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Vietnam's Human-Rights Abuses in Spotlight Family advocates urge President Bush to discuss the socialist republic's persecution of Christians when he meets with prime minister next week.
Family Issues in Policy and Culture by Bill Wilson, Washington, D.C., correspondent June 17, 2005 Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai will meet with President Bush in the U.S. next week to discuss ways to strengthen relations between the two countries—but the visit comes with its share of controversy. That's because Vietnam's human-rights record is dismal. And despite the country's promises to clean up its act, the abuse of humanity continues in the tiny Communist country, according to Dr. Carl Moeller, president of Open Doors USA, a ministry to the persecuted church. "Vietnam is a horrendous persecutor of Christians worldwide," he said. "Christians in Vietnam—especially the Montagnard Christians living in the highlands, the tribal Christians—suffer just almost unimaginably at the hands of the Communist government there." Vietnam is the third most egregious offender on Open Doors' list of nations that persecute Christians. In light of that, Moeller said he hopes the abuses will be at the top of the list for Bush's discussions with Phan. "It is our call," Moeller explained, "to urge the government to make sure that religious liberty issues do not get left outside the door, but become part of the conversation when it relates to their economic opportunities as well." Dr. Duc Nguyen of the Vietnamese Theological College in California, which trains evangelists to serve in Vietnam, said he hopes Vietnamese leaders will change their ways when they see how religious freedom works in America. "I think that the leaders of Vietnam would change their minds and look at things differently," he said, "when they see the freedom of this country and of the free world." TAKE ACTION
Vietnam Human Rights Network |