VZCZCXYZ0005
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHVN #0723/01 2571046
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141046Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY VIENTIANE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1527
INFO RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 7480

UNCLAS VIENTIANE 000723 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR CA/OCS/EAP M SHOEMAKER 
DEPT FOR EAP/MLS FOR E BESTIC 
DEPT FOR DS/IP/EAP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC CASC LA
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON HMONG-AMERICANS TAKEN INTO POLICE CUSTODY IN LAOS 
 
REF: A) VIENTIANE 698 B) SWEENEY-SCHWARTZ EMAIL OF 09/14/2007 
 
The contents of this telegram are SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED, please 
protect accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Post continues to investigate the whereabouts of 
the three Hmong Americans who were taken into police custody on 
August 25.  Both Lao and Thai immigration authorities have records 
indicating that the Americans departed Laos on August 29.  During a 
trip to Xiengkhouang Province September 10-12, Conoff and RSO met 
with the provincial police commander and interviewed the owner and 
staff of the guesthouse where the men were taken into custody.  The 
guesthouse staff positively identified the three men and provided 
details of their arrest.  The police commander and other provincial 
security officials consistently denied that any U.S. citizens were 
arrested, while claiming a drug bust had occurred in Xiengkhouang on 
August 25 in which some Lao Hmong men were arrested.  During a 
routine prison visit in Vientiane, a U.S. citizen prisoner stated 
that three Hmong-American men had arrived at the prison on August 26 
and left on August 28.  Post continues to receive inquiries from 
next of kin, the press, and Congressional offices asking for 
updates.  END SUMMARY. 
 
Inquiry on Events in Xieng Khouang 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU)  On September 10, Conoff, RSO and Consular LES met with the 
owner and two employees of the Number 5 Guesthouse in Phonesavanh, 
Xiengkhoung Province.  The guesthouse, where the three men were 
reported to have stayed, is run by a Lao Hmong family and caters to 
ethnic Hmong.  Both of the employees, one of whom is the guesthouse 
owner's son, positively identified photos of the three men.  The 
employees stated that the three men checked into the guesthouse on 
August 23.  After they checked out on August 25, a silver Toyota van 
pulled up and the men got in.  As the van was pulling out of the 
front gate of the guesthouse compound, it was surrounded by unmarked 
vehicles and men in civilian clothes who took the men away.  The son 
of the guesthouse owner went out to see what was going on and was 
then taken into custody.  He was later taken in a separate vehicle 
to the Xiengkhouang Ministry of Public Security (MOPS) compound a 
short distance away and held for two days.  He stated he never saw 
the Hmong Americans in the jail.  The son was released on August 27 
after being cleared of any charges.  He said he was never told why 
he was detained.  The employees said that they use a registration 
book to record the names and passport numbers of any foreigners who 
stay at the guesthouse.  They stated that they recorded the name and 
passport number of Trillion Yunhaison after he checked in with the 
other two U.S. citizens and paid for three rooms for the group. 
They said the police came and took the registration book from the 
guesthouse on August 25 after the three Hmong-Americans were taken 
into custody.  The guesthouse owner said he had subsequently asked 
for it back but it had not yet been returned. 
 
¶3. (SBU)  In a meeting on September 11, the Commander of MOPS for 
Xiengkhouang Province refused to acknowledge that any U.S. citizens 
had been taken into custody and proceeded to explain that on August 
25 a drug raid took place in Phonesavanh against known opium and 
methamphetamine users and dealers.  He said that some had escaped 
and fled to the No. 5 guesthouse, where they were arrested.  When 
Conoff showed him photos of the U.S. citizens, he claimed none of 
them were among those arrested. (Note: Post's DEA office reports 
that none of their contacts in Xiengkhouang had heard of any recent 
drug arrests in the province.  End note.)  When asked if Conoff 
could see the guesthouse registration book, the Commander stated 
that it was being held by the Xiengkhouang Tourist Police and that 
he would contact that office the next day to obtain it.  When Conoff 
returned to his office the next day, the Commander's secretary 
stated he was in a meeting and that the registration book was with 
the guesthouse.  The rest of the morning was spent talking with MOPS 
officials from the Tourist Police and the Xiengkhouang Immigration 
office, all of whom stated that they had the registration book at 
some time recently but could either not locate it or claimed it had 
been returned to the guesthouse.  Embassy officers repeatedly asked 
MOPS officials to call the guesthouse to confirm that they indeed 
did not have the missing book. In the end, the book was never seen 
by Embassy officers. 
 
Travel Records 
-------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) On September 12, Lao Immigration officials at the Thai-Lao 
Friendship Bridge just outside Vientiane told the Consular Section 
that all three men had departed Laos for Nongkhai, Thailand on 
August 29. Post has requested official written confirmation of these 
departures, including a printout of the departure records, and has 
requested permission to see the originals.  On September 14, the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) informed the embassy by phone that 
an official written reply had been sent via diplomatic note to the 
Embassy, but the Embassy had not received it by close of business 
 
 
¶5. (SBU)  On September 13, Thai Immigration officials in Nongkhai, 
at the request of Embassy Bangkok, provided copies of arrival cards 
for the three men stamped August 29.  Vientiane has provided NOK and 
other biodata information to ACS Bangkok for assistance in opening 
welfare/whereabouts cases for the three men. 
 
¶6. (SBU)  Vientiane's Consular Section confirmed that neither Hakit 
nor Congshineng Yang boarded their scheduled flights from Vientiane 
to Bangkok, reserved for September 8 or their on-going flights from 
Bangkok to Minneapolis for September 9.  RSO confirmed with DS that 
none of the three have used their passports to enter the U.S. since 
their last departure.  The spouse of Hakit Yang, Ms. Sheng Xiong, 
told the Consular Chief on September 13 that Hakit called her nearly 
every day from his arrival in Laos on July 12 until August 24, the 
last day that she talked with him.  She stated the other two men had 
much less frequent phone contact with their relatives in Minnesota. 
She repeated that neither she nor any other relatives that she knows 
have been contacted by any of them since they were taken into 
custody. 
 
American Prisoner Reports Seeing Three Hmong-Americans 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶7. (SBU)  During a routine visit to Phon Tong prison in Vientiane, 
where two U.S. citizen prisoners are detained, one of the prisoners 
asked about "the three Hmong Americans".  Without stating names, the 
prisoner then said that the three had arrived at the prison on 
August 26 accompanied by police.  They were then moved out of the 
prison by what he claimed were Army personnel on August 28, 
apparently in a very sudden fashion while the three were in the 
middle of bathing.  They were taken out of the prison wearing only 
shorts and shoes, blindfolded, and put in the back of a vehicle.  He 
further stated that he had learned that they were arrested with 
three to four Lao Hmong men, reportedly for "doing something in the 
jungle".  The prisoner stated that they were in good condition and 
had not been tortured.  Because the prison warden was present in the 
room with a prison guard, the visiting Conoff did not show the 
photos of the three men to the prisoner or press for more 
information out of concern for the safety of the prisoner. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Post will continue to investigate the reported departure of 
these three men by asking for complete immigration records from the 
Lao and coordinate with Embassy Bangkok in their efforts to find the 
three men in Thailand.  Post will refer any further press inquiries 
to CA. 
 
HUSO