108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1587

AN ACT

To promote freedom and democracy in Vietnam.

108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1587

AN ACT

To promote freedom and democracy in Vietnam.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

3 ‘‘Vietnam Human Rights Act of 2004’’.

4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for

5 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Findings.

TITLE I—CONDITIONS ON INCREASED NONHUMANITARIAN

ASSISTANCE TO THE GOVERNMENT OF VIETNAM

Sec. 101. Bilateral nonhumanitarian assistance.

TITLE II—ASSISTANCE TO SUPPORT HUMAN RIGHTS AND

DEMOCRACY IN VIETNAM

Sec. 201. Assistance.

TITLE III—UNITED STATES PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Sec. 301. Radio Free Asia transmissions to Vietnam.

Sec. 302. United states educational and cultural exchange programs with Vietnam.

TITLE IV—ANNUAL REPORT ON PROGRESS TOWARD FREEDOM

AND DEMOCRACY IN VIETNAM

Sec. 401. Annual report.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds the following:

8 (1) The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a one9 party State, ruled and controlled by the Communist

10 Party of Vietnam (CPV), which continues to deny

11 the right of citizens to change their government. Al12 though in recent years the National Assembly of

13 Vietnam has played an increasingly active role as a

14 forum for highlighting local concerns, corruption,

15 and inefficiency, the National Assembly remains sub16 ject to CPV direction. The CPV maintains control
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1 over the selection of candidates in national and local

2 elections.

3 (2) The Government of Vietnam permits no

4 public challenge to the legitimacy of the one-party

5 State. It prohibits independent political, labor, and

6 social organizations, and it continues to detain and

7 imprison persons for the peaceful expression of dis8 senting religious and political views, including Pham

9 Hong Son, Tran Dung Tien, Father Nguyen Van

10 Ly, Dr. Nguyen Dan Que, Nguyen Vu Binh, Pham

11 Que Duong, and Pastor Nguyen Hong Quang,

12 among others.

13 (3) The Government of Vietnam continues to

14 commit serious human rights abuses. In January

15 2004, the Department of State reported to Congress

16 that during the previous year the Government of

17 Vietnam had made ‘‘no progress’’ toward releasing

18 political and religious activists, ending official re19 strictions on religious activity, or respecting the

20 rights of indigenous minorities in the Central and

21 Northern Highlands of Vietnam.

22 (4)(A) The Government of Vietnam limits free23 dom of religion and restricts the operation of reli24 gious organizations other than those approved by the

25 State. While officially sanctioned religious organiza-
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1 tions are able to operate with varying degrees of au2 tonomy, some of those organizations continue to face

3 restrictions on selecting, training, and ordaining suf4 ficient numbers of clergy and in conducting edu5 cational and charitable activities. The Government

6 has previously confiscated numerous churches, tem7 ples, and other properties belonging to religious or8 ganizations, most of which have never been returned.

9 (B) Unregistered ethnic minority Protestant

10 congregations in the Northwest and Central High11 lands of Vietnam suffer severe abuses, which have

12 included forced renunciations of faith, the closure

13 and destruction of churches, the arrest and harass14 ment of pastors, and, in a few cases, there have been

15 credible reports that minority religious leaders have

16 been beaten and killed.

17 (C) The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam

18 (UBCV), one of the largest religious denominations

19 in Vietnam, was declared illegal in 1981. The Gov20 ernment of Vietnam confiscated its temples and per21 secuted its clergy for refusing to join the state-spon22 sored Buddhist organizations. For more than 2 dec23 ades, the Government has detained and confined

24 senior UBCV clergy, including the Most Venerable
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1 Thich Huyen Quang, the Most Venerable Thich

2 Quang Do, the Venerable Thich Tue Sy, and others.

3 (D) The Catholic Church continues to face sig4 nificant restrictions on the training and ordination

5 of priests and bishops, resulting in numbers insuffi6 cient to support the growing Catholic population in

7 Vietnam. Although recent years have brought a

8 modest easing of government control in some dio9 ceses, officials in other areas strictly limit the con10 duct of religious education classes and charitable ac11 tivities. Father Thaddeus Nguyen Van Ly, who was

12 convicted in a closed trial in 2001 after publicly

13 criticizing religious repression by the Government of

14 Vietnam, remains in prison.

15 (E) The Government of Vietnam continues to

16 suppress the activities of other religious adherents,

17 including Cao Dai, Baha’i, and Hoa Hao who lack

18 official recognition or have chosen not to affiliate

19 with the State-sanctioned groups, including through

20 the use of detention and imprisonment.

21 (5) The Government of Vietnam significantly

22 restricts the freedoms of speech and the press, par23 ticularly with respect to political and religious

24 speech. Government and Party-related organizations

25 control all print and electronic media, including ac-
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1 cess to the Internet. The Government blocks web

2 sites that it deems politically or culturally inappro3 priate, and it jams some foreign radio stations, in4 cluding Radio Free Asia. The Government has de5 tained, convicted, and imprisoned individuals who

6 have posted or sent democracy-related materials via

7 the Internet.

8 (6)(A) Indigenous Montagnards in the Central

9 Highlands of Vietnam continue to face significant

10 repression. The Government of Vietnam restricts the

11 practice of Christianity by those populations, and

12 more than 100 Montagnards have been sentenced to

13 prison terms of up to 13 years for claiming land

14 rights, organizing Christian gatherings, or attempt15 ing to seek asylum in Cambodia.

16 (B) The Government of Vietnam uses the sepa17 ratist agenda of a relatively small number of ethnic

18 minority leaders as a rationale for violating civil and

19 political rights in ethnic minority regions.

20 (C) The Government of Vietnam arrested or de21 tained nearly 300 Montagnards during 2003 and

22 since then many hundreds of Montagnards have

23 gone into hiding, fearing arrest, interrogation, or

24 physical abuse by government authorities.
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1 (D) During Easter weekend in April 2004,

2 thousands of Montagnards gathered to protest their

3 treatment by the Government of Vietnam, including

4 the confiscation of tribal lands and ongoing restric5 tions on religious activities. Credible reports indicate

6 that the protests were met with a violent response

7 and that many demonstrators were arrested, injured,

8 or are in hiding, and that others were killed.

9 (E) Government officials continue to restrict ac10 cess to the Central and Northwest Highlands of

11 Vietnam by diplomats, nongovernmental organiza12 tions, journalists, and other foreigners, making it

13 difficult to verify conditions in those areas.

14 (7)(A) United States refugee resettlement pro15 grams for Vietnamese nationals, including the Or16 derly Departure Program (ODP), the Resettlement

17 Opportunities for Returning Vietnamese (ROVR)

18 program, the Priority One (P1) program and the re19 settlement of boat people from refugee camps

20 throughout Southeast Asia, were authorized by law

21 in order to rescue Vietnamese nationals who have

22 suffered persecution on account of their wartime as23 sociations with the United States, as well as those

24 who currently have a well-founded fear of persecu-
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1 tion on account of race, religion, nationality, political

2 opinion, or membership in a particular social group.

3 (B) While those programs have served their

4 purposes well, a significant number of eligible refu5 gees were unfairly denied or excluded, in some cases

6 by vindictive or corrupt Vietnamese officials who

7 controlled access to the programs, and in others by

8 United States personnel who imposed unduly restric9 tive interpretations of program criteria.

10 (C) The Department of State has agreed to ex11 tend the September 30, 1994, registration deadline

12 for former United States employees, ‘‘re-education’’

13 survivors, and surviving spouses of those who did

14 not survive ‘‘re-education’’ camps to sign up for

15 United States refugee programs, as well as to re16 sume the Vietnamese In-Country Priority One Pro17 gram in Vietnam to provide protection to victims of

18 persecution on account of race, religion, nationality,

19 political opinion, or membership in a particular so20 cial group who otherwise have no access to the Or21 derly Departure Program.

22 (D) The former U.S. Immigration and Natu23 ralization Service agreed to resume the processing of

24 former United States employees under the U11 pro25 gram, which had been unilaterally suspended by the
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1 United States Government, as well as to review the

2 applications of Amerasians, children of American

3 servicemen left behind in Vietnam after the war

4 ended in April 1975, for resettlement to the United

5 States under the Amerasian Homecoming Act of

6 1988.

7 (8) Congress and people of the United States

8 are united in their determination that the expansion

9 of relations with Vietnam, a country whose govern10 ment engages in serious violations of fundamental

11 human rights, should not be construed as approval

12 of or complacency about such practices. The pro13 motion of freedom and democracy around the world

14 is and must continue to be a central objective of

15 United States foreign policy. Congress remains will16 ing and hopeful to recognize improvement in the fu17 ture human rights practices of the Government of

18 Vietnam, which is the motivating purpose behind

19 this Act.

20 TITLE I—CONDITIONS ON IN21 CREASED NONHUMANI22 TARIAN ASSISTANCE TO THE

23 GOVERNMENT OF VIETNAM

24 SEC. 101. BILATERAL NONHUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE.

25 (a) ASSISTANCE.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—United States nonhumani2 tarian assistance may not be provided to the Govern3 ment of Vietnam in an amount exceeding the

4 amount so provided for fiscal year 2004—

5 (A) for fiscal year 2005 unless not later

6 than 30 days after the date of the enactment of

7 this Act the President determines and certifies

8 to Congress that the requirements of subpara9 graphs (A) through (D) of paragraph (2) have

10 been met during the 12-month period ending on

11 the date of the certification; and

12 (B) for each subsequent fiscal year unless

13 the President determines and certifies to Con14 gress in the most recent annual report sub15 mitted pursuant to section 401 that the re16 quirements of subparagraphs (A) through (E)

17 of paragraph (2) have been met during the 12-

18 month period covered by the report.

19 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements of this

20 paragraph are that—

21 (A) the Government of Vietnam has made

22 substantial progress toward releasing all polit23 ical and religious prisoners from imprisonment,

24 house arrest, and other forms of detention;
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1 (B)(i) the Government of Vietnam has

2 made substantial progress toward respecting

3 the right to freedom of religion, including the

4 right to participate in religious activities and in5 stitutions without interference by or involve6 ment of the Government; and

7 (ii) has made substantial progress toward

8 returning estates and properties confiscated

9 from the churches;

10 (C) the Government of Vietnam has made

11 substantial progress toward allowing Viet12 namese nationals free and open access to

13 United States refugee programs;

14 (D) the Government of Vietnam has made

15 substantial progress toward respecting the

16 human rights of members of ethnic minority

17 groups in the Central Highlands and elsewhere

18 in Vietnam; and

19 (E)(i) neither any official of the Govern20 ment of Vietnam nor any agency or entity whol21 ly or partly owned by the Government of Viet22 nam was complicit in a severe form of traf23 ficking in persons; or

24 (ii) the Government of Vietnam took all

25 appropriate steps to end any such complicity
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1 and hold such official, agency, or entity fully

2 accountable for its conduct.

3 (b) EXCEPTION.—

4 (1) CONTINUATION OF ASSISTANCE IN THE NA5 TIONAL INTEREST.—Notwithstanding the failure of

6 the Government of Vietnam to meet the require7 ments of subsection (a)(2), the President may waive

8 the application of subsection (a) for any fiscal year

9 if the President determines that the provision to the

10 Government of Vietnam of increased United States

11 nonhumanitarian assistance would promote the pur12 poses of this Act or is otherwise in the national in13 terest of the United States.

14 (2) EXERCISE OF WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The

15 President may exercise the authority under para16 graph (2) with respect to—

17 (A) all United States nonhumanitarian as18 sistance to Vietnam; or

19 (B) one or more programs, projects, or ac20 tivities of such assistance.

21 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

22 (1) SEVERE FORM OF TRAFFICKING IN PER23 SONS.—The term ‘‘severe form of trafficking in per24 sons’’ means any activity described in section 103(8)

25 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000
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1 (Public Law 106–386 (114 Stat. 1470); 22 U.S.C.

2 7102(8)).

3 (2) UNITED STATES NONHUMANITARIAN AS4 SISTANCE.—The term ‘‘United States nonhumani5 tarian assistance’’ means—

6 (A) any assistance under the Foreign As7 sistance Act of 1961 (including programs under

8 title IV of chapter 2 of part I of that Act, relat9 ing to the Overseas Private Investment Cor10 poration), other than—

11 (i) disaster relief assistance, including

12 any assistance under chapter 9 of part I of

13 that Act;

14 (ii) assistance which involves the pro15 vision of food (including monetization of

16 food) or medicine;

17 (iii) assistance for refugees; and

18 (iv) assistance to combat HIV/AIDS,

19 including any assistance under section

20 104A of that Act; and

21 (B) sales, or financing on any terms, under

22 the Arms Export Control Act.
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1 TITLE II—ASSISTANCE TO SUP2 PORT HUMAN RIGHTS AND

3 DEMOCRACY IN VIETNAM

4 SEC. 201. ASSISTANCE.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President is authorized to

6 provide assistance, through appropriate nongovernmental

7 organizations, for the support of individuals and organiza8 tions to promote democracy and internationally recognized

9 human rights in Vietnam.

10 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

11 are authorized to be appropriated to the President to carry

12 out subsection (a) $2,000,000 for each of the fiscal years

13 2005 and 2006.

14 TITLE III—UNITED STATES

15 PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

16 SEC. 301. RADIO FREE ASIA TRANSMISSIONS TO VIETNAM.

17 (a) POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES.—It is the pol18 icy of the United States to take such measures as are nec19 essary to overcome the jamming of Radio Free Asia by

20 the Government of Vietnam, including the active pursuit

21 of broadcast facilities in close geographic proximity to

22 Vietnam.

23 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi24 tion to such amounts as are otherwise authorized to be

25 appropriated for the Broadcasting Board of Governors,
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1 there are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the

2 policy under subsection (a) $9,100,000 for the fiscal year

3 2005 and $1,100,000 for the fiscal year 2006.

4 SEC. 302. UNITED STATES EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL

5 EXCHANGE PROGRAMS WITH VIETNAM.

6 It is the policy of the United States that programs

7 of educational and cultural exchange with Vietnam should

8 actively promote progress toward freedom and democracy

9 in Vietnam by providing opportunities to Vietnamese na10 tionals from a wide range of occupations and perspectives

11 to see freedom and democracy in action and, also, by en12 suring that Vietnamese nationals who have already dem13 onstrated a commitment to these values are included in

14 such programs.

15 TITLE IV—ANNUAL REPORT ON

16 PROGRESS TOWARD FREE17 DOM AND DEMOCRACY IN

18 VIETNAM

19 SEC. 401. ANNUAL REPORT.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the

21 date of the enactment of this Act and every 12 months

22 thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit to the Con23 gress a report on the following:
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1 (1)(A) The determination and certification of

2 the President that the requirements of section

3 101(a)(2) have been met, if applicable.

4 (B) The determination of the President under

5 section 101(b)(2), if applicable.

6 (2) Efforts by the United States Government to

7 secure transmission sites for Radio Free Asia in

8 countries in close geographical proximity to Vietnam

9 in accordance with section 301.

10 (3) Efforts to ensure that programs with Viet11 nam promote the policy set forth in section 302 and

12 with section 102 of the Human Rights, Refugee, and

13 Other Foreign Relations Provisions Act of 1996

14 (Public Law 104–319) regarding participation in

15 programs of educational and cultural exchange.

16 (4) Lists of persons believed to be imprisoned,

17 detained, or placed under house arrest, tortured, or

18 otherwise persecuted by the Government of Vietnam

19 due to their pursuit of internationally recognized

20 human rights. In compiling such lists, the Secretary

21 shall exercise appropriate discretion, including con22 cerns regarding the safety and security of, and ben23 efit to, the persons who may be included on the lists

24 and their families. In addition, the Secretary shall

25 include a list of such persons and their families who
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1 may qualify for protection under United States ref2 ugee programs.

3 (5) A description of the development of the rule

4 of law in Vietnam, including, but not limited to—

5 (A) progress toward the development of in6 stitutions of democratic governance;

7 (B) processes by which statutes, regula8 tions, rules, and other legal acts of the Govern9 ment of Vietnam are developed and become

10 binding within Vietnam;

11 (C) the extent to which statutes, regula12 tions, rules, administrative and judicial deci13 sions, and other legal acts of the Government of

14 Vietnam are published and are made accessible

15 to the public;

16 (D) the extent to which administrative and

17 judicial decisions are supported by statements

18 of reasons that are based upon written statutes,

19 regulations, rules, and other legal acts of the

20 Government of Vietnam;

21 (E) the extent to which individuals are

22 treated equally under the laws of Vietnam with23 out regard to citizenship, race, religion, political

24 opinion, or current or former associations;
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1 (F) the extent to which administrative and

2 judicial decisions are independent of political

3 pressure or governmental interference and are

4 reviewed by entities of appellate jurisdiction;

5 and

6 (G) the extent to which laws in Vietnam

7 are written and administered in ways that are

8 consistent with international human rights

9 standards, including the requirements of the

10 International Covenant on Civil and Political

11 Rights.

12 (b) CONTACTS WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS.—In

13 preparing the report under subsection (a), the Secretary

14 shall, as appropriate, consult with and seek input from

15 nongovernmental organizations, human rights advocates

16 (including Vietnamese-Americans and human rights advo17 cates in Vietnam), and the United States Commission on

18 Religious Freedom.

Passed the House of Representatives July 19, 2004.

Attest:

Clerk.