[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 334 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 334

 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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 21, 2009

 Ms. Loretta Sanchez 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 who 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, nonviolent 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 11 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, nonviolent Manifesto have 
        been harassed and placed under house arrest by the Government of 
        Vietnam; and
Whereas in addition to the 118 signers of the Manifesto, the Government of 
        Vietnam has continued to harass, arrest, and detain peaceful, nonviolent 
        supporters of democracy: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, 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) Nguyen Van Dai, lawyer, sentenced to 5 
                        years;
                            (vi) Le Thi Cong Nhan, lawyer, sentenced to 
                        4 years;
                            (vii) Tran Quoc Hien, jurist, sentenced to 
                        5 years;
                            (viii) Le Van Soc, Hoa Hao Buddhist, 
                        sentenced to 6 years;
                            (ix) Hang Tan Phat, sentenced to 6 years;
                            (x) Truong Quoc Huy, sentenced to 6 years;
                            (xi) Truong Minh Duc, sentenced to 5 years;
                            (xii) Pastor Nguyen Thi Hong, sentenced to 
                        3 years;
                            (xiii) Nguyen Van Hai, sentenced to 2.5 
                        years;
                            (xiv) Luong Van Sinh, sentenced to 2 years;
                            (xv) Vu Hoang Hai, sentenced to 2 years and 
                        2 years probation;
                            (xvi) Nguyen Ngoc Quang, sentenced to 3 
                        years;
                            (xvii) Nguyen Ngoc Quang, sentenced to 5 
                        years; and
                            (xviii) Doan Van Dien, sentenced to an 
                        unknown number of years; and
                    (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) Le Ba Triet;
                            (ii) Ho Thi Bich Khuong;
                            (iii) Vu Van Hung;
                            (iv) Dang Hung;
                            (v) Pham Thanh Nghien;
                            (vi) Pham Van Troi;
                            (vii) Ngo Quynh;
                            (viii) Vu Hung;
                            (ix) Nguyen Van Tuc;
                            (x) Nguyen Xuan Nghia;
                            (xi) Tran Duc Thach; and
                            (xii) Le Thi Kim Thu; and
                    (C) insists that the Government of Vietnam cease 
                harassment, police surveillance, and house arrest of 
                those nonviolent democracy advocates who signed the 
                Manifesto, including--
                            (i) Do Nam Hai, co-founder of Bloc 8406;
                            (ii) Tran Khai Thanh Thuy, novelist;
                            (iii) Hong Trung, Seventh-day Adventist 
                        pastor;
                            (iv) Nguyen Hong Quang, Mennonite pastor;
                            (v) Pham Ngoc Thach, Mennonite evangelist;
                            (vi) Nguyen Tan Hoanh (aka Doan Huu 
                        Chuong), labor rights activist;
                            (vii) Somsak Khunmi (aka Nguyen Quoc Hai);
                            (viii) Nguyen The Vu; and
                            (ix) Le Nguyen Sang, medical doctor; and
            (2) it is the sense of the House of Representatives that--
                    (A) the President should request that the President 
                of Vietnam release all of these nonviolent, peaceful 
                supporters of Democracy; and
                    (B) 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 and 
                amended under Public Law 106-55.
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