September 2, 2002

Leader of U.S. Secret War Veterans in Laos,  Moua Toua Ter,  Reports Buildup of Communist Forces - Denies Rumor of Surrender

LAOS (FFC)  Moua Toua Ter, leader of the U.S. Secret War Veterans in the Xaysombooune Special Zone, reports the Pathet Lao and Vietnamese forces which surround his group of 3000 are building forces and bringing in more war supplies.  He also denied the Radio Free Asia Report, which stated several hundred families in that area had surrender to the communist military forces.
In an August 31, 2002 interview with the Fact Finding Commission Muoa Toua Ter reported there are now ten Pathet Lao and Vietnamese military encampments, which surround his group of U.S. Secret War Veterans and their families.  The five encampments reported earlier and five others, which are further away.  He stated on August 25, and August 28, 2002 two helicopter loads of military supplies were delivered to each camp each day.  Moua Toua Ter reported daily mortar fire from each of the ten camps against his group of men, women, and children.  They are receiving 200 rounds of mortar fire each day.  Since his last report August 23, 2002 12 people have been injured, 7 women, and 5 men.
On August 28, 2002, Radio Free Asia broadcast a report that several hundred families of the resistance groups in Xaysomboune Special Zone had surrendered to LPDR military authorities after leaflets had been dropped from helicopters over their villages.  Moua Toua Ter stated none from his group surrendered.  He said there are his and two other Secret War Veteran Groups in that area.  He stated he is in communication with the other groups and neither of those groups have surrendered.   He said in the Phou Bia area the communists did drop leaflets on a group in that area but there was no surrender.
Moua Toua Ter also spoke out against a report that was on Voice of America Radio.  In that report LPDR Defense Minister Douangchay Phichit denied communist military forces were attacking the Freedom Fighters and that reports of those attacks are made up by western countries.  Moua Toua Ter invited the United States, United Nations, the European Parliament, and human rights organizations to enter Laos and investigate what he termed the "perpetual genocide"  of those who fought for the United States during the secret war and their families.  He stated "If this investigation indicates that the reports I have been making are true, I ask you, the international communities, to immediately intervene and bring an end to this perpetual genocide.   The LPDR government has hidden this human rights issue since 1975, the end of the U.S. Secret War."  Moua Toua Ter again asked the international communities to intervene and rescue the lives of the 3000 men, women, and children who are with him.  He also asks for food and medical supplies.