By James Fish
Special to The Epoch Times
Delegates from several Asian and Cuban human rights, social justice, and pro-democracy organizations met in a Miami hotel conference room on October 20 for an historic forum discussing a common problem: totalitarian communist regimes oppressing the populations of those nations.
The meeting of the Southeast Asian Democracy League, hosted by the Cuban Liberty Council, marked the first time that the four largest Cuban expatriate organizations got together; and also the first time that the Cuban groups coordinated with groups from other nations, to support a common cause: the removal of all militarily-imposed totalitarian communist dictatorships and the return to liberty and self-determination for all peoples around the world.
The Southeast Asia Democracy League includes the Bangladesh Democracy League, the Sam Rainsy Party from Cambodia, the Force of Vietnamese People for Freedom and Democracy, and the Government of Laos Abroad. All of these groups represent nations that have been conquered by communist or totalitarian regimes.
The Cuban Liberty Council is a U.S.-based organization committed to promoting liberty and democracy in Cuba. Founded by Cuban expatriates, many of who escaped from Castro's prisons and made the perilous crossing to America to save their own lives, the CLC was established in 2001 to support and promote the efforts of the Cuban exile community and also opposition parties inside Cuba.
Joining the CLC were the Municipios de Cuba en el Exilio, the Cuban Political Prisoners Council, and the Junta Patriotica Cubana. These four organizations represent the majority of Cubans that wish to see Cuba freed from Communism.
By combining their resources, knowledge, and experience, the Cuban groups and the Southeast Asia Democracy League hope to increase their effectiveness in all aspects of their shared journey towards a world free of the scourge of communism.
Tales of Persecution
After introductions, the various groups explained their efforts and missions. Each speaker described the suffering inflicted upon his or her nation by communist regimes.
Dr. Charles Chang, Prime Minister of the Government of Laos abroad (GOAL) described how the communist Pathet Lao took over Laos in 1975. Because the United States recruited Lao males, particularly the Hmong people, to fight against communism during the Vietnam War, the Pathet Lao targeted the Hmong for elimination. The United Nations has accepted that the persecution of the Hmong qualifies as genocide. Amnesty International has stated that the atrocities committed by the Lao military involving Hmong children constitute war crimes.
Dr. Chang explained that Vietnam, also a communist state, is cooperating with the Lao regime in hunting down and killing Hmong in Laos. About 8000 Hmong escaped to Thailand, where they live in refugee camps. Many of these people have been denied refugee status, which is their right under U.N. laws, and have been repatriated to Laos, where they face more persecution.
Dr. Muhammed Chowdhurry, President of the Bangladesh Democracy League, explained that while the totalitarian dictatorship that rules Bangladesh is not communist, the repression suffered by the Bangladeshi people is equally unjust. This common suffering led the Bangladesh Democracy League to join forces with the Force of Vietnamese People for Freedom and Democracy, and then to join the Southeast Asia Democracy League.
According to Dr. Chowdhurry, in Bangladesh the military dictatorship operates behind the scenes, arresting dissidents and terrorizing the Bangladeshi people, while claiming to be merely ensuring the stability of the country until a civilian government can form. However, the popular political leaders are all in jail, making free and fair elections impossible.
Dr. Chowdhurry said he was confident that by combining forces these organizations would speed the day when the oppressed people of the world could enjoy liberty, human rights, and justice.
The Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong was invited to the meeting to describe some of the human rights violations perpetrated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on Falun Gong practitioners in China. As the CIPFG spokesperson explained, one of CIPFG's primary missions is publicizing the CCP's practice of removing organs from living Falun Gong practitioners to supply the CCP's lucrative transplant industry. Former Canadian Secretary of State David Kilgour and human rights lawyer David Matas released a comprehensive report indicating that more than 40,000 Falun Gong practitioners have been killed to supply organs for transplant.
Throughout the eight-year-long persecution, the CCP has arrested, imprisoned and tortured millions of Falun Gong practitioners The CCP has also flooded China and the rest of the world with propaganda justifying its brutal behavior. Meanwhile, the CCP persecutes pro-democracy groups, Muslims, Christians, labor organizers, and others.
CIPFG has started a Human Rights Torch Relay, an international campaign to bring an end to all human rights abuses against people in China while highlighting the persecution of Falun Gong, capitalizing on the attention China has attracted by hosting the 2008 Olympic Games.
The CIPFG spokesperson explained that the CCP is the largest communist dictatorship in the world; when it falls, many other repressive and violent regimes that depend on its support will also fall.
Cuba has suffered under communist rule for 48 years. Political activity other than that supporting the communist regime is an arrestable offense, and Cuban prisons are full of prisoners of conscience serving indeterminate sentences. The Cuban Political Prisoners Council sent three delegates who, between them, had spent sixty years in prisons.
CLC publications show that the Cuban regime of the Castro brothers has, in the fashion of totalitarian dictators everywhere, kept the people poor while increasing their own wealth. While most Cubans have little health care, Cuba boasts one of the finest healthcare systems in the world—available to Party leaders and tourists only. Cubans have no right of political self-determination nor do they have free enterprise. Cuba has no free press, no freedom of belief, and no right to assemble; in the eyes of the government, the Cuban people exist only to support the communist leadership.
While maintaining its stranglehold on Cuba, the Castro regime also uses spies to harass Cuban expatriates who work for their homeland, and also to interfere with U.S. elected officials and the U.S. military.
Speaking on behalf of the assembled Cuban human rights and liberation groups, CLC Director Diego Suárez said, "Together, we will obtain democracy and freedom for all the countries here represented."
The Force of Vietnamese People for Democracy existed underground for many years, and was formally incorporated in 2004. It is pledged to bring freedom and democracy to Vietnam through peaceful means. This group's delegates included Montagnards, an ethnic minority that helped the United States during the Vietnam War and is now persecuted by the Vietnam Communist Party (VCP.)
Spokesperson Terri Vu explained that while Vietnam shows an annual 8 percent growth in GDP, it is among the poorest nations in the world because the VCP takes all the profits for itself. She spoke of young girls who did not dare dream of marrying the man of their choice, because so many girls are sold into slavery and human trafficking rings. Vietnam has no religious freedom, no free press, and no political freedom.
Combining Forces to Vanquish Injustice
A theme that ran through the meeting was that each group shared common problems, and that each group brought manpower, experience, wisdom, and innovations that, if combined, could aid all the other groups in achieving their shared goal of eliminating communist and totalitarian dictatorships and the associated crimes against humanity which plague their various homelands.
While some groups had experience in establishing NGOs, or lobbying the United Nations, others were well versed in political lobbying; other groups had experience in staging large public events. The various groups realized that their campaigns were best waged on all of these fronts; that diplomatic and political pressure, media attention, and popular opinion all needed to be mobilized against the communist dictatorships that are violating the human rights of so many millions, and that cooperation and sharing resources could lead to new ideas, new methods, and a perfection of existing efforts that would ultimately lead to success: the peaceful transition from brutal totalitarian dictatorship to free and open societies wherein human rights could flourish.
The meeting of the Southeast Asian Democracy League, hosted by the Cuban Liberty Council, marked the first time that the four largest Cuban expatriate organizations got together; and also the first time that the Cuban groups coordinated with groups from other nations, to support a common cause: the removal of all militarily-imposed totalitarian communist dictatorships and the return to liberty and self-determination for all peoples around the world.
The Southeast Asia Democracy League includes the Bangladesh Democracy League, the Sam Rainsy Party from Cambodia, the Force of Vietnamese People for Freedom and Democracy, and the Government of Laos Abroad. All of these groups represent nations that have been conquered by communist or totalitarian regimes.
The Cuban Liberty Council is a U.S.-based organization committed to promoting liberty and democracy in Cuba. Founded by Cuban expatriates, many of who escaped from Castro's prisons and made the perilous crossing to America to save their own lives, the CLC was established in 2001 to support and promote the efforts of the Cuban exile community and also opposition parties inside Cuba.
Joining the CLC were the Municipios de Cuba en el Exilio, the Cuban Political Prisoners Council, and the Junta Patriotica Cubana. These four organizations represent the majority of Cubans that wish to see Cuba freed from Communism.
By combining their resources, knowledge, and experience, the Cuban groups and the Southeast Asia Democracy League hope to increase their effectiveness in all aspects of their shared journey towards a world free of the scourge of communism.
Tales of Persecution
After introductions, the various groups explained their efforts and missions. Each speaker described the suffering inflicted upon his or her nation by communist regimes.
Dr. Charles Chang, Prime Minister of the Government of Laos abroad (GOAL) described how the communist Pathet Lao took over Laos in 1975. Because the United States recruited Lao males, particularly the Hmong people, to fight against communism during the Vietnam War, the Pathet Lao targeted the Hmong for elimination. The United Nations has accepted that the persecution of the Hmong qualifies as genocide. Amnesty International has stated that the atrocities committed by the Lao military involving Hmong children constitute war crimes.
Dr. Chang explained that Vietnam, also a communist state, is cooperating with the Lao regime in hunting down and killing Hmong in Laos. About 8000 Hmong escaped to Thailand, where they live in refugee camps. Many of these people have been denied refugee status, which is their right under U.N. laws, and have been repatriated to Laos, where they face more persecution.
Dr. Muhammed Chowdhurry, President of the Bangladesh Democracy League, explained that while the totalitarian dictatorship that rules Bangladesh is not communist, the repression suffered by the Bangladeshi people is equally unjust. This common suffering led the Bangladesh Democracy League to join forces with the Force of Vietnamese People for Freedom and Democracy, and then to join the Southeast Asia Democracy League.
According to Dr. Chowdhurry, in Bangladesh the military dictatorship operates behind the scenes, arresting dissidents and terrorizing the Bangladeshi people, while claiming to be merely ensuring the stability of the country until a civilian government can form. However, the popular political leaders are all in jail, making free and fair elections impossible.
Dr. Chowdhurry said he was confident that by combining forces these organizations would speed the day when the oppressed people of the world could enjoy liberty, human rights, and justice.
The Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong was invited to the meeting to describe some of the human rights violations perpetrated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on Falun Gong practitioners in China. As the CIPFG spokesperson explained, one of CIPFG's primary missions is publicizing the CCP's practice of removing organs from living Falun Gong practitioners to supply the CCP's lucrative transplant industry. Former Canadian Secretary of State David Kilgour and human rights lawyer David Matas released a comprehensive report indicating that more than 40,000 Falun Gong practitioners have been killed to supply organs for transplant.
Throughout the eight-year-long persecution, the CCP has arrested, imprisoned and tortured millions of Falun Gong practitioners The CCP has also flooded China and the rest of the world with propaganda justifying its brutal behavior. Meanwhile, the CCP persecutes pro-democracy groups, Muslims, Christians, labor organizers, and others.
CIPFG has started a Human Rights Torch Relay, an international campaign to bring an end to all human rights abuses against people in China while highlighting the persecution of Falun Gong, capitalizing on the attention China has attracted by hosting the 2008 Olympic Games.
The CIPFG spokesperson explained that the CCP is the largest communist dictatorship in the world; when it falls, many other repressive and violent regimes that depend on its support will also fall.
Cuba has suffered under communist rule for 48 years. Political activity other than that supporting the communist regime is an arrestable offense, and Cuban prisons are full of prisoners of conscience serving indeterminate sentences. The Cuban Political Prisoners Council sent three delegates who, between them, had spent sixty years in prisons.
CLC publications show that the Cuban regime of the Castro brothers has, in the fashion of totalitarian dictators everywhere, kept the people poor while increasing their own wealth. While most Cubans have little health care, Cuba boasts one of the finest healthcare systems in the world—available to Party leaders and tourists only. Cubans have no right of political self-determination nor do they have free enterprise. Cuba has no free press, no freedom of belief, and no right to assemble; in the eyes of the government, the Cuban people exist only to support the communist leadership.
While maintaining its stranglehold on Cuba, the Castro regime also uses spies to harass Cuban expatriates who work for their homeland, and also to interfere with U.S. elected officials and the U.S. military.
Speaking on behalf of the assembled Cuban human rights and liberation groups, CLC Director Diego Suárez said, "Together, we will obtain democracy and freedom for all the countries here represented."
The Force of Vietnamese People for Democracy existed underground for many years, and was formally incorporated in 2004. It is pledged to bring freedom and democracy to Vietnam through peaceful means. This group's delegates included Montagnards, an ethnic minority that helped the United States during the Vietnam War and is now persecuted by the Vietnam Communist Party (VCP.)
Spokesperson Terri Vu explained that while Vietnam shows an annual 8 percent growth in GDP, it is among the poorest nations in the world because the VCP takes all the profits for itself. She spoke of young girls who did not dare dream of marrying the man of their choice, because so many girls are sold into slavery and human trafficking rings. Vietnam has no religious freedom, no free press, and no political freedom.
Combining Forces to Vanquish Injustice
A theme that ran through the meeting was that each group shared common problems, and that each group brought manpower, experience, wisdom, and innovations that, if combined, could aid all the other groups in achieving their shared goal of eliminating communist and totalitarian dictatorships and the associated crimes against humanity which plague their various homelands.
While some groups had experience in establishing NGOs, or lobbying the United Nations, others were well versed in political lobbying; other groups had experience in staging large public events. The various groups realized that their campaigns were best waged on all of these fronts; that diplomatic and political pressure, media attention, and popular opinion all needed to be mobilized against the communist dictatorships that are violating the human rights of so many millions, and that cooperation and sharing resources could lead to new ideas, new methods, and a perfection of existing efforts that would ultimately lead to success: the peaceful transition from brutal totalitarian dictatorship to free and open societies wherein human rights could flourish.
8 comments:
Keep on fantasizing, morons.
Please invite ah Viet and ah Hun Sen to this meeting,because ah fake democracy in Cambodia,is
cause people walk behind it neighboring.
And what make you think that this meet is a true blue democracy?
Without the U.S and its western allies intervene, the oppression by communist nations will never stopped.
Communism is a shadow and a lie. Only Fedel Castro & Mr. Ho Jinto and his close vampire circles are allowed to enjoy life. The rest of other people can just go on busting their rear ends from dawn to dust at the farms or factories until they die and never going to see anything different. They can just wait for their 4th generation may be, if it ever going to happen and those suckers know they can do it to you. Why? because they got guns and you don't. That is Communist.
And which communist nation/s had the US et al stopped its oppression, 8:38?
East Germany & the Soviet Union Stupid!
No, because Cambodia is much freer than both E Gemany and Russia, fool.
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