VICSON’S STATEMENT ON THE SUPPRESSION OF VIETNAMESE PROTESTER FOR CLEANER ENVIRONMENT

Vietnam | May 16, 2016

Reality:

For more than a month, the North-Central region of Vietnam has experienced an environmental disaster.  Yet, there has not been any official statement from Vietnam’s government to explain the causes and consequences of the disaster. The information which was disseminated through the state media was not sufficient to clear doubts and worries of the Vietnamese people. The government’s lack of information has created doubt and outrage amongst the population.

The government’s ability to manage the country was unacceptable. It was a foremost factor exacerbating the consequences of the disaster, which not only affected the region but also spread rapidly across the country.  Faced with a high risk of food poisoning, the Vietnamese people were very afraid. The primary concern is that the government has not yet found satisfactory solutions to solve the problems, although the situation is becoming more serious by the day.

Vietnam has 3,260 km of coastline, tropical marine climate, and tens of millions of people living on the cost, whose livelihood depend entirely on fishing and sea-based industries. The environmental disaster destroying Vietnams’ marine habitat, and its consequences on the ocean, has threatened the survivable of a large portion of the population.

Vietnamese citizens’ reactions:

Although the state media has tried to reassure public opinion, their efforts were not enough to neutralize the disbelief of the majority of Vietnamese people. Public opinion has become more reactive at various levels. Public outrage has culminated in protests  in the past two weeks in the capital Hanoi, Saigon city, and other places across the country.

Thousands of protesters gathered on Sundays, August 1^st and Sunday, August 8^th, 2016 to demand the government to address the devastating environmental pollution.

Instead of welcoming the opinion of Vietnamese people, the government of Vietnam has chosen to suppress the protests.

Hundreds of people have been illegally arrested and beaten by police in Hanoi and Saigon city. It is worth to mention that women and children were among the most affected during the protests. The peaceful protesters have been continuously beaten and arrested during the last two weeks due to their outrage of the environmental disaster coupling through Northern and Central coastlines of Vietnam.

The freedom of assembly has been enshrined in Article No. 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which the Vietnamese government is a signatory party to. In addition, Article No. 25 of the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam of 2013, maintains the right to freedom of opinion and speech, and gives legitimacy to peaceful demonstrations.

We, the thirteen organizations of the network of civil society organizations independent Vietnam (Vietnam Independent Civil Society Organizations Network- VICSON) state our views:

1. Strongly condemn the repression of the Vietnamese Government against the peaceful marches for environmental protection. The Government of Vietnam has to stop this unconstitutional action and stop the repression of Vietnamese people immediately.
2. The Government of Vietnam has the obligation to respect and protect the right tofreedom of expressionand freedom of establishing association which are recorded in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Vietnamese government suppressed the rights of freedom of assembly and freedom to peacefully demonstrate the concerns of its citizens. This also means the government is limiting the civil, political, economic, and cultural rights of Vietnamese citizens.

3. The authorities must immediately make the responsible of the environmental disaster accountable for the damage. Moreover, the government should provide accurate statistics of the impact the disaster will have on the national economy.
4. The government should create favorable conditions for international environmental organizations and civil society organizations to conduct independent investigations into the incident and directly consult with the government on other environmental problems in Vietnam.

Vietnam, May 09, 2016

The signatory organizations:

1 / Former Vietnamese Prisoners of Conscience Association

2 / Con Dau Parishioners Association

3 / Bach Dang Giang Foundation

4 / Nhon Sanh Bloc, Cao Dai Holy See

5 / Brotherhood for Democracy:

6 / Association of Political Prisoners and Religion

7 / Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church

8 / The Guardians of Religion and Ethnicity

9 / People’s Solidarity Association

10 / People Claiming Rights to Live Association (PCRL)

11 / Vietnamese Women for Human Rights

12 / The Human Rights Defenders Group

13 / Association for Promoting Freedom of Religion and Belief