Laos:Fear of extrajudicial execution/Fear for safety

Index Number: ASA 26/005/2003
Date Published: 10 June 2003
Categories: Asia And The Pacific, Laos

Several hundred Hmong rebels and their families are surrounded by Lao and also reportedly Vietnamese army units in the Phoukout district of Xieng Khouang province, northeast of Vientiane, the capital. Many if not all of the group may be at risk of extrajudicial execution by the Lao authorities who publicly refer to them and other similar groups as ‘bandits’.