III 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 541 

Condemning the Government of Vietnam for human rights violations. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 2, 2012 

Mr. CORNYN (for himself, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. BOOZMAN, and Mr. DURBIN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 

Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Condemning the Government of Vietnam for human rights 

violations. 

Whereas Vietnam is an authoritarian state ruled by the Communist Party of Vietnam, which continues to deny the 

right of the people of Vietnam to participate in free and 

fair elections; 

Whereas, according to the 2012 annual report of the United 

States Commission on International Religious Freedom, 

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

and has deteriorated since Vietnam was removed from 

the CPC [countries of particular concern] list and joined 

the World Trade Organization in 2007.’’; 

Whereas, according to the Department of State’s most recent 

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, published 

on May 24, 2012 (in this resolution, the ‘‘DOS Human 


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•SRES 541 IS 

Rights Report’’), the most significant human rights 

issues in Vietnam ‘‘were severe government restrictions 

on citizens’ political rights, particularly their right to 

change their government; increased measures to limit 

citizens’ civil liberties; and corruption in the judicial system and police’’; 

Whereas, according to the DOS Human Rights Report, the 

Government of Vietnam ‘‘reportedly held more than 100 

political detainees at year’s end, although some international observers claimed there were more . . . . Diplomatic sources reported the existence of four reeducation 

centers in the country holding approximately 4,000 prisoners’’; 

Whereas, according to the DOS Human Rights Report, Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security ‘‘maintains a system of 

household registration and block wardens to monitor the 

population,’’ while ‘‘credible reports suggested that local 

police used ‘contract thugs’ and ‘citizen brigades’ to harass and beat political activists and others, including religious worshippers, perceived as undesirable or a threat to 

public security’’; 

Whereas, on April 8, 2006, the pro-democracy movement 

Bloc 8406 was founded in Vietnam, and it has since attracted thousands of supporters calling for respect for 

basic human rights, the establishment of a multiparty political system, and guarantees of freedom of religion and 

political association; 

Whereas, according to the DOS Human Rights Report, the 

Government of Vietnam ‘‘continued to restrict public debate and criticism severely. No public challenge to the legitimacy of the one-party state was permitted,’’ and ‘‘the 

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sition political groups established in 2006, and group 

members faced arrests and arbitrary detentions’’; 

Whereas, according to the DOS Human Rights Report, 

‘‘[t]here continued to be credible reports that authorities 

pressured defense lawyers not to take as clients any religious or democracy activists facing trial. Human rights 

lawyers were restricted, harassed, arrested, disbarred, 

and in some cases detained for representing political activists,’’ while ‘‘given their previous convictions, lawyers 

Le Tran Luat, Le Thi Cong Nhan, and Le Quoc Quan 

were not permitted to practice law’’; 

Whereas, on April 4, 2011, the Hanoi People’s Court sentenced attorney Cu Huy Ha Vu to seven years in prison 

for defending victims of land confiscation and abuse of 

power, including the Catholic villagers of Con Dau who 

refused to sell or vacate land, including a 135-year-old 

religious burial site, and in August and November 2011, 

Vu’s appeals were unsuccessful; 

Whereas, although the constitution of Vietnam provides for 

freedom of religion, Vietnamese law requires official recognition or registration for religious groups, which has 

been used to monitor and restrict the operations of religious organizations; 

Whereas the 2012 Annual Report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) 

lists Vietnam as one of the ‘‘world’s worst religious freedom violators,’’ recommending that the Secretary of 

State name Vietnam a ‘‘country of particular concern’’ 

with respect to religious freedom, noting that ‘‘the Government of Vietnam continues to control all religious 

communities, restrict and penalize independent religious 

practice severely, and repress individuals and groups 


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viewed as challenging its authority’’ and that ‘‘individuals 

continue to be imprisoned or detained for reasons relating to their religious activity or religious freedom advocacy’’ while ‘‘independent religious activity remains illegal’’; 

Whereas, according to the USCIRF report, between April 

2011 and February 2012, ‘‘as many as 27 individuals 

were arrested or disappeared in Vietnam for their religious affiliations, religious activities, or peaceful protest 

of religious freedom restrictions, among them Hoa Hao 

Buddhists, Catholics, Protestants, and Falun Gong practitioners’’; 

Whereas hundreds of Montagnard Protestants arrested after 

2001 and 2004 demonstrations for religious freedom and 

land rights remain in detention in Vietnam’s Central 

Highlands, while, according to Human Rights Watch, in 

2010, as many as 70 additional people were detained in 

the Central Highlands for conducting ‘‘illegal’’ religious 

services; 

Whereas the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam is the 

country’s largest religious organization, yet according to 

the USCIRF, it ‘‘has faced decades of harassment and 

repression for seeking independent status and for appealing to the government to respect religious freedom and 

related human rights’’; 

Whereas, in July 2011, Father Nguyen Van Ly, who has 

been imprisoned numerous times for his religious freedom 

and human rights advocacy, but had been granted medical parole in March 2010 after suffering several strokes 

in prison that left him partially paralyzed, was returned 

to prison to serve the remainder of his eight-year sentence; 


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Whereas, on January 6, 2011, Christian Marchant, a United 

States diplomat at the United States Embassy in Hanoi, 

was beaten by Vietnamese police when he went to visit 

Father Ly, who was then under house arrest; 

Whereas, according to the USCIRF report, over a dozen religious leaders are being held under long-term house arrest 

orders, including Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam 

(UBCV) leader Thich Quang Do and other UBCV leaders, Catholic Father Phan Van Loi, Hoa Hao leader Le 

Quang Liem, Protestants Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi 

Cong Nhan, and Mennonite Leader Nguyen Thi Hong; 

Whereas Reporters Without Borders’ 2011–2012 Press Freedom Index ranks Vietnam last in Southeast Asia with regard to freedom of the press, and 172 out of 179 countries overall; 

Whereas, in September 2007, Vietnamese bloggers established the Club of Free Journalists to promote freedom 

of expression and independent journalism and were 

quickly faced with harassment, intimidation, and detention by authorities in Vietnam, beginning with the arrest 

of Nguyen Van Hai in April 2008; 

Whereas, on October 30, 2010, while in Hanoi, Vietnam, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, ‘‘[T]he United 

States remains concerned about the arrest and conviction 

of people for peaceful dissent, the attacks on religious 

groups, the curbs on Internet freedom, including of 

bloggers. Vietnam has so much potential, and we believe 

that political reform and respect for human rights are an 

essential part of realizing that potential.’’; 

Whereas, on November 10, 2011, Secretary of State Clinton 

stated, ‘‘We support not only open economies but open 


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societies . . . we have made it clear to Vietnam that if 

we are to develop a strategic partnership, as both nations 

desire, Vietnam must do more to respect and protect its 

citizens’ rights’’; and 

Whereas, on February 2, 2012, Assistant Secretary of State 

Kurt M. Campbell stated that ‘‘for the United States and 

Vietnam to go to the next level it will require some significant steps on the part of Vietnam to address . . . 

human rights concerns . . . but also more systematic 

challenges associated with freedom of expression, freedom 

of organization,’’ explaining that ‘‘progress in these areas 

will be essential to have the appropriate level of support 

in the United States that will sustain a deeper engagement between our two countries’’: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) reaffirms the commitment of the United 

3 States to democracy, human rights, civil liberties, 

4 and rule of law, including the universal rights of 

5 freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, freedom of 

6 religion, and freedom of association; 

7 (2) strongly condemns the ongoing and egre8 gious human rights violations committed by the Gov9 ernment of Vietnam against the Vietnamese people; 

10 (3) urges the President, Secretary of State, and 

11 all other appropriate United States Government offi12 cials to ensure that relations between the United 

13 States and Vietnam continue to include robust disVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:21 Aug 04, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR541.IS SR541

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1 cussion on the troubling human rights record of the 

2 Government of Vietnam; 

3 (4) encourages the Secretary of State to place 

4 Vietnam on the list of ‘‘Countries of Particular Con5 cern’’ with regard to religious freedom pursuant to 

6 section 402(b) of the International Religious Free7 dom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6442(b)) in order to 

8 highlight abuses of religious freedom in Vietnam and 

9 encourage improvement in the respect for human 

10 rights in Vietnam; and 

11 (5) urges the President, Secretary of State, and 

12 other world leaders to publicly support the human 

13 rights of the people of Vietnam and to call on the 

14 President of Vietnam to— 

15 (A) release all political and religious pris16 oners, including all those imprisoned or de17 tained on account of their advocacy for democ18 racy, religious freedom, and other human 

19 rights; 

20 (B) revise or repeal ordinances and decrees 

21 that limit freedom of expression, assembly, as22 sociation, or religion; and 

23 (C) implement all necessary legal and po24 litical reforms to protect these rights. 

Æ 


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