IIB 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 1587
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
JULY 20, 2004
Received 
JULY 22, 2004
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 
AN ACT 
To promote freedom and democracy in Vietnam.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Vietnam Human Rights Act of 2004’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Findings. 
TITLE I—CONDITIONS ON INCREASED NONHUMANITARIAN 
ASSISTANCE TO THE GOVERNMENT OF VIETNAM 
Sec. 101. Bilateral nonhumanitarian assistance. 
TITLE II—ASSISTANCE TO SUPPORT HUMAN RIGHTS AND 
DEMOCRACY IN VIETNAM 
Sec. 201. Assistance. 
TITLE III—UNITED STATES PUBLIC DIPLOMACY 
Sec. 301. Radio Free Asia transmissions to Vietnam. 
Sec. 302. United states educational and cultural exchange programs with Viet-
nam. 
TITLE IV—ANNUAL REPORT ON PROGRESS TOWARD FREEDOM 
AND DEMOCRACY IN VIETNAM 
Sec. 401. Annual report.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a one-
party State, ruled and controlled by the Communist 
Party of Vietnam (CPV), which continues to deny 
the right of citizens to change their government. Al-
though in recent years the National Assembly of 
Vietnam has played an increasingly active role as a 
forum for highlighting local concerns, corruption, 
and inefficiency, the National Assembly remains sub-
ject to CPV direction. The CPV maintains control
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over the selection of candidates in national and local 
elections. 
(2) The Government of Vietnam permits no 
public challenge to the legitimacy of the one-party 
State. It prohibits independent political, labor, and 
social organizations, and it continues to detain and 
imprison persons for the peaceful expression of dis-
senting religious and political views, including Pham 
Hong Son, Tran Dung Tien, Father Nguyen Van 
Ly, Dr. Nguyen Dan Que, Nguyen Vu Binh, Pham 
Que Duong, and Pastor Nguyen Hong Quang, 
among others. 
(3) The Government of Vietnam continues to 
commit serious human rights abuses. In January 
2004, the Department of State reported to Congress 
that during the previous year the Government of 
Vietnam had made ‘‘no progress’’ toward releasing 
political and religious activists, ending official re-
strictions on religious activity, or respecting the 
rights of indigenous minorities in the Central and 
Northern Highlands of Vietnam. 
(4)(A) The Government of Vietnam limits free-
dom of religion and restricts the operation of reli-
gious organizations other than those approved by the 
State. While officially sanctioned religious organiza-
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tions are able to operate with varying degrees of au-
tonomy, some of those organizations continue to face 
restrictions on selecting, training, and ordaining suf-
ficient numbers of clergy and in conducting edu-
cational and charitable activities. The Government 
has previously confiscated numerous churches, tem-
ples, and other properties belonging to religious or-
ganizations, most of which have never been returned. 
(B) Unregistered ethnic minority Protestant 
congregations in the Northwest and Central High-
lands of Vietnam suffer severe abuses, which have 
included forced renunciations of faith, the closure 
and destruction of churches, the arrest and harass-
ment of pastors, and, in a few cases, there have been 
credible reports that minority religious leaders have 
been beaten and killed. 
(C) The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam 
(UBCV), one of the largest religious denominations 
in Vietnam, was declared illegal in 1981. The Gov-
ernment of Vietnam confiscated its temples and per-
secuted its clergy for refusing to join the state-spon-
sored Buddhist organizations. For more than 2 dec-
ades, the Government has detained and confined 
senior UBCV clergy, including the Most Venerable
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Thich Huyen Quang, the Most Venerable Thich 
Quang Do, the Venerable Thich Tue Sy, and others. 
(D) The Catholic Church continues to face sig-
nificant restrictions on the training and ordination 
of priests and bishops, resulting in numbers insuffi-
cient to support the growing Catholic population in 
Vietnam. Although recent years have brought a 
modest easing of government control in some dio-
ceses, officials in other areas strictly limit the con-
duct of religious education classes and charitable ac-
tivities. Father Thaddeus Nguyen Van Ly, who was 
convicted in a closed trial in 2001 after publicly 
criticizing religious repression by the Government of 
Vietnam, remains in prison. 
(E) The Government of Vietnam continues to 
suppress the activities of other religious adherents, 
including Cao Dai, Baha’i, and Hoa Hao who lack 
official recognition or have chosen not to affiliate 
with the State-sanctioned groups, including through 
the use of detention and imprisonment. 
(5) The Government of Vietnam significantly 
restricts the freedoms of speech and the press, par-
ticularly with respect to political and religious 
speech. Government and Party-related organizations 
control all print and electronic media, including ac-
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cess to the Internet. The Government blocks web 
sites that it deems politically or culturally inappro-
priate, and it jams some foreign radio stations, in-
cluding Radio Free Asia. The Government has de-
tained, convicted, and imprisoned individuals who 
have posted or sent democracy-related materials via 
the Internet. 
(6)(A) Indigenous Montagnards in the Central 
Highlands of Vietnam continue to face significant 
repression. The Government of Vietnam restricts the 
practice of Christianity by those populations, and 
more than 100 Montagnards have been sentenced to 
prison terms of up to 13 years for claiming land 
rights, organizing Christian gatherings, or attempt-
ing to seek asylum in Cambodia. 
(B) The Government of Vietnam uses the sepa-
ratist agenda of a relatively small number of ethnic 
minority leaders as a rationale for violating civil and 
political rights in ethnic minority regions. 
(C) The Government of Vietnam arrested or de-
tained nearly 300 Montagnards during 2003 and 
since then many hundreds of Montagnards have 
gone into hiding, fearing arrest, interrogation, or 
physical abuse by government authorities.