1 The Lao-Vietnam Special Treaty signed on 18^th July 1977 was a secret agreement signed between Vietnamese leader Pham Van Dong and Kaysone Phomvihan who was ethnic Vietnamese and who was working directly for the Vietnamese as their agent in Laos. This agreement was not approved by the President of Laos Prince Souphanouvong, who was the legal leader of Laos at that time. The Lao-Vietnam Special Treaty was an agreement which transferred Lao sovereignty to Vietnamese control in every respect, and on the basis of this agreement Vietnam has completely destroyed the independence of Laos in every respect including politics, the military and the economy. After gaining complete control of Laos the Vietnamese murdered, imprisoned or neutralised all the top Lao leaders including Prince Souphanouvong who was injected with chemicals to induce paralysis. However they have always publicly claimed that Laos is an independent sovereign state, and therefore the total control that they have exercised in Laos constitutes an illegal military occupation by a foreign sovereign state and their regime has no legitimacy as a government of the Lao nation.

2 The Vientiane regime does not in any way represent or serve the Lao people, but is a foreign occupying force which directly serves Vietnam and which fails to respect either International Law or even the laws passed by the regime itself.

3 The conference discussed problems of the universal abuse of basic human rights in Laos by the Vientiane regime, and notes that the Lao people have been denied the most basic human rights, including: freedom of speech, freedom to defend their rights in the Courts, freedom to disseminate news, and the freedom to conduct their normal daily lives in accordance with the law. The human rights of the Lao people are limited and controlled in every way by the regime, which has deliberately instituted an atmosphere of fear and which detains and executes people as they wish without investigation or trial according to the law. Since 1975 hundreds of thousands of Lao citizens have been sent to concentration camps without trial, and some of these political prisoners still remain in detention without trial after 22 years. In the period from 1975 to 1994 over 90,000 political prisoners were executed in concentration camps, mostly only on the accusation of being "anti-Vietnamese"; this figure excludes a considerably greater number of unofficial killings in the mountains, mostly involving ethnic genocide.

4 The long standing problems of both Laos and Cambodia are caused by a single problem - the secret creation of a Vietnamese Indo-China superstate with Vietnamese troops in both countries and a powerful secret intelligence network and command structure under the control of Hanoi. Historically Laos and Cambodia have been exploited by the superpowers as a battlefield for playing deadly games of power despite international treaties guaranteeing their neutrality. These games of power have been skilfully exploited by the Vietnamese who have completely disregarded all precepts of international law. The Conference noted that the problems of Cambodia can only be solved by completely removing all Vietnamese troops and political control from both Laos and Cambodia in conjunction. Any support given to the Khmer Rouge guerrillas by the Cambodian people can be understood only in terms of the determination of the Cambodian people to be rid of the Vietnamese troops and Vietnamese political control, through which the Khmer Rouge are seen as the only available force to oppose the Vietnamese troops in Cambodia. If the Vietnamese troops can be removed from Cambodia by international pressure then the viability of the Khmer Rouge will be substantially reduced because their popular support is derived largely from the presence of the Vietnamese; as a result of this China will no longer have influence in Cambodia. To remove the Vietnamese completely from Cambodia it is essential to remove them completely also from Laos in order to contain the Vietnamese infiltration, which at the same time will remove Chinese influence from both Laos and Cambodia.

5 In order to exert complete control over Laos while publicly pretending that Laos is an independent state, Vietnam has installed in Laos Department PC38, which is a central intelligence agency responsible directly to Hanoi. PC38 is responsible for controlling the secret police in Laos, for maintaining information on all people in Laos including government officers and foreigners, for destroying all efforts to oppose the regime or call for changes in the regime, for eliminating all opposition to Vietnamese control of Laos, for dictating the decisions and speeches of the puppet leaders of Laos, and for controlling all public releases of news both within Laos and overseas. PC38 is responsible for all orders and decrees of the Vientiane regime, including all orders for the killing of Lao people and foreigners in Laos, in order to afford Vietnam optimal control and convenience in their exploitation of Laos. The objectives of Department PC38 are to extract the maximum possible financial benefits for Vietnam from Laos, to protect the Vietnamese income from Laos, and to ensure that Vietnamese control over Laos is complete and cannot be challenged by Lao patriots.

Department PC38 is a secret level of political administration that has the highest level of control in Laos, higher than both the government and the Lao Communist Party. It�s Lao headquarters are situated in Vientiane at Km 6. From 1975 until the present time PC38 has maintained central intelligence branch headquarters in both Laos and Cambodia, and the overall headquarters for Vietnamese Indo-China are located in Hanoi. The Lao Interior Ministry is used as the means for carrying out the normal operations of PC38 under its command, with spies both in uniform and in plain clothes, both throughout Laos and outside the national borders of Laos.

6 The Conference noted that foreign governments from around the world have invested in Laos with the intention to exploit valuable natural resources for their own benefit, and as a result are unwilling to admit to the world community the barbaric nature of the Vientiane regime and their activities in Laos. This is because they consider the Vientiane regime as providing ideal conditions for their rampant exploitation of Laos, and actively discourage the international media from providing accurate coverage of Laos. As a direct result of this there have been foreigners who have entered Laos as tourists or as businessmen who have been murdered by the Vientiane regime because they have not known the truth about the political situation in Laos, and many others have been held for ransom by the Interior Ministry. Furthermore, the actions of foreign governments in supporting the Vientiane regime and in suppressing news of the atrocities committed by the Vientiane regime constitute a gross failure of the international community to respect the basic human rights of the Lao people.

7 Following the break-up of the former Soviet Union and the overturning of communism in several countries there were opportunities to overturn communism in Laos. However at this crucial time the Lao people were unable to overthrow the repressive communist regime of Vietnam because of the vested interests of the developed countries who considered that the Vietnamese occupying forces offered better opportunities for exploiting the Lao people than a democratic government would offer. By vigorously supporting this evil regime the developed countries are denying basic human rights and the right to freedom for the people of the Lao nation. Furthermore, the communist Party simply steal all of the foreign aid given by the developed countries to put in their own pockets, while the Lao people become ever poorer as prices of essential goods go up and prices of rural produce go down. The only effects of foreign aid are to further consolidate the ability of the Vietnamese occupying forces to strangle the rural Lao people and to make it ever harder for the Lao people to throw off the yoke of this evil oppressor in search of justice and freedom.

8 The overriding principle guiding Thailand�s policies towards Laos has been concern of insurrection by the very substantial ethnic Lao population living in those parts of Thailand which once belonged to Laos but were ceded to Thailand by France. The population of these regions has been exploited and repressed by the Thai government throughout this century, and the Thai government has long feared insurrection against Thai rule. Since the 1980�s the policy of the Thai government has been to collaborate with the Vientiane regime and ensure that the Lao nation cannot achieve independence from Vietnam in order to try to ensure that the Lao population of Thailand cannot get support from Laos.

9 The Vientiane regime secretly traffics in narcotics on orders from Vietnam. Trafficking in Laos is under the overall command of Nouhak Phoumsavanh, Khamtay Siphandone, General Cheng Sayavong, and Sisavat Keobounphanh, and includes the brokering on the international market of very substantial quantities of Burmese narcotics which are taken through Lao territory in order to circumvent international inspection.

One route followed by the narcotics is from Burma, through Lao territory and into Vietnam; a second route is from Burma, through Lao and Cambodian territory (both Khmer Rouge and pro-Vietnam factions), and into Thailand for distribution around the world. The purpose of this circuitous route is to confuse and circumvent international inspection and to facilitate the laundering of narcotics revenues. The laundering of narcotics revenues has introduced huge distortions in the Lao economy which have caused further hardship for the Lao people.

10 The Conference note that the Vientiane regime has destroyed the Lao educational system and the standard of health of the Lao people in order to weaken the Lao people and disable them from rising up against the Vietnamese aggressors.

11 The Lao Houn Mai have resolved that the fight against the Vientiane regime shall use the political process without recourse to violence, and have resolved that international political pressure shall be used to ensure that a legal government is installed inside the national borders of Laos before the year 2000 - a government which is the true democratic representative of the Lao people, and which governs for the benefit of the Lao people and the Lao nation under a system of government which incorporates appropriate checks and balances necessary to safeguard the precedence and stability of the democratic process.

1 Lao Houn Mai do not recognise the Lao-Vietnam Special Treaty dated 18^th July 1977 which was signed in Vientiane by Pham Van Dong (for Vietnam) and Kaysone Phomvihan (for Laos), which transferred the sovereignty of Laos to Vietnam in every respect and has destroyed all independence of Laos up to this time.

2 The Vientiane regime is not recognised as the legitimate government of Laos. The Vientiane regime is a foreign occupying force which is enforcing the policies of a foreign sovereign state against the wishes of the Lao nation and its leaders.

3 Lao Houn Mai stress that the right of self determination of the Lao people, the right to form democratic political parties and the right to elect their own representatives to govern them are sacrosanct, and call on the world community to condemn the illegal military occupation of Laos by Vietnam.

4 Lao Houn Mai demand that all uniformed and non-uniformed Vietnamese troops including all Vietnamese advisors must be immediately withdrawn under international supervision.

5 Lao Houn Mai demand that all political prisoners in Laos must be immediately and unconditionally released. Thongsouk Saysangkhi, Latsamy Khamphoui and Feng Sakchittaphong must be released very urgently, and permitted to receive urgent medical treatment in the free world.

6 Lao Houn Mai demand the complete and unconditional recognition of human rights of the Lao people by the Vientiane regime and by the international community.

7 Lao Houn Mai demand that the international community recognise the true political situation in Laos, namely that the Vientiane regime is not a legitimate government but the occupying force of a foreign sovereign state, which is composed of international terrorists who recognise neither International Law nor even the laws which they pass themselves.

8 Lao Houn Mai demand that the international community release full and accurate news of the situation in Laos, publicly acknowledge the insane and barbaric nature of the Vientiane regime, and report to the international media the details of all known criminal offences committed by the Vientiane regime.

9 Lao Houn Mai demand that all aid to the Vientiane regime be immediately and completely withdrawn, with the exception of purely technical assistance in removing unexploded ordinance.

10 The international community are called on to investigate and block the trafficking in narcotics by the Vientiane regime, including the export of narcotics from Burma through Lao territory to Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.

11 The signatories to the international peace agreements reached in Geneva in 1954 and 1962, both of which guaranteed the neutrality and sovereign independence of both Laos and Cambodia, are called on to take responsibility for their failures to abide by the terms of those agreements and to seek a solution to the problems of Laos and Cambodia as a single unitary problem, including the abolition of international trafficking in narcotics by the Vientiane regime through Lao and Cambodian territory.