Systematic human rights violations in Asia, in particular Vietnam, Tibet, Burma, North Korea, and China, have common causes and people of these countries must work together with the help from free countries like the U.S., according to participants of the Fourteenth Annual Commemoration of Vietnam Human Rights Day and a seminar on "Democracy and Human Rights in Asia", both held in Washington, D.C., on May 8.
"The event is especially timely due to numerous serious violations of human rights occurring across Asia, from Tibet to Burma to Vietnam to China," according to the press release for the events.
The U.S. Congress unanimously passed House-Senate Joint Resolution SJ-168 which designates May 11, 1994, as "Vietnam Human Rights Day." Later, Bill Clinton signed the resolution into Public Law 103-258 on May 25, 1994.
Improvements in Trade Has Not Improved Human Rights
"Economic, social, and foreign relations improvement has not been accompanied by any… human rights protection. On the contrary, there has been a downward trend in Vietnam with respect to human rights issues," said Dr. Binh Nguyen, Chair of the organizing committee of the events in her opening remark.
Nguyen Chinh Ket, representative of a group of determined dissidents in Vietnam called "Bloc 8406", said, "Economic developments in Vietnam have not led to the improvements in human rights practices, as expected by many… benefits are reserved to a minority of people who pledge absolute loyalty to the Communist Party."
At the events, members of the U.S. Congress, NGOs, and others also spoke about how trade and economic improvements have not brought about improvements in human rights, not just in Vietnam, but also in China. And they criticized politicians and businessmen who place trade over human rights.
Congressman Frank Wolf (R-Virginia) complained that President Bush is more focused on "trade, trade, trade."
Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-California) said, "… treating a dictatorship economically, treating them as no different than a democracy, we're doing very big disservice to our cause." He explained that trade with the U.S. has made some people in China very rich and powerful, but "there's no improvement in political rights or religious rights… The same is true in Vietnam."
Apparent Progress
Nguyen Chinh Ket, representative of "Bloc 8406", addressing the U.S. Congress, said, "Since the re-establishment of the US-Vietnam normalization, the human rights situation in Vietnam has not improved in accordance with expectations. If there appear to be any improvements, these are quite superficial and temporary, mainly to relieve international pressure or to obtain a special short-term objective… It is therefore not reasonable to rely on temporary evidence to conclude that there is human rights progress under the governance of the Vietnamese Communist Party."
Nguyen Chinh Ket asks the U.S. Congress to help with two things: Support for the Vietnam Human Rights Act of 2007 (HR 3096) introduced by Rep. Christopher Smith; and support for recommendations by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom to place Vietnam back on the list of Countries of Particular Concern (CPC).
The CPC designation is important because it can determine how the U.S. Government engages those governments which are responsible for religious persecution.
Dr. Michael Orona, Deputy Director of the Bureau of Democracy and Human Rights at the U.S. Department of State, said, "… we are scheduled to hold our annual dialog on May 29th in Hanoi. The annual dialog… was suspended in 2002 due to lack of progress by the government of Vietnam. They were resumed in 2006… In resuming the dialog, we have seen some progress."
However, Sophie Richardson, Asia Advocacy Director for Human Rights Watch, said, "The U.S. should reinstate Vietnam as a Country of Particular Concern."
Scott Flipse, Senior Policy Analyst at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, also disagrees with the State Department's decision to lift the CPC designation on Vietnam in 2006.
He explained that the Commission's latest report on Vietnam is "detailed and long" because the Commission went to Vietnam just last October and traveled the "length and breadth of Vietnam" where they met religious leaders, leaders in civil society, democracy movements, and government officials. "We came back from that trip with the belief that the State Department's decision to lift the CPC designation in November of 2006 was premature, not fully warranted by the facts on the ground," he said.
He also indicated that U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill's March testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations committee that there are no longer any religious prisoners of concern in Vietnam is wrong.
Congressman Tom Davis (R-Virginia) also said, "Despite the Vietnamese government's continued insistence that there are no political prisoners in Vietnam, we continue to document that hundreds in fact remain behind bars… throughout the country."
A Big Rock Over Asia
Some of the participants of the events described the Chinese communist regime as being like a big rock over Asia, influencing and supporting dictators in Vietnam, Burma, North Korea, and persecuting Tibetans and its own people in China.
Dr. Sen Nieh, representative Falun Gong in Washington Metropolitan Area, said, "Chinese share the same cultural root and traditional values with Vietnamese and other Asians; we, unfortunately, also share the same agony and nightmare of the evil Communists' ruling."
The Saddest Situation
Scott Flipse said that Falun Gong "continues to be the saddest situation regarding religious and spiritual movement in China… a story that hasn't been fully told. The special rapporteur on torture (of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights), Manfred Nowak, said in his report on China that most of the religious and political prisoners in China were Falun Gong practitioners."
Dr. Sen Nieh said that the persecution of people who practice Falun Gong in China is the largest persecution in China's history and probably that of the whole world. He explained that 100 million practitioners along with their immediate family members is about 300-400 million people, more than the population of the United States, who were persecuted in the past 9 years.
Difficulties Ahead
Scott Flipse described the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom as "a U.S. government bipartisan and independent Think Tank… which offers policy recommendations and advice to the U.S. Congress, the President, and Secretary of State."
Dr. Binh Nguyen asked Flipse how much weight the Commission has on the decisions made by the U.S. government. Flipse replied that "It is one voice, and it's a prominent voice. But if Vietnam is going to be added to the CPC, it will take the activities of you all to lobby the Congress and to lobby the Secretary of State for change."
Flipse tried to explain the difficulties with the State Department. He said, "… there are interests involved in the State Department not only moving forward on security and trade issues, but also better relations. Religious freedom and human rights is a problem in the relationship. And to use something like the CPC, is viewed by the State Department as a step back in a forward moving relationship.
The commission's position is that it doesn't have to be; it can be seen as a moving forward framework where we can discuss religious freedom without all the hoopla…"
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