Open Letter on Vietnam

from Human Rights and Fair Trade Advocates

to

The President of the United States and Members of Congress

June 15, 2006

The U.S. Congress is about to consider granting Vietnam Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status which will pave the way for Vietnam’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO). We urge you to demand that in order for Vietnam to gain PNTR, the Vietnamese government must release all religious and political prisoners, end house-arrest practice against them, allow and recognize independent churches and labor unions, and truly practice free trade by allowing the importation of American media (print and audio-video) products.

As you may already know, the human rights situation in Vietnam has not improved in recent years. Consequently, the U.S. Department of State has retained Vietnam on its annual list of countries of particular concern (CPC). Further, on January 25, 2006, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted resolution 1481 (2006) which strongly “condemned the massive human rights violations committed by totalitarian communist regimes and expressed sympathy, understanding and recognition for the victims of these crimes.” On April 6, 2006, the House of Representatives passed Resolution. 320, calling on Vietnam to immediately and unconditionally release all prisoners of conscience, and comply with the terms of the European Parliament resolution. Not surprisingly, Vietnam’s communist leaders have rejected our appeals.

Further, recent widespread labor unrest in Vietnam reflects the reality that labor rights in Vietnam are not protected. The average salary of Vietnamese workers is less than $1/day and working conditions are extremely poor. This state of affairs is due to the fact that workers in Vietnam have been denied the right to form independent labor unions to protect basic worker rights.

In the meantime, Vietnam enjoys the privilege of freely exporting to the U.S. all forms of print and audio-video products including cultural products, books, newspapers, and other audio / DVD releases, many of which explicitly promote communism and government policies. Yet, none of our media / music products including those produced by Americans of Vietnamese origin are allowed to be imported into Vietnam. The Vietnamese government, through its state-owned enterprises, maintains a monopoly and, in effect, an absolute ban on these imports into Vietnam. Vietnamese American artists are routinely harassed and required to obtain government permits before they could perform in Vietnam. This ‘free trade’ concept is neither fair nor free – both core principles of our WTO agreement with Vietnam recently signed.

In your second inaugural address, you stated definitively that “it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world”. We hope that you will personally see to it that America will live up to its promise regarding Vietnam and its conduct.

We hereby call upon you to deny the communist dictatorial regime in Vietnam the free PNTR status until the aforementioned conditions are met.

Thank you for your leadership and continued support for universal human rights. May God bless you and America.

Respectfully,

Democracy advocates in Vietnam (incomplete)

Tran Kim Anh, retired army colonel, Father Nguyen Huu Giai,, Dr. Nguyen Thanh Giang, Do Nam Hai, banker (pen name: Phuong Nam), Prof. Nguyen Chinh Ket, Father Phan Van Loi, Father Nguyen Van Ly, Father Chan Tin, Nguyen Khac Toan, Journalist.

Organizations in the United States (incomplete) Representatives

Asia Entertainment Inc., California Thy Van, President

Asian Pacific American Cultural Arts Foundation Lan Le, Chair/Founder

Assembly of Vietnamese Veterans Nguyen Xuan Vinh, Ph.D., D.Sc., Chairman

Association of Vietnamese Cultures, California Do Doan Que, Secretary General

ATC Consulting Group Bui Manh Cuong, President

Bolsa Radio 

Committee for Religious Freedom in Vietnam (CRFV) Helen Ngo, Chairperson

Council for Human Rights in Vietnam, New York Nguyen Hong Lien, President

Council on Democracy and Human Rights for Viet-Nam, CA Tran Duc Thanh-Phong, Sec. General

Dan Chim Viet Online magazine Tran Trung Viet, Executive Director

East Coast U.S.A. Vietnamese Publishers Consortium Nguyen Ngoc Bich, President

Florida Viet Bao Newspaper  Yen Ba Chu, Publisher

Jubilee Campaign USA Ann Buwalda, Director

Legal Assistance for Vietnamese Asylum Seekers Lan Quoc Nguyen, Esq.

Montagnard Foundation, South Carolina Kok Ksor, President

Ngay Nay Media, Inc., Houston, Texas Truong Trong Trac, President

North Carolina Vietnam Veterans, Inc. R. J. DelVecchio - Secretary

National Hoa Hao Buddhist Church, USA. Nguyen Van Coi, President

Overseas Hoa Hao Buddhist Congregational Church, USA Hiep Van Huynh, Vice Chairman

      Of The Central Council

Quarterly Human Rights / Droits de l'Homme Magazine  Dr. Lam Le Trinh, Editor in Chief

Rallying for Democracy in Vietnam, Virginia Quan Quoc Nguyen, MD, President

Republic of Vietnam Navy & Marine Association, USA Kiet Van Nguyen, President

Rolling Thunder® Inc (to be confirmed) Gary M. Scheffmeyer, National President 

Saigon Broadcasting Television Network (SBTN) Truc Ho, President

The China Support Network John P. Kusumi, Director emeritus

The Movement of the Vietnamese Laity in Diaspora, California Do Nhu Dien, Coordinator

The Movement of Writers and Performing Artists to Restore Huynh Luong Thien, President

      Vietnam

The South Florida Buddhist Association Dang Cong Huynh, President

The United Buddhist Church of Vietnam in the USA. Most Rev. Thich Chon Thanh, Vice-President

The United Methodist Church, San Diego, California Rev. Dang Ngoc Bau, Pastor

The Vietnam Helsinki Human Rights Committee Tran Tu Thanh, Chairman

The Vietnamese American Community of South Florida Ngoc-Phuong Le Tran, President

The Vietnamese American Voters’ League of Pennsylvania Mac Hong Quang, President

The Vietnamese Buddhist Youth Congregation of California Le Quang Dat, Chairman

The Vietnamese Community in Arizona Nguyen Ngoc Anh, President

The Vietnamese Community of Central of Florida Pham Ngoc Cuu, President.

The Vietnamese Community of Colorado Vu Chi Cuong, President

The Vietnamese Community of New York Nguyen Thanh Phong, President

The Vietnamese Community of Southern California Dr. Nguyen Xuan Vinh, President

The Vietnamese Community of St Cloud, Minnesota Hoa Kiem Nguyen, President

The Vietnamese Community of Washington State Tang Phuoc Trong, President

The Vietnamese Community of Wichita and Vicinity, Kansas Nguyen Van Chinh, president

The Vietnamese Federation of San Diego, California Le Cong Nghiep, President

The Vietnamese Veterans Association of South Florida Son Kim Nguyen, President

Thuy Nga Paris Productions, California Marie To, President

US - Vietnam Fair Trade Committee Khai Q. Nguyen, Chairman

Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation Dr. Lee Edwards, Chairman

Viet Bao Daily News Tran Da Tu, Publisher

Viet Minnesota Radio Phan Thanh Tam, President

Vietnam Democracy Forum, Washington, DC Quyen Cao Nguyen, Coordinator

Vietnam Human Rights Network, USA “Robert” Nguyen Le, Chairman

Vietnamese American Council of Voters, California Tran Cong Thien, President

Vietnamese American Medical Research Foundation, California Dr. Luong Quoc Vinh Khanh, President

Vietnamese-American Public Affairs Committee (VPAC) Binh Vo, President

Vietnamese American Science & Technology Society (VASTS) Tran Canh Xuan, Chairman

Vietnamese American Television (VATV) Vo Thanh Nhan, President

Vietnamese American Veterans Association Coalition of the  Tran Thien Hieu, President

      Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area

Vietnamese American Voters Association, Virginia Jackie Bong Wright, President & CEO

Vietnamese Lawyers Association Do Doan Que, President

Vietnamese Overseas Initiative for Conscience Empowerment Hoi Trinh, Esq., President

      (VOICE)

Vietnamese Youth Club for Human Rights, Sacramento, CA Bui Hong Quynh, president

Visual Artists Guild Ann Lau, Chair

Youth Affairs - Assembly of Vietnam Veterans Lu Anh Thu, Vice Chair

Organizations in Other Countries (incomplete) Representatives 

Association for Democracy and Development of Vietnam, Dr. Au Duong The, President

      Dortmund, Germany.

Association of Vietnamese Physicians in Canada Dao Ba Ngoc. MD, President

General Association of Vietnamese Students in France Tran Ngoc Giap - President

Committee to Rethink Vietnam-Paris, France Blair Dorminey, Executive Director

Friends of Vietnam, Findland Jari Salo, President

International Committee Tran Van Ba, Paris, France Tran Van Tong, President

International Foundation for the Development of Vietnam,  Dr. Ngo Van Tuan, Chairman

The Netherlands

Movement of Democracy for China Dr. Wang Dan, President

Rural Reconstruction Cadre Association of California 

The Canadian Vietnamese Society For VietNam Political and Nguyen Huu Hung, Coordinator.

Social Studies

The Buddhist Association of “Grass Hut”, Moscow, Russia Malkhanova Inna & Nguyen Minh Can, President & Vice President

Vietnam Center – Hanover, Germany Lam Dang Chau, Managing Director

Vietnam Center for Human Rights, Paris, France Tran Thanh Hiep, President

Vietnamese Canadian Federation, Canada Ut V. Ngo, President

Vietnamese Community in Australia Dr. Tien Nguyen, Federal President

Vietnamese Community in Montreal, Canada Tran Dinh Thang, MD

Vietnamese League for Human Rights, Switzerland Nguyen Le Nhan Quyen, Delegate

Vietnamese Physicians of the Free World Tran Dinh Thang, MD

Vietnamese Writers in Exile Centre, Switzerland Nguyen Hoang Bao Viet, Delegate

Financial contribution (Incomplete)

Groups: Vietnam Human Rights Network, The Movement of Writers and Performing Artists to Restore Vietnam, Vietnam Democracy Forum – Washington DC, Vietnam Review, Inc, Vietnam Reform Party, ATC Consulting Group, National Hoa-Hao Buddhist Church, Thuy Nga Productions.

Viet Bao Newspaper, Vietnamese American Voters Association (VAVA), Vietnamese-American Public Affairs Committee (VPAC), The Movement of the Vietnamese Laity in Diaspora, Vietnamese American Veterans Association Coalition of the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area.

Legal Assistance for Vietnamese Asylum Seekers (LAVAS), Saigon Broadcasting Television Network (SBTN), Asia Entertainment, Inc., Vietnamese Overseas Initiative for Conscience Empowerment (VOICE), East Coast USA Publishers Consortium, Assembly of Vietnamese Veterans, Rural Reconstruction Cadre Association of California, Vietnamese American Television (VATV), Alliance for Democracy in Vietnam, Bolsa Radio, Viet Minnesota Radio, DCV, Inc.

Individuals: Lu Anh Thu, Phan Tan Hai, Tran Dung Minh Dan, Nguyen Ngoc Quynh, Do Thi Thuan, Phong Thu, Ho Van Sinh, Ma xai, Trang Khanh, Scott Pham.