SPEAKERS CONTENTS INSERTS
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26–345PDF
2006
ROMANIA'S BAN ON INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTIONS; DISAPPROVAL OF THE ARAB LEAGUE'S DECISION TO HOLD ITS 2006 SUMMIT IN KHARTOUM, SUDAN, AND CALLING ON THE WORLD COMMUNITY TO END ACTS OF GENOCIDE IN THE DARFUR REGION OF SUDAN; CALLING ON THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM TO IMMEDIATELY AND UNCONDITIONALLY RELEASE DR. PHAM HONG SON AND OTHER POLITICAL PRISONERS; AND THE CENTRAL ASIA DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS ACT OF 2005
MARKUP
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
ON
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H. Res. 578, H. Res. 675, H. Con. Res. 320,
and H.R. 3189
FEBRUARY 28, 2006
Serial No. 109–156
Printed for the use of the Committee on International Relations
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.house.gov/international—relations
COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
HENRY J. HYDE, Illinois, Chairman
JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey,
Vice Chairman
DAN BURTON, Indiana
ELTON GALLEGLY, California
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida
DANA ROHRABACHER, California
EDWARD R. ROYCE, California
PETER T. KING, New York
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STEVE CHABOT, Ohio
THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado
RON PAUL, Texas
DARRELL ISSA, California
JEFF FLAKE, Arizona
JO ANN DAVIS, Virginia
MARK GREEN, Wisconsin
JERRY WELLER, Illinois
MIKE PENCE, Indiana
THADDEUS G. McCOTTER, Michigan
KATHERINE HARRIS, Florida
JOE WILSON, South Carolina
JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
J. GRESHAM BARRETT, South Carolina
CONNIE MACK, Florida
JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska
MICHAEL McCAUL, Texas
TED POE, Texas
TOM LANTOS, California
HOWARD L. BERMAN, California
GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York
ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American Samoa
DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey
SHERROD BROWN, Ohio
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BRAD SHERMAN, California
ROBERT WEXLER, Florida
ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York
WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT, Massachusetts
GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
BARBARA LEE, California
JOSEPH CROWLEY, New York
EARL BLUMENAUER, Oregon
SHELLEY BERKLEY, Nevada
GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, California
ADAM B. SCHIFF, California
DIANE E. WATSON, California
ADAM SMITH, Washington
BETTY McCOLLUM, Minnesota
BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky
DENNIS A. CARDOZA, California
RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri
THOMAS E. MOONEY, SR., Staff Director/General Counsel
ROBERT R. KING, Democratic Staff Director
Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, Chairman
THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado
JEFF FLAKE, Arizona
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MARK GREEN, Wisconsin
JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska
EDWARD R. ROYCE, California,
Vice Chairman
DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey
GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
BARBARA LEE, California
DIANE E. WATSON, California
BETTY McCOLLUM, Minnesota
EARL BLUMENAUER, Oregon
MARY M. NOONAN, Subcommittee Staff Director
GREG SIMPKINS, Subcommittee Professional Staff Member
NOELLE LUSANE, Democratic Professional Staff Member
SHERI A. RICKERT, Subcommittee Professional Staff Member and Counsel
LINDSEY M. PLUMLEY, Staff Associate
C O N T E N T S
MARKUP OF
H. Res. 578, Concerning the Government of Romania's ban on intercountry adoptions and the welfare of orphaned or abandoned children in Romania
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H. Res. 675, Expressing disapproval of the Arab League's decision to hold its 2006 summit in Khartoum, Sudan and calling on the Arab League, the Government of Sudan, the Sudanese rebels, and the world community to do all they can to end acts of genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan
H. Con. Res. 320, Calling on the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to immediately and unconditionally release Dr. Pham Hong Son and other political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, and other purposes
Amendment to H. Con. Res. 320 offered by the Honorable Christopher H. Smith, a Representative in Congress from the State of New Jersey and Chairman, Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations
H.R. 3189, To promote the development of democratic institutions and full respect for human rights in the countries of Central Asia.
Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 3189 offered by the Honorable Christopher H. Smith
En bloc amendment to H.R. 3189 offered by the Honorable Barbara Lee, a Representative in Congress from the State of California
LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING
The Honorable Christopher H. Smith: Prepared statement on H. Res. 578
Prepared statement on H. Res. 675
Prepared statement on H. Con. Res. 320
Prepared statement on H.R. 3189
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APPENDIX
The Honorable Edward R. Royce, a Representative in Congress from the State of California: Prepared statement on H. Con. Res. 320
ROMANIA'S BAN ON INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTIONS; DISAPPROVAL OF THE ARAB LEAGUE'S DECISION TO HOLD ITS 2006 SUMMIT IN KHARTOUM, SUDAN, AND CALLING ON THE WORLD COMMUNITY TO END ACTS OF GENOCIDE IN THE DARFUR REGION OF SUDAN; CALLING ON THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM TO IMMEDIATELY AND UNCONDITIONALLY RELEASE DR. PHAM HONG SON AND OTHER POLITICAL PRISONERS; AND THE CENTRAL ASIA DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS ACT OF 2005
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2006
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights
and International Operations,
Committee on International Relations,
Washington, DC.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 5:10 p.m. in room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Christopher Smith (Chairman of the Subcommittee) presiding.
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. The Subcommittee will come to order, and good evening, everyone.
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Pursuant to notice, I call up the bill, H. Res. 578, concerning the Government of Romania's ban on intercountry adoptions and the welfare of orphaned or abandoned children in Romania. For the purposes of markup and to move this recommendation to the Full Committee, without objection, the bill will be considered as read and open for amendment at any point.
I would like to make a very brief opening statement and then yield to my colleagues if they would like to speak on it as well.
My friends, I introduced H. Res. 578 to express our deepest disappointment that the Romanian Government has instituted a virtual ban on intercountry adoptions. This ban has serious implications for the welfare and well-being of orphaned or abandoned children in Romania. Last September, I chaired a hearing of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe which explored these issues in depth. H. Res. 578 has 24 co-sponsors, and on February 14, it was reported favorably by the Subcommittee on Europe and Emerging Threats.
[H. Res. 578 follows:]
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Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. The world first learned, in 1989, that 100,000 underfed, neglected children were living in hundreds of squalid and inhumane institutions throughout Romania. As a matter of fact, about 4 weeks after the fall of the Ceausescu regime, having been there several times when he was the dictator, I visited, along with Dorothy Taft on our staff, one of those orphanages and saw in one place 60 young babies who were left there as orphans who could not be turned even because there was such a shortage of people to attend to them.
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However, the good news is that between 1990 and 2004, more than 8,000 of these children found permanent families in the United States; thousands of others joined families in Western Europe and elsewhere.
Sadly, Romania's child-abandonment rate has not changed significantly in 30 years. Today, approximately 80,000 children still live either in institutions or in non-permanent settings such as ''foster care.''
Hopefully, a time will come when child abandonment in Romania is just a painful memory, and hopefully the country will someday have the capacity to help all of the children in need, but that day has not yet come, and today there is great need for adoption, both foreign and domestic. But despite this need and the positive outcomes of most adoptions, outrageous and unsubstantiated allegations have been made about the fate of adopted children and the qualifications and motives of those who adopt internationally.
Baroness Emma Nicholson, a member of the European Parliament who recently served as the rapporteur for Romania's accession to the European Union, equates intercountry adoption with child trafficking for pedophiles and slavery rings. She believes that it is ''totally false'' to assume that, for a child, a foreign adoptive family is better than the family which cannot care for him or her. Earlier this month, she publicly equated pro-adoption advocates with organized criminals. Rather than focusing on the best interests of the child, Romanian policymakers caved in to Lady Nicholson by banning intercountry adoption in an effort to secure Romania's EU accession.
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I would note, parenthetically, that as the author of the three trafficking laws for the United States, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, 2003, and 2005, I and Members of this Subcommittee take absolutely no back seat when it comes to trafficking. Adoption is not trafficking.
When the ban was enacted by the Romanian Parliament, I would point out, there were approximately 200 cases pending in which children had been matched with adoptive parents in the United States; approximately 1,000 more had been matched with parents in Western Europe, Israel, or Australia. These cases will be denied if the Romanian Government applies the ban retroactively.
Each of these so-called ''pipeline cases'' involves a prospective family who has proven their good faith by waiting for years for these children. Many cases involve older children, Roma children, and children with special needs who will not be domestically adopted in Romania. In at least three cases, children with severe medical needs are already in the United States on medical visas and living with their prospective adoptive parents. Each was abandoned at birth and was legally adoptable until the new anti-adoption law took effect in Romania. If returned to Romania, they will live in institutions and will not receive the medical care that they need.
Passage of H. Res. 578 will put the Congress on record as, one, supporting the Romanian Government's desire to improve the standard of care and the well-being of children—they state that that is their desire; urging the Government of Romania to complete the processing of the intercountry adoption cases which were pending when the ban was enacted; urging the government to decrease barriers to adoption, both domestically and intercountry; urging the State Department and USAID to work with Romania to achieve these ends; and requesting that the EU and its member states not impede Romania's efforts to place orphaned or abandoned children in permanent homes.
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H. Res. 578 is premised on the belief that all children deserve to be raised in a permanent family. The Romanian Government's current laws and policies do not reflect this principle, and I strongly urge my colleagues to support this resolution.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Smith on H. Res. 578 follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY AND CHAIRMAN, SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS
H.RES. 578
I introduced H.Res. 578 to express my deepest disappointment that the Romanian Government has instituted a virtual ban on intercountry adoptions. This ban has serious implications for the welfare and well-being of orphaned or abandoned children in Romania. Last September, I chaired a hearing of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe which explored these issues in depth. H.Res. 578 has 24 co-sponsors and, on February 14, it was reported favorably by the Subcommittee on Europe and Emerging Threats.
The world first learned in 1989 that 100,000 underfed, neglected children were living in hundreds of squalid and inhumane institutions throughout Romania. Between 1990 and 2004, more than 8,000 of these children found permanent families in the United States; thousands of others joined families in Western Europe and elsewhere.
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Sadly, Romania's child abandonment rate hasn't changed significantly in 30 years. Today, approximately 80,000 children still live either in institutions or in non-permanent settings such as ''foster care.''
Hopefully, a time will come when child abandonment in Romania is just a painful memory. And hopefully, the country will someday have the capacity to help all the children in need. But that day has not yet come and today there is a great need for adoption—both foreign and domestic. But despite this need, and the positive outcomes of most adoptions, outrageous and unsubstantiated allegations have been made about the fate of adopted children and the qualifications and motives of those who adopt internationally. Baroness Emma Nicholson, a Member of the European Parliament who until recently served as rapporteur for Romania's accession to the European Union, equates intercountry adoption with child trafficking for pedophiles and slavery rings. She believes that it is ''totally false'' to assume that for a child, a foreign adoptive family is better than the family which can not care for him. Earlier this month she publicly equated pro-adoption advocates with organized criminals. Rather than focusing on the best interests of the child, Romanian policy makers caved in to Nicholson by banning intercountry adoption in an effort to secure Romania's EU accession.
When the ban was enacted there were approximately 200 cases pending in which children had been matched with adoptive parents in the United States; approximately a thousand more had been matched with parents in Western Europe, Israel or Australia. These cases will be denied if the Romanian Government applies the ban retroactively.
Each of these pipeline cases involves a prospective family who has proven their good faith by waiting for years for these children. Many cases involve older children, Roma children, and children with special medical needs who will not be domestically adopted in Romania. In at least 3 cases, children with severe medical needs are already in the U.S. on medical visas and living with their prospective adoptive parents. Each was abandoned at birth and were legally adoptable until the new adoption law took effect. If returned to Romania they will live in institutions and will not receive the medical care they need.
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Passage of H. Res. 578 will put the Congress on record
supporting the Romanian Government's desire to improve the standard of care and well-being of children;
urging the Government to complete the processing of the intercountry adoption cases which were pending when the ban was enacted;
urging the Government to decrease barriers to adoption, both domestically and intercountry;
urging the State Department and USAID to work with Romania to achieve these ends; and
requesting that the EU and its member States not impede Romania's efforts to place orphaned or abandoned children in permanent homes.
H.Res. 578 is premised on the belief that all children deserve to be raised in permanent families. The Romanian Government's current laws and policies do not reflect this principle. I strongly urge my colleagues to support this resolution.
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Would anyone else like to be heard on this resolution?
[No response.]
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Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Are there any amendments to it?
[No response.]
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. If not, then the question occurs on the motion to report the bill, H. Res. 578, concerning the Government of Romania's ban on intercountry adoptions and the welfare of orphaned or abandoned children in Romania, favorably. All of those in favor, say aye.
[A chorus of ayes.]
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. All of those opposed say no.
[No response.]
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. The motion is approved, and the bill is reported favorably. The staff is directed to make any technical and conforming amendments, and without objection, that is it, and I thank my colleagues.
We will now move to consideration of our second measure. Pursuant to notice, I call up the bill, H. Res. 675, expressing disapproval of the Arab League's decision to hold its 2006 summit in Khartoum, Sudan, and calling on the Arab League, the Government of Sudan, Sudanese rebels, and the world community to do all that they can to end acts of genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan. For the purposes of markup, I move its recommendation to the Full Committee. Without objection, the bill will be considered as read and open for amendment at any point.
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[H. Res. 675 follows:]
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Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Would anyone like to make an opening statement? Ms. Lee?
Ms. LEE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Let me thank you for bringing forth this resolution and just say that this is very timely. I feel an increased sense of urgency upon returning from Darfur for my second time, actually, last week.
Congressman and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi led a delegation. It was a bipartisan delegation, and we witnessed the effects once again of this horrific genocide that is taking place. From 200 to 400,000 people have been killed, and it is growing. About 2 million people have been displaced, and that is growing. We witnessed the devastation, the trauma, the dislocated families, talked to people, women who had been raped. The Janjaweed is unfortunately continuing with their slaughter, and I am convinced that we have to pressure the Sudanese Government. The Khartoum Government must feel this pressure from us.
Personally, I feel that only when they see that they are becoming more isolated in the world and that we mount an effort to increase sanctions will they begin to understand that they cannot continue with this slaughter.
Let me just say also, we were convinced that we need to support the African Union, and we need to at least double the force, and we must bring in our international organizations, the United Nations and NATO, to play a coordinating role, and we have got to move quickly. We have got to move quickly to make sure that people become secure in the camps. The Sudanese Government, quite frankly, and we talked to many people, they are not doing a doggone thing. They are not providing any type of healthcare. They are not helping people settle down in these shacks. It is unfortunate. They are just left to fend for themselves under such dire circumstances.
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So until this political settlement is reached—and there must be a political settlement to ensure that people can go back home and that the genocide stops—we have to make sure that the people are secure, and I think Khartoum needs to wake up. They need to understand that they are going to continue to feel the pressure from us, both Democrats and Republicans and the Administration, and that we are not going to stop. In fact, we are going to redouble our efforts.
So I just want to thank you for this resolution because I think this sends the message that we are redoubling our efforts to isolate and to pressure the Sudanese Government to stop this slaughter before Darfur becomes another Rwanda, and that could take place.
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. I thank my friend. Just to say very briefly to my colleagues, the Arab League has scheduled its next summit to begin on March 28 in Khartoum, Sudan. This meeting would represent a public relations boost for that regime, which has done nothing to deserve the positive recognition that such a summit would provide. Several weeks ago, the African Union held its summit in Khartoum, but in that meeting African Union leaders made crystal clear to the Government of Sudan that its behavior disqualified it to head that organization. It is unlikely that the Arab League would use their meeting to make such a statement to the Khartoum Government.
I point out to my colleagues, like my good friend and colleague from California, I, too, have visited Darfur and went along with Greg Simpkins on our staff to Kamakan and Mukjar and saw the horrific effects and consequences that the Janjaweed is having in terms of its murderous rampage. Regrettably, they are being aided and abetted by the Government of Sudan, and it would be, again, I think very inopportune for the Arab League and would send precisely the wrong message if they were to meet.
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[The prepared statement of Mr. Smith on H. Res. 675 follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY AND CHAIRMAN, SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS
H. RES. 675
The Arab League has scheduled its next summit to begin on March 28th in Khartoum, Sudan. This meeting would represent a public relations boost for that regime, which has done nothing to deserve the positive recognition that such a summit would provide. Several weeks ago, the African Union held its summit in Khartoum, but in that meeting, African leaders made clear to the Government of Sudan that its behavior disqualified it to head that organization. It is unlikely that the Arab League would use their meeting to make such a statement to the Khartoum government.
The situation in Darfur continues to be perilous for the thousands of refugees virtually imprisoned in camps throughout the Darfur region. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced from their homes and cannot return for fear of their lives. Women must obtain armed escorts to look for wood for fires, and men face almost certain death if they leave their camps for any reason.
The Government of Sudan has continued to cooperate with the Janjaweed in their attacks on Darfur residents. This was reported by the African Union as recently as last fall, and the U.S. State Department has confirmed the continuing cooperation between the Janjaweed and elements of the Government of Sudan. The Janjaweed live up to the origin of their name by acting as devils plaguing the people of Darfur. Regardless of any peace talks being conducted in Abuja, Nigeria, if these terrorists do not cease their murderous rampage against the people of that region, there can be no satisfactory settlement of this situation.
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House Resolution 675 seeks to express to the Arab League our government's disapproval of their decision to meet in Khartoum in light of the tragedy of Darfur. It calls on the Arab League to join with the Government of Sudan, the rebels and the international community to cooperate in ending the genocide that has occurred in Darfur.
In fact, the northern elements of the Government of Sudan, who controlled all the levers of power before the Government of National Unity was installed last July, based their mistreatment of non-Muslims in the South on their lack of respect for those who do not share their Arab heritage.
In Darfur, most of the people are Muslim, but not Arab. Again, their non-Arab heritage made them acceptable targets for genocidal attacks.
The Arab League has a valuable and unique role to play in emphasizing that to be Arab should not mean that non-Arabs should be targets for mistreatment. If any long-term resolution of the Darfur crisis is to be found, then the Arab League must take up this challenge.
The Arab league also could be helpful in joining with the international community to support an expanded African-led civilian protection mission in Darfur. After all, many of those in danger there are fellow Muslims.
I ask my colleagues to give favorable consideration to H. Res. 675, which is a very timely and useful statement on the continuing tragedy in Darfur and how the Arab League can use the ill-timed summit in Khartoum as the first step in their effort to help resolve this crisis.
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Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. So I would ask my colleagues, any others who would like to speak on this?
Mr. TANCREDO. Mr. Chairman, I just would say that I do not know how often we have to sit here. I absolutely agree with everything that has been stated up to this point in time. It is just that it becomes a point at which you say, what more can we do here? We have passed so many resolutions. We have talked so often about the horrors that afflict these people that you just become frustrated, at least I do, and say to myself, what is the next step we can take?
This is one that I certainly support the effort. I just keep thinking to myself that something else has to be done. Some other kind of measure has to be taken because we know this, that every single time anything is accomplished in the Sudan, it is because we have forced the government essentially to the brink. Anything short of that, they simply will not respond.
So this is one more measure, this is one more step, and I thank you for bringing it today, and now I guess all of our voices can be raised in prayer for the people in that country, specifically, of course, in Darfur, because right now I do not know what else we have to do.
Ms. LEE. Mr. Chairman, may I respond quickly, briefly?
Mr. TANCREDO. Yes. Of course, I yield.
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Ms. LEE. You know, when you say, what more can we do, and I agree—every night I wonder about this, what more can we do?—and I tell you, I believe we have not done everything we need to do, and one effort that I think that we need to double our work on is the divestment movement.
I am very pleased that the University of California is considering divestment. Stanford University has divested. Harvard has divested. Yale is considering divesting. The State of New Jersey has divested. The State of Illinois has a very strong divestment measure in place. The State of California, our California public employee retirement system, they are dragging their feet, but they are trying to figure out how to divest. I hope they do, and we are pushing them to do that.
So I think we need to really look at the economics of this and put a squeeze on the money and on the revenues that the Khartoum Government reaps from investments in companies doing business in that country.
Mr. TANCREDO. Reclaiming my time, I certainly agree with the gentlelady, and I would say also that we would, once again, what we have passed here, and the House, as a matter of fact, has passed a provision that would restrict any company from being able to access our markets, I think we ought to continue to do exactly that because I do think the pocketbook is where we can hit these people, and I am willing to try anything. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Would anyone else like to be heard?
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[No response.]
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. If not, the question occurs on the motion to report the bill, H. Res. 675, favorably. All those in favor, say aye.
[A chorus of ayes.]
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. All of those opposed, say no.
[No response.]
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. The ayes have it. The motion is approved, and the bill is reported favorably. The staff is directed to make any technical and conforming amendments on the resolution just passed.
Pursuant to notice, I call up the bill, H. Con. Res. 302, calling on the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to immediately and unconditionally release Dr. Pham Hong Son and other political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, for purposes of markup and move its recommendation to the Full Committee. Without objection, the bill will be considered as read and open for amendment at any point.
[H. Con. Res. 302 follows:]
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Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. I would just say to my colleagues very briefly in explaining this resolution, there has been a tremendous amount of publicity lately about the Internet dissidents in China. As you know, we had that hearing in our Subcommittee less than 2 weeks ago. But I would like to bring to your attention the case of Dr. Pham Hong Son from Vietnam.
In March 2002, the police arrested Dr. Son. He had translated an article from the Web site of the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam entitled ''What is Democracy?'' and sent it to his friends and senior Vietnamese officials. In addition, he had written an open letter, published on the Internet, protesting the fact that his house had been illegally searched and his computer and documents confiscated.
Dr. Son was charged with espionage for this by the government, which accused him of ''collecting and dispatching news and documents for a foreign country to be used against the Socialist State of Vietnam.'' After a closed trial and a closed appeal, from which Western reporters and diplomats from Europe, the United States, and Canada were barred, Dr. Son was sentenced to 5 years plus an additional 3 years of house arrest.
Dr. Son's case has been highlighted by the U.S. Department of State's Human Rights for Vietnam repeatedly, Human Rights Watch, Reporters without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and Amnesty International.
I went to Vietnam last December, along with members of our staff, and met with Dr. Son's extraordinary and courageous wife, Vu Thuy Ha, who continues to campaign for her husband's freedom despite constant surveillance and harassment, which I personally have witnessed. I knew that I could not let this brave woman battle alone.
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As a matter of fact, Eleanor Nagy and I met with her and many other political and religious activists during the course of 3 1/2 days there, some of whom are under house arrest, like Father Ly. We met with him in his house; he could not leave. The venerable Thich Quang Do, who was under pagoda arrest; he, too, could not see us to the curb. He had to stop right where his door of his pagoda ended, and right outside, ready to push him back or arrest him, as they did recently, were thugs from the secret police, and he is with the Unified Church of Vietnam, the Buddhist church. We also met with the relatives of a number of other prisoners of conscience and others who have been in prison before. They need and appreciate our continued support.
Vietnam is clearly at a critical crossroads. It wants to expand its burgeoning trade relations with the United States and seeks to join the WTO. There will be no better time to convince Vietnam of the seriousness of our human rights concerns and their centrality in any relations with the United States than now. The European Parliament has already passed a resolution calling for Vietnam to release all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, allow democracy and political pluralism, and ensure human rights for Vietnam's Montagnards, and it is appropriate that we do the same.
I am offering an amendment to H. Con. Res. 320 to reflect several updates and corrections, and we were informed by the Embassy, for example, that Dr. Son is more correct than Dr. Pham, so there was a minor technical change.
The Vietnam Supreme Court, I would point out, did not increase the house arrest portion of Dr. Son's sentence. It left it at 3 years. Originally, we thought it was 6 years.
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And, finally, one dissident recently was amnestied, but two others are now suffering from official harassment.
Let me just say, finally, to my colleagues that when Eleanor and I met with Dr. Son's wife, Vu, sitting just a couple of feet away from us were members of the secret police, and so obsessive were they about our meeting that they stood there with their cell phones and started taking pictures, and we, obviously, took pictures of them and returned the favor. But that is the kind of ever-present intimidation, and she is worried. She is worried for her life, she is worried for her health and safety, and, of course, she is worried over her husband.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Smith on H. Con. Res. 320 follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY AND CHAIRMAN, SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS
There has been a tremendous amount of publicity lately about Internet dissidents in China, but I would like to bring to your attention the case of Dr. Pham Hong Son from Vietnam.
In March, 2002, police arrested Dr. Son. He had translated an article from the website of the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam, titled ''What is Democracy,'' and sent it to his friends and senior Vietnamese officials. In addition, he had written an open letter, published on the Internet, protesting the fact that his house had been searched illegally and his computer and documents confiscated.
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Dr. Son was charged with espionage by the government, which accused him of ''collecting and dispatching news and documents for a foreign country to be used against the Socialist State of Vietnam.'' After a closed trial and a closed appeal, from which Western reporters and diplomats from Europe, the United States, and Canada were barred, Dr. Son was sentenced to five years, plus an additional three years of house arrest.
Dr. Son's case has been highlighted by the US Department of State's Human Rights for Vietnam repeatedly, Human Rights Watch, Reporters without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and Amnesty International.
I went to Vietnam last December, and met with Dr. Son's extraordinary and courageous wife, Vu Thuy Ha, who continues to campaign for her husband's freedom despite constant surveillance and harassment, which I personally witnessed. I knew that I could not let this brave woman battle alone. I met with many other political and religious activists, some of whom are under house arrest, like Father Ly and Thich Quang Do, of the Unified Church of Vietnam, and with the relatives of a number of prisoners of conscience. They need, and appreciate, our continued support.
Vietnam is at a critical crossroads: it wants to expand its burgeoning trade relations with the United States, and seeks to join the WTO. There will be no better time to convince Vietnam of the seriousness of our human rights concerns, and their centrality in any relation with the U.S. The European Parliament has already passed a resolution calling for Vietnam to release all prisoners of conscience, allow democracy and political pluralism, and ensure the human rights for Vietnam's Montagnards, and it is appropriate that we do the same.
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There is an amendment, to reflect several factual corrections, and updates.
We have been informed by our Embassy that according to Vietnamese naming conventions, Dr. Son is more correct that Dr. Pham. This has been changed throughout.
The Supreme did not increase the house arrest portion of Dr. Son's sentence, it left it untouched at three years.
Finally, one dissident has been amnestied, but two more are suffering official harassment—typical one step forward, two steps backward. We have added and subtracted accordingly.
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. So I would like to ask anyone else if they would like to make any comments on the pending matter.
[No response.]
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. The amendment at the desk, without objection, will be considered as read, and as I explained, it is very technical. That is all it is.
[The amendment referred to follows:]
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Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. So the question occurs on the amendment. All of those in favor, say aye.
[A chorus of ayes.]
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. No?
[No response.]
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. The ayes have it. The amendment is agreed to. Any other amendments to the resolution?
[No response.]
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. If not, the question occurs on the motion to report the bill, H. Con. Res. 320, calling on the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to immediately and unconditionally release Dr. Son and other political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, favorably as amended. All in favor, say aye.
[A chorus of ayes.]
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. All opposed, say no.
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[No response.]
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. The motion is approved, and the bill is reported favorably, and the staff is directed to make any technical and conforming amendments. Without objection, the bill will be reported favorably in the form of a single amendment in the nature of a substitute incorporating the amendment adopted just a moment ago. Without objection, so ordered.
Pursuant to notice, I call up H.R. 3189, the Central Asia Democracy and Human Rights Act of 2005, for purposes of markup and move its recommendation to the Full Committee. Without objection, the resolution will be considered as read and open for amendment at any point.
[H.R. 3189 follows:]
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Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. I would like to make a very short opening statement and then yield to my friend for any comments, all my friends, that they might have.
It is my pleasure this evening to mark up 3189, the Central Asia Democracy and Human Rights Act of 2006. Since 9/11, the strategic nature of this troubled region for the United States has become apparent, as the five countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan are strategically positioned at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and the Muslim world.
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Unfortunately, in the 15 years of independence following decades of Soviet misrule, the trends in most of these countries are moving in the wrong direction. However, instead of throwing up our hands and writing off the region, we must redouble our efforts. Even when the existing leadership seemingly barricades itself against political winds of change, we must think about how best to encourage the development and training of the next generation of leaders, and this is one of the reasons why I introduced H.R. 3189, a bipartisan piece of legislation.
As Chairman of the Subcommittee, and Helsinki Commission Co-Chairman, I appreciate the wide spectrum of conditions in Central Asia. One end is Kyrgyzstan, whose people rose to oust a corrupt leader in February of last year. President Bakiev was subsequently elected in July in a free and fair election, a first in the region. However, since then, the bloom has faded on the ''Tulip Revolution.'' I am, frankly, very concerned about a possible return of Uzbek refugees and the Putin-esque plan to investigate all NGOs that receive foreign funding.
I was in Fiano last week with my colleagues meeting a delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and raised these questions with their delegation and did not get back very satisfactory answers. They are looking at every NGO that we support and that the Europeans support and any foreign NGO that gets money from our Government.
On the other end of the spectrum is Uzbekistan, where President Karimov has ruled since 1989. He has maintained Soviet-era censorship, limited religious freedoms, and allowed no political opposition, in effect, creating a repressive police state. Uzbekistan's dreadful human rights record deteriorated even further after the government massacre of demonstrators in Andijan last May. Just last week, Uzbek prosecutors sentenced a moderate, would-be opposition activist to 13 years in prison on blatantly political charges.
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Turkmenistan competes mightily with Uzbekistan for the prize of worst human rights violator in the OSCE region. Under President-for-life Niyazov, Turkmenistan is one of the most repressive and closed countries in the world. All opposition groups are banned, and the country's citizens enjoy no political or religious freedoms.
In the middle, we find Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, but both display negative trends. In Kazakhstan, President Nazarbayev won the December 2005 election with an implausible 91 percent of the vote through harassment of the opposition, tight control of the airwaves, and election day fraud. Also alarming was the recent execution-style murder of an opposition figure, the second opposition leader murdered in 3 months, and the forcible return of Uzbek refugees to Uzbekistan where they will surely be tortured and beaten. We have a number of instances of their lawyers saying that that is exactly what has happened.
And, finally, in Tajikistan, President Rakhmonov has been consolidating his grip on power. In 2004, he orchestrated a referendum to potentially extend his tenure in office until 2020. To remove potential challengers, his government has also jailed opposition figures; one who was sentenced last fall to 23 years in prison on politically-motivated charges.
As we all remember, President Bush famously announced in his second inaugural address, and I quote:
''It is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.''
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My bill answers the President's call by focusing U.S. efforts on moving these countries away from repression and toward greater respect for democracy and human rights.
H.R. 3189 enjoys support from a variety of NGOs, including the International League for Human Rights, Freedom House, the Center for the Victims of Torture, the Protection Project, the International Justice Mission, and the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.
In response to formal and informal comments, I will be offering an amendment in the nature of a substitute. In brief, the bill provides for democracy and human rights programming and would require an annual Presidential determination for assistance to each government that would examine five categories: Democratization, free speech, freedom of religion, torture, and the rule of law.
The constructive foreign assistance provided in the act will support activities like democratic institution building, the protection of fundamental freedoms, and the expansion of radio broadcasting in the region. The conditioning of all nonhumanitarian U.S. assistance to individual governments is based on whether the President determines that each is making ''substantial, sustained and demonstrable progress'' toward democratization and full respect for human rights.
If a country is not certified, economic and military assistance would be withheld in a graduated format. Notably, however, the money would not be lost for the people of that region. The President is authorized to reallocate withheld funds to provide financial assistance to programs that promote free and fair elections, build civil society, and develop independent media, enhance religious freedom, and prosecute human rights traffickers, and train judges and fight corruption.
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[The prepared statement of Mr. Smith on H.R. 3189 follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY AND CHAIRMAN, SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS
H.R. 3189, CENTRAL ASIA DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS ACT OF 2006
Colleagues, it's my pleasure this afternoon to mark up HR 3189, the Central Asia Democracy and Human Rights Act of 2006. Since 9/11, the strategic nature of this troubled region for the United States has become apparent, as the five countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are strategically positioned at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and the Muslim world.
Unfortunately, in the 15 years of independence following decades of Soviet misrule, the trends in most of these countries are moving in the wrong direction. However, instead of throwing up our hands and writing off the region, we must redouble our efforts. Even when the existing leadership seemingly barricades itself against political winds of change, we must think about how best to encourage the development and training of the next generation of leaders. This is one of the reasons why I introduced HR 3189.
Thumbnail Sketches of the Five Republics
As Chairman of this subcommittee and Helsinki Commission Co-Chairman, I appreciate the wide spectrum of conditions in Central Asia. On one end is Kyrgyzstan, whose people rose to oust a corrupt leader in February-March of last year. President Bakiev was subsequently elected in July in a free and fair election—a first in the region. However, since then, the bloom has faded on the ''Tulip Revolution.'' I'm frankly very concerned by the possible return of Uzbek refugees and the Putin-esque plan to investigate all NGOs that receive foreign funding.
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On the other end of the spectrum is Uzbekistan, where President Karimov has ruled since 1989. He has maintained Soviet-era censorship, limited religious freedoms, and allowed no political opposition, in effect creating a repressive police state. Uzbekistan's dreadful human rights record deteriorated even further after the government massacre of demonstrators in Andijan last May. Just last week, Uzbek prosecutors sentenced a moderate, would-be opposition activist to 13 years in prison on blatantly political charges.
Turkmenistan competes mightily with Uzbekistan for the booby prize of worst human rights violator in the OSCE region. Under president-for-life Niyazov, Turkmenistan is one of the most repressive and closed countries in the world. All opposition groups are banned, and the country's citizens enjoy no political or religious freedoms.
In the middle, we find Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, but both display negative trends. In Kazakhstan, President Nazarbayev won the December 2005 election with an implausible 91% of the vote through harassment of the opposition, tight control of the airwaves and election-day vote fraud. Also alarming was the recent execution-style murder of an opposition figure—the second opposition leader murdered in three months—and Astana's forcible return of Uzbek refugees to Uzbekistan where they will surely be tortured and beaten.
In Tajikistan, President Rakhmonov has been consolidating his grip on power. In 2004, he orchestrated a referendum to potentially extend his tenure in office until 2020. To remove potential challengers, his government has also jailed opposition figures; one was sentenced last fall to 23 years in prison on politically motivated charges.
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As we all remember, President Bush famously announced in his second inaugural address that ''It is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.'' My bill answers the President's call by focusing U.S. efforts on moving these countries away from repression and towards greater respect for democracy and human rights.
Background
HR 3189 enjoys support from a variety of NGOs, including the International League for Human Rights, Freedom House, the Center for the Victims of Torture, the Protection Project, the International Justice Mission, and the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.
In response to formal and informal comments we have received, I will be offering an amendment in the nature of a substitute. In brief, the bill provides funding for democracy and human rights programming, and would require an annual presidential determination for assistance to each government that would examine five categories: democratization; free speech; freedom of religion; torture; and rule of law.
The constructive foreign assistance provided in the Act will support activities like democratic institution-building, the protection of fundamental freedoms, and the expansion of radio broadcasting in the region. The conditioning of all non-humanitarian U.S. assistance to the individual governments is based on whether the President determines each is making ''substantial, sustained and demonstrable progress'' towards democratization and full respect of human rights.
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If a country is not certified, economic and military assistance would be withheld in a graduated format. Notably, withheld money is not lost for the people of the region. The President is authorized to reallocate withheld funds to provide financial assistance to programs that promote free and fair elections, build civil society, develop independent media, enhance religious freedoms, prosecute human traffickers, and train judges and fight corruption.
Also notable, the substitute provides an exception for democratic change, allowing the President to restore all assistance after elections deemed consistent with OSCE and international standards. This ensures that newly and freely elected governments may receive all allocated funds and not have to pay for the transgressions of their predecessors.
The bill provides the President flexibility, as it allows the U.S. to express dissatisfaction in a significant way while not immediately ending all aid programs to central governments. Also, mindful of the importance of not overly restricting the President's flexibility in foreign affairs, the amended version now provides the President with a full national security waiver.
Protection of fundamental freedoms for the people of Central Asia is what will ultimately promote long-term stability and security in the region. Acquiescence to the status quo challenges the sincerity of our stated objectives, as declared in the 2002 National Security Strategy, to ''stand firmly for the nonnegotiable demands of human dignity.''
The bill has been cosponsored by a number of Members of this Subcommittee including my friend, Rep. Donald Payne. Others on the Subcommittee may wish to be added before we move to mark up the measure. I am asking for the support of Members of this Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations so we can favorably report this bill out of the subcommittee.
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Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. I would like to now offer the amendment, I believe, and the technical amendment or any new amendments that Members may have. So I have an amendment in the nature of a substitute at the desk, and without objection, it will be considered as read.
[The amendment in the nature of a substitute follows:]
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Ms. LEE. Mr. Chairman, I have actually two amendments at the desk, and I ask unanimous consent that they be considered read en bloc.
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Without objection, so ordered.
[The amendments referred to follow:]
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Ms. LEE. Thank you. Just briefly, first, thank you for offering this bill. It is a bill, a resolution, that I fully support, and these two amendments basically, I think, will just clarify our intention. The first one is any time the bill or resolution reflects or says ''every means,'' I just ask that we put ''every peaceful means'' to clarify what means we are talking about. And the second amendment basically just says, and I will just read this—it adds a sentence to Section 4—it just says:
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''In addition, the name of each department or agency of the Government of the United States that provides assistance under this section and the name of each recipient of such assistance.''
Those basically are the two amendments, and, Mr. Chairman, I hope that they will be accepted en bloc.
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Would anybody else like to be heard on the gentlelady's amendments?
[No response.]
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. If not, the question occurs on the amendments offered en bloc. All of those in favor, say aye.
[A chorus of ayes.]
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. All of those opposed say no.
[No response.]
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. The ayes have it, and the amendments en bloc are agreed to.
The question now occurs on the amendment in the nature of a substitute, as amended. All of those in favor say aye.
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[A chorus of ayes.]
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. All of those opposed say no.
[No response.]
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. The motion is approved, and the resolution is to be reported favorably. Without objection, the staff is directed to make any technical and conforming amendments.
I want to thank all of the Members of the Subcommittee for coming out and appreciate your support for these resolutions and bills. The markup is adjourned. Thank you so much.
[Whereupon, at 5:37 p.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
Material Submitted for the Hearing Record
PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE EDWARD R. ROYCE, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
H. CON. RES. 320
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Dr. Pham Hong Son was arrested in March 2002 for his writings and translations on democracy. Without the benefit of a legitimate trial, Dr. Son was sentenced to 13 years of imprisonment and three years of house arrest. Although his sentence was later lessened, the circumstances surrounding his arrest remain reprehensible. Upon his unlawful arrest, Dr. Son spent a year in solitary confinement and was subjected to inhumane treatment.
Unfortunately, Dr. Son's case is far from unique—it is a microcosm of the Vietnamese governments approach to human rights. Sentences such as his are routinely used by the Vietnamese Communist Government to stymie political dissent. The Communist Party of Vietnam continues to commit serious abuses against its citizens and denies them the right to change government. This committee has followed those abuses and spoken out against them with great determination—which I know it will continue to do.
The Vietnamese government's policy of intolerance towards free speech is intolerable. I urge you all to support the unconditional release of Dr. Pham Hong Son.