Dear Mr.
Shell,
I’m writing
to request that the office of Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) investigate
the following fact Radio Free Asia has put many Vietnamese activists in harm’s
way and did so apparently under the influence of Viet Tan, a foreign political
party. This request is supported by many Vietnamese American taxpayers as
illustrated by the attached petition of more than 1000+ signatures (see
https://www.change.org/p/fbi-must-re-open-rfa-must-investigate) and the
attached letter from eleven Vietnamese-language media organizations to
Broadcasting Board of Governors.
RFA’s
involvement in causing harm to a large number of human rights activists in Vietnam is a
verifiable fact, not an allegation. You should be able to verify that on August
8, 2011, RFA publicly denounced, on its regular broadcasting program into Vietnam , Thai Van Dung, a dissenting Viet Tan
member, of being an undercover agent of Vietnam ’s
public security that spied on participants of Viet Tan-sponsored conference in Manila , the Philippines .
RFA’s
action, which is totally uncalled for according to its mission and mandate, led
to Thai Van Dung’s arrest and subsequent prison sentence. Many of his fellow
activists were also exposed and sentenced to a total of 120 years of
imprisonment and house arrest. See
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_conviction_of_14_Vietnamese_dissidents
This
political crackdown was condemned by the international community and well
documented in a series of RFA stories. Regrettably, RFA directly contributed to
this crackdown by providing the Vietnamese authority with evidence to prosecute
a large number of human rights activists.
Given the
direct evidence of RFA’s involvement in causing harm to many activists in Vietnam , a
thorough, unbiased and independent investigation into the possibility of
violations of federal law or improper conduct(s) by the RFA Vietnamese language
program as well as its being influenced by a foreign political party is
warranted. I am therefore respectfully requesting the Broadcasting Board of
Governments to look into this matter to ensure RFA’s proper use of taxpayer’s
money, full compliance with journalistic ethics and Congress-mandated mission,
and non-involvement in human rights violations.
It is also
very clear that RFA acted under the influence of Viet Tan: The August 8, 2011
RFA story was an interview with Viet Tan member Lilly Nguyen, giving her a
platform to denounce Thai Van Dung, a dissenting Viet Tan member. There is no
newsworthiness value in such an interview about an internal matter of a foreign
political party.
I am
sharing with you, in confidence, the letter from Committee to Project
Journalists (CPJ) (Note: CPJ letter is NOT for public dissemination) requesting
the FBI to re-open its investigation of “The Front” (the National United Front
for the Liberation of Vietnam) for the murder of five Vietnamese American
journalists – one of them was my father, Dam Phong Nguyen. “The Front” was the
military arm of Viet Tan, a foreign political party. It is troubling that RFA
has colluded with Viet Tan.
In the
Appendix are excerpts of my report to government authorities in support of the
re-opening of the investigation of “The Front.” These excerpts substantiate the
ties between The Front and Viet Tan.
I have
provided easily verifiable evidence to RFA’s General Counsel, Bernadette Burns,
and found that she was not capable of conducting an impartial and professional
investigation. See my attached (exhibit A) letter to Mrs. Burns responding to
her letter (exhibit B) of April 12, 2016. According to my understanding, the
employment contracts of some RFA staff members who should be investigated will
end next month. I am afraid that RFA is circling its wagons so as to buy time
for a few more weeks until these staff members leave RFA due to non-renewal of
their contracts; this would practically render any subsequent investigation
infeasible.
I greatly
appreciate your urgent assistance in this important matter, and look forward to
your response. I plan to be in Washington
DC
Sincerely,
TU NGUYEN
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