In the last UPR (Universal Periodic Review) upheld in 2014 by the International Human Right Committee, Vietnam government have agreed on those requests raised by the Committee, especially the non-state media and the freedom of assembly. The Vietnam government also agreed on creating a friendly and non harassing environment to allow social activists and political dissidents to raise their opinions and political view points.
Based on the Vietnam government’s agreement, The Embassy of Australia in Vietnam, in conjunction with the Europe Committee, United States, Canada, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland, is upholding a seminar of non-state media in the contemporary Vietnam. Guests and Participants will include officials of Vietnam communist government and its party representatives, social activists and members of civil society including the The Network of Vietnamese Bloggers (NVB).
A day prior to the seminar (July 29, 2014) - one of the invited guest and a well-know blogger, Nguyễn Ngọc Như Quỳnh has unreasonably been arrested by the Nha Trang local police city, where she is currently residing in an attempt to block her from attending the event set up by the Embassy of Australia.
In addition, On the July 30 2014, prior to the opening of the seminar, other guests named Trần Thị Nga and Huỳnh Phương Ngọc have been blocked by the Hanoi local police preventing these guests from attending the seminar.
Even after the seminar, another guest named Phạm Thanh Nghiên, a blogger from NVB has been surrounded and traumatized by a group of plain clothes security officers forcing her to a local police station. Fortunately, members of NVB have enabled to contact the Embassy of Australia who has rescued this blogger out of the arrest.
From all of the such activities committed by the Vietnam government, the Network of Vietnamese Bloggers is declaring that
1) Those good-wills stated by the Vietnam government to the International Human Rights Committee, especially the government of Australia have been contrasted with the actions of Vietnam local police and plain clothes security agents and that those good-wills are not reliable and never become reality. The deliberate arrests and preventing its citizens from attending the seminar is a clear and the latest example to show the government of Australia despite this nation evaluated Vietnam in the last UPR quoting “there was an increase of good-wills from Vietnam in the process of coordinating between Vietnam and the foreign partners on human rights issues.”
2) Issues that the Embassy of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland and the Europe Union want to discuss with the government of Vietnam, the civil society on how to pursue human rights given the Vietnam’s current political context. There have been answers on those issues prior to the seminar as such:
- Human rights and freedom of expression continue to be violated and trembled by the Vietnam government through unreasonable arrests and abductions of its citizens, those who have different political view points with the government.
- Those recommendations saying that Vietnam is agreeing on creating a friendly, non-harassing environment for its citizens to have freedom of assembly have been trembled and violated by the Vietnam Ministry of Internal Affairs through the actions of its local police forces.
- A new strategy of non-state media is not implementable within the Vietnam’s current political context because the system itself as always has violated and trembled on its own Constitutions, disregarded condemnations from the International Community and acted against on those it previously agreed on.
3) The immediate intervention from the Embassy of Australia to rescue blogger Phạm Thanh Nghiên is reflecting the actual situation in Vietnam and responsibilities and gestures from the organizer host on those invited guests. The Network of Vietnamese Bloggers continues to believe that this blogger and those advocates who attempting to prove the factual commitments from the Vietnam government will go through the same dramatization and such rescue will continue to be required from the Embassy.
Written on July 30, 2014
Translated by Mike Nguyen (Danlambao reader)
