112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1410 

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 2012’’. 

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 and purpose. 

Sec. 3. Prohibition on increased nonhumanitarian assistance to the Government 

of Vietnam. 

Sec. 4. United States public diplomacy. 

Sec. 5. Annual report. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The relationship between the United States 

9 and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has grown 

10 substantially since the end of the trade embargo in 

11 1994, with annual trade between the two countries 

12 reaching over $20,000,000,000 in 2011. 

13 (2) The Government of Vietnam’s transition to14 ward greater economic freedom and trade has not 

15 been matched by greater political freedom and sub16 stantial improvements in basic human rights for Vi17 etnamese citizens, including freedom of religion, ex18 pression, association, and assembly. 

19 (3) The United States Congress agreed to Viet20 nam becoming an official member of the World 

21 Trade Organization in 2006, amidst assurances that 
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1 the Government of Vietnam was steadily improving 

2 its human rights record and would continue to do so. 

3 (4) Vietnam remains a one-party state, ruled 

4 and controlled by the Communist Party of Vietnam 

5 (CPV), which continues to deny the right of citizens 

6 to change their Government. 

7 (5) Although in recent years the National As8 sembly of Vietnam has played an increasingly active 

9 role as a forum for highlighting local concerns, cor10 ruption, and inefficiency, the National Assembly re11 mains subject to the direction of the CPV and the 

12 CPV maintains control over the selection of can13 didates in national and local elections. 

14 (6) The Government of Vietnam forbids public 

15 challenge to the legitimacy of the one-party state, re16 stricts freedoms of opinion, the press, and associa17 tion and tightly limits access to the Internet and 

18 telecommunication. 

19 (7) Since Vietnam’s accession to the WTO on 

20 January 11, 2007, the Government of Vietnam arbi21 trarily arrested and imprisoned numerous individ22 uals for their peaceful advocacy of religious freedom, 

23 democracy, and human rights, including Father 

24 Nguyen Van Ly, human rights lawyers Nguyen Van 

25 Dai, Le Thi Cong Nhan, Cu Huy Ha Vu, and Le 
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1 Cong Dinh, and bloggers Nguyen Van Hai and Phan 

2 Thanh Hai. 

3 (8) The Government of Vietnam continues to 

4 detain, imprison, place under house arrest, convict, 

5 or otherwise restrict persons for the peaceful expres6 sion of dissenting political or religious views. 

7 (9) The Government of Vietnam has also failed 

8 to improve labor rights, continues to arrest and har9 ass labor leaders, and restricts the right to organize 

10 independently. 

11 (10) The Government of Vietnam continues to 

12 limit the freedom of religion, restrict the operations 

13 of independent religious organizations, and persecute 

14 believers whose religious activities the Government 

15 regards as a potential threat to its monopoly on 

16 power. 

17 (11) Despite reported progress in church open18 ings and legal registrations of religious venues, the 

19 Government of Vietnam has halted most positive ac20 tions since the Department of State lifted the ‘‘coun21 try of particular concern’’ (CPC) designation for 

22 Vietnam in November 2006. 

23 (12) Unregistered ethnic minority Protestant 

24 congregations, particularly Montagnards in the Cen25 tral and Northwest Highlands, suffer severe abuses 
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1 because of actions by the Government of Vietnam, 

2 which have included forced renunciations of faith, 

3 arrest and harassment, the withholding of social pro4 grams provided for the general population, confisca5 tion and destruction of property, subjection to severe 

6 beatings, and reported deaths. 

7 (13) There has been a pattern of violent re8 sponses by the Government to peaceful prayer vigils 

9 and demonstrations by Catholics for the return of 

10 Government-confiscated church properties. Pro11 testers have been harassed, beaten, and detained 

12 and church properties have been destroyed. Catholics 

13 also continue to face some restrictions on selection 

14 of clergy, the establishment of seminaries and semi15 nary candidates, and individual cases of travel and 

16 church registration. 

17 (14) In May 2010 the village of Con Dau, a 

18 Catholic parish in Da Nang, faced escalated violence 

19 during a funeral procession as police attempted to 

20 prohibit a religious burial in the village cemetery; 

21 more than 100 villagers were injured, 62 were ar22 rested, five were tortured, and at least three died. 

23 (15) The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam 

24 (UBCV) suffers persecution as the Government of 

25 Vietnam continues to restrict contacts and move-
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1 ment of senior UBCV clergy for refusing to join the 

2 state-sponsored Buddhist organization, the Govern3 ment restricts expression and assembly, and the 

4 Government continues to harass and threaten UBCV 

5 monks, nuns, and youth leaders. 

6 (16) The Government of Vietnam continues to 

7 suppress the activities of other religious adherents, 

8 including Cao Dai and Hoa Hao Buddhists who lack 

9 official recognition or have chosen not to affiliate 

10 with the state-sanctioned groups, including through 

11 the use of detention, imprisonment, and strict Gov12 ernment oversight. 

13 (17) During Easter weekend in April 2004, 

14 thousands of Montagnards gathered to protest their 

15 treatment by the Government of Vietnam, including 

16 the confiscation of tribal lands and ongoing restric17 tions on religious activities. Credible reports indicate 

18 that the protests were met with violent response as 

19 many demonstrators were arrested, injured, or went 

20 into hiding, and that others were killed. Many of 

21 these Montagnards and others are still serving long 

22 sentences for their involvement in peaceful dem23 onstrations in 2001, 2002, 2004, and 2008. 

24 Montagnards continue to face threats, detention, 

25 beatings, forced renunciation of faith, property de-
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1 struction, restricted movement, and reported deaths 

2 at the hands of Government officials. 

3 (18) Ethnic minority Hmong in the Northwest 

4 Highlands of Vietnam also suffer restrictions, 

5 abuses, and persecution by the Government of Viet6 nam, and although the Government is now allowing 

7 some Hmong Protestants to organize and conduct 

8 religious activities, some Government officials con9 tinue to deny or ignore additional applications for 

10 registration, and to persecute churches and believers 

11 who do not wish to affiliate with Government-con12 trolled religious entities. 

13 (19) In 2007, the Government of Vietnam ar14 rested, beat, and defrocked several ethnic Khmer 

15 Buddhists in response to a peaceful religious protest. 

16 The Government continues to restrict Khmer Krom 

17 expression, assembly, association, and controls all re18 ligious organizations and prohibits most peaceful 

19 protests. 

20 (20) The Government of Vietnam controls all 

21 print and electronic media, including access to the 

22 Internet, jams the signals of some foreign radio sta23 tions, including Radio Free Asia, and has detained 

24 and imprisoned individuals who have posted, pub-
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1 lished, sent, or otherwise distributed democracy-re2 lated materials. 

3 (21) People arrested in Vietnam because of 

4 their political or religious affiliations and activities 

5 often are not accorded due legal process as they lack 

6 full access to lawyers of their choice, may experience 

7 closed trials, have often been detained for years 

8 without trial, and have been subjected to the use of 

9 torture to admit crimes they did not commit or to 

10 falsely denounce their own leaders. 

11 (22) Vietnam continues to be a source country 

12 for the commercial sexual exploitation and forced 

13 labor of women and girls, as well as for men and 

14 women legally entering into international labor con15 tracts who subsequently face conditions of debt 

16 bondage or forced labor, and is a destination country 

17 for child trafficking and continues to have internal 

18 human trafficking. 

19 (23) Although the Government of Vietnam re20 ports progress in combating human trafficking, it 

21 does not fully comply with the minimum standards 

22 for the elimination of trafficking, and is not making 

23 substantial efforts to comply. 

24 (24) United States refugee resettlement pro25 grams, including the Humanitarian Resettlement 
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1 (HR) Program, the Orderly Departure Program 

2 (ODP), Resettlement Opportunities for Vietnamese 

3 Returnees (ROVR) Program, general resettlement of 

4 boat people from refugee camps throughout South5 east Asia, the Amerasian Homecoming Act of 1988, 

6 and the Priority One Refugee resettlement category, 

7 have helped rescue Vietnamese nationals who have 

8 suffered persecution on account of their associations 

9 with the United States or, in many cases, because of 

10 such associations by their spouses, parents, or other 

11 family members, as well as other Vietnamese nation12 als who have been persecuted because of race, reli13 gion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in 

14 a particular social group. 

15 (25) While previous programs have served their 

16 purposes well, a significant number of eligible refu17 gees from Vietnam were unfairly denied or excluded, 

18 including Amerasians, in some cases by vindictive or 

19 corrupt Vietnamese officials who controlled access to 

20 the programs, and in others by United States per21 sonnel who imposed unduly restrictive interpreta22 tions of program criteria. In addition, the Govern23 ment of Vietnam has denied passports to persons 

24 who the United States has found eligible for refugee 

25 admission. 
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1 (26) The Government of Vietnam holds tens of 

2 thousands of people in government-run drug deten3 tion centers and treats them as slave laborers. 

4 (27) To date, over 60,000 people have signed a 

5 petition calling on the Administration to not expand 

6 trade with communist Vietnam at the expense of 

7 human rights. 

8 (28) Congress has passed numerous resolutions 

9 condemning human rights abuses in Vietnam, indi10 cating that although there has been an expansion of 

11 relations with the Government of Vietnam, it should 

12 not be construed as approval of the ongoing and se13 rious violations of fundamental human rights in 

14 Vietnam. 

15 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to promote 

16 the development of freedom and democracy in Vietnam. 

17 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON INCREASED NONHUMANITARIAN 

18 ASSISTANCE TO THE GOVERNMENT OF VIET19 NAM. 

20 (a) ASSISTANCE.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub22 section (b), the Federal Government may not pro23 vide nonhumanitarian assistance to the Government 

24 of Vietnam during any fiscal year in an amount that 
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1 exceeds the amount of such assistance provided dur2 ing fiscal year 2011 unless— 

3 (A) the Federal Government provides as4 sistance, in addition to the assistance author5 ized under section 4, supporting the creation 

6 and facilitation of human rights training, civil 

7 society capacity building, noncommercial rule of 

8 law programming, and exchange programs be9 tween the Vietnamese National Assembly and 

10 the United States Congress at levels commensu11 rate with, or exceeding, any increases in non12 humanitarian assistance to Vietnam; 

13 (B) with respect to the limitation for fiscal 

14 year 2012, the President determines and cer15 tifies to Congress, not later than 30 days after 

16 the date of the enactment of this Act, that the 

17 requirements of subparagraphs (A) through (G) 

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

19 month period ending on the date of the certifi20 cation; and 

21 (C) with respect to the limitation for sub22 sequent fiscal years, the President determines 

23 and certifies to Congress, in the most recent 

24 annual report submitted pursuant to section 5, 

25 that the requirements of subparagraphs (A) 
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1 through (G) of paragraph (2) have been met 

2 during the 12-month period covered by the re3 port. 

4 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements of this 

5 paragraph are the following: 

6 (A) The Government of Vietnam has made 

7 substantial progress toward releasing all polit8 ical and religious prisoners from imprisonment, 

9 house arrest, and other forms of detention. 

10 (B) The Government of Vietnam has made 

11 substantial progress toward— 

12 (i) respecting the right to freedom of 

13 religion, including the right to participate 

14 in religious activities and institutions with15 out interference, harassment, or involve16 ment of the Government, for all of Viet17 nam’s diverse religious communities; and 

18 (ii) returning estates and properties 

19 confiscated from the churches and religious 

20 communities. 

21 (C) The Government of Vietnam has made 

22 substantial progress toward respecting the right 

23 to freedom of expression, assembly, and associa24 tion, including the release of independent jour-
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1 nalists, bloggers, and democracy and labor ac2 tivists. 

3 (D) The Government of Vietnam has made 

4 substantial progress toward repealing or revis5 ing laws that criminalize peaceful dissent, inde6 pendent media, unsanctioned religious activity, 

7 and nonviolent demonstrations and rallies, in 

8 accordance with international standards and 

9 treaties to which Vietnam is a party. 

10 (E) 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 (F) The Government of Vietnam has made 

15 substantial progress toward respecting the 

16 human rights of members of all ethnic and mi17 nority groups. 

18 (G) Neither any official of the Government 

19 of Vietnam nor any agency or entity wholly or 

20 partly owned by the Government of Vietnam 

21 was complicit in a severe form of trafficking in 

22 persons, or the Government of Vietnam took all 

23 appropriate steps to end any such complicity 

24 and hold such official, agency, or entity fully 

25 accountable for its conduct. 
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1 (b) EXCEPTION.— 

2 (1) CONTINUATION OF ASSISTANCE IN THE NA3 TIONAL INTEREST.—Notwithstanding the failure of 

4 the Government of Vietnam to meet the require5 ments of subsection (a)(2), the President may waive 

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

7 if the President determines that the provision to the 

8 Government of Vietnam of increased nonhumani9 tarian assistance would promote the purpose of this 

10 Act or is otherwise in the national interest of the 

11 United States. 

12 (2) EXERCISE OF WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The 

13 President may exercise the authority under para14 graph (1) with respect to— 

15 (A) all United States nonhumanitarian as16 sistance to Vietnam; or 

17 (B) one or more programs, projects, or ac18 tivities of such assistance. 

19 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

20 (1) NONHUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE.—The 

21 term ‘‘nonhumanitarian assistance’’ means— 

22 (A) any assistance under the Foreign As23 sistance Act of 1961 (including programs under 

24 title IV of chapter 2 of part I of that Act, relat-
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1 ing to the Overseas Private Investment Cor2 poration), other than— 

3 (i) disaster relief assistance, including 

4 any assistance under chapter 9 of part I of 

5 that Act; 

6 (ii) assistance which involves the pro7 vision of food (including monetization of 

8 food) or medicine; 

9 (iii) assistance for environmental re10 mediation of dioxin-contaminated sites and 

11 related health activities; 

12 (iv) assistance to combat severe forms 

13 of trafficking in persons; 

14 (v) assistance to combat pandemic 

15 diseases; 

16 (vi) assistance for refugees; and 

17 (vii) assistance to combat HIV/AIDS, 

18 including any assistance under section 

19 104A of that Act; and 

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

21 the Arms Export Control Act. 

22 (2) 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 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 

4 on the date of the enactment of this Act and shall apply 

5 with respect to the provision of nonhumanitarian assist6 ance to the Government of Vietnam during fiscal year 

7 2013 and subsequent fiscal years. 

8 SEC. 4. UNITED STATES PUBLIC DIPLOMACY. 

9 (a) RADIO FREE ASIA TRANSMISSIONS TO VIET10 NAM.—It is the sense of Congress that the United States 

11 should take measures to overcome the jamming of Radio 

12 Free Asia by the Government of Vietnam and that the 

13 Broadcasting Board of Governors should not cut staffing, 

14 funding, or broadcast hours for the Vietnamese language 

15 services of the Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, 

16 which shall be done without reducing any other broadcast 

17 language services. 

18 (b) UNITED STATES EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL

19 EXCHANGE PROGRAMS WITH VIETNAM.—It is the sense 

20 of Congress that any programs of educational and cultural 

21 exchange between the United States and Vietnam should 

22 actively promote progress toward freedom and democracy 

23 in Vietnam by providing opportunities to Vietnamese na24 tionals from a wide range of occupations and perspectives 

25 to see freedom and democracy in action and, also, by en-
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1 suring that Vietnamese nationals who have already dem2 onstrated a commitment to these values are included in 

3 such programs. 

4 SEC. 5. ANNUAL REPORT. 

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

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

7 thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit to the Con8 gress a report on the following: 

9 (1) The determination and certification of the 

10 President that the requirements of subparagraphs 

11 (A) through (G) of section 3(a)(2) have been met, 

12 if applicable. 

13 (2) Steps taken to carry out section 3(a)(1)(A), 

14 if applicable. 

15 (3) Efforts by the United States Government to 

16 promote access by the Vietnamese people to Radio 

17 Free Asia transmissions. 

18 (4) Efforts to ensure that programs with Viet19 nam promote the policy set forth in section 102 of 

20 the Human Rights, Refugee, and Other Foreign Pol21 icy Provisions Act of 1996 regarding participation in 

22 programs of educational and cultural exchange. 

23 (5) Lists of persons believed to be imprisoned, 

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

25 otherwise persecuted by the Government of Vietnam 
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1 due to their pursuit of internationally recognized 

2 human rights. In compiling such lists, the Secretary 

3 shall exercise appropriate discretion, including con4 cerns regarding the safety and security of, and ben5 efit to, the persons who may be included on the lists 

6 and their families. In addition, the Secretary shall 

7 include a list of such persons and their families who 

8 may qualify for protections under United States ref9 ugee programs. 

10 (6) A description of the development of the rule 

11 of law in Vietnam, including— 

12 (A) progress toward the development of in13 stitutions of democratic governance; 

14 (B) processes by which statutes, regula15 tions, rules, and other legal acts of the Govern16 ment of Vietnam are developed and become 

17 binding within Vietnam; 

18 (C) the extent to which statutes, regula19 tions, rules, administrative and judicial deci20 sions, and other legal acts of the Government of 

21 Vietnam are published and are made accessible 

22 to the public; 

23 (D) the extent to which administrative and 

24 judicial decisions are supported by statements 

25 of reasons that are based upon written statutes, 
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1 regulations, rules, and other legal acts of the 

2 Government of Vietnam; 

3 (E) the extent to which individuals are 

4 treated equally under the laws of Vietnam with5 out regard to citizenship, race, religion, political 

6 opinion, or current or former associations; 

7 (F) the extent to which administrative and 

8 judicial decisions are independent of political 

9 pressure or governmental interference and are 

10 reviewed by entities of appellate jurisdiction; 

11 and 

12 (G) the extent to which laws in Vietnam 

13 are written and administered in ways that are 

14 consistent with international human rights 

15 standards, including the requirements of the 

16 International Covenant on Civil and Political 

17 Rights. 

18 (b) CONTACTS WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS.—In 

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

20 shall, as appropriate, seek out and maintain contacts with 

21 nongovernmental organizations and human rights advo22 cates (including Vietnamese-Americans and human rights 

23 advocates in Vietnam), including receiving reports and up24 dates from such organizations and evaluating such re25 ports. The Secretary shall also seek to consult with the 
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1 United States Commission on International Religious 

2 Freedom for appropriate sections of the report. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 11, 

2012. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1410 

AN ACT 

To promote freedom and democracy in Vietnam.