【大紀元5月7日訊】美國國務院發言人理查德．鮑徹（Richard Boucher）2005年5月5日在華盛頓發表如下聲明
我們高興地宣佈：美國政府已經與越南政府完成了一份闡述一些重要的宗教自由關切的協議。越南在這些方面的進步和所做的出色工作將成為美國常務副國務卿澤奧利克（Zoellick）本星期五－5月6日訪問河內（Hanoi）的討論題目。
上述成就發展了布什總統自由議程的一個關鍵部份。與美國國會在貫徹《國際宗教自由法（International Religious Freedom Act）》方面共同工作，布什政府同越南政府就我們的宗教自由關切進行了持續的合作。越南政府所做的有關承諾來自於過去若干年我們在該國推進宗教自由的努力。
最近幾星期，越南政府禁止了強制或強迫放棄宗教信仰的行為，釋放了一些受到關注的著名囚犯，而且已經開始登記並允許重新開放先前被關閉的教堂。最重要的是，越南已經啟動了重大的立法改革以便兌現不久的將來在宗教自由方面作出重大改進的保證。越南新的《宗教條例（Ordinance on Religion）》於2004年11月15日生效，2005年3月的早些時候又公佈了這一條例的至關重要的實施規章。這些新的法規和政策為宗教信仰和宗教活動提供了增大了的空間和保護。此外，越南總理於2005年2月發佈了特別指令，旨在緩解對許多越南基督教新教徒（Protestants）的宗教活動的限制。
在以上最初步驟的基礎上，越南政府業已作出一些重要承諾。它承諾充分執行宗教自由的新法令並廢除先前的與新法令相矛盾的規章。它還承諾指示地方當局嚴格地完全地遵守這一新法令並確保地方當局服從這一指示。越南政府還將便利這一進程：宗教聚會能夠使用禮拜場所，在囚犯大赦期間對美國提出的受到關注的犯人和案例給予特殊考慮。這些承諾提供了一個有力的基礎，其它重要的公開步驟會隨之採取，美國將繼續密切監督越南在宗教自由方面的進展。
（譯文完）
（譯者方覺是在美國的中國政治活動人士）
Press Statement
Richard Boucher,pokesman
Washington, DC
May 5, 2005
United States -Vietnam Religious Freedom Agreement
We are pleased to announce that we have concluded an agreement with the Government of Vietnam that addresses a number of important religious freedom concerns. Vietnam’s progress on these issues and the outstanding work to be done will be topics of discussion during Deputy Secretary Zoellick’s visit to Hanoi on Friday, May 6.
This achievement advances a key component of the President’s freedom agenda. Working with Congress under the International Religious Freedom Act, the Bush Administration has secured continuing cooperation with Vietnam on our religious freedom concerns. The commitments made by the Government of Vietnam result from our work over the past several years to advance religious freedom in that country.
In recent weeks, Vietnam banned the practice of forced or coerced renunciations of faith, released a number of prominent prisoners of concern, and has begun to register and to permit the reopening of churches that had previously been closed. Most importantly, Vietnam has also enacted significant legislative reforms that hold the promise of major improvements in religious freedom in the near future. A new Ordinance on Religion took effect on November 15, 2004, and the crucial implementation regulations for this ordinance were just released in early March. These new laws and policies provide increased latitude and protection for religious belief and practice. In addition, the Prime Minister issued special instructions in February aimed at alleviating restrictions on religious practice faced by many Vietnamese Protestants.
To build on these first steps, the Vietnamese have made a significant number of commitments. The Government of Vietnam has committed to fully implement the new legislation on religious freedom and to render previous contradictory regulations obsolete. They have also committed to instruct local authorities to strictly and completely adhere to the new legislation and ensure their compliance. The Government of Vietnam will also facilitate the process by which religious congregations are able to open houses of worship, and give special consideration to prisoners and cases of concern raised by the United States during the granting of prisoner amnesties. While these commitments offer a strong foundation, other important public steps remain to be taken, and the United States will continue to monitor developments in Vietnam closely.
2005/473
Released on May 5, 2005
(http://www.dajiyuan.com)
