US Congress targets Vietnam's religious record
WASHINGTON - The US Congress geared up for a new rights row with Vietnam with the introduction of a resolution which
accuses the Hanoi government of presiding over "egregious" abuses of religious freedom.
The non-binding legislation acknowledges the leadership of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) and the urgent
need for improvements in religious freedom in the country. In recent weeks, Vietnam has intensified a crackdown on the
UBCV, placing senior monks under house arrest to isolate them from their followers, the church's overseas information arm
says.
The resolution "will send another clear message to the Vietnamese government that better relations between our two countries
will only be achieved when there are notable improvements in human rights," said Nina Shea, who sits on the US Commission
for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
The new legislative assault on Vietnam comes a week after the State Department's ambassador at large for religious freedom
expressed concern at the situation in Vietnam after a fact finding visit to the communist nation. USCIRF, a congressionally
mandated rights watchdog, in September called on Secretary of State Colin Powell to nominate Vietnam as a "country of
particular concern" on freedom of worship -- a move that could lead to sanctions.
The commission's appeal followed the imprisonment of two nephews and a niece of a jailed Catholic priest for passing on
information about their uncle and the religious situation in Vietnam to US-based activists. Formal US-Vietnam relations were
only established in 1995, a year after then-president Bill Clinton lifted a trade embargo on the country.
Agence France Presse - November 6, 2003
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