[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 14358]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              ANOTHER SETBACK FOR VIETNAMESE HUMAN RIGHTS

  (Mr. CAO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. CAO. Mr. Speaker, earlier this year local authorities in Con Dau, 
Vietnam, announced the demolition of properties to make way for a 
tourist resort. No plans for adequate compensation or relocation were 
offered. At the same time, the government posted a sign forbidding 
burials in the local church cemetery, which, for more than 100 years, 
had served as the town's burial site and which the government had 
recognized as an historical site.
  On May 4, 2010, Da Nang police intervened in the funeral of Mary Dang 
Thi Tan, preventing her burial at the cemetery and brutally beating 59 
of the mourners. When 43-year-old Mr. Nam Nguyen refused to make false 
statements to authorities about the mourners, he was beaten by police 
and died at his home shortly thereafter.
  Along with many others, this incident shows that the Government of 
Vietnam has no respect for human rights. To make matters worse, they 
defended and protected those who committed these outrageous acts.
  If our Nation is to be recognized as a beacon of democracy and an 
advocate of human rights, we must demand the same from those we work 
with, especially from Vietnam, whose human rights record is atrocious.
  What happened to Mr. Nguyen is an outrage and should be met with 
condemnation from our government and from this esteemed body.

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