US vows to
keep up pressure on human rights in Vietnam
AFP
Thursday • December 14, 2006
Closer trade ties with Vietnam will not stop the United States from pushing for
human rights and religious freedom in the communist country, the US ambassador
said.
"We are not interested in merely sitting down to talk, we want to see progress
on the issues," Ambassador Michael Marine told a press briefing.
Vietnam had loosened controls on dissidents this year, only to tighten them
before and during an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit last month
to keep them from talking to outsiders and the media, Marine said.
"Right before APEC the authorities took steps clearly to clamp down on that and
to restrict the access both of outsiders to these individuals, and of these
individuals to the Internet and other means of communication.
"That is a worrisome development, one that we are monitoring closely."
Marine said members of the pro-democracy 'Bloc 8406', named for the date it was
launched this year, "have the power of their convictions. The strength of their
convictions is such that they are willing to speak out.
"I think that they are true patriots, they want the best for Vietnam. And the
growth of democracy, at a pace that Vietnam is ready for and that the Vietnamese
people want, is something that we support."
In the week before US President George W. Bush arrived for the November APEC
summit, Vietnam was dropped from a US blacklist of "countries of particular
concern" (CPC) for the repression of religious freedoms.
Congress last week granted Vietnam permanent normal trade relations not subject
to annual review, another move critics saw as Washington easing pressure for
change on human rights in Vietnam.
"I've heard those arguments," said Marine. "I don't accept them. We will
continue to engage on the question of religious freedom just as much now as we
did in October.
"Nothing has changed by the fact that Vietnam is no longer on the CPC list,
other than a recognition by the administration that there has been progress in
extending religious space here."
Marine said "there is still work to be done" for Vietnam, including allowing
religious groups to do more charitable and social work, and permitting more
Catholic seminaries and Protestant bible schools.
Marine said he was in contact with dissident Pham Hong Son, a medical doctor
freed in August after more than four years in jail for his pro-democracy
Internet writings.
Son said during the APEC meeting he was beaten by security forces.
Marine said he had "no reason to doubt that he was physically mistreated to some
degree. Individuals should not be subject to that kind of treatment."
The US ambassador stressed that Vietnam has nothing to fear from democracy.
"I think there is something to be gained for Vietnam through allowing greater
freedom of expression, freedom of association," he said.
"For any government to truly function well, you need the ability of citizens to
comment on policies and practices within that government." — AFP