Vietnamese president taken to task on religious liberty

A spokesman with Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) says U.S. government officials should continue to raise the issue of human rights abuses against Christians in Vietnam as that country's president visits the nation.Vietnam's President Nguyen Minh Triet is in the middle of a weeklong visit to the United States. The main focus of the trip is improving economic ties between the communist nation and the United States.But economic ties should not be the most important issue of discussion, says VOM spokesman Todd Nettleton.He urges that the issue of human rights abuses suffered by Christians in the Southeast Asian country continue to be brought up, as they were last week in Congress.Nettleton says Triet should be questioned about the absence of religious freedom in his country."He wants to talk about trade, he wants to talk about technology, he wants to see of our countries can work closer together," says Nettleton."But the reality for Christians in Vietnam is that they're not free to worship. They are arrested, they are harassed,they are beaten-and that's an issue that our government needs to raise if we're going to become closer as a country to the government of Vietnam."
According to a recent VOM press release, eight teenagers-six Americans and two Australians interviewed a Vietnamese pastor last year whose house church has been repeatedly torn down by the police."They were forced to flee from a Christian youth camp when police suddenly arrived," says the release.That is just one example of Christian persecution in Vietnam, says VOM."The president of Vietnam calls evangelical Christians lawbreakers and says they should be punished," says Nettleton."But the reality is these are simply Christians who want the freedom to worship God according to their conscience.They love their country; they pray for their government leaders.These aren't troublemakers or rebels."Nettleton believes that it will have to be the U.S. who brings up this issue."The talk of Christian freedom in Vietnam will definitely not be at the top of the agenda for the Vietnamese president [during his visit]," he says."That will be a subject that will have to be raised on the American side of the discussion. And hopefully, our government officials will raise the issue."Thursday, the Vietnamese president met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill where senior lawmakers confronted the Vietnamese president about Vietnam's repression of religious leaders, including a dissident Catholic priest.On Friday,President Bush met with Triet at the White House to discuss these issues. In Vietnam last November, Bush emphasized his concerns about religious liberty with the Vietnamese leader.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/2007/06/vietnamese_president_taken_to_.php
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