Freedom Fighter Vo Duc Van appeals against extradition

April 21, 2004
The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States of America
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500

R/E: The extradition of Mr. Vo Duc Van to the Kingdom of Thailand.

Dear Mr. President,
I am a Vietnamese American, as are many Vietnamese Americans who are living in, protecting, contributing to, and building this great United States of America, and today I write our position that:
We, like all Americans, kneel in prayer, mourning, and rememberance for the tragedy and violence that obliterated the lives of so many people in this great Nation.
We, as all Americans, have sought during this time to listen, to learn, and to grow in our faith and compassion for the loss of all the lives in our great Nation.
We, like all Americans, applaud your leadership in bringing peoples of different faiths together to worship, to mourn, to move boldly on with our lives, and to rebuild our great Nation in a more caring fashion and with appreciation for the precious gifts of God given to all humanity, every single man, woman and child.
We, about one million of Vietnamese American voters, today write our concern that:
We, as Americans, were shocked to learn that the same precious gift of humanity may be endangered by actions being contemplated by our nation in the extradition of Mr. Vo Duc Van.
We, as Americans, view and respect Mr. Vo Duc Van as a true American in raising his voice, with his harmless act, in agreement with the principle moral grounds of the United States of America, in informing the world of vast crimes against humanity performed by the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
We, as Americans, strongly oppose the decision of extradition of Mr. Vo Duc Van on the grounds that this decision has dishonored the principles of the 1983 Extradition Treaty between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Thailand.


Further detailed, Article 3 of the Treaty clearly states:

(1) Extradition shall not be granted when:

(a) the offense for which extradition is sought is a political offense; or

(b) it is established that extradition is requested for political purposes; [*11] or

(c) the offense for which extradition is sought is exclusively a military offense.

We, as Americans, view and respect Mr. Vo Duc Van as a Political, non-violent activist who has the courage and concern to fight for his political beliefs which are also ours.
We, as Americans, view and understand that the extradition of Mr. Vo Duc Van is requested by the government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and is being granted by the Government of the great United States of America for political purposes.
We, as Americans, view and understand that the extradition of Mr. Vo Duc Van is sought by the government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam exclusively for a military offense.
We, as Americans, view and understand that such extradition will almost certainly mean grave and severe punishment, out of proportion to the offense, for Mr. Vo Duc Van, to include the likelihood of extremely lengthy imprisonment and very likely will mean Mr. Vo Duc Van will face the death penalty.
Rather than violate the 1983 Extradition Treaty between our great Nation and the Kingdom of Thailand, we, a majority of Vietnamese American voters, urge the Honorable Mr. President to:
1. Exercise your power to act against and nullify this decision of extradition of Mr. Vo Duc Van, an American citizen, in light of protecting the moral principles of the United States of America.
2. Exercise your power to act against and nullify this decision of extradition to protect the rights of Mr. Vo Duc Van, an American citizen, according to the 1983 Extradition Treaty.
Your stand on the injustice of this decision will be a clear guide for us, a community of Vietnamese American voters across this great Nation, regarding the effort of honoring and protecting the rights and the values of an American by the branches of our great Government.

Respectfully Yours,

Name: _____________________________________________________________
Address: ___________________________________________________________
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