October 17, 2012
His Excellency Truong Tan Sang
President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
c/o Embassy of Vietnam
1233 20th Street NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20036
Dear President Truong:
On April 17, 2012, Dr. Nguyen Quoc Quan, a U.S. citizen, was arrested by Vietnamese officials as he attempted to enter your country at Ho Chi Minh City airport. He has been arbitrarily detained since that time. I urge to release Dr. Quan, immediately and unconditionally.
Simply for his association with Viet Tan and his pro-democracy advocacy, Dr. Quan was initially held under vague “terrorism” charges as stated by Article 84 of the Vietnamese penal code. Yet Viet Tan does not appear on any international terrorism watch lists. It espouses peaceful protest and advocacy. These are not the hallmarks of a terrorist organization. While I understand that Dr. Quan is no longer being held on the charge of “terrorism”, the new charge of “attempting to overthrow the government” lodged against him is equally dubious.
Your government seeks a strategic partnership with the United States; however, such a partnership is untenable if Vietnam considers peaceful political activity to be a national security offense, and abuses American citizens.
I call on the Vietnamese government to immediately release Dr. Nguyen Quoc Quan, a United States citizen, and to cease the continued disregard for religious freedom, political dissent and other basic human rights. Recently, I joined several of my colleagues in writing to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, expressing our concern over this matter. I understand that she echoed our concerns to your government during her July 2012 trip to Southeast Asia. As Dr. Quan remains imprisoned, our concern continues to grow.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
EDWARD R. ROYCE
