Nine years after the “Movement of 26 October 1999” - this attempt for a peaceful walk of students, teachers and Lao citizens that was violently repressed by the Lao People’s Democratic Republic ( LPDR) totalitarian régime- the flame of hope is always burning and brightening more each day in the heart of the Lao people.
A first mass protest against the government during the last three decades that begun in 1975, this event has become for the Lao democrats, inside and outside the country, a symbol and a major step of a pacific struggle for the installation of freedom, democracy, justice and a national reconciliation in the country.
On this Sunday, 26 October 2008, The Lao Movement for Human Rights ( LMHR) salutes the courage, the determination and the sacrifice of these freedom defenders whose leaders have been held these last nine years under inhuman conditions in the prison of Laos, even though the leaders of the One Party State have declared, without given concrete proofs that these persons have already been released.
According to reliable informations, Misters Thongpaseuth KEUAKOUN, Seng-aloun PHENGPHANH, Bouavanh CHANMANIVONG, and KEOCHAY are always imprisoned, while their companion, Mr. Khamphouvieng SISA-AT, died in prison under tortures and deprivations in 2001. The plight of the leaders of this peaceful movement remains a priority for the LMHR.
On this 9th anniversary, the LMHR and all the Lao democrats renew their gratitude to the action of the five members of the Transnational Radical party who protested peacefully on 26 October 2001 in Vientiane to recall the appeals made by the “Movement of 26 October 1999”, an event that the totalitarian régime tried by every way to hide from the Lao people and the international community. To have undertaken this courageous initiative, a member of the European Parliament, Mr. Olivier DUPUIS, and four activists from the Transnational Radical Party -- Bruno MELLANO, Silvja MANZI, Massimo LENSI and Nikolaï KHRAMOV --were arrested, emprisoned during 14 days, condemned during a sham trial then expelled from the LPDR.
Since that day, mobilisation has not ceased to highlight the struggle of the Movement of 26 October and to carry on pacific actions for democratic reforms and human rights respect in Laos. Resolutions have been adopted by the European Parliament, the US Congress, and the Italian Parliament. Petitions, signed by more than hundred members of the European Parliament have been sent to the LPDR leaders to claim for the release of the leaders of the Movement of 26 October, the release of every political prisoner and prisoner of conscience and to ask for democratic reforms. Protest have been organised throughout the world to denounce human rights violations commited by the LPDR leaders.
The flame of hope keeps on being contagious. On August 25th, 2008 in Brussels, the LMHR raised the plight of the leaders of the Movement of 26 October 1999 and the violations of the human rights in Laos to the Subcommittee on Human Rights of the European Parliament which announced an ‘’ independant fact finding commission’’ to investigate inside the country. On October 14th, 2008, a resolution was presented by a Commission of the Italian Parliament, calling for democratic reforms in the LPDR.
The Lao Movement for Human Rights maintains its determination to acquire, together with the Lao democrats and the international community, the installation of freedom and democracy in Laos and ‘’TO KEEP BRIGHT THE FLAME OF HOPE OF THE “MOVEMENT OF 26 OCTOBER 1999“.