H. Res. 169

In the House of Representatives, U.S.,

November 16, 1999.

Whereas since the 1975 overthrow of the existing Royal Lao

Government, Laos has been under the sole control of the

Lao People’s Revolutionary Party;

Whereas the present Lao constitution provides for a wide

range of freedoms for the Lao people, including freedom

of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of religion,

and Laos is a signatory to international conventions on

genocide, racial discrimination, discrimination against

women, war crimes, and rights of the child;

Whereas since July 1997, Laos has been a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), an organization which has set forth a vision for the year 2020

of a membership consisting of ‘‘open societies * * * governed with the consent and greater participation of the

people’’ and ‘‘focus(ed) on the welfare and dignity of the

human person and the good of the community’’;

Whereas, despite the Lao constitution and the membership by

Laos in ASEAN, the Department of State’s Laos Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1998 states

that the Lao Government’s human rights record deteriorated and that the Lao Government restricts freedom of

speech, assembly, association, and religion;
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Whereas Amnesty International reports that serious problems

persist in the Lao Government’s performance in the area

of human rights, including the continued detention of

prisoners of conscience in extremely harsh conditions,

and that in one case a prisoner of conscience held without trial since 1996 was chained and locked in wooden

stocks for a period of 20 days;

Whereas Thongsouk Saysangkhi, a political prisoner sentenced to 14 years imprisonment in November 1992 after

a grossly unfair trial, died in February 1998 due to complications of diabetes after having been detained in harsh

conditions with no medical facilities;

Whereas there are at least 5 identified, long-term political

prisoners inside the Lao Government’s prison system and

the possibility of others whose names are not known;

Whereas there continue to be credible reports that some

members of the Lao Government’s security forces commit

human rights abuses, including arbitrary detention and

intimidation;

Whereas two United States citizens, Mr. Houa Ly, a resident

of Appleton, Wisconsin, and Mr. Michael Vang, a resident of Fresno, California, were traveling along the border between Laos and Thailand on April 19, 1999;

Whereas the families of Messrs. Ly and Vang have been able

to learn very little from the United States Government

regarding the whereabouts or current circumstances of

their loved ones; and

Whereas the Congress will not tolerate any unjustified arrest,

abduction, imprisonment, disappearance, or other act of

aggression against United States citizens by a foreign

government: Now, therefore, be it
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Resolved, That—

(1) it is the sense of the House of Representatives

that the present Government of Laos should—

(A) respect internationally recognized norms of

human rights and the democratic freedoms of the

people of Laos and honor in full its commitments

to those norms and freedoms as embodied in its

constitution and its participation in international

organizations and agreements;

(B) issue a public statement specifically reaffirming its commitment to protecting religious

freedom and other basic human rights;

(C) institute fully a democratic electoral system, with openly contested, free, and fair elections

by secret ballot, beginning no later than the next

National Assembly elections, currently scheduled to

be held in 2002; and

(D) allow unrestricted access by international

human rights monitors, including the International

Committee of the Red Cross and Amnesty International, to all prisons and to all regions of the

country to investigate alleged abuses of human

rights, including those against the Hmong minority;

and

(2) the House of Representatives—
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(A) decries the disappearance of Houa Ly and

Michael Vang, recognizing it as an incident worthy

of congressional attention;

(B) urges the Lao Government to return

Messrs. Ly and Vang, or their remains, to United

States authorities and their families in America at

once, if it is determined that the Lao Government

is responsible for the disappearance of Messrs. Ly

and Vang;

(C) warns the Lao Government of the serious

consequences, including sanctions, of any unjustified arrest, abduction, imprisonment, disappearance,

or other act of aggression against United States

citizens; and

(D) urges the Department of State and other

appropriate United States agencies to share the

maximum amount of information regarding the disappearance of Messrs. Ly and Vang.

Attest:

Clerk.