U.S. Urged to
Press Vietnam on Human Rights
By
Michelle Vu
Christian Post Reporter
Fri, Sep. 15 2006 11:42 AM ET
WASHINGTON
– Panels of human rights experts and Vietnamese witnesses reported numerous
cases of harassments and unjust arrests by the communist government on Thursday
as they urged for greater U.S. pressure on Vietnam to improve its human rights
record.
Reports from
human rights and religious freedom experts as well as a moving personal
testimony from the wife of a detained U.S. citizen took place at the
Congressional Human Rights Caucus (CHRC) briefing, “Human Rights in Vietnam
Today,” on Capitol Hill.
Jane Tien Dobui shared her personal tragedy of her husband’s arrest one month
earlier in Vietnam while on vacation. Her husband, Cong Thanh Do, an American
citizen and human rights and pro-democracy activists, was accused of being a
terrorist with plans to attack the U.S. General Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City.
Dobui recounted his arrests through tears and said she has no information on
Cong, not knowing “even if he is still alive.”
Other cases of arrests of pro-democracy Vietnamese include Mr. Tran Dinh who was
arrested on Sept. 4 for being a member of the democracy movement Bloc 8406,
which issued the “2006 Manifesto for Freedom and Democracy in Vietnam,”
according to the statement by Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Bich, a board of directors member
of the National Congress of Vietnamese Americans. The Manifesto was posted
online and signed by 118 citizens. Pastor Ngo Hoai No, another Bloc 8406 member
was arrested on Sept. 5 but released a day later.
Dr. Chan Dang-Vu, representative for North America, Vietnam Reform Party (Viet
Tan), reported the cases of Truong Quoc Huy and his brother Truong Quoc Tuan who
were arrested for participating in a pro-democracy chat room. He said that the
whereabouts of Truong Quoc Huy is still unknown while Truong Quoc Tuan is under
house arrest.
Others, like Vu Hoang Hai, have been beaten severely for their support of the
Democracy Manifesto or ideas of a multi-party state government.
Panel members expressed hope that President Bush in his upcoming visit to Hanoi
in November for the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit will press
the Vietnamese government to improve human rights and religious freedom within
its country.
In the conclusion of her speech, Dobui said, “My little boy has a dream about
his daddy.”
“He said that he [wished] his daddy would pick him up from school and give me a
hug,” she said of her 9-year-old son. “So please help my children bring their
daddy home. Help my little boy to have his dream come dream. Please help my
husband and the father of my children, a human rights activists and human rights
activists, please give him back the ability to talk and speak his mind for what
he believes in and what all of us here believe in – democracy and freedom.”