(Ten)

                                                                                                (Dia-chi)

                                                                                                (So DT)

(Ten thanh pho), April XX, 2007

Secretary Condoleezza Rice

The State Department

2201 C Street, N.W.

Washington, DC 20520

Dear Ms. Secretary:

We are writing you to support recent calls in Congress for a revision of the U.S. policy on human rights in regard to Vietnam, to wit:

1) Senators John F. Kerry’s and Edward M. Kennedy’s common letter addressed to you on April 9, 2007 pointing to the shocking treatment reserved for those who did nothing more than exercising their right to freedom of expression in Vietnam (witness Father Nguyen Van Ly’s trial of March 30 in Hue and the arrest of human rights lawyers Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan).

2) The letter of April 12 signed by Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Senator John McCain and Chairman Vin Weber of NED, and sent to Vietnam’s President Nguyen Minh Triet calling for the immediate release of Lawyer Le Quoc Quan, a NED Reagan-Fascell fellow, arrested four days after his return to Vietnam.

3) Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren’s letter of April 9, also addressed to you, asking that Vietnam be put back on the CPC (Countries of Particular Concern) List because of its blatant repression of various religious groups.

4) House Resolution 243, introduced by Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), which was overwhelmingly approved on April 19 by House Foreign Affairs Committee, calling for major improvements in Vietnam’s human rights record.

The above calls show that there is complete bi-partisan agreement in Congress regarding the crucial need to send a strong message to Hanoi that it cannot keep on reneging on its commitments, international and bilateral, to respect human rights, especially after it has joined WTO.  With such strong backing, we believe that a clear message from you to Hanoi in view of what has been described as “the worst wave of repression in years” (HRW) could be most effective.  We would like therefore to plead that you deliver an unequivocal message to Hanoi that the U.S. no longer tolerates blatant floutings of international human rights norms by Hanoi.  Thank you very much for your concern.

Sincerely yours,

(Ghi ro ten minh duoi chu ky)