Representative Tran Secures State Department Response on Vietnam's Human Rights Abuses

Washington, D.C. - During last month's United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), U.S. Representative Derek Tran (CA-45) sent a letter to the U.S. Department of State demanding the U.S. government hold the communist Vietnamese government accountable for widespread human rights abuses. In a recent response, the Department of State affirmed its concerns about Vietnam's human rights record and confirmed that these issues were discussed in a conversation between Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Riley Barnes, and Vietnam's Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dang Hoang Giang.

"As the United States Mission to the United Nations interacts with the delegation from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, including Party General Secretary and State President Tô Lâm, I urge you to discuss human rights, call for the release of prisoners of conscience, raise concern about parts of the Penal Code that criminalize peaceful dissent, and affirm that stronger relations with Vietnam must be accompanied by measurable and verifiable progress on human rights," said Representative Tran in the letter.

Read Representative Tran's letter HERE.

"During the UNGA meetings, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Riley Barnes expressed his concerns to Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Dang Hoang Giang on September 22, where he called for the release of unjustly detained political prisoners, including Le Huu Minh Tuan, and discussed transnational repression affecting U.S. citizens, freedom of expression, and religious freedom," Katherine Bowles, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Legislative Affairs, wrote in response.

Read the Department of State's response HERE.

Representative Tran remains steadfast in demanding accountability for the Vietnamese government's anti-democratic practices and human rights violations. As the son of Vietnamese refugees and the only Vietnamese American in Congress, Representative Tran is committed to uplifting and representing the Vietnamese community on the national stage and protecting the rights of immigrants.

• In an April 2026 letter to General Secretary Tô Lâm, Congressman Tran demanded a visit with prisoners of conscience imprisoned by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to monitor their well-being.

• In April 2025,during the 50th commemoration of the Fall of Saigon, Congressman Tran held a roundtable with Vietnamese human rights activists and former prisoners of conscience to uplift their firsthand accounts of the oppression they faced at the hands of the Vietnamese government. Additionally, Tran introduced a congressional resolution to formally mark April 30, 2026 as the 51st anniversary of Black April.

• Tran, a vocal advocate for advancing human rights in Vietnam, co-led H.R. 3122, the bipartisan Vietnam Human Rights Act, to hold Vietnamese communist officials accountable for human rights abuses and establish human rights and fair-trade priorities for U.S.-Vietnam relations.

• Congressman Tran serves as the official sponsor of Le Huu Minh Tuan, a Vietnamese journalist who was wrongfully imprisoned by the communist government, through the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission's Defending Freedoms Project and continues to fight for the release of prisoners of conscience around the world. In March 2025, Congressman Tran sent a letter to Secretary of State Rubio requesting their immediate assistance to secure the release of Le Huu Minh Tuan.

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