From: doky@uda.dgcd.doc.ca (Hien Doky)
Subject: [Help] Human rights issue: Letters to UNHCR and Gov. Clinton
Originator: daemon@media-lab.media.mit.edu
Reply-To: doky@uda.dgcd.doc.ca
Organization: SCV Relay
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1992 14:52:17 GMT

	Dear netters,

	The Overseas Vietnamese Social Advocacy Group had sent the following
letters to Madame Ogata (UNHCR) and Gov. B. Clinton, respectively, to
address our human rights concerns in SE Asia refugee camps and Vietnam.
Please read the contents of the letters attached. If they meet your approval,
please print this message out as is, sign the personal versions and send
them to the addresses attached. Please lend a hand.

	Also attached is a brief progress report from Dr. Nguyen Dinh Thang
on what we as a community has achieved regarding this matter, for your 
information.

	Thank you,

	Hie^?n

***************** LETTER TO UNHCR **************

September 16, 1992


Madame Sadako Ogata
United Nations 
High Commissioner for Refugees
Case Postale 2500
CH-1211, Geneva 2 Depot
Switzerland
Fax: 41-22-731-9546


Dear Madame Ogata:

As a group of professionals in the United States, Canada and Australia, 
we are deeply concerned about the policy of the office of the United 
Nations High Commissioners for Refugees towards Vietnamese boat people 
in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.  This policy has caused much suffering 
and even death to many of the asylum seekers whose desire is only a 
decent life free from persecution.

On August 27, 1992, a boat person, Mr. Trinh Anh Huy, in Galang, 
Indonesia, immolated himself in front of the UNHCR's office after 
being denied refugee status. This is not the first suicide and, 
we are afraid, not the last. In August of last year, another 
boat person, Ms. Trinh Kim Huong, in Galang also burned herself to 
death after receiving a negative decision from the UNHCR. Within the 
past few days, three suicide attempts in Indonesia have been reported. 
Similar suicides and suicide attempts have been reported in Malaysia 
and Hong Kong in the past year. The screening conducted by the UNHCR 
(as in Indonesia) or monitored by the UNHCR (as in Hong Kong) has been 
consistently denounced as flawed by human rights organizations like 
Amnesty International, Asia Watch, and Lawyers Committee for Human Rights.

In Galang, the distress of facing unfair screening is aggravated by 
the UNHCR's starvation policy which denies boat people of the minimum 
food ration to survive in an attempt to coerce them to go back to 
Vietnam. The food rations given to boat people in Galang are well 
below the minimum recommended by the UNHCR/WFP and the WHO. The food 
rations in Thailand are even lower. Cuts have been reported in Sungei 
Besi Camp, Malaysia, as well.

We call upon your good office to stop immediately the policy of the 
UNHCR's branch offices to use food as weapon against boat people.  
We also urge you to investigate the screening procedure being conducted 
or monitored by the UNHCR. 

Your prompt action on these two issues will show that the UNHCR is 
living up to her name as the protector of asylum seekers.

Respectfully,




Do Ky Hien

signed on behalf of the OVSAG
Overseas-Vietnamese Social Advocacy Group (OVSAG):
P.O. Box 4227, Station E
Ottawa, Ontario, K1S 5B2
CANADA

Enclosures: 
1. Letters from first asylum camps
2. Statistics on food rations and their nutritional content

cc: Werner Blatter, UNHCR/Geneva, Bureau for Asia and Oceania
      Leonardo Franco, UNHCR/Geneva, International Protection
      Rene van Rooyen, UNHCR/USA 
      Chefeke Dessalegn, UNHCR/Canada
      Per Johannessen, UNHCR/Australia
      David Jamieson, UNHCR/Indonesia
      Daniel Conway, UNHCR/Thailand
      Dr. Shamsul Bari, UNHCR/Malaysia
      Claire Hamlisch, UNHCR/Philippines
      Robert van Leeuwen, UNHCR/Hong Kong
      Hon. David Kilgour, MP/Canada
      Hon. Barbara McDougall, Secretary of State for External Affairs/Canada
      Hon. Frank Wisner, US Undersecretary of State/USA





**************** LETTER TO GOV. B. CLINTON *********************

September 21, 1992

Governor Bill Clinton
Democratic Presidential Candidate


Dear Governor Clinton:

As Vietnamese-Americans who are paying close attention to this year's 
presidential election, we would like to express our concerns over your 
position on the issue of normalization with Vietnam. Your position, 
as reported in the media, deviates from the traditional principles 
of the Democratic Party on human rights issues.

On August 29, in an interview by satellite with the Asian-American
Journalists Association, you are reported to have said: "With
regard to Vietnam I would like to re-establish relations at some
point in the future but in good conscience I cannot do it until I
am satisfied that we have literally run down every last case
involving POWs and MIAs."

If such is truly your position, we have cause to be concerned.
This position gives no regard to the human rights conditions in Viet 
Nam which are among the worst in the world.

As you may know, under the current communist regime in Viet Nam, 
numerous Catholic priests, Buddhist monks and
other religious leaders are still in prison or under house arrest,
many of them for the past 15 years. Political prisoners and
prisoners of conscience are still crowding prisons and re-education
camps (Stalinist labor camps). In June and July of 1991 alone the
government in Vietnam made 30,000 arrests. Among those arrested
were intellectuals, artists, soldiers of the former regime,
Vietnamese expatriates, journalists, businessmen, and even many
disaffected communists. These are but a few examples. More can be
found in reports by Amnesty International, Aurora Foundation, Asia
Watch and other human rights groups. 

In the past, Democratic presidents always showed strong voices for
democracy and human rights for the oppressed peoples around the
world. President Carter, President Kennedy and President Truman
are shining examples. Their legacy on human rights are a true
challenge for future presidents of this great country.

We call upon you to carry on that legacy. As Vietnamese expatriates 
living in this free and democratic country, we strongly believe that,
among other things, normalization of relationship with Vietnam must be 
conditional on genuine improvements in human rights for her people.

As concerned professionals xxxxxx, we call on you, as our potential
next president, to voice your demand for this human rights improvement
as one of conditions for normalizing relations with Viet Nam.


Sincerely,


Dr. Nguyen Dinh Thang
on behalf of
OVSAG

Enclosures: 
Latest reports of Amnesty International




Do, Ky Hien, Ontario, CANADA
Duong, V. Bang, Alberta, CANADA
Le, Garrick, California, USA
Le, Van Trung Tin, California, USA
Ly, Truc Viet, BSME, Texas, USA
Ngo, Manh Hung, Washington, USA  
Nguyen, Danny, Texas, USA
Nguyen, Dinh Thang, Virginia, USA
Nguyen, Do Hoang, Ontarion, CANADA
Nguyen, M. Cuong, California, USA
Nguyen, Q Phuong, Ontario, CANADA
Nguyen, Tu Hao, Victoria, AUTRALIA
Phan, Kim Pham, MS, California, USA
Tran, My, Texas, USA 
Tran, Nhan, Florida, USA
Tran, Thai Linh, Quebec, CANADA
Tran, V. Kim, Colorado, USA
Tran, Van Nhon, Massachusetts, USA  
Tran, Y Van, Georgia, USA
Vo, Nguyen Son, Texas, USA



********** PROGRESS REPORT ***********

Dear OVSAGers:

It's time for some reporting.

I have faxed the letter to Clinton and sent the original by mail.
I am aware that Clinton has written a letter to a number of Vietnamese
organizations supporting the position of these organizations on the
issue of normalization of relations. That is, normalization should be
linked to improvement in human rights. I still have to see the letter
itself before I can be certain.  As a result, these groups have publicly
declared endorsement for Clinton.

Reacting to this, the White House is inviting several Vietnamese to
come to a consultation meeting with the President on issues of concern
to Vietnamese Americans. I believe the meeting will be on Oct. 5.

At the same time, the Vietnamese Voters Coalition in DC, VA and MD has
hinted that they might support Clinton this time (they always endorsed
Republicans in the past).

With these new developments, I believe our letter will consolidate the
message that the Vietnamese community wants to send to both the Democrats
and the Republicans. It might have more effect than we have ever thought.

I will keep you updated on further developments.

Regarding the letter to Madame Ogata, it definitely will have an effect,
because the timing is right and because of pure luck.  The letter will
be viewed as a part of a coordinated effort worldwide. Let me give a
run-down of the overall effort.

1. Canadian Council for Refugees has taken up the issue and contacted
UNHCR.

2. Hundreds of postcards have been sent out to UNHCR and governments
last week calling for a stop in UNHCR's policy.

3. A petition to the Pope to intervene is being circulated in the USA,
Canada, and Europe. It will be presented to the Pope on October 5, during
the Prayer for Peace in Vietnam Ceremony in Vatican.

4. Uy? Ban Tranh Dda^'u Cho Thuye^\n Nha^n will meet with the European
Congress on the issue very soon.

5. Most important, Congressman James Moran of VA, a member of the House
Select Committee on Hunger, suggested that he might hold a hearing on
the situation if UNHCR would not provide an explanation or acceptable
correction to the problem. (He attended the fund-raising dinner of Boat
People S.O.S. last Sunday and appeared to be very offended by UNHCR's
policy.)

6. A letter with strong language to Madame Ogata is being circulated
to seek endorsement among Vietnamese organizations. It will be sent
out within this week. It has been designed to get a number of UNHCR
officials removed from their current posts.

7. All the statistics and letters from the camps regarding food rations
have been given to the UNHCR senior official in charge of Asia and Oceania
He is now in Malaysia for a meeting on the situation.

8. An envoy from the US State Department finally arrived in Galang,
Indonesia to inspect the situation.

9. Starting last Sunday, the Washington Post has a series of exposes
of the United Nations. UNHCR is portrayed in a very negative light.
Misdeeds of UNHCR include embezzlement, incompetence, organizing prostitution
rings, dereliction of duty, cronyism, and waste of donors' money. The
series is on-going. This is pure coincidence but does help generate
more attention to our letter and make people listen to what at other
times could be summarily dismissed as false accusations.

To anh Hie^?n and Ly' Tru'c Vie^.t:
Postcards are in the mail for you two. Please send them out to the
addresses indicated in the attached leaflet and (especiallyfor anh Hie^?n)
to External Affairs, UNHCR/Canada and other agencies related to refugees
in Canada.

If any one else in OVSAG wants to help with the postcards, please let
me know. The postcards expose UNHCR's inhumane policy and call for a
stop of that policy.

Cordially,
Thang.


*********** PERSONAL VERSIONS OF THE LETTERS *************


**** TO UNHCR ****

September 28, 1992


Madame Sadako Ogata
United Nations 
High Commissioner for Refugees
Case Postale 2500
CH-1211, Geneva 2 Depot
Switzerland
Fax: 41-22-731-9546


Dear Madame Ogata:

As a professional/citizen in/of the United States/Canada/Australia, 
I am deeply concerned about the policy of the office of the United 
Nations High Commissioners for Refugees towards Vietnamese boat people 
in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.  This policy has caused much suffering 
and even death to many of the asylum seekers whose desire is only a 
decent life free from persecution.

On August 27, 1992, a boat person, Mr. Trinh Anh Huy, in Galang, 
Indonesia, immolated himself in front of the UNHCR's office after 
being denied refugee status. This is not the first suicide and, 
I am afraid, not the last. In August of last year, another 
boat person, Ms. Trinh Kim Huong, in Galang also burned herself to 
death after receiving a negative decision from the UNHCR. Within the 
past few weeks, more suicide attempts in Indonesia have been reported. 
Similar suicides and suicide attempts have been reported in Malaysia 
and Hong Kong in the past year. The screening conducted by the UNHCR 
(as in Indonesia) or monitored by the UNHCR (as in Hong Kong) has been 
consistently denounced as flawed by human rights organizations like 
Amnesty International, Asia Watch, and Lawyers Committee for Human Rights.

In Galang, the distress of facing unfair screening is aggravated by 
the UNHCR's starvation policy which denies boat people of the minimum 
food ration to survive in an attempt to coerce them to go back to 
Vietnam. The food rations given to boat people in Galang are well 
below the minimum recommended by the UNHCR/WFP and the WHO. The food 
rations in Thailand are even lower. Cuts have been reported in Sungei 
Besi Camp, Malaysia, as well.

I call upon your good office to stop immediately the policy of the 
UNHCR's branch offices to use food as weapon against boat people.  
I also urge you to investigate the screening procedure being conducted 
or monitored by the UNHCR. 

Your prompt action on these two issues will show that the UNHCR is 
living up to her name as the protector of asylum seekers.

Respectfully,




sign:
address:


**** TO GOV. CLINTON ****

September 28, 1992

Governor Bill Clinton
Democratic Presidential Candidate
P.O. Box 615
Little Rock, Arkansas 72203




Dear Governor Clinton:

As a Vietnamese-American who is paying close attention to this year's 
presidential election, I would like to express my concerns over your 
position on the issue of normalization with Vietnam. Your position, 
as reported in the media, deviates from the traditional principles 
of the Democratic Party on human rights issues.

On August 29, in an interview by satellite with the Asian-American
Journalists Association, you are reported to have said: "With
regard to Vietnam I would like to re-establish relations at some
point in the future but in good conscience I cannot do it until I
am satisfied that we have literally run down every last case
involving POWs and MIAs."

If such is truly your position, I have cause to be concerned.
This position gives no regard to the human rights conditions in Viet 
Nam which are among the worst in the world.

As you may know, under the current communist regime in Viet Nam, 
numerous Catholic priests, Buddhist monks and
other religious leaders are still in prison or under house arrest,
many of them for the past 15 years. Political prisoners and
prisoners of conscience are still crowding prisons and re-education
camps (Stalinist labor camps). In June and July of 1991 alone the
government in Vietnam made 30,000 arrests. Among those arrested
were intellectuals, artists, soldiers of the former regime,
Vietnamese expatriates, journalists, businessmen, and even many
disaffected communists. These are but a few examples. More can be
found in reports by Amnesty International, Aurora Foundation, Asia
Watch and other human rights groups. 

In the past, Democratic presidents always showed strong voices for
democracy and human rights for the oppressed peoples around the
world. President Carter, President Kennedy and President Truman
are shining examples. Their legacy on human rights are a true
challenge for future presidents of this great country.

I call upon you to carry on that legacy. As a Vietnamese expatriate 
living in this free and democratic country, I strongly believe that,
among other things, normalization of relationship with Vietnam must be 
conditional on genuine improvements in human rights for her people.

As concerned professional/citizen, I call on you, as the potential
next president, to voice your demand for this human rights improvement
as one of conditions for normalizing relations with Viet Nam.


Sincerely,


sign:
address: