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October 28, 2015
USCIRF Chairman Robert P. George testified on October 27, 2015 before Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee at a hearing titled "The Global Crisis of Religious Freedom,"Read Testimony before the Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations Subcommittee Of the House Foreign Affairs Committee On The Global Crisis of Religious Freedom & Its Challenge to U.S. Foreign Policy
Subcommittee Hearing: The Global Crisis of Religious Freedom (EventID=104112)
July 09, 2019
On June 27, 2019, Vice Chair Nadine Maenza testified at a Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission hearing on violations of the right to freedom of religion of Christian communities around the world.Written Testimony
Hearing Webpage
March 26, 2014
USCIRF Commissioner Eric P. Schwartz testified before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission at a hearing entitled "The Persecution of Religious and Indigenous Communities in Vietnam."
Click here to view the full written testimony.
October 27, 2017
Oral StatementAS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY
Commissioner Thomas Reese, S.J.
U.S. Commission on Religious Freedom
Vietnam Caucus/Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Briefing on Religious Freedom in Vietnam
October 24, 2017
AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY
Good afternoon. I want to thank the Vietnam Caucus and the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission for organizing this briefing. My special thanks to Representatives Lowenthal, Correa, Lofgren and Royce and other members of the Caucus and Commission for their leadership in support of human rights and religious freedom in Vietnam.
I am Father Thomas Reese, a Commissioner on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Commissioner Jackie Wolcott, who had planned to be with us today, has taken sick. She asked me to convey to you her deepest regrets.
I join Commissioner Wolcott in applauding the Caucus and Commission members for their unflagging efforts on behalf of prisoners of conscience. One of these prisoners, now a former prisoner I am so pleased to say, is here with us today – and in freedom, Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh. I also want to welcome his brave wife Tran Thi Hong, who along with the Pastor and their five children, now are living in California.
Pastor and Mrs. Hong, I honor you for your resiliency under the cruel conditions under which you lived and being forced to leave your country. You inspire all of us to advocate for those who are imprisoned for their religious beliefs, activities, and advocacy. On a personal note, I am deeply relieved by your release and honored to be here with you and your wife. I thank everyone who helped make today possible—and every day that you are in freedom hereafter.
Both Representative Lowenthal and Commissioner Wolcott worked on your behalf: the Representative as part of the Tom Lantos Commission’s Defending Freedoms Project, and Commissioner Wolcott, as part of USCIRF’s Religious Prisoners of Conscience Project. The goal of both efforts is to advocate to free prisoners of conscience and hold culpable governments accountable. USCIRF also long has expressed concerns about the status of religious freedom in Vietnam. I was part of a USCIRF delegation who went to Vietnam in August 2015 to see firsthand the conditions there for religious freedom.
Others share USCIRF’s concerns and have worked tirelessly in support of human rights and religious freedom in Vietnam. Along with the Vietnam Caucus and the Lantos Commission, I want to highlight the work of members of brave local organizations in Vietnam who worked on behalf of Pastor Chinh and Mrs. Hong. These include the Vietnam Coalition Against Torture, the Association for Support of Victims of Torture, and a multi-faith roundtable. I also must mention the tireless work of international organizations like Boat People SOS and others.
Pastor Chinh was a prisoner in Vietnam, but he committed no crime and should never have been imprisoned. What he did was minister to his Christian community and peacefully criticize the Vietnam government’s restrictions on preaching and religious expression. For that, he suffered in prison, in ill health, while the Vietnamese authorities harassed his family. Government officials subjected Mrs. Hong to frequent government surveillance and beatings, and violently, and ultimately unsuccessfully, tried to prevent her from meeting with then-U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom David Saperstein, even abducting and again beating her in their failed attempt.
Sadly, the Vietnamese government’s treatment of Pastor Chinh and Mrs. Hong is symptomatic of the grave status of the freedom of religion or belief in Vietnam.
Nearly 11 years ago, the State Department wrongly removed Vietnam from its list of CPCs – Countries of Particular Concern. CPC designated countries are among the worst violators of religious freedom in the world. USCIRF disagreed then with the State Department and we disagree now.
The State Department is mandated to again issue its annual CPC designations by November 13, and we urge both the designation of Vietnam as a CPC, and actions be taken commensurate with this designation. We also urge you to join us in this effort.
USCIRF believes that Vietnam deserves to be a CPC unless and until the government improves religious freedom conditions and respects international human rights standards. To that end, we will watch how the government, among other actions, implements the new Law on Belief and Religion.
This law isn’t perfect, and it is a far cry from international standards. It started out as very bad, in my opinion, but what’s key is that the Vietnamese government engaged with the U.S., took input from religious organizations and guidance from international experts, and seemed willing to address the country’s religious freedom challenges.
However, our optimism has been tempered by reports that deeply concern us about how the government intends to implement the law and penalize individuals and organizations it deems to be in violation.
Also deeply concerning are the countless prisoners of conscience who remain in Vietnamese jails, many of whom are tortured, and the countless other religious believers and human rights advocates, and their family members, whom the government harasses and seeks to intimidate. And then there are the local authorities and thugs who carry out with impunity brutal human rights abuses against vulnerable religious groups including: Khmer Krom Buddhists, independent Hoa Hao Buddhists and Cao Dai followers, Montagnard Christians, and others.
What can the U.S. government do? In addition to re-designating Vietnam as a CPC, and raising concerns about the implementation of the Law on Belief and Religion, I urge that U.S. officials consistently raise prisoner of conscience cases and request to meet with these prisoners and their family members when they are on CODELS to Vietnam.
I also urge the U.S. government to employ tools available under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, the Frank R. Wolf Religious Freedom Act, and the International Religious Freedom Act. These Acts and other existing tools will help hold accountable Vietnamese officials and government agencies who have participated in, are responsible for, or have tolerated human rights abuses, including severe violations of freedom of religion or belief.
The U.S. government also must continue to regularly visit remote, rural areas where violations of freedom of religion or belief are likely to occur.
The U.S. can and should engage Vietnam on religious freedom issues and other human rights, and urge our international partners to do the same. With the example of Pastor Chinh and Tran Thi Hong before us, we must continue our efforts until there is freedom in Vietnam.
Thank you.
November 21, 2019
September 21, 2017
The report documents ASEAN’s and the Member States’ approaches to the freedom of religion or belief, underscores the religious freedom-related challenges in the region that transcend country borders, and emphasizes the strategic importance of robust U.S. engagement on these issues with ASEAN as a collective and the 10 individual Member States.
The full report may be found here.
The ASEAN Report chapter translations may be found here.
Executive Summary
Overview
The countries of Southeast Asia—bound together in the regional bloc known as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)—are vastly diverse in their geographic size, governing systems, economies, and cultural and societal heterogeneity. Also, each country is different in its degree of adherence to international human rights standards and its protection (or denial) of the freedoms therein, including the universal freedom of religion or belief. In ASEAN’s 50th year, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) presents A Right for All: Freedom of Religion or Belief in ASEAN. The report documents ASEAN’s and the Member States’ approaches to this fundamental right, underscores the religious freedom-related challenges in the region that transcend country borders, and emphasizes the strategic importance of robust U.S. engagement on these issues with ASEAN as a collective and the 10 individual Member States: Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
ASEAN’s approach to human rights often has been diminished by two competing interests: the Member States’ desire to integrate as a bloc and their deeply embedded reliance on independence and non-interference in one another’s affairs. In an increasingly interdependent, interconnected community such as ASEAN, it is vital that governments and societies recognize—both within and across their borders—when the right to freedom of religion or belief is being abused and take steps to protect individuals and groups whose rights are violated.
The United States—now in its 40th year engaging with ASEAN—wields significant weight and influence in the region and with individual Member States. The United States must encourage ASEAN Member States to achieve prosperity for their own people and live up to the core principles all countries agree to when joining the United Nations and upon becoming party to international human rights instruments.
ASEAN, Human Rights, and Freedom of Religion or Belief
ASEAN and the individual Member States have an inconsistent record protecting and promoting human rights, and even more so with respect to freedom of religion or belief. Often, ASEAN countries have lacked cohesion and a strong will to act in response to serious violations within their own borders and among the other members of the bloc. In 2009, ASEAN established the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), and in 2012 it adopted the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration (AHRD). Critics have challenged the efficacy of the AICHR as a human rights body and the AHRD as a human rights instrument. The international community should call upon Member States to uphold the higher standards embodied in international human rights instruments such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Key findings about freedom of religion or belief in the 10 Member States include:
Brunei: The identification of the state and the public sphere with Islam in the person of the sultan sometimes challenges the religious freedom of non-Muslims or heterodox Muslim residents, whose communities may be banned or ruled by Shari’ah despite their affiliation.
Burma: While the year 2016 marked a historic and peaceful transition of government in Burma, outright impunity for abuses committed by the military and some non-state actors and the depth of the humanitarian crisis for displaced persons continue to drive the ill treatment of religious and ethnic groups.
Cambodia: Cambodia has few internal challenges with freedom of religion or belief, but could do more to uphold its human rights commitments, particularly under the Refugee Convention.
Indonesia: The Indonesian government often intervenes when religious freedom abuses arise, particularly if they involve violence. Non-Muslims and non-Sunni Muslims, however, endure ongoing difficulties obtaining official permission to build houses of worship, experience vandalism at houses of worship, and are subject to discrimination as well as sometimes violent protests that interfere with their ability to practice their faith.
Laos: In some areas of Laos, local authorities harass and discriminate against religious and ethnic minorities, and pervasive government control and onerous regulations impede freedom of religion or belief.
Malaysia: Malaysia’s entrenched system of government advantages the ruling party and the Sunni Muslim Malay majority at the expense of religious and ethnic minorities, often through government-directed crackdowns on religious activity, expression, or dissent.
Philippines: With the strong influence of the Catholic Church, as well as the needs of other religious groups, the Philippines grapples with the separation of church and state, and also with the violence that continues to dominate relations with Muslims on the island of Mindanao.
Singapore: Singapore’s history of intercommunal violence informs its current policies, which prioritize harmony between the country’s major religions, sometimes at a cost to freedom of expression and the rights of smaller religious communities.
Thailand: The primacy of Buddhism is most problematic to freedom of religion or belief in the largely Malay Muslim southern provinces, where ongoing Buddhist-Muslim tensions contribute to a growing sense of nationwide religious-based nationalism.
Vietnam: Vietnam has made progress to improve religious freedom conditions, but severe violations continue, especially against ethnic minority communities in rural areas of some provinces.
Challenges
The 10 Member States experience a number of common and crosscutting challenges that underscore how violations of freedom of religion or belief occur across borders and within the context of broader and related regional trends. ASEAN should acknowledge and work to address the following problems: protection gaps for refugees, asylum seekers, trafficked persons, and those internally displaced; the use of anti-extremism and antiterrorism laws as a means to limit religious communities’ legitimate activities, stifle peaceful dissent, and imprison people; the use of nationalistic sentiment by individuals and groups who manipulate religion to the detriment of other religious and ethnic groups; arrests, detentions, and imprisonments based on religious belief, practice, or activities; and the existence and implementation of blasphemy laws that are used to incite or inspire violence, generally by members of a majority religious group against those from a religious minority community.
ASEAN’s Principle of Non-Interference
ASEAN Member States regularly invoke the principle of non-interference (the enshrined tenet of national sovereignty, integrity, and independence), but on occasion have set it aside when it was to their advantage. While the ASEAN countries understandably first and foremost protect their own interests, each has a broader responsibility to act in harmony with the community of nations, particularly when human rights issues, including freedom of religion or belief, transcend country borders.
U.S.-ASEAN Relations
During ASEAN’s 50th year and after 40 years of U.S.-ASEAN engagement, the United States should leverage its interest and influence in the region to press Member States to uphold international human rights standards. Although some of the ASEAN Member States are more open to U.S. engagement about human rights issues, strong and consistent prodding from the United States—including positive reinforcement when warranted—would send a clear signal about U.S. priorities in the region.
Conclusion
ASEAN and the individual Member States must understand that the global community of nations is grounded in the premise that everyone observe a rules-based international order, which includes the responsibility to uphold freedom of religion or belief and related human rights. This means ASEAN and the Member States should take steps to:
adhere to international human rights instruments; welcome visits by international human rights monitors; ensure unfettered access by aid workers, independent media, and other international stakeholders to vulnerable populations and conflict areas; repeal blasphemy and related laws; release prisoners of conscience; and strengthen interfaith relationships.
ASEAN Report Executive Summary and Chapter Translations
Brunei (Malay)
Burma (Burmese)
Cambodia (Khmer)
Indonesia (Indonesian)
Laos (Lao)
Malaysia (Malay)
Philippines (Tagalog)
Singapore (Malay)
Singapore (Chinese)
Thailand (Thai)
Vietnam (Vietnamese)
February 03, 2017
February 08, 2017
Feb 8, 2017
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 8, 2017
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today released Religious Freedom in Vietnam: Assessing the Country of Particular Concern Designation 10 Years After its Removal.
Because of its “systematic, ongoing, and egregious” violations of religious freedom, Vietnam had been designated a “country of particular concern” (or CPC) by the State Department from 2004 until 2006, when, as a result of U.S. diplomatic negotiations, Vietnam promised to improve religious freedom.
This new report examines the history and efficacy of Vietnam’s CPC designation and the implication on religious freedom in Vietnam 10 years after the State Department removed Vietnam as a “country of particular concern.”
“Ten years after the State Department’s removal of Vietnam as a CPC, religious freedom conditions in the country are at a pivotal moment. While these conditions have improved in some instances, severe religious violations continue that are inconsistent with international standards,” said USCIRF Chair Thomas J. Reese, S.J. “Although the Vietnamese government sought to address these concerns in the recently passed law on religion and belief, this measure is imperfect and disadvantages many religious communities. If Vietnam does not implement religious freedom reforms that are consistent with international standards, USCIRF will continue to call for its designation as a country of particular concern.”
Religious freedom conditions in many parts of Vietnam continue to deteriorate in some areas, notwithstanding that many individuals and communities freely practice their faith. In some areas, local authorities harass and discriminate against religious organizations that the government does not recognize. In addition, religious groups across Vietnam fear that the government will evict them from or demolish their properties. USCIRF has recommended CPC designation for Vietnam every year since 2002.
To view the report in Vietnamese, please click here. For more information on religious freedom conditions in Vietnam, please see USCIRF’s Vietnam chapter in the 2016 Annual Report (in English and Vietnamese), and USCIRF’s recent press release VIETNAM: At a Crossroads, 10 Years after CPC Designation Removed
To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at media@uscirf.gov or 202-523-3258.
July 28, 2017
Jul 28, 2017
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 31, 2017
VIETNAM: Religious Prisoner of Conscience Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh Released
USCIRF Urges the United States to Continue Raising Religious Freedom with Vietnam
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) expressed relief that the Vietnamese government has released religious prisoner of conscience Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh and allowed him, his wife Tran Thi Hong, and their five children to leave the country. Pastor Chinh was sentenced in 2012 to 11 years’ imprisonment and endured solitary confinement and torture in prison. The family has arrived in the United States after the U.S. government granted Pastor Chinh humanitarian parole.
“The Vietnamese government finally has done the right thing by releasing Pastor Chinh from prison. We welcome his admission, along with his family, to the United States. The reality is that he should not have been imprisoned in the first place for simply practicing his faith,” said USCIRF Commissioner Jackie Wolcott, who has advocated on behalf of the pastor. “Pastor Chinh was falsely charged and imprisoned and treated cruelly, as are countless other religious believers and human rights activists who continue to be harassed, detained, and tortured in Vietnam.”
Commissioner Wolcott took up the case of Pastor Chinh and his wife as part of USCIRF’s Religious Prisoners of Conscience Project. Through this project, Commissioners work for the release of individuals who have been imprisoned for their religious beliefs, practices, advocacy, or identity and the laws and practices that led to their imprisonment.
USCIRF commends the brave efforts of Pastor Chinh’s wife, Tran Thi Hong, who worked tirelessly on behalf of her husband. Vietnamese authorities frequently harassed and surveilled Mrs. Hong, including beating her for meeting with then U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom David Saperstein about her husband’s case.
USCIRF has recommended since 2002 that the State Department designate Vietnam as a “country of particular concern,” or CPC, for its systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom. Through law, policy, and practice, the Vietnamese government perpetrates or tolerates serious religious freedom abuses, particularly against unregistered religious organizations and in rural areas of some provinces.
“Although USCIRF recommends Vietnam be designated a CPC, we also recognize that the government has demonstrated a willingness to engage on freedom of religion or belief,” said USCIRF Chairman Dr. Daniel Mark, who has traveled to Vietnam on behalf of USCIRF. “The United States must continue to ensure that religious freedom is pursued both privately and publicly at every level of the bilateral relationship so that Vietnam takes positive and lasting steps toward freedom of religion or belief, including releasing religious prisoners of conscience.”
For more information, please see USCIRF’s chapter on Vietnam from its 2017 Annual Report (in English and Vietnamese) or USCIRF’s report, Religious Freedom in Vietnam: Assessing the Country of Particular Concern Designation 10 Years After its Removal (in English and Vietnamese).
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission, the first of its kind in the world. USCIRF reviews the facts and circumstances of religious freedom violations abroad and makes policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress. USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President and the Congressional leadership of both political parties. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at Media@USCIRF.gov or John D. Lawrence, Director of Communications (JLawrence@USCIRF.gov/+1-202-786-0611).
November 10, 2016
Nov 10, 2016
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASENovember 10, 2016
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On the 10th anniversary of the State Department’s removal of Vietnam’s designation as a “country of particular concern” (or CPC), the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) sees a country that has made progress but still has a long way to go before it fully respects religious freedom. USCIRF also watches with concern as the Vietnamese National Assembly is poised to vote on a new law governing religion.
“Vietnam is at a crossroads,” explains USCIRF Chair Thomas J. Reese, S.J. “Its government needs to stop oppressing believers and enact legislation that respects religious freedom. If it does not, USCIRF will have to continue calling for its designation as a country of particular concern.”
The freedom to practice one’s faith or beliefs in Vietnam has come a long way since the dark days following the 1975 communist takeover. Many individuals and religious communities are able to exercise their religion or belief freely, openly, and without fear.
Nevertheless, the Vietnamese government’s complicity in or indifference to egregious violations of religious freedom in many parts of the country is deeply troubling. In some areas, local authorities harass and discriminate against religious organizations that do not have government recognition, and in others, they threaten religious followers with eviction from or demolition of their places of worship or other religious buildings—in some instances carrying out these threats. Law enforcement officials continue to arrest and imprison individuals due to their religious beliefs or religious freedom advocacy, including Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh; Khmer Krom Buddhist the Venerable Thach Thuol; Hoa Hao Buddhist Nguyen Van Minh; and Buddhist Patriarch Thich Quang Do. Others are beaten by police or government hired thugs.
The scope and scale of these violations make clear that Vietnam still is a long way from respecting the universal right to freedom of religion or belief as defined by international law and covenants.
Vietnam’s law on religion and belief, which the National Assembly is expected to consider later this month, presents the government with a stark choice: either it can opt for positive change that reflects international religious freedom standards or it can maintain the status quo.
The measure includes some positive language. The new law would extend legal personality to some religious organizations, reduce the time that religious organizations must wait for government registration, encourage the establishment of religious schools, and transition from requiring government approval for certain actions by religious groups (like moving clergy or holding events) to simply requiring notification.
However, many religious organizations and international observers view the proposed law as fundamentally flawed because it would increase the government’s control over religious life and make activities it deems “illegal” subject to the force of law. The bill also would limit freedom of religion or belief through vaguely worded and broadly interpreted national security provisions.
The new law should respect religious freedom. Registration requirements, if they exist at all, should be voluntary, easy, and nonintrusive; internal operations, like the assignment of clergy and the scheduling of activities, should not be managed by the government; and believers should be protected from officials who abuse their authority.
USCIRF urges the United States to continue discussions with the Vietnamese government about its religious freedom policies, including the religion law and its implementation, emphasizing the importance of adhering to international human rights standards.
For more information, please see USCIRF’s Vietnam chapter in the 2016 Annual Report (in English and Vietnamese).
To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at media@uscirf.gov or 202-786-0615.