Vietnam Human Rights Sanctions Act

Summary: Vietnam Human Rights Sanctions Act  This bill requires the President to: (1) impose financial and immigration/entry sanctions on listed nationals of Vietnam who are complicit in human rights abuses committed against nationals of Vietnam or their family members, regardless of whether such abuses occurred in Vietnam; and (2) submit to Congress a publicly available list of individuals determined to be complicit in such human rights abuses. The President may waive sanctions to comply with international agreements or if in the U.S. national interest. Sanctions shall be terminated if the President certifies to Congress that the government of Vietnam has: (1) released all political prisoners; (2) ceased its practices of violence, detention, and abuse of citizens of Vietnam engaging in peaceful political activity; and (3) conducted a transparent investigation into the killings, arrest, and abuse of such political activists and prosecuted those responsible. It is the sense of Congress that: (1) the U.S.-Vietnam relationship cannot progress while the government of Vietnam's human rights record continues to deteriorate, and (2) the Secretary of State should designate Vietnam as a country of particular concern with respect to religious freedom.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Vietnam Human Rights Sanctions 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The relationship between the United States and the 
        Socialist Republic of Vietnam has grown substantially since the 
        end of the trade embargo in 1994, with annual trade between the 
        countries reaching more than $36,000,000,000 in 2014.
            (2) However, the transition by the Government of Vietnam 
        toward greater economic activity and trade, which has led to 
        increased bilateral engagement between the United States and 
        Vietnam, has not been matched by greater political freedom or 
        substantial improvements in basic human rights for the people 
        of Vietnam.
            (3) Vietnam remains an authoritarian state ruled by the 
        Communist Party of Vietnam, which continues to deny the right 
        of the people of Vietnam to participate in free and fair 
        elections.
            (4) According to the Department of State's 2014 Country 
        Reports on Human Rights Practices, Vietnam's ``most significant 
        human rights problems . . . were severe government restrictions 
        of citizens' political rights, particularly their right to 
        change their government through free and fair elections; limits 
        on citizens' civil liberties, including freedom of assembly and 
        expression; and inadequate protection of citizens' due process 
        rights, including protection against arbitrary detention''.
            (5) The Country Reports also state that the Government of 
        Vietnam ``continued to restrict speech that criticized 
        individual government leaders; promoted political pluralism or 
        multi-party democracy; or questioned policies on sensitive 
        matters, such as human rights, religious freedom, or 
        sovereignty disputes with China'' and ``sought to impede 
        criticism by monitoring meetings and communications of 
        political activists''.
            (6) Furthermore, the Department of State documents that 
        ``arbitrary arrest and detention, particularly for political 
        activists, remained a problem'', with the Government of Vietnam 
        sentencing 29 arrested activists during 2014. Of those, 6 
        activists were convicted on national security charges in the 
        penal code for ``undermining the unity policy'', 17 for 
        ``causing public disorder'', and 6 for ``abusing democratic 
        freedoms''.
            (7) At the end of 2014, the Government of Vietnam 
        reportedly held more than 125 political prisoners.
            (8) On September 24, 2012, 3 prominent Vietnamese 
        bloggers--Nguyen Van Hai (also known as Dieu Cay), Ta Phong 
        Tan, and Phan Thanh Hai (also known as Anh Ba Saigon)--were 
        sentenced to prison based on 3-year-old blog postings 
        criticizing the Government and leaders of Vietnam and the 
        Communist Party of Vietnam. Nguyen Van Hai served 2 years of a 
        12-year prison sentence on charges of ``conducting propaganda 
        against the state'' but was later released and departed from 
        Vietnam. If he were to return, he would likely have to complete 
        his prison sentence.
            (9) United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi 
        Pillay responded to the sentencing of the bloggers on September 
        25, 2012, stating that ``[t]he harsh prison terms handed down 
        to bloggers exemplify the severe restrictions on freedom of 
        expression in Vietnam'' and calling the sentences an 
        ``unfortunate development that undermines the commitments 
        Vietnam has made internationally . . . to protect and promote 
        the right to freedom of expression''.
            (10) On March 21, 2013, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State 
        for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Daniel B. Baer testified 
        before the Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs of 
        the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate that ``in 
        Vietnam we've been disappointed in recent years to see 
        backsliding, particularly on . . . freedom of expression issues 
        . . . people are being prosecuted for what they say online 
        under really draconian national security laws . . . that is an 
        issue that we continue to raise, both in our human rights 
        dialogue with the Vietnamese as well as in other bilateral 
        engagements''.
            (11) Although the Constitution of Vietnam provides for 
        freedom of religion, the Department of State's 2013 
        International Religious Freedom Report maintains, ``Government 
        practices and bureaucratic impediments restricted religious 
        freedom. Unregistered and unrecognized religious groups were 
        often subject to harassment, as well as coercive and punitive 
        actions by authorities.''.
            (12) Likewise, the United States Commission on 
        International Religious Freedom 2015 Annual Report states, 
        ``The Vietnamese government continues to control all religious 
        activities through law and administrative oversight, restrict 
        severely independent religious practice, and repress 
        individuals and religious groups it views as challenging its 
        authority, including independent Buddhists, Hoa Hao, Cao Dai, 
        Catholics, and Protestants.''.
            (13) The 2013 Annual Report notes that in 2004 the United 
        States designated Vietnam as a country of particular concern 
        for religious freedom pursuant to section 402(b)(1) of the 
        International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 
        6442(b)(1)), and that Vietnam responded at that time by 
        releasing prisoners, prohibiting the policy of forced 
        renunciations of faith, and expanding protections for religious 
        groups, and that ``[m]ost religious leaders in Vietnam 
        attributed these positive changes to the [country of particular 
        concern] designation and the priority placed on religious 
        freedom concerns in U.S.-Vietnamese bilateral relations''.
            (14) However, the 2013 Annual Report concludes that since 
        the designation as a country of particular concern was lifted 
        from Vietnam in 2006, ``religious freedom conditions in Vietnam 
        remain mixed'', and therefore recommends to the Department of 
        State that Vietnam should be redesignated as a country of 
        particular concern.
            (15) Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Baer likewise 
        testified that ``[i]n Vietnam the right to religious freedom, 
        which seemed to be improving several years ago, has been 
        stagnant for several years''.

SEC. 3. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS ON CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE 
              COMPLICIT IN HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES COMMITTED AGAINST 
              NATIONALS OF VIETNAM OR THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Admitted; alien; immigration laws; national.--The terms 
        ``admitted'', ``alien'', ``immigration laws'', and ``national'' 
        have the meanings given those terms in section 101 of the 
        Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101).
            (2) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Finance, the Committee on 
                Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and the Committee 
                on Foreign Relations of the Senate; and
                    (B) the Committee on Ways and Means, the Committee 
                on Financial Services, and the Committee on Foreign 
                Affairs of the House of Representatives.
            (3) Convention against torture.--The term ``Convention 
        against Torture'' means the United Nations Convention against 
        Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or 
        Punishment, done at New York on December 10, 1984.
            (4) United states person.--The term ``United States 
        person'' means--
                    (A) a United States citizen or an alien lawfully 
                admitted for permanent residence to the United States; 
                or
                    (B) an entity organized under the laws of the 
                United States or of any jurisdiction within the United 
                States, including a foreign branch of such an entity.
    (b) Imposition of Sanctions.--Except as provided in subsections (e) 
and (f), the President shall impose the sanctions described in 
subsection (d) with respect to each individual on the list required by 
subsection (c)(1).
    (c) List of Individuals Who Are Complicit in Certain Human Rights 
Abuses.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to the 
        appropriate congressional committees a list of individuals who 
        are nationals of Vietnam that the President determines are 
        complicit in human rights abuses committed against nationals of 
        Vietnam or their family members, regardless of whether such 
        abuses occurred in Vietnam.
            (2) Updates of list.--The President shall submit to the 
        appropriate congressional committees an updated list under 
        paragraph (1) as new information becomes available and not less 
        frequently than annually.
            (3) Public availability.--The list required by paragraph 
        (1) shall be made available to the public and posted on the Web 
        sites of the Department of the Treasury and the Department of 
        State.
            (4) Consideration of data from other countries and 
        nongovernmental organizations.--In preparing the list required 
        by paragraph (1), the President shall consider data already 
        obtained by other countries and nongovernmental organizations, 
        including organizations in Vietnam, that monitor the human 
        rights abuses of the Government of Vietnam.
    (d) Sanctions.--
            (1) Prohibition on entry and admission to the united 
        states.--An individual on the list required by subsection 
        (c)(1) may not--
                    (A) be admitted to, enter, or transit through the 
                United States;
                    (B) receive any lawful immigration status in the 
                United States under the immigration laws, including any 
                relief under the Convention Against Torture; or
                    (C) file any application or petition to obtain such 
                admission, entry, or status.
            (2) Financial sanctions.--The President shall block and 
        prohibit all transactions in all property and interests in 
        property of an individual on the list required by subsection 
        (c)(1) if such property and interests in property are in the 
        United States, come within the United States, or are or come 
        within the possession or control of a United States person.
    (e) Exceptions To Comply With International Agreements.--The 
President may, by regulation, authorize exceptions to the imposition of 
sanctions under this section to permit the United States to comply with 
the Agreement regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations, signed 
at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered into force November 21, 
1947, between the United Nations and the United States, and other 
applicable international agreements.
    (f) Waiver.--The President may waive the requirement to impose or 
maintain sanctions with respect to an individual under subsection (b) 
or the requirement to include an individual on the list required by 
subsection (c)(1) if the President--
            (1) determines that such a waiver is in the national 
        interest of the United States; and
            (2) submits to the appropriate congressional committees a 
        report describing the reasons for the determination.
    (g) Termination of Sanctions.--The provisions of this section shall 
terminate on the date on which the President determines and certifies 
to the appropriate congressional committees that the Government of 
Vietnam has--
            (1) unconditionally released all political prisoners;
            (2) ceased its practices of violence, unlawful detention, 
        torture, and abuse of nationals of Vietnam while those 
        nationals are engaging in peaceful political activity; and
            (3) conducted a transparent investigation into the 
        killings, arrest, and abuse of peaceful political activists in 
        Vietnam and prosecuted those responsible.

SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON DESIGNATION OF VIETNAM AS A COUNTRY OF 
              PARTICULAR CONCERN WITH RESPECT TO RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the relationship between the United States and Vietnam 
        cannot progress while the record of the Government of Vietnam 
        with respect to human rights and the rule of law continues to 
        deteriorate;
            (2) the designation of Vietnam as a country of particular 
        concern for religious freedom pursuant to section 402(b)(1) of 
        the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 
        6442(b)(1)) would be a powerful and effective tool in 
        highlighting abuses of religious freedom in Vietnam and in 
        encouraging improvement in the respect for human rights in 
        Vietnam; and
            (3) the Secretary of State should, in accordance with the 
        recommendation of the United States Commission on International 
        Religious Freedom, designate Vietnam as a country of particular 
        concern for religious freedom.