After joining the World Trade Organization in January 2007, the politburo of the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP) has carried out a large-scale brutal campaign of suppression against the nascent movement for democracy in Vietnam. Ignoring all criticisms from world public opinion and strenuous protests of the Vietnamese people, in Vietnam and overseas, the communist regime in Hanoi has shamefully achieved the following:

- On February 18, 2007, the very first day of the Lunar New Year, which is the most sacred day in Vietnamese culture, the communist security forces in Hue raided Father Nguyen Van Ly’s office within the Communal Residence of the Hue Archdiocese. Father Ly was later banished to a remote, secluded area in Hue.

- On March 5, 2007, security forces in Saigon told Mrs. Bui Ngoc Yen, that her husband, Professor Nguyen Chinh Ket, a leading member of the Alliance for Democracy and Human Rights in Vietnam, that they had a standing order to arrest her husband. Meanwhile, Prof. Kiet was in Europe to campaign for democracy and human rights in Vietnam.

- On March 8, 2007, Reverend Nguyen Cong Chinh and his wife were brutally assaulted by security forces of Gia Lai Province in the Central Highlands before taking Reverend Chinh to their post for investigation.

- Also on March 8, 2007, two prominent human rights activists and lawyers, Mr. Nguyen Van Dai and Ms. Le Thi Cong Nhan, were arrested in Hanoi and told that they would be detained for 4 months for investigation.

- On March 9, 2007, Mr. Tran Van Hoa, a member of the People’s Democracy Party in Quang Ninh Province and Mr. Pham Van Troi, a member of the Committee for Human Rights in Ha Tay were summoned by security forces and threatened with “immeasurable consequences” if they do not stop their advocacy for human rights in Vietnam.

- On March 10, 2007, Do Nam Hai, an engineer with pen name Phuong Nam, one of the leading members of the Alliance for Democracy and Human Rights in Vietnam was threatened by security forces that he could be indicted at any time!

- Also on March 10, 2007, security forces again raided the home of Ms. Tran Khai Thanh Thuy, a writer and advocate for “people with grievances” against the government. They took away 2 computers, 2 cell phones, and hundreds of appeals that she had prepared for those people.

- On March 12, 2007, lawyer Le Quoc Quan, a consultant on local governance for the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, UNDP, and Swedish International Development Agency, was arrested in his hometown, Nghe An, less than a week after he returned from a fellowship at the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington, DC, USA. His whereabouts are unknown at this time.

Furthermore, the Hanoi communist regime is still imprisoning many political dissidents and labor advocates such as Nguyen Vu Binh, Huynh Nguyen Dao, Truong Quoc Huy, Nguyen Hoang Long, Nguyen Tan Hoanh, Doan Huy Chuong, and religious leaders of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, Cao Dai, Hoa Hao, and more than 350 lay people of the Protestant churches in the Central Highland.

We strongly denounce the current ruthless crackown on political dissent by the communist Vietnamese authorities and condemn their immoral measures to suppress the legitimate demands for hurman rights and democracy of the Vietnamese people. We are calling on world public opinion to demand immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners in Vietnam.

On February 8, 2007, U.S. Ambassador Michael Marine sent a letter to Dr. Quan Nguyen of Annandale, Virginia, in which he stated, “It is important to remember that now that Vietnam has joined the WTO and will soon join other bodies such as the UN Security Council, the Vietnamese Government must abide by its serious commitments to improve human rights for its citizens. With the rest of the international community we will endeavor to hold Vietnam to those commitments.”

We are calling on people with conscience in America and supporters of freedom, democracy in the world, other WTO members, to exert pressure on the Hanoi regime to implement those commitments.

We are calling on all Vietnamese, inside the country and overseas, to continue our struggle for freedom and democracy. We shall stand by the new generation of activists who are willing to suffer and sacrifice to be the stepping stones for the nation to advance to its deserving place in the community of civilized nations.