Bill > S1649

This bill, the Vietnam Human Rights Act of 2013, aims to promote freedom and democracy in Vietnam by imposing restrictions on certain U.S. assistance to the Vietnamese government. Specifically, it prohibits increasing "nonhumanitarian assistance" – which generally refers to aid that isn't for disaster relief, food, medicine, environmental cleanup, demining, combating trafficking or disease, refugee aid, or HIV/AIDS programs, and excludes arms sales – to Vietnam beyond 2012 levels unless the President certifies that Vietnam has made substantial progress in releasing political and religious prisoners, respecting freedoms of religion, expression, assembly, and association, repealing laws that criminalize dissent, allowing open access to U.S. refugee programs, respecting the human rights of ethnic minorities, and ending complicity in severe human trafficking. The bill also includes provisions for the President to waive these restrictions if he deems it in the U.S. national interest, and requires an annual report from the Secretary of State detailing progress on these human rights benchmarks, efforts to promote access to U.S. broadcasts like Radio Free Asia, and lists of individuals persecuted for their human rights advocacy. Additionally, it expresses the sense of Congress that the U.S. should oppose Vietnam's candidacy for the United Nations Human Rights Council and that Vietnam should be designated a country of particular concern for religious freedom.