USCIRF Issues New Report On Vietnam

Last week the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom released a report titled Religious Freedom in Vietnam: Assessing the Country of Particular Concern Designation 10 Years After its Removal. The Introduction summarizes the report's theme:

Of all the countries the U.S. government has designated as CPCs, Vietnam is unique in that it is the only one removed from the CPC list due to diplomatic activity. This raises several questions: Why was Vietnam first designated as a CPC? What was different about this designation that led to Vietnam’s swift removal from the list? If the strategy was a success in de-listing Vietnam, why has it not been replicated in other countries? This paper examines the history and efficacy of Vietnam’s CPC designation, ultimately arguing it should be re-designated.

In Vietnam, Obama Calls For Increased Freedom of Religion Among Other Human Rights

President Obama today during his trip to Vietnam delivered an address to the people of Vietnam from the National Convention Center in Hanoi. His remarks (full text) included a call for improvement in the human rights situation in Vietnam, including freedom of religion.  He said in part:

When there is freedom of expression and freedom of speech, and when people can share ideas and access the Internet and social media without restriction, that fuels the innovation economies need to thrive....  

When there is freedom of religion, it not only allows people to fully express the love and compassion that are at the heart of all great religions, but it allows faith groups to serve their communities through schools and hospitals, and care for the poor and the vulnerable.  And when there is freedom of assembly -- when citizens are free to organize in civil society -- then countries can better address challenges that government sometimes cannot solve by itself.  So it is my view that upholding these rights is not a threat to stability, but actually reinforces stability and is the foundation of progress. 

After all, it was a yearning for these rights that inspired people around the world, including Vietnam, to throw off colonialism.  And I believe that upholding these rights is the fullest expression of the independence that so many cherish, including here, in a nation that proclaims itself to be “of the People, by the People and for the People.”

House Committee Holds Hearing On Persecution of Religious Communities In Vietnam

A video is now available online of the March 26 hearing by the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee's Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on  Persecution of Religious and Indigenous Communities in Vietnam. The hearing Witness List included USCIRF Commissioner Eric P. Schwartz (written testimony), Father Phan Van Loi (Co-Founder of the Association of Former Vietnamese Prisoners of Conscience), Sub-dignitary Nguyen Bach Phung (Clergy member of an independent Cao Dai Sect); Yunie Hong (Director of Policy Advocacy, Hmong National Development), and Rong Nay (Executive Director, Montagnard Human Rights Organization).