Young environmentalists in central province of Nghe An hold small demonstration on May 15
Security forces have tightened control in major cities, including Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Authorities in these places have deployed numerous police officers who are equipped with modern weapons and devices to patrol main streets in these cities. Police officers have kept close eyes to people walking on streets and detain all suspected people, including tourists who just want to take pictures.
By Vu Quoc Ngu, May 15, 2016
Many Vietnamese activists have conducted peaceful demonstration on environmental issues in a number of localities despite the ongoing intensified crackdown one week prior to the general election for the country’s parliament.
Small groups of activists successfully escaped close monitoring of local security to gather in centers of Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Vung Tau and Hue and other places to voice their concerns about the ongoing disaster in the central coastal region which has killed hundreds of tons of marine species since April 6.
However, most of the protest lasted few minutes and police came to disperse, taking dozens of them to police’s custody for interrogation. Police severely beat many activists during the arrests and in police’s custody, the detainees said.
Hundreds of Catholic followers in Song Ngoc parish in Quynh Ngoc commune, Quynh Luu district in the central province of Nghe An led by Priests JB Nguyen Dinh Thuc and Tran Dinh Te took to streets and gathered in front of the local government building to demand fast investigation and urgent actions to deal with the massive death of fish in the central coastal region.
Numerous activists have been put under house arrest since the late evening of May 13 as local authorities have deployed plainclothes agents and militia to set up control points near their private residences with aim to block them. Not allowed to go out, many of them have conducted sit-in protest to oppose the government’s violation of their right of free movement, and demand the government to settle issues related to the environmental disaster in the central coastal region.
Security forces have tightened control in major cities, including Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Authorities in these places have deployed numerous police officers who are equipped with modern weapons and devices to patrol main streets in these cities. Police officers have kept close eyes to people walking on streets and detain all suspected people, including tourists who just want to take pictures.
Meanwhile, Vietnam’s government has yet to clearly define the causes of the en-mass death of fish in the four central coastal province of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue. Many experts and activists believe that the discharge of huge volume of toxic waste of the Taiwanese Formosa steel plant in Ha Tinh is the main cause for the disaster which can affect the environment and the livelihood of tens of millions of people in the region, especially the local fishermen.
The Taiwanese Formosa Plastic Corp, which has carried out $10 billion steel project in Ha Tinh and plans to raise its total investment in its complex in the province to nearly $30 billion, has admitted to import over 300 tons of very toxic chemicals for cleaning its machineries in its Ha Tinh province-based plant. It has also committed to throw roughly 931,830 cubic meters of waste water into Vietnam’s sea in the first quarter this year without being inspected by the local authorities.
Vietnam’s government has tolerated any criticism and applied all measures to prevent and suppress all spontaneous public demonstrations although the right of freedom of assembly is enshrined in the country’s 2013 Constitution. It has applied a number of controversial articles such as 79, 88, and 258 to silence local dissidents, social activists and human rights defenders.
On May 1 and May 8, security forces in Hanoi, HCMC, Nha Trang and Danang violently suppressed environmental demonstrations in which thousands of activists participated. Police arrested hundreds of protestors and severely beat them during the arrests and in police’s custody.
Vietnam will carry out formal general elections on May 22 to elect the new parliament in the 14th tenure and People’s Councils in provincial, district and communal levels in the 2016-2020 period. In April, the rubber stamp parliament in the 13th term approved the new leadership, including the country’s top legislator, prime minister and president.
The Vietnamese new leadership will continue to apply strict political control to maintain the country under a single-party regime.
Meanwhile, President Obama will conduct his first and final visit to Vietnam on a capacity of the head of the White House on May 22-25. Vietnam’s human rights situation is among key issues of his talks with the local leadership./.
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May 15, 2016
Vietnamese Environmentalists Rally in Localities despite Intensified Crackdown ahead of Parliament Election
by Nhan Quyen • [Human Rights]
Young environmentalists in central province of Nghe An hold small demonstration on May 15
By Vu Quoc Ngu, May 15, 2016
Many Vietnamese activists have conducted peaceful demonstration on environmental issues in a number of localities despite the ongoing intensified crackdown one week prior to the general election for the country’s parliament.
Small groups of activists successfully escaped close monitoring of local security to gather in centers of Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Vung Tau and Hue and other places to voice their concerns about the ongoing disaster in the central coastal region which has killed hundreds of tons of marine species since April 6.
However, most of the protest lasted few minutes and police came to disperse, taking dozens of them to police’s custody for interrogation. Police severely beat many activists during the arrests and in police’s custody, the detainees said.
Hundreds of Catholic followers in Song Ngoc parish in Quynh Ngoc commune, Quynh Luu district in the central province of Nghe An led by Priests JB Nguyen Dinh Thuc and Tran Dinh Te took to streets and gathered in front of the local government building to demand fast investigation and urgent actions to deal with the massive death of fish in the central coastal region.
Numerous activists have been put under house arrest since the late evening of May 13 as local authorities have deployed plainclothes agents and militia to set up control points near their private residences with aim to block them. Not allowed to go out, many of them have conducted sit-in protest to oppose the government’s violation of their right of free movement, and demand the government to settle issues related to the environmental disaster in the central coastal region.
Security forces have tightened control in major cities, including Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Authorities in these places have deployed numerous police officers who are equipped with modern weapons and devices to patrol main streets in these cities. Police officers have kept close eyes to people walking on streets and detain all suspected people, including tourists who just want to take pictures.
Meanwhile, Vietnam’s government has yet to clearly define the causes of the en-mass death of fish in the four central coastal province of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue. Many experts and activists believe that the discharge of huge volume of toxic waste of the Taiwanese Formosa steel plant in Ha Tinh is the main cause for the disaster which can affect the environment and the livelihood of tens of millions of people in the region, especially the local fishermen.
The Taiwanese Formosa Plastic Corp, which has carried out $10 billion steel project in Ha Tinh and plans to raise its total investment in its complex in the province to nearly $30 billion, has admitted to import over 300 tons of very toxic chemicals for cleaning its machineries in its Ha Tinh province-based plant. It has also committed to throw roughly 931,830 cubic meters of waste water into Vietnam’s sea in the first quarter this year without being inspected by the local authorities.
Vietnam’s government has tolerated any criticism and applied all measures to prevent and suppress all spontaneous public demonstrations although the right of freedom of assembly is enshrined in the country’s 2013 Constitution. It has applied a number of controversial articles such as 79, 88, and 258 to silence local dissidents, social activists and human rights defenders.
On May 1 and May 8, security forces in Hanoi, HCMC, Nha Trang and Danang violently suppressed environmental demonstrations in which thousands of activists participated. Police arrested hundreds of protestors and severely beat them during the arrests and in police’s custody.
Vietnam will carry out formal general elections on May 22 to elect the new parliament in the 14th tenure and People’s Councils in provincial, district and communal levels in the 2016-2020 period. In April, the rubber stamp parliament in the 13th term approved the new leadership, including the country’s top legislator, prime minister and president.
The Vietnamese new leadership will continue to apply strict political control to maintain the country under a single-party regime.
Meanwhile, President Obama will conduct his first and final visit to Vietnam on a capacity of the head of the White House on May 22-25. Vietnam’s human rights situation is among key issues of his talks with the local leadership./.