May 27, 2011
WASHINGTON — US lawmakers are urging Vietnam to free seven rights campaigners from an unauthorized church who are expected to go on trial next week, voicing concern about religious freedom in the communist country.
The US-based opposition group Viet Tan, which is banned by Hanoi, says that the seven members of the Cattle Shed Congregation, a Mennonite house church, will go on trial Monday on charges of attempting to overthrow the government.
The opposition group said that the seven, including Pastor Duong Kim Khai, 52, had been active fighting “injustice.” They have not been allowed to see their families or lawyers since they were rounded up last year, the group said.
“The persecution of Pastor Khai and his fellow Mennonites is a stain on your government’s increasingly troublesome religious freedom record,” five members of the US Congress said in a letter Thursday to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.
“We hope you will dismiss the subversion charges against these seven peaceful activists,” said the letter led by Representative Ed Royce, a Republican whose southern California district is home to many Vietnamese Americans.
Amnesty International has said that dozens of peaceful political critics have been sentenced to long prison terms since Vietnam launched a crackdown on free expression about 18 months ago.
Vietnam says it has achieved significant progress on human rights.
