IV
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. RES. 169
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with respect to democ-
racy, free elections, and human rights in the Lao People’s Democratic
Republic.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 13, 1999
Mr. VENTO (for himself and Mr. SMITH of New Jersey) submitted the fol-
lowing resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International
Relations
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with
respect to democracy, free elections, and human rights
in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.
Whereas in 1975, the Pathet Lao party supplanted the exist-
ing Lao government and the Lao Royal Family, and es-
tablished 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 Gov-
ernment, Laos has been under the sole control of the Lao
People’s Democratic Party;
•HRES 169 IH
Whereas the present Lao Constitution provides for human
rights protection for the Lao people, and Laos is a signa-
tory 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 Re-
ports on Human Rights Practices for 1998’’ 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;
Whereas according to Amnesty International, serious prob-
lems persist in the human rights record of the Govern-
ment of Laos, including the continued detention of polit-
ical prisoners and the treatment of such prisoners in a
manner that is degrading, abusive, and inhumane;
Whereas in February 1998, one political prisoner of the Gov-
ernment of Laos, Thongsouk Saysangkhi, died, and an
unknown number of other political prisoners still remain
inside its prisons; and
Whereas allegations of persecution and human rights abuse
of the Hmong who repatriated to Laos continue, and
Hmong families of detained political prisoners are re-
ported to be threatened daily under the Communist Gov-
ernment in Laos: Now, therefore, be it
•HRES 169 IH
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives 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 inter-
national 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 re-
affirming 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 and Amnesty International, to Lao
prisons, and to all regions of the country to inves-
tigate allegations of human rights abuses, including
those against the Hmong people, when requested.
Æ