Alert: The Fund for Reconciliation and
Development will hold its annual dinner honoring the Foreign Ministers and
Ambassadors of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam on Tuesday, September 17, in New
York. To reserve space, please contact FRD at (212) 760-9903 or info@ffrd.org.
Congress
approves extension of NTR for Vietnam. The House of Representatives voted 338-91 on July 23
in favor of extending the Jackson-Vanik trade waiver, and hence Vietnam’s
annually-renewable normal trade status, by voting down the disapproval
resolution (H.J.Res.101) that had been introduced in June. A full hour of
debate preceded the vote, which makes interesting reading; for an e-mail copy,
write to washington@ffrd.org.
Divisions on this issue follow few predictable party lines, as 62 Republicans
joined 27 Democrats and 2 independents voting against the waiver issued by
President Bush.
Vietnam welcomed the vote as “a step in the right
direction,” but asked the US to discard the Jackson-Vanik provisions and make
NTR status permanent, as the annual review “is not in line with the spirit of
the Bilateral Trade Agreement and does not benefit the two countries.” Most
members of Congress favor continuing the review process, however, as it gives
them a voice in policy-making and a way to make their views known.
International
Trade Commission issues preliminary ruling on catfish dumping suit. ITC commissioners heard testimony
on July 19 from US catfish farmers and processors, who claim their business has
been unfairly damaged by cheap Vietnamese basa
and tra fish, and importers who
argue that no dumping took place. On August 9, the commission voted 5-0 that
there is a “reasonable indication” of injury to the US industry, allowing the
Commerce Department to begin a full investigation that could last up to one
year. The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors expressed
disappointment with the ITC decision and called on Commerce to resolve the case
in their favor.
Fast-track
trade authority approved; Trade Representative to move forward. By a three-vote margin, the
House passed Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) on July 27, giving President Bush
“fast-track” power to negotiate new trade agreements. According to the Washington Post, US Trade Representative
Robert Zoellick plans to use the new status to finalize bilateral agreements
currently under negotiation with Chile and Singapore. “Around the world, this
is seen as a real shot in the arm” for trade negotiations, he said. No mention
was made of Laos (which does not fall under TPA in any case, as the agreement
was negotiated in 1997). However, passage of TPA removes a key procedural
obstacle towards Congressional consideration of the Laos bilateral trade
agreement, as USTR was hesitant to move forward with other items on the
President’s trade policy agenda until fast-track authority had been granted.
The
timing of the announcement is reminiscent of a similar Boeing sale to China
during President Clinton’s 1996 visit to China. In spite of expressed support
for the value of free trade, the first corporation to benefit directly from
normal trading relations is, ironically, a near-monopoly.
Environmental
conference in Sweden issues declaration. The Environmental Conference on Cambodia,
Laos and Vietnam convened in Stockholm on July 26-28 to “address the present
and continuing impact of war on the lives, livelihoods and environment of the
peoples of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.” Participants from Vietnam, Laos, the US
and Europe examined the impacts of herbicides such as Agent Orange, landmines
and unexploded ordnance (UXO) on ecosystems, public health, economic and social
impacts, and ethical, legal and policy issues. In his opening remarks, Prof.
Nguyen Trong Nhan of the Vietnam Red Cross said, “The dark past can only be
overcome if the US government develops sufficient courage to begin resolving
the serious consequences of the war.”
The conference declaration calls for “a new
large-scale effort” to resolve the consequences of war “in a spirit of
restorative justice” and appeals for increased assistance from the world
community, particularly the US. The declaration is available on the FRD
website, www.ffrd.org.
FRD Executive Director John McAuliff served on the
conference steering committee and attended along with Deputy Director Susan
Hammond. Oxfam America and the American
Friends Service Committee were also represented.
Yale conference on Agent Orange to be held in September. The Yale University School of Nursing will sponsor a symposium on Ecological and Health Effects of the Vietnam War from Sept. 13-15. This symposium will “assess the chemical, biological and physical agents utilized in military operations during the US-Vietnam conflict from an environmental health perspective” and “facilitate dialogue about the need for further research,” among other objectives. For more information, contact Dr. Linda Schwartz at (203) 785-5414, or see www.nursing.yale.edu/news/vwsymposium.html.
House hearing on “Freedom of Expression
in Vietnam.” On July 23, the same
day that the Jackson-Vanik waiver was passed, the Congressional Human Rights
Caucus held a hearing on “Freedom of Expression in Vietnam and the Vietnamese
Government’s Response,” chaired by Reps. Loretta Sanchez and Zoe Lofgren (both
D-CA). Sanchez described the aim of the hearing as “to come up with strategies
and pressure the government of Vietnam to improve human rights... What do we
need to do to try to change Vietnam?” No sense of historical irony appeared to
accompany this question.
Testimony from the hearing included a predictably
one-sided selection of Vietnamese-American activists and more careful
statements from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. For a full
accounting, see www.house.gov/lantos/caucus/briefs.htm.
Report on
prison conditions in Laos. An Amnesty International
report released on July 26 alleges pervasive ill-treatment and the frequent use
of torture in Lao prisons. Although independent human rights groups are not
allowed to collect information inside Laos, the London-based group was able to
conduct interviews with former prisoners and their families, including several
foreigners.
The Lao PDR ambassador to Thailand, Hiem
Phommachanh, responded that the report was biased and that most sources were
anonymous. “It is impossible to hear good things from those foreigners who have
broken Lao laws,” he said, and stressed that the Lao Constitution and penal
code recognize basic human rights and prohibit torture.
According to Amnesty, torture and mistreatment of
prisoners exist in 111 countries worldwide, including the US (which has the
highest per capita rate of imprisonment in the world). Lest opponents of
US-Laos relations use Amnesty’s criticism as ammunition, it is worth pointing
out that the US recently led opposition to a new protocol on the Convention on
Torture in the UN Economic and Social Council, since it would allow
international inspectors into US prisons. Joanna Wechsler of Human Rights Watch
commented on the UN convention, “It's really hard to understand why the US is
working against human rights and against so many of its allies.” The US is a
party to the original convention on torture, as is Cambodia; Laos and Vietnam
are not.
Vietnam
requests US assistance on Agent Orange. As more data
on the lingering effects of herbicides used in the Vietnam War become known,
the Vietnamese government is stepping up its efforts to focus attention on the
humanitarian aspects of dioxin contamination. Few high-level meetings in recent
months have taken place without the issue of Agent Orange being raised,
including (since-retired) Vice President Nguyen Thi Binh’s visit to the US and
Ambassador Raymond Burghardt’s consultations with Vietnamese leaders. Following
the Stockholm environmental conference, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Phan Thuy
Thanh encouraged the US to “be fully aware of its responsibilities and fulfill
its spiritual and moral obligations.” Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung
also brought up the Agent Orange issue during the recent visit of a leading
State Department official responsible for MIA issues (see below).
Contrary to claims in some news reports, Vietnam has
not made any specific claims for compensation or “damages,” but rather expects
increased humanitarian assistance to accompany the cooperation on scientific
research agreed to in Hanoi this past March. However, a group of Agent Orange
victims in Vietnam is considering suing the US Government for compensation,
much as American victims of toxic contamination have done.
Landmine
survivors bill advances in Senate. The Senate
Foreign Relations Committee passed S. 1777, the International Disability and
Victims of Landmines, Civil Strife and Warfare Assistance Act, with a favorable
report on July 30. The measure, sponsored by Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), now
awaits a floor vote. A companion House bill, H.R. 3169, was cleared for a House
vote last November.
The bill establishes new programs to help
“individuals with disabilities, including victims of land mines and other victims
of civil strife and warfare” in a
number of US Government departments, from USAID to Veterans Affairs and Health
and Human Services. It also creates an interagency task force on disability
assistance and demining. For more information, see www.banminesusa.org.
Sec. Powell
visits Southeast Asia. In conjunction with the
ASEAN Regional Forum in Brunei, Secretary of State Colin Powell visited eight
South and Southeast Asian countries in late July and early August, with most of
his destinations chosen on the basis of links with the war on terrorism.
Noticeably absent from the secretary’s itinerary were Cambodia, Laos and
Vietnam, although Powell did visit Vietnam last year for the ASEAN meetings
held there.
ASEAN adopts
declaration on terrorism. Following the Brunei summit,
the ten ASEAN members, including Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, signed a joint
statement with the US pledging to “prevent, disrupt and combat international
terrorism.” The nations promised to work together on sharing information, joint
training, and undetermined future projects.
Objections had been made to an earlier draft of the
declaration by Indonesia, which feared a greater US military presence in the
region, and Vietnam, citing the principle of non-interference in internal
affairs. Changes were made in the final version to satisfy these concerns.
Powell assured ASEAN delegates that the purpose of the statement was political,
not military, and hoped for “a more intimate relationship” between the US and
Southeast Asia.
Vietnam and US
agree to further cooperation on MIAs. During a
week-long visit to Vietnam, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Jerry Jennings
signed an agreement with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on
August 2 to expand joint research and MIA recovery efforts. In what Jennings
called “a new era in openness,” Vietnam will engage in “a re-organized effort
with more direction from the top of the government” to find missing records
pertaining to US MIAs. He reaffirmed that accounting for missing Americans
remains “the central guiding principle in [the US’s] Vietnam policy.”
Regarding the estimated 300,000 Vietnamese still
missing from the war, Jennings said the US was assisting with DNA analysis
training and opening up wartime archives. DPM Dung offered his “utmost
dedication” towards settling the “humanitarian effort” of MIA recovery, and
drew links to other war legacy issues as well. Since MIA cooperation began in
1986, remains of 673 Americans have been found, with 1,441 still unaccounted
for in Vietnam, 400 in Laos and 58 in Cambodia. With an annual budget of $20
million plus $13 million in transportation costs for search and recovery teams,
the Joint Task Force/Full Accounting program has spent approximately $835,000
per successful recovery.
Sec. Gen.
Annan, ASEAN leaders comment on Khmer Rouge tribunal. In a response to last
month’s offer from Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to restart negotiations on
the stalled tribunal for former Khmer Rouge leaders, UN Secretary General Kofi
Annan replied that a mandate from either the Security Council or General
Assembly would be required for talks to resume. According to Cambodian foreign
minister Hor Namhong, Annan gave no details on when this might take place.
In the Joint Communique of the ASEAN ministerial
meeting held in Brunei on July 29-30, the region’s foreign ministers expressed
their support for “the continued efforts of the Royal Government of Cambodia to
bring the senior leaders of Democratic Kampuchea and those who were most
responsible for the crimes and serious violations…to trial in accordance with
international standards of justice, fairness and due process of law.” The
ministers added that the Cambodian government and the UN needed to cooperate
and appealed to the international community for assistance. A meeting on the
tribunal, chaired by Japan and the US, was reportedly held on the sidelines of
the Brunei summit.
Ambassadorial
nominee to Cambodia awaits confirmation. Charles Ray, nominated as the next US
Ambassador to Cambodia in early June, has yet to receive a hearing from the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The Senate is currently on recess until
September 3 and carries an ongoing backlog of nominations. Once the hearing is
held, Ray is not expected to face any obstacles to confirmation.
Former US Ambassador Kent Wiedemann retired from his
post in May. The embassy in Phnom Penh is currently led by Deputy Chief of
Mission Alexander Arvizu; a gap of several months between ambassadors is not
considered unusual.
Cambodian
parliamentarian advocates retaking Mekong Delta by force. Thach Sang, a FUNCINPEC
member of Cambodia’s National Assembly, told the Cambodia Daily on July 30 that Vietnam should grant self-governance
to the 900,000 ethnic Khmer living in the Mekong Delta region, referred to as
“Kampuchea Krom” by Khmer nationalists. “But if the movement continues and
Kampuchea Krom is not handed self-governance, the front will become an armed
movement,” he threatened. Sang, a US permanent resident who lives in
Massachusetts (but represents Kompong Speu province in the National Assembly),
is the self-styled leader of the Kampuchea Krom National Liberation Front or
KKNLF.
An apparently more mainstream US-based group, the
Khmers-Kampuchea Krom Federation, calls on Vietnam to respect the rights of
indigenous peoples and “decolonize” the Mekong Delta (see www.khmerkrom.org).
Khmer irredentists claim that Vietnamese encroachment on Khmer lands in the 18th
century was illegally recognized by the French colonial administration as a
permanent part of Vietnam. Several thousand people reportedly gathered at a
June protest in Phnom Penh marking the anniversary of the French action. (A
rough American equivalent would be to argue that the Louisiana Purchase was
unlawfully sold to the US by Napoleon and should be returned to its original
Native American owners.)
According to news reports, unnamed military sources
say the KKNLF poses no serious danger to Vietnam. However, Thach Sang is under
investigation by both Cambodian and US authorities for threatening to use force
against a foreign government.
Cambodian-American
deportees adjust to return. Despite protests and fears to the contrary, the
first six convicted felons deported from the US to Cambodia in June appear to
be encountering no major difficulties. The six, part of more than 1,000
Cambodian citizens who have completed sentences in US prisons, were returned
under a March bilateral agreement. A key person helping them overcome many
practical problems (on a volunteer basis) is long-time NGO worker Bill Herod
(e-mail bill@everyday.com.kh).
The US carries out similar deportations with most
countries in the world (Laos, Vietnam and Cuba are among the remaining
exceptions who refuse to accept deportees from the US). The Cambodian cases
have been controversial in part because many came to the US as refugee
children, do not speak fluent Khmer and are unprepared for Cambodian life. In a
July 28 Boston Globe article, former
ambassador Wiedemann said that Cambodia agreed to take them back only after the
State Department threatened to withhold visas from Cambodians seeking to enter
the US. The deportations have led to protests in Cambodian-American communities
across the country, some of which stir up Khmer Rouge-era fears and exaggerated
claims of human rights violations.
The Washington
Indochina Update is written on a monthly basis by Andrew Wells-Dang, Washington
Representative
of the
Fund
for
Reconciliation and Development. He can be reached at andrew@ffrd.org.
The Update is sent free by e-mail to not-for-profit
organizations with programs in Indochina and to offices
and individuals requesting it that contribute at least $25
annually to FRD. For prior issues
and further
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