Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the courageous leadership of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam and the urgent need for religious freedom and related human rights in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Congratulates the new leadership of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam.

Urges the Government of Vietnam to: (1) respect the right of all independent religious organizations to freely practice their faith; and (2) release all Vietnamese citizens imprisoned for doing so, especially the Most Venerable Thich Huyen Quang and the Very Venerable Thich Quang Do.

Urges the implementation of the recommendations of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Urges the United States Embassy in Vietnam to closely monitor cases of abuse of religious belief and practice and report to the Congress on specific measures taken to protect and promote religious freedom in Vietnam.

[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 427 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 427

  Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the 
courageous leadership of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam and the 
   urgent need for religious freedom and related human rights in the 
                     Socialist Republic of Vietnam.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 30, 2003

   Ms. Loretta Sanchez of California (for herself, Mr. Smith of New 
    Jersey, Ms. Lofgren, Mr. Tom Davis of Virginia, and Mr. Royce) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                       on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the 
courageous leadership of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam and the 
   urgent need for religious freedom and related human rights in the 
                     Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Whereas Buddhism has a 2,000-year tradition in Vietnam and the Unified Buddhist 
        Church of Vietnam (UBCV) is an heir to this tradition;
Whereas the Government of Vietnam in 1981 declared the UBCV, the largest 
        religious denomination in the country, illegal, confiscated its temples, 
        and persecuted its clergy for refusing to join the state-sponsored 
        Buddhist organizations;
Whereas the Government of Vietnam has often imprisoned UBCV clergy and subjected 
        them to other forms of persecution; the Patriarch of the UBCV, the 85-
        year-old Most Venerable Thich Huyen Quang, has been detained for 21 
        years in a decrepit temple in an isolated area of central Vietnam;
Whereas the Vietnamese Government has held the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, 
        the Executive President of the UBCV and his deputy, the Venerable Thich 
        Tue Sy, in various forms of detention since 1977;
Whereas the Very Venerable Thich Thien Minh, Supreme Counselor of the UBCV, was 
        tortured to death in a reeducation camp in 1978;
Whereas many other leading UBCV figures, including Thich Thien Hanh, Thich Phuoc 
        An, Thich Dong Tho, Thich Vien Dinh, Thich Thai Hoa, Thich Nguyen Ly, 
        Thich Thanh Huyen, Thich Khong Tanh, Thich Phuoc Vien, Thich Hai Tang, 
        Thich Dong Tho, Thich Nguyen Vuong, Thich Chi Mau, Thich Chi Thang, and 
        Thich Thanh Quang have been detained, harassed, and under tight 
        surveillance;
Whereas several members of the UBCV have fled to Cambodia to escape religious 
        repression and harassment;
Whereas Thich Tri Luc was kidnapped in Cambodia by Vietnamese authorities after 
        being given refugee status by the United Nations High Commissioner for 
        Refugees (UNHCR), forcibly repatriated, and held incommunicado for a 
        year, and now stands charged with the vague crime of ``fleeing abroad or 
        defecting overseas with the intent to oppose the people's 
        administration'' that carries the possible sentence of life 
        imprisonment;
Whereas Vietnam has acceded to international covenants and treaties that 
        prohibit the forced repatriation of UNHCR-recognized refugees;
Whereas Vietnam has acceded to international covenants and treaties that protect 
        the right to faith, belief, and practice;
Whereas Vietnam's constitution protects the right of religious belief;
Whereas in a show of religious tolerance, the Vietnamese Government in April 
        2003 allowed the Most Venerable Thich Huyen Quang, the Fourth Supreme 
        Patriarch of the UBCV, to receive urgent medical care in Hanoi;
Whereas at that time, Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai met with Venerable 
        Thich Huyen Quang and assured him that his and Venerable Thich Quang 
        Do's detention were mistakes by local officials and that he hoped they 
        would extend Buddhist forgiveness toward past actions of the government;
Whereas in June 2003, the Vietnamese Government ended the detention order 
        against Venerable Thich Quang Do, the Executive President of the UBCV;
Whereas in September and October 2003, the UBCV held a meeting in Nguyen Thieu 
        Pagoda in Binh Dinh province to discuss church affairs, choose a new 
        leadership which had been vacant for a decade, and verify Vietnamese 
        Prime Minister Phan Van Khai's promise of a new era of understanding and 
        respect;
Whereas Vietnamese authorities attempted to disrupt these gatherings by 
        restricting the travel of monks from other provinces and then 
        intimidating those attending;
Whereas on October 8, 2003, Vietnamese authorities initiated a tense standoff 
        following the meeting, where police stopped a vehicle carrying the 
        UBCV's new leadership and subsequently detained the eleven passengers;
Whereas Venerables Thich Huyen Quang and Thich Quang Do were taken to their 
        respective pagodas where they have been effectively isolated and 
        detained; four senior monks, the Venerable Thich Tue Sy, Thich Thanh 
        Huyen, Thich Nguyen Ly, and the UBCV Supreme Patriarch's personal 
        assistant, Venerable Thich Dong Tho, were immediately sentenced to 24 
        months of administrative detainment by written orders of the Ho Chi Minh 
        City People's Committee, and three others, the Venerables Thich Thien 
        Hanh, Thich Thai Hoa, and Thich Nguyen Vuong to 24 months administrative 
        detainment by ``oral'' orders from various local authorities, in protest 
        of which the Venerable Thich Thien Hanh initiated a hunger strike on 
        October 19, 2003;
Whereas according to reports by the United States State Department, the United 
        States Commission on International Religious Freedom, and the European 
        Union, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam systematically limits the right 
        of religious organizations to choose their own clergy; prior to the UBCV 
        incidents, authorities tried to restrict the Vatican's appointment of 
        Archbishop Pham Minh Man to the position of Cardinal, but subsequently 
        changed their position due to external pressure;
Whereas according to these same reports, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam uses 
        house arrest and long prison sentences to punish individuals for 
        practicing their faith, as evidenced also by the jail sentences handed 
        down to Father Nguyen Van Ly, his three relatives, Christian 
        Montagnards, and Hoa Hao Buddhists; and
Whereas because of systematic, egregious, and ongoing abuses of religious 
        freedom, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom 
        recommended that the President of the United States designate Vietnam as 
        a ``country of particular concern'' under the provisions of the 
        International Religious Freedom Act of 1998: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) congratulates the new leadership of the Unified 
        Buddhist Church of Vietnam;
            (2) urges the Government of Vietnam to respect the right of 
        all independent religious organizations to meet, worship, 
        operate, and practice their faith in accordance with Vietnam's 
        own constitution and international covenants to which Vietnam 
        is a signatory;
            (3) urges the Government of Vietnam to restore freedom to 
        all Vietnamese citizens imprisoned or under house arrest for 
        practicing their faith or for advocating freedom of religion, 
        especially the Most Venerable Thich Huyen Quang and the Very 
        Venerable Thich Quang Do;
            (4) is committed to promoting religious freedom in Vietnam, 
        and, in furtherance of this goal, urges the Congress to pass, 
        and the President to sign into law, the Vietnam Human Rights 
        Act, and urges the Congress and the executive branch to 
        implement the recommendations of the United States Commission 
        on International Religious Freedom; and
            (5) urges the United States Embassy in Vietnam to closely 
        monitor cases of abuse of religious belief and practice, 
        routinely visit detained clergy members, especially those in 
        need of medical care, and report to the Congress on specific 
        measures taken to protect and promote religious freedom in 
        Vietnam.
                                 <all>