASHINGTON--March 16, 2011 --A coalition of Laotian
and Hmong organizations have issued a joint statement with the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) urging Laos to release
political and religious dissidents, and jailed American citizens, prior to an upcoming communist party congress. The international appeal also urges Laos to halt illegal logging by Vietnam People's
Army-owned companies and release thousands of Lao Hmong refugees forcibly repatriated from Thailand. The communist party congress of the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic (LPDR) is being held from March 17-21.
“There needs to be transparency by the Lao communist government
and a voice for the voiceless, suffering people of Laos,” said Khampoua Naovarangsy an internet blogger for the Laos
Institute for Democracy (LIFD)... “Clearly, we are concerned about
egregious human rights violations in Laos and the continued imprisonment of Lao political and religious dissidents as well
as Hmong refugees and American citizens,” said Philip Smith, Director of the CPPA in Washington, D.C.
http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org “The Lao communist party is losing more credibility with the
Laotian people, in part, because it continues to take a closed-door, monopolistic approach to governing,” Smith said.
“It has repeatedly failed to provide international access to, or release, prisoners of conscience as well as Lao Hmong
political refugees.” (See full release at Businesswire.com ) http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110316007171/en/Laos-Hmong-Crisis-Rights-Groups-International-Appeal
Philippines Urged To Assist Families of Slain Journalists During
Trial Washington, D.C., and Manila, Philippines,
February 11, 2011 Citing the unprecedented
murder of journalists in the Philippines, the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Public Policy Analysis issued an appeal to
the government of the Philippines and a Quezon City Court to grant assistance to the family members of slain journalists and
victims of the November 23, 2009, killings that left 57 people dead in Mindanao (Maguindanao). “The brutal murder of 57 people, including
32 journalists, in Mindanao, in November of 2009, is an act of political violence and factional rivalry, that continues to
shock the world community and societies around the globe that value press freedom,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director
of the Center for Public Policy Analysis in Washington, D.C. The Center for Public
Policy Analysis is a Washington, D.C.-based think tank and public policy research organization focused on international relations,
human rights, refugee and security issues. “As the trial goes forward, we urge the Philippine government and
Quezon City Court to act responsibly toward the surviving family members that have been severely traumatized as a result of
the massacre and gross human rights violations,” Smith continued. “Clearly the massacre victims’ families should be granted psychosocial
help during the judicial process and its aftermath since the mass killings of the journalists and their colleagues in 2009
was a unique and terrible violation of human rights and international law,” Smith said. “The magnitude of the atrocity on that horrific
day, November 29, 2009, warrants the full assistance of the Philippine government to help the survivors of the many slain
journalists and victims,” Smith stated further.
The
CPPA has raised repeated concerns about the infamous “Mindanao Massacre” involving the horrific mass murder of
journalists in the town of Ampatuan in the Philippines in 2009 as well as the overall crisis situation in Mindanao. http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1108506.html “The recent courtroom collapse
of Myrna Reblando, wife of the murdered Manila Bulletin journalist Bong Reblando, is but one example of why the surviving
family members need the Philippine government’s emergency help in providing psychosocial help, especially during this
important trial that is being watched by the international community,” Smith concluded. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
has documented recent attacks on the press in the Philippines, and the Mindanao Massacre, and has assisted family members
of the victims. http://www.cpj.org/2010/02/attacks-on-the-press-2009-philippines.php The Brussel, Belgium-based International
Crisis Group has also issued repeated statements and reports about the killing of the journalists and has shed light on the
national and political context. __________ ### Contact: Helen Cruz info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org http://www.cppa-dc.org Tele.
(202) 543-1444 --------------- Egypt Crisis: Mubarak Urged to Halt Attacks on Internet, Journalists,
Protesters Mubarak Urged to Halt Attacks on Journalists, Internet The Washington, D.C.-based Center for Public Policy Analysis is calling on Egyptian President Mubarak,
and his public security and military forces, to immediately and unconditionally restore unfettered internet use to the people
of Egypt and allow independent journalists access to the developing crisis in the country.
For Immediate
Release, Washington, D.C., Friday, January 28 2011 Center for Public Policy Analysis The Washington, D.C.-based Center for Public Policy Analysis is
calling on Egyptian President Mubarak, and his public security and military forces, to immediately and unconditionally restore
unfettered internet use to the people of Egypt and allow independent journalists access to the developing crisis in the country. Thousands of largely peaceful protestors have clashed with police
and army units in recent hours, including at Ramsis Square, Tahrir Square and the October 6th Bridge in Cairo
Police and Egyptian Army units are firing rubber bullets and tear gas at the demonstrators, who have also been bludgeoned
with batons. Many are calling on the President Mubarak to step down as President. “During this crisis, we are calling on President Hosni Mubarak to embrace transparency
and restore full internet access to the people of Egypt as well as cease the censorship of independent news sources, and internet
communications, which are important to a free and open society in Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa,”
said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) in Washingiton, D.C. Internet usage and traffic by providers, including Telecom Egypt,
Link Egypt, Vodafone/Raya and Etisalat Mist has reportedly been blocked today in Cairo and much of Egypt. Mr. Smith further commented: “We are very concerned that,
in the aftermath of the ongoing internet censoring and blockage, large numbers of Egyptian military and security forces have
been mobilized as a result of demonstrations in Cairo and elsewhere in the Nile Delta and across the country.” “There is growing concern in Washington, D.C., and in the
U.S. Congress, that given the billions of dollars in American taxpayers’ money given to Egypt over the years, that Egyptian
Army units, including those with armored vehicles, have been to deployed in Cairo in an apparent effort to head off peaceful
protestors as well as silence journalists and news reporters seeking to cover these recent events,” Smith said. “Based upon credible reports about the recent harassment
and beating by Egyptian police of journalists from Al Jazeera, CNN, and the Arabic service of the BBC, we are also urging
President Mubarak to intervene to stop the attacks on journalists and permit press freedom and accurate news reporting of
breaking developments in Cairo and elsewhere in Egypt,” Smith further stated. “We are strongly urging Mubarak to halt attacks on journalists and cease the internet
censorship,” Smith concluded. “Military and security force attacks against peaceful protestors should also cease.”
http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org Internet instant messaging, social network sites
and other forms of internet and mobile telephone communications have been blocked by the Mubarak government in an apparent
effort to stifle protestors, anti-government opposition groups and political dissidents in Egypt. President Mubarak has ruled Egypt for three decades.. The United States provides some $1.3 billion dollars in annual military assistance
to the Mubarak government in Egypt--with tens of billions in U.S. taxpayers’ assisting being provided to the Egyptian
military over the last three decades of President Mubarak’s rule. State-run television has announced a curfew in Egypt. Egypt is besieged with rampant unemployment, rising food prices and other problems. The Egyptian crisis follows earlier protests in Tunisia that resulted in the ousting
of its former President Ben Ali Zine El Abidine who was given asylum in the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia earlier this month.
Protests in Jordan are calling for the resignation
of its Prime Minister. ### Contact: Maria Gomez mgomez@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org or info@centerorpublicpolicyanalysis.org Tele. (202) 543-1444 CPPA - Center for Public Policy Analysis 2020 Pennsylvania Ave., NW. Washington, D.C.
20006 USA http://www.cppa-dc.org
Events kicking off the new thriller “Deep Driller”
by Henry F. Merritt were launched in the New York-city hinterland of Connecticut in recent days.
Press Release - 2009-10-21 23:15:55 -( Washington, D.C., Center for Public Policy
Analyss, October 21, 2009 via PR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung) - Oct 21, 20092009-10-21 23:15:55 - Events kicking off the new thriller “ Deep
Driller” by Henry F. Merritt were launched in
“Contemporary issues
of national identity, security, counter-terrorism operations and the struggle for energy resources come to vivid life in the
book’s colorful international cast of characters who engage in a timeless struggle against the rugged sea and conflicting
personal, corporate and national interests,” observed Philip Smith of the CPPA in Washington, D.C.Milford, CT, Washington,
D.C., New York, NY and Edinburgh, Scotland, October 21, 2009 Events kicking off the new thriller “Deep Driller”
( Xlibris ) by Henry F. Merritt were launched in the New York-city hinterland of Connecticut in recent days. www.amazon.com/Deep-Driller-Henry-F-Merritt/dp/143638656XOn Saturday, October 17, 2009, Henry F. Merritt spoke at a special book signing event and party in the Milford
area of Connecticut attended by a seemingly endless number of enthusiasts and interested people. Guests, colleagues
and friends of the author from New England and across the United States enjoyed readings from “Deep Driller” as
well as reflections by Mr. Merritt on his new suspense novel and 40 years experience in world-wide petroleum exploration.
A gifted and insightful writer, “Deep Driller” is Merritt’s first novel. search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?WRD=deep+drille ..Henry F. Merritt has spent the better part of a lifetime in petroleum exploration in the U.S., Canada, Asia, Africa,
South America and the North Sea, where he worked on a drilling rig off Scotland. “ ‘Deep Driller’
is a page- turner thriller about political plotting and terrorist violence on a North Sea oil rig. Henry Merritt, 50 years
in the business, shows that he knows what he writes about in his detailed description of the rig and its equipment, life on
board and the diverse mix of men involved in this specialized and sometimes dangerous work. The political intrigue is realistically
based on the sentiments of many in Scotland today. The suspense keeps building up in Merritt's story to a smashing climax.
‘Deep Driller’ is a very good read, and you'll learn a lot about a fascinating business. You will wish there was
a sequel, as I do,” stated Camille Lamont and Ted Lamont, from Oyster Bay, NY, in a recent review of the book. B. Jenkins Middleton, of the Washington, D.C.-area explained: “Deep Driller rhymes with ‘thriller,’ which
is what this fast-paced tale is, in spades. But it's much more than that: A detailed education in the culture and intricacies
of the oil exploration business in general and offshore drilling platforms in particular - in this case, a 250-foot tall behemoth
in the midst of a raging storm in the North Sea. The author, who spent his career in financing exploration for oil and gas
around the globe, obviously knows whereof he writes, weaving a story of industrial spying and potential terrorist sabotage
linked to the Scottish nationalism of the 1970's. His characters come alive through well-crafted dialogue, whether straight
Yankee English or tinged with the Scottish, Norwegian or Cajun accents of the polyglot crew of the rig. You won't be tempted
to read this one to put you to sleep!” According to Howard E. Douglas, of Austin, Texas, in a recent review:
“Once upon a time in the history of Western Civilization, there were men and women who pursued their professions or
calling yet still found time to keep diaries or create literature and art for the sheer joy of the undertaking and as affirmation
of the human genius. Alas, that element of our culture would seem in decline. Henry (Buzz) Merritt's new book, ‘Deep
Driller’, gives us hope that modern pop culture has not leveled everyone into a homogeneous blob of inarticulate matter.
Howard Douglas further observed: “Mr. Merritt has created a whopping good story infused with his love of
the sea, a practitioner's grasp of the oil industry and a natural storyteller's eye for the richness of human nature. Despite
the very contemporary setting, there is a kind of 19th century flair for wild places, for character and suspense. He knows
his subject and geography and describes places and events with the sureness of having ‘been there and done that’.
At the last page, the reader can feel that he has been told a compelling story by a character in the book itself. And perhaps
that is so. Who knows?” “ ‘Deep Driller’ is a penetrating and captivating novel about the
pioneering, wild-West days of North Sea oil exploration, corporate and international espionage and the rise of Scottish Nationalism,”
said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) in Washington, D.C. “Contemporary
issues of national identity, security, counter-terrorism operations and the struggle for energy resources come to vivid life
in the book’s colorful international cast of characters who engage in a timeless struggle against the rugged sea and
conflicting personal, corporate and national interests.” www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.orgMr. Smith attended the opening kick-off event in Connecticut, along with other invited participants from across
the United States and internationally. He was delighted to receive an autographed and personalized copy of the book from the
author along with many of the guests. The book signing event and reception with Mr. Merritt was attended by a diverse
and eclectic crowd of community leaders, businessmen, professionals, writers, artists, veterans, policy analysts as well as
colleagues and friends of the author, and others. -- Contact: Ms. Maria Lopez 2020 Pennsylvania Ave.,
N.W. Suite No. #212 Washington, D.C. 20006 USA
Laos, Obama Urged By Rights Groups, Hmong,
to Free 3 Americans from Minnesota Investors Business Daily, April 24, 2011 WASHINGTON & MINNEAPOLIS & ST. PAUL, Minn., Apr 23, 2011
(BUSINESS WIRE) -- A coalition of Laotian and Hmong non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and the Center
for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA), have joined the families of three …Investors Business Daily · 1
day ago LAOS, U.S. President Barack Obama Urged by Human Rights Groups to Release Lao
Hmong Americans from St. Paul - OBAMA URGED BY RIGHTS GROUPS HMONG TO FREE 3 AMERICANS
:: AD ...
AD HOC NEWS, Berlin , Germany , April 23. Apr. 2011 ... A coalition of Laotian and Hmong non governmental
organizations NGOs and the Center for Public Policy Analysis CPPA have joined the families ...
www.ad-hoc-news.de/
laos-obama-urged-by-rights-groups-hmong-to-free-3--/ de/ News/ 22091849 Laos Communist Regime, Barack Obama Urged
By Rights Groups, Hmong, to Free 3 Americans ...
Bradenton News, Florida, Apr 23, 2011 ... A coalition of Laotian and Hmong non-governmental organizations
(NGOs), and the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA), have joined the ...
www.bradenton.com/ 2011/
04/ 23/ 3137479/ laos-obama-urged-by-rights-groups.html Laos, Obama Urged By Rights
Groups, Hmong, to Free 3 Americans - CNBC
CNBC News, April 23, 2011, Apr 23, 2011 ... Laos (LPDR), President Barack Obama Urged By Rights Groups, Hmong, to Free 3 Americans from Minneapolis and
St. Paul, Minnesota, including Mr. Hakit Yang www.cnbc.com/id/42732762 Laos, President Barack Obama Urged By Rights Groups, Hmong, to
Reuters News, April 23, 2011, Laos, Obama Urged By Rights
Groups, Hmong, to Free 3 Americans.
A coalition of Laotian and Hmong non-governmental organizations
(NGOs), and the Center ...
mobile.reuters.com/ article/ companyNewsAndPR/ idUS41523+23-Apr-2011+BW20110423?feedType=RSS
&feedName=companyNewsAndPR
Laos Military, U.S. President Obama Urged to Release St. Paul, Minneapolis, American Citizens Apr 23, 2011 ... Laos, Obama Urged By Rights
Groups, Hmong, to Free 3 Americans
5:10PM UTC. Reuters News, April 23, 2011,
www.reuters.com/resources/archive/us/20110423.html http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/23/idUS41523+23-Apr-2011+BW20110423
Boston Globe, April 23, 2011, U.S. Laotian and Hmong organizations have appealed to
the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic (LPDR) and U.S. President Barack Obama to release Hakit Yang and Hmong-American citizens
being imprisoned in Laos. Find the latest stock activity of the day with our stock market summary on Boston.com
finance.boston.com/boston/news/read?GUID=18251120 A coalition of Laotian and Hmong non-governmental organizations , and the Center for Public Policy Analysis , have joined the families
of three Hmong-Americans
www.newsblaze.com/story/2011042314102700001.bw/topstory.html CBS News,April
23, 2011 In August 2007, for unknown reasons, Lao People's Army
(LPA) troops and secret police arrested the three Americans: Mr. Hakit Yang, 24; Mr. Congshineng Yang, 34; and Mr. Trillion
Yunhaison, 44. The
Hmong-Americans remain imprisoned in Laos' Sam Neua province by LPA troops and secret police. The three are being held without
charges being filed, or due process, according to the Foreign Prisoners Support Service (FPSS), the CPPA, human rights organizations,
family members and others. Mrs. Sheng Xiong, a spokeswoman for the families, and Philip Smith of the CPPA, spoke to
Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) about the case. “I just wish the Lao government would be upfront ...,” Xiong
told MPR. Laos: Appeal for Release of 3 Hmong-Americans Scoop News, New Zealand, April 21, 2011, Washington, D.C., Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, April 21, 2011 Center for Public Policy Analysis info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org Scoop.co.nz - Apr 21 03:18pm The Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) and a coalition of Laotian
and Hmong non-governmental organizations have joined the Minnesota families of three Hmong-Americans in issuing an appeal
for the release of their relatives being held in Laos for over three years by military and communist party officials. The
appeal was issued from Washington, D.C., and the Twin Cities of Minnesota, to the Lao government and U.S. President Barack
Obama to request that they work at a higher diplomatic level, with urgent priority, to release three Hmong-American citizens
arrested and currently imprisoned in Laos. The three jailed Americans, of ethnic Hmong descent from the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, have been imprisoned
in Laos for over three years-- according to eye-witness sources, human rights groups, prisoner support organizations, and
humanitarian activists, including Australian author and humanitarian advocate Kay Danes. . Apr 16, 2011 ... Christian persecution and religious freedom violations have continued to expand and spread
to key provinces in Laos, according to the Center ...
www.scoop.co.nz/
stories/ WO1104/ S00423/ laos-vietnam-troops-execute-4-hmong-christians.htm
Scoop
News, New Zealand, Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Scoop News, New Zealand, Wednesday, 13 April 2011, 12:50 pm Press
Release: Center for Public Policy Analysis. Concerns Raised As Burma Targets Refugees in Thailand, ASEAN Parliament. April 11, 2011, Washington,
DC & Bangkok, Thailand Center for Public Policy Analysis. The Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) has issued
www.scoop.co.nz/ stories/ WO1104/ S00362/ concerns-raised-as-burma-targets-refugees-in-thailand.htm Center for Public Policy Analysis - CNBC
CNBC News, Mar 25, 2011 ... The Center for Public Policy Analysis has been repeatedly recognized for its groundbreaking work on key domestic and foreign policy
issues ...
classic.cnbc.com/id/42268503 National Post , Canada , Mar 17, 2011 ... Laos, Hmong Crisis: Rights Groups Make International Appeal. ... rights and religious freedom violations against the Lao Hmong refugees
and ...
www.nationalpost.com/Laos+Hmong+Crisis+Rights+Groups+Make+International+Appeal/.../story.html - Canada Investors Business Daily, March 16, 2011, Laos, Hmong Crisis: Rights Groups Make International Appeal.
Posted 11:54 PM ET. VIENTIANE, Laos & WASHINGTON, Mar 16, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- A coalition ...
www.investors.com/.../Laos-Hmong-Crisis-Rights-Groups-Make-International-Appeal.aspx The Laos, Hmong Crisis: Pro-Democracy, Human Rights and Religious
Freedom Groups Make International Appeal Prior to Communist Party Congress in Laos.
A coalition of Laotian and Hmong
organizations have issued a joint statement with the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) urging Laos to release political
and religious dissidents, and jailed American citizens, prior to an upcoming communist party congress. The
international appeal also urges Laos to halt illegal logging by Vietnam People's Army-owned companies and release thousands
of Lao Hmong refugees forcibly repatriated from Thailand. The communist party congress of the Lao Peoples Democratic
Republic (LPDR) is being held from March 17-21. “There needs to be transparency by the Lao communist government
and a voice for the voiceless, suffering people of Laos,” said Khampoua Naovarangsy an internet blogger for the Laos
Institute for Democracy (LIFD). Ad Hoc News, Berlin, Germany, March 17, 2011
A coalition of Laotian and Hmong organizations have issued a joint statement with
the Center for Public Policy Analysis CPPA urging Laos to release ...www.ad-hoc-news.de
Star
Tribune, Minneapolis , Minnesota, Mar 7, 2011 ... Vang Pao
in California symbolizes why Lao Hmong veterans who served alongside U.S. military and clandestine forces in the "U.S.
Secret Army" ...
www.startribune.com/opinion/commentary/117551498.html
Scoop News, New Zealaind, February 17, 2011
ABS-CBN,
Manila , Philippines , Feb 11, 2011 ... MANILA, Philippines - A United States-based think tank believes the Philippine ... including 32 journalists, in Mindanao, in November
2009 "is an act of ... The Center for
Public Policy Analysis
is a Washington, ...
www.abs-cbnnews.com/ nation/ 02/ 11/ 11/ us-think-tank-massacre-victims-kin-need-counseling
Scoop News, New Zealaind,
February 11, 2011 Friday, 11 February 2011,
Center for Public Policy Analysis. Philippines Urged
To Assist Families
of Slain Journalists
During Trial. Washington, DC, and Manila, Philippines, February 11, 2011 CPPA. Center
for Public Policy Analysis. Citing the unprecedented murder of journali
www.scoop.co.nz/ stories/ WO1102/ S00381/ philippines-urged-to-assist-families-of-slain-journalists.htm January 28, 2011, Scoop News, New Zealand
e Washington, D.C.-based Center for Public Policy Analysis is calling on Egyptian President Mubarak, and his
public security and military forces, to immediately and unconditionally restore unfettered internet use to the people of Egypt
and allow independent journalists access to the developing crisis in the country.
Salt Lake Tribune, Utah, Feb 3, 2011 12:50PM The ground war was about to
begin. It was Feb. 15, 1991, and U.S. troops were poised at Iraq’s southern border. Offering
“another way for the bloodshed to stop,” then-President George H.W. Bush took to the Voice of America airwaves,
calling on Iraqis to “take matters into their own hands … Asia Times Online - Oct 5, 2010
The
state of Laos forests is increasingly relevant to discussions on global ... Philip Smith executive
director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis in ...
MEDIA NEWSWIRE , webnewswire.com , August 7, 2010, "Clearly,
US Congressman Jim Costa's bipartisan leadership, along with his colleagues in the US Congress, in support of the Lao and
Hmong veterans and their families across America, gives hope and dignity to the plight of the Lao and Hmong community and
the veterans who seek to be buried wi
www.medianews-wire.com/ Reuters - Jul 19, 2010
BANGKOK &
WASHINGTON Business Wire The Center for Public Policy AnalysisCPPA the ... other HmongAmericans
from St Paul Minnesota stated Philip Smith Director ... Scoop News, New Zealand Scoop.co.nz - Jul 17, 2010
The Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA), the United
League for Democracy in ... said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy
... Bostob Globe, July 19, 2010 The Center for Public Policy Analysis
(CPPA), the United League for Democracy in Laos (ULDL) and a coalition of Lao and Hmong non-governmental organizations have
released a twelve-point joint communiqué today in Bangkok, Thailand. The joint statement outlines opposition to the
visit of Lao Foreign Minister Thongloun Sisoulith to the United States as well as recent military actions by the Lao government.
The communiqué was also released on Friday in Washington, D.C. and New York. Thongloun
Sisoulith also serves as deputy prime minister for the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic (LPDR), a one-party, authoritarian
regime closely allied with the military junta in Burma and Stalinist North Korea. The senior-level Lao Communist party official
recently met with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. An Open Skies Agreement was concluded to promote tourism.
Scoop News, New Zealand,
May 11, 2010 Laos
continues to be dominated by corrupt military generals from the Lao Peoples Army and Hanoi who have impoverished the nation and destroyed
much of its potential and many of its people. Scoop News, New Zealand,
May 2010, Philip Smith, Director, CPPA;
Dr. Grant McClure, Counterparts Veterans Association.; The Honorable John Barnum, Esquire; ... 6. 3News video: Megi makes
landfall in the Philippines
www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1005/S00298.htm CBS
News,, Business Network, February 1, 2010 "Chairman Berman's letter regarding the plight of the Lao Hmong
refugees, is important. Unfortunately, however, after two years, the Lao military junta continues to deny the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and human rights organizations, access to the over 8,000 Lao H
www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_20100201/ai_n48780232/ Media- Newswire, Febuary
10, 2010
Laos,
Vietnam Peoples Army Unleashes Helicopter
Gunship Attacks on Laotian and Hmong Civilians, Christian Believers ... including
those independent Lao and Hmong Christian
... SCOOP NEWS, New Zealand, scoop.co.nz -
Feb 2, 2010
The Washington DC-based Center for Public Policy Analysis
(CPPA) and ... They are urging the LPDR regime in Laos to allow the United Nations High
... Thursday, January 21, 2010, Times-Picayune,
New Orleans, LA, Rep. Anh "Joseph"
Cao, R-New Orleans, launched a new congressional foreign policy caucus Thursday, even
as he fended off criticism from advocates for Lao- and Hmong-Americans ... Area Hmong worried for relatives overseas | Green Bay Press
...
Green Bay Press Gazette, Dec 30, 2009 ... To learn about the Center for
Public Policy Analysis, visit www.cppa-dc.org. The calls keep coming to
Vaughn Vang of the Lao Hmong Human ...
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20091230/
GPG0101/102120013/Area-Hmong-worried-relatives-overseas http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20091230/
GPG0101/102120013/Area-Hmong-worried-relatives-overseas Laos' Secret Prison Camps - Hmong Appeal - Scoop
Hmong families from St. Paul, Minnesota and across the United States
are appealing for the release of their relatives held in a secret nextwork of prisons
and camps in Laos by the Lao Peoples Army (LPA).
www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1001/S00247.htm
Channel News Asia
- Jan 14, 2010
Philip Smith,
executive director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis, which focuses on Laos, said some repatriated Hmong have
disappeared. ... Green Bay Press Gazette, Green
Bay, Wisconsin - Jan 24, 2010
Philip Smith director of
the Center for Public Policy Analysis which has been ... Vaughn Vang director of the Lao Human Rights
Council in Green Bay said ... Area Hmong worried for relatives overseas | Green Bay Press
... Green Bay Press Gazette, Dec 30, 2009 ... To learn about the Center
for Public Policy
Analysis, visit www.cppa-dc.org. The calls keep coming to Vaughn Vang of the Lao Hmong Human ...
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20091230/
GPG0101/102120013/Area-Hmong-worried-relatives-overseas Straits News - Straits News, Singapore, Apr 18,
2009
Mr Hakit Yang's wife Sheng Xiong 26 said that she prayed each night that he ...
Philip Smith executive director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis ... AsiaOne - Jun 13, 2009
...
"is completely shocking and outrageous," said Philip Smith, executive director of the Center for Public
Policy Analysis, which promotes Hmong rights. ...
Lao soldiers decapitated a two-month-old girl, Christians suffer Christian Telegraph, August 22, 2009, A human rights organization
has just learned that Lao soldiers captured, mutilated and decapitated a two-month-old girl during recent military attacks
against Hmong and Laotian ...
www.christiantelegraph.com/issue6612.html World Net Daily, August 20, 2009
"Philip Smith, the Executive Director of CPPA, told ICC of video footage smuggled out of Laos in 2004 that
documents the aftermath of the killing and brutalization of five Hmong children, four of them girls, on May 19th of that year.
That footage was used in an extremely graphic documentary, &q www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=107523 ANS News, Thursday, August 20, 2009 Infant used as target practice during military attacks that leave 26 civilians dead RushPR News, July 25, 2009
Los Angeles Times, Sept. 19, 2009 News of the dropped
charges is celebrated in Hmong enclaves in the United States. ... "He's viewed
as a quasi-martyr," said Phillip Smith,
executive director at the ...
The New York Sun, New York, New York, September 21, 2009, He’s
viewed as a quasi-martyr,” one of Vang Pao’s friends, Philip Smith, ... makes us rue the fact that more is not known about the struggle of the Hmong ... government would have been putting itself on trial for betraying the Hmong
... Search in Category: News: Newspapers: Regional: United S
www.nysun.com/editorials/vang-pao-escapes/86878/ Scoop News, New Zealand, scoop.co.nz - Sep 15, 2009
... Magazine the BBC Al Jazeera Ambassador H Eugene DouglasUSRet Dr Jane HamiltonMerritt
Edmund McWilliamsUS Department of State Ret B Jenkins Middleton Joe ...
SCOOP NEWS - New Zealand , December 24, 2009 Scoop.co.nz -
Dec 24, 2009
The Lao Human
Rights Council, the Center for Public Policy Analysis and Lao ... said Philip Smith, Executive
Director for the Center for Public Policy ...
Channel News Asia -
May 22, 2009
Philip
Smith, executive director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis, which promotes Hmong rights, called on Congress
to act or for President Barack ... May 4, 2009 ... Washington, D.C. USA 20006. Tele. ( 202 )
543-1444 www.cppa-dc.org www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.
...
www.intellasia.net/news/articles/society/111263946_printer.shtm stated Philip Smith, Executive Director of the
CPPA in Washington,D.C. ... Smith continued: "On April 25, four Lao Hmong political refugees
in Huay Nam ...
www.intellasia.net/news/articles/society/111263946.shtml Asia Times Online
- Jan 21, 2009
The Center for Public Policy Analysis, an
American group advocating for Hmong rights, and the Hmong Human Rights Council Inc, both claimed the Lao army ...
Green Bay Press Gazette -
Green Bay Wisconsin, Dec 30, 2009
The calls keep coming to Vaughn Vang of the Lao Hmong
Human Rights ... The Center for Public Policy Analysis in Washington, DC, backs Vang's assessment.
... - Fresno
Bee - Feb 8, 2009, Fresno, California
A longtime soldier,
currently head of the Lao Veterans of America Institute, ... executive director of the Center
for Public Policy Analysis, which works on ... Radio France International, RFI - Jun 13, 2009
Theo AFP Hoa Kỳ đã thắt chắt thêm quan hệ vói Cambốt
và Lào vào lúc Trung Quốc ... Theo ông Philip Smith giám
đốc trung tâmLào vẫn còn là chế độ độc đảng
là ... Scoop News, New Zealand, scoop.co.nz - Jan 15, 2009
The Hmong Lao Human Rights Council the United League for Democracy in Laos Inc ...
one party communist regime stated Philip Smith Executive Director of the ... scoop.co.nz - May 2, 2009
...
human suffering of the Lao and Hmong people," stated Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for
Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) in Washington, ...
Scoop News, New Zealand, scoop.co.nz
- Dec 9, 2009
As the Southeast Asia (SEA)
Games open in Laos, The Honorable Howard Eugene Douglas, ... Douglas and the Center for Public Policy
Analysis (CPPA) are urging ... Seven
Hmong Families Forced to Laos Amid Tear Gas World News, Scoop News, New Zealand ,August 13, 2009 <!--[endif]-->Doctorswithoutborders.org/press/release.cfm?id=3627&cat=press-release
"Unfortunately, now, with adapted and cruel tactics and strategies, elements of the Royal Thai Third Army and Ministry
of Interior troops have launched a new bloody and brutal campaign to force Hmong refugees from Thailand to
www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0908/S00250.htm SYS-COM sys-con.com - Jun 17,
2009
MSF is historical," said Dr. Jane Hamilton-Merritt , author of "Tragic Mountains
: The Hmong, The Americans, and the Secret Wars for Laos " and Nobel Peace ...
Scoop News, New Zealand, scoop.co.nz - May
2, 2009
... Policy Analysis (CPPA) in Washington, DC "Ironically,
many of these 5500 Lao Hmong ... The Stalinist regime in Laos remains a close ally of the
military ... Singapore, Christian Post, May 9, 2009
Laos Military Heightens Persecution
of Hmong Religious Groups. Saturday, May. 9 ... agreements as further evidence that Vietnam
“largely [controls] and [exploits] Laos and ...
sg.christianpost.com/dbase/missions/1597/8%7C17/2.htm AsiaOne - Jun 13, 2009
...
"is completely shocking and outrageous," said Philip Smith, executive director of the Center for Public
Policy Analysis, which promotes Hmong rights. ... Scoop News, New Zealand, scoop.co.nz - Feb 7, 2009
... Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis in Washington, ...
author and Nobel Peace Prize Nominee Dr. Jane Hamilton-Merritt, ... News Blaze newsblaze.com - Dec 31, 2008
questioned Dr. Jane Hamilton-Merritt , a human rights and refugee expert. Dr. Hamilton-Merritt's acclaimed
book 'Tragic Mountains: The Hmong, the Americans ... News Blaze, newsblaze.com, December 27, 2008 NERAKHOON Film Offers Hope to Those Betrayed in Laos,... News Blaze, November 22, 2008,
newsblaze.com - Nov 22, 2008 The Lao Hmong Students
Organization the Lao Veterans of America United League for Democracy in Laos the Center for Public Policy AnalysisCPPA
and a coalition ... Laos, Hmong Crisis: Thailand's Samak Uses Troops, Tear Gas Boston Globe, Saturday May 24, 2008 Thailand's
Samak Uses Troops and Tear Gas Against Lao Hmong Refugees during Laotian, Hmong refugee crisis. www.finance.boston.com/boston/news/read?GUID=5561769 Laos Crisis : Thailand's Samak Uses Tear Gas and Troops Against Hmong Refugees China Weekly News, June 9, 2008 Thailand's Prime Minister
Samak Sundaravej ordered Thai Third Army troops to use tear gas and pepper spray today to seek to force hundreds of Lao Hmong
refugees onto eleven buses to repatriate them back to the communist regime in Laos that they fled. On May 16, eight members
of the U.S. Senate wrote a letter appealing to Prime Minister Samak and U.S. Secretary of State Rice to grant asylum to some
8,000 Hmong refugees and not force them back to Laos. The letter was sent to U.S. Secretary
of State Rice by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Senator Russell Feingold (D-WI), Senator
Herb Kohl (D-WI), Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Senator Dianne..
U.S. AMBASSADOR TO LAOS RAVIC HUSO SAYS HE'S SEEKING...
St. Paul
Pioneer Press - St. Paul, Minnesota, Mar 20, 2008
As
many as 60000 Hmong, many of whom fled Laos in the aftermath of the ... Philip Smith, executive
director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis, ... RushPRnews.com - Mar 19, 2008
Washington,
DC (RushPNews)March 10, 2008-The Center for Public Policy Analysis and the families of three Hmong-American
citizens from St. Paul, Minnesota, ... News Blaze, Newsblaze.com, ( December 31, 2008
) Dec 31, 2008 ...
Thailand's new Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, and Army Chief Anupong Paochinda, in apparent preparation for the Prime Minister's
upcoming ...
newsblaze.com/story/2008123121030200002.pnw/topstory.html Channel News Asia, Feb. 6, 2008, Feb 6, 2008 ... "We feel very strongly that this is a major effort to force these
Lao Hmong refugees and asylum seekers back to Laos," , ...
www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/.../.html
- Singapore Los Angeles Times, January 17, 2008, Los Angeles, California, Hmong
refugees seethe as a venerated warrior, under house arrest in California, faces U.S. charges of plotting a coup against Laos. Star Tribune , Minneapolis, MN, September 4, 2007 Today's meeting in the Lao capital of Vientiane will give U.S. State Department officials a
chance to find out if the three men were detained by Lao authorities. http://www.startribune.com/local/11588896.html Star Tribune, Minneapolis, Minnesota, September 9, 2007 Wives, children and a mother -- about 20 relatives in all -- lingered at the airport on Sunday
on the slim chance that they would see three St. Paul men thought to be imprisoned in Laos. Supporters say Hmong refugees... AP Archive - Jul 18, 2007
AP Archive Supporters
of the Hmong community said Tuesday that indictments ... executive director of the Center for
Public Policy Analysis, a Washington, ..
USA TODAY NEWS, July 17, 2007 Jul 17, 2007 ... But activists
led by Philip Smith, a longtime advocate for Hmong causes who ... executive director of the Center
for Public Policy Analysis, ...
www.usatoday.com/news/topstories/2007-07-17-1201509033_x.htm - St. Paul Pioneer Press, Saint Paul, Minnesota -
Mar 26, 2004
US Rep Betty McCollum DSt Paul continues to call on the Lao government
to ... over there there are Hmong surrendering said Philip Smith executive director ...
Scoopn News, New Zealand, scoop.co.nz - Jul 7, 2004
Jointly issued by the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA), ... the Hmong Emergency
Crisis Task Force (HECTF), the United Lao Action Center (ULAC), ... Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Apr 15, 2004
An increasingly polarizing issue in the local Hmong
community - opening trade between the ... Smith, director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis,
... Wausau Daily Herald , Wausau, Wisconsin - May 1, 2004
The Hmong refugees at a Buddhist temple in Thailand
might not be the last allowed to ... the executive director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis,
... Asia Times - Furor over arrest of journalists, pastor in...
Asia Times
Online - Jun 26, 2003
Philip Smith executive director
of the Center for Public Policy Analysis in ... Christians to renounce their faith Minnesota's Pioneer
Press reported ...
St. Paul Pioneer
Press -
Jun 17, 2003
Naw-Karl Mua, a naturalized
US citizen born in Laos, left Minnesota in May to do ... group affiliated with his trip, the Center for Public Policy Analysis. ...aa |
ABUSES IN LAOS - JOURNALISTS, PASTOR ARRESTED WHILE IN LAOS, HE SAW DUTY TO... - St. Paul Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Ninnesota, - Jun 13, 2003
A St. Paul pastor detained last week
in Laos wanted to investigate and draw world ... director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis
in Washington. .. - Washington Times , Washington, D.C., - May 1, 2003
The executive director of the Center for Public Policy
Analysis, ... to the communist government of Laos until it respects the human rights of its
citizens, ... Minneaoplis Star Tribune, Minneapolis, Minnesota - Minneapolis
Star-Tribune - Jun 24, 2003
Hmong veterans plan
to join the growing chorus of anti-trade voices at a state ... director of the Center for Public Policy
Analysis in Washington, DC, ... Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth, Texas - Sep 13, 2000
Vixay Keona Khone's hope for a freer Laos prompted
him to travel Tuesday from his ... Philip Smith executive director of Center for Public Policy
Analysis a ...
St. Paul Pioneer Press - St. Paul, Minnesota, May
22, 1995
... forcing refugees to repatriate to Laos, said Philip Smith, director
of the Center for Public Policy Analysis:
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