I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6433 

To impose sanctions on individuals who are complicit in human rights abuses 

committed against nationals of Vietnam or their family members, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 18, 2010 

Mr. CAO (for himself, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. 

ROYCE, Mr. WOLF, and Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, Ways and 

Means, and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To impose sanctions on individuals who are complicit in 

human rights abuses committed against nationals of 

Vietnam or their family members, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Vietnam Human 

5 Rights Sanctions Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) The relationship between the United States 

4 and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has grown 

5 substantially since the end of the trade embargo in 

6 1994, with annual trade between the countries 

7 reaching more than $15,200,000,000 in 2008. 

8 (2) The transition of the Government of Viet9 nam toward greater economic activity and trade has 

10 not been matched by greater political freedom and 

11 substantial improvements in basic human rights for 

12 the citizens of Vietnam, including freedom of reli13 gion, expression, association, and assembly. 

14 (3) The United States Congress agreed to Viet15 nam becoming an official member of the World 

16 Trade Organization in 2006, amidst assurances that 

17 the Government of Vietnam was steadily improving 

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

19 (4) Despite assurances that Vietnam’s accession 

20 to the World Trade Organization would be met with 

21 greater respect for human rights, the Government of 

22 Vietnam has continued to strictly regulate some reli23 gious practices and to imprison or put under house 

24 arrest an undetermined number of individuals for 

25 their peaceful advocacy of political views or religious 

26 beliefs, including Father Nguyen Van Ly, Tran 


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1 Huynh Duy Thuc, Nguyen Tien Trung, Le Thang 

2 Long, Tran Duc Thach, Tran Anh Kim, Pham Van 

3 Troi, Nguyen Xuan Nghia, Nguyen Van Tuc, 

4 Nguyen Manh Son, Nguyen Manh Tinh, Ngo 

5 Quynh, Nguyen Kim Nhan, Truong Minh Duc, 

6 Nguyen Van Hai, Vu Hung, Tran Khai Thanh 

7 Thuy, and Pham Thanh Nghien, and human rights 

8 lawyers, Le Cong Dinh, Nguyen Van Dai, and Le 

9 Thi Cong Nhan. Others arrested during 2010 are 

10 being held incommunicado, including Cu Huy Ha 

11 Vu, Pham Minh Hoang, Phan Thanh Hai, and Vi 

12 Duc Hoi. 

13 (5) Vietnam remains a one-party state, ruled 

14 and controlled by the Communist Party of Vietnam, 

15 which continues to deny the right of citizens to 

16 change their government. 

17 (6) Although in recent years the National As18 sembly of Vietnam has on occasion played a role as 

19 a forum for highlighting local concerns, corruption, 

20 and inefficiency, the National Assembly remains sub21 ject to the direction of the Communist Party of Viet22 nam and that party maintains control over the selec23 tion of candidates in national and local elections. 

24 (7) The Government of Vietnam forbids public 

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1 stricts freedoms of opinion, the press, assembly, and 

2 association, and tightly limits access to the Internet 

3 and telecommunication. Cyberattacks originating 

4 from Vietnam-based servers have disabled dissident 

5 websites and the Government of Vietnam introduced 

6 new restrictions on public internet shops while con7 tinuing to restrict access to numerous overseas and 

8 domestic blogs, news sites, and other websites per9 ceived to carry content critical of the Government of 

10 Vietnam. 

11 (8) The Government of Vietnam continues to 

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

13 and otherwise restrict individuals for the peaceful 

14 expression of dissenting political or religious views, 

15 including democracy and human rights activists, 

16 independent trade union leaders, non-state-sanc17 tioned publishers, journalists, bloggers, members of 

18 ethnic minorities, and unsanctioned religious groups. 

19 (9) The Government of Vietnam has also failed 

20 to improve labor rights, continues to harass, arrest, 

21 and imprison workers rights activists, including 

22 Doan Huy Chuong, Do Thi Minh Hanh, and 

23 Nguyen Hoang Quoc Hung, and restricts the right 

24 to organize independently. 


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1 (10) The Government of Vietnam continues to 

2 limit freedom of religion, pressure all religious 

3 groups to come under the control of government4 and party-controlled management boards, and re5 strict the operation of independent religious organi6 zations, including the Unified Buddhist Church of 

7 Vietnam and members of unsanctioned Mennonite, 

8 Cao Dai, Theravada Buddhist, and Hoa Hao Bud9 dhist religious groups and independent Protestant 

10 house churches, primarily in the central and north11 ern highlands. Religious leaders who do not conform 

12 to the Government’s demands are often harassed, 

13 arrested, imprisoned, or put under house arrest. 

14 (11) As noted in the October 2009 report of the 

15 United States Commission on International Reli16 gious Freedom, ‘‘[T]here continue to be far too 

17 many serious abuses and restrictions of religious 

18 freedom in the country. Individuals continue to be 

19 imprisoned or detained for reasons related to their 

20 religious activity or religious freedom advocacy; po21 lice and government officials are not held fully ac22 countable for abuses; independent religious activity 

23 remains illegal; and legal protection for government24 approved religious organizations are both vague and 

25 subject to arbitrary or discriminatory interpretations 


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1 based on political factors. In addition, improvements 

2 experienced by some religious communities are not 

3 experienced by others, including the Unified Bud4 dhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), independent Hoa 

5 Hao, Cao Dai, and Protestant groups, and some eth6 nic minority Protestants and Buddhists. Also, over 

7 the past year, property disputes between the govern8 ment and the Catholic Church in Hanoi led to deten9 tion, threats, harassment, and violence by ‘contract 

10 thugs’ against peaceful prayer vigils and religious 

11 leaders.’’. 

12 (12) Despite reported progress in church open13 ings and legal registrations of religious venues, the 

14 Government of Vietnam has halted most religious re15 forms since the Department of State lifted the 

16 ‘‘country of particular concern’’ for religious freedom 

17 violations designation for Vietnam in November 

18 2006. 

19 (13) Unregistered ethnic minority Protestant 

20 congregations suffer severe abuses because of actions 

21 by the Government of Vietnam, which have included 

22 forced renunciations of faith, pressure to join gov23 ernment-recognized religious groups, arrest and har24 assment, the withholding of social programs pro25 vided for the general population, destruction of 


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1 churches and pagodas, confiscation and destruction 

2 of property, and subjection to severe beatings. 

3 (14) During peaceful Catholic prayer vigils call4 ing for the return of government-confiscated church 

5 properties during 2008 at the Thai Ha Church in 

6 Ha Noi, protestors were dispersed after being har7 assed, some were detained, and some of the church 

8 property was destroyed. Similar incidents happened 

9 at Bau Sen, Loan Ly, and Tam Toa parishes in cen10 tral Vietnam and more recently at Dong Chiem par11 ish in Hanoi, where religious statues and a crucifix 

12 were destroyed and parishioners and clergies were 

13 physically harmed, and at Con Dau parish, where 

14 police forcibly dispersed a Catholic funeral ceremony 

15 in May 2010 to a cemetery located on disputed land. 

16 Afterwards, police and members of the civilian de17 fense forces arrested and interrogated dozens of Con 

18 Dau parishioners, with one parishioner dying from 

19 injuries sustained during a beating in July 2010 by 

20 civilian defense forces and two women suffered mis21 carriages resulted from police tortures. Catholics 

22 continue to face some restrictions on selection of 

23 clergy, the establishment of seminaries and seminary 

24 candidates, and restrictions on individual cases of 

25 travel and church registration. Dissident clerics such 


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1 as Father Phan Van Loi and Father Nguyen Van 

2 Ly are currently under house arrest. 

3 (15) The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam 

4 suffers persecution as the Government of Vietnam 

5 continues to restrict contacts and movement of sen6 ior clergy for refusing to join the state-sponsored 

7 Buddhist organizations, the Government restricts ex8 pression and assembly, and the Government con9 tinues to harass and threaten monks, nuns, and 

10 youth leaders of the Unified Buddhist Church of 

11 Vietnam. The Supreme Patriarch of Unified Bud12 dhist Church of Vietnam, Thich Quang Do, is cur13 rently under house arrest. 

14 (16) The Bat Nha Buddhists monastery in 

15 Lam Dong province was attacked by government 

16 thugs in October 2009. About 400 monks and nuns 

17 were physically abused and forcibly evicted from the 

18 monastery. 

19 (17) The Government of Vietnam continues to 

20 suppress the activities of other religious adherents, 

21 including Cao Dai, Hoa Hao, Mennonites, and 

22 Montagnard Christians belonging to churches that 

23 lack official recognition or have chosen not to affil24 iate with the state-sanctioned groups, including 

25 through the use of detention and imprisonment. 


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1 (18) During Easter weekend in April 2004, 

2 thousands of Montagnard Christians in the Central 

3 Highlands gathered to protest their treatment by the 

4 Government of Vietnam, including the confiscation 

5 of tribal lands and ongoing restrictions on religious 

6 activities. Credible reports indicate that the protests 

7 were met with violent response as many demonstra8 tors were arrested or went into hiding, that many 

9 were injured, and that some were killed. At least 

10 200 of these Montagnard Christians are still serving 

11 long sentences for their involvement in peaceful dem12 onstrations in 2001 and 2004. Government officials 

13 continue to severely restrict movement by the 

14 Montagnards and prohibit them from seeking asy15 lum in Cambodia. Many Montagnards were also im16 prisoned and otherwise mistreated for their involve17 ment in demonstrations in 2008. 

18 (19) Ethnic minority Hmong in the Northwest 

19 Highlands of Vietnam also suffer restrictions, 

20 abuses, and persecution by the Government of Viet21 nam, and although the Government is now allowing 

22 some Hmong Protestants to organize and conduct 

23 religious activity, some government officials continue 

24 to deny or ignore additional applications for reg25 istration. 


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1 (20) In 2007, the Government of Vietnam ar2 rested and expelled at least 20 ethnic Khmer Bud3 dhist monks in Soc Trang province from the monk4 hood and imprisoned 5 monks in response to a 

5 peaceful religious protest in February 2007. In July 

6 2010, authorities in Tra Vinh arrested and pur7 ported to defrock Khmer Krom Buddhist abbot 

8 Thach Sophon, sentencing him in September to a 9- 

9 month suspended sentence. He remains under house 

10 arrest. 

11 (21) The Government of Vietnam controls all 

12 print and electronic media, including access to the 

13 Internet, jams the signals of some foreign radio sta14 tions, including Radio Free Asia, and has detained 

15 and imprisoned individuals who have posted, pub16 lished, sent, or otherwise distributed democracy-re17 lated materials. 

18 (22) People arrested in Vietnam because of 

19 their political or religious affiliations and activities 

20 and charged with vaguely defined national security 

21 crimes are not accorded due process of law. During 

22 the pre-trial investigatory phase of their detention, 

23 religious and political prisoners are often held in24 communicado without access to legal counsel and 

25 family members. They are routinely tortured during 


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1 interrogation to force them to confess to crimes they 

2 did not commit or to falsely denounce others. Their 

3 trials are usually closed to international press and 

4 diplomats and members of the public. 

5 (23) Vietnam continues to be a source country 

6 for the commercial sexual exploitation and forced 

7 labor of women and girls and for men and women 

8 legally entering into international labor contracts 

9 who subsequently face conditions of debt bondage or 

10 forced labor, and is a destination country for child 

11 trafficking and continues to have internal human 

12 trafficking. 

13 (24) Labor export companies partly or wholly 

14 owned by the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and 

15 Social Affairs, and other agencies of the Government 

16 of Vietnam have frequently been identified as par17 ticipants in human trafficking. There are a number 

18 of well-documented cases in which these state enter19 prises have misled workers by promising specific 

20 wages and working conditions, often in the form of 

21 signed contracts, only to require the workers to sign 

22 different contracts immediately before leaving for 

23 their foreign destinations. When workers have pro24 tested debt bondage or slavery-like conditions in the 

25 foreign workplaces to which these Vietnamese state 


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1 enterprises have sent them, officials of the Ministry 

2 of Labor have traveled from Hanoi to threaten the 

3 trafficking victims with ‘‘punishment under the laws 

4 of Vietnam’’ if they do not cease their protests. 

5 Workers who have returned to Vietnam after being 

6 exploited by their foreign employers have reported 

7 being harassed and intimidated by public security 

8 forces, who typically accuse them of being liars, col9 laborating with reactionary forces overseas, and hav10 ing betrayed their country. 

11 (25) United States refugee resettlement pro12 grams, including the Humanitarian Resettlement 

13 Program, the Orderly Departure Program, the Re14 settlement Opportunities for Vietnamese Returnees 

15 Program, general resettlement of boat people from 

16 refugee camps throughout Southeast Asia, the 

17 Amerasian Homecoming Act of 1988, and the pri18 ority one refugee resettlement category have helped 

19 resettle nationals of Vietnam who have suffered per20 secution on account of their associations with the 

21 United States as well as nationals of Vietnam who 

22 have been persecuted because of race, religion, na23 tionality, political opinion, or membership in a par24 ticular social group. 


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1 (26) While previous programs have served their 

2 purposes well, a significant number of eligible refu3 gees from Vietnam were unfairly denied or excluded, 

4 including Amerasians and Montagnards, in some 

5 cases by vindictive or corrupt officials of Vietnam 

6 who controlled access to the programs, and in others 

7 by United States personnel who imposed unduly re8 strictive interpretations of program criteria. In addi9 tion, the Government of Vietnam has denied pass10 ports to persons whom the United States has found 

11 eligible for refugee admission. 

12 (27) Congress has passed numerous resolutions 

13 condemning human rights violations in Vietnam, in14 dicating that although there has been an expansion 

15 of relations with the Government of Vietnam, it 

16 should not be construed as approval of the ongoing 

17 and serious violations of fundamental human rights 

18 in Vietnam, particularly those enshrined in the 

19 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 

20 of which Vietnam is a signatory. 

21 (28) Enhancement of relations between the 

22 United States and Vietnam has provided an oppor23 tunity for a human rights dialogue, but is unlikely 

24 to lead to future progress on human rights issues in 

25 Vietnam unless the United States makes clear that 


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1 such progress is an essential prerequisite for further 

2 enhancements in the bilateral relationship. 

3 SEC. 3. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS ON CERTAIN INDIVID4 UALS WHO ARE COMPLICIT IN HUMAN 

5 RIGHTS ABUSES COMMITTED AGAINST NA6 TIONALS OF VIETNAM OR THEIR FAMILY 

7 MEMBERS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsections 

9 (d) and (e), the President shall impose sanctions described 

10 in subsection (c) with respect to each individual on the 

11 list required by subsection (b). 

12 (b) LIST OF INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE COMPLICIT IN

13 CERTAIN HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

15 the date of the enactment of this Act, the President 

16 shall submit to the appropriate congressional com17 mittees a list of individuals who are nationals of 

18 Vietnam that the President determines are complicit 

19 in human rights abuses committed against nationals 

20 of Vietnam or their family members, regardless of 

21 whether such abuses occurred in Vietnam. 

22 (2) UPDATES OF LIST.—The President shall 

23 submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

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1 mation becomes available and not less frequently 

2 than annually. 

3 (3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The list required 

4 by paragraph (1) shall be made available to the pub5 lic and posted on the websites of the Department of 

6 the Treasury and the Department of State. 

7 (4) CONSIDERATION OF DATA FROM OTHER

8 COUNTRIES AND NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZA9 TIONS.—In preparing the list required by paragraph 

10 (1), the President shall consider data already ob11 tained by other countries and nongovernmental orga12 nizations, including organizations in Vietnam, that 

13 monitor the human rights abuses of the Government 

14 of Vietnam. 

15 (c) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.—The sanctions de16 scribed in this subsection are the following: 

17 (1) PROHIBITION ON ENTRY AND ADMISSION TO

18 THE UNITED STATES.—An individual whose name 

19 appears on the list required by subsection (b)(1) 

20 may not— 

21 (A) be admitted to, enter, or transit 

22 through the United States; 

23 (B) receive any lawful immigration status 

24 in the United States under the immigration 


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1 laws, including any relief under the Convention 

2 Against Torture; or 

3 (C) file any application or petition to ob4 tain such admission, entry, or status. 

5 (2) FINANCIAL SANCTIONS.—The President 

6 shall impose sanctions authorized pursuant to sec7 tion 203 of the International Emergency Economic 

8 Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702) with respect to an in9 dividual whose name appears on the list required by 

10 subsection (b)(1), including blocking of the property 

11 of, and restricting or prohibiting financial trans12 actions and the exportation and importation of prop13 erty by, the individual. 

14 (d) EXCEPTIONS TO COMPLY WITH INTERNATIONAL

15 AGREEMENTS.—The President may, by regulation, au16 thorize exceptions to the imposition of sanctions under this 

17 section to permit the United States to comply with the 

18 Agreement between the United Nations and the United 

19 States of America regarding the Headquarters of the 

20 United Nations, signed June 26, 1947, and entered into 

21 force November 21, 1947, and other applicable inter22 national agreements. 

23 (e) WAIVER.—The President may waive the require24 ment to impose or maintain sanctions with respect to an 

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1 clude an individual on the list required by subsection (b) 

2 if the President— 

3 (1) determines that such a waiver is in the na4 tional interest of the United States; and 

5 (2) submits to the appropriate congressional 

6 committees a report describing the reasons for the 

7 determination. 

8 (f) TERMINATION OF SANCTIONS.—The provisions of 

9 this section shall cease to have force and effect on the date 

10 on which the President determines and certifies to the ap11 propriate congressional committees that the Government 

12 of Vietnam has— 

13 (1) unconditionally released all political pris14 oners; 

15 (2) ceased its practices of violence, unlawful de16 tention, torture, and abuse of citizens of Vietnam 

17 while engaging in peaceful political activity; and 

18 (3) conducted a transparent investigation into 

19 the killings, arrest, and abuse of peaceful political 

20 activists in Vietnam and prosecuted those respon21 sible. 

22 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT24 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com25 mittees’’ means— 


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1 (A) the Committee on Finance, the Com2 mittee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Af3 fairs, and the Committee on Foreign Relations 

4 of the Senate; and 

5 (B) the Committee on Ways and Means, 

6 the Committee on Financial Services, and the 

7 Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 

8 Representatives. 

9 (2) CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE.—The 

10 term ‘‘Convention Against Torture’’ means the 

11 United Nations Convention Against Torture and 

12 Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or 

13 Punishment, done at New York on December 10, 

14 1984. 

15 (3) IMMIGRATION LAWS; NATIONAL.—The 

16 terms ‘‘immigration laws’’ and ‘‘national’’ have the 

17 meanings given those terms in section 101 of the 

18 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101). 

Æ 


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