US lawmakers welcome Vietnam leader with human rights bill

 

06-22-2005, 21h46

WASHINGTON (AFP)

 

US critics of Vietnam's human rights record were to introduce a bill demanding greater political and religious freedom in the communist country, as its prime minister pursued a historic US tour.

Prime Minister Phan Van Khai met Congress leaders, a day after landmark talks with President George W. Bush that took a new step in burying animosity, 30 years after the end of the Vietnam War.

But the introduction of "The Vietnam Human Rights Act" in the House of Representatives was deliberately timed to coincide with Khai's Washington visit. Lawmakers had hoped to offer the bill Wednesday, but pushed back its introduction one day to Thursday.

The legislation calls on the US administration to restrict non-humanitarian aid to Vietnam unless specific human rights provisions are met.

The bill also provides funding to counter Hanoi's jamming of Radio Free Asia and financial support for groups promoting human rights and democratic change in Vietnam.

The House passed similar legislation in 2001 and 2004, but it was stalled in the Senate.

Vietnam hopes to join the World Trade Organization this year, but it must still get Most Favored Nation status from the United States and the US Congress, where many lawmakers have criticized Hanoi's rights record.

Some said they have been disappointed that so little attention to human rights was included in the Bush-Khai summit -- despite a US decision last year to designate Vietnam a country of concern over alleged violations of religious freedom.

Lawmakers reaffirmed concerns during a House hearing this week on human rights in Vietnam.

"All over the world, people from Vietnam are prospering wherever there is freedom," said Representative Ed Royce. "But in communist-controlled Vietnam, there is a lack of freedom and a lack of prosperity."

He said: "Progress on human rights in Vietnam has been stagnant -- if not taking a step backwards."

Royce highlighted tight control of the media in Vietnam, where even news of protests around Khai's US visit has been blacked out.

"Newspapers, television and radio stations remain under strict government control. There is a crack-down on the Internet with young Vietnamese serving long, long terms in prison because they attempt free speech," said Royce, who is the author of legislation to increase Radio Free Asia broadcasts to Vietnam.

"The human rights situation in Vietnam is abysmal," he said.

Condemnation of Vietnam's human rights record has been less evident during official stops in Khai's visit, which comes 10 years after Washington and Hanoi established diplomatic relations.

During the trip, which focuses largely on business ties, Khai also met with Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, and is to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday.

"An outside observer looking at all of this activity would in all likelihood ... deduce that Vietnam must also share the core values of the United States that make our country great," said Representative Chris Smith, author of the Vietnam Human Rights Act, at Monday's hearing.

But he said "Vietnam needs to come out of the dark ages of repression, brutality and abuse and embrace freedom, the rule of law, and respect for fundamental human rights."

One of Vietnam's most outspoken Senate critics, Republican Senator Sam Brownback, told AFP that he had hoped that the White House would make human rights a bigger part of bilateral discussions.

"I wrote to the White House asking them to raise the issue with the Vietnamese officials that are here, so that we don't just do trade without also addressing the human rights issues that are real," Brownback said.

Khai has rejected claims of excessive human rights abuses. But on Tuesday, as he met Bush at the White House, hundreds of Vietnamese-Americans staged demonstrations outside.

 

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