IV 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1572 

Condemning and deploring the violence, threats, fines, and harassment faced 

by the villagers of Con Dau, Da Nang, for seeking to protect their 

land, the historic cemetery, and other parish properties, and to receive 

an equitable resolution of their property dispute, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 29, 2010 

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. CAO, and Mr. WOLF) submitted 

the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 

Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Condemning and deploring the violence, threats, fines, and 

harassment faced by the villagers of Con Dau, Da Nang, 

for seeking to protect their land, the historic cemetery, 

and other parish properties, and to receive an equitable 

resolution of their property dispute, and for other purposes. 

Whereas in May 2007, the People’s Committee of Da Nang, 

Vietnam, announced a plan to lease the land in the Hoa 

Xuan district area, including the entire village of Con 

Dau, to international developers to build a resort and 

tourist area; 


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•HRES 1572 IH 

Whereas the People’s Committee of Da Nang announced that 

all residents in the affected area would be required to 

move and that they would be compensated for the land; 

Whereas, on August 15, 2010, the Con Dau parish will be 

celebrating 85 years since its establishment and 135 

years since the first religious refugees settled on the land; 

Whereas the village of Con Dau is coterminous with a Catholic parish of the same name and consists of approximately 400 Catholic households; 

Whereas the village of Con Dau vigorously resisted the People’s Committee of Da Nang’s proposal as village land including a Catholic cemetery with approximately 700 

tombs, a chapel within the cemetery, a parish church, 

and most of the farm land in the parish belongs to the 

Catholic parish; 

Whereas several generations of Catholics are buried in the 

village cemetery which is over 100 years old and considered a national historic heritage site, and the chapel in 

the cemetery serves as the place of worship for hundreds 

of parishioners living near the cemetery; 

Whereas the People’s Committee of Da Nang ordered the relocation of the parish cemetery to a mountainous area, 

far from any inhabitable place and ordered the people of 

Con Dau to be relocated to another area, far removed 

from the newly designated relocation of the cemetery; 

Whereas the people of Con Dau requested that the government not relocate either the parishioners or the cemetery, 

but rather grant permission for the parishioners to move 

closer to their church while allowing the rice fields to be 

included in the new resort; 


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Whereas the Da Nang authorities refused the petition of the 

parishioners and on January 25, 2010, Da Nang government officials led an aggressive week long campaign in 

Con Dau, with armed police officers and government officials going from house to house to exert pressure on the 

parishioners to sign an agreement to sell their land and 

move; 

Whereas, on January 26, 2010, 400 Con Dau heads of 

household signed an appeal letter to the Vietnamese central government in Hanoi, complaining about the Da 

Nang officials’ use of threats and intimidation to force 

parishioners to sign the agreement, requesting to be relocated around their church in order to continue to live in 

the vicinity of the Catholic cemetery and practice their 

religion, and filing a complaint regarding the unjust compensation the People’s Committee of Da Nang initially 

offered in exchange for village land; 

Whereas, on March 4, 2010, the People’s Committee of Da 

Nang led a second campaign in Con Dau to force parishioners to sign the agreement; 

Whereas in April, the People’s Committee of Da Nang issued 

an order and posted a sign in the Con Dau cemetery forbidding future burials and posted police officers to block 

entrance to the cemetery; 

Whereas the police attacked parishioner Le Van Sinh with 

tear gas when he attempted to remove the sign which had 

been placed on his father’s grave; 

Whereas, on May 1, 2010, Mrs. Maria Dang Thi Tan, an elderly parishioner, died in Con Dau after requesting that 

she be buried with her husband and ancestors in the parish cemetery; 


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Whereas, on May 3, 2010, police placed barbed wire at the 

entrance of the cemetery, and assaulted and dispersed 

parishioners, including women, children, and the elderly, 

as they gathered at the chapel in the cemetery to say 

prayers; 

Whereas, on May 4, 2010, during the funeral procession of 

Mrs. Dang which attracted approximately 1,000 parishioners, local police and a mobile ‘‘anti-riot’’ police force 

which had been posted in anticipation of the funeral, attacked the funeral procession and attempted to seize the 

casket when it approached the cemetery entrance; 

Whereas the police ordered the mourners to leave, but several 

hundred remained; 

Whereas after several hours, the police shot tear gas and rubber bullets at the mourners near the casket and began to 

beat everyone with batons and electric rods, injuring 

more than 100 people; 

Whereas the police then proceeded to search homes, desecrating religious symbols in those homes, to look for suspected organizers of the funeral procession; 

Whereas the police arrested 62 persons who were brought to 

the county police station in Cam Le; 

Whereas reports indicate that the police beat each detainee 

for his or her involvement in the funeral, beating some 

until they were unconscious; 

Whereas a pregnant woman, Le Thi Van, reportedly suffered 

a miscarriage as a result of the beatings she received; 

Whereas after being forced to sign the agreement to sell their 

land and relocate, admit to false allegations that they had 

assaulted the police, ordered not to seek medical care for 

their injuries or speak to the foreign news media, and 


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threatened with additional beatings if they did not remain silent, most of the detainees were released after several days in detention; 

Whereas five of the detainees, Nguyen Huu Liem, Phan Thi 

Nhan, Nguyen Thi The, Le Thanh Lam, and Tran 

Thanh Viet, remain incarcerated, having been beaten severely, and are awaiting trial based on accusations of 

‘‘opposing law enforcement’’ and ‘‘disturbing public 

order’’; 

Whereas Nguyen Thi Lieu, remains in detention in another 

facility and is reported to have been severely tortured; 

Whereas, on May 27, 2010, Nguyen Huu Minh, Vice Chairman of the Con Dau Parish Committee, was also arrested for his lead role in meetings between the parishioners and the People’s Committee of Da Nang; 

Whereas none of the above detainees have been allowed visits 

even by their closest family members; 

Whereas Doan Cang was also among those beaten and detained but was temporarily released to care for his family 

while awaiting trial; 

Whereas, on July 1, 2010, the police apprehended Nguyen 

Nam, a member of the funeral support group who had 

been among those beaten at the time of the funeral procession, handcuffed him, and severely beat him; 

Whereas, on July 3, 2010, Nguyen Nam died due to injuries 

to the head, face, chest, and hands sustained during the 

beatings; 

Whereas many United States citizens have family members 

who are residents of Con Dau, including victims of police 

beatings, torture, and detention; 


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Whereas these violations of human rights of the residents of 

Con Dau are sources of continuing, grave concern to 

Congress; 

Whereas according to the United States Commission on 

International Religious Freedom 2010 Annual Report, 

‘‘property disputes between the government and the 

Catholic Church continue to lead to harassment, property 

destruction, and violence, sometimes by ‘contract thugs’ 

hired by the government to break up peaceful prayer vigils’’ and other religious ceremonies; 

Whereas property issues involving local Catholics in Dong 

Chiem, Thai Ha, Tam Toa, and Bau Sen have reportedly 

led to harassment, discrimination, detention, property destruction, and beatings; 

Whereas according to the United States Commission on 

International Religious Freedom 2010 Annual Report, 

Vietnam’s ‘‘overall human rights record remains poor, 

and has deteriorated since Vietnam joined the WTO in 

January 2007’’, with dozens of arrests and continued 

harassment of human rights defenders, journalists, 

bloggers, democracy activists, and religious freedom advocates; 

Whereas according to the United States Department of State 

2009 Country Report on Human Rights Practices, the 

Government of Vietnam ‘‘increased its suppression of dissent’’, and ‘‘tightened controls over the press and freedom of speech, assembly, movement, and association.’’; 

Whereas according to the United States Department of State 

2009 Country Report on Human Rights Practices, Vietnamese police ‘‘commonly mistreated suspects during arrest or detention’’ and ‘‘corruption remained a significant 


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problem, and members of the police sometimes acted with 

impunity.’’; 

Whereas according to the United States Department of State 

2009 Country Report on Human Rights Practices, in August 2009, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung ‘‘issued a 

decree that offers compensation, housing, and job training for individuals displaced by development projects. 

Nevertheless, there were widespread reports of official 

corruption and a general lack of transparency in the government’s process of confiscating land and moving citizens to make way for infrastructure projects.’’; and 

Whereas according to the Human Rights Watch 2010 Annual 

Report, the Government of Vietnam ‘‘tightened its controls on internet use, blogging, and independent research, 

and banned dissemination and publication of content critical of the government. Religious freedom continued to 

deteriorate, with the government targeting religious leaders—and their followers—who advocated for civil rights, 

religious freedom, and equitable resolution of land disputes’’: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That— 

2 (1) the House of Representatives— 

3 (A) condemns and deplores the violence, 

4 threats, fines, and harassment faced by the vil5 lagers of Con Dau, Da Nang, for seeking to 

6 protect their land, the historic cemetery, and 

7 other parish properties, and to receive an equi8 table resolution of their property dispute; 


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1 (B) condemns and deplores the arrests of 

2 parishioners and calls for the immediate and 

3 unconditional release of Nguyen Huu Liem, 

4 Phan Thi Nhan, Nguyen Thi The, Doan Cang, 

5 Le Thanh Lam, Tran Thanh Viet, Nguyen Thi 

6 Lieu, and Nguyen Huu Minh; 

7 (C) strongly urges the Government of Viet8 nam to hold accountable police and security 

9 agents who reportedly beat and mistreated Con 

10 Dau residents at the funeral procession and 

11 later while the residents were in detention, in12 cluding a public investigation of those whose ac13 tions led to the death of Nguyen Nam; and 

14 (D) strongly urges the Government of 

15 Vietnam to consider the implications of its ac16 tions in Con Dau, as well as of other serious 

17 human rights violations, issues of police impu18 nity, and corruption for the broader relation19 ship between the United States and Vietnam; 

20 and 

21 (2) it is the sense of the House of Representa22 tives that— 

23 (A) the President should call on the United 

24 Nations Human Rights Council to appoint a 

25 Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in VietVerDate Mar 15 2010 20:56 Jul 30, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR1572.IH HR1572

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1 nam to investigate ongoing and serious human 

2 rights violations in that country, including those 

3 violations targeting the villagers of Con Dau; 

4 (B) the Secretary of State should call on 

5 the Government of Vietnam to uphold commit6 ments made during the United Nations Periodic 

7 Review of May 2009 to engage with various 

8 United Nations special procedures, including in9 viting the United Nations Special Rapporteur 

10 on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or De11 grading Treatment or Punishment and the 

12 United Nations Special Rapporteur on Reli13 gious Freedom or Belief to inquire, investigate, 

14 and report on the situation throughout Vietnam 

15 and specifically in Con Dau, including the dis16 crimination, police impunity, mistreatment in 

17 detention, desecration of religious and historical 

18 properties, and the beating death of Nguyen 

19 Nam; 

20 (C) the United States Embassy in Vietnam 

21 should visit those detained, including, Nguyen 

22 Huu Liem, Phan Thi Nhan, Nguyen Thi The, 

23 Doan Cang, Le Thanh Lam, Tran Thanh Viet, 

24 Nguyen Thi Lieu, and Nguyen Huu Minh, as 

25 well as the family of Nguyen Nam, and other 


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1 parishioners, and report its findings to Con2 gress; 

3 (D) the United States Embassy should 

4 continue to raise with the Government of Viet5 nam the issues faced by the village of Con Dau 

6 including police impunity, beatings, fines, and 

7 the deaths of individuals engaged in a peaceful 

8 religious ceremony; 

9 (E) the United States Department of State 

10 should examine instances of property disputes 

11 in Vietnam which involve religious communities, 

12 including the case of Con Dau, report its find13 ings to Congress, and continue to raise disputed 

14 religious properties at United States-Vietnam 

15 meetings and forums, including the bilateral 

16 United States-Vietnam human rights dialogue; 

17 and 

18 (F) the United States Commission on 

19 International Religious Freedom should visit 

20 the Con Dau parishioners and report to Con21 gress on the violence and harassment faced by 

22 the Catholic villagers. 

Æ 


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