DOCSLIB.ORG

Highlighting Vietnamese Government Human Rights Violations in Advance of the U.S.–Vietnam Dialogue

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Highlighting Vietnamese Government Human Rights Violations in Advance of the U.S.–Vietnam Dialogue HIGHLIGHTING VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN ADVANCE OF THE U.S.–VIETNAM DIALOGUE HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS, AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION APRIL 11, 2013 Serial No. 113–54 Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/ or http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/ U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 80–363PDF WASHINGTON : 2013 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate 0ct 09 2002 10:54 Sep 24, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 F:\WORK\_AGH\041113\80363 HFA PsN: SHIRL COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American DANA ROHRABACHER, California Samoa STEVE CHABOT, Ohio BRAD SHERMAN, California JOE WILSON, South Carolina GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey TED POE, Texas GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia MATT SALMON, Arizona THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania BRIAN HIGGINS, New York JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina KAREN BASS, California ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts MO BROOKS, Alabama DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island TOM COTTON, Arkansas ALAN GRAYSON, Florida PAUL COOK, California JUAN VARGAS, California GEORGE HOLDING, North Carolina BRADLEY S. SCHNEIDER, Illinois RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas JOSEPH P. KENNEDY III, Massachusetts SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania AMI BERA, California STEVE STOCKMAN, Texas ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California RON DESANTIS, Florida GRACE MENG, New York TREY RADEL, Florida LOIS FRANKEL, Florida DOUG COLLINS, Georgia TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas TED S. YOHO, Florida LUKE MESSER, Indiana AMY PORTER, Chief of Staff THOMAS SHEEHY, Staff Director JASON STEINBAUM, Democratic Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS, AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, Chairman TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania KAREN BASS, California RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island STEVE STOCKMAN, Texas AMI BERA, California MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina (II) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 10:54 Sep 24, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\_AGH\041113\80363 HFA PsN: SHIRL C O N T E N T S Page WITNESSES The Honorable Anh ‘‘Joseph’’ Cao, former Member of Congress ......................... 9 Mr. Vo Van Ai, president, Vietnam Committee on Human Rights and Que Me: Action for Democracy in Vietnam ................................................................ 53 Ms. Anna Buonya, spokesperson, Montagnard Human Rights Organization .... 60 Ms. Danh Bui, sister of a victim of human trafficking ......................................... 68 Mr. Tien Tran, victim of religious persecution at the Con Dau Parish .............. 75 Mr. John Sifton, advocacy director for Asia, Human Rights Watch .................... 83 LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING The Honorable Anh ‘‘Joseph’’ Cao: Prepared statement ....................................... 12 Mr. Vo Van Ai: Prepared statement ....................................................................... 55 Ms. Anna Buonya: Prepared statement ................................................................. 63 Ms. Danh Bui: Prepared statement ....................................................................... 70 Mr. Tien Tran: Prepared statement ....................................................................... 77 Mr. John Sifton: Prepared statement .................................................................... 86 APPENDIX Hearing notice .......................................................................................................... 108 Hearing minutes ...................................................................................................... 109 Ms. Anna Buonya: Material submitted for the record .......................................... 110 The Honorable Christopher H. Smith, a Representative in Congress from the State of New Jersey, and chairman, Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations: Statement of Boat People SOS and Hmong National Development, Inc. .......................... 112 (III) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 10:54 Sep 24, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\_AGH\041113\80363 HFA PsN: SHIRL VerDate 0ct 09 2002 10:54 Sep 24, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\_AGH\041113\80363 HFA PsN: SHIRL HIGHLIGHTING VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN ADVANCE OF THE U.S.–VIETNAM DIALOGUE THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2013 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS, AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 o’clock a.m., in room 2172 Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Christopher H. Smith (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Mr. SMITH. The hearing will come to order, and I want to wish everybody a good morning, and thank you for joining us for this im- portant hearing to examine the ongoing human rights situation in Vietnam. The Vietnamese Government continues to be an egre- gious violator of a broad array human rights. Our distinguished witnesses who are joining us here today including our former col- league Anh Cao, and many very distinguished people who have in many cases themselves suffered, and who will provide detailed ac- counts. And I’d like highlight just a few areas of grave concern. Despite the State Department’s decision in 2006 to remove Viet- nam from the list of Countries of Particular Concern, or CPC, as designated pursuant to the International Religious Freedom Act, Vietnam, in fact, continues to be among the worst violators of reli- gious freedom in the world. According to the United States Com- mission for International Religious Freedom 2012 annual report, ‘‘The Government of Vietnam continues to control all religious com- munities, restrict and penalize independent religious practice se- verely, and represses individuals and groups viewed as challenging its authority.’’ I agree with the Commission’s conclusion that Viet- nam should be designated a CPC. I met courageous religious leaders during my last trip to Viet- nam who are struggling for fundamental human rights in their country. Unfortunately, many of them including Father Ly, and the most Venerable Thich Quang Do, remain wrongly detained today. There are disturbing reports that Father Ly is suffering poor health. Leaders of religious organizations are not only victimized by the Vietnamese Government, individuals in small communities are also targeted by their regime. One of our witnesses today, Mr. Tien Tran, will speak of the bru- tality that he experienced as a member of the Con Dau Parish that (1) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 10:54 Sep 24, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\_AGH\041113\80363 HFA PsN: SHIRL 2 was violently repressed in 2010 when they tried to have a funeral procession. I will point out parenthetically that we held hearings then. And Congressman Cao will remember it so well because he did so help put those together, and we talked about the fact that the bullies actually rained upon people during a funeral and beat them, and told them that they could not continue with their fu- neral procession. And unfortunately, people died, people were in- carcerated and torture was rampant. The State Department’s upgrade of Vietnam from Tier II watch list to Tier II with respect to minimum standards for the elimi- nation of human trafficking also needs to be critically examined. The Department’s 2012 Trafficking in Persons Report states only that Vietnamese women and children are being sexually exploited, but there are severe labor abuses occurring as well with, not in the absence of, but with the government’s complicity. The report ac- knowledges that state licensed labor export companies engage in fraud and charge illegal commissions for overseas employment, and that there are documented cases of recruitment companies ignoring pleas for help from workers in exploitative situations. I would note again that Dr. Thang has been instrumental in bringing huge amounts of evidence forward not only to committees and hearings that I have held and we have held in the past, but also to the Department of State, asking them to use that in bring- ing their conclusion to a Tier III ranking, because it is unmistak- able that on this score card Vietnam deserves a Tier III ranking as well. As the sponsor of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act I am deeply disturbed that the tier rankings are not being better uti- lized by our State Department to pressure Vietnam to correct the trafficking abuses occurring within its government, not to mention those in the private sector. We will hear from Ms. Hui Danh who will testify about the or- deal that her sister has endured as a victim of human trafficking. I am deeply disturbed by her story because her sister’s situation ac- tually got worse when she asked for help from the Vietnamese Em- bassy. I greatly admire her courage, and the subcommittee
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Long Road to Democracy 29
    INTRODUCTIONI VIETNAm’s iCE AGE In January 2011, the Arab Spring transformed Tunisia. Egypt followed suit. Then Burma had its own spring. But no spring ever came to Vietnam. On the contrary, the political chill deepened. When National Assembly speaker Nguyen Phu Trong took over as Vietnamese Communist Party general secretary, he was ready to do anything to maintain order and, above all, stay in power. He inaugurated a new era marked by a growing crackdown on journalists and bloggers. Since his promotion, those who refuse to submit to the single party’s censorship have been subjected to waves of arrests, trials, physical attacks and harassment. The Trong era’s statistics are impressive, if not glorious. In 2012 alone, the Vietnamese authorities prosecuted no fewer than 48 bloggers and human rights activists, imposing a 3 total of 166 years in jail sentences and 63 years of probation. Vietnam is now the world’s second biggest prison for blogger and netizens, after China. Relative to population size, the situation is much worse in Vietnam than China. A total of 35 bloggers and netizens are currently detained just for exercising their right to information and expression, of whom 26 were arrested since Trong took over. The new Vietnamese strongman’s achievements including reinforcing the human and technological resources assigned to Internet surveillance, and the constant adoption of new repressive laws and directives. The latest, called Decree 72, makes it illegal to use blogs and online social networks to share information about news developments. It marks a new low in the regime’s campaign against use of the modern Internet as a tool of independent information and troublesome counterweight to Vietnam’s traditional media, which are kept under tight party control.
    [Show full text]
  • U.S.-Vietnam Relations in 2011: Current Issues and Implications for U.S. Policy
    U.S.-Vietnam Relations in 2011: Current Issues and Implications for U.S. Policy Mark E. Manyin Specialist in Asian Affairs May 18, 2012 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov R40208 CRS Report for Congress Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress U.S.-Vietnam Relations in 2011: Current Issues and Implications for U.S. Policy Summary After communist North Vietnam’s victory over U.S.-backed South Vietnam in 1975, the United States and Vietnam had minimal relations until the mid-1990s. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1995, overlapping security and economic interests have led the two sides to expand relations across a wide range of issue-areas and begin to form a strategic partnership of sorts. Perhaps most prominently, in 2010, the two countries mobilized a multinational response to China’s perceived attempts to boost its claims to disputed waters and islands in the South China Sea. This coordinated effort to promote the freedom of navigation has continued. U.S. Interests In the United States, voices favoring improved relations have included those reflecting U.S. business interests in Vietnam’s reforming economy and U.S. strategic interests in expanding cooperation with a populous country—Vietnam has over 90 million people—that has an ambivalent relationship with China and that is asserting itself on the regional stage. Others argue that improvements in bilateral relations should be conditioned upon Vietnam’s authoritarian government improving its record on human rights. The population of more than 1 million Vietnamese-Americans, as well as legacies of the Vietnam War, also drive continued U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Constitutional Debate and Development on Human Rights in Vietnam
    Asian Journal of Comparative Law, 11 (2016), pp. 235–262 doi:10.1017/asjcl.2016.27 © National University of Singapore, 2017 Constitutional Debate and Development on Human Rights in Vietnam Giao Cong VU* Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Vietnam, [email protected] Kien TRAN** Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Vietnam, [email protected] Abstract This article analyzes the constitutional debate on and development of human rights in Vietnam throughout five constitutions from 1946 to 2013, as well as the prospects and challenges in promoting human rights in Vietnam during and after the development of its 2013 Constitution. It begins with an investigation and discussion of the human rights provisions from the 1946 Constitution to the 1992 Constitution – a period where the socialist human rights tradition was established in Vietnam. It follows with an analysis of the debates on the new human rights and citizens’ rights provisions in the 1992 Constitution, where a new concept of natural human rights emerged. The article continues to explore how the struggle and debates surrounding the competing conception of rights – socialist and positivist on one hand and natural law-based on the other – come into play in shaping the 2013 Constitution. It then proceeds to evaluate the potential challenges involved in the implementation of these rights in the coming years. The authors argue that the development of constitutional human rights in Vietnam is still limited by ideological barriers. It also faces substantial practical challenges owing to, inter alia, the absence of provisions for the immediate implementation of such rights as well as legal mechanisms for the protection of constitutional rights, such as a constitutional review system.
    [Show full text]
  • U.S.-Vietnam Relations in 2011: Current Issues and Implications for U.S
    U.S.-Vietnam Relations in 2011: Current Issues and Implications for U.S. Policy Mark E. Manyin Specialist in Asian Affairs July 26, 2011 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov R40208 CRS Report for Congress Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress U.S.-Vietnam Relations in 2011: Current Issues and Implications for U.S. Policy Summary After communist North Vietnam’s victory over U.S.-backed South Vietnam in 1975, the United States and Vietnam had minimal relations until the mid-1990s. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1995, overlapping security and economic interests have led the two sides to begin to form a strategic partnership of sorts. In 2010, the Obama Administration indicated its intent to take relations to “the next level,” and cooperated with Vietnam to coordinate a multi- country diplomatic push back against perceived Chinese encroachment in the South China Sea. In the United States, voices favoring improved relations have included those reflecting U.S. business interests in Vietnam’s reforming economy and U.S. strategic interests in expanding cooperation with a populous country—Vietnam has 88 million people—that has an ambivalent relationship with China and that is asserting itself on the regional stage. Others argue that improvements in bilateral relations should be conditioned upon Vietnam’s authoritarian government improving its record on human rights. The population of more than 1 million Vietnamese-Americans, as well as legacies of the Vietnam War, also drive continued U.S. interest. Vietnamese leaders have sought to upgrade relations with the United States in part due to the desire for continued access to the U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • 6. Mapping Civil Society in Vietnam 37 7
    CIVICUS CIVIL SOCIETY INDEX SHORTENED ASSESSMENT TOOL CSI-SAT VIETNAM THE EMERGING CIVIL SOCIETY AN INITIAL ASSESSMENT OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN VIETNAM Structure 3 2 1.6 1 1.7 1.4 Values 0 Environment 1.2 Impact CIVICUS CIVIL SOCIETY INDEX SHORTENED ASSESSMENT TOOL CSI-SAT Vietnam THE EMERGING CIVIL SOCIETY AN INITIAL ASSESSMENT OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN VIETNAM Edited by Irene Norlund, International Coordinator Dang Ngoc Dinh, National Coordinator Bach Tan Sinh Chu Dung Dang Ngoc Quang Do Bich Diem Nguyen Manh Cuong Tang The Cuong Vu Chi Mai Hanoi, March 2006 FOREWORD Globally, civil society organizations are playing an increasingly important role in the guts and efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals on poverty reduction (MDGs). The organizations have been working alongside with governments in activities pertaining to the goals on poverty reduction, empowerment of women, increased transparency, and notably to encouraging people’s participation in decision-making and policy implementation. In Vietnam, as the Doimoi process moves forward, a wide range of civil society organizations have been established and tremendously developed. The people’s participation in the development process has been increasingly enhanced. However, substantial researches on civil society currently need to be conducted so as to clarify its roles, position and policies to encourage the people’s active participation, thus contributing to the socio- economic development of the country. Under the support from the UNDP, SNV and CIVICUS and the cooperation with local and international research institutes and experts, in 2005, the Vietnam Institute of Development Studies (VIDS) carried out the project titled “Civil Society Index - Shortened Assessment Tool in Vietnam”.
    [Show full text]
  • Ho Chi Minh's Thought on Human Rights
    International Journal of Humanities Social Sciences and Education (IJHSSE) Volume 7, Issue 3, March 2020, PP 73-79 ISSN 2349-0373 (Print) & ISSN 2349-0381 (Online) http://dx.doi.org/10.20431/2349-0381.0703009 www.arcjournals.org Ho Chi Minh’s Thought on Human Rights Dinh Van Chi* Faculty of Public relations and Social work, Ho Chi Minh City Cadre Academy, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam *Corresponding Author: Dinh Van Chi, Faculty of Public relations and Social work, Ho Chi Minh City Cadre Academy, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Abstract: Human rights are apparent and undeniable. In Vietnam, President Ho Chi Minh has made great contribution to the theory of human rights. This paper aims at analyze Ho Chi Minh’s thought on human rights and the application of Ho Chi Minh's viewpoints on human rights in building and defending the Fatherland of our Party and State. The author also suggested some solutions to ensure the implementation of human rights in Vietnam Keywords: human rights, Ho Chi Minh’s thought, national rights, freedom, happiness. 1. INTRODUCTION Building and defending the Socialist Republic of Vietnam are the strategic tasks of the Vietnamese revolutions. In the context of internationalization, globalization and complex situation, Western countries and hostile forces do not give up the intention to oppose socialist countries and implement the conspiracy "peaceful evolution”, taking advantage of the guise of democracy and human rights to fight against the revolution, infringing upon the right of self-determination of our people. Therefore, in Vietnam today, Ho Chi Minh's thought on human rights is enlightening and guiding the awareness and practical actions of our Party and State in the struggle to criticize the wrong allegations on human rights as well as in protecting, promoting and guaranteeing human rights.
    [Show full text]
  • Downloaded 4.0 License
    Current International Legal Issues: Vietnam Trinh Hai Yen* and Ton Nu Thanh Binh** 1 Introduction With the foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, cooperation and development, Vietnam has been actively participating in the international le- gal system since Doi Moi (Renovation) in 1986. International law plays an im- portant role in protecting sovereignty, territorial integrity, peace, security and cooperation. This article aims to introduce some of the most significant inter- national law issues that Vietnam is currently facing and how they are being applied in practice. They are issues pertaining to the law of the sea, investment and trade law, human rights, and diplomatic protection of citizens abroad. 2 Law of the Sea Vietnam, with 3,444 km of coastline, is surrounded by the South China Sea to the east, the south and the southwest. The latter is widely known as home to most maritime disputes in the Asia Pacific region, due to its geopolitical loca- tion and abundant resources. The South China Sea serves as the sea route for more than half of global trade and the majority of oil imports from the Middle East to China, Japan and South Korea, while providing 12% of global fish prod- ucts, which greatly contributes to food security and economic development of China, Vietnam and the Philippines,1 as well as non-living resources that are essential for the energy needs of industrializing countries like China.2 Situated at the center of South East Asia, Vietnam is a key stakeholder in maritime dis- putes over the South China Sea. Issues pertaining to the Law of the Sea are therefore a critical concern for Vietnam, not only for the protection of national sovereignty and territorial integrity, but also for the maintenance of peace and * Faculty of International Law, Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam.
    [Show full text]
  • Democratic Development and Increased Respect for Human Rights
    Democratic development and increased respect for human rights - results of Swedish support Cambodia and Vietnam n SADEV 2012:1.5 REPORT Swedish Agency for Development Evaluation P. O. Box 1902, SE-651 19 Karlstad, Sweden SADEV REPORT 2012:1.5 Democratic development and increased respect for human rights - results of Swedish support Cambodia and Vietnam Copyright: SADEV SADEV Reports are available at www.sadev.se Printed in Karlstad, Sweden 2012 ISSN 1653-9249 ISBN 978-91-85679-36-2 DEMOCRATIC DEVELOPMENT AND INCREASED PREFACE RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS Preface In response to the request of the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs to evaluate Swedish democracy and human rights support over ten or more years leading up to 2012, SADEV undertook a multi-country evaluation of Swedish democracy and human rights (D/HR) results in Guatemala, Kenya and Serbia in terms of recipients of Swedish official development assistance between 1998 and 2010. Late in 2011 an evaluation of results emanating from Swedish D/HR-support to Viet- nam and Cambodia was commissioned. Two expert evaluators, who have lived and worked in South East Asia for the past seven years, were selected for the task. In a short period of time Melinda MacDonald and Michael Miner of IBA produced a sub- stantive evaluation on D/HR in these two target countries. The present report is entirely the product of the two evaluators. It demonstrates coher- ence between Swedish polices and D/HR interventions in Vietnam and Cambodia over 40+ years. During that time, Sweden has delivered assistance built on strong rela- tionships and solid technical assistance which match local contexts and have improved democracy and respect for human rights particularly in Vietnam where the relationship has led to opportunities for dialogue on sensitive issues between the countries.
    [Show full text]
  • VIETNAM: ASSAULT on CIVIL SOCIETY CONTINUES UNABATED Briefing Paper for the 9Th EU-Vietnam Human Rights Dialogue (Hanoi, 19 February 2020)
    FIDH - International Federation for Human Rights and its member organization for Vietnam Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR) VIETNAM: ASSAULT ON CIVIL SOCIETY CONTINUES UNABATED Briefing paper for the 9th EU-Vietnam human rights dialogue (Hanoi, 19 February 2020) 17 February 2020 Human rights violations reach a peak in Vietnam in 2019 Over the past year, Vietnam’s human rights situation has remained abysmal. The country holds more than 200 political prisoners.1 It ranked near the bottom of Reporters Without Borders’ 2019 World Press Freedom Index (176th out of 180 countries surveyed)2 and Freedom House’s Freedom on the Net 2019 (61st out of 65 countries surveyed).3 It was also considered the world’s sixth most-censored nation according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).4 It remained rated ‘Not Free’ by Freedom House’s Freedom in the World 2019 with regard to the situation of political rights and civil liberties.5 In 2019, two important UN human rights reviews of Vietnam underscored Hanoi’s ongoing failure to address key human rights issues. In March 2019, during the review of Vietnam’s first periodic report on its implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the UN Human Rights Committee observed that 35 years after Vietnam’s accession to the ICCPR, there remained an “incompatibility between the domestic legal framework and the Covenant” and “overly broad restrictions on the Covenant rights, including, on the basis of national security.” In January 2019, during Vietnam’s third Universal
    [Show full text]
  • Vietnam : Repression of Dissent
    March 4, 1991 VIETNAM : REPRESSION OF DISSENT Summary Since the reunification of North and South Vietnam in 1975, the Communist Party of Vietnam has brooked no public dissent from its rule or policies. The Party has systematically stigmatized and punished those citizens whom it perceives as disloyal, usually under the guise of "reeducation," the most flagrant example being the long- term incarceration at the end of the war of tens, and perhaps hundreds of thousands of members of the former South Vietnamese military and civil service, along with journalists, clergy, intellectuals and political activists. The stigma persisted for many after their release from labor camps, through denial of basic rights of citizenship to them and their families. Despite pervasive government repression, or possibly in response to it, advocacy of basic human freedoms has grown in Vietnam, which acceded to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Social and Economic Rights in 1982. This report focuses on personal accounts of dissent and repression among human rights activists, writers and artists. In October 1990 an Asia Watch team conducted 24 confidential interviews of Vietnamese in refugee camps and detention centers in Hong Kong. The cases reported draw on these interviews and reports of further recent detentions.1 These accounts point to the continued exposure of government critics to arrest without charge and detention without trial in so-called "reeducation" camps, where inmates perform hard labor under conditions of malnutrition, abuse and lack of medical care. Other methods of punishment and control of dissidents include institutionalized discrimination through denial of basic documents that enable citizens to live, work and travel freely, and to enjoy basic public services such as education and medical care.
    [Show full text]
  • Freedom in the World 1982 Complete Book — Download
    Freedom in the World Political Rights and Civil Liberties 1982 A FREEDOM HOUSE BOOK Greenwood Press issues the Freedom House series "Studies in Freedom" in addition to the Freedom House yearbook Freedom in the World. Strategies for the 1980s: Lessons of Cuba, Vietnam, and Afghanistan by Philip van Slyck. Studies in Freedom, Number 1 Freedom in the World Political Rights and Civil Liberties 1982 Raymond D. Gastil With Essays by Charles R. Beitz Jeffrey M. Riedinger Grace Goodell Leonard R. Sussman Stephen J. Morris George Weigel John P. Powelson Lindsay M. Wright Roy L. Prosterman GREENWOOD PRESS Westport, Connecticut • London, England Copyright © 1982 by Freedom House, Inc. Freedom House, 20 West 40th Street, New York, New York 10018 All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. ISBN: 0-313-23178-8 First published in 1982 Greenwood Press A division of Congressional Information Service, Inc. 88 Post Road West Westport, Connecticut 06881 Printed in the United States of America 10 987654321 Contents MAP AND TABLES vii PREFACE ix PART I. THE SURVEY IN 1982 Freedom in the Comparative Survey 3 Survey Ratings and Tables for 1982 9 PART II. ANALYZING SPECIFIC CIVIL LIBERTIES A Comparative Survey of Economic Freedoms Lindsay M. Wright 51 Worker Freedoms in Latin America 91 The Continuing Struggle for Freedom of Information Leonard R. Sussman 101 A Preliminary Examination of Religious Freedom George Weigel 121 PART III. DEMOCRACY AND DEVELOPMENT Democracy in Developing Societies Charles R. Beitz 145 The Democratic Prerequisites of Development Grace Goodell and John P.
    [Show full text]
  • US-Vietnam Relations,” Paper Presented at the Future of Relations Between Vietnam and the United States, SAIS, Washington, DC, October 2-3, 2003
    Order Code RL33316 U.S.-Vietnam Relations: Background and Issues for Congress Updated October 31, 2008 Mark E. Manyin Specialist in Asian Affairs Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division U.S.-Vietnam Relations: Background and Issues for Congress Summary After communist North Vietnam’s victory over U.S.-backed South Vietnam in 1975, U.S.-Vietnam relations remained essentially frozen until the mid-1990s. Since then, bilateral ties have expanded remarkably, to the point where the relationship has been virtually normalized. Indeed, since 2002, overlapping strategic and economic interests have compelled the United States and Vietnam to improve relations across a wide spectrum of issues. Congress played a significant role in the normalization process and continues to influence the state of bilateral relations. Voices favoring improved relations have included those reflecting U.S. business interests in Vietnam’s reforming economy and U.S. strategic interests in expanding cooperation with a populous country — Vietnam has over 85 million people — that has an ambivalent relationship with China. Others argue that improvements in bilateral relations should be conditioned upon Vietnam’s authoritarian government improving its record on human rights. The population of over 1 million Vietnamese Americans, as well as legacies of the Vietnam War, also drive continued U.S. interest. Economic ties are the most mature aspect of the bilateral relationship. The United States is Vietnam’s largest export market. The final step toward full economic normalization was accomplished in December 2006, when Congress passed and President Bush signed H.R. 6111 (P.L. 109-432), extending permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) status to Vietnam.
    [Show full text]