INTERNATIONAL VIEWS OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN VIETNAM
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The issue of human rights in Vietnam has received critical and disapproving response from the United States as well as from many international human rights organizations.
The U.S. Department of State issues critical annual reports on human rights in Vietnam. In recent years, the reports have disclosed repeated observations of the Vietnamese government's violations of specific human rights. Its most recent report, by observing that "the National Assembly elections, held in May, were neither free nor fair", does not seem to indicate any prospective improvement of the situation in the near future.
Human Rights Watch, an independent organization dedicated to defending human rights, confirms this view of human rights repression in Vietnam. It is stated at the beginning of its 2012 World Report of Vietnam that "the Vietnamese government systematically suppresses freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly." The report also expresses a pessimistic vision of human rights, reflecting that during both the 11th Vietnam Communist Party Congress in January 2011 and the National Assembly election in May, "there was no sign of any serious commitment to improve Vietnam’s abysmal human rights record."
Concerned voices worldwide have also been raised in response to specific cases of arbitrary detainment of human rights defenders in Vietnam. After the verdict of Le Cong Dinh's sentence in January 2010, Kenneth J. Fairfax, the United States consul general in Ho Chi Minh City, responded: "We would like to reiterate our deep concern over the arrest and conviction of persons for the peaceful expression of their beliefs, political or otherwise, by the government of Vietnam”, affirming the U.S. concern over this issue.
President Barack Obama also addressed the detainment of blogger Nguyen Van Hai (Dieu Cay) in his statement on World Press Freedom Day: "As we condemn recent detention of journalists like Mazen Darwish, a leading proponent of free speech in Syria, and call for their immediate release, we must not forget others like blogger Dieu Cay, whose 2008 arrest coincided with a mass crackdown on citizen journalism in Vietnam". After the sentences were imposed on three bloggers earlier this year in September 2012, the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam issued a statement, expressing "deep concern" over the case, and claiming the government's treatment of Dieu Cay to be "inconsistent with Vietnam's obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights".
Representing Europe's point of view, Catherine Ashton, foreign policy chief for the European Union, also denounced the sentences, believing "the sentences in this case appear to be particularly severe". Ashton view is shared by the European Parliament in a statement made in 2009, addressing at "the growing climate of intolerance in Vietnam towards human rights defenders".
The U.S. Department of State issues critical annual reports on human rights in Vietnam. In recent years, the reports have disclosed repeated observations of the Vietnamese government's violations of specific human rights. Its most recent report, by observing that "the National Assembly elections, held in May, were neither free nor fair", does not seem to indicate any prospective improvement of the situation in the near future.
Human Rights Watch, an independent organization dedicated to defending human rights, confirms this view of human rights repression in Vietnam. It is stated at the beginning of its 2012 World Report of Vietnam that "the Vietnamese government systematically suppresses freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly." The report also expresses a pessimistic vision of human rights, reflecting that during both the 11th Vietnam Communist Party Congress in January 2011 and the National Assembly election in May, "there was no sign of any serious commitment to improve Vietnam’s abysmal human rights record."
Concerned voices worldwide have also been raised in response to specific cases of arbitrary detainment of human rights defenders in Vietnam. After the verdict of Le Cong Dinh's sentence in January 2010, Kenneth J. Fairfax, the United States consul general in Ho Chi Minh City, responded: "We would like to reiterate our deep concern over the arrest and conviction of persons for the peaceful expression of their beliefs, political or otherwise, by the government of Vietnam”, affirming the U.S. concern over this issue.
President Barack Obama also addressed the detainment of blogger Nguyen Van Hai (Dieu Cay) in his statement on World Press Freedom Day: "As we condemn recent detention of journalists like Mazen Darwish, a leading proponent of free speech in Syria, and call for their immediate release, we must not forget others like blogger Dieu Cay, whose 2008 arrest coincided with a mass crackdown on citizen journalism in Vietnam". After the sentences were imposed on three bloggers earlier this year in September 2012, the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam issued a statement, expressing "deep concern" over the case, and claiming the government's treatment of Dieu Cay to be "inconsistent with Vietnam's obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights".
Representing Europe's point of view, Catherine Ashton, foreign policy chief for the European Union, also denounced the sentences, believing "the sentences in this case appear to be particularly severe". Ashton view is shared by the European Parliament in a statement made in 2009, addressing at "the growing climate of intolerance in Vietnam towards human rights defenders".