Laos: Rights Groups Issue Joint International Communiqué in U.S. Congress and Oppose World Bank Funding of Nam Thuen II Dam
A U.S. Congressional policy conference on Laos was held in the U.S. House of Representatives today, February 8th, 2005, in cooperation with members of Congress and staff, including U.S. Representatives Devin Nunes (R-CA), Mark Green (R-WI), and Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), where the Joint International Communiqué on Laos was discussed, and released, along with other key issues.
Washington, DC (PRWEB via PR Web
Direct) February 8, 2005 -- The text of the Joint International Communiqué
on Laos was drafted and adopted at the Laos National Conference convened and
hosted by the Laos National Federation (LNF) in the Washington, D.C.,
metropolitan area on February 6-7, 2005, and cosponsored by the Center for
Public Policy Analysis (CPPA), the Lao Veterans of America, Inc. (LVA), the
United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc. (ULDL), the Lao Association of
Washington, D.C.(LAWDC), the Hmong International Human Rights Watch (HIHRW) the
Lao Huam Phao Association (LHPA), the Free Laos Campaign, Inc. (FLC) the Laos
Institute for Democracy (LIFD) and a coalition of Laotian and Hmong dissident
and opposition organizations.
"Discussing and drafting an international
communiqué on Laos is critical at this time given the emergency situation and
the World Bank’s consideration of funding guarantees for the Nam Thuen II Super
Dam project," stated Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Washington DC-based
Center for Public Policy Analysis, a non-profit think-tank specializing in
foreign and national security policy issues. Smith also serves as Washington
Director of the Lao Veterans of America, Inc.
"The Laos National
Federation was very pleased to convene a successful national conference on Laos
attended by so many different organizations and individuals representing a cross
section of the body politic spanning the Laotian spectrum; We worked for nearly
three days to deliberate, debate, draft and adopt a serious and intellectual set
of nationalist and guiding principles and concerns to set forth and release in
the U.S. Congress, in a historic communiqué, to help give voice to the suffering
people of Laos in Washington, D.C. and the international community," stated
Wangyee Vang, Secretary General of the Laos National Federation (LNF).
"Our key objective, moreover, with the Laos national conference and
international communique is to follow-up and press forward with implementing the
specific provisions of H.Res. 402, passed by the U.S. Congress, to move to forge
free and fair, internationally monitored elections in Laos and build a
multi-pary democracy in Laos where the LPDR and Vietnam's SRV regime no longer
maintains a monopoly on power," continued Wangyee Vang.
The text of the
Joint Communiqué was officially released to U.S. and international policymakers
at the U.S. Congressional Laos Policy Conference hosted in cooperation with
Members of the U.S. Congress on Tuesday, February 8, 2005, from 10:30
A.M.-to-2:00 P.M. in the U.S. House of Representatives (122 Cannon House Office
Building), Washington, D.C.
"The Joint Communiqué on Laos is a critical
and important document that U.S. Congressman Devin Nunes and others in the U.S.
Congress who are concerned about will appreciate," stated Andrew House,
Legislative Assistant for Foreign Policy to U.S. Congressman Devin Nunes (R-CA).
"We would encourage you to make sure that every Member of Congress receives a
copy and reviews it for follow-up action and any potential action that might be
taken to revoke NTR trade status for Laos by Members of the U.S. Congress and
Senate in the coming legislative session."
"The source of the current Lao
crisis is not many, but one central fundamental matter that policymakers and
Members of the U.S. Congress need to understand : the Vietnamese regime's
aggression and exploitation of Laos," stated Joe Rattanakhom, Executive
Director, Free Laos Campaign.
"We want to work together, all of the
Laotian people and minorities to help policymakers take action on the issues in
the joint international communiqué and to oppose the World Bank's backing of
financing for the proposed Nam Theun II Dam Project," stated Ray Khemmanevanh,
President, Lao Huam Phao Association. "We must not forget the major covert
political and military role of Vietnam's SRV regime in Laos controlling the LPDR
regime's every move and dictating all aspects of policy and the Lao economy,"
continued Khemmanevanh.
"The Ban Vang Tao sections of the communiqué and
those dealing with the Lao Students Movement for Democracy are critical in
raising continued awareness about the plight of Lao political and religious
dissidents and patriotic heroes who continue to be oppressed and jailed by
Vietnamese and Pathet Lao security forces in Laos," stated Bounthanh Rathigna,
Chairman of the United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc. "We are also calling
for international humanitarian access, by Amnesty International and the United
Nations, to the jailed Ban Vang Tao political prisoners, jailed pro-democracy
student leaders and other religious and political prisoners of conscience now
being held in life-threatening conditions and tortured by Pathet Lao and
Vietnamese security forces," Rathigna concluded.
"As Laotians we must
work together to give voice to the suffering Laotian people through our efforts
and the drafting and adoption of this historic communiqué on Laos that we will
share with the world and that will endure in its principles and truths for
generations to come," stated Kong Chee Vang, advocate for the Hmong Americans
for Public Policy of Minnesota.
"The terrible human rights situation
facing the Hmong people in Laos is critical and something that the Hmong
International Human Rights Watch is monitoring," stated Laura Xiong, Executive
Director of the Hmong International Human Rights Watch. "International human
rights monitors and emergency humanitarian assistance should be immediately
deployed in Laos despite the LPDR regime's denials and lack of regret or remorse
at the killing of so many Hmong and Laotian people,including the recent brutal
rape and murder of Hmong children as document by Amnesty International and
others and captured on video tape," continued Xiong.
"The power of the
internet and the role of young Laotians and Hmong people in sharing information,
promoting an open society, democracy, human rights and freedom for the suffering
Laotian people, is important and our website 'www.laosdemocracy.com' is
dedicated to this purpose; but, unfortunately, it continues to be blocked inside
Laos, internally, by Vietnam-backed Lao electronic and internet security
police," stated Khamphoua Naovarangsy, Director of the Laos Institute for
Democracy. "The Joint International Communique helps to embody our aspirations
as Laotians; the brutal Communist Pathet Lao regime and Socialist Republic of
Vietnam officials cannot repress the truth forever, since we are using the
internet to distribute and spread it and other key information," concluded
Naovarangsy. "The vast majority of Laotians-including the Diaspora community and
Laotian Americans- oppose World Bank funding for the Nam Theun II Dam project;
we want the measures contained in H.Res. 402 passed by the US Congress to be
implemented fully first and that is what we are working with the Laos National
Federation and other organizations to do."
The full text of the Joint
International Communiqué on Laos is available (download attached files) at http://www.prweb.com/releases/1/1/prweb207036.htm.
Contact:
Ms. Anna Jones or Mr. Paul Christopher
Center For Public Policy
Analysis
Tele. (202) 543-1444
Fax (202) 318-0266
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/2/prweb207036.htm