[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3974 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3974

 To impose sanctions on individuals who are complicit in human rights 
abuses committed against nationals of Vietnam or their family members, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 18, 2010

 Mr. Brownback (for himself, Mr. Cornyn, and Mr. Burr) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                  Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To impose sanctions on individuals who are complicit in human rights 
abuses committed against nationals of Vietnam or their family members, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Vietnam Human Rights Sanctions 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The relationship between the United States and the 
        Socialist Republic of Vietnam has grown substantially since the 
        end of the trade embargo in 1994, with annual trade between the 
        countries reaching more than $15,200,000,000 in 2008.
            (2) The transition of the Government of Vietnam toward 
        greater economic activity and trade has not been matched by 
        greater political freedom and substantial improvements in basic 
        human rights for the citizens of Vietnam, including freedom of 
        religion, expression, association, and assembly.
            (3) The United States Congress agreed to Vietnam becoming 
        an official member of the World Trade Organization in 2006, 
        amidst assurances that the Government of Vietnam was steadily 
        improving its human rights record and would continue to do so.
            (4) Despite assurances that Vietnam's accession to the 
        World Trade Organization would be met with greater respect for 
        human rights, the Government of Vietnam has continued to 
        strictly regulate some religious practices and to imprison or 
        put under house arrest an undetermined number of individuals 
        for their peaceful advocacy of political views or religious 
        beliefs, including Father Nguyen Van Ly, Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, 
        Nguyen Tien Trung, Le Thang Long, Tran Duc Thach, Tran Anh Kim, 
        Pham Van Troi, Nguyen Xuan Nghia, Nguyen Van Tuc, Nguyen Manh 
        Son, Nguyen Manh Tinh, Ngo Quynh, Nguyen Kim Nhan, Truong Minh 
        Duc, Nguyen Van Hai, Vu Hung, Tran Khai Thanh Thuy, and Pham 
        Thanh Nghien, and human rights lawyers, Le Cong Dinh, Nguyen 
        Van Dai, and Le Thi Cong Nhan. Others arrested during 2010 are 
        being held incommunicado, including Cu Huy Ha Vu, Pham Minh 
        Hoang, Phan Thanh Hai, and Vi Duc Hoi.
            (5) Vietnam remains a one-party state, ruled and controlled 
        by the Communist Party of Vietnam, which continues to deny the 
        right of citizens to change their government.
            (6) Although in recent years the National Assembly of 
        Vietnam has on occasion played a role as a forum for 
        highlighting local concerns, corruption, and inefficiency, the 
        National Assembly remains subject to the direction of the 
        Communist Party of Vietnam and that party maintains control 
        over the selection of candidates in national and local 
        elections.
            (7) The Government of Vietnam forbids public challenge to 
        the legitimacy of the one-party state, restricts freedoms of 
        opinion, the press, assembly, and association, and tightly 
        limits access to the Internet and telecommunication. 
        Cyberattacks originating from Vietnam-based servers have 
        disabled dissident websites and the Government of Vietnam 
        introduced new restrictions on public internet shops while 
        continuing to restrict access to numerous overseas and domestic 
        blogs, news sites, and other websites perceived to carry 
        content critical of the Government of Vietnam.
            (8) The Government of Vietnam continues to detain, 
        imprison, place under house arrest, convict, and otherwise 
        restrict individuals for the peaceful expression of dissenting 
        political or religious views, including democracy and human 
        rights activists, independent trade union leaders, non-state-
        sanctioned publishers, journalists, bloggers, members of ethnic 
        minorities, and unsanctioned religious groups.
            (9) The Government of Vietnam has also failed to improve 
        labor rights, continues to harass, arrest, and imprison workers 
        rights activists, including Doan Huy Chuong, Do Thi Minh Hanh, 
        and Nguyen Hoang Quoc Hung, and restricts the right to organize 
        independently.
            (10) The Government of Vietnam continues to limit freedom 
        of religion, pressure all religious groups to come under the 
        control of government- and party-controlled management boards, 
        and restrict the operation of independent religious 
        organizations, including the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam 
        and members of unsanctioned Mennonite, Cao Dai, Theravada 
        Buddhist, and Hoa Hao Buddhist religious groups and independent 
        Protestant house churches, primarily in the central and 
        northern highlands. Religious leaders who do not conform to the 
        Government's demands are often harassed, arrested, imprisoned, 
        or put under house arrest.
            (11) As noted in the October 2009 report of the United 
        States Commission on International Religious Freedom, ``[T]here 
        continue to be far too many serious abuses and restrictions of 
        religious freedom in the country. Individuals continue to be 
        imprisoned or detained for reasons related to their religious 
        activity or religious freedom advocacy; police and government 
        officials are not held fully accountable for abuses; 
        independent religious activity remains illegal; and legal 
        protection for government-approved religious organizations are 
        both vague and subject to arbitrary or discriminatory 
        interpretations based on political factors. In addition, 
        improvements experienced by some religious communities are not 
        experienced by others, including the Unified Buddhist Church of 
        Vietnam (UBCV), independent Hoa Hao, Cao Dai, and Protestant 
        groups, and some ethnic minority Protestants and Buddhists. 
        Also, over the past year, property disputes between the 
        government and the Catholic Church in Hanoi led to detention, 
        threats, harassment, and violence by `contract thugs' against 
        peaceful prayer vigils and religious leaders.''.
            (12) Despite reported progress in church openings and legal 
        registrations of religious venues, the Government of Vietnam 
        has halted most religious reforms since the Department of State 
        lifted the ``country of particular concern'' for religious 
        freedom violations designation for Vietnam in November 2006.
            (13) Unregistered ethnic minority Protestant congregations 
        suffer severe abuses because of actions by the Government of 
        Vietnam, which have included forced renunciations of faith, 
        pressure to join government-recognized religious groups, arrest 
        and harassment, the withholding of social programs provided for 
        the general population, destruction of churches and pagodas, 
        confiscation and destruction of property, and subjection to 
        severe beatings.
            (14) During peaceful Catholic prayer vigils calling for the 
        return of government-confiscated church properties during 2008 
        at the Thai Ha Church in Ha Noi, protestors were dispersed 
        after being harassed, some were detained, and some of the 
        church property was destroyed. Similar incidents happened at 
        Bau Sen, Loan Ly, and Tam Toa parishes in central Vietnam and 
        more recently at Dong Chiem parish in Hanoi, where religious 
        statues and a crucifix were destroyed and parishioners and 
        clergies were physically harmed, and at Con Dau parish, where 
        police forcibly dispersed a Catholic funeral ceremony in May 
        2010 to a cemetery located on disputed land. Afterwards, police 
        and members of the civilian defense forces arrested and 
        interrogated dozens of Con Dau parishioners, with one 
        parishioner dying from injuries sustained during a beating in 
        July 2010 by civilian defense forces and two women suffered 
        miscarriages resulted from police tortures. Catholics continue 
        to face some restrictions on selection of clergy, the 
        establishment of seminaries and seminary candidates, and 
        restrictions on individual cases of travel and church 
        registration. Dissident clerics such as Father Phan Van Loi and 
        Father Nguyen Van Ly are currently under house arrest.
            (15) The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam suffers 
        persecution as the Government of Vietnam continues to restrict 
        contacts and movement of senior clergy for refusing to join the 
        state-sponsored Buddhist organizations, the Government 
        restricts expression and assembly, and the Government continues 
        to harass and threaten monks, nuns, and youth leaders of the 
        Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. The Supreme Patriarch of 
        Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, Thich Quang Do, is 
        currently under house arrest.
            (16) The Bat Nha Buddhists monastery in Lam Dong province 
        was attacked by government thugs in October 2009. About 400 
        monks and nuns were physically abused and forcibly evicted from 
        the monastery.
            (17) The Government of Vietnam continues to suppress the 
        activities of other religious adherents, including Cao Dai, Hoa 
        Hao, Mennonites, and Montagnard Christians belonging to 
        churches that lack official recognition or have chosen not to 
        affiliate with the state-sanctioned groups, including through 
        the use of detention and imprisonment.
            (18) During Easter weekend in April 2004, thousands of 
        Montagnard Christians in the Central Highlands gathered to 
        protest their treatment by the Government of Vietnam, including 
        the confiscation of tribal lands and ongoing restrictions on 
        religious activities. Credible reports indicate that the 
        protests were met with violent response as many demonstrators 
        were arrested or went into hiding, that many were injured, and 
        that some were killed. At least 200 of these Montagnard 
        Christians are still serving long sentences for their 
        involvement in peaceful demonstrations in 2001 and 2004. 
        Government officials continue to severely restrict movement by 
        the Montagnards and prohibit them from seeking asylum in 
        Cambodia. Many Montagnards were also imprisoned and otherwise 
        mistreated for their involvement in demonstrations in 2008.
            (19) Ethnic minority Hmong in the Northwest Highlands of 
        Vietnam also suffer restrictions, abuses, and persecution by 
        the Government of Vietnam, and although the Government is now 
        allowing some Hmong Protestants to organize and conduct 
        religious activity, some government officials continue to deny 
        or ignore additional applications for registration.
            (20) In 2007, the Government of Vietnam arrested and 
        expelled at least 20 ethnic Khmer Buddhist monks in Soc Trang 
        province from the monkhood and imprisoned 5 monks in response 
        to a peaceful religious protest in February 2007. In July 2010, 
        authorities in Tra Vinh arrested and purported to defrock Khmer 
        Krom Buddhist abbot Thach Sophon, sentencing him in September 
        to a 9-month suspended sentence. He remains under house arrest.
            (21) The Government of Vietnam controls all print and 
        electronic media, including access to the Internet, jams the 
        signals of some foreign radio stations, including Radio Free 
        Asia, and has detained and imprisoned individuals who have 
        posted, published, sent, or otherwise distributed democracy-
        related materials.
            (22) People arrested in Vietnam because of their political 
        or religious affiliations and activities and charged with 
        vaguely defined national security crimes are not accorded due 
        process of law. During the pre-trial investigatory phase of 
        their detention, religious and political prisoners are often 
        held incommunicado without access to legal counsel and family 
        members. They are routinely tortured during interrogation to 
        force them to confess to crimes they did not commit or to 
        falsely denounce others. Their trials are usually closed to 
        international press and diplomats and members of the public.
            (23) Vietnam continues to be a source country for the 
        commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor of women and 
        girls and for men and women legally entering into international 
        labor contracts who subsequently face conditions of debt 
        bondage or forced labor, and is a destination country for child 
        trafficking and continues to have internal human trafficking.
            (24) Labor export companies partly or wholly owned by the 
        Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, and other 
        agencies of the Government of Vietnam have frequently been 
        identified as participants in human trafficking. There are a 
        number of well-documented cases in which these state 
        enterprises have misled workers by promising specific wages and 
        working conditions, often in the form of signed contracts, only 
        to require the workers to sign different contracts immediately 
        before leaving for their foreign destinations. When workers 
        have protested debt bondage or slavery-like conditions in the 
        foreign workplaces to which these Vietnamese state enterprises 
        have sent them, officials of the Ministry of Labor have 
        traveled from Hanoi to threaten the trafficking victims with 
        ``punishment under the laws of Vietnam'' if they do not cease 
        their protests. Workers who have returned to Vietnam after 
        being exploited by their foreign employers have reported being 
        harassed and intimidated by public security forces, who 
        typically accuse them of being liars, collaborating with 
        reactionary forces overseas, and having betrayed their country.
            (25) United States refugee resettlement programs, including 
        the Humanitarian Resettlement Program, the Orderly Departure 
        Program, the Resettlement Opportunities for Vietnamese 
        Returnees Program, general resettlement of boat people from 
        refugee camps throughout Southeast Asia, the Amerasian 
        Homecoming Act of 1988, and the priority one refugee 
        resettlement category have helped resettle nationals of Vietnam 
        who have suffered persecution on account of their associations 
        with the United States as well as nationals of Vietnam who have 
        been persecuted because of race, religion, nationality, 
        political opinion, or membership in a particular social group.
            (26) While previous programs have served their purposes 
        well, a significant number of eligible refugees from Vietnam 
        were unfairly denied or excluded, including Amerasians and 
        Montagnards, in some cases by vindictive or corrupt officials 
        of Vietnam who controlled access to the programs, and in others 
        by United States personnel who imposed unduly restrictive 
        interpretations of program criteria. In addition, the 
        Government of Vietnam has denied passports to persons whom the 
        United States has found eligible for refugee admission.
            (27) Congress has passed numerous resolutions condemning 
        human rights violations in Vietnam, indicating that although 
        there has been an expansion of relations with the Government of 
        Vietnam, it should not be construed as approval of the ongoing 
        and serious violations of fundamental human rights in Vietnam, 
        particularly those enshrined in the International Covenant on 
        Civil and Political Rights, of which Vietnam is a signatory.
            (28) Enhancement of relations between the United States and 
        Vietnam has provided an opportunity for a human rights 
        dialogue, but is unlikely to lead to future progress on human 
        rights issues in Vietnam unless the United States makes clear 
        that such progress is an essential prerequisite for further 
        enhancements in the bilateral relationship.

SEC. 3. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS ON CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE 
              COMPLICIT IN HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES COMMITTED AGAINST 
              NATIONALS OF VIETNAM OR THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsections (d) and (e), the 
President shall impose sanctions described in subsection (c) with 
respect to each individual on the list required by subsection (b).
    (b) List of Individuals Who Are Complicit in Certain Human Rights 
Abuses.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to the 
        appropriate congressional committees a list of individuals who 
        are nationals of Vietnam that the President determines are 
        complicit in human rights abuses committed against nationals of 
        Vietnam or their family members, regardless of whether such 
        abuses occurred in Vietnam.
            (2) Updates of list.--The President shall submit to the 
        appropriate congressional committees an updated list under 
        paragraph (1) as new information becomes available and not less 
        frequently than annually.
            (3) Public availability.--The list required by paragraph 
        (1) shall be made available to the public and posted on the 
        websites of the Department of the Treasury and the Department 
        of State.
            (4) Consideration of data from other countries and 
        nongovernmental organizations.--In preparing the list required 
        by paragraph (1), the President shall consider data already 
        obtained by other countries and nongovernmental organizations, 
        including organizations in Vietnam, that monitor the human 
        rights abuses of the Government of Vietnam.
    (c) Sanctions Described.--The sanctions described in this 
subsection are the following:
            (1) Prohibition on entry and admission to the united 
        states.--An individual whose name appears on the list required 
        by subsection (b) may not--
                    (A) be admitted to, enter, or transit through the 
                United States;
                    (B) receive any lawful immigration status in the 
                United States under the immigration laws, including any 
                relief under the Convention Against Torture; or
                    (C) file any application or petition to obtain such 
                admission, entry, or status.
            (2) Financial sanctions.--The President shall impose 
        sanctions authorized pursuant to section 203 of the 
        International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702) 
        with respect to an individual whose name appears on the list 
        required by subsection (b), including blocking of the property 
        of, and restricting or prohibiting financial transactions and 
        the exportation and importation of property by, the individual.
    (d) Exceptions To Comply With International Agreements.--The 
President may, by regulation, authorize exceptions to the imposition of 
sanctions under this section to permit the United States to comply with 
the Agreement between the United Nations and the United States of 
America regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations, signed June 
26, 1947, and entered into force November 21, 1947, and other 
applicable international agreements.
    (e) Waiver.--The President may waive the requirement to impose or 
maintain sanctions with respect to an individual under subsection (a) 
or the requirement to include an individual on the list required by 
subsection (b) if the President--
            (1) determines that such a waiver is in the national 
        interest of the United States; and
            (2) submits to the appropriate congressional committees a 
        report describing the reasons for the determination.
    (f) Termination of Sanctions.--The provisions of this section shall 
cease to have force and effect on the date on which the President 
determines and certifies to the appropriate congressional committees 
that the Government of Vietnam has--
            (1) unconditionally released all political prisoners;
            (2) ceased its practices of violence, unlawful detention, 
        torture, and abuse of citizens of Vietnam while engaging in 
        peaceful political activity; and
            (3) conducted a transparent investigation into the 
        killings, arrest, and abuse of peaceful political activists in 
        Vietnam and prosecuted those responsible.
    (g) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Finance, the Committee on 
                Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and the Committee 
                on Foreign Relations of the Senate; and
                    (B) the Committee on Ways and Means, the Committee 
                on Financial Services, and the Committee on Foreign 
                Affairs of the House of Representatives.
            (2) Convention against torture.--The term ``Convention 
        Against Torture'' means the United Nations Convention Against 
        Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or 
        Punishment, done at New York on December 10, 1984.
            (3) Immigration laws; national.--The terms ``immigration 
        laws'' and ``national'' have the meanings given those terms in 
        section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
        1101).
                                 <all>