[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 79 (Thursday, June 6, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E815-E816]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           CONTINUING REPRESSION BY THE VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 6, 2013

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by 
recognizing the many distinguished leaders who are joining us in 
conjunction with the Vietnamese-American Meetup. Many thanks to all of 
you for taking the time to come to Washington to meet with your 
representatives here in Congress, and for joining us for the hearing my 
subcommittee held which looked at some of the many human rights abuses 
being committed by the Vietnamese Government.
  The hearing was the second held by my subcommittee this year on human 
rights in Vietnam. We had a greater, in-depth, examination of some of 
the fundamental human rights violations that we discussed at our first 
hearing in April, particularly land confiscations in the context of 
religious and ethnic persecution.
  Although the relationship between the United States and Vietnam 
improved substantially in 1995 when relations were normalized, the 
human rights situation in Vietnam did not improve. As the U.S. has 
upgraded Vietnam's trade status, the Vietnamese Government has 
continued to violate a wide range of fundamental human rights.
  To cite just one example, despite the State Department's decision in 
2006 to remove Vietnam from the list of Countries of Particular Concern 
as designated pursuant to the International Religious Freedom Act, 
Vietnam continues to be among the worst violators of religious freedom 
in the world. According to the United States Commission for 
International Religious Freedom's 2012 Annual Report, ``[t]he 
government of Vietnam continues to control all religious communities, 
restrict and penalize independent religious practice severely, and 
repress individuals and groups viewed as challenging its authority.'' 
USCIRF concludes that Vietnam should be designated a CPC country.
  It appears the State Department decided to allow political 
considerations to trump the facts and the brutality of Vietnam's record 
of religious persecution. In the Department's latest International 
Religious Freedom Report that was released on May 20th, Vietnam once 
again was a glaring omission in the list of Countries of Particular 
Concern. Compared to the disturbing clarity of the USCIRF report, the 
State Department's description of the state of religious freedom in 
Vietnam is a whitewash, and an extreme disservice to the truth about 
the religious persecution that is prevalent in that country. I repeat 
my past appeals to the Administration to follow the letter as well as 
the spirit of the International Religious Freedom Act, and hold Vietnam 
to account as a Country of Particular Concern.
  I met courageous religious leaders during my last trip to Vietnam who 
were struggling for fundamental human rights in their country. 
Unfortunately, many of them, including Father Ly and the Most Venerable 
Thich Quang Do, remain wrongly detained today. There are disturbing 
reports that Father Ly is suffering poor health. Leaders of religious 
organizations are not the only ones victimized by the Vietnamese 
government on account of their faith;

[[Page E816]]

individuals and small communities are also targeted by the regime.
  Witnesses and experts at our past hearings have recounted the 
brutality suffered in 2010 by Con Dau parishioners at the hands of 
police in the course of a funeral procession. This persecution 
continues to this day in response to the villagers' opposition to the 
illegal and unjust confiscation of their land.
  Tuesday's hearing closely examined ethnic and religious persecution 
in Vietnam, particularly through the government's practice of 
confiscating land. The government has unlawfully taken property 
belonging to families that include many Vietnamese-Americans. Not only 
is land forcibly taken, but any compensation provided by the government 
is far below the fair market value. If the rightful owners do not 
accept what is offered or show resistance, security forces are 
dispatched to overwhelm any opposition and brutally suppress them. This 
arbitrary taking of real property not only violates the Universal 
Declaration of Human Rights, but even Vietnam's own domestic laws.
  To address this and the numerous other violations of human rights by 
the Vietnamese regime, I have re-introduced the Vietnam Human Rights 
Act, H.R. 1897. This legislation, co-sponsored by the Foreign Affairs 
Committee Chairman, Mr. Royce, and members of the bipartisan 
Congressional Vietnam Caucus, has been reported out of this 
subcommittee and is awaiting consideration, hopefully soon, by the 
Foreign Affairs Committee.
  This legislation seeks to promote freedom and democracy in Vietnam by 
stipulating that the United States can increase its nonhumanitarian 
assistance to Vietnam above FY2012 levels only when the President 
certifies that the Government of Vietnam has made substantial progress 
in establishing democracy and promoting human rights, including: 
respecting freedom of religion and releasing all religious prisoners; 
respecting rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association, 
and releasing all political prisoners, independent journalists, and 
labor activists; repealing and revising laws that criminalize peaceful 
dissent, independent media, unsanctioned religious activity, and 
nonviolent demonstrations, in accordance with international human 
rights standards; respecting the human rights of members of all ethnic 
groups; and taking all appropriate steps, including prosecution of 
government officials, to end any government complicity in human 
trafficking.
  It also calls on the Administration to re-designate Vietnam as a 
country of particular concern for religious freedom, to take measures 
to overcome the Vietnamese Government's jamming of Radio Free Asia, and 
to oppose Vietnam's membership on the U.N. Human Rights Council, which 
will be voted on this fall.
  We were fortunate to have heard from a distinguished panel of 
witnesses to discuss these critical issues.

                          ____________________