[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 15618-15619]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
         VIETNAM CONTINUES TO EGREGIOUSLY VIOLATE HUMAN RIGHTS

  (Mr. CAO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CAO. Mr. Speaker, the U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam recently held 
that

[[Page 15619]]

the Socialist Republic of Vietnam need not be put back onto the CPC 
because, based on his views, Vietnam has made sufficient improvement to 
its human rights policies to warrant exclusion. But recent developments 
show how wrong the Ambassador is.
  Not to mention Vietnam's other numerous human rights violations, just 
days ago the Vietnam Government arrested Mr. Le Cong Dinh, a prominent 
lawyer in Vietnam, for openly defending human rights. Vietnam's arrest 
of Mr. Dinh contradicts its own alleged commitment to internationally 
accepted criteria on human rights.
  Today I call upon the Members of this body to urge Vietnam to release 
Mr. Dinh immediately and unconditionally, as well as all prisoners in 
detention, for peacefully expressing their views. His immediate release 
will be a significant step in affirming Vietnam's intention to respect 
the rule of law.

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