Congress Members Demand Change in Policy toward Vietnam
7/28/2009
By Gary Feuerberg
Epoch Times Staff
WASHINGTON—Human
rights organizations and some in the U.S. Congress are now demanding that
Vietnam be placed back on the list of "Country of Particular Concern" (CPC),
which would allow the U.S. to impose economic sanctions to pressure the regime
to improve its human rights record. Three areas of concern that are being
discussed are Vietnam’s record on religious freedom, women and child
trafficking, and labor organizing.
Presently, the U.S. State Department does not designate Vietnam as a “Country of
Particular Concern” or CPC, although it did from 2004-2006. The new Obama
administration provides an opportunity to make a new case for Vietnam’s CPC
designation.
To look into recent developments in Vietnam, the Tom Lantos Human Rights
Commission held a hearing, July 23, on the status of human rights and religious
freedom in Vietnam. The Commission, consisted of a panel of congress members
known for their human rights advocacy, including Chris Smith (R-NJ), Ed Royce
(R-CA), James McGovern (D-MA), Anh “Joseph” Cao (R-LA), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA),
Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Tom Wolf (R-VA), and Joe Pitts
(R-PA).
The anger was palpable in the hearing room on Capitol Hill as the congress
members vented harsh words for Vietnam’s religious and labor policies, and most
expressed frustration at the State Department’s apparent unwillingness to get
tough on Vietnam. And they were incredulous toward U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam
Michael Michalak’s recent statement that there was a “lack of evidence” that
Vietnam should be placed back on the CPC list.
“When Vietnam was placed on the CPC list, we saw some positive changes.
Unfortunately, when they were prematurely released in 2006, Vietnam ramped up
its persecution,” said Representative Ed Royce.
“It is unfortunate a representative of the State Department could not be here
with us today. I would appreciate the opportunity to inquire why the
administration is not far more engaged on the issue of religious freedom in
Vietnam and elsewhere. I hope the State Department will take into account the
testimony presented and the discussion that will take place today,” said
Representative Chris Smith.
Rep. Smith has three times introduced legislation in the House, most recently,
the Vietnam Human Rights Act of 2009 (HR 1969) that would prohibit U.S.
non-humanitarian assistance to the government of Vietnam in excess of FY2009
levels unless the president certifies to Congress that the government of Vietnam
has made substantial progress respecting: the release of political and religious
prisoners, and the right of religious freedom, including the return of church
properties.
Religious Freedom
Deteriorates Past Two Years
The panel heard
from Michael Cromartie, vice-chair, U.S. Commission on International Religious
Freedom (USCIRF), an expert on the subject of religious freedom of expression in
Vietnam. The USCIRF delegation returned from Vietnam in May, making it their
fourth visit to Vietnam since 2003. Cromartie, who had traveled to Vietnam in
both 2007 and 2009, said at the hearing that it was his opinion, “Human rights
and religious freedom conditions have deteriorated over the past two years [in
Vietnam].”
“Targeted in particular are the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV),
independent Hoa Hoa and Cao Dai groups, ethnic minority and unregistered
Protestants, Catholics …, and human rights lawyers who defend vulnerable
groups,” said Cromartie.
“We saw this week that the government of Vietnam perceives even peaceful prayer
vigils as challenges to its authority, requiring violence and arrests. As you
know 18 Catholics were detained two days ago in Quang Binh Province,” said
Cromartie.
Cromartie said police blocked the delegation’s access to certain dissidents and
religious communities, and even staged two truck accidents to prevent the
delegation from meeting with Hmong Protestant groups.
“Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh has been interrogated more than 300 times and been
beaten 20 times,” said Rep. Royce. Pastor Nguyen is a leader of the Mennonite
churches and related evangelical churches in Vietnam.
Royce continued, “Only days ago, he was forced to flee from his home to escape
police abuse.” At that moment, someone held up a large photo of the beaten
Pastor Nguyen as Royce said that he had become the “symbol of religious
persecution for many in Vietnam.”
The Vietnam regime allowed the USCIRF to meet briefly with well-known religious
freedom advocates: Fr. Nguyen Van Ly, a Catholic priest; Nguyen Van Dai; and the
Most Venerable Thich Quang Do. While praising the access the delegation was
given, Cromartie noted that Fr. Ly is still being held in solitary confinement,
and Nguyen Van Dai is still being told to sign a confession of guilt as a
condition of his release. Father Ly has been in solitary confinement for at
least 18 months, said Cromartie.
Cromartie noted that the superintendent of the prison where Father Ly was held
repeatedly referred to the Catholic clergyman as a “political” prisoner. There
was conjecture at the hearing that the communist regime labels Father Ly as a
“political” prisoner rather than a “religious” prisoner, so that the State
Department would not regard his imprisonment quite as serious a violation of
human rights as the denial of religious freedom.
Rep. Royce spoke indignantly of the 350 “political” prisoners, who are actually
Montagnard Protestants, so that the State Department doesn’t have to put them
back on the CPC list. Cromartie confirmed from his recent visit that there were
still hundreds of Montagnard Protestants in prison who were arrested after 2001
and 2004 land rights and religious freedom demonstrations.
Supreme Patriarch Thich Quang Do, 80, leader of the outlawed UBCV, has been in
prison or under house arrest for 33 years, said Royce. He has refused to
incorporate the UBCV with the state-controlled Buddhist church. “We will never
submit, we will never become slaves of the Communist Party,” he told a U.S.
Consulate official, according to the Vietnam Human Rights Journal.
Police
Intimidation of New Converts
Vietnam has made
some progress by officially ending the practice of forced renunciations of
faith, although it still continues in some rural areas despite the law. But
religious freedom abuses in rural areas cannot be entirely blamed on
noncompliant provincial officials, explained Cromartie. Vietnam has switched to
a new strategy in suppressing freedom of religious practice.
“Forced renunciation [of one’s faith] has been replaced by controlled
mechanisms, namely, by torture, beatings, imprisonment and killings,” said
Congressman Royce.
“Instead of forcing Christians to renounce their faith, Vietnam authorities
force the Montagnards to join approved churches, where they can be watched and
controlled, and, if need be, arrested and imprisoned … and the State Department
should be here today to explain their actions,” said Rep. Royce.
Seeing that they can’t stop the widespread interest in religious activities, the
communist regime has adopted a policy of discrimination targeting religious
communities and new converts. Cromartie said that USCIRF has copies of the
government’s training manuals for local officials that teach how to “manage and
control religious activity” and pressure new converts to Protestantism to give
up their newly adopted faith.
“In many parts of Vietnam, police intimidate and warn new religious converts
against continued religious activity, threatening them with the loss of
government benefits or jobs.” Cromartie said these are not isolated acts but
national religious policy and experienced by both Protestants and some
Buddhists.
Vietnam Regime
Complicit in Labor Trafficking
One of the reasons
for the timing of this hearing on Vietnam was the recently released 2009 State
Department “Trafficking in Persons Report” that stated: “Vietnam is a source and
destination country for men, women and children trafficked for forced labor and
commercial sexual exploitation.”
The congressmen and women heard testimony from Dr. Nguyen Dinh Thang, Boat
People SOS. Dr. Nguyen said Vietnam is one of the few countries that exports
labor and where the regime protects the traffickers. Vietnam does not allow
media coverage of labor trafficking cases and “denies NGO access to repatriated
victims for assistance.” Vietnam should really be ranked as a Tier 3 country by
the State Department—not Tier 2 as it is now—because of the “government’s
complicity in labor trafficking,” said Dr. Nguyen.
“In a number of cases, the Vietnamese government has colluded with the
traffickers to block victims from seeking justice through the legal system in
the destination country,” said Nguyen.
Dr. Nguyen described as an example the Vietnamese workers sent to Jordan in 2008
to work at a Taiwanese-owned garment plant. They were forced to work 16 hours a
day and paid a fraction of what they were promised. When they went on strike,
the Vietnamese agent assigned to Jordan had the Jordanian police beat them and
dragged back to work, and they were confined to the company’s dormitories and
denied medical help for injuries sustained.
The Vietnam government’s Ministry of Labor attempted to identify and isolate the
strike leaders so they could be sent home, and force the remaining workers back
to work, but the Vietnamese representatives in Jordan failed to isolate the
strike leaders, said Dr. Nguyen.
The International Organization for Migration and the Jordanian Ministry of Labor
came to the Vietnamese workers’ rescue and, finally, the majority of the workers
were allowed to return to Vietnam. Many of these workers petitioned the
government to investigate the labor export companies, but they were repeatedly
thwarted and threatened by the government, said Dr. Nguyen.
Human Rights Watch (HRW)’s 2009 report, “Not Yet a Workers’ Paradise: Vietnam’s
Suppression of the Independent Workers’ Movement” was referred to at the
hearing, and Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director of HRW, gave testimony as
well. The 31-page report describes the escalating labor unrest in Vietnam, with
20 percent more strikes in 2008 than 2007, according to official statistics.
Most of the 650 strikes (at least) were wildcat strikes, and were not considered
legal by the regime. All strikes have to be authorized by the official
Confederation of Labor, which is controlled by the Communist Party.
The independent trade union movement that was emerging in 2006-7 was repulsed by
the arresting and sentencing of at least eight independent labor activists.
“Other labor activists have been harassed, intimidated, and forced to cease
their activities or flee the country … independent labor activists … are seen as
a particular threat to the Communist Party because of their ability to attract
and organize large numbers of people,” says the HRW 2009 report.
Source:
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/20250/