The Alliance delegation briefed the foreign office on efforts by overseas Vietnamese demanding Hanoi to release seven prominent dissidents: Venerables Thich Huyen Quang and Thich Quang Do, Father Tran Dinh Thu, Professors Doan Viet Hoat and Nguyen Dinh Huy, Dr. Nguyen Dan Que, and former party member Nguyen Ho.
Over 30 members of the French parliament have written letters in support of these dissidents. In addition, 400 overseas Vietnamese organizations and leaders have signed on to the campaign.
During their hour long meeting, Messrs. Duc and Lavroff, vice-chairman for Asian affairs at the Foreign Ministry, exchanged information on the human rights situation in Vietnam and the country's growing dissident movement. The delegation raised the case of Nguyen Ho, a party veteran of 54 years who has renounced his party membership as well as publicly demanded the party to drop its authoritarian rule and adopt democratic reforms. For his effort, Mr. Nguyen Ho has been persecuted and is currently under house arrest. Mr. Ho's stance, though, is not unique. Documents detailing the efforts of other party insiders calling for democratic reforms were presented to Mr. Lavroff. The French government official pledged to relay Foreign Minister Herve'de Charette this information along with a letter from the delegation asking the French government to request officially that Hanoi release the seven prominent dissidents.
More than 300 members of the Vietnamese community joined a lively conference here to debate the effects of U.S. normalization of relations with Vietnam on that country's endeavor for freedom and democracy.
The event was organized by the Free Vietnam Alliance and held at the Heaven on Earth Plaza Hotel on October 10.
Dr. Nguyen Tinh, chairman of the Vietnamese community in the Houston area welcomed the guest speakers, including Dr. Nguyen Duc Lien of Atlanta, Dr. Tran Xuan Ninh of Chicago, U.S. Representative Steve Stockman and Sibley Cooley, a member of the National Vietnam POW Strike Force.
Dr. Lien, Chairman of the Representative Committee of the Worldwide Vietnamese Physicians Association and a former political prisoner in Vietnam, urged his fellow Vietnamese-Americans to make use of their voting power to influence legislatures in the U.S. toward adopting measures in support of the Vietnamese democratic effort.
Congressman Stockman expressed his support for Vietnam's freedom and concurred with Dr. Lien's recommendation of increasing Vietnamese- American influence via the ballot box.
Dr. Tran Xuan Ninh pointed out that normalization, while giving the Hanoi government an apparent stamp of legitimacy, opens up new opportunities for advancing the people's democratic aspirations. One of the opportunities is mounting diplomatic pressure for the release of Vietnamese-Americans unjustly held by Hanoi for reasons such as advocating democracy. As Hanoi lobbies for Most-Favored-Nation status from the U.S., Vietnamese-Americans can urge the U.S. government to tie this trade privileges and others on the Vietnamese government's respect of human rights improvement and release of political prisoners.
Dr. Ninh concluded: "It's up to us to make this (U.S. normalization) a door opening to democratization and modernization in Vietnam by ending the current dictatorship, or to let the communist regime prosper with the influx of foreign aid and investment, rendering Vietnam to capitalist exploitation."
For three days in September, 40 leaders from various Vietnamese organizations gathered in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, to learn from the people that carried out the "Velvet" revolution in 1992. The discussions also focused on dealing with the transitional period and rebuilding the nation.
Seven topics were presented by individuals directly involved in this peaceful revolution, ranging from "The Birth Of Declaration 77" by Dr. Dana Nemcova to "The Role Of Underground Churches In The Velvet Revolution" by Father Odilo Stampach.
At the end of the conference, Tran Quoc Bao, Chairman of the Vietnam Restoration Organization and the main organizer of the event, led a delegation to meet with President Vaclav Havel. The delegation presented the history of six prisoners of conscience: Ven. Thich Huyen Quang, Ven. Thich Quang Do, Father Tran Dinh Thu, Dr. Nguyen Dan Que, Prof. Doan Viet Hoat, and former communist party member Nguyen Ho. These six represent tens of thousands of other political prisoners in Vietnam, whose cause and person freedom is being championed by Vietnamese communities around the world.