Press Release
Public Affairs Office
Embassy of the United States of America
Rue Bartholonie, P.O. Box. 114
Vientiane, Laos.
Tel:  (856-21) 213 966
Fax: (856-21) 213 045
Website: http://usembassy.state.gov/Laos

U.S.-Lao Relations in 2004 - The Course Ahead
January 26, 2004
Vientiane, Laos
Ambassador Douglas A. Hartwick

Introduction

 This morning I would like share my views on steps that should guide our two governments in the year ahead if we are to strengthen our relations, improve conditions for our citizens, and bring our two peoples closer together. 

 I am pleased to deliver these public remarks here in Vientiane.  I found that last year, in January 2003, as I visited various communities in the United States in Washington D.C., California and Washington State, there was real benefit to laying out publicly and clearly the goals and steps necessary from my country’s standpoint that would strengthen bilateral relations in the year ahead.  As the senior representative of my government, I wish to make clear to everyone, the Lao government, the Lao people, and the American people how I see the challenges that face us this year, and what we need to work on.  I look forward to your reactions and comments, and will be happy to answer questions at the end of my remarks.        

 With the year 2004 ahead of us, let me assess the current state of Lao -U.S. relations.   Looking back, the year 2003 saw key developments in our bilateral relationship, developments that helped strengthen our ties and offer promise for even greater progress in the New Year.  It also experienced disappointments or saw areas with insufficient movement.  Looking forward, the year 2004 could be a landmark year for the relationship as we address bilateral problems whose roots extend back to the legacies of the Indochina war, and create together real opportunities that will benefit our two peoples.  Yet the course in 2004 will depend very much on the combined efforts and political will of both countries. As with most significant accomplishments, strengthening relations will require real dialogue, change, and taking risks if we are to bring our two nations closer together.

The United States and Lao PDR have shared a close association since the 1950s.  The United States was among the very first to recognize Lao independence in 1954.  As the Indochina War ran its course in the mid-1970s, bilateral relations suffered considerably, but were never broken.  In the wake of that war, the U.S. soon became home to hundreds of thousands of refugees from Laos, binding our two countries forever together for better or worse.   Many on both sides suffered terribly from the war, and some are still caught in its terrible grip. 

 But the war is over.  In 2004, more Lao people alive today were born after the war than before it and many have no personal memory of that difficult time.  Most long for a future of opportunity, happiness and peace.  In America, former Laotian refugees and families, nearly 500 thousand strong, have become proud American citizens or permanent residents, and their children a powerful mix of two cultures.  Yet many look to reconnect with Laos, a land still attached to their hearts, and share their success with less fortunate relatives and former countrymen and women. Significant bilateral issues exist, to be sure, but overcoming many of these is within our two countries' grasp.

 Assessing 2003: Progress through Improved Dialogue and Determination

 The year 2003 was a milestone year in many ways. Let me review positive highlights, and disappointments from America’s perspective.   On POW/MIA cooperation, our two governments achieved remarkable progress together, conducting 5 successful joint field activities, totaling roughly 150 days and hundreds of thousands of man hours to recover some 13 sets of probable American remains and gathering promising leads on others.  This success would not be possible were it not for the humanitarian spirit of the Lao people, who suffered much during the war themselves, and the cooperation of the Lao government.  The families of Americans missing in action deeply appreciate this humanitarian spirit; my government is grateful for the cooperation.    

 The American people reached out to help the Lao people in various ways.  We continued to fund removal of unexploded ordinance, a dangerous legacy from the Indochina war. The U.S. is supporting projects to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria, and to combat human trafficking, a particularly vexing problem as desperate young women and men seek elusive, legitimate employment opportunities in neighboring countries. We have continued funding a project to teach and expand silk production in many of Laos' poorest villages in the north, among them Hmong, Tai Daeng and Tai Dam communities. 

 On narcotics cooperation, America has become Laos' strategic partner in the fight against narcotics.  Our two governments worked hard in 2003 to ensure that ethnic minorities who have given up opium production in keeping with the government’s goal of eliminating opium by 2005, have viable alternatives with which to supplement their incomes. Our cooperation is achieving real success.  Opium cultivation is dropping dramatically but firmly establishing alternatives will take determination.  Our Lao-American Project is helping Hmong, Khmu, Mien, Akha and other ethnic groups receive first time public services and gain access to markets once too distant to contemplate.  We launched a new project in northern Luang Prabang province in 2003 and have continued to help the Lao government build narcotics treatment and law enforcement capacity to reduce narcotics’ damaging impact.

 On terrorism and international cooperation, Laos deepened cooperation with the US.  In 2003, our two governments worked together on training to combat terrorism– strengthening customs and law enforcement, enabling the financial sector to monitor financial transactions, and helping Laos accede to international conventions.  In 2003, Laos was itself the target of terrorist incidents.   As a result, Secretary of State Colin Powell wrote to express American sadness and sympathy to his counterpart Deputy Prime Minister Somsavat Lengsavad at the loss of innocent lives and expressed the desire to work together to end such cowardly attacks wherever these occur.  Elsewhere, the United States and Laos signed an agreement to ensure that our respective citizens are subject to international criminal jurisdiction consistent with our own national laws and international commitments, an important Bush Administration objective. 

            In 2003, our two governments took important steps toward legislation to establish normal trade relations (NTR) between the U.S. and Laos, another Bush Administration objective. In April, the Lao government sent its minister of commerce and associates to the US to meet with U.S. government and congressional community leaders about NTR. In September, our two governments signed a bilateral trade agreement, one of our most significant bilateral agreements since 1975 to enter into effect with passage of legislation granting NTR status to Laos. Finally, in September, legislation was introduced in the U.S. Congress to seek NTR status for Laos. The bill is now before Congress.  

             More than a generation after the Indochina War, Laos still does not enjoy normal trade relations with the United States despite unbroken diplomatic relations.  As a result, citizens of both countries are still denied the opportunity to trade and invest without punitive government-imposed barriers.  Without NTR, American entrepreneurs, many of them Lao-Americans, face uncertain Lao market entry and high trade barriers to goods and services they wish to provide.  Without NTR, Laos lack jobs and economic opportunity that obliges many poor Lao young women and men to venture beyond their borders for work, with some falling into the hands of unscrupulous traffickers.     

  Now let me turn to areas of bilateral concern where progress has been more elusive.   On human rights, an important issue to all Americans, our bilateral interaction in 2003 has produced successes in some areas, but little progress or disappointment in others.  In the area of religious freedom, Laos saw overall improvement in the past year – an improvement that the State Department highlighted in December at the release of the International Religious Freedom Report. Areas that were once intolerant of Christians, and sometimes arrested those Christians and closed their churches, are now allowing Christians and others freedom to worship in their own churches without interference form the government.  Savannakhet province, where intolerance has persisted for years, saw some encouraging steps that have improved the atmosphere – detainees were released, churches reopened, long-seized property returned.  Laotians are freer to practice the religion of their choice than they were a year ago, although local detention and then release of 11 Christians in Attapeu just last month reminds me that much work remains.  We will continue to encourage the Lao Government to strengthen the legal protections for religious belief and practice.  Decree 92 was a step in the right direction, but we will work for improvements in its provisions.

             One area of great concern among many Americans is Laos' treatment of its minorities, and in particular, the Hmong. With some 200 thousand ethnic Hmong in the United States today, this concern is understandable.  With some justification, the Lao government maintains that its minorities are treated better today than at any time in Laos’ history. But remnants of former Hmong insurgent groups who once fought on the side of the Royal Lao Government some 27 years ago, still hide deep in the Lao forest, afraid or unwilling to come out.  The Lao leadership is unwilling to acknowledge publicly that these groups exist, nor to explain in detail to the international community the amnesty policy Laos has had in place for years to encourage peaceful resettlement.  Much more needs to be done. Only improved cooperation and dialogue among the Lao authorities, the forest people leaders, and those outside of Lao borders who encourage this standoff can resolve this tragic situation that continues to claim innocent lives and fuel bilateral tensions.  My government and the international community stand ready to assist in resolving this complicated issue if requested by the concerned parties. 

Americans are disappointed in the lack of progress on political reform in Laos today.  As we continue to document in our annual Human Rights report, Laos has taken little or no action to address international concerns about political prisoners, many of whom have been incarcerated for well over a decade.  Certainly such persons do not represent a threat to the political stability of the Lao government.  Elsewhere, some Americans have sought Lao government assistance in providing information about relatives gone missing, possibly at the hands of local authorities. In early 2004, I remain hopeful that the Lao government will be responsive to these humanitarian requests. 

 Freedom of expression also remains restricted in Laos.  No country can prosper without the free flow of information and debate through press and media outlets.  Finally, conditions in Lao prisons remain inhumanely primitive, according to recent first hand accounts of persons who have experienced them.  This is not consistent with the government's own self-described image of being humane and caring.  Improving such conditions is well within the capability of the Lao government, and there is ready apolitical international assistance to do so.  I urge the Lao leadership to give this full consideration.     

   Looking to 2004: Charting the Course Ahead

             When I assumed my position as the American ambassador to Laos in September 2001, my overarching bilateral mission, in a phrase, was to “build a new future, while accounting for the past.”  We have made genuine progress in both dimensions, but this ambitious mission remains as valid today as in 2001.  The year 2004 can provide even greater momentum toward this important goal. 

              Building stronger U.S.-Lao relations in 2004 will require genuine progress in three main areas:  addressing long-standing human rights concerns, establishing normal trade relations between our two countries, and working more closely together on common threats and concerns—bilateral and international—where our two countries' compelling interests are clear and pressing.  Let me address each one briefly. 

 America's long standing interest in seeing greater progress in the area of human rights in Laos stems directly from the fact that hundreds of thousands of American citizens have friends and relatives in Laos and are convinced that the Lao government can and should do more to help its citizens enjoy greater political and economic freedoms and opportunities on a par with more open societies.  Additionally, respect for universal human rights standards is a fundamental principle of international law, and is vital for Laos’ continued integration into the international community.   

 The most pressing of these concerns remains finding a humanitarian solution to the tragic problem of the people still hiding today in Laos' remote jungles.  The Lao government insists that it, too, is eager to find a lasting solution and assures me it has already resettled hundreds of families. But Laos must take more credible steps in 2004 to assure concerned Americans and the international community that it is serious about solving this problem in a humanitarian manner.  The Lao government needs to accelerate significantly its efforts to convince those still at large to lay down their arms, join those already resettled and make the transition to become law-abiding Lao citizens.  The international community will help.  Hmong-American groups should do their part by urging the leaders of the forest people to embrace a new resettled life, once the Lao government has made clear to all their safety is guaranteed. Without steady progress toward a peaceful resolution, this problem will continue take innocent Laotian lives, generate international criticism of Laos, and hinder the advancement of our bilateral relationship. 

             As I stated earlier, there has been genuine progress toward religious freedom in Laos this past year.  The Lao government deserves credit for this progress.  The year 2004 will hopefully see continued positive results from the Lao policy of tolerance, and I look forward to helping where possible with ideas and resources to sustain those results, including suggestions regarding improvements in Decree 92.  I urge the government to watch developments in Attapeu, as signs remain that religious persecution persists.  On prison conditions for detainees, I would hope that the Lao leadership might take the same constructive approach as it has toward religious freedom and ensure that detainees are treated in a fashion consistent with international standards—food, shelter, access to medical care, compassionate visits from relatives.  Again, the international community is prepared to assist with ideas and resources, if needed. Finally, I would hope that the Lao leadership can grant humanitarian consideration to its political detainees in 2004. 

             Establishing normal trade relations between the United States and Laos is a top bilateral priority for the United States for 2004.  This requires passage of legislation in Congress.  Continuing not to grant NTR status to one of the world’s poorest countries 30 years after the Indochina war, whatever our legitimate concerns about other problems that need urgent attention, has real human consequences. It condemns the Laotian people -- Lao, Hmong, Khmu, Mien, and 40 plus other minorities -- to improving their standard of living in an economy where the government still holds the cards.  They will have little chance to escape dependency on the international dole.   They will have even less opportunity to pursue individual dreams.  Thus, the Administration is eager to get NTR in place to begin to generate the benefits that it promises for both countries. 

 For the United States, NTR will facilitate American business entry into the Lao market, offer protections heretofore missing and speed Lao integration into the ASEAN regional economy, thus attracting more interest from U.S. businesses.  For Laos, NTR promises to stimulate private sector, people-focused benefits – jobs, entrepreneurship, international standards, and tech transfers – to a country that desperately needs market-based development.  NTR will also afford increased opportunities to strengthen good governance and the rule of law, and to reduce trafficking in persons – all priorities for America.  The Lao government can make its greatest contribution by creating an improved climate for passage if it makes progress toward addressing bilateral concerns I have described above which are shared by members of the U.S. Congress.  We must do all that we can to secure NTR this year.

 Laos and the United States share common goals with regard to international threats to peace and security.   We oppose terrorism in all its forms.  We also believe that the United Nations has an important and legitimate role to play in fostering cooperation to advance international peace and security.  In 2004, we need to explore on an accelerated basis ways our two governments can strengthen a united front against terrorism in Southeast Asia, and deny harbor to terrorist fugitives.  Laos assumes the ASEAN presidency in July.  I hope that Laos will help ASEAN address regional problems, such as Burma—encouraging the SPDC to take concrete steps, including working with the democratic opposition, toward democracy and national reconciliation. 

 Finally, our two countries must continue to make progress in those areas where we already have established cooperation:  recovering remains of Americans still missing from the Indochina War, fighting narcotics, removal of unexploded ordnance, and supporting regional efforts to fight vestiges of poverty: trafficking in persons, the spread of HIV/AIDS, promoting sustainable development.  These areas do not grab headlines in international press, but are critically important and deserve the continued commitment of both our governments. Our two peoples deserve continued progress.

 This is a broad and ambitious bilateral agenda.  As I have already stated, it will take political will and determination to achieve real progress.  But the rewards for our two countries and two peoples will be significant in the years ahead.         

 Thank you.