Religious freedom in Vietnam
VIETNAM has intensified its suppression of human rights and religious freedom says, Mr Michael Young, the chairman of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).In testimony delivered on February 12 before the East Asian and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mr Young said: “In its travels to Vietnam, the Commission and staff have found that over the last two years, already poor human rights conditions have deteriorated. Key dissidents were imprisoned or placed under house arrest. Churches have been closed and some destroyed. In addition, the government of Vietnam has intensified its crackdowns on religious and ethnic minorities in the northwestern provinces and the central highlands — including ongoing campaigns of forced renunciation of faith.”
The United States normalised relations with Vietnam in 1995, and in 2001 passed the Bilateral Trade Act (BTA) in the hope that expanded economic ties would improve Vietnam’s human rights situation. But according to Mr Young, “Increased trade has not led to progress in the area of protecting human rights and basic liberties. More dollars have not lead to democratisation. And quiet diplomacy alone has not produced tangible results.”
The Commission is urging the Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell to designate Vietnam as a “country of particular concern” (CPC). This would provide President Bush, Mr Young said, “with a range of specific options to take to address serious abuses of religious freedom” without automatically entailing sanctions.
The Commission is urging the Congress to pass the Vietnam Human Rights Act, which would cap non-humanitarian aid at 2003 levels and provide increased funding for public diplomacy and immigration programs. Mr Young said the Congress should also make sure that money from the Bush administration’s new qualified aid program known as the Millennium Challenge Account not go to Vietnam until the Vietnamese government makes significant progress in improving human rights and religious freedom for its citizens.
Steps also must be taken to end Vietnam’s jamming of Radio Free Asia broadcasts, Mr Young said, and foreign assistance and exchange programs should support individuals in Vietnam who advocate human rights, the rule of law and legal reform.
The navhind times (.in) - February 26, 2004.
|