A United Nations expert will be on campus Wednesday to hear testimonies from family members of Hmong people whose graves were desecrated in Thailand, according to a press release.
The human rights hearing will be at Coffman Memorial Union Theater beginning at 9 a.m. and will also feature experts on Hmong culture and students who have been working with the grave desecration issue.
In fall 2005 in Thailand, over 900 Hmong graves were desecrated at a Buddhist monestary that formerly served as a home for Hmong refugees escaping Laos. The bodies were dismembered, bones were removed, and the remains were thrown into an open grave.
U.N. Special Rapporteur James Anaya will listen to the hearing and make recommendations to "prevent further desecration of indigenous grave sites and remedy the violations against the Hmong community.