Brussels, 14/09/2005 (Agence Europe) - It's a tiny glimmer of hope to be heard, to not be abandoned, said Vanida Thepsouvanh, President of the Laos human rights movement about the hearing organised at the European Parliament on 12 September to look at the human rights situation in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Thirty years on after the end of the Vietnam War, the human rights situation in these three south-east Asian countries is not 100% comparable or similar, said the President of the European Parliament's Human Rights Committee, Helene Flautre (French Green). She passed the rostrum to defenders of human rights who, one after the other, revealed harrowing personal stories and gave a full list of the victims of repression. They all criticised the single party system and corruption in all three countries of former French Indo-China, where the most basic fundamental rights are regularly trampled upon. They recommended that the EU's agreements with these countries should contain a clause on respect of human rights, which should be taken into account when deciding whether to grant financial aid.
Vanida Thepsouvanh said that it was permitted to think in Laos but ones thoughts had to remain silent. She gave the example of members of a Laos student democracy movement, who have been in gaol since a demonstration on 26 October 1999. There is total control of written and broadcast media and also attempts to put a stop to the Internet. She explained that the white slave trade was a problem for 60% of young girls under 18 years of age (more than a third of whom are forced into prostitution). She asked who profited from human trafficking, and the drugs trade too? She said the EU should discover tangible, significant and verifiable proof of progress on human rights issues before it hands over any money to Laos. BBC reporter Ruhi Hamid expressed concern at the way the Hmong people are treated - they live in the depths of the forest from fear that the Communist authorities will make them pay for their ancestors' fighting alongside the United States in the Vietnam War. She described their miserable existence, living in constant fear of being attacked by Laos soldiers, who rape and mutilate to death despite the Hmong only wanting to live a normal life and not wanting to overturn the government.
In Cambodia, there is not a single party system but the parliamentary opposition is in a lamentable state, said opposition figure Sam Rainsy, leader of the Sam Rainsy Party. The Cambodia communist party is everywhere, controlling all the levers of power, said Rainsy, whose parliamentary immunity has been lifted. He questioned the effectiveness of international aid in such circumstances, asking where the money went. Only giving money might be counter-productive, he said, saying it would be better to help the country help itself and introduce the mechanisms of democracy. He said that impunity blocked any reforms and perpetuated crimes and called on the international community to act to set up a genuine tribunal to judge the massacres carried out by the Khmer Rouges. Kek Galabru, President of the Cambodian league for the protection and defence of human rights, said an independent legal system was required to restore people's confidence. She criticised problems with the freedom of assembly and freedom of speech, women's and children's rights and confiscation of land by the wealthy.
Vo Van Ai, President of the Vietnam human rights defence committee (which recently published a damaging report) said his country combined all the disadvantages of a totalitarian single party system with a free-market economy. Vietnam makes use of the right to violate human rights since the idea of national security is used in the widest sense and there is no information available about the use of the death penalty, said Vo Van Ai, describing the power of the Vietnam communist party. He said it was the main problem facing the country since wanting to establish a democracy in a single party system is like making a pyromaniac into a fireman and refusing to let voluntary firemen help him out. With civil society in ruins, the only people keeping the soul of Vietnam alive are religious communities, he said, and they might be able to provide help. He quoted the example of the Unified Buddhist Church. Trich Tri Luc, a former Unified Buddhist Church monk, briefed the MEPs on more than ten years of extremely tough repression. The victim of one arrest after another while working in humanitarian aid operations for the Unified Buddhist Church, condemned to years in prison and placed under house arrest before he was able to escape Vietnam, he was then kidnapped and returned in secret to Vietnam, the fate of Trich Tri Luc is typical of thousands of prisoners illegally held captive for their religious or political views.
Several MEPs reacted, some quite vehemently, calling for greater pressure to be put on the three countries. Exasperated, Italian ALDE MEP Marco Pannella said we are the accomplices, committing monstrosities and we learn this again and again, session after session. He criticised the Commission for continuing to spend tax-payers' money despite the situation in the area. The human rights clause of the EU's agreement with Laos isn't worth the paper it's written on, said Michael Gahler (EPP-ED, Germany), incensed, asking whether there was another mechanism for sanctioning Laos, and if so, why it wasn't being used? Extending the debate to the requests by Laos and Vietnam to join the WTO, Monica Frassoni, Co-President of the Greens/EFA Group, said that business and trade considerations should not be the only things that count. She regretted that economic progress in the two countries was seen as justifying abuse of human rights. Ana Maria Gomes (PES, Portugal) pointed out that governments are highly responsible for the situation, not just the European Commission.