253
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES             H.C.R. NO.            
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
________________________________________________________________
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                     HOUSE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION

URGING THE GOVERNMENT OF THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM TO
   RELEASE DISSIDENT WRITER NGUYEN THANH GIANG 


 1       WHEREAS, the people of Hawaii are very concerned about the
 2   human rights of peoples all over the world in general, and the
 3   human rights of the people of Vietnam in particular; and
 4   
 5       WHEREAS, Nguyen Thanh Giang is a prominent geologist, human
 6   rights activitist, and writer in Vietnam; and
 7   
 8       WHEREAS, Nguyen Thanh Giang has written and spoken out
 9   extensively about corruption within the Communist Party in
10   Vietnam, and is frequently published on the internet and in
11   newspapers published by Vietnamese living in exile; and
12   
13       WHEREAS, Nguyen Thanh Giang was arrested by police on March
14   4, 1999 on the streets of Hanoi for reportedly having anti-
15   socialist propaganda in his possession; and
16   
17       WHEREAS, Communist Party officials in Vietnam were quoted
18   by the news agency Deutsche Presse\-Agentur saying that Giang
19   was likely to be sentenced to prison following his arrest,
20   although no formal charges have been made public; and 
21   
22       WHEREAS, Human Rights Watch, the Free Vietnam Alliance, and
23   the United States Department of State have called for the
24   immediate and unconditional release of Nguyen Thanh Giang; now,
25   therefore
26   
27       BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the
28   Twentieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session
29   of 1999, the Senate concurring, that President Tran Duc Luong
30   of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is urgently requested to
31   release Nguyen Thanh Giang from detention and to drop all
32   charges against him; and
33   

 
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                                  H.C.R. NO.            
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
 2   Resolution be transmitted to the Office of the President of the
 3   Socialist Republic of Vietnam; Human Rights Watch; the United
 4   States Department of State; Free Vietnam Alliance; and the
 5   Secretary General of the United Nations.
 6 
 7 
 8 
 9                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________