Victims and human rights advocates fighting for basic freedoms including labor, press and political rights from the Vietnamese Government will come to testify at a congressional hearing on Capitol Hill planned for Wednesday.

Who: Chairman Chris Smith, (NJ-04) Senior Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and chair of its Subcommittee on Global Human Rights; other members of the committee, and human rights leaders:

• Nguyen Van Hai (Dieu Cay), writer from the Free Journalists Club of Vietnam

• Mrs. Doan Thi Hong-Anh, wife of a torture victim

• Dr. Nguyen Dinh Thang, Ph.D., Executive Director of Boat People SOS

• The Reverend Nguyen Manh Hung, Vietnam Interfaith Council*

What: House hearing entitled “Human Rights Abuses by Vietnamese Authorities” is scheduled.

Where: 2200 Rayburn* Building (second floor).

When: June 17, 2015 @ 2-5 p.m.

“This hearing will take a hard look at the ongoing human rights abuses the Government of Vietnam perpetrates upon its own citizens, particularly the deeply troubling violations of the freedom of religion and free expression,” said Global Human Rights Subcommittee Chairman Chris Smith (NJ-04), who has met with victims of human rights abuses in both Vietnam and Washington. “The testimony of our distinguished witnesses will provide us with first-hand accounts of repression and torture and egregious restrictions on rights the Government of Vietnam has pledged to uphold. Over the past decade, the U.S.-Vietnam relationship has expanded in security and economic cooperation, but is continually challenged by the Government’s suppression of freedoms sought by Vietnam’s people.The Subcommittee will consider how U.S. interests in human rights improvements can be better integrated into bilateral relations, including through legislation being considered in the U.S. Congress.”

*-denotes changes