[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 98 (Wednesday, July 10, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1037-E1039]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  THE VIETNAMESE PEOPLE DESERVE BETTER

                                  _____
                                 

                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 10, 2013

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, as one of four bipartisan co-chairs of the 
Congressional Vietnam Caucus I have witnessed a deteriorating human 
rights situation in Vietnam in recent years which has been met with a 
complete lack of urgency and priority on the part of the Obama 
administration.
  In fairness this posture is not unlike that of the previous 
administration which also preferred a bilateral relationship defined 
almost exclusively by trade--unmarred by thorny matters such as human 
rights and religious freedom abuses.
  I was critical then, too. I submit for the Record an April 2007 
letter I sent to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, citing several 
recent arrests and assaults carried out by the government of Vietnam 
against the Vietnamese people in which I urged the State Department, a 
request which fell on deaf ears, to consider cancelling the planned 
visit to the United States of the Vietnamese president and prime 
minister if the situation did not improve.
  Sadly the situation in Vietnam has only worsened since that time. A 
July 8 ABC News story reported, ``Since the start of this year more 
than 50 people have been convicted and jailed in political trials.''
  The government of Vietnam, which our own State Department describes 
as an ``authoritarian state ruled by a single party,'' continues to 
suppress political dissent and severely limit freedom of expression, 
association, and public assembly. Religious activists are subject to 
arbitrary arrest.
  On May 5th, police violently broke up peaceful ``human rights 
picnics'' in several different cities in Vietnam where young bloggers 
and activists were disseminating and discussing the Universal 
Declaration of Human Rights and other human rights documents. Human 
Rights Watch reported that, ``The police also employed other methods to 
prevent the human rights picnics from occurring. In Hanoi, youth 
delegations were sent to intimidate picnickers at Nghia Do Park, 
chanting slogans such as `Long Live the Glorious Communist Party of 
Vietnam' and `Long Live Ho Chi Minh.' ''
  On May 16, 2013, Nguyen Phuong Uyen, 21, and Dinh Nguyen Kha, 25, 
were sentenced to 6 years and 8 years in prison respectively simply for 
handing out pamphlets that were characterized by the court as 
``propaganda against the state.'' Radio Free Asia reported that the 
pair were ``convicted under Article 88 of the penal code, a provision 
rights groups say the government has used to muzzle dissent, and both 
will serve three years of house arrest following their prison terms.''
  Police also violently broke up anti-China protests in Hanoi on June 
2, 2013 and arrested more than twenty people en masse.
  Last year, the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, which I co-chair, 
convened a hearing focused on human rights abuses in Vietnam. During 
the hearing Members of Congress heard testimony from Mrs. Mai Huong 
Ngo, the wife of Dr. Nguyen Quoc Quan, a Vietnamese-American democracy 
activist and U.S. citizen. Upon his arrival in Vietnam on April 17, 
2012 he was arbitrarily detained and imprisoned. Then Assistant 
Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Michael Posner 
testified at the Lantos Commission hearing and revealed that no one 
from the State Department had been in touch with Dr. Quan's wife since 
his detention. Only at my urging did U.S. ambassador to Vietnam David 
Shear initiate contact with Mrs. Ngo to update her on her husband's 
situation.
  This is but one of many examples of the U.S. embassy, under the 
leadership of Ambassador Shear, failing to serve as an island of 
freedom in a sea of repression. This was all the more troubling given 
that Dr. Quan is an American citizen. The lack of urgency in securing 
Dr. Quan's release was stunning.
  I spoke by phone multiple times with Ambassador Shear and expressed 
my deep concerns about the case broadly and the State Department's 
failure to bring about a swift resolution. I further urged the 
ambassador to host a July 4th celebration at the embassy and to invite 
prominent religious freedom and democracy activists in the country--as 
was frequently done under President Reagan during the dark days of the 
Cold War--thereby sending a strong message that America stands with 
those who stand for basic human rights. Ambassador Shear indicated his 
willingness to do so and the State Department confirmed this intention 
in subsequent correspondence.
  Shockingly, I learned weeks later that many of the most prominent 
democracy and human rights activists in Vietnam had never received an 
invitation. When confronted with the seeming inconsistency, Ambassador 
Shear claimed that he had invited a few civil society activists but 
that he needed to maintain a ``balance.'' When I repeatedly requested a 
copy of the guest list, to ascertain who specifically had been invited 
and if the members of Vietnamese civil society were mere token 
representatives the State Department repeatedly refused to provide it.
  Ultimately several other Members of Congress, upon learning of 
Ambassador Shear's posture and handling of the situation, joined me in 
calling for his removal and urged that an individual ``who will embrace 
the struggle of the Vietnamese people and advocate on their behalf' 
fill his spot.
  A July 2012 Wall Street Journal editorial headlined, ``State Fumbles 
in Hanoi,'' echoed this call. The Journal described the State 
Department's posture in Vietnam and throughout the region in this way: 
``This is a classic State Department maneuver, practiced throughout 
Asia-Pacific but especially in repressive countries in which the U.S. 
has economic interests. Diplomats say they care about human rights, but 
not so much that it creates a political uproar that they'd have to work 
to resolve. Thus when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton went to 
Vietnam this week, she made a generic statement about human rights and 
a `Senior State Department Official' gave journalists a briefing. 
Vietnam's Party bosses must be shaking in their boots.''
  After languishing for nine months in a Vietnamese prison, Dr. Quan 
once again breathed the fresh air of freedom. A local CBS affiliate in 
California interviewed him after his return home and he attributed his 
release to Congressional pressure. Pressing authoritarian regimes and 
repressive governments to respect basic human rights can yield positive 
results, but inexplicably that is almost never the instinct of the 
State Department or this administration.
  Fast-forward to today. This week it had been expected that prominent 
Vietnamese dissident and lawyer Le Quoc Quan would face trial. A July 8 
Wall Street Journal editorial highlighted that, ``Mr. Le was arrested 
after he wrote a column for the BBC's website in which he argued for a 
new constitution without a guarantee of a Communist Party monopoly on 
power . . . The supposed crime for which Mr. Le is being charged is tax 
evasion, an alibi Hanoi has used in the past to incarcerate dissidents. 
A tax-law conviction would allow Hanoi to jail this inconvenient man 
for up to seven years while claiming he is not a political prisoner. 
Hanoi may be particularly sensitive about preserving that fiction 
because Mr. Le also has a connection to Washington.''
  That connection came in the form of a National Endowment for 
Democracy fellowship in 2006-07. Mr. Le was arrested just four days

[[Page E1038]]

after he returned to Vietnam and released only after intense U.S. 
pressure. He was rearrested late last year while taking one of his 
three children to school and has been jailed ever since.
  Tuesday afternoon, Radio Free Asia reported that his trial had been 
abruptly postponed less than 24 hours before it was to get underway. 
RFA further reported that, ``According to Quan's relatives and fellow 
dissidents, hundreds of supporters--including Catholics--had planned to 
gather outside the court at the trial, which comes amid a wave of 
jailings in recent weeks of bloggers and activists speaking critically 
of Vietnam's one-party government.''
  Indeed, amidst this wave of political repression, in the face of 
growing popular dissent is Vietnam, rather than being buoyed by strong 
statements of support and solidarity from Washington, and the U.S. 
embassy, has been met with virtual silence.
  In the realm of religious freedom, the situation also remains dire. 
In its recently released report, the bipartisan U.S. Commission on 
International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) found that, ``The government 
of Vietnam continues to expand control over all religious activities, 
severely restrict independent religious practice, and repress 
individuals and religious groups it views as challenging its 
authority.''
  Later in the report the Commission characterized the government's 
repression in the following way: ``The Vietnamese government continues 
to imprison individuals for religious activity or religious freedom 
advocacy. It uses a specialized religious police force (cong an ton 
giao) and vague national security laws to suppress independent 
Buddhist, Protestant, Hoa Hao, and Cao Dai activities, and seeks to 
stop the growth of ethnic minority Protestantism and Catholicism via 
discrimination, violence and forced renunciations of their faith.''
  Despite repeated congressional calls, including in House-passed 
legislation, and the recommendation of USCIRF to place Vietnam on the 
Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) list for ongoing, egregious 
violations of religious freedom, this administration has failed to do 
so. In fact the administration has not designated any CPC countries 
since August 2011--nearly two years ago--despite the Congressional 
mandate included in the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to 
annually make such designations.
  This is but a snap shot of a deteriorating human rights situation in 
Vietnam--a situation which merits bold U.S. leadership, not mere lip-
service.
  I have repeatedly said that it would be fitting for a Vietnamese-
American to serve as U.S. ambassador to Vietnam--someone who 
understands the country, the language and the oppressive nature of the 
government having experienced it themselves before coming to the U.S. 
Such an individual would not be tempted to maintain smooth bilateral 
relations at all costs. Such an individual would embrace, without 
apology, the cause of freedom.
  The Vietnamese people and frankly millions of Vietnamese-Americans 
deserve better than what Ambassador Shear and this administration have 
given them. The Obama administration has failed every citizen of 
Vietnam and every Vietnamese-American who cares about human rights and 
religious freedom.
                                                   April 18, 2007.
     Hon. Condoleezza Rice,
     Secretary of State, U.S. Department of State,
     Washington DC.
       Dear Secretary Rice: I am writing to express my deep 
     concern regarding the worsening human rights situation in 
     Vietnam in recent months. After joining the World Trade 
     Organization in January 2007, the politburo of the Vietnamese 
     Communist Party (VCP) has carried out a large-scale brutal 
     campaign of arrest against the nascent movement for democracy 
     in Vietnam. Ignoring all international criticism and 
     strenuous protests of the Vietnamese people, inside Vietnam 
     and abroad, the communist regime in Hanoi has shamefully 
     pushed ahead with its crackdown. The following events were 
     particularly disconcerting to me:
       On February 18, 2007, the second day of the Lunar New Year, 
     which is the most sacred time in Vietnamese culture, the 
     communist security forces raided Father Nguyen Van Ly's 
     office within the Communal Residence of the Hue Archdiocese. 
     Father Ly was later banished to a remote, secluded area in 
     Hue.
       On March 5, 2007, security forces in Saigon told Mrs. Bui 
     Ngoc Yen that they had an order to arrest her husband, 
     Professor Nguyen Chinh Kiet, who is a leading member of the 
     Alliance for Democracy and Human Rights in Vietnam. Professor 
     Kiet was in Europe at the time campaigning for democracy and 
     human rights in Vietnam.
       On March 8, 2007, Reverend Nguyen Cong Chinch and his wife 
     were brutally assaulted by security forces of Gia Lai 
     Province in the Central Highlands, who then arrested Reverend 
     Chinch on undisclosed charges.
       Also on March 8, 2007, two prominent human rights activists 
     and lawyers, Mr. Nguyen Van Dai and Ms. Le Thi Cong Nhan, 
     were arrested in Hanoi and were told that they would be 
     detained for four months as part of an undisclosed 
     investigation.
       On March 9, 2007, Mr. Tran Van Hoa, a member of the 
     People's Democracy Party in Quang Ninh Province, and Mr. Pham 
     Van Troi, a member of the Committee for Human Rights in Ha 
     Tay, were summoned by security forces and threatened with 
     ``immeasurable consequences'' if they do not stop their 
     advocacy for human rights in Vietnam.
       On March 10, 2007, Do Nam Hai, an engineer writing under 
     the pen name Phuong Nam and one of the leading members of the 
     Alliance for Democracy and Human Rights in Vietnam, was told 
     by security forces that he could be indicted at any time for 
     activity against the State.
       Also on March 10, 2007, state security forces also raided 
     the home of Ms. Tran Khai Thanh Thuy, a writer, on the 
     grounds that she advocated for ``people with grievances'' 
     against the government. They took away two computers, two 
     cell phones, and hundreds of appeals that she had prepared 
     for victims of the government's abuses.
       On March 12, 2007, lawyer Le Quoc Quan, a consultant on 
     local governance for the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, 
     UNDP, and Swedish International Development Agency, was 
     arrested in his hometown, Nghe An, less than a week after he 
     returned from a fellowship at the National Endowment for 
     Democracy in Washington, D.C. His whereabouts are unknown at 
     this time.
       On April 5, 2007, the Vietnamese authorities in Hanoi 
     rudely prevented Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) from 
     meeting with several dissidents' wives at a gathering 
     organized at the U.S. Ambassador's home. The police 
     reportedly used very hostile and undignified manners to 
     intervene in the meeting.
       Furthermore, the Hanoi communist regime is still 
     imprisoning many political dissidents and labor advocates 
     such as Nguyen Vu Binh, Huynh Nguyen Dao, Truong Quoc Huy, 
     Nguyen Hoang Long, Nguyen Tan Hoanh, Doan Huy Chuong, the 
     religious leaders of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, 
     Cao Dai, Hoa Hao, and more than 350 lay people of the 
     Protestant churches in the Central Highland.
       The Vietnamese-Americans in my district, as well as all 
     across the country, are very angered and distressed by what 
     they perceive as a new and aggressive plan of the Hanoi 
     government to reverse the progress of human rights in 
     Vietnam. They believe that Ambassador Marine and his staff 
     are not doing enough to stop these blatant violations of 
     human rights.
       It seems to me that the Vietnamese government is conducting 
     this crackdown on advocates of human rights and religious 
     freedom because it believes that the U.S. has no further 
     leverage in the region. Now that Vietnam has been admitted to 
     the WTO, and met with the Holy See, they believe they can 
     respond in this brutal fashion to supporters of democracy and 
     freedom and we will not respond.
       I hope that you will make clear to the Vietnamese 
     authorities that we will not stand by while this violence and 
     intimidation continues. I believe the State Department should 
     consider putting Vietnam back on the list of Countries of 
     Particular Concern, and perhaps also consider canceling the 
     planned visit of the Vietnamese president and prime minister 
     later this year if the human rights situation in Vietnam has 
     not improved.
       I appreciate the recent comments by Sean McCormack at Voice 
     of America expressing deep concern about the March 30 trial 
     and sentencing of Father Ly. I ask that you continue pressing 
     these issues with the Vietnamese government, including the 
     need to respect the basic human rights of all Vietnamese 
     citizens, especially the freedom of information, freedom of 
     expression, and freedom of religion. The Vietnamese people 
     should be able to choose their own leaders through free and 
     fair elections and to use the Internet freely without any 
     censures or restrictions.
       I also ask that you encourage the Vietnamese authorities to 
     release all political prisoners and religious leaders who are 
     currently imprisoned because of their peaceful expression of 
     their ideas or to fight for their religious beliefs. Among 
     these prisoners are Father Nguyen Van Ly, Pastors Nguyen Cong 
     Chinh and Hong Trung, lawyers Nguyen Van Dai, Le thi Cong 
     Nhan, Le Quoc Quan, Messiers Truong Quoc Huy, and Nguyen 
     Hoang Lon.
       Lastly, I believe the Vietnamese-American community, a 
     young but energetic group comprised of more than one million 
     citizens, should be included in future dialogues with U.S. 
     government officials. They know the history, culture and 
     values of Vietnam. They also have scrutinized the history and 
     tactics of communism and the communist government's habits at 
     the negotiating table. I sincerely believe that the history 
     of Vietnam must inform our approach to this and all other 
     aspects of foreign policy, and the Vietnamese-American 
     community is a tremendous asset in this regard. I 
     respectfully request that you invite a small representation 
     of the Vietnamese-American community to join the U.S. 
     delegation in next month's human rights dialogue.
       Best wishes.
           Sincerely,
                                                    Frank R. Wolf,
                                               Member of Congress.

[[Page E1039]]



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