[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 592 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
113th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. RES. 592
Recognizing the contributions of the Montagnard indigenous tribespeople
of the Central Highlands of Vietnam to the United States Armed Forces
during the Vietnam War, and condemning the ongoing violation of human
rights by the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 1, 2014
Mr. Burr submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Recognizing the contributions of the Montagnard indigenous tribespeople
of the Central Highlands of Vietnam to the United States Armed Forces
during the Vietnam War, and condemning the ongoing violation of human
rights by the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Whereas the Montagnards, sometimes referred to as ``Dega'', are the indigenous
tribespeople living in Vietnam's Central Highlands region;
Whereas the Montagnards were driven into the mountains by invading Vietnamese
and Cambodians in the 9th century;
Whereas French Roman Catholic missionaries converted many of the Montagnards in
the 19th century and American Protestant missionaries subsequently
converted many to various Protestant sects;
Whereas, during the 1960s, the United States Mission in Saigon, the Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA), and United States Army Special Forces, also
known as the Green Berets, trained the Montagnards in unconventional
warfare;
Whereas an estimated 61,000 Montagnards, out of an estimated population of
1,000,000, fought alongside the United States and the Army of the
Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) forces against the North Vietnamese Army and
the Viet Cong;
Whereas the Central Intelligence Agency, United States Special Forces, and the
Montagnards cooperated on the Village Defense Program, a forerunner to
the War's Strategic Hamlet Program and estimated 43,000 Montagnards were
organized into ``Civilian Irregular Defense Groups'' (CIDGs) to provide
protection for the areas around the CIDGs' operational bases;
Whereas, at its peak, the CIDGs had approximately 50 operational bases, with
each base containing a contingent of two United States Army officers and
ten enlisted men, and an ARVN unit of the same size, and each base
trained 200 to 700 Montagnards, or ``strikers'';
Whereas another 18,000 Montagnards were reportedly enlisted into mobile strike
forces, and various historical accounts describe a strong bond between
the United States Special Forces and the Montagnards, in contrast to
Vietnamese Special Forces and ARVN troops;
Whereas the lives of thousands of members of the United States Armed Forces were
saved as a result of the heroic actions of the Montagnards, who fought
loyally and bravely alongside United States Special Forces in the
Vietnam War;
Whereas, after the fall of the Republic of Vietnam in 1975, thousands of
Montagnards fled across the border into Cambodia to escape persecution;
Whereas the Government of the reunified Vietnamese nation, renamed the Socialist
Republic of Vietnam, deeply distrusted the Montagnards who had sided
with the United States and ARVN forces, and subjected them to
imprisonment and various forms of discrimination and oppression after
the Vietnam War ended;
Whereas, after the Vietnam War, the United States Government resettled large
numbers of Montagnards, mostly in North Carolina, and an estimated
several thousand Montagnards currently reside in North Carolina, which
is the largest population of Montagnards residing outside of Vietnam;
Whereas the Socialist Republic of Vietnam currently remains a one-party state,
ruled and controlled by the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), which
continues to restrict freedom of religion, movement, land and property
rights, and political expression;
Whereas officials of the Government of Vietnam have forced Montagnards to
publicly denounce their religion, arrested and imprisoned Montagnards
who organized public demonstrations, and mistreated Montagnards in
detention;
Whereas the Government of Vietnam's restrictions on foreigners' access to the
Central Highlands region complicate accurate reporting of human rights
violations against the Montagnards, including the hundreds of
Montagnards who have reportedly been imprisoned since 2001 and
Montagnards who have fled to Thailand seeking asylum in a third country;
Whereas some Montagnard Americans have complained that Vietnamese authorities
either have prevented them from visiting Vietnam or have subjected them
to interrogation upon re-entering the country on visits;
Whereas the Department of State's 2013 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
and 2013 International Religious Freedom Report reference the
mistreatment of Montagnards as an example of the detention of ethnic
minorities in Vietnam and references reports from followers of the
unsanctioned Church of Christ that local authorities in the Central
Highlands provinces had harassed and persecuted them;
Whereas, in March 2014, the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization
(UNPO) submitted an alternative report to the United Nations Committee
on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights summarizing the alleged
violations of the economic, social, and cultural rights of Vietnam's
Montagnard, Hmong, and Khmer Krom;
Whereas the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization report states that
the Government of Vietnam has denied Montagnards of their right of self-
determination; imposed discriminatory policies; curtailed religious
freedom; impeded access to an adequate standard of living; limited
access to health care and education; infringed on the Montagnards'
cultural rights; and, in two recent cases, arrested and imprisoned
Montagnards purportedly for their religious beliefs;
Whereas the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom's 2014
Annual Report states that the Government of Vietnam controls all
religious activities through law and administrative oversight, severely
restricts independent religious practice, and represses individuals and
religious groups it views as challenging its authority, including
independent Protestant house churches in the Central and Northwest
Highlands; and
Whereas the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom
recommends that Vietnam be designated as a Country of Particular Concern
(CPC) and that access to Priority 1 refugee resettlement authority
should be increased for individuals from Vietnam facing a well-founded
fear of persecution: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) recognizes the contributions of the Montagnards who
fought loyally and bravely with United States Armed Forces
during the Vietnam War and who continue to suffer persecution
in Vietnam as a result of this relationship;
(2) condemns actions taken by the Government of Vietnam to
suppress basic human rights and civil liberties for all its
citizens;
(3) urges the Government of Vietnam to allow human rights
groups access to all regions of the country and to end
restrictions of basic human rights, including the freedom of
religion, land and property rights, freedom of movement, and
access to an adequate standard of living; and
(4) urges the President and Congress to develop policies
that support Montagnards and other marginalized ethnic minority
and indigenous populations such as the Khmer Krom and the Hmong
in Vietnam and reflect United States interests and commitment
to upholding human rights and democracy abroad.
<all>