[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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