VZCZCXYZ0014
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHVN #0012/01 0081031
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 081031Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY VIENTIANE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0749
INFO RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 7068
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI

C O N F I D E N T I A L VIENTIANE 000012 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS, AND H; G FOR FOR DRL, PRM/ANE, AND 
S/WE; PACOM FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/07/2017 
TAGS: LA OREP PGOV PHUM PREF PREL SMIG SOCI TH
SUBJECT: REPRESENTATIVE MCCOLLUM MEETS NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 
LEADERS 
 
REF: A. A) 06 VIENTIANE 0686 
 
     ¶B. B) 06 VIENTIANE 1117 
     ¶C. C) 06 VIENTIANE 1232 
     ¶D. D) 06 VIENTIANE 1234 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Patricia M. Haslach for reasons 1.4 (b) and ( 
d) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: During her first visit to Laos, 
Representative Betty McCollum met with a series of senior Lao 
National Assembly (NA) officials, including Madame Pany 
Yathotu, NA Vice President as well as member of the ruling 
party's Politburo, members of the NA,s Foreign Affairs 
Committee, and the NA Chief of Cabinet.  The two sides 
discussed increased cooperation on issues such as unexploded 
ordnance (UXO) removal, maternal and child health, and 
education.  The only disappointment was Madame Pany's 
unwillingness to engage on any issue of a political nature 
including resolving the case of the 26 detained children. 
End summary. 
 
¶2. (U) The National Assembly (NA) served as the Lao 
Government host of Representative McCollum's December 21-29 
first visit to Laos.  On December 26, Representative McCollum 
held separate meetings with Dr. Koukeo Akhamountry, Vice 
Chairman of the NA,s Foreign Affairs Committee, and with 
Madame Pany Yathotu, member of the Lao communist party 
Politburo as well as NA Vice President and Deputy Chair of 
the NA Standing Committee.  Joining Dr. Koukeo was Ms. 
Singkham Khomsavan, NA Member from Vientiane Province and 
also a member of the NA Foreign Affairs Committee, as well as 
Mr. Amphai Jitmanon, Deputy Chair of the NA,s Law 
Department.  Joining Madame Pany in the second meeting were 
Dr. Thongphan Chanthalanom, NA Member from Sekong Province 
and Chair of the NA,s Women,s Parliamentary Caucus (WPC), 
and Professor Bounnhong Boupha, NA Member from Vientiane 
Capital and Deputy WPC Chair. 
 
¶3. (U) After the formal meetings with the NA officials, NA 
Chief of Cabinet and NA Member from Savannakhet Province 
Thongteun Sayasen hosted a working lunch.  The other 
attendees from the Lao side at lunch were: 
 
Tong Yeu Thor, NA Member from Houaphan Province and Vice 
President of the Lao Front for National Construction; 
 
Dr. Koukeo Akhamountry, NA Member from Savannakhet Province 
and Vice Chairman of the NA,s Foreign Affairs Committee; 
 
Ms. Singkham Khomsavan, NA Member from Vientiane Province and 
member of the NA Foreign Affairs Committee; 
 
Viengthavisone Thephachanh, Director General of the NA,s 
Foreign Affairs Department; and 
 
Somchay Paphasiri, Senior Foreign Affairs Specialist, 
Americas Division, Europe and Americas Department, Ministry 
of Foreign Affairs. 
 
The Dr. Koukeo Meeting 
---------------------- 
¶4. (SBU) Dr. Koukeo, who had met Representative McCollum upon 
arrival at the airport, welcomed her again and mentioned the 
National Assembly (NA) was at the end of its 17-day session 
(to explain why other NA Foreign Affairs Committee members 
were not present).  Koukeo noted that NA Members are 
interested in learning more from the U.S. Congress.  Both 
bodies have similar functions: making laws, oversight of 
executive branch performance, and making important decisions 
for the nation.  One difference is that the NA has only one 
branch.  Also the NA does not meet continuously throughout 
the year.  The Lao NA is a member of the International 
Parliamentary Union (IPU) as well as both the 30-member Asian 
and smaller ASEAN inter-parliamentary organizations. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The NA,s 115 members are divided among six 
commissions: Legal Affairs; Economics and Finance; Culture 
and Society; Defense and National Security; Ethnic Affairs; 
and Foreign Affairs -- the smallest commission with only 13 
members.  According to Koukeo, the Foreign Affairs Commission 
(FAC) submits draft laws on foreign affairs for NA review, 
provides its opinion about signing international conventions 
and treaties, and generally is involved in any aspects of 
international cooperation including cooperation with 
parliaments of other countries.  The FAC also has oversight 
of the way the Government of Laos (GOL) carries out its 
foreign relations. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Since the FAC has so few members, it has invited 
interested members from other commissions to help develop 
relations with other countries.  Dr. Koukeo told 
Representative McCollum that the NA FAC has established a 
17-member Lao-American Parliamentary Friendship Association 
(LAPFA).  Since there was an NA election earlier in 2005, 
there are many new NA members.  Nevertheless, Koukeo pointed 
out, a number of former NA members still help the work of the 
FAC and LAPFA.  (Note: A subsequent list of current NA 
members who are also members of LAPFA provided the Embassy 
shows four members of the FAC; three from Legal Affairs; 
three from Economic Affairs; three from Cultural, one from 
Defense; and three from Ethnic Affairs.  The Embassy plans 
follow-up activities with this Association.) 
 
¶7. (SBU) As part of its duties of overseeing the way the GOL 
carries out its foreign relations, the FAC held its own 
two-day annual meeting just before the NA opened its December 
session.  The FAC invited government representatives, 
particularly from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), to 
discuss their work.  Dr. Koukeo noted that Deputy Prime 
Minister/Foreign Minister Thongloun Sisoulith is a member of 
the NA FAC, and he also updated the FAC on the Ministry's 
activities.  The FAC also invited representatives from the 
courts and prosecutors offices to report on their work.  This 
month,s FAC meeting was the first to be held by any NA 
commission.  In the past, government bodies sent in written 
reports to NA commissions but did not send officials to meet 
with the commission members.  Koukeo noted GOL officials have 
reported good bilateral cooperation particularly on 
counter-narcotics and dealing with unexploded ordnance (UXO). 
 Since UXO makes it very difficult to cultivate new land in 
the eastern half of his home province of Savannakhet, Koukeo 
specifically pushed for more U.S. assistance in this area. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Representative McCollum expressed her pleasure at 
visiting during Christmas, a time of hope, faith, and joy, 
and told Koukeo her own wish for this holiday season was for 
a better world for children as we struggle for world peace. 
She reviewed the separation of power among the three branches 
of the U.S. government and told him her job includes 
protecting personal freedom, freedom of religion, and freedom 
of trade.  The United States has not been perfect in these 
areas, but "democracies strive to be better."  Representative 
McCollum described services she provides to her constituents 
as a Member of Congress, from services for veterans, 
students, and the elderly to help with passport and 
immigration issues as well as business and trade. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Representative McCollum noted the "new direction" 
and "different course" which the Congress would be taking as 
a result of the November 2006 election.  As she moves to the 
Appropriations Committee, Representative McCollum told Koukeo 
she planned to continue to support partnerships with Laos to 
deal with the issues of remaining unexploded ordnance (UXO), 
Avian Influenza, and HIV/AIDs among others.  Although the 
United States is not as active in inter-parliamentary bodies 
as she would like, Representative McCollum pointed out she is 
part of a parliamentary group which monitors World Bank 
projects. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Dr. Koukeo told Representative McCollum her lessons 
are particularly important to himself, only a two-term NA 
member, and to his colleague, Ms. Singkham, in her first 
five-year NA term.  He affirmed that Representative 
McCollum,s visit would spur improved bilateral relations 
with the United States and said he hoped to see increased 
cooperation with the U.S. Congress.  Representative McCollum 
said she would return to Washington, D.C. and encourage other 
Members of Congress to join her in visiting Laos in the next 
12-18 months. 
 
... UXO 
------- 
¶11. (SBU) Responding to Dr. Koukeo,s comments on the need to 
make progress on the UXO issue particularly in his home 
province, Representative McCollum said that, with a heavy 
heart, she had visited people injured by UXO, so she 
understood the importance of working together on the issue. 
Representative McCollum pointed out that the USG is providing 
$5.6 million in UXO assistance and expressed hope this would 
continue and even increase.  She commended UXO Lao, Laos' 
national mine clearance operator, and the Mine Action Group 
(MAG) NGO for their close cooperation.  Representative 
McCollum noted that some countries use their foreign aid to 
build projects and then leave.  The United States hopes to 
create sustainability for the Lao people by building capacity 
so the people can lead themselves. 
 
 
¶12. (SBU) Representative McCollum noted that she saw 
opportunities for the USG to work with the Lao health care 
system.  U.S. medical teams, from their experience in the 
Iraq war, have developed great expertise in treating these 
kinds of injuries.  She noted that military health care 
personnel have a unique role in the U.S. defense system. 
First and foremost their goal is to help people.  If an 
opportunity presents itself, Representative McCollum told Dr. 
Koukeo, she hoped the two governments could undertake a 
dialogue to fully understand the opportunity available to 
have these U.S. medical teams train Lao health care personnel 
to create sustainability here in Laos.  The Ambassador 
mentioned that this had been raised both during the visit of 
PACOM Admiral Fallon in July 2006 (ref A) as well as during 
the first U.S.-Lao Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue in 
October 2006 (ref B).  Dr. Koukeo responded that, since 
Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Thongloun is a member 
of the NA FAC, the other FAC members will have the 
opportunity to ask him about this and other issues when they 
meet. 
 
Madame Pany 
----------- 
¶13. (SBU) NA Vice President Madame Pany Yathotu, a member of 
the Lao communist party Politburo and an ethnic Hmong, told 
Representative McCollum that she saw bilateral relations with 
the United States improving in a number of areas to include 
investment and trade numbers, MIA accounting, UXO, 
counter-narcotics, and counter-terrorism.  She was pleased 
that Representative McCollum had visited Xiang Khouang 
Province to see the "real situation" and to see that the GOL 
was using funding provided by the USG to help with UXO and 
children's issues. 
 
¶14. (SBU) Madame Pany pointed out for Representative McCollum 
that the current NA, elected in April 2006, had 29 females 
among its 115 members, more than 25 percent.  The current NA 
session was discussing a bill on protecting children's 
rights, and Pany highlighted the contributions of female NA 
members in this debate as especially important.  The NA was 
also discussing improvements to the Labor Law to better 
protect the rights and interests of women in Laos.  One issue 
being discussed was amending the law so that women would be 
allowed to work until age 60, rather than the present age 55 
limit, as long as they are in good physical and mental health 
and are willing to continue to work, although the earlier 
retirement option would still be available. 
 
¶15. (SBU) Dr. Thongphan Chanthalanonm, Chair of the NA,s 
Women,s Parliamentary Caucus (WPC), told Representative 
McCollum the WPC was established by the NA in 2002.  Its 
focus is gender mainstreaming, studying the rights and 
benefits of children, and improving the roles of female 
parliamentarians.  The WPC also helps with oversight of 
social and economic development with a focus on more 
participation from females.  She reiterated that female NA 
members have played a big role in NA debates on laws on 
protecting both women and children.  Dr. Thongphan pointed 
out that the NA has received international assistance to help 
raise the role of female NA members.  (Note: this includes a 
program from the Asia Foundation that is partially 
USG-funded.) 
 
¶16. (SBU) Representative McCollum emphasized that female 
legislators "all take our jobs seriously but never forget 
that we are mothers."  Mentioning female parliamentarians she 
has met all over the world, Representative McCollum pointed 
out all are strong on defense and understand finance, but 
they remind their governments by their presence that "to have 
a strong country you need strong families." 
 
¶17. (SBU) Representative McCollum affirmed to her NA 
interlocutors that she looked forward to working with them on 
women's and children's issues, health care, and education. 
She mentioned she had seen an excellent school with very 
bright children during her visit to Xiang Khouang Province 
and described the lesson plan on UXO as "outstanding." 
Representative McCollum said that opportunities for student 
exchanges would enrich our bilateral relations. 
 
... Health Care 
--------------- 
¶18. (SBU) Representative McCollum said she also wants to work 
with other parliamentarians on global health issues as part 
of meeting UN Millennium Development Goals.  Among these, 
maternal and child health is a priority.  Women legislators 
must do all they can for safer childbirths; "a family that 
 
loses its mother loses its heart" (as well as a strong arm 
for carrying water and firewood).  Representative McCollum 
pointed out she works with NGOs that train women in various 
countries at the village level on simple interventions which 
can save women's lives; then the NGO departs, and the women 
take charge.  She also told the NA members that she sees 
opportunities for our governments to work on training for 
doctors.  As she had outlined for Dr. Koukeo in the morning, 
Representative McCollum highlighted the great expertise of 
medical doctors attached to our Defense Department in dealing 
with the heartbreaking injuries caused by UXO.  She added, 
however, that this would not change our commitment to help 
Laos remove and destroy UXO.  Madame Pany thanked 
Representative McCollum for her concern, noting she was 
taking care of five children of her own niece and nephew who 
were killed by UXO while trying to till a new field in Xiang 
Khouang.  Madame Pany expressed hope the House of 
Representatives would encourage the USG to increase UXO 
funding. 
 
... The 26 Children 
------------------- 
¶19. (SBU) Representative McCollum pressed Madame Pany about 
resolution of the case of the 26 Hmong children (detained in 
Laos since being irregularly deported by local Thai 
authorities in December 2005), noting that she understood 
very intense negotiations were underway to help resolve the 
case.  Cases such as this cause difficulty when the U.S. 
relationship with Laos is debated in the Congress, she noted. 
 Madame Pany responded that the Lao President had written to 
the UN Secretary General (in June 2006 saying that the GOL, 
in essence, had no information on the location of the 
children).  If the Thais had sent the children to Laos, "we 
were unaware" she claimed.  Madame Pany went on to say "we 
continue to cooperate with the Thai Parliament to resolve the 
issue."  She concluded by adding that they are urging the 
Thai government to provide detailed information to the GOL 
including a list of the children, where they were sent from, 
and who sent them.  "We wait for a response," she asserted. 
 
... ICRC 
-------- 
¶20. (SBU) Representative McCollum cited the GOL's program to 
resettle Hmong people (including insurgents who have 
surrendered to the GOL and some recently returned from 
Thailand).  Even though there have been many successes, 
Representative McCollum pointed out, some people still want 
to make trouble for the GOL.  As she worked for more 
cooperation on UXO, trade, and health care, Representative 
McCollum said it would be helpful for her if the GOL were to 
find a "fair third party" such as the ICRC to work with the 
GOL to monitor the successes of the resettlement program and 
"put rumors to rest."  Representative McCollum cited the work 
of the ICRC in bringing to light mistreatment of Iraqis held 
at the Abu Ghraib Prison, which Congress was able to bring to 
a halt, to demonstrate ICRC's fairness and neutrality. 
Madame Pany thanked Representative McCollum for her 
suggestion, noting the two sides already had good diplomatic 
and trade relations and, "once people see the real situation, 
then the rumors will be seen as wrong."  The real goal for 
Laos, she argued, is to get Laos off the list of least 
developed countries, eliminate poverty, and meet the UN 
Millennium Goals. 
 
Comment 
------- 
¶21. (C) The NA worked hard to help make Representative 
McCollum's first visit to Laos a success.  The NA helped set 
up meetings with GOL and NA officials, the NA Chief of 
Cabinet hosted lunch, and NA staff took Representative 
McCollum on a tour of Vientiane's major cultural monuments. 
The meetings with Dr. Koukeo and Madame Pany were informative 
about NA issues, and Representative McCollum has promised to 
return with a delegation of her colleagues to continue to 
develop Congress-NA relations.  Although no amount of 
international cooperation will turn Laos' legislature into a 
truly representative body, increased engagement with the U.S. 
Congress (as well as training by groups such as The Asia 
Foundation) has the potential to improve the quality of the 
NA's work, especially its oversight function. 
 
¶22. (C) One disappointment, however, was Madame Pany's 
sidestepping of both the issue of the 26 children as well as 
Representative McCollum's suggestion about a fair third party 
such as the ICRC.  Pany is a Politburo Member (and ethnic 
Hmong) and has access to the broadest range of information 
available on the 26 children.  Her unwillingness to even hint 
at the rumors of ongoing progress, especially to a Member of 
 
Congress that most Lao officials view as very pro-Laos (from 
Representative McCollum's support for the passage of Normal 
Trade Relations in 2004), appeared to be a major lost 
opportunity to project a positive image of a government 
actively seeking to resolve a year-long problem.  In 
addition, Pany's virtual dismissal of the ICRC suggestion -- 
her comment in response that when people see the situation 
themselves the rumors will stop -- apparently indicates a 
real misunderstanding at least by this Politburo Member about 
the image Laos projects abroad regarding its treatment of its 
Hmong minority. 
 
¶23. (U) Representative McCollum did not have the opportunity 
to clear this cable. 
 
 
HASLACH