Congressman Lowenthal visits Bien Hoa Cemetery, Meets With Patriarch Thich Quang Do and Activist Nguyen Tien Trung

Congressman Alan Lowenthal on Monday visited the Bien Hoa National Military Cemetery, met with Vietnamese religious patriarch Thich Quang Do, and met with activist and former prisoner of conscience Nguyen Tien Trung on the first day of an official five-day Congressional delegation visit to Vietnam and Hong Kong.

While not originally scheduled as part of the delegation trip, the visit to Bien Hoa came at the insistence of Congressman Lowenthal, who wished to honor those buried there and view the condition of the cemetery.

Built by the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) more than five decades ago, the Bien Hoa National Military Cemetery outside of Saigon is the final resting place of over 16,000 South Vietnamese soldiers. The care and upkeep at Bien Hoa has been neglected and now the cemetery lies in disrepair.

Last year, Congressman Lowenthal wrote to Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel to urge that the State and Defense departments push the issue of the cemetery's restoration and upkeep with Vietnamese government leaders during bilateral talks.

While in Saigon, the Congressman also met with the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, Supreme Patriarch of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, a currently outlawed religious body in Vietnam. The Patriarch has been jailed numerous times for leading non-violent protests against the Vietnamese government calling for religious freedom, and was internally exiled for 10 years in the 1980s and early 1990s. He is currently under house arrest in Saigon. During their meeting, the Patriarch talked with the Congressman about the oppression the Unified Buddhists of Vietnam have faced under the Vietnamese government and the Patriach's vocal support of religious freedom, human rights and democracy for Vietnam.

The Congressman also met with activist Nguyen Tien Trung, who before being released in April of 2014, had been unfairly jailed on charges of disseminating "propaganda against the socialist state" and "organizing to attempt to overthrow the people's government." In 2013, the Congressman adopted Trung as a prisoner of conscience through the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission's "Defending Freedoms Project." Trung and the Congressman spoke about bringing attention to human rights and democracy in Vietnam.

The delegation is also scheduled to travel to Hanoi to meet with government officials and human rights activists; and, then travel to Hong Kong to meet with public and private sector leaders, including pro-democracy activists.