DECLARATION

of the Spring 2010 Saigon Law School Alumni Conference

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-Whereas, on April 30, 1955, the Saigon Law School was founded during the period when Vietnam was divided: South Vietnam (SVN) was under a democratic regime, namely the Republic of Vietnam (RVN), in opposition to the one-party dictatorship that was imposed upon North Vietnam (NVN) by the Vietnam Communist Party (VCP) after the Geneva Agreement of July 20, 1954. For the next 20 years [1955-1975], the Saigon Law School provided the RVN with thousands of graduates from the Civil Law, Public Law and Economics with expertise in the law who defended the ideals of liberty, democracy and human rights, in alignment with our modern and progressive civilization.

-Whereas, on April 30,1975, after invading SVN, the Communist regime shut down the Saigon Law School and other law schools in Hue and Can Tho, while imposing a Communist dictatorial rule on the entire nation. Since then, Saigon law alumni joined with other Vietnamese people from all walks of life, have engaged in the struggle against the band of top Communist rulers who utilized the police, the army, the laws and even the courts as their tools of oppression to strengthen their dictatorial machine, protecting the Party cadres who illegally steal property and homes of the people. Many Saigon Law School alumni sacrificed their lives at the hand of VCP executioners or were detained in extremely cruel VCP prisons.

-Whereas, over the past 60 years since Communist rule was imposed in Viet Nam, the VCP and the World Communist Party have joined to wage wars to seize power by violence and establish the Communist dictatorship, violating all basic human rights recognized by international conventions. During the past 35 years of total control over the nation, the VCP has led the country to a deteriorating state and increasing dependence on China, from stealth concessions of land and sea territories to Beijing, by the diplomatic letter on September 14,1958 and the two agreements on September 30,1999 concerning the Vietnam-China borderline and on December 25, 2000 concerning the Gulf of Tonkin, to the overt concession of hundred thousands of square miles of Vietnam’s continental shelf to China and exclusion the Spratlys and the Paracels from Vietnam’s territorial claim, in documents regarding the Vietnam’s continental shelf, submitted to the United Nations on May 6 and 7, 2009.

Therefore, we, the alumni of the Saigon Law School from many countries around the world having gathered for our Spring 2010 Reunion in Houston, Texas, U.S.A. from April 2 - 4, 2010 unanimously issue the following declaration:

DECLARATION

-That we, the alumni of the Saigon Law School, along with the overseas Vietnamese refugees shall co-operate with our people in Vietnam in struggles for justice, human rights, civil rights and against the stealth sell-off of the nation to The Communist China, in order to attain the ultimate objective of ending the Communist Dictatorship Regime in Viet Nam and to reconstruct the nation in Freedom, Democracy and Prosperity.

-That being the descendants of the Vietnam Motherland, but not as citizens of the Communist regime so-called Socialist Republic of Vietnam, we categorically accuse the VCP of:

-allowing Communist China to mine massive reserves of bauxite in the Central Highlands, threatening the area population with severe environmental disasters for hundreds of coming years.

-leasing many large areas of headwater forest land to China, causing great concerns on the safety of the water sources and the deterioration of land for future agriculture .

-for fear of Communist China, disclaiming the right to thousands of square miles of Vietnam’s continental shelf as stated in the U.N. Law of the Sea, thus handing over to China the sovereignty of the Paracels, the Spratlys and the greater part of the Gulf of Tonkin.

-That in the spirits of valuing freedom, democracy and human rights by the alumni of the Saigon Law School and with the Vietnamese traditions of patriotism and independence, we pledge to unite with our people in Viet Nam and around the world, to employ our capabilities and feasible means to defend Vietnam’s land and sea territory as well as the islands that the VCP has illegally conceded to the Communist China in exchange for its protection and for the strengthening of its ruling power. We also assert that as Vietnamese people, legitimate successors of our forefathers, we claim the right to reserve the perpetual legal action at international judiciary institutions, in order to reclaim the land and water territory and the islands that have been occupied by China with cooperation from the VCP.

This declaration was discussed and approved by the Saigon Law School alumni in the pre-conference meeting on Friday, April 2, 2010 and released at the official session on Saturday, April 3, 2010 in Houston, Texas, U.S.A.

This Declaration is written in Vietnamese and in English and submitted to the United Nations Security Council, the United Nations Commission on Limits of Continental Shelf, the European Parliament, the national governments around the world and all International Human Rights Organizations for notification and for an appeal to support.