Vice President Cheney, Mr. Chief Justice, President Carter, President Bush, President Clinton, reverend clergy, distinguished guests, fellow citizens:
On this day, prescribed by law and marked by ceremony, we celebrate the durable wisdom of our Constitution, and recall the deep commitments that unite our country. I am grateful for the honor of this hour, mindful of the consequential times in which we live, and determined to fulfill the oath that I have sworn and you have witnessed.
At this second gathering, our duties are defined not by the words I use, but
by the history we have seen together. For a half century,
We have seen our vulnerability - and we have seen its deepest source. For as long as whole regions of the world simmer in resentment and tyranny - prone to ideologies that feed hatred and excuse murder - violence will gather, and multiply in destructive power, and cross the most defended borders, and raise a mortal threat. There is only one force of history that can break the reign of hatred and resentment, and expose the pretensions of tyrants, and reward the hopes of the decent and tolerant, and that is the force of human freedom.
We are led, by events and common sense, to one conclusion: The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world.
So it is the policy of the
This is not primarily the task of arms, though we will defend ourselves and
our friends by force of arms when necessary. Freedom, by its nature, must be
chosen, and defended by citizens, and sustained by the rule of law and the
protection of minorities. And when the soul of a nation finally speaks, the
institutions that arise may reflect customs and traditions very different from
our own.
The great objective of ending tyranny is the concentrated work of
generations. The difficulty of the task is no excuse for avoiding it.
My most solemn duty is to protect this nation and its people against further
attacks and emerging threats. Some have unwisely chosen to test
We will persistently clarify the choice before every ruler and every nation:
The moral choice between oppression, which is always wrong, and freedom, which
is eternally right.
We will encourage reform in other governments by making clear that success
in our relations will require the decent treatment of their own people.
Some, I know, have questioned the global appeal of liberty - though this
time in history, four decades defined by the swiftest advance of freedom ever
seen, is an odd time for doubt. Americans, of all people, should never be
surprised by the power of our ideals. Eventually, the call of freedom comes to
every mind and every soul. We do not accept the existence of permanent tyranny
because we do not accept the possibility of permanent slavery.
Today,
All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: the
Democratic reformers facing repression, prison, or exile can know:
The rulers of outlaw regimes can know that we still believe as Abraham Lincoln did: "Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves; and, under the rule of a just God, cannot long retain it."
The leaders of governments with long habits of control need to know: To
serve your people you must learn to trust them. Start on this journey of
progress and justice, and
And all the allies of the
Today, I also speak anew to my fellow citizens:
From all of you, I have asked patience in the hard task of securing
A few Americans have accepted the hardest duties in this cause - in the quiet work of intelligence and diplomacy ... the idealistic work of helping raise up free governments ... the dangerous and necessary work of fighting our enemies. Some have shown their devotion to our country in deaths that honored their whole lives - and we will always honor their names and their sacrifice.
All Americans have witnessed this idealism, and some for the first time. I ask our youngest citizens to believe the evidence of your eyes. You have seen duty and allegiance in the determined faces of our soldiers. You have seen that life is fragile, and evil is real, and courage triumphs. Make the choice to serve in a cause larger than your wants, larger than yourself - and in your days you will add not just to the wealth of our country, but to its character.
In
In
In
From the perspective of a single day, including this day of dedication, the issues and questions before our country are many. From the viewpoint of centuries, the questions that come to us are narrowed and few. Did our generation advance the cause of freedom? And did our character bring credit to that cause?
These questions that judge us also unite us, because Americans of every
party and background, Americans by choice and by birth, are bound to one
another in the cause of freedom. We have known divisions, which must be healed
to move forward in great purposes - and I will strive in good faith to heal
them. Yet those divisions do not define
We go forward with complete confidence in the eventual triumph of freedom. Not because history runs on the wheels of inevitability; it is human choices that move events. Not because we consider ourselves a chosen nation; God moves and chooses as He wills. We have confidence because freedom is the permanent hope of mankind, the hunger in dark places, the longing of the soul. When our Founders declared a new order of the ages; when soldiers died in wave upon wave for a union based on liberty; when citizens marched in peaceful outrage under the banner "Freedom Now" - they were acting on an ancient hope that is meant to be fulfilled. History has an ebb and flow of justice, but history also has a visible direction, set by liberty and the Author of Liberty.
When the Declaration of Independence was first read in public and the
Liberty Bell was sounded in celebration, a witness said, "It rang as if it
meant something." In our time it means something still.
May God bless you, and may He watch over
the
S 2784 IS
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2784
To promote freedom and democracy in
IN THE SENATE OF
THE UNITED STATES
Mr. BROWNBACK (for himself, Mrs. DOLE, and Mr. SESSIONS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
A
To promote freedom and democracy in
Be it enacted by the Senate and
House of Representatives of the
(a) SHORT TITLE- This Act may be cited as the `Vietnam Human Rights Act of 2004'.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS- The table of contents for this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 101. Bilateral nonhumanitarian assistance.
Sec. 201. Assistance.
Sec. 301.
Radio Free Asia transmissions to
Sec. 302.
Sec. 401.
Refugee resettlement for nationals of
Sec. 501. Annual report.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The Socialist Republic of
Vietnam is a one-party State, ruled and controlled by the Communist Party of
Vietnam (
(2) The Government of
(3) The Government of
(4) The Government of
(5) Unregistered ethnic minority Protestant congregations in the Northwest and Central Highlands of Vietnam suffer severe abuses, which have included forced renunciations of faith, the closure and destruction of churches, the arrest and harassment of pastors, and, in a few cases, there have been credible reports that minority religious leaders have been beaten and killed.
(6) The
(7) The Catholic Church in
(8) The Government of
(9) The Government of
(10) Indigenous Montagnards in the
Central Highlands of
(11) The Government of
(12) The Government of
(13) During Easter weekend in April 2004, thousands of Montagnards gathered to protest their treatment by the Government of Vietnam, including the confiscation of tribal lands and ongoing restrictions on religious activities. Credible reports indicate that the protests were met with a violent response and that many demonstrators were arrested, injured, or are in hiding, and that others were killed.
(14) Government officials continue
to restrict access to the Central and
(15) United States refugee
resettlement programs for Vietnamese nationals, including the Orderly Departure
Program (
(16) While these refugee
resettlement programs have served their purposes well, a significant number of
eligible refugees have been unfairly denied or excluded, in some cases by
vindictive or corrupt Government of Vietnam officials who controlled access to
the programs, and in other cases by
(17) The Department of State has
agreed to extend the
(18) The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services of the Department of Homeland Security has agreed to resume the processing of former United States employees under the U11 program, which had been unilaterally suspended by the United States Government, as well as to review the applications of Amerasians, children of American servicemen left behind in Vietnam after the war ended in April 1975, for resettlement to the United States under the Amerasian Homecoming Act of 1988.
(19) Congress and the people of
the
(a) ASSISTANCE-
(1) IN GENERAL- United States nonhumanitarian assistance may not be provided to the Government of Vietnam in an amount exceeding the amount so provided for fiscal year 2004--
(A) for fiscal year 2005, unless not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President determines and certifies to Congress that the requirements of subparagraphs (A) through (D) of paragraph (2) have been met during the 12-month period ending on the date of the certification; and
(B) for each subsequent fiscal year unless the President determines and certifies to Congress in the most recent annual report submitted pursuant to section 501 that the requirements of subparagraphs (A) through (E) of paragraph (2) have been met during the 12-month period covered by the report.
(2) REQUIREMENTS- The requirements of this paragraph are that--
(A) the
Government of
(B) the
Government of
(i) respecting the right to freedom of religion, including the right to participate in religious activities and institutions without interference by or involvement of the Government; and
(ii) returning estates and properties confiscated from the churches;
(C) the
Government of
(D) the Government of Vietnam has made substantial progress toward respecting the human rights of members of ethnic minority groups in the Central Highlands and elsewhere in Vietnam; and
(E) neither any official of the Government of Vietnam nor any agency or entity wholly or partly owned by the Government of Vietnam was complicit in a severe form of trafficking in persons, unless the Government of Vietnam took all appropriate steps to end any such complicity and hold such official, agency, or entity fully accountable for its conduct.
(b) EXCEPTION-
(1) CONTINUATION OF ASSISTANCE IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST- Notwithstanding the failure of the Government of Vietnam to meet the requirements of subsection (a)(2), the President may waive the application of subsection (a) for any fiscal year if the President determines that the provision to the Government of Vietnam of increased United States nonhumanitarian assistance would promote the purposes of this Act or is otherwise in the national interest of the United States.
(2) EXERCISE OF WAIVER AUTHORITY- The President may exercise the authority under paragraph (1) with respect to--
(A) all
(B) one or more programs, projects, or activities of such assistance.
(c) DEFINITIONS- In this section:
(1) SEVERE
(2) UNITED STATES NONHUMANITARIAN
ASSISTANCE- The term `
(A) any assistance under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.), including programs under title IV of chapter 2 of part I of that Act (22 U.S.C. 2169 et seq.), relating to the Overseas Private Investment Corporation), other than--
(i) disaster relief assistance, including any assistance under chapter 9 of part I of that Act (22 U.S.C. 2292 et seq.);
(ii) assistance which involves the provision of food (including monetization of food) or medicine; and
(iii) assistance for refugees; and
(B) sales, or financing on any terms, under the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.).
(a) IN GENERAL- The President is
authorized to provide assistance, through appropriate nongovernmental
organizations, for the support of individuals and organizations to promote
democracy and internationally recognized human rights in
(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- There are authorized to be appropriated to the President to carry out subsection (a) $2,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2005 and 2006.
(a) POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES- It
is the policy of the
(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- In addition to such amounts as are otherwise authorized to be appropriated for the Broadcasting Board of Governors, there are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the policy under subsection (a) $9,100,000 for the fiscal year 2005 and $1,100,000 for the fiscal year 2006.
It is the policy of the
(1) providing opportunities to Vietnamese nationals from a wide range of occupations and perspectives to witness freedom and democracy in action; and
(2) ensuring that Vietnamese nationals who have already demonstrated a commitment to these values are included in such programs.
(a) POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES- It
is the policy of the
(1) who were eligible for the
Orderly Departure Program (
(2) who--
(A) were deemed ineligible due to administrative error; or
(B) were unable or failed to apply for such programs in compliance with deadlines imposed by the Department of State for reasons beyond the control of such individuals, including insufficient or contradictory information or the inability to pay bribes demanded by officials of the Government of Vietnam.
(b) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITY- Of the
amounts authorized to be appropriated to the Department of State for Migration
and Refugee Assistance for each of the fiscal years 2005, 2006, and 2007, such
sums as may be necessary are authorized to be made available for the protection
(including resettlement in appropriate cases) of Vietnamese refugees and asylum
seekers, including Montagnards in
(a) IN GENERAL- Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act and every 12 months thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit to the Congress a report on the following:
(1) The determination and certification of the President that the requirements of subparagraphs (A) through (D) of section 101(a)(2) have been met, if applicable.
(2) The determination of the President under section 101(b), if applicable.
(3) Efforts by the United States
Government to secure transmission sites for Radio Free Asia in countries in
close geographical proximity to
(4) Efforts to ensure that programs with Vietnam promote the policy set forth in section 302 and section 102 of the Human Rights, Refugee, and Other Foreign Relations Provisions Act of 1996 (22 U.S.C. 2452 note) with respect to participation in programs of educational and cultural exchange.
(5) Steps taken to carry out the policy under section 401(a).
(6) Lists of persons believed to
be imprisoned, detained, or placed under house arrest, tortured, or otherwise
persecuted by the Government of Vietnam due to their pursuit of internationally
recognized human rights. In compiling such lists, the Secretary shall exercise
appropriate discretion, including concerns regarding the safety and security
of, and benefit to, the persons who may be included on the lists and their families.
In addition, the Secretary shall include a list of such persons and their
families who may qualify for protection under
(7) A description of the
development of the rule of law in
(A) progress toward the development of institutions of democratic governance;
(B) processes
by which statutes, regulations, rules, and other legal acts of the Government
of Vietnam are developed and become binding within
(C) the extent to which statutes, regulations, rules, administrative and judicial decisions, and other legal acts of the Government of Vietnam are published and are made accessible to the public;
(D) the extent to which administrative and judicial decisions are supported by statements of reasons that are based upon written statutes, regulations, rules, and other legal acts of the Government of Vietnam;
(E) the extent to which individuals are treated equally under the laws of Vietnam without regard to citizenship, race, religion, political opinion, or current or former associations;
(F) the extent to which administrative and judicial decisions are independent of political pressure or governmental interference and are reviewed by entities of appellate jurisdiction; and
(G) the
extent to which laws in
(b) CONTACTS WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS- In preparing the report under subsection (a), the Secretary shall, as appropriate, consult with and seek input from nongovernmental organizations, human rights advocates (including Vietnamese-Americans and human rights advocates in Vietnam), and the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.
END
Note from FVA: This problem goes deeper than the just Taiwanese Ebay
user. The Vietnamese authorities have allowed this trafficking to happen as a
way to attract foreign visitors and investors from Asian countries including
Posted on Fri,
By RACHEL KONRAD
Associated Press
The auction, which began March 2 on eBay's
The site included five photos of three people. One dark-haired woman in a white shirt wore makeup and blue nail polish, and the other two appeared to be girls no older than their early teens. The 10-day auction had a starting price of 180,000 Taiwanese dollars, or $5,411.88.
Vietnamese activists groups in
``There couldn't be a clearer case of what's not allowed on eBay,'' spokesman Hani Durzy said today. ``We are constantly scanning the site for items along the line of this one worldwide, and as soon as we see them we take them down.''
San Jose-based eBay strictly forbids the sale or purchase of humans, alive or dead.
The company, which acts as an intermediary between buyers and sellers for products ranging from garage-sale items to supercomputers, doesn't screen auction items before they go live on the site. However, it routinely halts auctions involving human corpses or anything else it deems inappropriate or illegal, and it often suspends the person or group behind such sales.
EBay turned over information on the seller to Taiwanese authorities, Durzy said. He would not release any more information on the user, identified on the site as ``mmm0052g'' and an eBay member since March 1.
Durzy said auctions of humans were ``incredibly rare,'' and those that the company has investigated are usually hoaxes.
``We have no idea if this one was a joke, but frankly it's irrelevant to us,'' Durzy said. ``We took it down as soon as we became aware of it.''
American activist groups including the Fairfax, Va.-based National Congress of Vietnamese Americans, one of the groups that alerted eBay with e-mails and a letter to CEO Meg Whitman, applauded the auction giant's swift moves. Members say they'll continue to monitor eBay's listings for human trafficking.
But NCVA president Hung Nguyen said the illegal trade -- often involving girls or young women who work as sex slaves -- will likely continue regardless of whether Internet sites clamp down.
``The only real alternative is to give countries opportunities for people to educate and better themselves,'' Nguyen said. ``If we could improve the economic conditions in places like Vietnam and Cambodia, there would be less likelihood that people would sell themselves or their children into slavery or brothels.''
[
========================
His Excellency Tran Duc Luong President,
Via facsimile: 011-84-4-823-1872
Your Excellency:
The Committee to Protect Journalists (
On December 31, the Hanoi People's Court sentenced Binh on espionage charges in a three-hour trial. Binh's wife was the only family member allowed into the courtroom. Foreign diplomats and journalists were barred from the trial.
Following the proceedings, the official Vietnam News Agency reported that Binh was sentenced because he had "written and exchanged, with various opportunist elements in the country, information and materials that distorted the party and state policies." He was also accused of communicating with "reactionary" organizations abroad.
Binh was arrested on
Binh worked for almost 10 years at Tap Chi Cong San (Journal of Communism),
an official publication of
Since then, Binh has written several articles calling for political reform
and criticizing current government policy. In July 2002, Binh was briefly
detained after submitting written testimony to a U.S. Congressional Human
Rights Caucus briefing on freedom of expression in
Several writers have been arrested for criticizing land and sea border
agreements signed by
As a nonpartisan organization of journalists dedicated to defending press
freedom worldwide,
According to
Sincerely,
Ann Cooper
Executive Director
CC:
Prime Minister Phan Van Khai
Pham Quang Nghi, Minister of Culture and Information
Nguyen Tam Chien, Vietnamese Ambassador to the United States
Raymond F. Burghardt, U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam
American Society of Newspaper Editors
Amnesty International
Article 19 (United Kingdom)
Artikel 19 (The Netherlands)
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
Freedom Forum
Freedom House
Human Rights Watch
Index on Censorship
International Center for Journalists
International Federation of Journalists
International PEN
International Press Institute
Lorne W. Craner, United States Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights,
and Labor
The Newspaper Guild
The North American Broadcasters Association
Overseas Press Club
Reporters Sans Frontières
Sergio Vieira de Mello, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
The Society of Professional Journalists
World Association of Newspapers
World Press Freedom Committee
*************************
Committee to Protect Journalists
Tel:
Fax:
E-mail: info@cpj.org
Web: www.cpj.org
LOS ANGELES (
The council of
"The resolution is good news and an expression of the will of the
overwhelming majority of the residents of this city," the measure's
co-author, Councilman Andy Quach, told
"It means that we are exercising our First Amendment right to free speech by saying that commie cadres are not welcome and that if we do not get prior notice of their intention to visit, it will be very difficult for us to guarantee their safety."
The adoption of an identical measure eight days earlier by the nearby city
of
Around 40,000 of
The
The resolution also discourages city officials from encouraging such visits and request the US State Department to give the city at least 10 days' notice of an impending visit by Hanoi cadres.
In addition, it states that the city will not be liable for any damage
caused by rioting sparked by a visit by
"The State Department has asked us to do everything we can to rescind
the resolution, saying that the
"But it doesn't matter what the
commies or the State Department say, we on the council
are responsible to our constituents in
By Mai Tran
Times Staff Writer
The State Department on Friday canceled a weekend visit to Little Saigon by
Vietnamese Communist Party leaders after
The trip to the largest Vietnamese community in the
The delegation, which will visit
But anti-communist activists in Little Saigon said the visitors would be
unwelcome. Protesters had planned to line
"It's like taking Fidel Castro down to Little Havana in
Many immigrants who fled their homeland when
The fact that the visit would come just days before the commemoration of the
fall of
The former premier of
Support for bilateral trade relations with
The State Department said the visit, which began Thursday and ends April 30, was requested by Vietnamese officials.
Thanh Phuc Nguyen, vice president of the Vietnam National Assembly and chairman of the assembly's Committee on Foreign Affairs, is leading the six-person delegation. Nguyen is scheduled to meet next week with John R. Bolton, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, to discuss security issues.
"The government of
The Little Saigon stop was canceled Friday afternoon after two police departments warned federal officials that the group's safety could not be guaranteed.
"We just wanted to make the State Department aware of the contentious feeling of the Vietnamese community in this area regarding someone of his affiliation," said Westminster Police Capt. Mitch Waller, referring to Nguyen. "It would be very difficult for us to guarantee his safety if he comes to our city, having experienced what happened in 1999."
Little Saigon was rocked in 1999 when 15,000 demonstrators rallied for 53 days in front of a video store on Bolsa Avenue after its owner hung a picture of communist leader Ho Chi Minh and the communist flag.
"The anti-communist sentiments among members of this community are as strong, if not stronger, than anywhere else in the world," Garden Grove Police Chief Joseph Polisar wrote in a letter Friday to Special Agent Henry Jenkins.
"I urge you in the strongest possible terms to avoid bringing
representatives of the government of
Delegation officials declined to comment.
The visit was to include a drive through
"They're on our soil, and we just want to send them a clear message that they're not welcome here," Councilman Quach said.
"This is a victory for us," said Lac Nguyen, 59, of
Though Vietnamese government officials
have visited
By Jeff Gottlieb and Mai Tran, Times Staff Writers
The flying of the Vietnamese flag, the potent symbol of a lost war and a stream of refugees, could lead to demonstrations at Cal State Fullerton's graduation this month by students and anticommunist activists from Little Saigon.
The banner of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, with a gold star on a red
background, is supposed to fly with 79 other flags representing the homelands
of
But students want the yellow and red flag of the defeated
"The communist flag is immoral," said Phu Ngoc Nguyen, 20, a member of the student association. "I want a flag that represents me to be flown."
Students said they may walk out of ceremonies if the flag of
A committee of eight campus administrators and staff members have met twice to discuss how to keep the commencement from becoming political, said Owen Holmes, the associate vice president for public affairs and governmental relations, who chairs the committee.
"This is a special time for families and graduates," he said.
More than 8,000 students will attend graduation May 29 and 30, with about 40,000 family members and friends also expected.
About 2,000 students of Vietnamese descent attend the university, which has an enrollment of more than 30,000.
Chien Ngoc Bach, spokesman for the Vietnamese Embassy in
"As an educational institution, the university should teach students about the truth rather than myth," he said.
The controversy comes a week after officials from
Several
Emotions have run strong in the Vietnamese exile community since the fall of
A
International flags were displayed at
Vo, the advisor to the Vietnamese Student Assn., said she thought both Vietnamese flags had flown previously.
The Vietnamese flag that flew last year attracted the attention of at least one man, who climbed a fence and pulled down the banner several hours after graduation, said Lt. Will Glen of the university's police department.
When police asked that the flag be returned, he handed them a South Vietnamese banner instead.
Last October, officials at the
Because of its proximity to Little Saigon,
Since the late 1990s, the campus has cultivated a closer relationship with
the Southeast Asian country, including at least two visits to
Cal State Fullerton has agreements with five Vietnamese universities for a
variety of collaborations that include faculty visits. In addition, 31 students
from
Vo said the flag controversy began after last year's graduation. She said a Little Saigon newspaper blamed the Vietnamese Student Assn. for allowing the university to fly the flag.
She said the students sent a petition to Candy Mink, the dean of students.
Mink said she didn't remember the petition but recalled meeting students between the end of December and the beginning of February. "I listened to those concerns and the university leadership is addressing them," she said.
Xuan Vu, a board member of the Vietnamese American Public Affairs Committee, who has been working with the students, said the South Vietnamese flag is an important symbol.
"We're not doing this to keep out the Vietnamese government, but it's a clear message of representation," she said.
"We're saying, 'No, the communist government
does not represent us.' "
(
New testimony gathered by Human Rights Watch establishes the widespread and
continued use of torture against activists, religious leaders, and individuals
who have been deported or have voluntarily returned from
On January 1, Cambodian National Police Chief Hok Lundy ordered authorities
in the border
“The Vietnamese government’s mistreatment of Montagnards continues unabated,” said Brad Adams, executive director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division. “Instead of closing its borders to asylum seekers, the Cambodian government should be working with the United Nations refugee agency to provide sanctuary to people escaping torture and arbitrary arrest.”
Human Rights Watch said that under
During high-profile tours to the
However, in the weeks leading up to Christmas, police were busy rounding up
and arresting dozens of Montagnard Christians and detaining them at district
and provincial police stations and prisons throughout the region. In Gia Lai
province alone––one of five provinces in the
“Christmas was relatively quiet in the highlands,” said
Many of those arrested during the Christmas crackdown were Montagnard house
church leaders who were organizing Christmas gatherings in the villages. Others
targeted for detention included the wives and even young children of men who
had fled to
A Mnong man from Dak Nong province, who was arrested in April 2004, said he was severely beaten several times by police officers trying to obtain the names of other activists. At the district jail, police officers pulled out one of his toe nails, beat him repeatedly on his thighs with a rubber baton, and boxed him in the face, knocking out one of his front teeth. They brandished an AK-47 rifle and threatened to kill him. He was then transferred to the provincial prison, where he was interrogated and beaten again:
They beat my head and used two hands to box my ears more than thirty times, until my face was bright red and my ears were bleeding. They kicked me in the chest with their boots. They wanted to squeeze out the information about the demonstrations.
First-hand accounts from Montagnards who have voluntarily returned to
On December 29, the Vietnamese government publicly accused 13 Montagnards
who voluntarily returned to
“These kinds of statements show a degree of paranoia that leads to
persecution,” said
Meanwhile, Montagnard asylum seekers who crossed the border to
“It is absolutely imperative that the Cambodian government immediately
grants UNHCR access to these people, or turns them over to UNHCR if government
security forces apprehend them,” said
For more information, please contact:
In
In
In
In
In
For Immediate Release:
(
Last September the U.S. State Department designated
“Despite a few well-timed goodwill gestures, such as the recent release of
several religious prisoners,
The Vietnamese government imposes strict controls over religious organizations and treats leaders of unauthorized religious groups with intense suspicion, branding many of them as subversives. Targeted in particular are ethnic minority Christians, Mennonites, and members of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV).
Ethnic Hmong Christians in the northwest provinces have been beaten, detained and pressured by local authorities to renounce their religion and cease religious gatherings. At least ten Hmong Christians remain in detention in Lai Chau and Ha Giang provinces. Recently the military presence in several villages in Lai Chau has increased recently, causing many Hmong Christians to flee from their homes.
In the Central Highlands, the government has increased its repression of Montagnard Christians, particularly those thought to be following “Dega Protestantism.” This is a form of evangelical Christianity, banned by the Vietnamese government, which links it to the Montagnard movement for return of ancestral lands, religious freedom and self-rule.
Since 2001 more than 180 Montagnard Christians – not only Dega church
activists, but pastors, house church leaders and Bible teachers as well - have
been arrested and sentenced to prison, many on charges that they are violent
separatists using their religion to “sow divisions among the people” and
“undermine state and party unity.” There is no evidence that the Dega church
movement has ever advocated violence. By arresting and imprisoning people for their
religious beliefs or peaceful expression of their views,
While one UBCV monk was included in a recent Tet New Year prisoner amnesty, the government continues to persecute UBCV members and withhold any recognition of this group, once the largest organization of the majority religion in the country. Many UBCV members remain confined without charges to their pagodas, which are under strict police surveillance.
Mennonites in
While relations between the
As the deadline for finalizing the
However, as with the Ordinance on Beliefs and Religion passed last year, this latest directive continues to require religious organizations to obtain government permission in order to operate, advancing Vietnam’s official stance that religious freedom is a privilege to be requested and granted by the government, rather than a fundamental human right.
“
The International Religious Freedom Act offers the President a menu of
options to address abuses in countries designated as
“The Bush Administration needs to send a strong message to the Vietnamese
government that the
Proposed Benchmarks
The current talks between the
Human Rights Watch proposes that the State Department should make sure that
the government of
• Allow independent religious organizations to freely conduct religious activities and govern themselves. Churches and denominations that do not choose to join one of the officially-authorized religious organizations whose governing boards are under the control of the government should be allowed to independently register with the government.
• Release or grant amnesty to all people imprisoned or detained because of their non-violent religious beliefs and practices.
• Investigate and punish those responsible for all instances of violence
against religious believers, including by civilians acting in concert with
government officials. Such incidents include the violent suppression of the
April 2004 protests by Montagnards in the
• Investigate reports of suppression of Protestants, including arbitrary detention of Mennonites and evangelical Christians. Those responsible for these violations should be brought to justice.
• Ensure that all domestic legislation addressing religious affairs is brought in conformity with international law, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Amend provisions in domestic law that criminalizes certain religious activities on the basis of imprecisely-defined “national security” crimes.
• Amend the 2004 Ordinance on Beliefs and Religion to include a provision that prohibits forced renunciation ceremonies by government officials, linked to specific disciplinary measures for offenders.
• Permit outside experts, including those from the United Nations and
independent international human rights organizations, to have access to
religious followers in
• Invite the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance, the U.N.
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, and the U.N. Special Rapporteur on
Torture to visit
For the full text of Human Rights Watch’s letter to Secretary Rice, see:
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/02/28/vietna10217.htm
For more information, please contact:
In London, Brad Adams: + 44-7960-844-996
In Washington D.C., Veena Siddharth: +202
In New York, Minky Worden: +212-216-1250
In
The text was signed by Prime Minister Phan Van Khai on March 18, an official
at the Government Office told
According to state media, the decree requires that all gatherings not organized by the ruling Communist Party or state organs must be approved in advance.
The venue, the slogans to be used and the purpose of the meeting or demonstration must also be registered, but even then local authorities can prevent it from taking place if they fear it could disrupt public order.
"The presidents of people's committees can allow, suspend or cancel the gathering of a high humber of people, even if it has been authorized before, if it is a serious threat to public order or does not follow the authorized programme," the Thanh Nien newspaper said.
The Tien Phong daily said security forces had also been authorised to take "appropriate measures to restore public order," including arresting people and dispersing demonstrators.
The paper added that the decree bans gatherings in front of government buildings, international conference venues and the country's parliament.
The communist nation has witnessed several incidents of unrest in different parts of the country in recent years mainly linked to land expropriation and corruption of local officials.
Demonstrators also sometimes gather in
Thousand of ethnic minority people in the country's impoverished Central Highlands region took to the streets in April last year, protesting against confiscation of ancestral lands and religious persecution.
International human rights groups say at least 10 people were killed. The government insists only two people died.
H. Res. 228
In the House of Representatives,
Whereas the Vietnamese who resettled in the United States after the events of April 1975 have, through perseverance and hard work, been able to rebuild their lives and form a vibrant community across the United States, nearly a million and a half strong, which contributes in many significant ways to the richness and diversity of American society;
Whereas the large flow of refugees to the United States and elsewhere was caused by the fall of the Republic of Vietnam to the Communist forces of North Vietnam in April 1975, resulting in a world refugee crisis of historic proportions, the exodus of millions of Vietnamese, and hundreds of thousands of deaths at sea;
Whereas since 1975, Vietnamese Americans have worked tirelessly to promote
freedom and democracy in
Whereas the United States honors all members of the United States Armed Forces and members of the South Vietnamese forces who fought in the Vietnam conflict, including those individuals who gave the ultimate sacrifice, their lives, for the cause of freedom during such conflict; and
Whereas the interests of the
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) honors the significant contributions of Vietnamese Americans to the richness, diversity, and success of American society;
(2) observes the 30th anniversary of the large
exodus of refugees from
(3) supports all individuals taking part in events
in
(4) honors the memory of those Vietnamese who lost their lives in that refugee exodus; and
(5) urges all
citizens of the
(
Human Rights Watch said Vietnamese officials are also continuing to force Montagnard Christians to recant their faith.
Targeted in particular are those perceived as following "Dega Christianity," an unsanctioned form of evangelical Christianity followed by many Montagnards, who distrust government-controlled religious organizations and seek to manage their own affairs. The Vietnamese government has banned Dega Christianity and charges that it is not a religion but a separatist political movement.
"Montagnards who attempt to practice their religion independently still
face assaults and live in fear," said Brad Adams,
Human Rights Watch said that recent talks between
However, the regulation requires religious organizations to obtain government permission in order to operate. It states that only churches that have conducted "pure religious activities" since 1975 can register for official authorization. This effectively eliminates Montagnard house churches in the Central Highlands, most of which started up in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In an ominous tone, it instructs officials to publicly expose "disguised Protestants" and to "fight attempts by hostile forces to abuse Protestantism to incite people to act subversively."
According to recent eyewitness accounts obtained by Human Rights Watch,
local authorities in the Central Highlands have used the new regulation as
grounds to arrest Montagnards suspected of belonging to Christian groups that
operate independently. Government officials in Cu Se district of Gia Lai
province summoned Montagnards from many villages for all-day meetings at
district headquarters, where they were warned not to follow Dega Christianity,
and in some cases forced to sign pledges promising to abandon religion and
politics. (The Evangelical Church of Vietnam/South (ECVN) is the only
Protestant organization authorized by the government to operate in southern
In March and April, security forces in several districts of Gia Lai conducted
search operations in the forests and
"Recent commitments from the Vietnamese government on religious freedom
are welcome, but only if they lead to an end to abuses," said
Human Rights Watch said that at this point, the reforms appear to be having the perverse effect of allowing government security forces to take fresh action against religious activists.
Human Rights Watch said that it also has received reports of mistreatment of
Montagnards who voluntarily returned to
In a recent Memorandum of Understanding signed with the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),
"The general mistreatment of Montagnards and the targeting of returnees
from
Annex: Excerpted Case Examples from the Briefing Paper
On March 14, commune police summoned a villager from Ia Grai district, Gia Lai. He was interrogated and held in a dark, windowless room for one day, where he was asked about the leadership, practice, and membership of his religious group. He was told that he needed written permission from the district and commune in order to worship. He was warned that if he practiced religion without permission, he would be arrested again.
In late March, police in Dak Lak province arrested a Montagnard pastor who is a member of the ECVN and six relatives of another Montagnard pastor affiliated with the ECVN. Two of those arrested were subsequently released; one after facing public denunciation in which he was accused of having preached the gospel illegally and calling himself a pastor without government approval. The whereabouts of the other five remains unknown.
On April 26, Ia Grai district police officers in Gia Lai province delivered a written summons to three villagers, ordering them to report to commune headquarters. The police officers interrogated them and accused them of "heading the separation of the believers" and ordered them to cease their beliefs on the side of those who have "separated themselves from the church." The villagers reportedly admitted being among those who had separated from the church (presumably meaning the ECVN) and refused to abandon their faith. The officers slammed their fists on the table and threatened them with arrest. All three villagers were beaten by the police officers before being released and allowed to return to their homes. One was slapped across the face and jaw; another was punched in the chest; and the third was boxed in their ears.
In early April, a Montagnard from Cu Se district of Gia Lai was arrested and detained at the district police station. District police officers beat him, forced him to drink alcohol, and ordered him to stop believing in Jesus. They tied his feet and had him hold his arms straight out, crucifixion style, while they beat him with their hands and kicked him with their boots. When he lost consciousness they poured wine into his mouth. He was released that evening.
On February 25, two police officers from Ia To commune, Ia Grai District summoned two men and a woman for interrogation. They were asked whether they followed Dega Christianity or the "Christianity of [Prime Minister] Phan Van Khai". They were asked who in their village followed "the religion that is political" and where they worshiped, and ordered to cease following Dega Christianity. They did not agree to stop. The police hit one of the men with their fists and beat the second man until he lost consciousness. The three were released from detention the same day. They were threatened with arrest if they were caught practicing their religion again.
To read the briefing paper "
For more information, please contact:
In
In
In Washington, Veena Siddharth: +
GENEVA, June 24 (Reuters) - Vietnamese authorities arrested a group of monks as Prime Minister Phan Van Khai discussed steps towards religious freedoms with U.S. President George W. Bush in Washington, a human rights group said on Friday.
About 10 monks were detained last Tuesday by plain-clothed security agents who prevented them from visiting Thich Huyen Quang, patriarch of the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, according to the World Organisation against Torture.
"The agents then instructed the driver of the van to take the monks to the Go Gang police station where the monks remain in detention," the Geneva-based coalition of 300 human rights groups said in a statement.
It said it was "gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of the monks as well as by the general climate of arbitrariness against UBCV monks".
Vietnamese officials were not immediately available for comment.
The movement's patriarch, accused of possessing state secrets, is barred from moving far from his monastery in Binh Dinh, 650 km (404 miles) north of Ho Chi Minh City.
But
Bush, at talks in
The first visit by a Vietnamese prime minister since the Vietnam war ended 30 years ago, it was marked by protestors denouncing alleged repression of freedom of religion.
Bush noted that a "landmark agreement" was signed with
The May 5 agreement commits
The government permits six religious
groups to operate, including a Buddhist one intended as a replacement for the
By LORETTA SANCHEZ
Last week, the government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam formally denied my request to travel there on official government business for the U.S. House of Representatives. I was authorized to travel on behalf of the House Homeland Security Committee to discuss regional security initiatives, defense issues, trade, and human rights.
The official reason given by the Vietnamese National Assembly was that my
visit would not "serve U.S.-Vietnam relations." The
real reason? The Vietnamese government was afraid that my visit would
shed light on a growing cancer within
When the U.S.-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement was signed in 2001, U.S.
Trade Ambassador Robert Zoellick called it "an important step forward in
bringing economic freedom and opportunity to
In September, the U.S. State Department released its sixth annual Report on
International Religious Freedom, adding
As the Congressional representative for the 47th district of California,
home to one of the world's largest Vietnamese communities outside
Unlike most of the countries on the