Thongsouk Saysangkhi
Encyclopedia
Thongsouk Saysangkhi was a political prisoner
and a former deputy minister of science and technology in the Lao People's Revolutionary Party
, a communist political party that has governed Laos
since 1975.
In 1990, he was arrested after resigning from the Government and the Party and calling for political and economic change. Also arrested with him were Latsami Khamphoui and Feng Sakchittapong. All three were held without trial for two years, before being sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment.
In his resignation letter to Kaysone Phomvihan, then general sectary of the party's central execuitive committee and head of state, Thongsouk Saysangkhi said, "I oppose the dictatorial power of personal cliques, which are precisely what the Party and the State apparat are; and I am demanding the holding of free elections, the putting into practice of popular liberties and democracy, and the existence of democratic institutions opposed to the maintenance of a system of communist feudalism and Politburo dynastism. ... The history of humankind has now confirmed that a single-party system relying exclusively on coercion and deception is incapable of ever bringing prosperity and happiness to our people."
According to Amnesty International
, Thongsouk Saysangkhi died in prison in February 1998. Amnesty says it was alerted to the poor prison conditions and Thongsouk Saysangkhi's poor state of health, but was told by Lao authorities that all three were well.
Political prisoner
According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, a political prisoner is ‘someone who is in prison because they have opposed or criticized the government of their own country’....
and a former deputy minister of science and technology in the Lao People's Revolutionary Party
Lao People's Revolutionary Party
The Lao People's Revolutionary Party is a communist political party that has governed Laos since 1975. The policy-making organs are the politburo and the central committee. A party congress, which elects members to the politburo and central committee, is held every five years...
, a communist political party that has governed Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
since 1975.
In 1990, he was arrested after resigning from the Government and the Party and calling for political and economic change. Also arrested with him were Latsami Khamphoui and Feng Sakchittapong. All three were held without trial for two years, before being sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment.
In his resignation letter to Kaysone Phomvihan, then general sectary of the party's central execuitive committee and head of state, Thongsouk Saysangkhi said, "I oppose the dictatorial power of personal cliques, which are precisely what the Party and the State apparat are; and I am demanding the holding of free elections, the putting into practice of popular liberties and democracy, and the existence of democratic institutions opposed to the maintenance of a system of communist feudalism and Politburo dynastism. ... The history of humankind has now confirmed that a single-party system relying exclusively on coercion and deception is incapable of ever bringing prosperity and happiness to our people."
According to Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
, Thongsouk Saysangkhi died in prison in February 1998. Amnesty says it was alerted to the poor prison conditions and Thongsouk Saysangkhi's poor state of health, but was told by Lao authorities that all three were well.