The US House of Representatives called on Vietnam on Friday to free jailed cyber-dissident Pham Hong Son and other democracy and religious activists.
In a near-unanimous resolution, the House said that US authorities should inform Hanoi that if it wishes to join the WTO, it must adhere to the rule of law and respect freedom of the press.
The resolution also said that the detention of Pham and some 30 others named, and continuing human rights violations, are not in Vietnam's interest and remain an obstacle to better relations between Washington and Hanoi.
US President George W. Bush is scheduled to attend an APEC summit in Vietnam in November.
"America cannot turn our back on those who fight oppression by voicing their support of freedom and democracy like Dr Son," said Republican Representative Chris Smith, who went to Vietnam in December and met with Son's wife.
"Vietnam is at a critical crossroads and is seeking to expand its trade relations with the US and join the WTO. There will be no better time to convince Vietnam of the seriousness of our human rights concerns," said Smith, who wrote the resolution.
Meanwhile, Democratic lawmaker Loretta Sanchez, the representative from California, on Friday rejected a travel visa granted by the Vietnamese authorities with "restrictive conditions" on her visit to the country, her office said.
"She was given a visa for a specific period, which means she has to cut short her schedule, so she cannot travel to Saigon [Ho Chi Minh City] to meet with dissident groups and pro-democracy supporters," her spokeswoman Carrie Brooks said.
Sanchez is an outspoken critic of Hanoi's human-rights record, and her district includes the cities of Anaheim, Garden Grove, Santa Ana and some of Fullerton in Orange County, which includes "Little Saigon," the largest Vietnamese community outside of Vietnam.
The lawmaker had wanted to go to Vietnam on Wednesday and two days later join a delegation headed by House of Representatives Speaker Dennis Hastert,who will be on a visit to Hanoi.
Vietnamese-American rights groups have written to Hastert urging him to raise with the Communist government leaders issues such as curtailed Internet usage, detention of Buddhist monks and alleged harassment of workers who participated in strikes for better pay and labor rights.
"By emphasizing to the government of Vietnam the link between political freedom and economic development, the speaker will contribute to a more stable and developed Vietnam and healthier bilateral relationship," said Dan Hoang of the Vietnamese-American Public Affairs Committee, an advocacy group.
"It is in the interests of both the American and Vietnamese people that Vietnam be a free country," he said.
US President Donald Trump on Friday said Washington was “locked and loaded” to respond if Iran killed protesters, prompting Tehran to warn that intervention would destabilize the region. Protesters and security forces on Thursday clashed in several Iranian cities, with six people reported killed, the first deaths since the unrest escalated. Shopkeepers in Tehran on Sunday last week went on strike over high prices and economic stagnation, actions that have since spread into a protest movement that has swept into other parts of the country. If Iran “violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to
Auschwitz survivor Eva Schloss, the stepsister of teenage diarist Anne Frank and a tireless educator about the horrors of the Holocaust, has died. She was 96. The Anne Frank Trust UK, of which Schloss was honorary president, said she died on Saturday in London, where she lived. Britain’s King Charles III said he was “privileged and proud” to have known Schloss, who cofounded the charitable trust to help young people challenge prejudice. “The horrors that she endured as a young woman are impossible to comprehend and yet she devoted the rest of her life to overcoming hatred and prejudice, promoting kindness, courage, understanding
‘DISRESPECTFUL’: Katie Miller, the wife of Trump’s most influential adviser, drew ire by posting an image of Greenland in the colors of the US flag, captioning it ‘SOON’ US President Donald Trump on Sunday doubled down on his claim that Greenland should become part of the US, despite calls by the Danish prime minister to stop “threatening” the territory. Washington’s military intervention in Venezuela has reignited fears for Greenland, which Trump has repeatedly said he wants to annex, given its strategic location in the arctic. While aboard Air Force One en route to Washington, Trump reiterated the goal. “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it,” he said in response to a reporter’s question. “We’ll worry about Greenland in
PERILOUS JOURNEY: Over just a matter of days last month, about 1,600 Afghans who were at risk of perishing due to the cold weather were rescued in the mountains Habibullah set off from his home in western Afghanistan determined to find work in Iran, only for the 15-year-old to freeze to death while walking across the mountainous frontier. “He was forced to go, to bring food for the family,” his mother, Mah Jan, said at her mud home in Ghunjan village. “We have no food to eat, we have no clothes to wear. The house in which I live has no electricity, no water. I have no proper window, nothing to burn for heating,” she added, clutching a photograph of her son. Habibullah was one of at least 18 migrants who died
RSS