Copyright 2005 Congressional Quarterly, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Federal Document Clearing House Congressional Testimony
June 20, 2005 Monday
SECTION: CAPITOL HILL HEARING TESTIMONY
LENGTH: 4928 words
COMMITTEE: HOUSE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
SUBCOMMITTEE: AFRICA
HEADLINE: HUMAN RIGHTS IN VIETNAM
TESTIMONY-BY: VO VAN AI, PRESIDENT
AFFILIATION: QUE ME: ACTION FOR DEMOCRACY IN VIETNAM
BODY:
Statement of Vo Van Ai President, Que Me: Action for Democracy in
Vietnam
Committee on House International Relations Subcommittee on Africa,
Global Human Rights and International Operations
June 20, 2005
Honorable Chairman,
Distinguished Members of Congress,
I would like to thank you for giving me this opportunity to testify on
behalf of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam at this important
Hearing in Congress. The very fact that this Hearing takes place today,
just as Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai makes his first visit to
the United States, is a great tribute to American democracy. At the same
time, the voice of the rulers and those of the victims can be heard by
your government and people. This could not happen in most countries
around the globe - and most certainly not in Vietnam.
In Vietnam, no opposition views are tolerated, as I have learned through
my own harsh experience. Arrested and tortured at the age of 13 for
engaging in the resistance movement for independence from colonialism, I
was driven into exile by successive political regimes. Like so many
Vietnamese, I have paid a heavy price for my democratic ideals. It is
therefore a great privilege to speak before Congress for all those whose
voice is stifled in Vietnam.
Today, relations between the United States and Vietnam are at a crucial
point. Premier Phan Van Khai comes to seek improved trade and security
relations, and to achieve this, he must remove all obstacles obstructing
this path. One paramount obstacle is religious freedom, notably
Vietnam's designation by the State Department in September 2004 as a
"country of particular concern".
Vietnam is desperate to be removed from the black-list of the world's
worst religious freedom violators, and has made several gestures and
promises of reform. On the basis of these promises, on May 5th 2005, the
State Department signed an agreement with Vietnam - the first agreement
ever signed with a CPC country since the adoption of the 1998
International Religious Freedom Act - pledging to refrain from punitive
actions if Vietnam fulfils its commitment to improve religious rights.
The State Department believed in Vietnam's good will. But Vietnam is a
past master in the art of false pledges - indeed, Phan Van Khai himself
is a symbol of the broken promises of Hanoi's regime. He is the man who
received dissident Buddhist Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang for talks in
Hanoi in April 2003, raising great hopes of dialogue and tolerance. He
is also the man who, just months later, launched a most brutal
clamp-down on the UBCV, arresting Thich Huyen Quang, Thich Quang Do and
nine other Buddhist leaders in October 2003.
It was in that cynical spirit that, at the same time Hanoi's leaders
signed this agreement with the United States, they cynically stepped up
repression against independent religions, notably against Vietnam's
largest religious community, the Buddhists, and their traditional,
independent organization, the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV).
These acts of religious repression - perpetrated on a daily basis by
political and religious cadres of the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP) -
demonstrate that, just as Vietnam is opening its economy to a "free
market with socialist orientations", it is similarly aiming to create
"religions with socialist orientations" under strict VCP control.
Indeed, as the Political Report of the VPC's Seventh Plenum in January
2003 clearly stated, the communist party's objective is not to improve
religious freedom but to "increase state management of religious
affairs" in Vietnam.
A brief review of recent events reveals the ongoing persecution against
the Unified Buddhist Church and other non-recognised in Vietnam today:
-- In late May 2005, Security Police entered Nguyen Thieu Monastery in
Binh Dinh, where UBCV Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang is currently under
detention, and summoned several young monks for interrogation. The monks
were separated and taken to different Police stations, where they were
treated aggressively and subjected to intense psychological pressure.
Security Police accused the monks of circulating Messages issued by the
UBCV Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang and his Deputy Venerable Thich Quang Do
on the Vesak, anniversary of Buddha's Birth, and greeting cards with the
name of the banned UBCV. They threatened to have the monks expelled from
Nguyen Thieu Monastery if they did not immediately cease all contacts
with the UBCV and join the Statesponsored Vietnam Buddhist Church.
These threats follow the expulsion last year of several monks from
Nguyen Thieu Monastery because of their support for UBCV Patriarch Thich
Huyen Quang during the government crackdown in October 2003. The monks
were placed on a "black-list" of citizens forbidden to leave the
country, and were unable to attend studies overseas, even thought they
had valid visas.
-- During these interrogations, Security Police made death threats
against the UBCV leadership. The monks of Nguyen Thieu monastery were
warned that if Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang and Thich Quang Do continued
to oppose the government and Communist Party, they would be executed. --
During the traditional celebrations of the Vesak (Buddha's Birthday) in
April and May 2005, UBCV Buddhists all over the country were harassed
and prevented from holding celebrations.
Venerable Thich Duc Chon, from Gia Lam Pagoda in Saigon was summoned by
Security Police and given strict warnings not to circulate or read out
to Buddhist followers the Vesak Messages by UBCV Patriarch Thich Huyen
Quang and Venerable Thich Quang Do. In Danang, Venerable Thich Thanh
Quang, Superior monk of the Giac Minh Pagoda and other members of the
UBCV's Quang Nam-Danang Provincial Board were interrogated and harassed
by Security Police, who forced them to sign papers renouncing their
adherence to the UBCV and ordered Thich Thanh Quang not to read out the
Vesak Messages by the UBCV leaders. Thich Thanh Quang refused to comply
with these orders, and Giac Minh Pagoda has been under close Police
surveillance since then. UBCV Pagodas in Hue, Quang Tri, Khanh Hoa and
many other provinces were subjected to a similar ban. This unlawful
prohibition of circulation of the Vesak Message not only violates
religious freedom, but also contravenes a centuries-old tradition in
Vietnam.
-- Throughout the year, Security Police and local party officials
systematically disrupted UBCV gatherings and intimidated Buddhist
followers. On May 23rd 2005 in Tinh Dong village, Quang Nam Province,
Nguyen Su Nen, a leader of the UBCV Buddhist Youth Movement, was beaten
and his wife harassed because he refused to let the funeral of his
father, a respected Buddhist elder, be presided by monks from the
State-sponsored Vietnam Buddhist Church (VBC). When he invited a UBCV
senior monk to lead the prayers, local officials seized the microphone
and shouted: "The UBCV does not exist. There is only the Vietnam
Buddhist Church !". Local Party officials completely disrupted the
funeral, harassed participants and eventually forced them to disperse,
warning that any "outsiders" who spent the night in the village risked
immediate arrest. The following day, the local authorities came to
interrogate Nguyen Su Nen, warning him that the UBCV is an "illegal
organisation".
-- After more than 25 years under detention, UBCV Patriarch Thich Huyen
Quang and his Deputy Thich Quang Do are still prisoners in the Nguyen
Thieu Monastery (Binh Dinh) and the Thanh Minh Zen Monastery (Saigon)
without any justification or charge. Both monks are in very poor health
as a result of prolonged isolation and harsh detention conditions. In
October 2003, they were arrested in a brutal government clamp-down on
the UBCV and placed under "administrative detention". Although no formal
charges were laid, Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Dung declared that they
were under "investigation for possessing State secrets". Thich Huyen
Quang and Thich Quang Do both wrote to the government protesting their
arbitrary detention and calling for the right to a fair trial, but they
have received no reply.
-- In February this year, Thich Quang Do launched a "New Year's Letter"
with a vibrant appeal to Vietnamese intellectuals from all religious and
political currents to rally together in a common effort for pluralism
and democracy in Vietnam. He stressed that only a peaceful process of
democratisation and a multi-party system could help bring Vietnam out of
poverty and repression.
Thich Quang Do's appeal received overwhelming support from prominent
dissidents inside Vietnam such as Communist Party veteran Hoang Minh
Chinh, writer Hoang Tien, Roman Catholic priests Father Pham Van Loi,
Chan Tin, and Nguyen Huu Giai, Hoa Hao Buddhists, and writers, artists
and intellectuals from all over Vietnam and the Vietnamese Diaspora (I
submit the full text of this letter for entry in the Hearing record).
Whilst many dissidents have launched democracy appeals in the past, this
was the first time in Vietnam that such a proposal has won such a wide
and enthusiastic consensus of support.
Hanoi responded by stepping up controls on Thich Quang Do. Security
Police banned all visits to the UBCV Deputy, and set up jamming device
outside the Thanh Minh Zen Monastery, which blocks the use of cell
phones. Requests by international media correspondents (such as the
German press agency DPA) to interview Thich Quang Do during the 30th
Anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War in April 2005 were refused by
the authorities on the grounds that Thich Quang Do was "under
investigation for possessing state secrets". This charge contradicts
repeated statements by Vietnam that "Thich Quang Do and Thich Huyen
Quang are completely free".
-- On 30th March 2005, Thich Quang Do recorded a video message for the
United Nations Human Rights Commission calling for international support
for a peaceful process of democratisation in Vietnam. Security Police
seized the tape and arrested UBCV monk Thich Vien Phuong who filmed the
Message. Thanks to courageous Buddhist activists, an audio tape was
finally smuggled out and made public at the UN Human Rights Commission
in Geneva.
-- To avoid US sanctions under CPC, Vietnam is enacting subtle,
underhand strategies to "settle the UBCV problem". Having failed to
eliminate it by force, Hanoi is attempting to "neutralize" the UBCV by
creating divisions within its leadership, and undermining the movement
from within. Over the past months, Communist Party officials have
discretely visited senior UBCV monks, promising that Vietnam will
re-establish the UBCV's legal status on condition that Thich Quang Do
and Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang are excluded from the process. By
eliminating these two prominent dissidents from its leadership, Hanoi
plans to transform the UBCV into a "State-sponsored Buddhist Church No
2", emptied of its independent spirit and of its commitment to democracy
and human rights. The UBCV would thus retrieve its legitimate status,
but be reduced to a kind of "Buddhism with socialist orientations", a
political tool of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
-- Vietnam claims credit for releasing religious prisoners, but many
suffer severe restrictions on their freedom after their release. UBCV
monk Thich Thien Minh, released in a government amnesty on 2nd February
2005 after 26 years in re-education camp, has been subjected to constant
harassments and police surveillance. "I have exchanged my small prison
for a bigger one," he said.
In March, Thich Thien Minh received death threats from Security Police
demanding he end all contact with human rights organizations, stop
sending petitions overseas (including to the US Commission on
International Religious Freedom). They also threatened to murder members
of his family. Security agents have jammed his mobile phone and
confiscated all his correspondence. Thich Thien Minh told my committee
that many religious prisoners are still detained in Z30 A Camp in Xuan
Loc, Dong Nai Province, where he spent many years of his life. Many of
these prisoners are old and sick - one has gone mad from ill-treatment,
others are over 80 years old, yet they are still forced to perform hard
labour and deprived of medical care.
The case of Thich Thien Minh reveals a new aspect of Vietnam's
sophisticated methods of religious repression. Just a few days ago, on
June 17th, he received a visit from a senior Security agent,
Lieutenant-colonel Dai, who told him he must either leave the Buddhist
orders at once, or beginning his training all over again (needless to
say, in the State-sponsored VBC, not the UBCV).
Lieutenant-colonel Dai, who had been sent by the Communist Party to
study at an Advanced School of Buddhism for three years - this is
unheard of for a Communist cadre in Vietnam - said that Thich Thien Minh
was no longer qualified to be a monk, because he had spent 26 years in a
labour camp, and had not followed the summer retreats and meditation
periods obligatory to a monk's vocation. Thich Thien Minh rejected these
arguments, saying he had remained celibate in prison for 26 years and
meditated whilst performing hard labour. Thien Thien Minh is currently
obliged to live at his brother's home in Bac Lieu Province (southern
Vietnam), since the authorities confiscated his Pagoda on his arrest in
1979. He has written two letters of complaint to the Vietnamese
authorities asking them to return his pagoda, but he has never received
any reply. He has not been issued with a residence permit since his
release, and has to apply for a temporary permit every month. In
Vietnam, the residence permit is an obligatory aspect of citizenship
rights. It must be produced on every occasion (travel, studies, work,
etc) and those without a permit are considered as "illegal citizens" and
liable to arrest at any moment.
-- Religious repression in Vietnam extends not only to Buddhists, but
also to Protestants, Mennonites, Catholics, Hoa Hao Buddhists, Cao Dai
and Khmer Krom Buddhists etc. Hmong Christians have been murdered.
Christian Montagnards returning to Vietnam after escaping persecution in
Cambodia face ill-treatment and arrest, despite Hanoi's pledge to
protect their security and prohibit all retribution. In violation of the
"Memorandum of Understanding" signed with the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees, Vietnam refuses internal observers access to the Central
Highlands to monitor the situation of Montagnard returnees.
-- Not only religious freedom, but also basic human rights such as
freedom of speech, opinion and the press are also suppressed, despite
Vietnam's obligations as a state party to the UN International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights. Vietnam's 600+ newspapers are all
state-controlled, and all independent _expression is denied. Vietnam
claims to uphold press freedom, but when it hosted the Asia-Europe
(ASEM) Summit Meeting in Hanoi in October 2004, it banned the domestic
and foreign press from attending the ASEM People's Forum, including a
workshop on "Democracy and the Media". In Vietnam today, there are no
free trade unions, no independent NGOs, no civil society movements, no
independent judiciary. Citizens who suffer abuses have no way to seek
remedy, and live in a climate of fear.
-- Violations of human rights and religious freedom are not isolated
phenomena, nor the result of zeal by local officials. They stem from a
deliberate policy of repression orchestrated at the highest echelons of
the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP) and the state. Increasingly, on the
pretext of building the rule of law, the Vietnamese government is
adopting extensive legislation that codifies these repressive and
arbitrary practices in order to protect the ruling VCP minority and
exclude all divergent political or religious views.
Indeed, alongside its use of repression, Vietnam is using the law to
stifle criticism and dissent. With funding from international donors,
including the United States, Vietnam has embarked on a 10- year Legal
System Development Strategy, which it is using to impose the rule by law
- not the rule of law - and reinforce political control. Under Vietnam's
"national security" laws, citizens may be detained under "administrative
detention" without trial (Decree 31/CP); cyber-dissidents face the death
penalty for "espionage" simply for circulating peaceful opposition views
(Article 80 of the Vietnamese Criminal Code); peaceful protests outside
public buildings may be punished by arrest (Decree 38/ND-CP, March
2005).
-- Religious freedom is restricted by a whole arsenal of legislation.
Most recent is the "Ordinance on Beliefs and Religions"
(21/2004/PL-UBTVQH11), which came into effect on 15th November 2004.
Vietnam claims that the Ordinance guarantees religious freedom, and is
using it as a pretext to demand Vietnam's removal from the list of CPCs.
In fact, this Ordinance is totally incompatible with international human
rights standards, and it places tighter controls on religious freedom in
Vietnam. Under the Ordinance, religious education must be subordinated
to the "patriotic" dictates of the Communist Party; worship may only be
carried out in approved religious establishments; it is forbidden to
"abuse" religious freedom to contravene prevailing Communist Party
policies (article 8S2). Religious activities deemed to "violate national
security... negatively affect the unity of the people or the nation's
fine cultural traditions" are banned (article 15).
-- The "Instructions for Implementing the New Ordinance on Belief and
Religions" (22/2005/NDCP, 1st March 2005) reinforce these restrictions,
strictly forbidding "abuse of the right to freedom of religious belief
and religion to undermine peace, independence and national unity... to
disseminate information against the State's prevailing laws and
policies; to sow division among the people, ethnic groups, and
religions; to cause public disorder; to do harm to other people's lives,
health, dignity, honor" (Article 2).
-- Particularly disturbing is the Ordinance's definition of "religion"
("an organization of people who follow rites and tenets that do not go
against the nation's fine customs and traditions... and national
interests"). Under these provisions, religions can only exist if they
comply with state interests, so it is the communist State who decides
which religions are "legitimate" and which should be banned. This is
clearly the Communist Party's interpretation, as we can see from an
editorial on the official radio "Voice of Vietnam" regarding
Protestantism: "Religions with legitimacy will be accepted by society
and protected by law. Whereas organizations that claim to be religions
but in fact lead people into darkness... should be called heresies...
According to the provisions of the Ordinance on Beliefs and Religions,
religions such as Degar Protestantism should not be considered as
legitimate and should be outlawed". The "Vang Chu" religion followed by
ethnic communities in the North and Degar Protestantism in the Central
Highlands are nothing but heretical beliefs" which "should be considered
evil and unlawful, and be eliminated" (Voice of Vietnam, 10 August
2004).
-- Vietnam new religious legislation aims to give a "veneer of
respectability" to its religious policies. But behind this facade is a
decades-old policy of repression, systematically planned and
methodically implemented at all levels in Vietnam, which aims to crush
all independent movements and place religions under the Communist
Party's control.
-- The most conclusive evidence of Vietnam's repressive religious
policies is 602-page Secret Communist Party document, of which my
Committee has obtained a copy that reveals a concerted and on- going
campaign to eliminate all independent religious movements, in particular
the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam.
This secret document, entitled "On Religions and the Struggle against
Activities Exploiting Religion - Internal Document for Study and
Circulation in the People's Security Services" is published by the
Institute of Public Security Science in Hanoi with a print-run of 1
million copies (all numbered to trace back eventual "leaks"). A
veritable instruction manual on religious persecution, it is distributed
to "all top-level Security cadres, ranking officers, police, research
cadres and instructors directly or indirectly participating in the
struggle against religions".
The document gives detailed directives on the policies and plans of the
Communist Party and the Ministry of Public Security to eradicate
"hostile forces and reactionaries who exploit religion"- i.e. all
"non-recognized religions" that refuse Communist Party control. It
orders Security Police and Party agents to ruthlessly combat all those
who "seek to exploit religion as a tool of their policies of "peaceful
evolution" in order to oppose our socialist regime".
The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) is identified as a crucial
actor in this plot and is accused of "advocating human rights, political
pluralism and the multi-party system in order to create social
instability and rebellion". The document gives clear instructions to
Party cadres and Security agents at every level to "oppose, repress,
isolate and divide" UBCV leaders and members, to promote only
State-sponsored "Buddhism with socialist orientations", and to make
concerted efforts to "wipe out the [UBCV] once and for all."
The document also gives instructions to train "special agents" for
infiltration into the UBCV, not only to report on UBCV activities, but
also to create schisms and dissent within its ranks. The "special
agents" would not only carry out intelligence activities within the UBCV
in Vietnam, but would extend these activities to the Buddhist community
overseas. "We urge the Politburo to coordinate activities between the
VCP's Departments of propaganda and mobilization, interior affairs,
foreign affairs, religious affairs and overseas Vietnamese to work
together on this policy". By infiltrating and creating divisions within
the Buddhist community overseas, the "special agents" would seek to
weaken the international pro-UBCV lobby, thus enabling the Communist
Party to "take pre-emptive action to prevent Western countries from
"making human rights investigations" or seeking to "visit dissident
religious personalities" in Vietnam.
-- Vietnam is actively putting these directives into practice: several
thousand "special agents" disguised as monks have been infiltrated into
UBCV pagodas in Vietnam where they keep permanent surveillance on all
the activities of the monks and followers, and several "so-called
Buddhist" web-sites operated by Hanoi's special agents publish
slanderous articles against prominent UBCV leaders and supporters in the
aim of stirring up public opinion against the UBCV and creating
divisions between Buddhists at home and abroad.
There can be no religious freedom until these policies have been
repealed, and until the VCP ceases to impose a political and ideological
monopoly on the people of Vietnam. Indeed, as Venerable Thich Quang Do
said in his "New Year's Letter", the basic prerequisites for religious
freedom are pluralism and democracy, for "the UBCV and other
non-recognized religions will never be free from religious repression
until a democratic process is under way".
Religious freedom is the key to peace and stability, especially in Asia,
with its diversity of great religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism,
Confucianism, Taoism, Islam... It is especially important in Vietnam,
where religious forces, especially Buddhism, have always played an
active in defending the people's freedoms and rights. Buddhism is a
religion of peace, tolerance and compassion, but it has vast human
resources and is strongly committed to its people's welfare. By
repressing Buddhism and all other "non-recognized" religions, Hanoi's
leaders are crushing Vietnam's sole civil society movements and stifling
the people's development for generations to come.
Hanoi's promises of religious freedom are meaningless if Vietnam is not
prepared to take one basic step - the re-establishment of the UBCV's
legitimate status. This is a fundamental prerequisite, and it is a test
of Vietnam's good will. The UBCV must have full religious freedom,
independent of the Communist Party and its "mass organizations" body,
the Vietnam Fatherland Front. And needless to say, it must have the
right to choose its own leaders, including Thich Huyen Quang and Thich
Quang Do without any interference by the state.
Conclusion :
Vietnam has opened its markets with the policy of "doi moi" - economic
liberalization under authoritarian control - but it remains one of the
most politically closed societies in the world. It is anxious to
integrate the international community, but it is trying to do this
whilst maintaining its people under totalitarian control.
Prime Minister Phan Van Khai's visit provides a crucial opportunity to
insist that improved relations with the United States depend on concrete
improvements in religious freedom and human rights. I urge Members of
Congress to make public statements during the Prime Ministers' visit, in
order to impress upon Vietnam at every possible opportunity that the
respect of human rights and religious freedoms is the foundation of US-
Vietnam bilateral relations.
- I call specifically on the administration to maintain Vietnam on the
list of "countries of particular concern" until tangible, measurable
progress has been made, specifically the release of UBCV Patriarch Thich
Huyen Quang and his Deputy Thich Quang Do, and the re-establishment of
the UBCV's legal status;
- monitoring mechanisms should be set up to assess implementation of the
May 5th Agreement with the State Department to ensure that Vietnam
fulfills its promises and resolves other serious concerns. The agreement
be rescinded if these pledges are not effectively fulfilled;
- Normal Trade Relations' status with Vietnam should be renewed annually
under the terms of the Jackson-Vanick Amendment and not granted on a
permanent basis. This gives an opportunity for Members of Congress to
seriously review Vietnam's human rights record keep Vietnam constantly
under pressure to respect human rights.
- promoting human rights and democracy in Vietnam should be inscribed in
legislation regarding the US-Vietnam trade relationship. In the absence
of a "human rights clause" in the Bilateral Trade Agreement, legislation
should be passed that links human rights and democracy provisions to
bilateral relations. I strongly support the provisions in the State
Department's budget authored by Congressman Chris Smith to support
democracy promotion in Vietnam;
- the United States should take a stronger public stand on human rights
and religious freedom in Vietnam in public forums such as the United
Nations. Despite the flagrant violations of key UN human rights treaties
such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to
which it is a state party, Vietnam routinely escapes public
condemnation.
I also call on President Bush to propose specific benchmarks for
improvement in human rights and religious freedom in his talks with
Prime Minister Phan Van Khai tomorrow and call for a true process of
democratization in Vietnam. Specifically, he should urge Vietnam to :
- release all those in prison or under house arrest for their nonviolent
religious and political convictions, including UBCV Patriarch Thich
Huyen Quang, the Very Venerable Thich Quang Do and the nine UBCV
leaders, cyber-dissidents Pham Hong Son, Nguyen Khac Toan, Nguyen Vu
Binh, Pastor Nguyen Hong Quang and all Montagnard Christians detained
their peaceful activities;
- re-establish the legitimate status of the banned Unified Buddhist
Church of Vietnam - as a first and foremost step towards religious
freedom - as well as that of other non-recognized religions. Full
freedom of religious activity must be guaranteed so they can contribute
to the social and spiritual welfare of the Vietnamese people;
- authorize the publication of private newspapers and media as a podium
for democratic debate ; authorize the creation of independent
associations such as free trade unions and non- governmental
organizations to foster the emergence of a vibrant and dynamic civil
society in Vietnam;
- foster development of the rule law by rescinding all legislation that
restricts the exercise of human rights and religious freedom, including
Decree 31/CP on "administrative detention", Decree 38/2005/ND-CP on
banning demonstrations; bring "national security" legislation into line
with the Johannesburg principles and the UN International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights as recommended by the UN Human Rights
Committee in July 2002 ; ensure that all laws adopted under the Legal
System Development Strategy comply with international human rights
standards ;
- abrogate Article 4 of the Vietnamese Constitution on the mastery of
the Communist Party so that all religious and political families may
equally participate in reconstructing a democratic and prosperous
Vietnam;
- allow a visit by the UN Representative on Human Rights Defenders and
the UN Rapporteur on Freedom of _Expression, as well as follow-up visits
by the UN Special Rapporteur on Religious Freedom and the UN Working
Group on Arbitrary Detention to monitor the situation of human rights
defenders and prisoners of conscience in Vietnam.
Vo Van Ai