Delegates to Urge Rights in Vietnam

A delegation of 11 Vietnamese American leaders from Southern California, nine of them from Orange County, joined a national coalition Sunday in Washington, D.C., to begin a four-day congressional lobbying mission to ensure that any economic privileges given to Vietnam come with human rights concessions.

It is the first organized lobbying trip on human rights issues in Vietnam and by far the largest, with about 35 representatives from a dozen Vietnamese American communities nationwide including Texas, Washington, Florida and Virginia.

The effort is timed to coincide with Congress’ upcoming review of the Jackson-Vanik trade waiver signed by President Clinton in March, a move that brings the two countries toward closer economic ties.

“For all the economic incentives we give Vietnam, let’s make sure we get concessions in return,” said attorney and community activist Van Thai Tran. “The Vietnamese government has gotten away with doing nothing. At this point, the Vietnamese American community is saying, ‘Enough is enough.’ ”

The lobbying comes on the heels of growing efforts by Vietnamese Americans to spotlight religious oppression and human rights violations in Vietnam.

In Orange County last month, 20,000 Vietnamese Americans attended a celebration of Buddha’s birthday that was underscored by protests over the persecution of Buddhist monks in the Southeast Asian nation. Last year, more than 5,000 people attended a rally in Santa Ana Stadium to publicize the alleged abuses by the Communist regime.

“The government is keeping tight control over organized religion because, from their perspective, that is where the trouble may come out,” said delegate and attorney Lan Nguyen of Westminster, who heads a refugee advocacy group.

Nguyen said human rights groups have accounted for about 160 clergy from the Catholic, Buddhist, Cao Dai and Hoa Hao religions who have been imprisoned for their beliefs. Many other people, including artists and writers, are being held as political prisoners.

“We want to present the picture of conditions in Vietnam,” Nguyen said. “We want to make sure our representatives know what is going on.”

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The group has a whirlwind schedule planned, with visits to about 40 Congress members as well as State Department officials already confirmed. Among those are Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton), Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach), Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove), Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas) and Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.).

The cause of human rights in Vietnam already has gained many longtime congressional allies. Today’s events include the fourth annual Vietnam Human Rights Day, sponsored by 25 senators and House members including Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

In particular, the group will be pushing three pieces of legislation. One would establish an office to monitor religious persecution in restrictive nations, and the other two deal with the Jackson-Vanik waiver by putting the brakes on closer economic ties.

A couple of months ago, the Orange County group began its grass-roots work, mobilizing nationally after Clinton granted the waiver, which cleared one more barrier toward full-scale trade with Vietnam. In doing so, he exempted the country from the Jackson-Vanik Amendment, a Cold War-era law that bans the United States from giving trade and investment funding to nations that don’t allow free emigration for their citizens.

Many Vietnamese Americans are fearful that family members in their homeland, who are eligible to come to the U.S. under the Resettlement Opportunity for Vietnamese Returnees program, will now be delayed, since the Vietnamese government would have less reason to expedite their emigration. About 15,000 refugees are potentially eligible for entry, Nguyen said.

Up to this point, Clinton’s policy on Vietnam has been steady political and economic normalization. On a trip to Orange County last year, Ambassador Pete Peterson made it clear the president has no intention of directly tying economic benefits to human rights reforms.

Ultimately, the waiver is intended to pave the way for Vietnam to benefit from most-favored-nation trading privileges, which would allow Vietnamese goods to be sold in the United States at the same, low tariff rates enjoyed by others.

But coalition members want to slow down the process and force the Vietnamese government to enact human rights reforms and restore religious freedom first.

“Now is the best time to gain leverage. They need us. We don’t need them,” said Diem Do, one of the trip’s main organizers and a member of the National United Front for the Liberation of Vietnam. “No economic benefits till we see a clear improvement in human rights.”