Friday, May 29, 2009

Laos Ethnic Cleansing Task Force Kills 12 Hmong Children


Photo © John Brown All Rights Reserved

"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject." - Sir Winston Churchill.

MY COMMENTS

If you have been reading this blog you know I have communicated the plight of Laotian Hmong to you all before and perhaps I have been a fanatic about it. Nevertheless, I have decided that even if America doesn't care about these people, I am going to let you know what's going on in Laos.

I talk to foreign travelers in Cambodia who have just arrived from Laos constantly and thus far, not one of them was aware of the ethnic cleansing Task Force’s activity regarding the Hmong currently taking place in northern Laos. Several have even spent a few days in Vang Vieng.

The world seems to know about Nepal's political crisis, the imprisonment of Burmese (Myanmar) pro- democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the like, but world leaders seem eerily quiet regarding this story.

GETTING TOUGH WITH LAOS, THAILAND AND VIETNAM

It's time to cut off all foreign aid to Communist Laos and get very stern with Communist Vietnam. Normally I oppose such measures but I've seen no medicine, food or much of anything else in rural Laos so why would Laotians who have never had these items suddenly miss them now?

As for Thailand's repatriation of Laotian Hmong, vote with your feet and boycott travel to "The Land of Smiles" until the Thai government begins respecting basic human rights.

In any case, if you missed the story here it is as it appeared via a press release issued on Media-Newswire.com by the Center for Public Policy Analysis in Washington, D.C. U.S.A. on May 27, 2009.

THE STORY

Laos Ethnic Cleansing Task Force Kills 12 Hmong Children

"At this very moment… the Hmong and Laotian civilian and dissident groups in hiding in Phoua Da Phao are under heavy attack by Laos military forces of the LPA. There have been already been 12 children slaughtered and 31 additional Hmong civilians, including women, who have been captured and, or, killed," stated Philip Smith, of the Center for Public Policy Analysis.

(Media-Newswire.com) - Washington, D.C., and Bangkok, Thailand, May 27, 2009 - On May 22, 2009, at 8:00 am in Laos, Communist Party and military officials of the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic ( LPDR ) launched a special military task force, of the Lao Peoples Army ( LPA ), which departed from Vang Vieng, Vientiane Province in Laos, on a special mission to target, capture and kill thousands of Laotian and Hmong civilians and political and religious dissidents in hiding in Laos.
“The special LPA ethnic cleansing Task Force, is a hunter-killer unit, reportedly led by Colonel Boun Soun of battalion number 827, has been tasked with the mission to attack and eliminate Lao Hmong in-hiding by the end of this year, 2009, in an effort to wipe out all Laotian and Hmong civilian and political and religious dissident groups seeking to live independent of LPDR authoritarian control,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis ( CPPA ) in Washington, D.C.In recent years, Amnesty International and other independent human rights organizations and journalists have documented the Lao military and LPDR regimes attacks on Lao and Hmong civilians and dissident groups hiding in the mountains and jungles of Laos.


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Smith continued: “At this very moment, according to reliable sources inside Laos, the Hmong and Laotian civilian and dissident groups in hiding in Phoua Da Phao are under heavy attack by Lao military forces of the LPA. There have been already been 12 children slaughtered and 31 additional Hmong civilians, including women, who have been captured and, or, killed in the jungle in Phou Da Phao. The whereabouts of many of those Lao Hmong captured are unknown. Many of the remaining Lao Hmong people in-hiding are starving, ill, and wounded by these attacks.”“The Lao military is targeting for military attacks, starvation and extermination Laotian and Hmong civilians currently in-hiding, who wish to live freely and independent from the Lao government’s control, in Phou Da Phao, Phou Bia, Sannoi, Luang Prabang and Borikhamxai and other locations in Laos," Smith concluded.
“The LPA ethnic cleansing Task Force’s mission and strategy is to hunt and attack the Hmong and Laotian civilians in-hiding by surrounding the people, in encircling operations, including Hmong veterans who served with U.S. military and clandestine forces during the Vietnam War in Laos, and their remaining descendants and families,” stated Vaughn Vang of the Hmong Lao Human Rights Council. Vaughn Vang continued: “Orders have been issued by the LPDR and LPA for this special ethnic cleansing LPA Task Force to torture and execute all Hmong that are captured from these jungle and mountain areas and to not spare any of their lives.”
According to Vaughn Vang: “Three ( 3 ) high ranking Laotian military officials of the LPA, who wish to remain anonymous, have reported to the Lao Human Rights Council, Inc. that the Lao Government has launched this deadly mission to eliminate all dissident Laotian and Hmong civilians and political and religious groups in-hiding in Phou Da Phao, Phou Bia, Sannoi, Luang Prabong and Borikhamxai and other locations by the end of 2009.”“The LPDR regime has persecuted, tortured, and killed the Lao and Hmong people for over 30 years but has failed in killing these particular Lao Hmong groups in-hiding. Now, they are adamant and determined to kill or capture all remaining Hmong and Laotian groups in-hiding and will not spare their lives. They will be persecute or execute them,” continued Vaughn Vang, Executive Director of the Hmong Lao Human Rights Council.


MORE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Vaughn Vang concluded: “Mr. Nhia Lue Vue, Mr. Tong Pao Yang, Mr. Cher Tong Thao, Chee Nou Vue, Nao Long Lee and Teng Chang are reportedly appealing to the United Nation, the United States, Amnesty International and the world community to intervene to seek to immediately stop the Lao PDR government’s crimes against humanity and urge the LPDR regime to withdraw all its LPA military personnel, tanks, aircraft as well as stop the chemical attacks against these Hmong and Laotian civilians and political and in-hiding; Many of the remaining approximately 6,300 Hmong former veterans and their descendants, including women, children, elderly, and civilians, who are currently hiding these key locations are likely to be captured, tortured, raped, persecuted or killed by these Lao government troops in the next few weeks.”A spokesperson for the Laotians and Hmong civilians and dissident groups under attack at Phou Da Phao, who wishes to remain anonymous, stated: “We are Laotian and Hmong civilians, women and children; we are only wish to live in peace from persecution, torture and death by the Laos LPDR government and military.”
Contact: Juan Lopez
Center for Public Policy Analysis2020 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.Suite No.# 212
Washington, D.C. 20006 USA
Tele. ( 202 ) 543-1444

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