by Vu Quoc Ngu, Jan 29, 2016
The new Vietnamese leadership must urgently rehabilitate country’s appalling human rights record, said the London-based Amnesty International on Jan 28, the day the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam concluded its 12th National Congress with election of the senior leaders for the next five years.
Although Vietnam is a member of the UN Human Rights Council and has ratified the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in 2014, human rights violations in the country continue unabated, the Amnesty International said.
The human rights body cited the case of Le Van Manh, who was convicted of the 2005 rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl, but always maintained his innocence and says that he was tortured into a “confession”.
Under international and domestic protest, Vietnam has been forced to postpone the execution of the man. However, his fate is still unclear as the legal and judicial system has closed ranks, refusing to disclose information and shielding itself from assessment and accountability.
In order to move the country forward, re-elected General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong must initiate inclusive reforms and ensure an end to the repressive tendencies of his previous administration, the Amnesty International said. Hundreds of detainees died in police custody in three-year period between October 2010 and September 2014 but the Ministry of Public Security claimed that most deaths were the result of illness or natural causes.
The ministry also claimed it had arrested and dealt with 1,410 cases involving 2,680 people who had “violated national security”, a term which is often used by the communist government to silence local political dissidents, social activists and human rights defenders. The police chief also labeled independent civil society organizations as opposition groups.
In addition, many activists have been attacked by police and thugs, the Amnesty International said, adding 69 male and female activists are known to have been targeted in 36 violent attacks, perpetrated by police or men in plain-clothes, widely believed to be working for, or with, the police.
Amnesty International also named human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai as one of many victims of persecution. Before being arrested in mid-December last year, he and three activists were beaten by 20 thugs in the central province of Nghe An.
It said that Vietnam’s human rights journey follows a well-established pattern: where there appears to be one step forward, there are often a number of steps back.
In October 2015, Vietnam, the U.S. and ten other countries concluded negotiation on the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement which will require signatory countries to allow independent unions. However, few weeks later, attacks against workers’ rights advocates have continued. In November, Do Thi Minh Hanh and Truong Minh Duc, two labor activists and former prisoners of conscience, were beaten by men in plainclothes before being detained by uniformed police.
If Vietnam wants to portray itself as a responsible member of the international community, this pattern of abuses will have to be broken, the Amnesty International said. The new leadership of General Nguyen Phu Trong must prioritize root and branch reforms across the country’s various branches of government in order for the government to deliver on its human rights promises and international legal obligations, it concluded.
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January 29, 2016
Amnesty Int’l Urges Vietnam New Leadership to Enhance Human Rights Situation
by Nhan Quyen • [Human Rights]
by Vu Quoc Ngu, Jan 29, 2016
The new Vietnamese leadership must urgently rehabilitate country’s appalling human rights record, said the London-based Amnesty International on Jan 28, the day the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam concluded its 12th National Congress with election of the senior leaders for the next five years.
Although Vietnam is a member of the UN Human Rights Council and has ratified the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in 2014, human rights violations in the country continue unabated, the Amnesty International said.
The human rights body cited the case of Le Van Manh, who was convicted of the 2005 rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl, but always maintained his innocence and says that he was tortured into a “confession”.
Under international and domestic protest, Vietnam has been forced to postpone the execution of the man. However, his fate is still unclear as the legal and judicial system has closed ranks, refusing to disclose information and shielding itself from assessment and accountability.
In order to move the country forward, re-elected General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong must initiate inclusive reforms and ensure an end to the repressive tendencies of his previous administration, the Amnesty International said. Hundreds of detainees died in police custody in three-year period between October 2010 and September 2014 but the Ministry of Public Security claimed that most deaths were the result of illness or natural causes.
The ministry also claimed it had arrested and dealt with 1,410 cases involving 2,680 people who had “violated national security”, a term which is often used by the communist government to silence local political dissidents, social activists and human rights defenders. The police chief also labeled independent civil society organizations as opposition groups.
In addition, many activists have been attacked by police and thugs, the Amnesty International said, adding 69 male and female activists are known to have been targeted in 36 violent attacks, perpetrated by police or men in plain-clothes, widely believed to be working for, or with, the police.
Amnesty International also named human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai as one of many victims of persecution. Before being arrested in mid-December last year, he and three activists were beaten by 20 thugs in the central province of Nghe An.
It said that Vietnam’s human rights journey follows a well-established pattern: where there appears to be one step forward, there are often a number of steps back.
In October 2015, Vietnam, the U.S. and ten other countries concluded negotiation on the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement which will require signatory countries to allow independent unions. However, few weeks later, attacks against workers’ rights advocates have continued. In November, Do Thi Minh Hanh and Truong Minh Duc, two labor activists and former prisoners of conscience, were beaten by men in plainclothes before being detained by uniformed police.
If Vietnam wants to portray itself as a responsible member of the international community, this pattern of abuses will have to be broken, the Amnesty International said. The new leadership of General Nguyen Phu Trong must prioritize root and branch reforms across the country’s various branches of government in order for the government to deliver on its human rights promises and international legal obligations, it concluded.