Speech #1090121859

Now that the dialogue has been resumed. at Hanois request. it is both imperative and opportune for the administration and Congress to pressure Hanoi for more deeds than words. Vietnam needs to show that it is not merely trying to smooth out some minor "misunderstandings" which get in the way of Vietnams important economic and political goals. but rather that it has made a fundamental commitment to human rights and reform. and to fulfilling its intemational commitments. a fundamental commitment which will not be forgotten after it has achieved those goals. Section 702 of Public Law 107671 requires the Department to submit a report on the U.S.Vietnam Human Rights Dialogue within 60 days of its conclusion "describing to what extent the Government of Vietnam has made progress during the calendar year toward achieving the following objectives: (1) Improving the Govemment of Vietnams commercial and criminal codes to bring them into conformity with international standards. including the repeal of the Government of Vietnams administrative detention decree (Directive 31 1/CP). (2) Releasing political and religious activists who have been imprisoned or otherwise detained by the Government of Vietnam. and ceasing surveillance and harassment of those who have been released. (3) Ending official restrictions on religious activity. including implementing the recommendations of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance. (4) Promoting freedom for the press. including freedom of movement of members of the Vietnamese and foreign press. (5) Improving prison conditions and providing transparency in the penal system of Vietnam. including implementing the recommendations of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. (6) Respecting the basic rights of indigenous minority groups. especially in the central and northern highlands of Vietnam. (7) Respecting the basic rights of workers. including working with the International Labor Organization to improve mechanisms for promoting such rights. (8) Cooperating with requests by the United States to obtain full and free access to persons who may be eligible for admission to the United States as refugees or immigrants. and allowing such persons to leave Vietnam without being subjected to extortion or other corrupt practices. So far. all the evidence suggests. however. that Vietnam still has a long way to go before it can convince us that it has made any fundamental and lasting change in its human rights policy. The State Departments Human Rights report on Vietnam for 2005. upgraded Vietnams Human Rights record from "poor" to merely "unsatisfactory." Freedom House still rates Vietnam as "unfree." but it is no longer at the absolute bottom of the repression scale.