[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 76 (Thursday, May 8, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E855]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E855]]


  HONORING VIETNAM HUMAN RIGHTS DAY AND COMMENDING THE UNITED STATES 
 COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM FOR AGAIN RECOMMENDING 
  THAT VIETNAM BE DESIGNATED A COUNTRY OF PARTICULAR CONCERN IN THEIR 
                          RECENT ANNUAL REPORT

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. ZOE LOFGREN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 8, 2008

  Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. Madam Speaker, I rise in honor of 
Vietnam Human Rights Day and to commend the United States Commission on 
International Religious Freedom for again recommending that Vietnam be 
designated a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) in their recent annual 
report.
  The State Department removed this designation in November 2006, and 
since then, human rights conditions in Vietnam have steadily 
deteriorated. According to the Commission, ``removing the CPC 
designation suspended the diplomatic framework that had led to a 
productive bilateral engagement on religious freedom and other human 
rights concerns and therefore removed the potential incentives and 
leverage needed to urge the Vietnamese government to continue to 
improve its human rights record.''
  Since the removal of CPC status and Vietnam's subsequent accession to 
the World Trade Organization, the Vietnamese Government has continued 
to detain and imprison those whose only crimes were speaking out 
against the government or exercising their freedom of religion. In 
addition to violating Article 69 of the Constitution of Vietnam, which 
guarantees the ``freedom of opinion and speech, freedom of the press, 
the right to be informed and the right to assemble, form associations 
and hold demonstrations in accordance with the provisions of the law,'' 
these detentions are in violation of the Universal Declaration of Human 
Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
  The Commission has recommended CPC status for Vietnam every year 
since 2001. It is time for the State Department to heed this advice and 
redesignate Vietnam as a Country of Particular Concern.

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