H. Res. 402
In the House of Representatives, U.S.,
May 6, 2004.
Whereas, in 1975, the Kingdom of Laos, a constitutional
monarchy and important ally of the United States during
the Vietnam War, was overthrown by the Marxist Lao
People’s Revolutionary Party with the assistance of the
People’s Army of North Vietnam;
Whereas the Lao People’s Democratic Republic was estab-
lished as a one-party regime in 1975 following the com-
munist takeover;
Whereas tens of thousands of Laotian and Hmong people, a
prominent highland minority group, were killed or died at
the hands of communist forces while attempting to flee
the Lao communist regime, and many others perished in
reeducation and labor camps;
Whereas tens of thousands of Laotian and Hmong became
refugees, eventually resettling in the United States where
they now reside as American citizens and lead construc-
tive lives as members of their communities;
Whereas the only political party allowed by law in Laos is the
communist Lao People’s Revolutionary Party;
Whereas, in 1989, Laos held its first elections since the es-
tablishment of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, but
only candidates who were approved by the communist
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Lao People’s Revolutionary Party were allowed to seek
public office;
Whereas, in 1991, Laos adopted its first constitution which
purports to guarantee the people of Laos a wide range
of freedoms, including the freedoms of speech, assembly,
and religion;
Whereas the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party Congress
meets every five years and controls or influences the or-
gans of the state in Laos, including the armed forces, the
security services, and the National Assembly;
Whereas the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party promulgates
the five-year state plans that control the economy and do
not need to receive the approval of the National Assem-
bly;
Whereas, in 1999, peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations
held by Laotian students in the capital of Vientiane call-
ing for political and economic reforms were suppressed by
force by the Lao government, which arrested many of the
students;
Whereas Amnesty International reports that many Laotian
student leaders from the 1999 pro-democracy demonstra-
tions continue to be held by the Lao government and lan-
guish in the Lao prison system or remain unaccounted
for;
Whereas, in 2001, Olivier Dupuis, a Member of the European
Parliament, was arrested and jailed in Laos along with
a group of pro-democracy activists after peacefully pro-
testing for the release of the Lao students and for demo-
cratic and human rights reforms in Laos;
Whereas international election monitors are currently not
permitted to enter Laos to monitor elections;
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civilians in Laos and the deteriorating situation facing
thousands of family members of ethnic minority groups,
predominantly the Hmong;
Whereas, in 2003, Amnesty International’s International Sec-
retariat, in a statement further detailing its concerns
about Laos, condemned in the strongest terms the use of
starvation as a weapon of war against civilians and cited
it as a clear and serious violation of the Geneva Conven-
tions that Laos has ratified;
Whereas because many Laotians and Hmong, including those
in the overseas communities, are not members of the Lao
People’s Revolutionary Party, they do not meet with its
approval as political candidates, but they are nevertheless
successful businessmen, technocrats, and community and
religious leaders with democratic aspirations and concern
for the people of Laos; and
Whereas the United States has a vital interest in the world-
wide promotion of democratic principles and respect for
human rights, and supports democratic reforms in Laos:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives strongly
supports the following points and urges the Government of
the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the United Nations,
the European Union, and the Association of South East
Asian Nations—
(1) to work to provide unrestricted access to Laos
by international election monitors for upcoming presi-
dential and National Assembly elections;
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(2) to work to provide unrestricted access to Laos,
including special closed military zones and closed prov-
inces, by international human rights organizations, the
United Nations, the United States Commission on Inter-
national Religious Freedom, and humanitarian aid orga-
nizations;
(3) to work to ensure that opposition political par-
ties and their candidates are allowed to run for public
office in multi-party elections without regard to gender,
race, ethnicity, religion, economic standing, or political
affiliation, and that all adult citizens of Laos, including
overseas Laotian citizens, are permitted to vote and run
for public office;
(4) to allow the citizens of Laos to assemble and
peacefully protest against the Government of Laos, the
Lao People’s Revolutionary Party, and individual public
officials, and to freely organize opposition groups and
independent political parties;
(5) to heed the call by the United Nations Com-
mittee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination for the
Lao People’s Revolutionary Party to halt immediately all
acts of violence against the Hmong population and pro-
vide them with humanitarian assistance;
(6) to work to gain the immediate release of those
students and their family members arrested and jailed in
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connection with the 1999 pro-democracy demonstrations,
as well as all other political prisoners, prisoners of con-
science, and those jailed for their religious beliefs or eth-
nicity; and
(7) to work to implement the recommendations of
the United States Commission on International Religious
Freedom with respect to promoting religious freedom in
Laos.
Attest:
Clerk.