by KKM Writer
12/03/07
In particular the US and as well as the free world have so far been buying into the communists that the only policy toward the communist countries is 'engagement'.
This policy is clearly not working with the communist Vietnam. Vietnam is more powerful than ever before their economic liberalization. Since its acceptance to ASEAN, APEC, and most importantly the WTO membership, Vietnam is economically somewhat self-dependent. Of recent events that Vietnam was offered a UN Security Council seat, Vietnam is on a roller-coaster ride on its repressive and corrupt regime.
Khmer-Krom people in the Mekong delta is clearly a victim of Vietnam's newly-gained clout over world affairs and its influence.
While Vietnam authorities are boasting their bogus successes and rhetorics at the United Nations, the Khmer-Krom people continue to face dire poverty, landlessness, religious oppression, political disappearance, eco-soc decay, and intimidations and harassments.
Khmer-Krom children are dropping out of school and the few Khmer-Krom graduates are facing high rate of unemployment. Khmer-Krom young and old are leaving their traditional towns and villages in search of employment in the Vietnamese-concentrated towns and cities.
Khmer-Krom's future is looking very bleak, while Vietnam is celebrating its success to continue its oppression against its ordinary citizens, including the indigenous Khmer-Krom in the Mekong Delta.
Cambodia: Khmer Krom monks fearful after abbot disappears
Last Updated 04/07/2007, 20:25:31
ABC Radio Australia
The disappearance of a high-profile abbot in Cambodia, Venerable Tim Sakhorn, has evoked grave concern among ethnic Khmer Krom communities around the world.
The Cambodian Ministry of the Interior says the abbot has voluntarily left Cambodia for southern Vietnam, but his family denies it, saying he has no reason to return as he has been head of his pagoda in Cambodia for years and fears persecution in his Vietnamese homeland.
The abbot of Phnom Den pagoda in Takeo province was defrocked last week by the supreme patriarch of Buddhist monks in Cambodia, Venerable Tep Vong, for an alleged attempt to undermine the relationship between Vietnam and Cambodia.
The Khmer Krom are an ethnic minority group living in the Mekong Delta regions of southern Vietnam and Cambodia which used to belong to Cambodia before Vietnam acquired it under French colonialism.
The head of the Khmer Krom Buddhist Association, Venerable Yin Sin, told Radio Australia's Khmer News that four monks have already fled Vietnam, through Cambodia and now on to Thailand, through fear of persecution, and another 11 have gone into hiding.
"The Khmer Krom have been living in fear, some have left Vietnam for safety reason, and now they are being followed," he said.
The head of the Khmer Krom community in Cambodia, Thach Setha, also expressed concern after the Cambodia Daily newspaper quoted a statement by the Cambodian supreme patriarch saying that defrocking another 11 Khmer Krom monks was possible.
Venerable Tep Vong said the monks could be drefrocked if found to have been involved in a violent brawl with local monks in April this year during a march protesting the Vietnam government's oppression of the ethnic Khmer who live in neighbouring Vietnam.
A spokesperson for the Cambodian Ministry of Interior said the ministry was not aware of the threat to defrock another 11 monks, but said once defrocked, the monks would lose their immunity from prosecution.
They could then be charged for any alleged crime or any activity deemed to be illegal or harming national security.
Cambodia's Khmer community leader Thach Setha told Radio Australia's Khmer News the community is seeking help from international human rights groups, as well diplomats, in citing Cambodia for political oppression.
Vietnam has recently been cited by human rights groups for political oppression of the Khmer Krom.
ABC Radio Australia
The disappearance of a high-profile abbot in Cambodia, Venerable Tim Sakhorn, has evoked grave concern among ethnic Khmer Krom communities around the world.
The Cambodian Ministry of the Interior says the abbot has voluntarily left Cambodia for southern Vietnam, but his family denies it, saying he has no reason to return as he has been head of his pagoda in Cambodia for years and fears persecution in his Vietnamese homeland.
The abbot of Phnom Den pagoda in Takeo province was defrocked last week by the supreme patriarch of Buddhist monks in Cambodia, Venerable Tep Vong, for an alleged attempt to undermine the relationship between Vietnam and Cambodia.
The Khmer Krom are an ethnic minority group living in the Mekong Delta regions of southern Vietnam and Cambodia which used to belong to Cambodia before Vietnam acquired it under French colonialism.
The head of the Khmer Krom Buddhist Association, Venerable Yin Sin, told Radio Australia's Khmer News that four monks have already fled Vietnam, through Cambodia and now on to Thailand, through fear of persecution, and another 11 have gone into hiding.
"The Khmer Krom have been living in fear, some have left Vietnam for safety reason, and now they are being followed," he said.
The head of the Khmer Krom community in Cambodia, Thach Setha, also expressed concern after the Cambodia Daily newspaper quoted a statement by the Cambodian supreme patriarch saying that defrocking another 11 Khmer Krom monks was possible.
Venerable Tep Vong said the monks could be drefrocked if found to have been involved in a violent brawl with local monks in April this year during a march protesting the Vietnam government's oppression of the ethnic Khmer who live in neighbouring Vietnam.
A spokesperson for the Cambodian Ministry of Interior said the ministry was not aware of the threat to defrock another 11 monks, but said once defrocked, the monks would lose their immunity from prosecution.
They could then be charged for any alleged crime or any activity deemed to be illegal or harming national security.
Cambodia's Khmer community leader Thach Setha told Radio Australia's Khmer News the community is seeking help from international human rights groups, as well diplomats, in citing Cambodia for political oppression.
Vietnam has recently been cited by human rights groups for political oppression of the Khmer Krom.
Vietnam's History of Encroachment on Its Neighbours: Kampuchea(Cambodia) and Lao
by KKM Freedom Writer
July 2, 2007
On June 30, 2007, the chief Buddhist monk--Nuon Nget of Takeo province, Cambodia, under the authorization by Cambodia's Supreme Patriarch Tep Vong and Hanoi's political influence, had illegally defrocked a Khmer-Krom's Bikkhu Tim Sakhorn, an Abbot of Phnom Den temple in Takeo.
The Hanoi's regime and the Phnom Penh's regime are allegedly accusing Bikkhu Tim Sakhorn as a figurehead of Khmer-Krom monks in Cambodia to cause political rip of the good relationship enjoying by Cambodia's communists and Vietnam's commists today.
The 1989 Withdrawal of Vietnamese troops from Cambodia is fruitful or not one must analyze in detail. To many Khmers' eyes and ears, the Hanoi-regime's influence on the Phnom Penh's communist never relinquish from the start. Ho Chi Minh, a Vietnamese communist leader, who has seeded in Khmer mainland (Cambodia) as well in Lao, the Vietnamese agents in all levels to carry ou the Vietnamization strategy of Indochina. Today Lao, the Vietnamese sons and daughters have silently occupied the key governments positions, and departments. With Laotian names but his/her blood is biologically Vietnamese. The only obstacle to Vietnamization of Lao is the Hmong's cause for independence from the Viet-Lao government. The Laotian current regime is determined to eradicate the Hmong's resistance at all costs.
In Cambodia today, the situation is no different from Lao. Chief of Cambodia's National Police - Hok Lundy is truely of Vietnamese origin who works closely with PM Hun Sen of Cambodia.
The few Khmer-Kroms in Cambodia who have fled their homeland--the Mekong delta (or Kampuchea Krom)under the Vietnamese' oppressions, are now being rounded-up by the Hanoi-backed Phnom Penh goverment as conducting illegal activities to free "Khmer-Krom".
The Khmer-Krom are truly stateless and nationless and the world still does not understand Khmer-Krom's plight? What is the price and how many more Khmer-Krom's life need to be sacrificed to the inhumane Vietcongs, before the world starts to realize our Khmer-Krom sufferings?
Vietnam and Communism's Victims
by Mike Benge
June 18, 2007 01:00 PM EST
Last Tuesday, June 12, President Bush spoke at the dedication of the Victims of Communism Memorial that honors the memories of those killed in communist regimes. He said their deaths should remind the American public "evil is real and must be confronted." Ironically, this Friday, June 22, President Bush will honor the president of a tyrannical communist regime that murdered over a million Vietnamese and ethnic minorities with a White House visit during which he has the opportunity to confront that evil.
Recently, dozens of democracy activists, journalists, cyber-dissidents and Christian and other religious leaders were arrested and imprisoned by the Vietnamese communists. Congressional leaders and human-rights groups have charged Hanoi with "unbridled human-rights abuses," the "worst wave of oppression in 20 years." Those recently arrested are but a few of the hundreds of political and religious prisoners in Vietnam; some have been tried, while those less visible simply "disappeared." This mounting crackdown is a deliberate diplomatic slap in the face of the United States.
Hanoi brazenly aired on TV the kangaroo court trial of Thaddeus Nguyen Van Father Ly, who was muzzled during the proceedings. In Vietnamese, the colloquial phrase for censorship is "bit mieng" -- to cover the mouth. The picture of Father Ly's muzzling seems a literal enactment of an old cliche. Denied representation, Father Ly was sentenced to eight years imprisonment.
Mr. Bush's endorsement for Hanoi's admission into the World Trade Organization at last year's Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Hanoi, the removal of Vietnam from listed as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), and the granting of Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) were all predicated on the Communist Party substantially improving its human-rights record.
It should come as no surprise that after the granting of these privileges, the Vietnamese communists continued and intensified their repression.
Though Vietnam professes great strides in religious freedom, one must look under the veneer to seek the truth. For example, in 2006, the Vietnamese government claimed that "25 denominations" had received certificates to carry on religious activities, when in fact they were only individual house churches.
The price of these certificates is the surrender of religious freedom. The church must submit to the central Bureau of Religious Affairs (CBA) a list of the names and addresses of members, and only those approved by the CBA can attend services. All sermons must be approved by the CBA, and all sermons, including those of minorities, must be given in Vietnamese. Pastors and priests can neither deviate from the approved sermon nor proselytize, and the CBA police monitor all services.
Montagnards, Hmong and other Christians, Khmer Krom Monks, members of the Cao Dai faith, and Hoa Hao are still relentlessly persecuted. This is what Hanoi calls religious freedom, and the U.S. administration was naive enough to believe them and removed them from the Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) list of countries that suppress religious freedom.
Recently, the Vietnamese communist regime demanded of the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues the cancellation of scheduled films to be screened at the May 22 forum. One film, "Hunted Like Animals," sponsored by the Hmong-Lao Human Rights Council depicted the genocide against the Hmong, and the other film depicted human-rights abuses against the Khmer Krom by the Vietnamese communists. It should come as no surprise that the United Nations acquiesced to the demands of the repressive Hanoi regime.
Reminiscent of the days of slavery in the "Old South," Montagnards who flee from repression in the Central Highlands are hunted down like wild animals. Vietnam pays bounties to Cambodian police for every Montagnard they catch and turn over to them. Vietnam considers refugees seeking asylum in another country to have violation its national security, punishable by imprisonment for up to 15 years.
Recently, three Montagnards were arrested by Cambodian police and charged with "human trafficking" for the so-called crime of aiding other Montagnards to flee the repression in Vietnam via the Montagnards' "underground railroad." Although Cambodia does little to stop the trafficking of children for prostitution, the communist regime is prosecuting these Montagnards on Vietnam's request in hopes it will convince the U.S. it is serious about trafficking. Vietnam pulls the strings of the marionette Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Reports continue from behind the curtain of silence drawn around the Central Highlands of the torture and deaths of Montagnard Christians. During a February trip to Hanoi, Ellen Sauerbrey, assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and migration, told a press conference that the Vietnamese officials assured her that Montagnards can freely travel to the Embassy in Hanoi or the Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City to voice any grievances.
She said Montagnards should stay in Vietnam and not seek asylum in Cambodia. Given the Vietnamese communists history of repression and broken promises, how can Mrs. Sauerbrey be naive enough to believe Montagnards suffering persecution would ever to be allowed through the phalanx of Vietnamese police surrounding the U.S. Embassy and Consulate?
As predicted, Hanoi has announced the release of a few token high-profile political prisoners in an attempt to smooth the way for the arrival of Vietnam's President Triet, and in hopes of placating President Bush, the State Department and Congress. Can this administration be gullible enough to fall for yet another charade by the Vietnamese communists?
President Bush, keeping faith in the spirit of the Victims of Communism Memorial that "evil is real and must be confronted," should demand of Vietnam's president the release of all of the hundreds of political prisoners including those recently arrested and the more than 350 Christian Montagnards that seem to have been forgotten by this administration.
Mike Benge is an advocate for human rights and religious freedom in South East Asia.
June 18, 2007 01:00 PM EST
Last Tuesday, June 12, President Bush spoke at the dedication of the Victims of Communism Memorial that honors the memories of those killed in communist regimes. He said their deaths should remind the American public "evil is real and must be confronted." Ironically, this Friday, June 22, President Bush will honor the president of a tyrannical communist regime that murdered over a million Vietnamese and ethnic minorities with a White House visit during which he has the opportunity to confront that evil.
Recently, dozens of democracy activists, journalists, cyber-dissidents and Christian and other religious leaders were arrested and imprisoned by the Vietnamese communists. Congressional leaders and human-rights groups have charged Hanoi with "unbridled human-rights abuses," the "worst wave of oppression in 20 years." Those recently arrested are but a few of the hundreds of political and religious prisoners in Vietnam; some have been tried, while those less visible simply "disappeared." This mounting crackdown is a deliberate diplomatic slap in the face of the United States.
Hanoi brazenly aired on TV the kangaroo court trial of Thaddeus Nguyen Van Father Ly, who was muzzled during the proceedings. In Vietnamese, the colloquial phrase for censorship is "bit mieng" -- to cover the mouth. The picture of Father Ly's muzzling seems a literal enactment of an old cliche. Denied representation, Father Ly was sentenced to eight years imprisonment.
Mr. Bush's endorsement for Hanoi's admission into the World Trade Organization at last year's Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Hanoi, the removal of Vietnam from listed as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), and the granting of Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) were all predicated on the Communist Party substantially improving its human-rights record.
It should come as no surprise that after the granting of these privileges, the Vietnamese communists continued and intensified their repression.
Though Vietnam professes great strides in religious freedom, one must look under the veneer to seek the truth. For example, in 2006, the Vietnamese government claimed that "25 denominations" had received certificates to carry on religious activities, when in fact they were only individual house churches.
The price of these certificates is the surrender of religious freedom. The church must submit to the central Bureau of Religious Affairs (CBA) a list of the names and addresses of members, and only those approved by the CBA can attend services. All sermons must be approved by the CBA, and all sermons, including those of minorities, must be given in Vietnamese. Pastors and priests can neither deviate from the approved sermon nor proselytize, and the CBA police monitor all services.
Montagnards, Hmong and other Christians, Khmer Krom Monks, members of the Cao Dai faith, and Hoa Hao are still relentlessly persecuted. This is what Hanoi calls religious freedom, and the U.S. administration was naive enough to believe them and removed them from the Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) list of countries that suppress religious freedom.
Recently, the Vietnamese communist regime demanded of the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues the cancellation of scheduled films to be screened at the May 22 forum. One film, "Hunted Like Animals," sponsored by the Hmong-Lao Human Rights Council depicted the genocide against the Hmong, and the other film depicted human-rights abuses against the Khmer Krom by the Vietnamese communists. It should come as no surprise that the United Nations acquiesced to the demands of the repressive Hanoi regime.
Reminiscent of the days of slavery in the "Old South," Montagnards who flee from repression in the Central Highlands are hunted down like wild animals. Vietnam pays bounties to Cambodian police for every Montagnard they catch and turn over to them. Vietnam considers refugees seeking asylum in another country to have violation its national security, punishable by imprisonment for up to 15 years.
Recently, three Montagnards were arrested by Cambodian police and charged with "human trafficking" for the so-called crime of aiding other Montagnards to flee the repression in Vietnam via the Montagnards' "underground railroad." Although Cambodia does little to stop the trafficking of children for prostitution, the communist regime is prosecuting these Montagnards on Vietnam's request in hopes it will convince the U.S. it is serious about trafficking. Vietnam pulls the strings of the marionette Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Reports continue from behind the curtain of silence drawn around the Central Highlands of the torture and deaths of Montagnard Christians. During a February trip to Hanoi, Ellen Sauerbrey, assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and migration, told a press conference that the Vietnamese officials assured her that Montagnards can freely travel to the Embassy in Hanoi or the Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City to voice any grievances.
She said Montagnards should stay in Vietnam and not seek asylum in Cambodia. Given the Vietnamese communists history of repression and broken promises, how can Mrs. Sauerbrey be naive enough to believe Montagnards suffering persecution would ever to be allowed through the phalanx of Vietnamese police surrounding the U.S. Embassy and Consulate?
As predicted, Hanoi has announced the release of a few token high-profile political prisoners in an attempt to smooth the way for the arrival of Vietnam's President Triet, and in hopes of placating President Bush, the State Department and Congress. Can this administration be gullible enough to fall for yet another charade by the Vietnamese communists?
President Bush, keeping faith in the spirit of the Victims of Communism Memorial that "evil is real and must be confronted," should demand of Vietnam's president the release of all of the hundreds of political prisoners including those recently arrested and the more than 350 Christian Montagnards that seem to have been forgotten by this administration.
Mike Benge is an advocate for human rights and religious freedom in South East Asia.
The Vietnamese communist leader Nguyen Minh Triet's visit to the US
June 21, 2007
by KKM Freedom Writer
The communist regime of Vietnam is trying to imitate the communist China's path: "building a powerful economy and then walk away from the West, in particular the US on human rights". Today China, based on its powerful economy, is trying make friends with nations that the free world considers rogue nations--namely Sudan, Burma, Iran, etc. It is a tragedy that the world continues to empower the communist China, while its regime continue to silence and oppress its own people in the name of human rights.
Vietnam is walking on the similar steps as today China. It is the greedy bosses of the West that see profits over long-term survival of the free world. What is really the role of these transnational corporations? These transnational corporations certainly do not possess the moral responsibility to better humanity but themselves.
And then what is the role of the free world political leaders such as the US, Japan, UK, France, Canada, Australia, etc? To grant these rogue states and/or the communist regimes into WTO is already a tragic cause for humanity--analogously "to feed a hungry tiger!" The Rises of China is the Rise of communism. The Rises of Vietnam is so too the Rise of communism. Do not forget that Vietnamese communists are making trips back and forth to Beijing and Havana, while trying to steal technological know-hows and economic well-being from the West--in particular from the US and Europe.
The free world is too preoccupied with fighting terrorism, while allowing communism slipping through the cracks. The revival of communism in China is evidenced, per its build-up of military capabilities from its economic growth. Not only that, China today is to overcast a cloud over entire Asia, if not the world yet.
by KKM Freedom Writer
The communist regime of Vietnam is trying to imitate the communist China's path: "building a powerful economy and then walk away from the West, in particular the US on human rights". Today China, based on its powerful economy, is trying make friends with nations that the free world considers rogue nations--namely Sudan, Burma, Iran, etc. It is a tragedy that the world continues to empower the communist China, while its regime continue to silence and oppress its own people in the name of human rights.
Vietnam is walking on the similar steps as today China. It is the greedy bosses of the West that see profits over long-term survival of the free world. What is really the role of these transnational corporations? These transnational corporations certainly do not possess the moral responsibility to better humanity but themselves.
And then what is the role of the free world political leaders such as the US, Japan, UK, France, Canada, Australia, etc? To grant these rogue states and/or the communist regimes into WTO is already a tragic cause for humanity--analogously "to feed a hungry tiger!" The Rises of China is the Rise of communism. The Rises of Vietnam is so too the Rise of communism. Do not forget that Vietnamese communists are making trips back and forth to Beijing and Havana, while trying to steal technological know-hows and economic well-being from the West--in particular from the US and Europe.
The free world is too preoccupied with fighting terrorism, while allowing communism slipping through the cracks. The revival of communism in China is evidenced, per its build-up of military capabilities from its economic growth. Not only that, China today is to overcast a cloud over entire Asia, if not the world yet.
Stateless Khmer-Kroms from the Mekong Delta
May 25, 2007
by KKM Staff
Is there a place on the planet Earth for Khmer-Krom? Currently, the answer is no! Khmer-Krom's homeland (the Mekong Delta) is currently being colonized by the state of Vietnam. The repressive Vietnamese colonizers have so far destroyed the social fabric and way-of-life that were deep-rooted in Khmer-Krom society. Khmer-Krom's traditional farmlands have mostly owned by the Vietnamese. Traditional ceremonies which have been practised by Khmer-Krom for centuries slowly abandoned due to State's strict policies and due to lack of younger generation to carry it forward. Many Khmer-Krom young have now left their traditional villages and towns for the odd jobs in the Vietnamese urban cities.
Khmer-Krom's origin is the Funan's people. The state of Funan was then amalgamated with Chenla state to establish Kampuchea (today Cambodia). Since the southern expansion of the Vietnamese north from southern China, Khmer-Krom's homeland have slowly fallen under the domination of the Vietnamese newcomers.
Today, very few Khmer-Kroms own lands and properties and become slaves in their homeland. Most of them are equipped with very little education. Most don't even speak/write their own Khmer language, due to lack of access. Even if they go to school they can only learn in Vietnamese.
Khmer-Krom are truly stateless. In their homeland--the Mekong delta(south Vietnam), the Vietnamese refer to them as "nguoi Mien" meaning Khmer people in Vietnamese language. While in Cambodia, Khmer-Kroms are called Khmer, but not legally binding as Khmer citizen. They do not receive proper legal status. Even if they do they must agree to give up their place of origin. They must declare that they were born in Cambodia instead.
Because Khmer-Krom are called Khmer loosely by Cambodia, the world do not consider them as refugee even though they fled their homeland, mostly due to political reasons.
by KKM Staff
Is there a place on the planet Earth for Khmer-Krom? Currently, the answer is no! Khmer-Krom's homeland (the Mekong Delta) is currently being colonized by the state of Vietnam. The repressive Vietnamese colonizers have so far destroyed the social fabric and way-of-life that were deep-rooted in Khmer-Krom society. Khmer-Krom's traditional farmlands have mostly owned by the Vietnamese. Traditional ceremonies which have been practised by Khmer-Krom for centuries slowly abandoned due to State's strict policies and due to lack of younger generation to carry it forward. Many Khmer-Krom young have now left their traditional villages and towns for the odd jobs in the Vietnamese urban cities.
Khmer-Krom's origin is the Funan's people. The state of Funan was then amalgamated with Chenla state to establish Kampuchea (today Cambodia). Since the southern expansion of the Vietnamese north from southern China, Khmer-Krom's homeland have slowly fallen under the domination of the Vietnamese newcomers.
Today, very few Khmer-Kroms own lands and properties and become slaves in their homeland. Most of them are equipped with very little education. Most don't even speak/write their own Khmer language, due to lack of access. Even if they go to school they can only learn in Vietnamese.
Khmer-Krom are truly stateless. In their homeland--the Mekong delta(south Vietnam), the Vietnamese refer to them as "nguoi Mien" meaning Khmer people in Vietnamese language. While in Cambodia, Khmer-Kroms are called Khmer, but not legally binding as Khmer citizen. They do not receive proper legal status. Even if they do they must agree to give up their place of origin. They must declare that they were born in Cambodia instead.
Because Khmer-Krom are called Khmer loosely by Cambodia, the world do not consider them as refugee even though they fled their homeland, mostly due to political reasons.
Vietnam crackdown sparks call to action
Posted on May 14, 2007 | by Tom Strode
WASHINGTON (BP)--The United States should compel Vietnam to reverse its crackdown on human rights that occurred after the communist regime received favorable treatment from Washington, witnesses said at a recent congressional hearing.
Southern Baptist church-state specialist Richard Land testified on behalf of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, reiterating the panel's recommendation that Vietnam be returned to a list of the world's worst violators of religious liberty and urging Congress to support human rights in the Southeast Asian country.
White House and congressional leaders also have protested the renewed suppression.
Vietnam made some improvements in its policies regarding religious expression and other human rights during the previous 18 months, but it renewed some repressive practices in February, according to testimony May 10 to the Congressional Human Rights Caucus. The regime's crackdown resulted in lengthy prison sentences for several peaceful, pro-democracy activists, the panel was told.
This repression followed on the heels of some foreign policy victories for the Vietnamese government. In November, the U.S. State Department announced it had removed Vietnam from its "countries of particular concern" (CPCs), a designation for particularly severe violators of religious freedom. In December, Congress approved Permanent Normal Trade Relations for Vietnam. In January, the country officially was accepted into the World Trade Organization.
Vietnam "is a country with a rapidly liberalizing economy and yet still a repressive -– and sometimes brutal –- government," said Land, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.
Diem Do, chairman of the Vietnam Reform Party, told caucus members the removal of CPC designation, as well as the attainment of PNTR status and entry into the WTO, gave Vietnam, in effect, all it "cherished" and enabled the regime's leaders to "consolidate their power."
The government "tolerated the democracy movement, and now that tolerance is no longer needed," he said.
Land re-emphasized the USCIRF's displeasure with the State Department's removal of Vietnam from the CPC list. Only eight days before his testimony, the commission had urged in its annual report the return of the regime to that designation.
Removing CPC status for Vietnam "was not fully warranted by the facts on the ground" and was premature, Land said at the hearing. The State Department "looked at the situation in Vietnam, and they saw a glass that was half full, and we see a glass that's half-empty and may be getting more empty," he said.
The lifting of Vietnam's CPC designation "was too soon, we argued at the time, to determine whether promises of religious freedom improvement and legal reforms would last beyond Vietnam's accession to the World Trade Organization," Land said. "Sadly, it appears that they did not."
Vietnam desires "American investment to expand its economy as rapidly as it wants to, and so as long as we have bilateral relations with Vietnam we can make human rights concerns and make religious freedom concerns part of the dialogue if we want to," Land said. "I think that's the choice that we face as a government. Will our policy be to de-couple these or to couple them? And we would strongly urge for the sake of the Vietnamese people and for the sake of their future that these would continue to be coupled and coupled even more closely than they are now."
On the same day as the hearing, the White House released a statement protesting Vietnam's incarceration of democracy advocates and its recent action to keep people from visiting a member of Congress at the U.S. ambassador's home. Press Secretary Tony Snow said such suppression "is anachronistic and out of keeping with Vietnam's desire to prosper, modernize and take a more prominent role in world affairs."
The House of Representatives voted unanimously May 2 for legislation condemning the crackdown. The bill, H.R. 243, deplores the Vietnamese government's limitations on freedom of speech, religion and association. It also questions Vietnam's fitness for membership on the U.N. Security Council without change. The House voted 404-0 for the measure, which is sponsored by Rep. Chris Smith, R.-N.J.
Diem Do told caucus members that the democracy movement in his country has "more determination and strength than ever before," despite what he described as "32 years of continuous persecution and brutal reign of terror."
"Never before [have] the communist authorities seen such a grassroots movement represented by so many independent political parties and organizations openly challenging their rule," he said. "It is no longer the question of if democracy will triumph in Vietnam, but when."
Land called for Congress to maintain supervision of the human rights dialogue between Washington and Hanoi. He urged U.S. funds devoted to a development program be targeted for ethnic minorities, whose property rights and religious liberty are being restricted. Land also called on corporations with a presence in Vietnam to work for the advance of human rights.
Do encouraged the United States to press Vietnam to release several democracy advocates from prison and to urge the regime to stop jamming the signals of Radio Free Asia.
Land named as particular targets of government repression ethnic minority Protestants in the Central Highlands region and Northwest provinces, Hmong Protestants, Vietnamese Mennonites, Khmer Buddhists and leaders of the Unified Buddhist Church.
He said the USCIRF has requested a visit to Vietnam as early as this summer.
WASHINGTON (BP)--The United States should compel Vietnam to reverse its crackdown on human rights that occurred after the communist regime received favorable treatment from Washington, witnesses said at a recent congressional hearing.
Southern Baptist church-state specialist Richard Land testified on behalf of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, reiterating the panel's recommendation that Vietnam be returned to a list of the world's worst violators of religious liberty and urging Congress to support human rights in the Southeast Asian country.
White House and congressional leaders also have protested the renewed suppression.
Vietnam made some improvements in its policies regarding religious expression and other human rights during the previous 18 months, but it renewed some repressive practices in February, according to testimony May 10 to the Congressional Human Rights Caucus. The regime's crackdown resulted in lengthy prison sentences for several peaceful, pro-democracy activists, the panel was told.
This repression followed on the heels of some foreign policy victories for the Vietnamese government. In November, the U.S. State Department announced it had removed Vietnam from its "countries of particular concern" (CPCs), a designation for particularly severe violators of religious freedom. In December, Congress approved Permanent Normal Trade Relations for Vietnam. In January, the country officially was accepted into the World Trade Organization.
Vietnam "is a country with a rapidly liberalizing economy and yet still a repressive -– and sometimes brutal –- government," said Land, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.
Diem Do, chairman of the Vietnam Reform Party, told caucus members the removal of CPC designation, as well as the attainment of PNTR status and entry into the WTO, gave Vietnam, in effect, all it "cherished" and enabled the regime's leaders to "consolidate their power."
The government "tolerated the democracy movement, and now that tolerance is no longer needed," he said.
Land re-emphasized the USCIRF's displeasure with the State Department's removal of Vietnam from the CPC list. Only eight days before his testimony, the commission had urged in its annual report the return of the regime to that designation.
Removing CPC status for Vietnam "was not fully warranted by the facts on the ground" and was premature, Land said at the hearing. The State Department "looked at the situation in Vietnam, and they saw a glass that was half full, and we see a glass that's half-empty and may be getting more empty," he said.
The lifting of Vietnam's CPC designation "was too soon, we argued at the time, to determine whether promises of religious freedom improvement and legal reforms would last beyond Vietnam's accession to the World Trade Organization," Land said. "Sadly, it appears that they did not."
Vietnam desires "American investment to expand its economy as rapidly as it wants to, and so as long as we have bilateral relations with Vietnam we can make human rights concerns and make religious freedom concerns part of the dialogue if we want to," Land said. "I think that's the choice that we face as a government. Will our policy be to de-couple these or to couple them? And we would strongly urge for the sake of the Vietnamese people and for the sake of their future that these would continue to be coupled and coupled even more closely than they are now."
On the same day as the hearing, the White House released a statement protesting Vietnam's incarceration of democracy advocates and its recent action to keep people from visiting a member of Congress at the U.S. ambassador's home. Press Secretary Tony Snow said such suppression "is anachronistic and out of keeping with Vietnam's desire to prosper, modernize and take a more prominent role in world affairs."
The House of Representatives voted unanimously May 2 for legislation condemning the crackdown. The bill, H.R. 243, deplores the Vietnamese government's limitations on freedom of speech, religion and association. It also questions Vietnam's fitness for membership on the U.N. Security Council without change. The House voted 404-0 for the measure, which is sponsored by Rep. Chris Smith, R.-N.J.
Diem Do told caucus members that the democracy movement in his country has "more determination and strength than ever before," despite what he described as "32 years of continuous persecution and brutal reign of terror."
"Never before [have] the communist authorities seen such a grassroots movement represented by so many independent political parties and organizations openly challenging their rule," he said. "It is no longer the question of if democracy will triumph in Vietnam, but when."
Land called for Congress to maintain supervision of the human rights dialogue between Washington and Hanoi. He urged U.S. funds devoted to a development program be targeted for ethnic minorities, whose property rights and religious liberty are being restricted. Land also called on corporations with a presence in Vietnam to work for the advance of human rights.
Do encouraged the United States to press Vietnam to release several democracy advocates from prison and to urge the regime to stop jamming the signals of Radio Free Asia.
Land named as particular targets of government repression ethnic minority Protestants in the Central Highlands region and Northwest provinces, Hmong Protestants, Vietnamese Mennonites, Khmer Buddhists and leaders of the Unified Buddhist Church.
He said the USCIRF has requested a visit to Vietnam as early as this summer.
Tribute to Mr. Son Tuon--Former Leader of KKF
Source: KKN
February 19,2007
It is with great sad news to receive the pass-away of a young Khmer Krom leader, Mr. Son Tuon. Mr. Son Tuon held a master degree in Aerospace and had worked for Boeing Aerospace as a senior engineer, prior to his illness.
Mr. Son Tuon also served in Para army (backed by the US) during his time spent in the refugee camp along Cambodia-Thailand border, to free Cambodia from the Vietnamese' occupation.
Mr. Son Tuon composed many Khmer patriotic songs dedicated to the sufferings of Khmer Krom in the homeland of Kampuchea-Krom (the Delta Mekong), south Vietnam.
The greatest achievement of all was his involvement with the creation the Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation(KKF). During his leadership, he had led Khmer Krom to the UN's indigenous peoples forum in 2004. He was instrumental to the successes of the KKF and its future's goals. During his sick time in bed, Mr. Son Tuon was serving as KKF's senior advisor.
Mr. Son Tuon and with today KKF's leaders have paved a roadmap to Kampuchea Krom: our homeland.
We thank Mr. Son Tuon for his service and great cause for Khmer Krom's survival. Mr. Son Tuon will be missed by all.
February 19,2007
It is with great sad news to receive the pass-away of a young Khmer Krom leader, Mr. Son Tuon. Mr. Son Tuon held a master degree in Aerospace and had worked for Boeing Aerospace as a senior engineer, prior to his illness.
Mr. Son Tuon also served in Para army (backed by the US) during his time spent in the refugee camp along Cambodia-Thailand border, to free Cambodia from the Vietnamese' occupation.
Mr. Son Tuon composed many Khmer patriotic songs dedicated to the sufferings of Khmer Krom in the homeland of Kampuchea-Krom (the Delta Mekong), south Vietnam.
The greatest achievement of all was his involvement with the creation the Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation(KKF). During his leadership, he had led Khmer Krom to the UN's indigenous peoples forum in 2004. He was instrumental to the successes of the KKF and its future's goals. During his sick time in bed, Mr. Son Tuon was serving as KKF's senior advisor.
Mr. Son Tuon and with today KKF's leaders have paved a roadmap to Kampuchea Krom: our homeland.
We thank Mr. Son Tuon for his service and great cause for Khmer Krom's survival. Mr. Son Tuon will be missed by all.
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