Priest's arrest highlighted in furor over Vietnamese rights crackdown

Published: 2007-03-15

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The arrest of Father Nguyen Van Ly in February by Vietnamese police was denounced by members of Congress and several Vietnamese-American rights activists during a March 14 press conference at a House office building. Father Ly, who was arrested inside the rectory of the cathedral in Hue, Vietnam, is "the vocal heartbeat of their country," said U.S. Rep. Christopher Smith, R-N.J., who visited Father Ly and other religious rights and human rights activists in the country last year. "All they want is human rights and freedom." Doan Viet Hoat, chairman of the Washington-based International Institute for Vietnam, said the monthlong Vietnamese crackdown on activists in the spheres of religious rights, labor rights and human rights took place "right after Vietnam gained entry to the WTO (World Trade Organization), met with the Holy See, and right after the issuance of the 2006 U.S. human rights annual report." In that report, Vietnam was listed as "a country of concern" over the human rights situation there.

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