Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I will add that in Vietnam right now all religious activities or organizations must be registered with the government and approved by the government. They have used this requirement for two purposes. One is to crowd out and neutralize.... Actually, they have outlawed and banned m

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Many people choose not to go to those churches; therefore, there's a movement of house churches in Vietnam, and they have been severely, brutally suppressed. For instance, between 2001 and 2004 alone over 4,000 house churches of the Protestant Montagnard mountain people, an ethni

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes, and that is workers' rights, the right of all workers in Vietnam to form their own free and independent labour unions.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  May I answer very quickly?

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  There are three basic freedoms that form the cornerstone of civil society. The Vietnamese government views civil society as a potential threat to its monopoly of power. The first freedom is freedom of expression. If you can spread the words, if you can share your ideas, that cou

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  That's correct. I'm talking about the genuine grouping of citizens and individuals in society to address their own issues and problems, and also to change the social rules that govern society. But that is not being allowed in Vietnam. Only the GONGOs are allowed in Vietnam. The

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  To address the first question, Vietnam today is no longer the Vietnam that existed back in the 1970s. It has opened its door to the world, because it needs to survive economically. Starting last year, when China erected an oil rig in the South China Sea—which is part of Vietnames

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes. This is very important because, first of all, Vietnam now needs the TPP more than Canada or the U.S. needs Vietnam. Secondly, there ought to be enforceable mechanisms built into the TPP to monitor and also enforce the commitments of Vietnam. We know of many preceding cases

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Corruption is part of the problem, the bigger, major issue facing Vietnam because there's no civil society. There are no watchdog organizations. As a matter of fact just recently a reporter—actually he's the chief editor of a state-owned magazine—exposed corruption and now is st

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Mr. Chairman and distinguished members of the subcommittee. Last year I appeared before the subcommittee to address the trafficking of Vietnamese workers in some 40 countries across the globe, such as Malaysia, Taiwan, Jordan, France, England, Cyprus, and even America, and Alger

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you. Mr. Chairman and distinguished members of the committee, I have been monitoring the conditions in Vietnam for at least 20 years now. I have to say that we are in the midst of the worst political crackdown for the past 30 years in Vietnam, but today I will focus on lab