FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 5, 2011

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) urges the U.S. government to speak out publicly on behalf of jailed human rights defender Cu Huy Ha Vu, who was found guilty and sentenced to seven years under vague national security laws for his activities defending victims of land confiscation and abuse of power, including representing the Catholic villagers of Con Dau.

"Cu Huy Ha Vu's arrest is part of a disturbing trend in Vietnam where the defenders of the vulnerable are attacked as threats to national security,” said Leonard Leo, USCIRF chair. "The Obama Administration cannot continue to advance Vietnam's security and economic interests without seeking concrete improvements on U.S. interests in religious freedom and the rule of law. It's past time for the Administration to re-designate Vietnam as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC).”

Cu Huy Ha Vu is a well known human rights defender who has sued the Vietnamese government to protect cultural heritage sites and publicly criticized officials for corruption and persecution of dissidents. In October 2010, his law firm took on the case of the Catholic villagers of Con Dau, near Da Nang. Residents of this village faced government-organized harassment, detention, torture, and arrest for refusing to sell or vacate land-including a long-standing religious burial site that has been in their village for 135 years-to create an eco-tourist resort. Cu Huy Ha Vu was arrested soon after speaking out publicly about their case. USCIRF testified at the August 2010 Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission hearing on efforts by the Vietnamese government to obtain the property of Con Dau residents and about general religious freedom conditions in Vietnam. A copy of this testimony can be found at www.uscirf.gov.

Cu Huy Ha Vu is the latest in a long list of human rights advocates in Vietnam who have faced government persecution for representing vulnerable communities, including religious groups and individuals. Among the advocates who have been arrested and harassed for representing religious communities or advocating for greater religious freedom including Le Cong Dinh, Nguyen Van Dai, Le Thi Cong Nhan, Le Tran Luat, Le Quoc Quan, and Fr. Nguyen Van Ly.

"Vietnam has been called the United States" new best friend in Asia, but it continues to trample on individual freedoms and the rule of law with impunity,” said Mr. Leo. "Re-designating Vietnam as a CPC is not only the right thing to do, it will advance the United States" strategic interests as well, producing tangible religious freedom improvements on the ground without hindering other bilateral interests. Most importantly, it will clearly signal that the United States sides with those in Vietnam who peacefully seek greater freedoms and rights.”

USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission. USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President and the leadership of both political parties in the Senate and the House of Representatives. USCIRF's principal responsibilities are to review the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom internationally and to make policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress.

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, contact Tom Carter, Communications Director at [email protected] or (202) 523-3257.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 24, 2011

WASHINGTON, DC -The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) welcomed the UN Human Rights Council"s significant step away from the pernicious "defamation of religions” concept. Today, the Council adopted a resolution on religious intolerance that does not include this dangerous concept. The defamation concept undermines individual rights to freedom of religion and expression; exacerbates religious intolerance, discrimination, and violence; and provides international support for domestic blasphemy laws that often have led to gross human rights abuses. The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has promoted this flawed concept at the United Nations for more than a decade.

"USCIRF and others, including the State Department, members of Congress, and NGOs, have worked hard against the defamation of religions concept for years. USCIRF specifically applauds Secretary Clinton and her team for today's result. We also thank Representatives Eliot Engel (D-NY), Christopher Smith (R-NJ), Shelley Berkley (D-NV), and Frank Wolf (R-VA), for their leadership roles on this issue,” said Leonard Leo, USCIRF chair. "Thanks to these efforts, and those of previous administrations and Congresses, more countries each year voted against the defamation of religions concept because they understood that blasphemy laws increase intolerance and violence. Tragically, it took the assassinations of two prominent Pakistani officials who opposed that country's draconian blasphemy laws-Federal Minister of Minorities Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti and Punjab governor Salman Taseer-to convince the OIC that the annual defamation of religions resolutions embolden extremists rather than bolster religious harmony.”

The efforts over the past several years by USCIRF, the State Department, Congress, and a broad coalition of NGOs helped bring about a steady loss of support both in Geneva and New York for the defamation resolutions. Since 2008, the resolutions have been supported by only a plurality of member states. In 2010, at both the UN Human Rights Council and General Assembly, defamation of religions resolutions garnered the least support and most opposition the issue had ever received, coming within, respectively, four and 13 votes of defeat.

In place of the divisive "combating defamation of religions” resolution, today the UN Human Rights Council adopted a consensus resolution on "combating intolerance, negative stereotyping and stigmatization of, and discrimination, incitement to violence, and violence against persons based on religion or belief.” The resolution properly focuses on protecting individuals from discrimination or violence, instead of protecting religions from criticism. The resolution protects the adherents of all religions or beliefs, instead of focusing on one religion. Unlike the defamation of religions resolution, the new consensus resolution does not call for legal restrictions on peaceful expression, but rather, for positive measures, such as education and awareness-building, to address intolerance, discrimination, and violence based on religion or belief.

"USCIRF is gratified that this new resolution recognizes that religious intolerance is best fought through efforts to encourage respect for every individual's human rights, not through national or international anti-blasphemy laws,” said Mr. Leo. "What is needed now is for countries, such as Pakistan, that have blasphemy laws to eliminate them.”

USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission. USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President and the leadership of both political parties in the Senate and the House of Representatives. USCIRF's principal responsibilities are to review the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom internationally and to make policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress.

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, contact Tom Carter, Communications Director at [email protected] or (202) 523-3257.

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