Civil societies call on European Parliament to pressure Vietnam on human rights
By RFA Vietnamese
2023.03.01
Representatives from civil society groups call for the European Parliament to pressure Vietnamon human and labor rights issues at a conference in Brussels, Feb. 28, 2023.
Civil groups urged the European Parliament to step up pressure on Vietnam to improve its dismal human and labor rights records during a review of the implementation of the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement.
The call came during a conference in Brussels on Feb. 28, led by Marianne Vind, vice chair of the European Parliament’s delegation for relations with countries in Southeast Asia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN.
The free trade agreement, which came into force on Aug. 1, 2020, includes a chapter on trade and sustainable development that entails commitments by the EU and Vietnam to promote labor rights, environmental protection and sustainable development, as defined by international conventions and multilateral environmental agreements.
Representatives from Vietnam Workers’ Defenders, Reporters Without Borders, the Swiss-Vietnam Committee, and the U.S.-based Viet Tan party expressed grave concerns about the worsening human rights situation in Vietnam since the EU and Vietnam ratified the free trade agreement, or EVFTA, which abolishes most custom duties within 10 years.
They pointed to the Vietnamese government’s various violations with regard to freedom of speech, press freedom and workers’ rights that run counter to the provisions included in the agreement.
Since the agreement's signing, human rights abuses have become worse in the one-party communist state, said Helena Huong Nguyen, a conference organizer and member of Viet Tan based in Denmark.
“In the past, only political dissidents were imprisoned, but over recent years, civil society and environmental activists, and even those interested in trade agreements, have also been jailed,” she told Radio Free Asia during a post-conference interview. “The Vietnamese government has even raided online voices of dissent.”
Use of Penal Code, Cybersecurity Law
A Vietnamese guest speaker who attended the conference virtually and requested anonymity for safety reasons, said that he and many human rights activists in Vietnam had hoped the free trade agreement would bring about not only economic benefits, but also improvements in the human rights situation because of the EU’s influence when it comes to such rights.
But instead, they experienced increased suppression of freedom of speech and press freedom along with further deteriorating human rights over the past two years, he said.
Vietnam’s 2018 Cybersecurity Law allowed has authorities to impose administrative fines on people who write stories and commentaries deemed malicious or that distorted Vietnamese Communist Party guidelines and government policy and law, he said, by way of example.
At the same time, the government has used the country’s 2015 Penal Code to its advantage, especially Articles 117 and 331, to stifle political dissent, he added.
Article 117 forbids the distribution of propaganda against the state, while Article 331 criminalizes “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe on the interests of the state.” Vietnamese authorities routinely use the statutes to attack those who speak out in defense of human rights.
The Vietnamese government arrested 40 political dissidents and human rights activists in 2019, 60 in 2020, and 25 in 2021 and 2022, said the guest speaker, attributing the lower arrest rates in the last two years to the increased caution that other activists exercised to avoid being hauled away.
'Too afraid of the consequences'
Julie Majerczak, representative to European institutions for Reporters Without Borders, or RSF, said press freedom in Vietnam has been on the decline since the free trade agreement was ratified.
Vietnam ranked 174th out of 180 countries on the group’s 2022 World Press Freedom Index and became the world’s fourth largest prison for journalists after North Korea, Myanmar and China, Majerczak said.
The number of arrested and convicted journalists had decreased lately because authorities had imprisoned nearly all independent journalists, she said.
Blogs are no longer widely used as they were a decade ago among journalists to criticize government policies because they are too afraid of the consequences, Majerczak said.
Additionally, the government has been increasing its censorship of traditional, mainstream media, she said.
Majerczak cited the cases of professional journalist Pham Doan Trang and citizen journalist Do Cong Duong. Trang, RSF’s award winner in 2019, was sentenced to nine years in prison for “propagandizing against the state,” and Duong died because of harsh jail conditions during his prison term.
“The EU should not cooperate economically with Vietnam until Hanoi improves its human rights record,” she said. “The EU should use the EVFTA to pressure Hanoi to release journalists and improve detention conditions for human rights defenders.”
Preventing trade unions
Huy Nguyen of Vietnam Workers’ Defenders, a U.S.-based organization that seeks to protect workers’ rights in Vietnam, said the government has taken many measures to prevent laborers from establishing independent trade unions.
The country’s current Labor Code violates International Labor Organization conventions because it includes provisions for establishing trade unions, he added.
Nguyen accused the Vietnamese government of violating a free trade agreement provision that requires the establishment of a Domestic Advisory Group. The civil society component is meant to ensure that employer and workers organizations, business groups and environmental groups cano submit views or recommendations on the FTA’s trade and sustainable development chapter.
In July 2021, Vietnam police arrested journalist Mai Phan Loi of the Center for Media in Educating Community and attorney Dang Dinh Bach of Center for Legal Studies & Policy for Sustainable Development because their groups registered to become members of Vietnam’s Domestic Advisory Group, Nguyen said.
Shortly after that, Hanoi formed Vietnam’s Domestic Advisory Group with three members, two of whom were under the government’s control, he said.
In January 2022, Vietnam added three more members, although one did not have the independence required by the free trade agreement, Nguyen said. The same month, Hanoi sentenced Loi to four years in prison and Bach to five years, both on charges of “tax evasion.”
The EU should request that Vietnam review the members of its Domestic Advisory Group and allow representatives from truly independent civil society organizations to join the group, said Nguyen. He also urged Hanoi to release Loi and Bach.
As a newly elected member of the U.N.’s Human Rights Council, Vietnam should take concrete action to improve its human rights record, said Sébastien Desfayes, a Swiss parliamentarian and chairman of the Swiss-Vietnam Committee.
That would include the release of activists, free elections, respect for universal human rights and the right to an independent judiciary, he said.
He also called on Vietnam to eliminate articles 117, 118 and 331 of the Penal Code, which authorities use to suppress freedom of speech.
RFA could not reach Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs by phone or email for comment.
Translated by RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Matt Reed.
2023.03.01
Civil groups urged the European Parliament to step up pressure on Vietnam to improve its dismal human and labor rights records during a review of the implementation of the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement.
The call came during a conference in Brussels on Feb. 28, led by Marianne Vind, vice chair of the European Parliament’s delegation for relations with countries in Southeast Asia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN.
The free trade agreement, which came into force on Aug. 1, 2020, includes a chapter on trade and sustainable development that entails commitments by the EU and Vietnam to promote labor rights, environmental protection and sustainable development, as defined by international conventions and multilateral environmental agreements.
Representatives from Vietnam Workers’ Defenders, Reporters Without Borders, the Swiss-Vietnam Committee, and the U.S.-based Viet Tan party expressed grave concerns about the worsening human rights situation in Vietnam since the EU and Vietnam ratified the free trade agreement, or EVFTA, which abolishes most custom duties within 10 years.
They pointed to the Vietnamese government’s various violations with regard to freedom of speech, press freedom and workers’ rights that run counter to the provisions included in the agreement.
Since the agreement's signing, human rights abuses have become worse in the one-party communist state, said Helena Huong Nguyen, a conference organizer and member of Viet Tan based in Denmark.
“In the past, only political dissidents were imprisoned, but over recent years, civil society and environmental activists, and even those interested in trade agreements, have also been jailed,” she told Radio Free Asia during a post-conference interview. “The Vietnamese government has even raided online voices of dissent.”
Use of Penal Code, Cybersecurity Law
A Vietnamese guest speaker who attended the conference virtually and requested anonymity for safety reasons, said that he and many human rights activists in Vietnam had hoped the free trade agreement would bring about not only economic benefits, but also improvements in the human rights situation because of the EU’s influence when it comes to such rights.
But instead, they experienced increased suppression of freedom of speech and press freedom along with further deteriorating human rights over the past two years, he said.
Vietnam’s 2018 Cybersecurity Law allowed has authorities to impose administrative fines on people who write stories and commentaries deemed malicious or that distorted Vietnamese Communist Party guidelines and government policy and law, he said, by way of example.
At the same time, the government has used the country’s 2015 Penal Code to its advantage, especially Articles 117 and 331, to stifle political dissent, he added.
Article 117 forbids the distribution of propaganda against the state, while Article 331 criminalizes “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe on the interests of the state.” Vietnamese authorities routinely use the statutes to attack those who speak out in defense of human rights.
The Vietnamese government arrested 40 political dissidents and human rights activists in 2019, 60 in 2020, and 25 in 2021 and 2022, said the guest speaker, attributing the lower arrest rates in the last two years to the increased caution that other activists exercised to avoid being hauled away.
'Too afraid of the consequences'
Julie Majerczak, representative to European institutions for Reporters Without Borders, or RSF, said press freedom in Vietnam has been on the decline since the free trade agreement was ratified.
Vietnam ranked 174th out of 180 countries on the group’s 2022 World Press Freedom Index and became the world’s fourth largest prison for journalists after North Korea, Myanmar and China, Majerczak said.
The number of arrested and convicted journalists had decreased lately because authorities had imprisoned nearly all independent journalists, she said.
Blogs are no longer widely used as they were a decade ago among journalists to criticize government policies because they are too afraid of the consequences, Majerczak said.
Additionally, the government has been increasing its censorship of traditional, mainstream media, she said.
Majerczak cited the cases of professional journalist Pham Doan Trang and citizen journalist Do Cong Duong. Trang, RSF’s award winner in 2019, was sentenced to nine years in prison for “propagandizing against the state,” and Duong died because of harsh jail conditions during his prison term.
“The EU should not cooperate economically with Vietnam until Hanoi improves its human rights record,” she said. “The EU should use the EVFTA to pressure Hanoi to release journalists and improve detention conditions for human rights defenders.”
Preventing trade unions
Huy Nguyen of Vietnam Workers’ Defenders, a U.S.-based organization that seeks to protect workers’ rights in Vietnam, said the government has taken many measures to prevent laborers from establishing independent trade unions.
The country’s current Labor Code violates International Labor Organization conventions because it includes provisions for establishing trade unions, he added.
Nguyen accused the Vietnamese government of violating a free trade agreement provision that requires the establishment of a Domestic Advisory Group. The civil society component is meant to ensure that employer and workers organizations, business groups and environmental groups cano submit views or recommendations on the FTA’s trade and sustainable development chapter.
In July 2021, Vietnam police arrested journalist Mai Phan Loi of the Center for Media in Educating Community and attorney Dang Dinh Bach of Center for Legal Studies & Policy for Sustainable Development because their groups registered to become members of Vietnam’s Domestic Advisory Group, Nguyen said.
Shortly after that, Hanoi formed Vietnam’s Domestic Advisory Group with three members, two of whom were under the government’s control, he said.
In January 2022, Vietnam added three more members, although one did not have the independence required by the free trade agreement, Nguyen said. The same month, Hanoi sentenced Loi to four years in prison and Bach to five years, both on charges of “tax evasion.”
The EU should request that Vietnam review the members of its Domestic Advisory Group and allow representatives from truly independent civil society organizations to join the group, said Nguyen. He also urged Hanoi to release Loi and Bach.
As a newly elected member of the U.N.’s Human Rights Council, Vietnam should take concrete action to improve its human rights record, said Sébastien Desfayes, a Swiss parliamentarian and chairman of the Swiss-Vietnam Committee.
That would include the release of activists, free elections, respect for universal human rights and the right to an independent judiciary, he said.
He also called on Vietnam to eliminate articles 117, 118 and 331 of the Penal Code, which authorities use to suppress freedom of speech.
RFA could not reach Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs by phone or email for comment.
Translated by RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Matt Reed.
Vietnam accuses lawyers defending Buddhist group of ‘abusing democratic freedoms’
By RFA Vietnamese2023.03.13
Manh Dang/FacebookVietnamese police have summoned two attorneys defending members of a Buddhist house church in Long An province, accusing them of violating a law that is widely used to imprison dissidents.
Attorneys Dang Dinh Manh and Dao Kim Lan, two of five defense lawyers working on a case involving the Peng Lei Buddhist Church are accused of “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe on the interests of the state” under Article 331 of Vietnam’s Penal Code.
Vietnamese authorities routinely use the statute to attack those speaking out in defense of human rights.
Freedom of religion is technically enshrined in Vietnam’s constitution, but it also allows authorities to override rights, including religious freedom, for purposes of national security, social order, social morality and community well-being. Authorities have been aggressive in crushing various religious groups.
The one-party Vietnamese government also is notorious for violations of human rights, including the prosecuting of rights attorneys and other defenders, and ignoring international obligations to promote and protect them.
According to the notices, police summoned the lawyers after the Department of Cybersecurity and High-Tech Crime Prevention under Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security issued an advisory that some of the defense attorneys involved in the case showed signs of violating Article 331.
The summons for Dang Dinh Manh, dated March 6, instructed him to meet with police investigators on March 21, 2023, while the summons for Dao Kim Lan, dated March 8, told him to meet with them on March 15.
Many state-media outlets, including Tien Phong, or The Pioneers, and Phap Luat TPHCM, or the Ho Chi Minh City Law Newspaper, reported that police were investigating the two lawyers.
In February, three lawyers — Dang Dinh Manh, Dao Kim Lan and Ngo Thi Hoang Anh — were notified by Long An police that they had “carried out activities of disseminating videos, images, statements and stories with signs of abusing the rights to freedom and democracy to violate the state’s interests and legitimate rights and interests of individuals and organizations,” according to state media reports.
RFA could not reach Ngo Thi Hoang Anh to confirm that she had received a summons. Dang Dinh Manh and Dao Kim Lan refused to comment.
‘Abusing democratic freedoms’
The three lawyers and two others — Nguyen Van Mieng and Trinh Vinh Phuc — have been providing legal support for six members of the house church, who in July 2022 were sentenced to a combined 23 years and six months in prison on charges of “abusing democratic freedoms” under Article 331.
Duc Hoa district police and Venerable Thich Nhat Tu, a Buddhist monk, were the plaintiffs in the case.
Before the first-instance trial, lawyers sent an 11-page petition to Vietnam’s president and the heads of the National Assembly, Ministry of Public Security, and People’s Supreme Procuracy, highlighting indications of the violation of criminal procedures and judicial activities.
The lawyers also raised concern about the objectivity of the investigation because Duc Hoa district police, a plaintiff, was part of the probe.
The petition also indicated that police forced a Peng Lei nun to submit to a gynecological examination, offending her honor and dignity because the action was unrelated to the case.
Even though the lawyers’ complaints had not been addressed, the Duc Hoa People’s Court moved ahead, putting the six church members on trial and sentencing them each to three to five years in prison.
Police investigator Huynh Hung, who is in charge of the case against the lawyers, declined to answer Radio Free Asia’s questions about the case.
Attorney Nguyen Van Dai, who now lives in Germany, told RFA on Monday that the responsible agencies should have quickly responded to the petition filed by the church’s lawyers instead of launching an investigation against them.
“This was a serious violation of freedom of speech and press freedom of lawyers in general and citizens in general,” he said. “They [the authorities] used available tools, including the police and the procuracy, to dismiss the lawyers from their profession. This was an act of vindictiveness by the authorities towards human rights lawyers.”
Translated by Anna Vu for RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
Lawyers for Vietnamese Buddhist group investigated by authorities
By RFA Vietnamese2023.02.27
Credit: Manh Dang Facebook account
Police in Vietnam said they are investigating lawyers for the Peng Lei Buddhist Church, accusing them of violating the country’s penal code as part of their representation for the religious group.
Officials from the Ministry of Public Security said the lawyers could be charged under Article 311, which criminalizes ‘abusing democratic freedoms to infringe on the interests of the State’ and is often used by authorities to target dissidents and opponents in Vietnam.
On Feb. 22, police in Ho Chi Minh City arrested Vo Van Dien, a YouTuber who had posted videos supporting Nguyen Phuong Hang, another Vietnamese netizen who was charged by authorities. Vo Van Dien was accused of “disturbing public order” with their videos. Both YouTubers had spoken about the Peng Lei Buddhist Church case on their channels.
Police in Vietnam’s Long An province have sent a notice to several lawyers involved in the Peng Lei case saying that they could be charged for their work.
One of the lawyers, Dao Kim Lan, told RFA that the notice “had something to do with our comments and complaints against Long An province’s judicial agencies.”
“Perhaps, they targeted our comments on how they had covered up crimes and showed signs of fabricating evidence,” he added.
Lawyers for the church had submitted a complaint claiming violations of due process for their clients to Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security, but the ministry assigned the same police who were named in the complaint to investigate the allegations.
Dao Kim Lan also said that the lawyers were receiving threats, and were sent anonymous messages online saying they would be arrested.
“I am not sure whether it was an act of retaliation,” he added. The fact that the Long An police, who accused them of committing crimes, are investigating the case “makes us think that objectivity cannot be guaranteed.”
Lawyers are requesting that the ministry assign an independent entity to investigate, saying that the accused cannot investigate the accuser in a fair case.
Ngo Thi Hoang Anh, another one of the lawyers in the case, told RFA that at present, “ I cannot say anything as I need to do my best to protect my clients' interests.”
“For lawyers, being unable to best protect their clients is a shame, and I am very worried about having to quit or refuse to continue defending them. I hope everything will be clarified soon so I can keep practicing law.”
Another lawyer from Hanoi, speaking to RFA anonymously, said that charging the lawyers would send a chilling message to defense lawyers across the country.
Translated by Anna Vu. Edited by Nawar Nemeh and Malcolm Foster.
Vietnamese authorities prevent Christian group from meeting with U.S. diplomats
By RFA Vietnamese2023.02.23
Pastor Aga
Local authorities in southern Vietnam on Wednesday blocked U.S. diplomats from entering the homes of Christian leaders to keep them from discussing religious freedom in at least two remote villages, church members and social media posts reported.
Both incidents took place in Dak Lak province, in the southern end of the country’s Central Highlands region, which is home to several ethnic minority groups.
Over the past few months, authorities in the region have prevented many religious groups in the region from holding services or performing rituals on the excuse that the groups have not registered with the government and are therefore illegitimate.
Believers and their supporters say this is an infringement of the right to religious freedom. Though the Vietnamese constitution states that people have this right, the law allows the government to restrict religious practices if doing so is said to be in the interest of national security.
In one of the incidents, personnel from the U.S. Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City were prevented from entering the homes of Y Kreec Bya, and Y Cung Nie, members of the Central Highlands Evangelical Church of Christ.
“A crowd of staff from local agencies and police officers gathering at the gate of my house did not allow the diplomats to come in and discuss with us,” Y Kreec Bya told RFA’s Vietnamese Service. “They also asked the diplomatic delegation to leave and did not allow them to shake hands or talk [with us].”
Y Kreec Bya also said police had been waiting in front of his home for more than a day, and they even threatened the church, saying if it does not stop its activities, they would take “tougher measures.”
Two other church members from a village 14 kilometers (8.7 miles) away were also made to stay in their homes on the day of the meeting.
Aga, a pastor of the church who resides in North Carolina, said that the U.S. government has been aware of Vietnam’s intolerance of religious freedom in the Central Highlands region. He said that during the incident, the diplomats “witnessed all of Vietnam’s issues with their own eyes.”
Caught on video
Video footage posted on the Facebook page for a rights group called Montagnard Stand for Justice showed a similar incident that occurred on the same day, as U.S. diplomats were stopped from entering the home of Y Cung Nie.
In the video, a woman wearing a name badge checked the IDs of the diplomats and then explained that they would not be able to enter the home, and that the religious groups were connected to people who would incite believers to “seek separation.”
The diplomats then told Y Cung Nie that they would have to reschedule the meeting for a later date.
RFA contacted the Chief of Staff of Dak Lak Province People’s Committee, but he did not answer the phone. Le Van Nuoi – Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of the district where the incident occurred, told RFA that reporters should see him in person if they wanted any related information.
Emails to the provincial headquarters and the district leaders of the various villages, as well as to the U.S. Consulate went unanswered as of Wednesday.
Translated by Ana Vu. Edited by Eugene Whong.
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