Lao Troops Told 'Shoot to Kill' Hmong Rebels

minankumo

sarNie Adult
By Sarah Jackson-Han

BANGKOK - Government troops in Laos have been ordered to shoot to kil1 ethnic Hmong insurgents in the country's northern jungle regions, with cash rewards offered for every "enemy" killed, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reports.

A military official in the northern province of Luangprabang told RFA's Lao service the orders had now become an "open secret" in Laos. The orders apply to the region extending from lower Luangprabang to Xiengkkhouang and the northern part of Vientiane province, where the government hopes systematically to break up Hmong opposition groups by force.

For the last year, those who kill a Hmong fighter have been promised automatic grass-roots Communist Party membership and a one-step promotion, along with a reward of six million kip (U.S. $600) per head, said the military official, who requested anonymity.

A spokesman for the Laos Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Vientiane dismissed the report. "This is sheer fabrication, spread around overseas without any knowledge of real facts," Yong Chanthalangsy told RFA. "The fact is there's no truth to it."

The military official added that "opposition" includes not only unidentified armed groups, but also "bad elements" or highwaymen, as well as Hmong villagers hiding in the jungles.

The last two years have seen a number of ambushes against trucks and cars belonging to gold mining companies in the area.

Starving and naked
U.S. eyewitnesses described Hmong villagers coming out of hiding in 2005 as "desperate," with big-bellied children with untreated injuries, and weaker people being carried on the backs of others. Some were starving; others were naked.

Beginning in 2004, Hmong rebels began surrendering to government troops, emerging from the jungle in their thousands amid promises of land and building materials to set up new homes.

But sources say many of those new settlements have dispersed, and it is unknown whether the Hmong who surrendered have gone back into hiding or died. Asked if the Hmong who surrendered had gone back to the jungle, Yong Chanthalangsy said: "Very few of them."

"Why fight when the country is at peace?"

Asked if government troops were hunting down Hmong rebels, he said, "Not true, not true."

"Why would the troops be sent to fight when the country is at peace? Our soldiers are carrying out their duties by protecting the roads so as to ensure the security for the public only. The war is over, fighting is no longer needed," he told reporter Thanapha. But Vientiane sources confirmed privately that all Hmong remaining in the jungle were considered enemies.

They also said that a unit of the Vietnamese intelligence service was stationed in Nong Tang, in Phou Kout district (formerly Muong Soui), operating under the guise of a scrap metal business. The unit was using telephone signal detectors to track communications between Hmong to pinpoint the exact locations of the groups, prior to further attacks by Lao government troops.

Last week, U.S. senators from five states with large resettled Hmong constituencies wrote to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice asking her to provide an update on U.S. efforts toward setting up more human rights monitoring of the Hmong people back in Laos. The State Department said it was looking into the claims of abuses.

Thousands stayed behind
Sources in Laos said the majority of the Hmong who surrendered-including the elderly, women, and children - were also disappearing, either back into the mountainous jungle, or crossing the border into Thailand, or perhaps dying. The Hmong, advised by the CIA, fought on behalf of a pro-American government during the Vietnam War.

They later found themselves all but abandoned after their communist enemies, the Pathet Lao, won a long civil war in 1975 with support from thousands of North Vietnamse troops fighting inside Laos. More than 300,000 Lao refugees, mostly Hmong, fled after the takeover, with many resettling in the United States. Thousands stayed behind, some adjusting to the new hard-line regime and others staying in the jungle, where they face continuing attacks.

Many Hmong, to whom international aid agencies have no access, have voiced hope that after they surrender the United Nations will treat them as political asylum-seekers rather than economic migrants and help find them a home.

Original reporting in Lao by Chareunsouk. RFA Lao service director: Viengsay Luangkhot. Written for the Web in English by Luisetta Mudie and edited by Sarah Jackson-Han.


sorce:http://newsblaze.com/story/20080208201534n...op-Stories.html
 

minankumo

sarNie Adult
I just dont get it! loas gov. still wanna kill hmong peple in jungle b/c they r enemies. wtf... the war has end long time ago n laos is still not at peace w/ hmong peple. n tha is sad. tha y gen. vang pao has to do wat he has to do n he has to go to jail for it? n american gov. dont do no shit. n when ask lao gov. he denied it n now the truth came out. lol..............................
 

KEdoubleNY

sarNie Adult
Hence, the word 'Hmong Rebels'

Rebels - Rebellion is, in the most general sense, a refusal to accept authority. It may therefore be seen as encompassing a range of behaviours from civil disobedience to a violent organized attempt to destroy established authority. It is often used in reference to armed resistance against an established government, but can also refer to mass nonviolent resistance movements. Those who participate in rebellions are known as "rebels".


I also heard about this.

The last two years have seen a number of ambushes against trucks and cars belonging to gold mining companies in the area.

Not just that, but bombing at local bus station by these 'Hmong Rebels'.

Innocents people are dying both ways cause by a war that should of ended 30 some yrs ago.

Ask me if the Laos gov't is bad....No cause they just doing their duties to protect the country and the people from harm. Any country would of did the same if some rebels started bombing in their country killing innocent people.
 

ijohn

sarNie Adult
laos is a communist country and therefor should be taken apart as should vietnam and myanmar... democracy would truly show the truth whats behind these repressive regimes... unfortunately capitalism seems to be more important then human rights in the leadership the US sells these days...

...my 2 cents...
 

KEdoubleNY

sarNie Adult
$600 dollars per head? laos government has that much to pay if let say 10 soldiers killed 10 each?

I found that strange cus most of the Lao Soldier and police don't even make more than $30 a month. Even some gov't official don't make that kind of money.
 

natty

Chubs
laos is a communist country and therefor should be taken apart as should vietnam and myanmar... democracy would truly show the truth whats behind these repressive regimes... unfortunately capitalism seems to be more important then human rights in the leadership the US sells these days...

...my 2 cents...

well we live in a country that believes in democracy ijohn so it's understandable to feel that way.. however it's not US whose opinions matters because it is not US who are affected by their government on a day to day basis... the one who we should ask if they are ok with how their government are right now are the laos and vietnamese people who are living there.. i wont count myanmar because i really don't know the living condition over there...but for laos and vietnam, i haven't heard their people who are living here complain about the gruesome living environment when they go back and visit.. instead i have heard of people wanting to go back there and live when they are close to retirement...
 

lady_sati

sarNie Adult
TRUE, that the Laos government just want to protect their land and people,
but that doesnt mean that what they are doing is the right thing.

just like in Darfur, the government say that these rebels are attacking,
but these rebels attack because their religion and culture life is being
threaten by the government and they are forced to change.

i dont support the hmong people to do anything violent,
but how can we stand there and say that they have no right to protect themself.

it is true that hmong people are innocently being killed.
regardless of why, reason, etc, INNOCENT people are being killed.
when it comes to things like this, race is not an issue.

and, REBELS doesnt necessarily mean that those people are bad.
rebels just means a group that is going against an established government.
having rebels in the country doesnt make the government the victim.

im ranting.
anyways.

thanks for the article.
 

1-lUv3-y0u

Sticky Rice
So sad really and the sadder thing is that the only thing that we can do is just sit here as this is going on right now without us being able to do nothing.
=c
 

BaBeeLaiLai

BaBeeLaiLai
I heard about this from my boifriend...he told me that his mom got mad over this issue or something.
 

hellomelia

sarNie Hatchling

Regardless of what race...people are dying!


i think it's very selfish & wrong for some people to be shouting out pride about their races/nationality when
lives are being taken!!!
 

CTR

The Realist guy here period

Regardless of what race...people are dying!
i think it's very selfish & wrong for some people to be shouting out pride about their races/nationality when
lives are being taken!!!
That's why I want the Royal family to come back but that would never happen again. The Communist Party does not respect people period.
 

hellomelia

sarNie Hatchling
That's why I want the Royal family to come back but that would never happen again. The Communist Party does not respect people period.
i dont know much about the royal family but it probably wouldnt be half as bad as the communists. truly sad when things like this happen...
 

CTR

The Realist guy here period
i dont know much about the royal family but it probably wouldnt be half as bad as the communists. truly sad when things like this happen...
Here a little info on it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Laos The surviving members are living in France right now but the rest died because of the Communist. My grandpa drove the King around as his personal driver. My whole family fought against the communist movement.
 

lady0fdarkness

Professional Lakorn Watcher
Hence, the word 'Hmong Rebels'

Rebels - Rebellion is, in the most general sense, a refusal to accept authority. It may therefore be seen as encompassing a range of behaviours from civil disobedience to a violent organized attempt to destroy established authority. It is often used in reference to armed resistance against an established government, but can also refer to mass nonviolent resistance movements. Those who participate in rebellions are known as "rebels".


I also heard about this.

The last two years have seen a number of ambushes against trucks and cars belonging to gold mining companies in the area.

Not just that, but bombing at local bus station by these 'Hmong Rebels'.

Innocents people are dying both ways cause by a war that should of ended 30 some yrs ago.

Ask me if the Laos gov't is bad....No cause they just doing their duties to protect the country and the people from harm. Any country would of did the same if some rebels started bombing in their country killing innocent people.
Sorry, but those "rebels" are mostly women and children. They are unarmed "rebels," who are just trying to save their children and hide in the jungle. Most of the "hmong rebels" are using weapons that are over 30 years old that the Americans provided. I understand that war is war, but come on now... have the Lao communist government ever heard of arresting, instead of killing??

You know... Laotians that are living in the US are on the same side as the Hmongs that went againist the communists movement. That is why we are here in the USA. We escaped the movement. So if you are in the USA, I'm not understanding why you'd sport the new Lao Flag. That flag is for a communist Lao.

My Lao Flag will always be the 3 headed elephant... The kingdom of Laos. Lan Xang. That's the Laos I will always remember and respect.
 
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