U.S.
Representative Zoe Lofgren
16th
Congressional District,
California
For Immediate Release:
March 12, 2007
Rep. Lofgren Calls on Secretary of State Rice to Address Human
Rights During Vietnamese Visit to Washington
Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister
Vu Khoan and Vietnamese
Foreign Minister
Pham Gia Khiem to Visit
United States
Washington,
D.C. -
Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) has called on Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice to insist
that
Vietnam make significant improvements in the protection of
religious freedom, free speech, and other basic human rights. In a recent
letter to Secretary of State Rice,
Rep. Lofgren asked that the Secretary directly address these
concerns with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister
Vu Khoan and Vietnamese Foreign Minister
Pham Gia Khiem on their March 15, 2007 meeting in
Washington , DC . Additional signatories to the letter
include:
Vietnam Caucus Co-Chairs
Rep. Tom Davis,
Rep. Loretta Sanchez, and Rep. Chris Smith; and,
Rep. Jeff Fortenberry.
The complete
text of the letter is below:
March 12, 2007
The Honorable Condoleezza Rice
Secretary
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street, N.W.
Washington , D.C. 20520
Dear Madam Secretary:
We write to express our strong concerns about the
recent escalation of human rights violations occurring in
Vietnam . We respectfully request that you use the upcoming
visit by Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister
Vu Khoan and Vietnamese
Foreign Minister
Pham Gia Khiem to insist that
Vietnam make substantive improvements in the protection of
religious freedom, free speech, and other basic human rights.
There recently have been a number of arrests
and harassment by Vietnamese authorities regarding religious and political
practices. This week Vietnamese human rights attorney Nguyen Van Dai, a
founder of the Committee for Human Rights in
Vietnam, was arrested for what authorities called, "conducting
propaganda activities to harm the security of state." These same charges
were used to remove Father Nguyen Van Ly earlier this year from his Catholic
parish. These accounts magnify
Vietnam 's continued oppression of religious and political
speech. The situation in
Vietnam can best be described in the U.S. Commission on
International Religious Freedom's 2006 Annual Report, which states:
The government of
Vietnam continues to commit systematic and egregious
violations of religious freedom by harassing, detaining, imprisoning, and
discriminating against leaders and practitioners from all of
Vietnam 's religious communities. Religious freedom conditions
in
Vietnam remain poor, and the overall human rights situation
has deteriorated in the past two years. The government has targeted popular
religious leaders, intellectuals, free speech and democracy advocates, and
members of ethnic and religious minority groups, who are accused of
encouraging "peaceful evolution," a term used to describe anyone suspected
of quietly eroding the Communist Party's legitimacy.
The
United States of America has a long and honorable tradition of
safeguarding freedom and human rights throughout the world, especially with
our trading partners. No exception should be made for
Vietnam . We hope that you will take this upcoming opportunity
with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister
Vu Khoan and Vietnamese
Foreign Minister
Pham Gia Khiem to address these issues and work towards
improving the human rights that the Vietnamese people so rightfully deserve.
Sincerely,
Zoe Lofgren
Tom Davis
Co-Chair
Vietnam Caucus
Co-Chair
Vietnam Caucus
Loretta Sanchez
Chris Smith
Co-Chair
Vietnam Caucus
Co-Chair
Vietnam Caucus
Jeff Fortenberry
Member of Congress
# # #
Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren is serving her seventh term in
Congress representing most of the City of San Jose and Santa Clara County .
She serves as Chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration,
Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law. She also
Chairs the House Administration Subcommittee on Elections and serves on the
House Homeland Security Committee. Congresswoman Lofgren is Chair of the
California Democratic Congressional Delegation consisting of 34
Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives from California .