Vietnam: Commissioner Shea to testify at Congressional Members' briefing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 30, 2003

Contact:
Anne Johnson, Director of Communications, (202) 523-3240, ext. 27

WASHINGTON - Commission Vice Chair Nina Shea will testify on behalf of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom at the Congressional Caucus on Vietnam and the Congressional Human Rights Caucus Joint Members' Briefing: "Vietnam: A People Silenced - The Vietnamese Government's Assault on the Media and Access to Information." Shea will testify about the ways the Vietnamese government maintains strict control over speech, including the media and Internet, and how it continues to suppress religious freedom. The U.S. government's current approach to protect free speech and religious freedom has failed to yield concrete results. Commissioner Shea also will make recommendations, including that Congress press the State Department to designate Vietnam a "country of particular concern."

Who:The Congressional Caucus on Vietnam and the Congressional Human Rights Caucus

What:Joint Members' Briefing: "Vietnam: A People Silenced - The Vietnamese Government's Assault on the Media and Access to Information"

When:Wednesday, October 1, 2003, 2:00-3:30 p.m.

Where:2255 Rayburn House Office Building

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom was created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to monitor the status of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief abroad, as defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related international instruments, and to give independent policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and the Congress.