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Week Ending September 21, 2007

H.R.3096 To promote freedom and democracy in Vietnam.

The bill insists on various political and humanitarian changes by the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and supports those requirements by suspending ‘non-humanitarian’ aid.

The bill requires that the president certify that the Vietnam government, over the past twelve months, has made substantial progress:

• Toward releasing all political and religious prisoners from imprisonment, house arrest and other forms of detention;

• Toward respecting the right to freedom of religion, including the right to participate in religious activities without interference by the government;

• Toward returning estates and properties confiscated from the churches;

• Toward allowing Vietnamese national free and open access to US refugee programs;

• Toward respecting human rights of all members of ethnic minority groups;

• That neither any official of the Government of Vietnam nor any agency or entity wholly or partly owned by the Government was complicit in sever forms of trafficking in persons or the Government took all appropriate steps to end any such complicity and hold the official, agency or entity fully accountable.

Should the president not certify that the Government of Vietnam is meeting the above obligation, he may cut off all or part of US non-humanitarian aid to include disaster relief assistance, food aid (including financial aid for food), medicine, refugee assistance and sales or financing military weaponry. The president may allow any of those programs if he determines that doing so would promote the purpose of the bill.

Assistance is authorized through appropriate non-governmental organizations and the Human Rights Defenders Fund to support individuals and organizations to promote internationally recognized human rights in Vietnam. $2 million yearly for 2008 and 2009 is authorized.

The bill establishes that it is the policy of the US to take such measures as necessary to overcome jamming of Radio Free Asia by the Government of Vietnam. $9.1 million for 2008 and $1.1 million for 2009 is authorized.

The bill also establishes that it is US policy to promote educational and cultural exchange to actively make progress towards freedom and democracy in Vietnam whereby Vietnamese nationals can see ‘democracy in action’.

Further, the bill establishes US policy to offer refugee resettlement to nationals of Vietnam, including the Montagnard ethnic minority groups, who were eligible for earlier refugee programs but were deemed ineligible for administrative errors or for reasons beyond their control were unable to file. Authorized are such sums as may be necessary for 2008 through 2010.

The Secretary of State will produce a report to Congress on the progress of this bill but will also provide a list of persons believed to be imprisoned, detained or placed under house arrest, tortured or otherwise persecuted due to human rights reasons. The Secretary will also report on individuals who may qualify for the refugee programs, progress towards the development of institutions of democratic governance, processes by which statutes, regulations, rules and other legal acts are developed and become binding in Vietnam, the extent to which statues, regulations, rules, administrative and other judicial decisions are disseminated to the public and the extent to which those decisions are supported by written statutes, regulations etcetera.

The report will also determine the extent to which individuals are treated equally under Vietnamese law without regard to citizenship, race religion, political opinion or current and former associations, the extent to which administrative and judicial decisions are independent of political pressure or interference or an reviewed by appellate jurisdiction and the extent to which laws in Vietnam are written and administered in ways consistent with international human rights standards.

Sponsor:  Rep. Christopher Smith (R-NJ-4^th)

Vote: Passed House 414 to 3 September 17, 2007 RC 869

Cost to the taxpayers: $12.2 million plus other sums as are necessary. This bill authorizes but does not yet appropriate the funds. Full funding will be determined at a later date should the bill move towards becoming a public law or if it is included in larger legislation.

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MORE INFORMATION

Congress finds the following:

(1) The relationship between the United States and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has grown substantially over the past 12 years, with annual trade between the 2 countries reaching over $9,000,000,000 per year.

(2) The Government of Vietnam's transition toward greater economic freedom and trade has not been matched by greater political freedom and substantial improvements in human rights for many Vietnamese.

(3) The United States Congress agreed to Vietnam becoming an official member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2006, amidst assurances that the Vietnamese Government was steadily improving its human rights record and would continue to do so.

(4) Vietnam remains a one-party state, ruled and controlled by the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), which continues to deny the right of citizens to change their government.

(5) Although in recent years the National Assembly of Vietnam has played an increasingly active role as a forum for highlighting local concerns, corruption, and inefficiency, the National Assembly remains subject to the direction of the CPV and the CPV maintains control over the selection of candidates in national and local elections.

(6) The Government of Vietnam forbids public challenge to the legitimacy of the one-party state, restricts freedoms of opinion, the press, and association and tightly limits access to the Internet and telecommunication.

(7) Since Vietnam's accession to the WTO on January 11, 2007, the Vietnamese Government arbitrarily arrested and imprisoned several individuals for their peaceful advocacy of democracy, including Father Nguyen Van Ly and human rights lawyers Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan.

(8) The Government of Vietnam continues to detain, imprison, place under house arrest, convict, or otherwise restrict persons for the peaceful expression of dissenting political or religious views, including Bui Kim Thanh, Hang Tan Phat, Truong Quoc Huy, Vu Hoang Hai, Nguyen Ngoc Quang, Pham Ba Hai, Dr. Le Nguyen Sang, Huynh Nguyen Dao, Nguyen Bac Truyen, Tran Quoc Hien, Nguyen Tan Hoanh, Tran Thi Le Hang, Doan Huu Chuong, Doan Van Dien, Le Ba Triet, Nguyen Tuan, Tran Thi Thuy Trang, Nguyen Phong, Nguyen Binh Thanh, Hoang Thi Anh Dao, Le Thi Le Hang, Tran Khai Thanh Thuy, Ho Thi Bich Khuong, Hong Trung, Danh Tol, Kim Muot, Thach Thuong, Ly Suong, Ly Hoang, Nguyen Van Tho, Le Van Soc, Nguyen Van Thuy, Duong Thi Tron, and Truong Minh Duc, among others.

(9)(A) The Government of Vietnam continues to limit freedom of religion and restrict the operation of religious organizations.

(B) Despite reported progress in church openings and legal registrations of religious venues, the Government of Vietnam has halted most positive actions since the Department of State lifted the `country of particular concern' (CPC) designation for Vietnam in November 2006.

(C) Unregistered ethnic minority Protestant congregations suffer severe abuses because of actions by the Government of Vietnam, which have included forced renunciations of faith, the arrest and harassment of pastors, the withholding of social programs provided for the general population, confiscation and destruction of property, and subjection to severe beatings.

(D) The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) suffers persecutions as the Government of Vietnam continues to restrict contacts and movement of senior UBCV clergy, including the Most Venerable Thich Huyen Quang, and the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do for refusing to join the state-sponsored Buddhist organizations, and the Government also continues to place leaders under `pagoda' and house arrest, destroy religious property, and harass and threaten local practicing Buddhists.

(E) The Government of Vietnam continues to suppress the activities of other religious adherents, including Cao Dai and Hoa Hao who lack official recognition or have chosen not to affiliate with the state-sanctioned groups, including through the use of detention and imprisonment.

(F) 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 violent response as many demonstrators were arrested, injured, went into hiding, and that others were killed. Many of these Montagnards are still serving long sentences for their involvement in peaceful demonstrations in 2001 and 2004.

(G) Ethnic minority Hmong in the Northwest Highlands of Vietnam also suffer restrictions, abuses, and persecution by the Government of Vietnam, and although the Government is now allowing some Hmong Protestants to organize and conduct religious activity, some government officials continue to deny or ignore additional applications for registration.

(10) The Government of Vietnam controls all print and electronic media, including access to the Internet, jams the signals of some foreign radio stations, including Radio Free Asia, and has detained and imprisoned individuals who have posted or sent democracy-related materials via the Internet.

(11) People arrested in Vietnam because of their political or religious affiliations and activities often are not accorded due legal process as they lack full access to lawyers of their choice, may experience closed trials, have often been detained for years without trial, and have been subjected to the use of torture to admit crimes they did not commit or to falsely denounce their own leaders.

(12)(A) United States refugee resettlement programs, including the Humanitarian Resettlement (HR) Program, the Orderly Departure Program (ODP), Resettlement Opportunities for Vietnamese Returnees (ROVR) Program, general resettlement of boat people from refugee camps throughout Southeast Asia, the Amerasian Homecoming Act of 1988, and the Priority One Refugee resettlement category have helped rescue Vietnamese nationals who have suffered persecution on account of their associations with the United States as well as Vietnamese nationals who have been persecuted because of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group.

(B) While previous programs have served their purposes well, a significant number of eligible refugees from Vietnam were unfairly denied or excluded, including Amerasians, in some cases by vindictive or corrupt Vietnamese officials who controlled access to the programs, and in others by United States personnel who imposed unduly restrictive interpretations of program criteria. In addition, the Government of Vietnam has denied passports to persons who the United States has found eligible for refugee admission.

(C) The Department of State has agreed to extend the September 30, 1994, registration deadline for former United States employees, `re-education' survivors, and surviving spouses of those who did not survive `re-education' camps to sign up for United States refugee programs, as well as the Vietnamese In Country Priority One Program in Vietnam to provide protection to victims of recent persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group.

(D) The former United States Immigration and Naturalization Service 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 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.

(13) Congress has passed numerous resolutions condemning human rights abuses in Vietnam, indicating that although there has been an expansion of relations with the Government of Vietnam, it should not be construed as approval of the ongoing and serious violations of fundamental human rights in Vietnam.

(14) Enhancement of relations between the United States and Vietnam has proved an opportunity for a human rights dialogue and could lead to future progress on human rights issues in Vietnam.

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