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[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 362 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 362

Recognizing the contributions of the Montagnard indigenous tribespeople 
 of the Central Highlands of Vietnam to the United States Armed Forces 
 during the Vietnam War, and condemning the ongoing violation of human 
     rights by the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 4, 2016

     Mr. Burr (for himself and Mr. Tillis) submitted the following 
  resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
Recognizing the contributions of the Montagnard indigenous tribespeople 
 of the Central Highlands of Vietnam to the United States Armed Forces 
 during the Vietnam War, and condemning the ongoing violation of human 
     rights by the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Whereas the Montagnards are an indigenous tribespeople living in Vietnam's 
        Central Highlands region;
Whereas the Montagnards were driven into the mountains by invading Vietnamese 
        and Cambodians in the 9th century;
Whereas French Roman Catholic missionaries converted many of the Montagnards in 
        the 19th century and American Protestant missionaries subsequently 
        converted many to various Protestant sects;
Whereas, during the 1960s, the United States Mission in Saigon, the Central 
        Intelligence Agency (CIA), and United States Army Special Forces, also 
        known as the Green Berets, trained the Montagnards in unconventional 
        warfare;
Whereas an estimated 61,000 Montagnards, out of an estimated population of 
        1,000,000, fought alongside the United States and the Army of the 
        Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) forces against the North Vietnamese Army and 
        the Viet Cong;
Whereas the Central Intelligence Agency, United States Special Forces, and the 
        Montagnards cooperated on the Village Defense Program, a forerunner to 
        the War's Strategic Hamlet Program, and an estimated 43,000 Montagnards 
        were organized into ``Civilian Irregular Defense Groups'' (CIDGs) to 
        provide protection for the areas around the CIDGs' operational bases;
Whereas, at its peak, the CIDGs had approximately 50 operational bases, with 
        each base containing a contingent of two United States Army officers and 
        ten enlisted men, and an ARVN unit of the same size, and each base 
        trained 200 to 700 Montagnards, or ``strikers'';
Whereas another 18,000 Montagnards were reportedly enlisted into mobile strike 
        forces, and various historical accounts describe a strong bond between 
        the United States Special Forces and the Montagnards, in contrast to 
        Vietnamese Special Forces and ARVN troops;
Whereas the lives of thousands of members of the United States Armed Forces were 
        saved as a result of the heroic actions of the Montagnards, who fought 
        loyally and bravely alongside United States Special Forces in the 
        Vietnam War;
Whereas, after the fall of the Republic of Vietnam in 1975, thousands of 
        Montagnards fled across the border into Cambodia to escape persecution;
Whereas the Government of the reunified Vietnamese nation, renamed the Socialist 
        Republic of Vietnam, deeply distrusted the Montagnards who had sided 
        with the United States and ARVN forces and subjected them to 
        imprisonment and various forms of discrimination and oppression after 
        the Vietnam War ended;
Whereas, after the Vietnam War, the United States Government resettled large 
        numbers of Montagnards, mostly in North Carolina, and an estimated 
        several thousand Montagnards currently reside in North Carolina, which 
        is the largest population of Montagnards residing outside of Vietnam;
Whereas the Socialist Republic of Vietnam currently remains a one-party state, 
        ruled and controlled by the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), which 
        continues to restrict freedom of religion, movement, land and property 
        rights, and political expression;
Whereas officials of the Government of Vietnam have forced Montagnards to 
        publicly denounce their religion, arrested and imprisoned Montagnards 
        who organized public demonstrations, and mistreated Montagnards in 
        detention;
Whereas some Montagnard Americans have complained that Vietnamese authorities 
        either have prevented them from visiting Vietnam or have subjected them 
        to interrogation upon re-entering the country on visits;
Whereas the Department of State's 2014 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 
        (``2014 Human Rights Report'') documents that, despite Vietnam's 
        significant economic growth, some indigenous and ethnic minority 
        communities benefitted little from improved economic conditions, even 
        though such communities formed a majority of the population in certain 
        areas, including the Northwest and Central Highlands and portions of the 
        Mekong Delta;
Whereas the 2014 Human Rights Report states that, although Vietnamese law 
        prohibits discrimination against ethnic minorities, such social 
        discrimination was longstanding and persistent, notably in the Central 
        Highlands;
Whereas the 2014 Human Rights Report documents that land rights protesters have 
        reported regular instances of government authorities physically 
        harassing and intimidating them at land expropriation sites around the 
        country;
Whereas, in its 2015 Annual Report, the United States Commission on 
        International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) references the accounts of 
        Montagnards, including children, fleeing persecution in Vietnam to seek 
        refugee status in Cambodia, only to suffer harsh conditions while hiding 
        in the jungles and forcibly returned to Vietnam by Cambodian officials;
Whereas USCIRF reports the Government of Vietnam continues to detain numerous 
        prisoners of conscience and the number of new church registrations is 
        exceptionally low when compared to the thousands of congregations that 
        either choose to remain independent or are denied registration, leaving 
        them no choice but to operate illegally;
Whereas the Department of State's 2014 International Religious Freedom Report 
        documents that leaders of unregistered Protestant denominations 
        continued to report that local authorities in the Central Highlands 
        discriminated against their followers by threatening to exclude them 
        from state programs if they did not denounce their faith and that 
        students who were openly Protestant often suffered discrimination; and
Whereas USCIRF recommends that Vietnam be designated a Country of Particular 
        Concern (CPC) as ongoing human rights violations ``serve as a cautionary 
        tale of the potential for backsliding in religious freedoms when 
        vigilance in monitoring such abuses ceases'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) recognizes the contributions of the Montagnards who 
        fought loyally and bravely with United States Armed Forces 
        during the Vietnam War and who continue to suffer persecution 
        in Vietnam as a result of this relationship;
            (2) condemns ongoing actions by the Government of Vietnam 
        to suppress basic human rights and civil liberties for all its 
        citizens;
            (3) calls on the Government of Vietnam to allow human 
        rights groups access to all regions of the country and to end 
        restrictions of basic human rights, including the right for 
        Montagnards to practice their Christian faith freely, the right 
        to land and property, freedom of movement, the right to retain 
        ethnic identity and culture, and access to an adequate standard 
        of living; and
            (4) urges the President and Congress to develop policies 
        that support Montagnards and other marginalized ethnic minority 
        and indigenous populations in Vietnam and reflect United States 
        interests and commitment to upholding human rights and 
        democracy abroad.
                                 <all>
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