The world is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, announced on December 10, 1948, in the spirit "All Human Rights for All". Today, nobody can deny the essential role of Human Rights in maintaining peace, facilitating social development, and advancing human lives. Meanwhile, in Vietnam, people continue to live in fear and under oppression. All of their fundamental rights and freedoms, as recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, are severely restricted or outright forbidden.

1. The Vietnamese Communist Party often boasts of a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people". In reality, however, all decisions are made by a handful of top Party leaders. Anyone dare to oppose their decisions or call for a democracy are immediately terrorized by the State under Directive 31/CP, which legalizes detainment and exile of any citizens without trials.

2. The Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam recognizes and guarantees all fundamental rights and freedoms of its citizens, including the freedom of expression, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, etc. In reality, however, all of these freedoms have been severely restricted or completely forbidden. Even individuals currently or formerly working for the regime are heavily punished when they step beyond the limits set by the Party. The incarceration of journalist Nguyen Hoai Linh, the detainment and interrogation of poet Bui Minh Quoc, the house arrest of writer Tieu Dao Bao Cu are just a few examples of the Party's record of oppression.

3. The Vietnamese Communist Party has made numerous claims of their respect for people's freedom of religion. In reality, however, it restricts and undermines all religions in Vietnam. Particularly, it outlawed the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, refused to recognize the leadership of the Cao Dai Church, and banned the Hoa Hao Buddhist Church from practicing their faith. The Party is using house arrest, imprisonment, and exile to isolate religious leaders from their churches, and resorting to other tactics to prevent international institutions from inspecting this grave condition in Vietnam. The Party's disruptions and interference during the visit of the United Nations Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance to Vietnam in October 1998 is a compelling example.

4. In recent months, the Vietnamese Communist Party announced its release of more than 8,000 prisoners. However, it repeatedly refused to provide any details to help verify this number -- not even the list of names of those prisoners. To this day, independent sources can only confirmed the release of less than 30 political prisoners among the tens of thousands of political and religious prisoners the regime is holding. A number of political and religious prisoners have been detained for more than 20 years.

Facing the Vietnamese Communist Party's blatant violation of people's rights and dignity in Vietnam, Vietnamese everywhere can no longer keep their silence because such silence would mean a passive encouragement for this dictatorial regime to continue its evil policies.

We, the Vietnamese Organizations at this rally to mark the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, solemnly call on all Vietnamese communities, organizations, and individuals:

To intensify our campaign for more international pressure on Hanoi to end all forms of political oppression and to respect people's fundamental rights and freedoms as specified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Particularly, Hanoi must repeal its Directive 31/CP and release all political prisoners.

To diversify and increase our activities to break through the Vietnamese Communist Party's monopoly on the media and its iron curtain on information. Our goal is to induce an environment where all Vietnamese can express and distribute their viewpoints without fear of retribution. For the immediate focus, we need to pressure Hanoi to recognize people's right to publish their own newspapers and to access the Internet to exchange information with other sources inside and outside the country.

To reinforce the solidarity among the overseas Vietnamese communities and organizations to repel any attempts by Hanoi to divide us. We also need to increase our support for the struggle of our fellow-Vietnamese back home to end the current dictatorship and start a democracy by the 21st century.

San Francisco, December 10, 1998
Signed by 56 organizations in California