[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 6]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 7627]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER AND POLITICAL PRISONER, TRAN HUYNH DUY THUC

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. LORETTA SANCHEZ

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 26, 2016

  Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, for the past few 
days, I've followed President Obama's engagement with the citizens and 
government of Vietnam. It was a momentous occasion for the Vietnamese 
people to have their struggles acknowledged by the President of the 
United States.
  I commend President Obama for emphasizing human rights and promoting 
freedom of speech, assembly, and expression; as well as internet 
freedom, education and economic reforms. Yet, I am disappointed that 
President Obama did not call for the release of all political prisoners 
and did not publicly name the human rights activists who were detained 
and prevented from meeting with him.
  I would like to call attention to a courageous human rights defender 
and political prisoner, Mr. Tran Huynh Duy Thuc. As a blogger and 
entrepreneur, Mr. Thuc peacefully called for political and economic 
reform in Vietnam. In 2009, Mr. Thuc was arrested, and in 2010, during 
a one-day trial, he was prosecuted for ``conducting activities aimed at 
overthrowing the people's administration'' under Article 79 of the 
Penal Code. The Vietnamese government sentenced him to 16 years 
imprisonment and 5 years house arrest upon release. To protest the 
ongoing injustices and mark the seventh year of his unjust imprisonment 
in the Nghe An prison, Mr. Thuc has begun an indefinite hunger strike.
  I urge you to stand in solidarity with me to shine a light on Mr. 
Thuc's plight as he courageously fights for the basic freedoms and 
rights that Americans treasure.

                          ____________________