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Laos–United States Relations
Relations between Laos and the United States officially began when the United States opened a legation in Laos in 1950, when Laos was a semi-autonomous state within French Indochina. These relations were maintained after Laos' independence in October 1953. Vietnam War–era The Vietnam War, Second Indochina War (1955–1975) between the United States and communism, communist forces in Indochina took place partially on Lao territory. The US became heavily involved, in a secret covert war, during the Laotian Civil War of 1953–1975, backing the Royal Lao government and the Kingdom of Laos, and Hmong people against the Pathet Lao and the supporting Vietnam People's Army forces. Although the U.S. and Laos never severed diplomatic relations following the end of the war in 1975 and the communist Pathet Lao takeover of Laos with the support of North Vietnam and the Vietnam People's Army, U.S.-Lao relations deteriorated due to Cold War, ideological differences. The relationship rema ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laos
Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and southwest. The country has a population of approximately eight million. Its Capital city, capital and most populous city is Vientiane. The country is characterized by mountainous terrain, Buddhist temples, including the UNESCO's World Heritage Site of Luang Prabang, and French colonial architecture. The country traces its historic and cultural identity to Lan Xang, a kingdom which existed from the 13th to 18th centuries. Through its location, the kingdom was a hub for overland trade. In 1707, Lan Xang split into three kingdoms: Kingdom of Luang Phrabang, Luang Prabang, Kingdom of Vientiane, Vientiane, and Kingdom of Champasak, Champasak. In 1893, these kingdoms were unified under French protection as part of French Indochina. Laos was und ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members and supporters around the world. The stated mission of the organization is to campaign for "a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments". The organization has played a notable role on human rights issues due to its frequent citation in media and by world leaders. AI was founded in London in 1961 by the lawyer Peter Benenson. In what he called "The Forgotten Prisoners" and "An Appeal for Amnesty", which appeared on the front page of the British newspaper ''The Observer'', Benenson wrote about two students who toasted to freedom in Portugal and four other people who had been jailed in other nations because of their beliefs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Extrajudicial Killing
An extrajudicial killing (also known as an extrajudicial execution or an extralegal killing) is the deliberate killing of a person without the lawful authority granted by a judicial proceeding. It typically refers to government authorities, whether lawfully or unlawfully, targeting specific people for death, which in authoritarian regimes often involves political, trade union, dissident, religious and social figures. The term is typically used in situations that imply the human rights of the victims have been violated. Deaths caused by legal police actions (such as self defense) or legal warfighting on a battlefield are generally not included, even though military and police forces are often used for killings seen by critics as illegitimate. The label "extrajudicial killing" has also been applied to organized, lethal enforcement of extralegal social norms by non-government actors, including lynchings and honor killings. United Nations Morris Tidball-Binz was appointed th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Torture
Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. definitions of torture, Some definitions restrict torture to acts carried out by the state (polity), state, while others include non-state organizations. Most victims of torture are poor and marginalized people suspected of crimes, although torture against political prisoners, or during armed conflict, has received disproportionate attention. Judicial corporal punishment and capital punishment are sometimes seen as forms of torture, but this label is internationally controversial. A variety of methods of torture are used, often in combination; the most common form of physical torture is beatings. Beginning in the twentieth century, many torturers have preferred non-scarring or psychological torture, psychological meth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person who is incapable of giving valid consent, such as one who is unconscious, incapacitated, has an intellectual disability, or is below the legal age of consent ( statutory rape). The term ''rape'' is sometimes casually used interchangeably with the term ''sexual assault''. The rate of reporting, prosecuting and convicting for rape varies between jurisdictions. Internationally, the incidence of rapes recorded by the police during 2008 ranged, per 100,000 people, from 0.2 in Azerbaijan to 92.9 in Botswana with 6.3 in Lithuania as the median. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sombath Somphone
Sombath Somphone (, ; born 17 February 1952) is an internationally acclaimed community development worker and prominent member of Lao civil society. Sombath was abducted from a Vientiane street in 2012 and has not been seen since. Early years Sombath Somphone was born into a poor farming family, the eldest of eight brothers and sisters. He attended high school in the US state of Wisconsin. In the early-1970s he received a scholarship to study at the University of Hawaiʻi where he received a bachelor's degree in education (1974) and a master's degree in agriculture (1978). Career Returning to his home country after the Vietnam War and the establishment of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Sombath's earliest work was to demonstrate methods of sustainable farming that contribute to food security. He also pioneered the use of participatory rural appraisal techniques in Laos. In 1996 he was given permission by the Ministry of Education to establish the Participatory Development T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lao People's Army
The Lao People's Armed Forces (LPAF; ) or the Lao People's Army (LPA) is the armed forces of the Lao People's Democratic Republic and the institution of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, who are charged with protecting the country. Active forces The army of 29,100 is equipped with 30 main battle tanks. The army marine section, equipped with 16 patrol craft, has 600 personnel. The air force, with 3,500 personnel, is equipped with anti-aircraft missiles and 24 combat aircraft (no longer in service). Militia self-defence forces number approximately 100,000 organised for local defence. The small arms utilised mostly by the Laotian Army are the Soviet AKM assault rifle, PK machine gun, PKM machine gun, Makarov pistol, Makarov PM pistol, and the RPD machine gun, RPD light machine gun. Organization The LPAF is divided into four Military Regions of Laos, military regions, with its headquarters in Vientiane * Military Region One (Luang Prabang) * Military Region Two (Phonsava ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Human Rights
Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered inherent and inalienable, meaning they belong to every individual simply by virtue of being human, regardless of characteristics like nationality, ethnicity, religion, or socio-economic status. They encompass a broad range of civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights, such as the right to life, freedom of expression, protection against enslavement, and right to education. The modern concept of human rights gained significant prominence after World War II, particularly in response to the atrocities of the Holocaust, leading to the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. This document outlined a comprehensive framework of rights that countries are encouraged t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dissidents
A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established political or religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and in the political sense since the 20th century, coinciding with the rise of authoritarian governments in countries such as Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ..., Francoist Spain, the Soviet Union (and later Russia), Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Turkey, Iran, China, and Turkmenistan. In the Western world, there are historical examples of people who have been considered and have considered themselves dissidents, such as the Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza. In totalitarian countries, dissidents are often incarcerated or ex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marxist
Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, and social transformation. Marxism originates from the works of 19th-century German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Marxism has developed over time into various branches and schools of thought, and as a result, there is no single, definitive " Marxist theory". Marxism has had a profound effect in shaping the modern world, with various left-wing and far-left political movements taking inspiration from it in varying local contexts. In addition to the various schools of thought, which emphasize or modify elements of classical Marxism, several Marxian concepts have been incorporated into an array of social theories. This has led to widely varying conclusions. Alongside Marx's critique of political economy, the defining ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kerry And Kay Danes
Kerry Arthur Danes (a former Australian Army soldier born 21 October 1958 Longreach, Queensland) and wife Kay Frances Danes née Stewart (born 20 October 1967 Wynnum, Queensland) were imprisoned in Laos as civilians on 23 December 2000 and later convicted of embezzlement, tax evasion and Spoliation of evidence, destruction of evidence. They were ordered to pay fines and compensation of $AUD1.1 million. After the Australian government intervened on their behalf, Kerry and Kay Danes were provisionally released on 6 October 2001. The pair signed a formal Contract, agreement to pay their fines by instalments, and a presidential pardon was granted on 6 November 2001, which enabled their Repatriation, return to Australia. Kerry Danes Kerry Arthur Danes was born in 1958 at Longreach, Queensland and joined the Australian Army in August 1976 at age 17. He took extended leave without pay in 1998 (aged 40) to try his luck in a civilian job in poverty-stricken Laos and enjoyed a relativel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
