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LAOS: STRONG CONDEMNATION OF THE VIENTIANE AUTHORITIES BY THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, WHICH CALLS IN PARTICULAR FOR A SWIFT, FAIR TRIAL FOR THE FIVE LAO STUDENT LEADERS ARRESTED ON 26 OCTOBER 1999 AND NOT HEARD OF SINCE
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Strasbourg, 15 November 2001. The European Parliament today adopted by unanimous vote a resolution on the arbitrary arrests and the political situation in Laos. The resolution was presented by the Foreign Affairs Commission following the arrest and detention of Olivier Dupuis and four other members of the Transnational Radical Party in Vientiane on 26 October 2001 as they were demonstrating - on the occasion of the second anniversary of the "26 October Movement" - in favour of democracy, freedom and reconciliation in Laos. After recognising that the action of the TRP activists falls within "the rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man and within the spirit of the demands formulated by the EP in its resolution of 15 February 2001”, the EP “calls on the Commission, the Council and the member States to take all steps to ensure that the trial of the five Lao student leaders is held without further delay and in full respect of international laws and of the Constitution of the PDR of Laos itself”. The EP also calls for the convocation of the mixed Commission provided for by article 14 of the Co-operation Agreement with the following points on the agenda:
a) precise information about the fate of the five student leaders arrested on 26 October 1999 and not heard of since;
b) a commitment on the part of the government of the PDR of Laos that it will guarantee the respect of the civil and political rights recognised by the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man and will comply with the demands contained in the EP resolution adopted on 15 February 2001, including the abolition of article 59 of the Lao penal code which establishes that “anti-government propaganda” is punishable by imprisonment of between 1 and 5 years.
Statement by Olivier Dupuis, Secretary of the Transnational Radical Party and Member of the European Parliament:
"This new EP resolution undoubtedly constitutes an extremely serious warning with regard to one of the most impervious and cruel regimes in the world. I am sure that it cannot fail to give new hope not only to the Lao people, the victims for twenty-six years of a totalitarian state, but also to all the reformists in the Lao Communist Party who for several years have been hostage to the narco-Communist and klepto-Communist cliques allied to the Stalinist faction who lay down the law in Vientiane by racketeering, trafficking, torturing, kidnapping and murdering at will. It is now up to the Lao authorities to put an end to these loathsome practices, beginning with the practice of the civil death penalty which is reserved for all the desaparecidos, by organising without further delay a fair trial for the missing student leaders of the "26 October Movement": Bouavanh CHANMANIVONG, Khamphouvieng SISA-AT, Thongpaseuth KEUAKOUN, Seng-Aloun PHENGPHANH and KEOCHAY. Last but not least, this resolution is also a clear message to the Commission to ensure that all the projects implemented in the framework of the EU-Laos Co-operation Agreement should, as a priority objective, contribute in a direct, concrete manner to the process of democratisation of Laos."
a) precise information about the fate of the five student leaders arrested on 26 October 1999 and not heard of since;
b) a commitment on the part of the government of the PDR of Laos that it will guarantee the respect of the civil and political rights recognised by the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man and will comply with the demands contained in the EP resolution adopted on 15 February 2001, including the abolition of article 59 of the Lao penal code which establishes that “anti-government propaganda” is punishable by imprisonment of between 1 and 5 years.
Statement by Olivier Dupuis, Secretary of the Transnational Radical Party and Member of the European Parliament:
"This new EP resolution undoubtedly constitutes an extremely serious warning with regard to one of the most impervious and cruel regimes in the world. I am sure that it cannot fail to give new hope not only to the Lao people, the victims for twenty-six years of a totalitarian state, but also to all the reformists in the Lao Communist Party who for several years have been hostage to the narco-Communist and klepto-Communist cliques allied to the Stalinist faction who lay down the law in Vientiane by racketeering, trafficking, torturing, kidnapping and murdering at will. It is now up to the Lao authorities to put an end to these loathsome practices, beginning with the practice of the civil death penalty which is reserved for all the desaparecidos, by organising without further delay a fair trial for the missing student leaders of the "26 October Movement": Bouavanh CHANMANIVONG, Khamphouvieng SISA-AT, Thongpaseuth KEUAKOUN, Seng-Aloun PHENGPHANH and KEOCHAY. Last but not least, this resolution is also a clear message to the Commission to ensure that all the projects implemented in the framework of the EU-Laos Co-operation Agreement should, as a priority objective, contribute in a direct, concrete manner to the process of democratisation of Laos."
