[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1572 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1572

 Condemning and deploring the violence, threats, fines, and harassment 
  faced by the villagers of Con Dau, Da Nang, for seeking to protect 
their land, the historic cemetery, and other parish properties, and to 
  receive an equitable resolution of their property dispute, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 29, 2010

Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. Cao, and Mr. Wolf) submitted 
   the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                            Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Condemning and deploring the violence, threats, fines, and harassment 
  faced by the villagers of Con Dau, Da Nang, for seeking to protect 
their land, the historic cemetery, and other parish properties, and to 
  receive an equitable resolution of their property dispute, and for 
                            other purposes.

Whereas in May 2007, the People's Committee of Da Nang, Vietnam, announced a 
        plan to lease the land in the Hoa Xuan district area, including the 
        entire village of Con Dau, to international developers to build a resort 
        and tourist area;
Whereas the People's Committee of Da Nang announced that all residents in the 
        affected area would be required to move and that they would be 
        compensated for the land;
Whereas, on August 15, 2010, the Con Dau parish will be celebrating 85 years 
        since its establishment and 135 years since the first religious refugees 
        settled on the land;
Whereas the village of Con Dau is coterminous with a Catholic parish of the same 
        name and consists of approximately 400 Catholic households;
Whereas the village of Con Dau vigorously resisted the People's Committee of Da 
        Nang's proposal as village land including a Catholic cemetery with 
        approximately 700 tombs, a chapel within the cemetery, a parish church, 
        and most of the farm land in the parish belongs to the Catholic parish;
Whereas several generations of Catholics are buried in the village cemetery 
        which is over 100 years old and considered a national historic heritage 
        site, and the chapel in the cemetery serves as the place of worship for 
        hundreds of parishioners living near the cemetery;
Whereas the People's Committee of Da Nang ordered the relocation of the parish 
        cemetery to a mountainous area, far from any inhabitable place and 
        ordered the people of Con Dau to be relocated to another area, far 
        removed from the newly designated relocation of the cemetery;
Whereas the people of Con Dau requested that the government not relocate either 
        the parishioners or the cemetery, but rather grant permission for the 
        parishioners to move closer to their church while allowing the rice 
        fields to be included in the new resort;
Whereas the Da Nang authorities refused the petition of the parishioners and on 
        January 25, 2010, Da Nang government officials led an aggressive week 
        long campaign in Con Dau, with armed police officers and government 
        officials going from house to house to exert pressure on the 
        parishioners to sign an agreement to sell their land and move;
Whereas, on January 26, 2010, 400 Con Dau heads of household signed an appeal 
        letter to the Vietnamese central government in Hanoi, complaining about 
        the Da Nang officials' use of threats and intimidation to force 
        parishioners to sign the agreement, requesting to be relocated around 
        their church in order to continue to live in the vicinity of the 
        Catholic cemetery and practice their religion, and filing a complaint 
        regarding the unjust compensation the People's Committee of Da Nang 
        initially offered in exchange for village land;
Whereas, on March 4, 2010, the People's Committee of Da Nang led a second 
        campaign in Con Dau to force parishioners to sign the agreement;
Whereas in April, the People's Committee of Da Nang issued an order and posted a 
        sign in the Con Dau cemetery forbidding future burials and posted police 
        officers to block entrance to the cemetery;
Whereas the police attacked parishioner Le Van Sinh with tear gas when he 
        attempted to remove the sign which had been placed on his father's 
        grave;
Whereas, on May 1, 2010, Mrs. Maria Dang Thi Tan, an elderly parishioner, died 
        in Con Dau after requesting that she be buried with her husband and 
        ancestors in the parish cemetery;
Whereas, on May 3, 2010, police placed barbed wire at the entrance of the 
        cemetery, and assaulted and dispersed parishioners, including women, 
        children, and the elderly, as they gathered at the chapel in the 
        cemetery to say prayers;
Whereas, on May 4, 2010, during the funeral procession of Mrs. Dang which 
        attracted approximately 1,000 parishioners, local police and a mobile 
        ``anti-riot'' police force which had been posted in anticipation of the 
        funeral, attacked the funeral procession and attempted to seize the 
        casket when it approached the cemetery entrance;
Whereas the police ordered the mourners to leave, but several hundred remained;
Whereas after several hours, the police shot tear gas and rubber bullets at the 
        mourners near the casket and began to beat everyone with batons and 
        electric rods, injuring more than 100 people;
Whereas the police then proceeded to search homes, desecrating religious symbols 
        in those homes, to look for suspected organizers of the funeral 
        procession;
Whereas the police arrested 62 persons who were brought to the county police 
        station in Cam Le;
Whereas reports indicate that the police beat each detainee for his or her 
        involvement in the funeral, beating some until they were unconscious;
Whereas a pregnant woman, Le Thi Van, reportedly suffered a miscarriage as a 
        result of the beatings she received;
Whereas after being forced to sign the agreement to sell their land and 
        relocate, admit to false allegations that they had assaulted the police, 
        ordered not to seek medical care for their injuries or speak to the 
        foreign news media, and threatened with additional beatings if they did 
        not remain silent, most of the detainees were released after several 
        days in detention;
Whereas five of the detainees, Nguyen Huu Liem, Phan Thi Nhan, Nguyen Thi The, 
        Le Thanh Lam, and Tran Thanh Viet, remain incarcerated, having been 
        beaten severely, and are awaiting trial based on accusations of 
        ``opposing law enforcement'' and ``disturbing public order'';
Whereas Nguyen Thi Lieu, remains in detention in another facility and is 
        reported to have been severely tortured;
Whereas, on May 27, 2010, Nguyen Huu Minh, Vice Chairman of the Con Dau Parish 
        Committee, was also arrested for his lead role in meetings between the 
        parishioners and the People's Committee of Da Nang;
Whereas none of the above detainees have been allowed visits even by their 
        closest family members;
Whereas Doan Cang was also among those beaten and detained but was temporarily 
        released to care for his family while awaiting trial;
Whereas, on July 1, 2010, the police apprehended Nguyen Nam, a member of the 
        funeral support group who had been among those beaten at the time of the 
        funeral procession, handcuffed him, and severely beat him;
Whereas, on July 3, 2010, Nguyen Nam died due to injuries to the head, face, 
        chest, and hands sustained during the beatings;
Whereas many United States citizens have family members who are residents of Con 
        Dau, including victims of police beatings, torture, and detention;
Whereas these violations of human rights of the residents of Con Dau are sources 
        of continuing, grave concern to Congress;
Whereas according to the United States Commission on International Religious 
        Freedom 2010 Annual Report, ``property disputes between the government 
        and the Catholic Church continue to lead to harassment, property 
        destruction, and violence, sometimes by `contract thugs' hired by the 
        government to break up peaceful prayer vigils'' and other religious 
        ceremonies;
Whereas property issues involving local Catholics in Dong Chiem, Thai Ha, Tam 
        Toa, and Bau Sen have reportedly led to harassment, discrimination, 
        detention, property destruction, and beatings;
Whereas according to the United States Commission on International Religious 
        Freedom 2010 Annual Report, Vietnam's ``overall human rights record 
        remains poor, and has deteriorated since Vietnam joined the WTO in 
        January 2007'', with dozens of arrests and continued harassment of human 
        rights defenders, journalists, bloggers, democracy activists, and 
        religious freedom advocates;
Whereas according to the United States Department of State 2009 Country Report 
        on Human Rights Practices, the Government of Vietnam ``increased its 
        suppression of dissent'', and ``tightened controls over the press and 
        freedom of speech, assembly, movement, and association.'';
Whereas according to the United States Department of State 2009 Country Report 
        on Human Rights Practices, Vietnamese police ``commonly mistreated 
        suspects during arrest or detention'' and ``corruption remained a 
        significant problem, and members of the police sometimes acted with 
        impunity.'';
Whereas according to the United States Department of State 2009 Country Report 
        on Human Rights Practices, in August 2009, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan 
        Dung ``issued a decree that offers compensation, housing, and job 
        training for individuals displaced by development projects. 
        Nevertheless, there were widespread reports of official corruption and a 
        general lack of transparency in the government's process of confiscating 
        land and moving citizens to make way for infrastructure projects.''; and
Whereas according to the Human Rights Watch 2010 Annual Report, the Government 
        of Vietnam ``tightened its controls on internet use, blogging, and 
        independent research, and banned dissemination and publication of 
        content critical of the government. Religious freedom continued to 
        deteriorate, with the government targeting religious leaders--and their 
        followers--who advocated for civil rights, religious freedom, and 
        equitable resolution of land disputes'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That--
            (1) the House of Representatives--
                    (A) condemns and deplores the violence, threats, 
                fines, and harassment faced by the villagers of Con 
                Dau, Da Nang, for seeking to protect their land, the 
                historic cemetery, and other parish properties, and to 
                receive an equitable resolution of their property 
                dispute;
                    (B) condemns and deplores the arrests of 
                parishioners and calls for the immediate and 
                unconditional release of Nguyen Huu Liem, Phan Thi 
                Nhan, Nguyen Thi The, Doan Cang, Le Thanh Lam, Tran 
                Thanh Viet, Nguyen Thi Lieu, and Nguyen Huu Minh;
                    (C) strongly urges the Government of Vietnam to 
                hold accountable police and security agents who 
                reportedly beat and mistreated Con Dau residents at the 
                funeral procession and later while the residents were 
                in detention, including a public investigation of those 
                whose actions led to the death of Nguyen Nam; and
                    (D) strongly urges the Government of Vietnam to 
                consider the implications of its actions in Con Dau, as 
                well as of other serious human rights violations, 
                issues of police impunity, and corruption for the 
                broader relationship between the United States and 
                Vietnam; and
            (2) it is the sense of the House of Representatives that--
                    (A) the President should call on the United Nations 
                Human Rights Council to appoint a Special Rapporteur on 
                Human Rights in Vietnam to investigate ongoing and 
                serious human rights violations in that country, 
                including those violations targeting the villagers of 
                Con Dau;
                    (B) the Secretary of State should call on the 
                Government of Vietnam to uphold commitments made during 
                the United Nations Periodic Review of May 2009 to 
                engage with various United Nations special procedures, 
                including inviting the United Nations Special 
                Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or 
                Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the United 
                Nations Special Rapporteur on Religious Freedom or 
                Belief to inquire, investigate, and report on the 
                situation throughout Vietnam and specifically in Con 
                Dau, including the discrimination, police impunity, 
                mistreatment in detention, desecration of religious and 
                historical properties, and the beating death of Nguyen 
                Nam;
                    (C) the United States Embassy in Vietnam should 
                visit those detained, including, Nguyen Huu Liem, Phan 
                Thi Nhan, Nguyen Thi The, Doan Cang, Le Thanh Lam, Tran 
                Thanh Viet, Nguyen Thi Lieu, and Nguyen Huu Minh, as 
                well as the family of Nguyen Nam, and other 
                parishioners, and report its findings to Congress;
                    (D) the United States Embassy should continue to 
                raise with the Government of Vietnam the issues faced 
                by the village of Con Dau including police impunity, 
                beatings, fines, and the deaths of individuals engaged 
                in a peaceful religious ceremony;
                    (E) the United States Department of State should 
                examine instances of property disputes in Vietnam which 
                involve religious communities, including the case of 
                Con Dau, report its findings to Congress, and continue 
                to raise disputed religious properties at United 
                States-Vietnam meetings and forums, including the 
                bilateral United States-Vietnam human rights dialogue; 
                and
                    (F) the United States Commission on International 
                Religious Freedom should visit the Con Dau parishioners 
                and report to Congress on the violence and harassment 
                faced by the Catholic villagers.
                                 <all>