House members hold news conference to urge freedom for last U.S. citizen still in Vietnamese custody.
December 11, 2007
WASHINGTON It was a bittersweet scene in the basement of the Capitol this afternoon.
Lauren Truong was grateful because just hours before her father, Leon Truong, had been released from a Vietnamese jail and was on his way home to Hawaii. But for Huong Ngo of Sacramento, the waiting continues. Her husband, Nguyen Quoc Quan remains locked up.
These two men were among a group of democracy activists who had been jailed last month by Vietnamese authorities who said they were “terrorists.’’
“My husband is not a terrorist,’’ a tearful Ngo said at a news conference scheduled days ago to urge the Vietnamese government to release all the activists they have arrested in the past few weeks. “He’s a peaceful democracy activist. Please do not let them crush his voice. Please bring him home with me and his two young sons.’’
Besides Truong, also released today were Le Van Phan and Nguyen Thi Thinh, a couple from Ontario who were detained at an airport in Hanoi on Nov. 23 after they had flown to Vietnam from LAX. Vietnamese officials said a gun was found in a suitcase belonging to Thinh. Reps. Loretta Sanchez, D-Garden Grove, and Ed Royce, R-Fullerton, both accused the Vietnamese government of setting the pair up by planting the gun in the suitcase.
Remaining in jail is Quan and two Vietnamese residents, one Thai citizen and someone from France. The Vietnamese government said Quan entered Vietnam using fraudulent documents. No explanation was given about why some activists were freed and others weren’t.
“Don’t worry. We’re working on this and we will get him back,’’ Sanchez said to Ngo. “It shouldn’t have to be that if you’re a United States citizen of Vietnamese decent that you have to be afraid to go back and visit your family in Vietnam.’’
Truong said that when her father was arrested he was in the process of putting leaflets describing the principles of non-violent struggle into envelopes.’’ He had gone to Vietnam to visit his uncle, who was dying.
Ngo said her husband wanted to show solidarity with the people in Vietnam.
“We both come from a country that has been very wounded and broken,’’ Gno said, barely able to hold back tears. “His dream is to be a principal of a high school in Vietnam. The U.S. embassy recently informed me that he is now teaching another prisoner how to read.’’
State Department officials said today that the Vietnamese government never specified any charges against the activists they jailed. At a press conference in Hanoi this morning, U.S. Ambassador Michael Michalak said that “if they’re being detained because of peaceful expression of their political views, we protest that most vigorously and call for their immediate release.’’
Royce said the fact that some of the prisoners were released shows that the Vietnamese government does react when people speak up.
“I know they pat attention when we speak out. We gain nothing by our silence,’’ he said. Royce, Sanchez and Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Gold River, in whose district Ngo and her husband live, all said they have written to Vietnamese officials urging them to release the U.S. citizens. They also want to know why the arrests occurred at all.
“Now is the moment for all of us to ratchet up the pressure until we have our U.S. citizens safety back here at home and until we have an understanding that the rights of our citizens should not be abridged in this way by the totalitarian government inside Vietnam,’’ Royce said.
The three lawmakers said they also will continue to work to enact the Vietnam Human Rights Act, which has passed the House but so far is stalled in the Senate.
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., has promised to hold a hearing on the measure in her Foreign Relations subcommittee. The bill would tie future U.S. aid to Vietnam to its human rights record.