Vietnam VPA,
LPA Troops Attack Hmong Christians, Villagers in Laos
A
special task force of over 70 Lao Peoples Army (LPA) soldiers along with over 18
Vietnamese People Army (VPA) troops and advisers attacked a group of Lao Hmong
civilians, including independent Christians and Animist believers, wounding some
24 women and children, and 7 men, in Laos.
(Media-Newswire.com) - Washington, D.C., Bangkok, Thailand and Vientiane, Laos,
January 25, 2010 - The Socialist Republic of Vietnam ( SRV ) has stepped up
joint military operations in Laos with the Lao Armed Forces to hunt Laotian and
Hmong groups seeking sanctuary in the jungles and mountains of Laos.
The head of the Lao effort to forcibly repatriate Lao Hmong refugees from
Thailand to Laos is a senior Lao Peoples Army ( LPA ) general who has a track
record of denying findings of war crimes and atrocities by Amnesty
International, the United Nations and others. Brigadier General Bouasieng
Champaphanh ( AKA Bouaxieng Champaphanh or Bouxieng Champaphanh ), chairman of
the Lao-Thai general border sub-committee, is also the Deputy Chief of Staff for
the Lao Armed Forces which has targeted the Hmong in Laos for military attacks
and political and religious persecution. General Bouasieng Champaphanh has been
placed in charge of the Hmong repatriated from Thailand to Laos.
http://www.onlineprnews.com/news/16061-1262102519-laos-general-involved-with-atrocities-war-crimes-denials-against-hmong-in-charge-of-repatriation-resettlement.html
http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1108993.html
Vietnamese troops deployed by Hanoi have also been deployed in the Vientiane
area of Laos in larger numbers in recent months to help the Lao Army intimidate
and evict Laotian citizens from their land and homes for new golf course and
land development projects supported by the Lao government.
A special task force of over 70 Lao Peoples Army ( LPA ) soldiers along with
over 18 Vietnamese People Army ( VPA ) troops and advisers attacked a group of
Lao Hmong civilians, including independent Christian and Animist believers,
wounding some 24 women and children, and 7 men, in Laos.
The joint LPA and VPA task force used small arms, grenades and mortars to attack
a Lao Hmong village of over 120 unarmed Lao Hmong civilians in the Phoua Bia
Mountain area of Laos on January 18, 2010. The villagers included dozens of
independent Lao and Hmong Animist and Christian believers who were seeking
sanctuary from previous government persecution and security force attacks in the
rugged mountains and jungles of Laos.
"Our people just want to live in peace and freedom apart from the corrupt
military regime in Vientiane,' said Chu Yang, one of the jungle Hmong civilians
who survived the LPA military attack in Laos.
"Some of our people are Christian believers or traditional Animists who have
been persecuted and hunted by the Lao military because of their religious faith;
they have had to flee to the jungle and live in hardship and danger in order to
have religious freedom," said Mr. Yang.
"The Lao government and military especially have no mercy our Hmong Christians
who they often abused, killed or disappear, some are exiled to labor and
reeducation camps or jails in Sam Neua Province or elsewhere," Yang explained.
“We are concerned about this most recent attack by the Lao government and Lao
and Vietnamese troops against these innocent and unarmed civilians, who were
seeking to live in peace and freedom,” said Vaughn Vang of the Lao Hmong Human
Rights Council of Green Bay, Wisconsin and St. Paul, Minnesota. “Many of the
Lao Hmong people were seriously wounded by the Lao military and have no medical
treatment or food.”
“They have had to scatter into the jungle in order to survive the Lao military
attacks and many families have been separated from each other,” Vang concluded.
“It is troubling that the LPA and Vietnam’s VPA continue military and security
force operations in key provinces in Laos against unarmed Lao and Hmong
civilians and political and religious dissidents,” said Philip Smith, Executive
Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis ( CPPA ) in Washington, D.C.
http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1063105.html
“Political and religious persecution, illegal logging by Vietnamese
military-owned companies and systemic corruption in the Lao government have
generated thousands of internally displaced Lao and Hmong refugees who are
hiding in the jungles and mountains of Laos and who continue to suffer attacks
by LPA and VPA forces,” Smith stated. "Hanoi has deployed increasing more
troops and security forces in Laos in recent months and years."
http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1063064.html
In January, the Vietnam Peoples Army and Socialist Republic of Vietnam’s Defense
Ministry have recently dedicated a new training center building in Laos in honor
of the Viet-Lao Stalinist leader Kaysone Phomivanh.
Laos, under the Hanoi-backed communist Lao Peoples Democratic Republic ( LPDR ),
also remains a staunch ally of North Korea and Burma.
Thailand forcibly repatriated to the LPDR regime in Laos over 8,000 Lao Hmong
refugees from 2007-2009. A mass repatriation of over 4,700 Lao Hmong refugees
occured on December 28th from camps at Ban Huay Nam Khao and Nong Khai, Thailand
to the LPDR.
http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?lang=e&id=ENGASA390022009
After over 2 years, the LPDR refuses to allow the United Nations into Laos to
monitor and assist Lao Hmong refugees despite repeated international appeals.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1001/S00040.htm
Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders ( MSF ),the
Lao Hmong Human Rights Council, the Foreign Prisoners Support Service, Freedom
House, U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom ( USCIRF ) and others
have documented human rights and religious persecution of Laotian and Hmong
citizens in Laos as well as refugees and asylum seekers.
http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1108679.html
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA26/003/2007
http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?lang=e&id=ENGUSA20070323001
The USCIRF has placed Laos on its watch list because of concerns about a lack of
religious freedom and reports of religious persecution. Vietnamese military and
security forces have stepped up their intervention in Laos in support of the Lao
governments crackdown on religious freedom and political pluralism and dissent.
http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1090786.html
On May 1, 2009, following up on the USCIRF’s report, the Lao Movement of Human
Rights ( LMHR ) in Paris, France issued a major statement that was jointly
recognized and cited by a coalition of non-governmental organizations ( NGO )
and human rights groups, including Laotian and Hmong non-profit and civic
organizations.
http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1090417.html
http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1072587.html
###
Contact:
Ms. Maria Gomez or Mr. Juan Lopez
CPPA - Center for Public Policy Analysis
Tele. ( 202 ) 543-1444
2020 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Suite No. #212
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info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org