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[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 240 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 240

Expressing the sense of the Senate with respect to democracy and human 
              rights in Lao People's Democratic Republic.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              June 2, 1998

Mr. Thomas (for himself, Mr. Grams, Mr. Smith of Oregon, and Mr. Smith 
    of New Hampshire) submitted the following resolution; which was 
             referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

                             June 25, 1998

                Reported by Mr. Helms, without amendment

                             July 29, 1998

                   Considered, amended, and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
Expressing the sense of the Senate with respect to democracy and human 
              rights in Lao People's Democratic Republic.

Whereas in 1975, the Pathet Lao party supplanted the existing Lao government and 
        the Lao Royal Family, and established a ``people's democratic 
        republic'', in violation of the 1962 Declaration on the Neutrality of 
        Laos and its Protocol, as well as the 1973 Vientiane Agreement on Laos;
Whereas since the 1975 overthrow of the existing Lao government, Laos has been 
        under the sole control of the Lao People's Democratic Party;
Whereas the present Lao Constitution provides for human rights protection for 
        the Lao people, and Laos is a signatory to international agreements on 
        civil and political rights;
Whereas Laos has become a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, 
        which calls for the creation of open societies in each of its member 
        states by the year 2020;
Whereas despite that, the State Department's ``Country Reports on Human Rights 
        Practices for 1997'' notes that the government has only slowly eased 
        restrictions on basic freedoms and begun codification of implementing 
        legislation for rights stipulated in the Lao Constitution, and continues 
        to significantly restrict the freedoms of speech, assembly, and 
        religion; and
Whereas on January 30, 1998, the Lao government arrested and detained forty-four 
        individuals at a Bible study meeting in Vientiane and on March 25 
        sentenced thirteen Christians from the group to prison terms of three to 
        five years for ``creating divisions among the people, undermining the 
        government, and accepting foreign funds to promote religion'': Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the present 
government of Laos should--
            (1) respect international norms of human rights and 
        democratic freedoms for the Lao people, and fully honor its 
        commitments to those norms and freedoms as embodied in its 
        constitution and international agreements, and in the 1962 
        Declaration on the Neutrality of Laos and its Protocol and the 
        1973 Vientiane Agreement on Laos;
            (2) issue a public statement specifically reaffirming its 
        commitment to protecting religious freedom and other basic 
        human rights;
            (3) fully institute a process of democracy, human rights, 
        and openly-contested free and fair elections in Laos, and 
        ensure specifically that the National Assembly elections--
        currently scheduled for 2002--are openly contested; and
            (4) allow access for international human rights monitors, 
        including the International Committee of the Red Cross to Lao 
        prisons, and to all regions of the country to investigate 
        allegations of human rights abuses, including those against the 
        Hmong people, when requested.
                                 <all>
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