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 pur-
poses. 
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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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 Catho-
lic parish of the same name and consists of approxi-
mately 400 Catholic households; 
Whereas the village of Con Dau vigorously resisted the Peo-
ple’s Committee of Da Nang’s proposal as village land in-
cluding 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 consid-
ered 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 re-
location 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 govern-
ment 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 govern-
ment officials led an aggressive week long campaign in 
Con Dau, with armed police officers and government offi-
cials 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 cen-
tral government in Hanoi, complaining about the Da 
Nang officials’ use of threats and intimidation to force 
parishioners to sign the agreement, requesting to be relo-
cated 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 com-
pensation 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 parish-
ioners 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 for-
bidding 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 el-
derly parishioner, died in Con Dau after requesting that 
she be buried with her husband and ancestors in the par-
ish 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 parish-
ioners, local police and a mobile ‘‘anti-riot’’ police force 
which had been posted in anticipation of the funeral, at-
tacked 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 rub-
ber 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, dese-
crating religious symbols in those homes, to look for sus-
pected 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 re-
main silent, most of the detainees were released after sev-
eral 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 se-
verely, 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 Chair-
man of the Con Dau Parish Committee, was also ar-
rested for his lead role in meetings between the parish-
ioners 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 de-
tained 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 pro-
cession, 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 vig-
ils’’ 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 de-
struction, 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 advo-
cates; 
Whereas according to the United States Department of State 
2009 Country Report on Human Rights Practices, the 
Government of Vietnam ‘‘increased its suppression of dis-
sent’’, and ‘‘tightened controls over the press and free-
dom of speech, assembly, movement, and association.’’; 
Whereas according to the United States Department of State 
2009 Country Report on Human Rights Practices, Viet-
namese police ‘‘commonly mistreated suspects during ar-
rest or detention’’ and ‘‘corruption remained a significant 
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