III
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. CON. RES. 295
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MAY 4, 2000
Received and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Relating to continuing human rights violations and political
oppression in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam 25 years
after the fall of South Vietnam to Communist forces.
Whereas April 30, 2000, marks the 25th anniversary of the
fall of Saigon to Communist forces of North Vietnam;
Whereas 25 years after the Vietnam War ended, the Socialist
Republic of Vietnam is a one-party state ruled and con-
trolled by the Vietnamese Communist Party;
Whereas the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
continues to violate the liberties and civil rights of its
HCON 295 RFS
own citizens through arbitrary arrests, detentions without
trial, and the censorship of peaceful expressions of polit-
ical and religious beliefs;
Whereas the Department of State Country Reports on
Human Rights Practices for 1999 notes that the Govern-
ment of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam ‘‘continued to
repress basic political and some religious freedoms and to
commit numerous abuses’’;
Whereas the Socialist Republic of Vietnam still retains Arti-
cle 4 in its Constitution that ensures the supremacy of
the Vietnamese Communist Party as the only political
party in the country while continuing to enforce an extra-
legal administrative decree to detain or place under house
arrest any dissidents or civilians for up to 2 years, with-
out trial, under the pretext of ‘‘endangering national se-
curity’’;
Whereas the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is one of the most
politically repressive and poorest countries in the world,
with an average annual per capita income of $330;
Whereas, according to the Department of State and inter-
national human rights organizations, the Government of
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam continues to restrict
unregistered religious activities and persecutes citizens on
the basis of their religious affiliation through arbitrary
arrests and detention, harassment, physical abuse, cen-
sorship, and the denial of the rights of free association
and religious worship;
Whereas the Department of State Annual Report on Inter-
national Religious Freedom for 1999 on Vietnam esti-
mates that ‘‘there are from 30 to 50 religious prisoners’’
but ‘‘the number is difficult to verify with any precision
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because of the secrecy surrounding the arrest, detention,
and release process’’;
Whereas the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
continues to prevent human rights organizations from
unfettered and open investigations of allegations of state-
sponsored oppression of the right to worship by its citi-
zens, and has prevented the United Nations Special
Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance, Abdelfattah Amor,
from meeting with various religious leaders during his
visit to Vietnam in October 1998;
Whereas the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
systematically violates the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights in contravention of its status as a mem-
ber of the United Nations;
Whereas the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
systematically violates the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights in contravention of its status
as a signatory to that agreement; and
Whereas it is in the interest of the United States to promote
political, religious, and economic freedom throughout the
world: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That the Congress—
(1) requests the President to restate and make
clear to the leadership of the Government of the So-
cialist Republic of Vietnam that—
(A) the American people are firmly com-
mitted to political, religious, and economic free-
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dom for the citizens of the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam; and
(B) the United States fully expects equal
protection under law with all Vietnamese citi-
zens, regardless of religious belief, political phi-
losophy, or socio-political association;
(2) urges the Government of the Socialist Re-
public of Vietnam—
(A) to cease violations of religious freedom
as defined by the International Religious Free-
dom Act of 1998;
(B) to release all religious prisoners, polit-
ical prisoners, and prisoners of conscience, and
immediately cease the harassment, detention,
physical abuse, and imprisonment of Viet-
namese citizens who have exercised their legiti-
mate rights to freedom of belief, expression,
and association;
(C) to allow all Vietnamese citizens the
right to free expression, freedom of association,
freedom of the press, and religious worship; and
(D) to formally commit to a framework
and a set timetable for open and fair elections
that will facilitate the ability of Vietnamese citi-
zens to peacefully choose their own local and
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national leaders, free from fear and intimida-
tion; and
(3) commends the Vietnamese-American com-
munity for initiating a memorial to American and
South Vietnamese soldiers who sacrificed their lives
for the cause of freedom during the Vietnam War,
which is under development and will be located in
Westminster, California.
Passed the House of Representatives May 3, 2000.
Attest:
JEFF TRANDAHL,
Clerk.