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For Immediate Release
Contact: Dan Scandling
(202) 225-5136
WOLF RAISES CONCERNS
ABOUT GROWING HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN VIETNAM
Washington, D.C. ? Citing several recent arrests and assaults
carried out by the government of Vietnam against the Vietnamese people, Rep. Frank
Wolf (R-VA) has written Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to express his
concern about growing human rights abuses in Vietnam.
Wolf, the ranking Republican on the House State-Foreign Operations
Appropriations subcommittee, wrote in a three-page letter dated April 18 that
Vietnamese-American s in his district and across the country are
"angered and distressed by what they perceive as a new and aggressive
plan of the Hanoi government to reverse the progress of human rights in Vietnam."
He told Rice that the State Department should consider cancelling the planned
visit to the United States of the Vietnamese president and prime minister later this
year if the situation does not improve. He also wrote that many
Vietnamese-American s do not believe U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Michael
Marine and his staff are doing enough to stop the abuses.
"It seems to me the Vietnamese government is conducting this crackdown
on advocates of human rights and religious freedom because it believes the U.S. has no further
leverage in the region," Wolf wrote. "Now that Vietnam has been admitted to
the WTO, and met with the Holy See, they believe they can respond in this
brutal fashion to supporters of democracy and freedom and we will not
respond."
Attached is the complete text of Wolf's letter, which also is online at wolf.house.gov:
Click here to view a PDF version of the letter
April 18,
2007
The Honorable Condoleezza Rice
Secretary of State
US Department of State
2201 C St NW Ste 7276
Washington DC 20520
Dear Secretary Rice:
I am writing to express my deep concern regarding the worsening human rights
situation in Vietnam in recent months. After joining the World Trade Organization in
January 2007, the politburo of the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP) has carried out a
large-scale brutal campaign of arrest against the nascent movement for
democracy in Vietnam. Ignoring all international criticism and strenuous protests of
the Vietnamese people, inside Vietnam and abroad, the communist regime in Hanoi has shamefully pushed
ahead with its crackdown. The following events were particularly
disconcerting to me:
·
On
February
18, 2007,
the second day of the Lunar New Year, which is the most sacred time in
Vietnamese culture, the communist security forces raided Father Nguyen Van
Ly's office within the Communal Residence of the Hue Archdiocese. Father Ly
was later banished to a remote, secluded area in Hue.
·
On
March 5,
2007,
security forces in Saigon told Mrs. Bui Ngoc Yen that they had an order to arrest her
husband, Professor Nguyen Chinh Ket, who is a leading member of the Alliance for Democracy and
Human Rights in Vietnam. Professor Ket was in Europe at the time campaigning for democracy and
human rights in Vietnam.
·
On
March 8,
2007,
Reverend Nguyen Cong Chinh and his wife were brutally assaulted by security
forces of Gia Lai Province in the Central Highlands, who then arrested
Reverend Chinch on undisclosed charges.
·
Also
on March
8, 2007,
two prominent human rights activists and lawyers, Mr. Nguyen Van Dai and Ms.
Le Thi Cong Nhan, were arrested in Hanoi and were told that they would be detained for
four months as part of an undisclosed investigation.
·
On
March 9, 2007, Mr. Tran Van Hoa, a member of the People's Democracy Party in Quang
Ninh Province, and Mr. Pham Van Troi, a member of the Committee for Human
Rights in Ha Tay, were summoned by security forces and threatened with
"immeasurable consequences" if they do not stop their advocacy for
human rights in Vietnam.
·
On
March 10,
2007, Do
Nam Hai, an engineer writing under the pen name Phuong Nam and one of the
leading members of the Alliance for Democracy and Human Rights in Vietnam, was told by security
forces that he could be indicted at any time for activity against the State.
·
Also
on March
10, 2007,
state security forces also raided the home of Ms. Tran Khai Thanh Thuy, a
writer, on the grounds that she advocated for "people with
grievances" against the government. They took away two computers, two
cell phones, and hundreds of appeals that she had prepared for victims of the
government's abuses.
·
On
March 12,
2007,
lawyer Le Quoc Quan, a consultant on local governance for the World Bank,
Asian Development Bank, UNDP, and Swedish International Development Agency,
was arrested in his hometown, Nghe An, less than a week after he returned
from a fellowship at the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington, D.C. His whereabouts are
unknown at this time.
·
On
April 5,
2007,
the Vietnamese authorities in Hanoi rudely prevented Congresswoman Loretta
Sanchez (D-CA) from meeting with several dissidents' wives at a gathering
organized at the U.S. Ambassador's home. The police reportedly used very
hostile and undignified manners to intervene in the meeting.
Furthermore, the Hanoi communist regime is
still imprisoning many political dissidents and labor advocates such as
Nguyen Vu Binh, Huynh Nguyen Dao, Truong Quoc Huy, Nguyen Hoang Long, Nguyen
Tan Hoanh, Doan Huy Chuong, the religious leaders of the Unified Buddhist
Church of Vietnam, Cao Dai, Hoa Hao, and more than 350 lay people of the
Protestant churches in the Central Highland.
The Vietnamese-American s in my district, as well as all across the country,
are very angered and distressed by what they perceive as a new and aggressive
plan of the Hanoi government to reverse the progress of human rights in
Vietnam. They believe that Ambassador Marine and his staff are not doing
enough to stop these blatant violations of human rights.
It seems to me that the Vietnamese government is conducting this crackdown on
advocates of human rights and religious freedom because it believes that the U.S. has no further
leverage in the region. Now that Vietnam has been admitted to the WTO, and met with
the Holy See, they believe they can respond in this brutal fashion to
supporters of democracy and freedom and we will not respond.
I hope that you will make clear to the Vietnamese authorities that we will
not stand by while this violence and intimidation continues. I believe the
State Department should consider putting Vietnam back on the list of Countries of Particular
Concern, and perhaps also consider canceling the planned visit of the
Vietnamese president and prime minister later this year if the human rights
situation in Vietnam has not improved.
I appreciate the recent comments by Sean McCormack at Voice of America
expressing deep concern about the March 30 trial and sentencing of Father Ly.
I ask that you continue pressing these issues with the Vietnamese government,
including the need to respect the basic human rights of all Vietnamese
citizens, especially the freedom of information, freedom of expression, and
freedom of religion. The Vietnamese people should be able to choose their own
leaders through free and fair elections and to use the Internet freely
without any censures or restrictions.
I also ask that you encourage the Vietnamese authorities to release all
political prisoners and religious leaders who are currently imprisoned
because of their peaceful expression of their ideas or to fight for their
religious beliefs. Among these prisoners are Father Nguyen Van Ly, Pastors
Nguyen Cong Chinh and Hong Trung, lawyers Nguyen Van Dai, Le thi Cong Nhan,
Le Quoc Quan, Messiers Truong Quoc Huy, and Nguyen Hoang Long.
Lastly, I believe the Vietnamese-American community, a young but energetic
group comprised of more than one million citizens, should be included in
future dialogues with U.S. government officials. They know the history,
culture and values of Vietnam. They also have scrutinized the history and tactics of
communism and the communist government's habits at the negotiating table. I
sincerely believe that the history of Vietnam must inform our approach to this and all
other aspects of foreign policy, and the Vietnamese-American community is a
tremendous asset in this regard. I respectfully request that you invite a
small representation of the Vietnamese-American community to join the U.S. delegation in next
month's human rights dialogue.
Best wishes.
Sincerely,
Frank R. Wolf
Member of Congress
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