110 HRES 1089 IH: Calling on the government of Vietnam to U.S. House of Representatives 2008-04-08 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

IV 110th CONGRESS 2d Session H. RES. 1089 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 8, 2008 Ms. Loretta Sanchez of California (for herself and Ms. Zoe Lofgren of California) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs RESOLUTION Calling on the government of Vietnam to release from prison, end the detention without trial, and cease the harassment and house arrest of the people who signed the Manifesto on Freedom and Democracy for Vietnam, and expressing the sense of Congress that the President should encourage Vietnam to release such people from prison and to direct the Secretary of State to establish a Countries of Particular Concern list to condemn countries like Vietnam, which engage in particularly severe violations of human rights.

Whereas on April 8, 2006, 118 Vietnamese citizens signed a Manifesto on Freedom and Democracy for Vietnam, with the objective to reestablish fundamental rights of the people of Vietnam, sacred rights of the Vietnamese nation [which] have been brutally trampled upon the moment the communist government was installed in Vietnam; Whereas these 118 Vietnamese citizens and the thousands who have subsequently signed the Manifesto are referred to as the Bloc 8406, based on date the Manifesto was signed, on the eighth day of April in the year 2006; Whereas the Manifesto calls on those inside and outside Vietnam to support peaceful, non-violent action to bring democracy and basic human rights to the Vietnamese people; Whereas 13 of these brave supporters of democracy have since been sentenced to a total of 68 years in prison for signing the Manifesto; Whereas at least 10 of these democracy advocates have since been detained by the Government of Vietnam for 18 months or more, for signing their names to the Manifesto; Whereas at least five other signers of the peaceful, non-violent Manifesto have been harassed and placed under house arrest by the Government of Vietnam; and Whereas in addition to the signers of the Manifesto, the Government of Vietnam has continued to harass, arrest, and detain peaceful, non-violent supporters of democracy, including United States citizens Cong Thanh Do, Truong Van Ba, Nguyen Quoc Quan, and to unlawfully arrest United States citizens traveling to Vietnam, including Le Van Phan, and Nguyen Thi Thinh: Now, therefore, be it

That (1)the House of Representatives— (A)calls on the government of Vietnam to release those imprisoned for signing the Manifesto on Freedom and Democracy for Vietnam, including— (i)Father Nguyen Van Ly, sentenced to 8 years; (ii)Nguyen Phong, sentenced to 6 years; (iii)Nguyen Binh Thanh, sentenced to 5 years; (iv)Nguyen Bac Truyen, jurist, sentenced to 4 years; (v)Le Nguyen Sang, medical doctor, sentenced to 5 years; (vi)Huynh Nguyen Dao, journalist, sentenced to 3 years; (vii)Nguyen Van Dai, lawyer, sentenced to 5 years; (viii)Le Thi Cong Nhan, lawyer, sentenced to 4 years; (ix)Tran Quoc Hien, jurist, sentenced to 5 years; (x)Le Van Soc, Hoa Hao Buddhist, sentenced to 6 years; (xi)Hang Tan Phat, sentenced to 6 years; (xii)Truong Quoc Huy, freelance journalist, sentenced to 6 years; and (xiii)Truong Minh Duc, sentenced to 5 years; (B)urges the Government of Vietnam to end its detention of those who are being held without a trial, for their signature to the Manifesto, including— (i)Vu Hoang Hai; (ii)Nguyen Ngoc Quang; (iii)Pham Ba Hai; (iv)Nguyen Tan Hoanh (aka Doan Huu Chuong); (v)Tran Thi Le Hang; (vi)Doan Van Dien; (vii)Le Ba Triet; (viii)Ho Thi Bich Khuong; (ix)Vu Van Hung; and (x)Dang Hung; and (C)insists that the Government of Vietnam cease harassment and house arrest of those non-violent democracy advocates who signed the Manifesto, including— (i)Bui Kim Thanh, jurist; (ii)Do Nam Hai, co-founder of Bloc 8406; (iii)Tran Khai Thanh Thuy, novelist; (iv)Hong Trung, Seventh-day Adventist pastor; (v)Nguyen Hong Quang, Mennonite pastor; and (vi)Pham Ngoc Thach, Mennonite evangelist; and (2)it is the sense of the House of Representatives that— (A)the members of the Bloc 8406 should be commended for their selfless, peaceful efforts, to bring democracy and human rights to the Vietnamese people; (B)the President should request that the Government of Vietnam release all of these non-violent, peaceful supporters of Democracy, including United States citizen Dr. Nguyen Quoc Quan, who has been held without charges in Vietnam since November 17, 2007; and (C)the President should direct the Secretary of State to establish a Countries of Particular Concern list to condemn countries like Vietnam, which engage in particularly severe violations of human rights, parallel in structure to the Countries of Particular Concern list for countries with particularly severe violations of religious freedom, as mandated under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6401 et seq.).