November 8, 2003

Senators Condemn  Use of Starvation Against Civilians in Laos

Washington (FFC)  In a letter to the Laos Ambassador to the United States, Phanthong Phommahxay several U.S. Senators sharply condemned the use of starvation as a "weapon of war against civilians.   U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein (California),  Norman Coleman, Mark Dayton (Minnesota), Russell Feingold, Herb Kohl (Wisconsin) and Patrick Leahy (Vermont) signed the letter dated October 24, 2003 which cited a recent Amnesty International report that "the Lao military had surrounded several rebel groups and their families, including civilians, and preventing them from foraging for food they need to survive."
The letter also cited a Time Asia article that stated the Lao government had hunted down and surrounded a "ragtag army with wailing families in tow" and appeared on the brink of slaughtering them.  In the letter the Senators stated the use of starvation as a weapon of war is a violation of the Geneva Convention which Laos has ratified.
According to the letter the claims of the killing of innocent civilians who are suffering from malnutrition and starvation without access to medical attention, "compound our longstanding concerns over the treatment of Hmong and other ethnic groups in Laos."
To address the growing concerns of the international community about the plight of the ethnic minorities in the mountains of Laos the Senators proposed international monitors and humanitarian relief agencies into these areas to provide food and medical supplies.