HR 1587 IH

To promote freedom and democracy in Viet Nam.

April 3, 2003

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. WOLF, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. PENCE, Mr. CROWLEY, Ms. LOFGREN, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. MCNULTY, Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida, Mr. BALLENGER, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. CLAY, Mr. BEAUPREZ, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. ENGLISH, Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin, Ms. NORTON, Mr. WYNN, Mr. BELL, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. COX, Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. MOORE, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, and Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

To promote freedom and democracy in Viet Nam.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

(a) SHORT TITLE- This Act may be cited as the `Viet Nam Human Rights Act of 2003'.

(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS- The table of contents for this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Findings.

Sec. 3. Purpose.

TITLE I--PROHIBITION ON NONHUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO THE GOVERNMENT OF VIET NAM

Sec. 101. Bilateral nonhumanitarian assistance.

Sec. 102. Multilateral nonhumanitarian assistance.

TITLE II--ASSISTANCE TO SUPPORT DEMOCRACY IN VIET NAM

Sec. 201. Assistance.

TITLE III--UNITED STATES PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Sec. 301. Radio Free Asia transmissions to Viet Nam.

Sec. 302. United States educational and cultural exchange programs with Viet Nam.

TITLE IV--UNITED STATES REFUGEE POLICY

Sec. 401. Refugee resettlement for nationals of Viet Nam.

TITLE V--ANNUAL REPORT ON PROGRESS TOWARD FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY IN VIET NAM

Sec. 501. Annual report.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds the following:

(1) Viet Nam is a one-party state, ruled and controlled by the Vietnamese Communist Party.

(2)(A) The Government of Viet Nam denies the people of Viet Nam the right to change their government and prohibits independent political, social, and labor organizations.

(B) The Government of Viet Nam prohibits and hinders the formation of civil society in Viet Nam.

(3)(A) The Government of Viet Nam consistently pursues a policy of harassment, discrimination, and intimidation, and sometimes of imprisonment and other forms of detention, against those who peacefully express dissent from government or party policy. This policy includes collectively punishing family members of individuals targeted for persecution. A government decree allows detention without trial for 6 months to 2 years.

(B) Following the United States ratification of the Bilateral Trade Agreement with Viet Nam in 2001, the human rights situation in Viet Nam has remained extremely poor. For certain groups, such as the Montagnards, and other ethnic minorities in Central and North Vietnam, conditions have deteriorated dramatically. In late 2002, the Government of Viet Nam launched a fresh wave of arrests and crackdowns against peaceful critics of the Vietnamese Government, its policy of repression, and its corrupt practices.

(C) Recent victims of such mistreatment, which violates the rights to freedom of expression and association recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, include Dr. Nguyen Dan Que, a leading human rights activist who was arrested on March 17, 2003, and has already served two lengthy prison sentences, Dr. Nguyen Thanh Giang, Most Venerable Thich Huyen Quang, Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, linguist Tran Khue, businessman Nguyen Khac Toan, journalist Nguyen Vu Binh, publicist Le Chi Quang, writer Hoang Tien, military historian Pham Que Duong, Hoang Minh Chinh, Tran Dung Tien, Hoang Trong Dung, Nguyen Vu Viet, Nguyen Truc Cuong, Nguyen Thi Hoa, Vu Cao Quan, Nguyen The Dam, Nguyen Thi Thanh Xuan, Father Chan Tin, author Duong Thu Huong, poet Bui Minh Quoc, Dr. Nguyen Xuan Tu (Ha Si Phu), Dr. Pham Hong Son, Mai Thai Linh, Most Venerable Thich Huyen Quang, Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, Father Nguyen Van Ly, Pastor Nguyen Lap Ma, Father Phan Van Loi, numerous leaders of the Hoa Hao Buddhist Church and of independent Protestant churches, and an undetermined number of members of the Montagnard ethnic minority groups who participated in peaceful demonstrations in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam during February 2001.

(4) The Government of Viet Nam systematically deprives its citizens of the fundamental right or organized religious activities outside the state's control. Although some freedom of worship is permitted, believers are forbidden to participate in religious activities except under circumstances rigidly defined and controlled by the Government:

(A)(i) In April, 1999 the Government issued a Decree Concerning Religious Activities, which declared in pertinent part that `[a]ll activities using religious belief in order to oppose the State of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, to prevent the believers from carrying out civic responsibilities, to sabotage the union of all the people, and against the healthy culture of our nation, as well as superstitious activities, will be punished in conformity with the law'.

(ii) All public religious activities must be approved by the Government in advance. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom in October 2002 recommended that Viet Nam be classified as a country of particular concern. At its Seventh Plenum in January 2003, the Communist Party's Central Committee issued a resolution calling for the establishment of cells of Communist Party members within each of Vietnam's 6 approved religions in order to foil `hostile forces'.

(B)(i) The Unified Buddhist Church of Viet Nam (UBCV), the largest religious denomination in the country, has been declared illegal by the Government, and over the last 27 years its clergy have often been imprisoned and subjected to other forms of persecution. The Patriarch of the Unified Buddhist Church, 85-year-old Most Venerable Thich Huyen Quang, has been detained for 25 years in a ruined temple in an isolated area of central Viet Nam.

(ii) Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, the Executive President of the Unified Buddhist Church, has also been in various forms of detention since 1977, and was recently rearrested and placed under house arrest after he had proposed to bring Most Venerable Thich Huyen Quang to Saigon for medical treatment.

(iii) Many other leading Buddhist figures, including Thich Hai Tang, Thich Khong Tanh, Thich Thai Hoa, Thich Tue Si, Thich Quang Hue, Thich Tam An, Thich Nguyen Ly, Thich Thanh Huyen, Thich Thong Dat, Thich Chi Mau, Thich Chi Thang, Thich Chon Niem, Thich Thanh Quang are under tight surveillance. Several members of the UBCV have fled to Cambodia.

(C)(i) The Hao Hoa Buddhist Church was also declared to be illegal until 1999, when the Government established an organization which purports to govern the Hao Hoa. According to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, `[t]his organization is made up almost entirely of Communist Party members and apparently is not recognized as legitimate by the vast majority of Hao Hoas . . . [n]evertheless, [this government-sponsored organization] has sought to control all Hao Hoa religious activity, particularly at the Hao Hoa village, which is the center of Hao Hoa religious life'.

(ii)(I) Hao Hoa believers who do not recognize the legitimacy of the government organization are denied the right to visit the Hao Hoa village, to conduct traditional religious celebrations, or to display Hao Hoa symbols. Many have been arrested and subjected to administrative detention, and several Hao Hoa have been sentenced to prison terms for protesting these denials of religious freedom.

(II) The Government interferes with Hao Hoa efforts to conduct charitable works, and prohibits public celebration to commemorate the founder's disappearance as well as the distribution of the founder's teachings. The Government controls greatly the leadership selection process of the Cao Dais, another indigenous Vietnamese religion.

(III) At least the following Hao Hoa believers are known to be in prison or house detention: Ha Hai, Tran Van Be Cao, Tran Nguyen Huon, Phan Thi Tiem, Le Quang Liem, Nguyen Van Dien, Le Minh Triet, and Vo Van Thanh Liem.

(D)(i) Independent Protestants, most of whom are members of ethnic minority groups, are subjected to particularly harsh treatment by the Government of Viet Nam. According to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, such treatment includes `police raids on homes and house churches, detention, imprisonment, confiscation of religious and personal property, physical and psychological abuse, and fines for engaging in unapproved religious activities (such as collective worship, public religious expression and distribution of religious literature, and performing baptisms, marriages, or funeral services) . . . [i]n addition, it is reported that ethnic Hmong Protestants have been forced by local officials to agree to abandon their faith'.

(ii)(I) According to human rights activists in Viet Nam, 2 secret central plans--Plan 184A and 184B--issued in 1999 by the Communist Party to combat Protestant believers were fully implemented throughout the country, and led to a crackdown on the Protestant movement, especially in the Central and Northern Highland areas.

(II) An estimated 14,000 Christians fled from the North to the Central Highlands in the past 5 years. According to the Southern Evangelical Church of Viet Nam, the Government of Viet Nam forcibly closed 354 of the 412 churches in Dak Lak province, 56 pastors from the Central Highlands have disappeared, and at least 43 evangelical Montagnards have been sentenced to prison. Freedom House has reported on the beating death of Hmong Christian Mua Bua Senh by police authorities.

(E)(i) Other religious organizations, such as the Catholic Church, are formally recognized by the Government but are subjected to pervasive regulation which violates the right to freedom of religion. For instance, the Catholic Church is forbidden to appoint its own bishops without Government consent, which is frequently denied, to accept seminarians without specific official permission, and to profess Catholic doctrines which are inconsistent with Government policy. Government restrictions on the seminary process have caused a severe shortage of priests.

(ii) A Catholic priest, Father Nguyen Van Ly, was arrested in March 2001 and remains in detention after submitting written testimony to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. On October 19, 2001, he was sentenced to a total of 20 years of imprisonment and house arrest; the trial in Hue took place closed to the public and without a defense lawyer.

(iii) In October 2002, the Vietnamese Bishops Conference took an unprecedented step when they protested to the National Assembly about the persecutions endured by Catholic ethnic minorities.

(F) The Government has also confiscated numerous churches, temples, and other properties belonging to religious organizations. The vast majority of these properties--even those belonging to religious organizations formally recognized by the Government--have never been returned.

(5)(A) Since 1975 the Government of Viet Nam has persecuted veterans of the Army of the Republic of Viet Nam and other Vietnamese who had opposed the Viet Cong insurgency and the North Vietnamese invasion of South Viet Nam. Such persecution typically included substantial terms in `re-education camps', where detainees were often subjected to torture and other forms of physical abuse, and in which many died.

(B) Re-education camp survivors and their families were often forced into internal exile in `New Economic Zones'. Many of these former allies of the United States, as well as members of their families, continue until the present day to suffer various forms of harassment and discrimination, including denial of basic social benefits and exclusion from higher education and employment.

(6)(A) The Government of Viet Nam has been particularly harsh in its treatment of members of the Montagnard ethnic minority groups of the Central Highlands of Viet Nam, who were the first line in the defense of South Viet Nam against invasion from the North and who fought courageously beside members of the Special Forces of the United States, suffering disproportionately heavy casualties, and saving the lives of many of their American and Vietnamese comrades-in-arms.

(B) Since 1975 the Montagnard peoples have been singled out for severe repression, in part because of their past association with the United States and in part because their strong commitment to their traditional way of life and to their Christian religion is regarded as inconsistent with the absolute loyalty and control demanded by the Communist system. The Government employs a policy of assimilation and oppression against the Montagnards, forcibly displacing them from their ancestral lands to make way for North Vietnamese settlers, coffee plantations, and logging operations.

(C) Between February and March 2001, several thousand members of the mountain tribes Djarai, Bahnar, and Rhade from the provinces of Pleiku, Gialai, and Daklak took part in a series of peaceful demonstrations to demand the release of 2 Montagnard Christians, religious freedom and restoration of their confiscated lands. The Government responded by closing off the Central Highlands and sending in military forces, tanks, and helicopter gunships. Hundreds of demonstrators were injured. Altogether, more than 200 people, among them 60 evangelical priests and tribal chieftains, were arrested. Some regions of the Central Highlands remain closed to journalists and foreign diplomats.

(D) Credible reports by refugees who have escaped to Cambodia indicate that the Government has executed some participants in the demonstrations and has subjected others to imprisonment, torture, and other forms of physical abuse.

(E) The Government of Viet Nam has also taken steps to prevent further Montagnards from escaping, and there are credible reports that Vietnamese security forces in Cambodia are offering bounties for the surrender of Montagnard asylum seekers.

(F) According to Human Rights Watch, in December 2002 `[The Government] arrested or detained dozens of highlanders and banned Christmas church services in order to prevent minority Christians from gathering. Six highlanders were detained during the third week in December in Krong Ana and Cu Jut districts, Dak Lak, during Christmas prayer services, while another eight were taken into custody as they were attempting to cross the border to Cambodia. Villagers throughout the Central Highlands were warned they would face fines and even imprisonment if they organized Christmas services. In many areas authorities banned gatherings of four or more people.'.

(7) The Government of Viet Nam has also persecuted members of other ethnic minority groups, including the Khmer Krom from the Mekong Delta, many of whom fought alongside United States military personnel during the Viet Nam war and whose Hinayana Buddhist religion is not among those recognized by the Government.

(8) The Government of Viet Nam also engages in or condones serious violations of the rights of workers. In August 1997, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported that child labor exploitation is on the rise in Viet Nam with tens of thousands of children under 15 years of age being subjected to such exploitation. The government's official labor export program also has subjected workers, many of whom are women, to involuntary servitude, debt bondage, and other forms of abuse, and the reaction of government officials to worker complaints of such abuse has been to threaten the workers with punishment if they do not desist in their complaints. The government of Viet Nam has made some minor efforts to improve this situation, but enforcement of child labor laws remains weak, and the child exploitation still persists.

(9)(A) United States refugee resettlement programs for Vietnamese nationals, including the Orderly Departure Program (ODP), the Resettlement Opportunities for Returning Vietnamese (ROVR) program, and resettlement of boat people from refugee camps throughout Southeast Asia, were authorized by law in order to rescue Vietnamese nationals who have suffered persecution on account of their wartime associations with the United States, as well as those who currently have a well-founded fear of

persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group.

(B) In general, these programs have served their purpose well. However, many refugees who were eligible for these programs were unfairly denied or excluded, in some cases by vindictive or corrupt Communist officials who controlled access to the programs, and in others by United States personnel who imposed unduly restrictive interpretations of program criteria. These unfairly excluded refugees include some of those with the most compelling cases, including many Montagnard combat veterans and their families.

(C) The Department of State has agreed to extend the September 30, 1994, registration deadline for former United States employees, `re-education' survivors, and surviving spouses of those who did not survive `re-education' camps to sign up for United States refugee programs.

(D) The Department of State has agreed to resume the Vietnamese In-Country Priority One Program in Viet Nam to provide protection to victims of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group who otherwise have no access to the Orderly Departure Program.

(E) The Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Service in the Department of Homeland Security has agreed to resume the processing of former United States employees under the U11 program, which had been unilaterally suspended by the United States Government.

(F) The Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Service has agreed to review the applications of Amerasians, children of American servicemen left behind in Viet Nam after the war ended in April 1975, for resettlement to the United States under the Amerasian Homecoming Act of 1988.

(10) The Government of Viet Nam systematically jams broadcasts by Radio Free Asia, an independent broadcast service funded by the United States in order to provide news and entertainment to the people of countries in Asia whose governments deny the right to freedom of expression and of the press.

(11) In 1995 the Governments of the United States and Viet Nam announced the `normalization' of diplomatic relations. In 1998 then-President Clinton waived the application of section 402 of the Trade Act of 1974 (commonly known as the `Jackson-Vanik Amendment'), which restricts economic assistance to countries with non-market economies whose governments also restrict freedom of emigration. In 1999 the Governments of the United States and Viet Nam announced `an agreement in principle' on a bilateral trade agreement. This agreement was signed in 2000 and came into effect on December 10, 2001.

(12) The Congress and the American people are united in their determination that the extension or expansion of trade relations with a country whose government engages in serious and systematic violations of fundamental human rights must not be construed as a statement of approval or complacency about such practices. The promotion of freedom and democracy around the world--and particularly for people who have suffered in large part because of their past associations with the United States and because they share our values--is and must continue to be a central objective of United States foreign policy.

SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

The purpose of this Act is to promote the development of freedom and democracy in Viet Nam.

TITLE I--PROHIBITION ON NONHUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO THE GOVERNMENT OF VIET NAM

SEC. 101. BILATERAL NONHUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE.

(a) ASSISTANCE-

(1) IN GENERAL- Except as provided in subsection (b), United States nonhumanitarian assistance may not be provided to the Government of Viet Nam--

(A) for fiscal year 2004 unless not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act the President determines and certifies to Congress that the requirements of subparagraphs (A) through (D) of paragraph (2) have been met during the 12-month period ending on the date of the certification; and

(B) for each subsequent fiscal year unless the President determines and certifies to Congress in the most recent annual report submitted pursuant to section 501 that the requirements of subparagraphs (A) through (E) of paragraph (2) have been met during the 12-month period covered by the report.

(2) REQUIREMENTS- The requirements of this paragraph are that--

(A) the Government of Viet Nam has made substantial progress toward releasing all political and religious prisoners from imprisonment, house arrest, and other forms of detention;

(B)(i) the Government of Viet Nam has made substantial progress toward respecting the right to freedom of religion, including the right to participate in religious activities and institutions without interference by or involvement of the Government; and

(ii) has made substantial progress toward returning estates and properties confiscated from the churches;

(C) the Government of Viet Nam has made substantial progress toward allowing Vietnamese nationals free and open access to United States refugee programs;

(D) the Government of Viet Nam has made substantial progress toward respecting the human rights of members of ethnic minority groups in the Central Highlands or elsewhere in Viet Nam; and

(E)(i) neither any official of the Government of Viet Nam nor any agency or entity wholly or partly owned by the Government of Viet Nam was complicit in a severe form of trafficking in persons; or

(ii) the Government of Viet Nam took all appropriate steps to end any such complicity and hold such official, agency, or entity fully accountable for its conduct.

(b) EXCEPTION-

(1) IN GENERAL- Subsection (a) shall not apply for any fiscal year with respect to the provision of United States nonhumanitarian assistance for any program or activity for which such assistance was provided to the Government of Viet Nam for fiscal year 2003 in an amount not to exceed the amount so provided for fiscal year 2003.

(2) CONTINUATION OF ASSISTANCE IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST- Notwithstanding the failure of the Government of Viet Nam to meet the requirements of subsection (a)(2), the President may waive the application of subsection (a) for any fiscal year if the President determines that the provision to the Government of Viet Nam of increased United States nonhumanitarian assistance would promote the purposes of this Act or is otherwise in the national interest of the United States.

(3) EXERCISE OF WAIVER AUTHORITY- The President may exercise the authority under paragraph (2) with respect to--

(A) all United States nonhumanitarian assistance to Viet Nam; or

(B) one or more programs, projects, or activities of such assistance.

(c) DEFINITIONS- In this section:

(1) SEVERE FORM OF TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS- The term `severe form of trafficking in persons' means any activity described in section 103(8) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-386 (114 Stat. 1470); 22 U.S.C. 7102(8)).

(2) UNITED STATES NONHUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE- The term `United States nonhumanitarian assistance' means--

(A) any assistance under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (including programs under title IV of chapter 2 of part I of that Act, relating to the Overseas Private Investment Corporation), other than--

(i) disaster relief assistance, including any assistance under chapter 9 of part I of that Act;

(ii) assistance which involves the provision of food (including monetization of food) or medicine; and

(iii) assistance for refugees; and

(B) sales, or financing on any terms, under the Arms Export Control Act.

SEC. 102. MULTILATERAL NONHUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE.

(a) HUMAN RIGHTS- The President shall ensure that section 701 of the International Financial Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 262d), relating to human rights, is carried out with respect to Viet Nam.

(b) RELIGIOUS FREEDOM- The President shall instruct the United States Executive Directors at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to use the voice and vote of the United States to oppose any loans or other assistance (except loans or assistance for humanitarian purposes) to the Government of Viet Nam until the President determines that the Government of Viet Nam has made substantial progress to protect religious freedom.

TITLE II--ASSISTANCE TO SUPPORT DEMOCRACY IN VIET NAM

SEC. 201. ASSISTANCE.

(a) IN GENERAL- The President is authorized to provide assistance, through appropriate nongovernmental organizations, for the support of individuals and organizations to promote internationally recognized human rights in Viet Nam.

(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- There are authorized to be appropriated to the President to carry out subsection (a) $2,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2004 and 2005.

TITLE III--UNITED STATES PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

SEC. 301. RADIO FREE ASIA TRANSMISSIONS TO VIET NAM.

(a) POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES- It is the policy of the United States to take such measures as are necessary to overcome the jamming of Radio Free Asia by the Government of Viet Nam.

(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- In addition to such amounts as are otherwise authorized to be appropriated for the Broadcasting Board of Governors, there are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the policy under subsection (a) $9,100,000 for the fiscal year 2004 and $1,100,000 for the fiscal year 2005.

SEC. 302. UNITED STATES EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL EXCHANGE PROGRAMS WITH VIET NAM.

It is the policy of the United States that programs of educational and cultural exchange with Viet Nam should actively promote progress toward freedom and democracy in Viet Nam by providing opportunities to Vietnamese nationals from a wide range of occupations and perspectives to see freedom and democracy in action and, also, by ensuring that Vietnamese nationals who have already demonstrated a commitment to these values are included in such programs.

TITLE IV--UNITED STATES REFUGEE POLICY

SEC. 401. REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT FOR NATIONALS OF VIET NAM.

(a) POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES- It is the policy of the United States to offer refugee resettlement to nationals of Viet Nam (including members of the Montagnard ethnic minority groups) who were eligible for the Orderly Departure Program (ODP), Resettlement Opportunities for Vietnamese Returnees (ROVR) or any other United States refugee program and who were deemed ineligible due to administrative error or who for

reasons beyond the control of such individuals (including insufficient or contradictory information or the inability to pay bribes demanded by officials of the Government of Viet Nam) were unable or failed to apply for such programs in compliance with deadlines imposed by the Department of State.

(b) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITY- Of the amounts authorized to be appropriated to the Department of State for Migration and Refugee Assistance for each of the fiscal years 2004, 2005, and 2006, such sums as may be necessary are authorized to be made available for the protection (including resettlement in appropriate cases) of Vietnamese refugees and asylum seekers, including Montagnards in Cambodia.

TITLE V--ANNUAL REPORT ON PROGRESS TOWARD FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY IN VIET NAM

SEC. 501. ANNUAL REPORT.

(a) IN GENERAL- Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act and every 12 months thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit to the Congress a report on the following:

(1)(A) The determination and certification of the President that the requirements of subparagraphs (A) through (D) of section 101(a)(2) have been met, if applicable.

(B) The determination of the President under section 101(b)(2), if applicable.

(2) Efforts by the United States Government to secure transmission sites for Radio Free Asia in countries in close geographical proximity to Viet Nam in accordance with section 301(a).

(3) Efforts to ensure that programs with Viet Nam promote the policy set forth in section 302 and with section 102 of the Human Rights, Refugee, and Other Foreign Policy Provisions Act of 1996 regarding participation in programs of educational and cultural exchange.

(4) Steps taken to carry out the policy under section 401(a).

(5) Actions of the Government of Viet Nam which reflect compliance with or violation of human rights, in particular, those contained in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including, but not limited to, effectively affording--

(A) the right to engage in free expression;

(B) the right to peaceful assembly;

(C) religious freedom, including the right to worship, to appoint clergy members, to form religious associations and institutions, to participate in religious activities, and to conduct charity work free of involvement of and interference by the government;

(D) the right to establish nongovernmental organizations and civic associations;

(E) the right to liberty of movement and freedom to choose a residence within Viet Nam and the right to leave from and return to Viet Nam;

(F) the right of a criminal defendant--

(i) to be tried in his or her presence, and to defend himself or herself in person or through legal assistance of his or her own choosing;

(ii) to be informed, if he or she does not have legal assistance, of the right set forth in clause (i);

(iii) to have legal assistance assigned to him or her in any case in which the interests of justice so require and without payment by him or her in any such case if he or she does not have sufficient means to pay for it;

(iv) to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent, and impartial tribunal established by the law;

(v) to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law; and

(vi) to be tried without undue delay;

(G) the right to be free from torture and other forms of cruel or unusual punishment;

(H) protection of internationally recognized worker rights;

(I) freedom from incarceration as punishment for political opposition to the government;

(J) freedom from incarceration as punishment for exercising or advocating human rights (including those described in this section);

(K) freedom from arbitrary arrest, detention, or exile;

(L) the right to fair and public hearings by an independent tribunal for the determination of a citizen's rights and obligations; and

(M) free choice of employment.

(6) Lists of persons believed to be imprisoned, detained, or placed under house arrest, tortured, or otherwise persecuted by the Government of Viet Nam due to their pursuit of the rights described in paragraph (5). In compiling such lists, the Secretary shall exercise appropriate discretion, including concerns regarding the safety and security of, and benefit to, the persons who may be included on the lists and their families. In addition, the Secretary shall include a list of such persons and their families who may qualify for protection under United States refugee programs.

(7) A description of the development of the rule of law in Viet Nam, including, but not limited to--

(A) progress toward the development of institutions of democratic governance;

(B) processes by which statutes, regulations, rules, and other legal acts of the Government of Viet Nam are developed and become binding within Viet Nam;

(C) the extent to which statutes, regulations, rules, administrative and judicial decisions, and other legal acts of the Government of Viet Nam are published and are made accessible to the public;

(D) the extent to which administrative and judicial decisions are supported by statements of reasons that are based upon written statutes, regulations, rules and other legal acts of the Government of Viet Nam;

(E) the extent to which individuals are treated equally under the laws of Viet Nam without regard to citizenship, race, religion, political opinion, or current or former associations;

(F) the extent to which administrative and judicial decisions are independent of political pressure or governmental interference and are reviewed by entities of appellate jurisdiction; and

(G) the extent to which laws in Viet Nam are written and administered in ways that are consistent with international human rights standards, including the requirements of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

(8) A description of projects funded by multilateral organizations operating in Viet Nam, including projects funded by the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank, United Nations, and Global Fund.

(b) CONTACTS WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS- In preparing the report under subsection (a), the Secretary shall, as appropriate, seek out and maintain contacts with nongovernmental organizations and human rights advocates (including Vietnamese-Americans, human rights advocates in Viet Nam), including receiving reports and updates from such organizations and evaluating such reports. The Secretary shall also seek to consult with the United States Commission on Religious Freedom for appropriate sections of the report.

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