VOA News May 11: Vietnam Human Rights Day

Washington D.C., May 11, 2007

At ceremonies at the U.S. Capitol marking Vietnam Human Rights Day, members of Congress, labor leaders, representatives of the Vietnamese-American community, and activists are calling on the government of Vietnam to respect human rights.

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed House Resolution 2-4-3, calling on the government of Vietnam to immediately release Father Nguyen Van Ly, Nguyen Van Dai, Le Thi Cong Nhan, Le Quoc Quan, and others arrested for legitimately expressing their right to free speech.

http://www.voanews.com/uspolicy/2007-05-15-voa3.cfm

Radio Australia, May 11: US Congress Says Vietnam Should Face Sanctions Again

Australia, May 11, 2007

Lawmakers in the United States are pressing Washington to reimpose sanctions on Vietnam.Congress has criticised Vietnam's crackdown against dissidents, which have reportedly intensified after it entered the World Trade Organisation in January. The US government has normalised trading relations with its former battlefield enemy and removed it from a dreaded human rights blacklist. But Ed Royce, a US Republican Party lawmaker, told a Congressional meeting on Hanoi's current anti-dissident campaign he is "appalled by the lack of progress in human rights reforms" in Vietnam.

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/s1920717.htm

White House May 11: Statement Condemning Sentencing of Political Prisoners and Syria and Vietnam

Washington, D.C., May 11, 2007
STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY
Political Prisoners in Syria and Vietnam
The United States condemns the recent sentencings of democracy activists Anwar al-Bunni and Kamal Labwani to long terms of imprisonment and is alarmed by reports that they have been subjected to inhumane prison conditions. These developments demonstrate that the Asad regime in Syria continues to suppress dissent and crack down on those who peacefully seek to defend their rights and bring democratic reform to their country. As the President stated last year, all political prisoners in Syria should be released immediately.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/05/20070511-11.html

Que Me May 11: Vietnam Committee Condemns Hanoi's "Systematic Liquidation" of the Vietnamese Dissident Movement

Paris, May 11, 2007

The Vietnam Committee on Human Rights is deeply disturbed by the extremely harsh prison sentences handed down today against human rights lawyers Nguyen van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan, and against other dissidents in the unfair trials of 10 and 11 May 2007. The Committee fears that other harsh convictions will follow. The Committee strongly denounces the recent vast wave of repression against dissidents whose sole “crime” is that of exercising their legitimate right to freedom of expression and association, rights enshrined in the Vietnamese Constitution and the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Vietnam acceded in September 1982.

http://www.queme.net/eng/e-news_detail.php?numb=803

Vietnam News Agency May 5: Vietnam Calls U.S. House Resolution Tuesday of Sovereignty

Hanoi, May 5, 2007

Viet Nam opposes the interference of foreign countries in its internal affairs, said Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Dung on May 3. Dung was answering correspondents’ questions regarding a US House of Representatives’ Resolution passed on May 2 that calls for the release of individuals found to be in violation of Vietnamese law.

http://www.vnanet.vn/Home/EN/tabid/119/itemid/194255/Default.aspx

Wall Street Journal May 4: Memo to Hanoi

May 4, 2007

Memo to Hanoi
By CHRIS SMITH , BART STUPAK and FRANK WOLF

A Catholic priest who has already spent over 13 years in prison is rearrested and sentenced to eight more years for serving as an advisor to a democracy movement and a new political party. A woman, whose husband had recently been released from jail after serving time for spreading pro-democracy material, is hit by a car -- believed to be driven and occupied by plainclothes police officers -- in an effort to intimidate her and prevent her from meeting with the U.S. Ambassador. A lawyer who travels to the U.S. to serve as a Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy is arrested within a week of his return home, and charged with engaging in activities aimed at overthrowing the government.

While these stories sound like they were lifted from the files of the KGB, they are, in reality, all events that have recently taken place in Vietnam.

http://www.house.gov/list/press/nj04_smith/memotohanoi.html

US House Resolution May 1: Calling on Vietnam to Immediately and Unconditionally Release Political Prisioners and Prisoners of Conscience

Washington D.C., May 1, 2007

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey: Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Vietnam has long been known as a major violator of human rights. The U.S. House of Representatives went on record in the 109th Congress condemning and deploring the violations of human rights in Vietnam and strongly urging the Vietnamese Government to consider the implications of its human rights abuses for the broader relationship between the United States and Vietnam.

http://www.house.gov/list/press/nj04_smith/fatherlyfloor.html

Congressman Smith May 2: House Passes Smith’s Resolution Calling for Human Rights Reform in Vietnam

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 4, 2007

In response to a recent, well-orchestrated campaign of political suppression and intimidation by the Government of Vietnam, the U.S. House of Representatives today overwhelmingly passed a resolution authored by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) that calls for an immediate release of all political prisoners and substantial human rights reforms in Vietnam.
“H. Res. 243 is intended to send a critical and timely message to the Vietnamese Government that these serious violations of basic human rights are unacceptable and bring profound dishonor on the government of Vietnam. These human rights violations cannot be overlooked or continue without equally serious consequences,” Smith said yesterday on floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.

http://www.house.gov/list/press/nj04_smith/vietnamrespassage.html

Congressman Wolf April 19: Wolf Raises Concerns about Growing Human Rights Abuses in Vietnam

Washington D.C., April 19, 2007
Citing several recent arrests and assaults carried out by the government of Vietnam against the Vietnamese people, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) has written Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to express his concern about growing human rights abuses in Vietnam.

Wolf, the ranking Republican on the House State-Foreign Operations Appropriations subcommittee, wrote in a three-page letter dated April 18 that Vietnamese-Americans in his district and across the country are "angered and distressed by what they perceive as a new and aggressive plan of the Hanoi government to reverse the progress of human rights in Vietnam."

http://www.wolf.house.gov/news/2007/04-19_Vietnam_Human_Rights_Abuses.html

Amnesty International April 24: Vietnam: Silenced Critics Must Be Released

April 24, 2007

Vietnamese lawyers, trade unionists, religious leaders and Internet dissidents have been detained or imprisoned in increasing numbers in recent months. Amnesty International is deeply concerned over an ongoing crackdown by the Vietnamese government against people who have done nothing but peacefully express their opinions.

http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?lang=e&id=ENGASA410042007

Vietnam News Agency April 25: Two Citizens Prosecuted for Antistate Propaganda

Hanoi, April 25, 2007
The Ha Noi People’s Procuracy on April 23 issued a decision to prosecute two defendants on charges of spreading propaganda against the State of Viet Nam.Nguyen Van Dai, 38, head of the Thien An Lawyers’ Office and Le Thi Cong Nhan, 28, were accused of violating items a and c, Section 1, Article 88 of the Criminal Code.

The two defendants, who were arrested on March 6, are scheduled to go on trial on May 11.

http://www.vnanet.vn/Home/EN/tabid/119/itemid/193320/Default.aspx

International Federation for Human Rights and World Organization against Torture April 23: Publication of an International Mission Report

Paris, April 23, 2007

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), in the framework of their joint programme, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, publish today their report following its international mission carried out in Vietnam.

http://www.fidh.org/article.php3?id_article=4214&var_recherche=Vietnam

View report "Twelve Human Rights Defenders Have the Floor" in PDF:
http://www.fidh.org/IMG/pdf/Vietnam.HRDs.Report.200407.pdf

Que Me April 23: Prominent International Organizations issue Mission Report on Human Rights Defenders in Vietnam

PARIS, 23 April 2007 (Vietnam Committee)

As high-level American and Vietnamese officials prepare to meet in Washington D.C. for the U.S.-Vietnam Human Rights Dialogue tomorrow (24 April 2007), the Paris-based International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) and the Geneva-based World Organization against Torture (OMCT), released a groundbreaking report today on their very first mission to Vietnam. Mr Vo Van Ai, President of the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights and FIDH Vice-President welcomed the publication of the report, issued in the framework of the FIDH and OMCT’s joint programme, the Observatory of Human Rights Defenders.

http://www.queme.net/eng/e-news_detail.php?numb=790

Committee to Protect Journalists April 25: Prominent Internet Writer Detained in Vietnam

New York, April 25, 2007

The Committee to Protect Journalists journalist is gravely concerned about the recent arrest of Tran Khai Thanh Thuy, an award-winning journalist and writer. Thuy was taken into custody Saturday at her residence, where she was already being held under house arrest, according to news reports. She was charged with violating Article 88 of Vietnam’s criminal code, which prohibits the dissemination of information that authorities deem harmful to the state.

http://www.cpj.org/news/2007/asia/vietnam25apr07na.html

Que Me April 24: 141 International Human Rights Leagues Gathered in Lisbon Condemn Crack-Down on Human Rights Defenders in Vietnam

LISBON, 24 April, 2007 (VCHR)

Members of 141 leagues from Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe, meeting in Lisbon, Portugal from 22-24 April 2007 for the 36th Congress of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) adopted two resolutions condemning violations of human rights in Vietnam. In an Urgent Resolution, the Congress condemned the recent crack-down on human rights defenders, religious and political dissidents, called on Vietnam to cease repression against all “non-recognized” religious movements including the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, and launch “a real and effective reforms aimed at building a society grounded on the respect of democratic freedoms and fundamental human rights” (see full text of the resolution below). M. Vo Van Ai, President of the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights, represented Vietnam at the Congress.

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