Newsgroups: bit.listserv.seasia-l Subject: Laos: AI reports death of Thongsouk Saysangkhi From: Stephen R Denney Date: Mon, 9 Mar 1998 14:10:16 -0800 The following is a press release of Amnesty International on the death in Laos of Thongsouk Saysangkhi. AI had been working for his release since he was arrested in 1990. - Steve Denney sdenney@uclink.berkeley.edu ---------------------------------------- News Service 41/98 AI INDEX: ASA 26/04/98 9 MARCH 1998 Lao People's Democratic Republic (Laos): Prisoner of conscience left to die Amnesty International is appalled to learn of the death of prisoner of conscience Thongsouk Saysangkhi in mid- February, months after the organization alerted the Lao authorities to his deteriorating health. In December 1997 the human rights organization received information that 59-year-old Thongsouk, a diabetic patient, and the two prisoners of conscience arrested and detained with him -- Feng Sakchittaphong and Latsami Khamphoui -- were seriously ill and in need of hospital treatment. "Appeals to the Lao authorities to help these sick men have clearly fallen on deaf ears," Amnesty International stated. "That Thongsouk Saysangkhi should have been allowed to die, just for writing letters advocating peaceful political and economic change in Laos, is totally unacceptable." Since their arrest in 1990 for their peaceful political opposition, Amnesty International has been calling for the release of these men. The organization has also consistently asked the Lao authorities to improve their conditions of detention which fell far short of minimum international standards and constitute cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. At various times they have been held in small cold cells with no beds, forbidden to talk to each other, allowed out of their cells only once a fortnight to bathe, and have been threatened with beatings by prison guards. There are no medical facilities available at Prison Camp 7, which is in a remote area of Houa Phanh province. Their families have only rarely been given permission to visit them. "It is too late for Thongsouk and his family, but how much more suffering do Feng Sakchittaphong and Latsami Khamphoui and their families have to undergo before the Lao authorities give them the medical treatment they need," Amnesty International said. At the very least, the authorities should now take immediate steps to ensure that the two men do not suffer the same fate as Thongsouk. If they need hospitalization, then they should be released and transferred immediately. For months the Lao Government ignored appeals and requests for information concerning Thongsouk's health. Now that it has been learnt that he has died in custody, it is incumbent upon the government to immediately lift all restrictions on access to family and medical visits to the two other men. ENDS.../ ******************************************* For further information on the imprisonment of Thongsouk Saysangkhi, Latsami Khamphoui and Feng Sakchittaphong, see Lao People's Democratic Republic: Prisoners of conscience suffering in isolation, November 1996 (ASA 26/02/96). Laos Political Prisoner Dies BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- A former high-ranking government official detained for seven years in Laos for advocating democracy in the single-party Marxist state has died in prison, the U.S. Embassy said today. The Laotian Foreign Ministry told the U.S. Embassy in Vientiane that Thongsouk Saysangkhi, 59, died last month of complications from diabetes, an Embassy spokesman said. Reports that Thongsouk had died had been circulating in recent days in diplomatic circles in Vientiane, the capital of the Southeast Asian nation, and in the overseas Laotian community. "The United States particularly regrets the death in prison of Thongsouk Saysangkhi because we raised his fragile medical condition a number of times with all levels of the Lao government," said the spokesman, speaking on customary condition of anonymity. Thongsouk was among the last three political prisoners known to be held in the Laos, ruled as a one-party communist state since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. Thongsouk, Latsami Khamphoui and Feng Sakchittaphong were detained in October 1990 and tried in November 1992 on charges of libel and disseminating propaganda against the country. Each was sentenced to 14 years in prison. Thongsouk had been vice minister of science and technology. Latsami was once vice minister of economics and planning and Feng was a high-ranking Justice Ministry official. "Appeals to the Lao authorities to help these sick men have clearly fallen on deaf ears," said Amnesty International, which also reported the death today. "That Thongsouk Saysangkhi should have been allowed to die, just for writing letters advocating peaceful political and economic change, is totally unacceptable." The London-based human rights group had several times expressed concern for the health of the men, held in a prison camp in Houaphan province in northeastern Laos. Amnesty said in December that the camp had no medical facilities and conditions there were "extremely harsh and fall far short of international minimum standards." It said all three men suffered from various illnesses, including kidney and intestinal problems, diabetes and angina, and warned that they might not survive without proper medical treatment. Diplomats said the trio had essentially been offered their freedom if they stopped advocating multiparty democracy. However, they reportedly continued to demand reforms and were still languishing in a common cell where they were not allowed to speak to each other. They were denied access to reading or writing materials. Mekong Sub-region Investment Projects Postponed BANGKOK (March 10) XINHUA - Some investment projects under the great Mekong sub-region economic cooperation program will be suspended for another two years because of the financial crisis in Asian countries. Krisda Piampongsant, director of the ASEAN trade and economic affairs division, said Tuesday that the projects were postponed after considering that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) had to provide huge loan packages to help bail out cash strapped Asian countries. Krisda was speaking at an on-going seminar on a training program called export promotion for greater Mekong sub- region economic cooperation. According to participants in the seminar, the ADB currently fell short of funds to help carry out the Mekong projects. The ADB has provided more than 12 billion U.S. dollars to Thailand in its bailout package, and has provided funds to Indonesia and south Korea, which are also facing steep economic downturns. Under the Mekong program, the investment projects cover the following areas of development sectors: transport and communications, energy, telecommunication, human resources and development, tourism, environment and natural resource management. The program is expected to open a gateway to the Chinese market. Moreover, if the proposed ASEAN free trade area is established in 2003, the program, especially its transportation projects, will help boost the flow of goods and investment through the region. Priority transportation projects include upgrading connections linking Ho Chi Minh city of Vietnam, Phnom Penh of Cambodia, and Bangkok. The projects will also build a road between Chiang Rai of Thailand and Kunming of China via Laos. Between Thailand and Laos, there will be a linkage of both land and air transportation networks. The tourism industry is seen as a sector with high potential, and participants in the program have joined efforts to offer river tour packages for the booming Mekong river area. Vietnam, Laos to Further Strengthen Cooperation HANOI (March 9) XINHUA - Vietnam and Laos have decided to further strengthen cooperation on economic, scientific and technological cooperation, a joint communique revealed Monday. The communique was released during a visit by Le Kha Phieu, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, who ended his five-day visit to Laos on Monday. According to Vietnam news agency, Le Kha Phieu and Lao People's Revolutionary Party President Khamtay Siphandone held friendly talks "in an atmosphere of comradery," exchanging views on international and regional issues of common concern. The two leaders also attended a ceremony where the 1998 cooperative agreement on economic, scientific and technological cooperation, and the memorandum book of the mixed committee's twentieth session of the two countries were signed. Vietnam will also grant interest-free loans to Laos, the communique added.