Letter of U.S. Senator Max Cleland of Georgia to the President of the Vietnamese government on the state of religious freedom in Vietnam.
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20610-1006
January 8, 2001
President Tran Duc Luong
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
c/o Embassy of Vietnam
1233 20th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Dear President Luong:
I would like to take this opportunity to express my concern for Father Nguyen Van Ly and the Nguyet Bieu Catholic Church near the city of Hue. It is my understanding that Father Ly has been the subject of harassment and threatened with arrest by local officials for his public demonstration and distribution of essays calling for religious freedom in Vietnam. Respect for human rights, including the freedom of religion, is one of the more important issues the American people and my colleagues in Congress consider in our relations with Vietnam. While I have been a strong supporter of normalizing relations and have supported the free trade agreements between our two countries, the reports of religious persecution of Father Ly, and Hoa Hao, Buddhist, Roman Catholic, Protestant Christian and many others who peacefully practice their religion in Vietnam are quite disturbing and I will have to consider these issues when assessing the relations between the United States and Vietnam.
While I fully appreciate the different laws and culture of Vietnam, I repectfully request that you consider the points laid out in Article 18 of the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states: "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance." I strongly urge you to take the necessary actions to allow for religious freedom in Vietnam as called for by the UN Declaration.
This is a very important issue to me and I appreciate the opportunity to raise these matters with you. It is my strong desire to move beyond these hindrances in order to achieve a better relationship between our two nations.
(Signed)
Max Cleland
United States Senator