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 As-
sociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), an orga-
nization which has set forth a vision for the year 2020
of a membership consisting of ‘‘open societies * * * gov-
erned 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 Coun-
try Report on Human Rights Practices for 1998 states
that the Lao Government’s human rights record deterio-
rated and that the Lao Government restricts freedom of
speech, assembly, association, and religion;
•HRES 169 EH
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 with-
out trial since 1996 was chained and locked in wooden
stocks for a period of 20 days;
Whereas Thongsouk Saysangkhi, a political prisoner sen-
tenced to 14 years imprisonment in November 1992 after
a grossly unfair trial, died in February 1998 due to com-
plications 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 resi-
dent of Fresno, California, were traveling along the bor-
der 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
•HRES 169 EH
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 re-
affirming its commitment to protecting religious
freedom and other basic human rights;
(C) institute fully a democratic electoral sys-
tem, 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 Inter-
national, 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 unjusti-
fied 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 dis-
appearance of Messrs. Ly and Vang.
Attest:
Clerk.