Salem-News.com Laos articles

Laos: Alleged Enforced Disappearance of Human Rights Defender Mr Sombath Somphone

“...authorities are not in a position to say exactly what has actually happened, why Sombath Somphone has gone missing, or who might have been involved in the incident” - Laos government

(YORK, UK) - A Human Rights defender in Laos has gone missing and evidence suggests he is in police custody, even though local authorities deny it.

A recipient of one of Asia's most prestigious civil awards, Sombath Somphone is the type of person Laos needs...

Surviving the Peace: Laos

Watch a Movie & Save a Life with MAG America.

(PORTLAND, OR) - View a screening of the new short documentary film Surviving the Peace. For many, the US's secret bombing campaign in Laos during the Vietnam W ar and legacy of unexploded ordnance (UXO) is, at best, a foggy bit of our history.

The film succinctly brings the times, the legacy, and a hopeful future into focus.

Mending Fences in Laos

More than 20,000 people have been killed by the bomblets and more than 98 percent of known cluster bomb victims are civilians with 40 percent of these children.

(SAN FRANCISCO) - Earlier this month U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton became the first high level U.S. official to visit Laos since the Vietnam War.

Although not touted as such, the visit was an effort to mend fences with Laos, the most heavily bombed nation per capita in history.

Hmong People Mourn Death of Royal Lao General Vang Pao

Vang Pao, former general, Hmong leader, and enemy of the Communist Pathet Lao, passed away at the age of 81.

(FRESNO, Calif.) - Vang Pao, former Royal Laos general; noted Hmong leader and military leader, passed away in Fresno, California late Thursday. He had been hospitalized for the ten days before his death in Clovis, California.

Vang Pao was born in the Xiangkhouang Province of Laos, which was French Indochina when Gen. Pao was born in 1929.

Meeting on Cluster Munitions Opens in Laos, the World`s Most Affected Country

Between 1964 and 1973, the United States dropped more than 270 million cluster munitions over Laos. An estimated 80 million cluster munitions that did not explode on impact are scattered in rice fields, waterways and on roads...

(VIENTIANE, Laos) - Laos is more contaminated by cluster munitions than any other country in the world.

Members of C-130 Crew Recovered From Vietnam War

Since late 1973, the remains of 927 Americans killed in the Vietnam War have been accounted-for and returned to their families.

(WASHINGTON D.C.) - The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the remains of nine U.S. servicemen, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been accounted-for and returned to their families for burial with full military honors.

On May 22, 1968, these men were aboard a C-130A Hercules on an evening flare mission over northern Salavan Province, Laos. Fifteen minutes after the aircraft made a radio call, the crew of another U.S. aircraft observed a large ground fire near the last known location of Mason’s aircraft.

Lao PDR Government and Hmong Chaofa Indigenous Resistance Clash in Xaysombun

It happened in Xaysombun Special Zone, Phou Bia Mountain, North-Central Laos‏.

(MINNEAPOLIS) - On April 24, 2010, around 2:30 p.m. Lao time, Northeast of Mountain Phou Bia, Xaysombune Special Zone inside sources reported that there is very heavy fighting.

The Lao PDR invaded Hmong Indigenous territories. Weapons used included 60 MM, 40MM, and DKA 81, and missiles were fired from helicopter at Hmong Indigenous citizens.