Several St. Paul families are asking President Obama to demand the release of three Hmong-American men they say have been falsely imprisoned in Laos for nearly four years. A Washington D.C.- based human rights group called the Center for Public Policy Analysis, is also asking for the U.S. State Department to engage in high level talks with the Laotian government. The center's director, Phillip Smith, says the men traveled to Laos in 2007 to visit and explore investment opportunities. Smith says according to multiple sources, including some inside the Lao government, the men were arrested without being charged and imprisoned.