[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 105 (Tuesday, July 8, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1111-E1112]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      PASTOR DUONG KIM KHAI DUONG

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. TED POE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 8, 2014

  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, since the early 1990s, Pastor Duong 
Kim Khai Duong has been detained or arrested thirteen times, usually 
for organizing prayer sessions.
   Most recently, he was arrested in August 2010 for his efforts to 
advocate for religious freedom and social justice. The trumped up 
charge? Attempting to overthrow the government.
   Following his arrest, it took over two months for authorities to 
tell his family where he was being detained.
   Now, he faces five years in prison followed by five years of house 
arrest.
   In 2011, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention ruled that the 
Vietnam government's detention and conviction of Pastor Duong Kim Khai 
and six other activists were in violation of international law.
   But the State Department continues to ignore the situation, refusing 
to include Vietnam as a Country of Particular Concern for religious 
freedom.
   Pastor Duong Kim Khai Duong looks forward to the day he meets his 
Maker but that will be an awful day for the Communist government of 
Vietnam.
   And that's just the way it is.

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