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It was the last thing Thierry Falise and
Vincent Reynaud would ever expect to
happen on their return trip out of the jungle
in Northern Laos where they had spent a
couple of weeks exploring the fate of the
Hmong ethnic minority. They were arres-
ted on 4 June 2003, along with their Hmong-
origin American translator, following a
night incident between their Hmong armed
escort and Laotian militia in which a
Laotian militiaman was shot dead.
Based in Bangkok, the two were
journalists embarking on a trip to Laos in
search of truth about the Hmong in
Xiengkhouang province, which was one of
the Hmong outposts resisting the Laotian
communist government.
The Hmong in Laos was known as
an ethnic minority whom the Laotian
government had been trying to deny their
existence. This denial happened for a rea-
son.
In the 1960s during the Vietnam
War, a Hmong troop led by a young Hmong
general named Vang Pao sided with the
U.S. to fight communism in Laos. They set
up a secret army to help American pilots
and disrupt North Vietnamese supplies as
well as troop movements. Nearly half of
40,000 Hmong fighters were believed to
have sacrificed their lives in this war until
the Paris ceasefire agreement was signed in
1973. The agreement also signaled an end
Hmong
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of U.S. aid to the local warriors. Without the U.S. support, the Hmong
were left to face repression campaigns by the communist Pathet Lao
government when they took over the country.
Whilst a lot of Hmongs fled to live in exile in the U.S., many
were left behind, hoping against hope that American saviors would
one day come and rescue them. According to the trip reported by
Thierry and Vincent, the Hmong people, descendants of brave anti-
communist fighters, nowadays live under ghastly conditions, trapped in
a narrow swath of jungle, with all avenues of escape blocked by either
militia patrols or antipersonnel mines.
After the arrest, the two foreign reporters spent five weeks in
three different jails. Meanwhile, diplomatic attempts to secure their
release and international solidarity campaigns condemning human
rights violation in Laos were taking shape and spreading throughout
the world.
Provided with a pen and paper, Thierry spent time in the pri-
sons drawing sketches of the trip and the Hmong people, inspired by
his vivid memory of the hardship and discrimination faced by the
Hmong.
Twenty-six days after their arrest, a two-hour trial was con-
ducted with no foreign media participation and limited attendance of
diplomats allowed. They were sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment
for obstruction of the Lao authorities’ work and possession of explosives,
drugs and weapons of war.
However, thanks to the unprecedented international human
rights campaign triggered by this incident and launched by their col-
leagues, relatives and friends, they were freed nine days later. Allowed
to be released with them were the notes Thierry wrote during the trip,
whereas the 41 roll of slides containing real photos of the Hmong were
confiscated. Upon his return, he redrew the sketches, hoping that
along with the story, they could tell some truth of the ill-fated Hmong
hill tribe in Laos_the truth that could, otherwise, be hidden and long
forgotten.
Story and Illustrations:
Thierry Falise
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