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Title: the Emerge of Constitutional Government in Vietnam Author: Pham Duy Nghia
Title: The Emerge of Constitutional Government in Vietnam Author: Pham Duy Nghia This paper has been submitted to the conference ‘Vietnam: political and economic challenges and opportunities’ at the Australian National University on 3 October 2019 This is a preliminary version. It is not for quoting or citations. Do not remove this note. The Emerge of Constitutional Government in Vietnam Pham Duy Nghia* “In order to institutionalize the Party program to build Socialism, we the people of Vietnam, make this Constitution”. Preamble 2013 Constitution of Vietnam I. Introductory Overview Long synonymous as war, since 1986 transformed from one of the poorest countries into a low middle-income country, Vietnam is now one of the most dynamic emerging countries in the world1. With 95 million population, reaching the development level compatible to the Philippines or Egypt2, Vietnam is home for millions of private business and an attractive destination for foreign direct investment. The life of million Vietnamese was improved, poverty significantly reduced, by 2035 more than half of Vietnamese population are projected to join ranks of global middle class with consumption of $15 a day or more3. Aggressively integrated into the global economy, Vietnam is party of dozen free trade agreements, including Vietnam-EU, Vietnam-Japan, and CP- TPP4. In regard of trade openness, Vietnam ranks globally the fifth among the most open economies in the world, just following Luxembourg, Hongkong, Singapore, and Ireland5, with total trade more than double the size of its GDP. In contrast to rapid changes in dismantling the command economy and embracing market reforms, the political system undergone less visible evolution. -
2012 Annual Report
U.S. Commission on InternationalUSCIRF Religious Freedom Annual Report 2012 Front Cover: Nearly 3,000 Egyptian mourners gather in central Cairo on October 13, 2011 in honor of Coptic Christians among 25 people killed in clashes during a demonstration over an attack on a church. MAHMUD HAMS/AFP/Getty Images Annual Report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom March 2012 (Covering April 1, 2011 – February 29, 2012) Commissioners Leonard A. Leo Chair Dr. Don Argue Dr. Elizabeth H. Prodromou Vice Chairs Felice D. Gaer Dr. Azizah al-Hibri Dr. Richard D. Land Dr. William J. Shaw Nina Shea Ted Van Der Meid Ambassador Suzan D. Johnson Cook, ex officio, non-voting member Ambassador Jackie Wolcott Executive Director Professional Staff David Dettoni, Director of Operations and Outreach Judith E. Golub, Director of Government Relations Paul Liben, Executive Writer John G. Malcolm, General Counsel Knox Thames, Director of Policy and Research Dwight Bashir, Deputy Director for Policy and Research Elizabeth K. Cassidy, Deputy Director for Policy and Research Scott Flipse, Deputy Director for Policy and Research Sahar Chaudhry, Policy Analyst Catherine Cosman, Senior Policy Analyst Deborah DuCre, Receptionist Tiffany Lynch, Senior Policy Analyst Jacqueline A. Mitchell, Executive Coordinator U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom 800 North Capitol Street, NW, Suite 790 Washington, DC 20002 202-523-3240, 202-523-5020 (fax) www.uscirf.gov Annual Report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom March 2012 (Covering April 1, 2011 – February 29, 2012) Table of Contents Overview of Findings and Recommendations……………………………………………..1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………..1 Countries of Particular Concern and the Watch List…………………………………2 Overview of CPC Recommendations and Watch List……………………………….6 Prisoners……………………………………………………………………………..12 USCIRF’s Role in IRFA Implementation…………………………………………………14 Selected Accomplishments…………………………………………………………..15 Engaging the U.S. -
Regarding the Matter of Mr. Le Quoc Quan And
UNITED NATIONS SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON THE PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF THE RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF OPINION AND EXPRESSION, MR. FRANK LA RUE UNITED NATIONS SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON THE RIGHTS TO FREEDOM OF PEACEFUL ASSEMBLY AND OF ASSOCIATION, MR. MAINA KIAI UNITED NATIONS SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON THE SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS, MRS. MARGARET SEKAGGYA With a copy to: UNITED NATIONS SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON THE INDEPENDECE OF JUDGES AND LAWYERS, MRS. GABRIELA KNAUL c/o Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights- Palais Wilson, United Nations Office at Geneva CH1211 Geneva 10 Switzerland Sent via e-mail: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] 13 March 2013 Regarding the matter of Mr. Le Quoc Quan and the Government of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam - Request for Relief Pursuant to Resolutions 7/36, 16/4, 15/21, 7/8 and 16/5 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This Letter of Allegation respectfully requests the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders (“the Joint Rapporteurs”) to investigate and intervene in the unlawful arrest and detention of lawyer, blogger and human rights defender Le Quoc Quan. The signatory organisations request the Joint Rapporteurs to declare any continuing detention of Mr. Quan a violation of his human rights. Mr. Quan is currently arbitrarily detained by the Government of Viet Nam due to having exercised his right to freedom of expression, right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, as well as his activities as a human rights defender. -
Conviction of Cu Huy Ha Vu View
Vietnam Committee on Human Rights OPEN LETTER to HE Nguyen Minh TRIET President of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam HE Nguyen Tan DUNG Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam HE Ha Hung CUONG Minister of Justice of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam HE Vu DUNG Permanent Representative of Viet Nam to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Geneva With copies to: Hon. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations Hon. Navanethem Pillay United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Paris-Geneva, April 7, 2011 Subject: Conviction of Cu Huy Ha Vu is a travesty of justice and he must be immediately and unconditionally released Your Excellencies, The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation against Torture (OMCT), and the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR) are writing to you to lodge our strongest protest against the conviction on April 4, 2011 of Mr. Cu Huy Ha Vu, who was sentenced by the Hanoi People‟s Court to seven years of imprisonment and three years of house arrest for “propaganda against the Republic Socialist Republic of Vietnam” under Article 88 of Vietnam's Criminal Code. Mr. Ha Vu, a lawyer, has been a peaceful defender of cultural, environmental and civil and political rights and has consistently used the courts to seek justice for those whose rights have been violated by the Government and private actors. Recently he had initiated two lawsuits against the Prime Minister, the first filed in July 2009 targeted the latter for signing Decision 167 in November 2007, which allowed controversial bauxite mining operations in Vietnam's Central Highlands. -
U.S.-Vietnam Relations in 2011: Current Issues and Implications for U.S. Policy
U.S.-Vietnam Relations in 2011: Current Issues and Implications for U.S. Policy Mark E. Manyin Specialist in Asian Affairs May 18, 2012 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov R40208 CRS Report for Congress Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress U.S.-Vietnam Relations in 2011: Current Issues and Implications for U.S. Policy Summary After communist North Vietnam’s victory over U.S.-backed South Vietnam in 1975, the United States and Vietnam had minimal relations until the mid-1990s. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1995, overlapping security and economic interests have led the two sides to expand relations across a wide range of issue-areas and begin to form a strategic partnership of sorts. Perhaps most prominently, in 2010, the two countries mobilized a multinational response to China’s perceived attempts to boost its claims to disputed waters and islands in the South China Sea. This coordinated effort to promote the freedom of navigation has continued. U.S. Interests In the United States, voices favoring improved relations have included those reflecting U.S. business interests in Vietnam’s reforming economy and U.S. strategic interests in expanding cooperation with a populous country—Vietnam has over 90 million people—that has an ambivalent relationship with China and that is asserting itself on the regional stage. Others argue that improvements in bilateral relations should be conditioned upon Vietnam’s authoritarian government improving its record on human rights. The population of more than 1 million Vietnamese-Americans, as well as legacies of the Vietnam War, also drive continued U.S. -
State Censor
Mekong Review May 2018 State censor Peter Zinoman Censorship in Vietnam: Brave New World Thomas A. Bass University of Massachusetts Press: 2017 . In terms of protecting free expression and political speech, Vietnam remains something of a global basket case. In its World Press Freedom Index for 2017, Reporters Without Borders ranks Vietnam 175th out of 180 countries, ahead of only China, Syria, Turkmenistan, Eritrea and North Korea. According to Freedom House’s 2018 assessment of the quality of civil liberties and political rights in 210 countries, Vietnam ranks 177th, right between theocratic Iran and deeply authoritarian Belarus. Not exactly the finest of company. While human rights organisations have been grousing about the dismal state of freedom of expression in Vietnam for some time, two obstacles have partially obscured the country’s abysmal record in this area from the purview of outside observers. First is the persistence of a dated understanding of the Vietnamese Communist Party-state derived from its role in the country’s major twentieth-century wars. Owing to the superiority in wealth and firepower of its French, US and Chinese adversaries, the party-state has long been portrayed as a plucky, anti-imperialist “David” poised against a slew of lumbering, hegemonic “Goliaths”. This view has engendered an enduring reservoir of sympathy for the party-state (especially among older Vietnam-watchers who began their careers during the Vietnam War), which has discouraged investigations into its chronic human rights abuses, including its relentless persecution of domestic actors who dare to criticise it publicly. A second obstacle to grasping Vietnam’s poor record on freedom of expression today is the complex and elusive character of the infrastructure of state repression. -
Constitutional Debate and Development on Human Rights in Vietnam
Asian Journal of Comparative Law, 11 (2016), pp. 235–262 doi:10.1017/asjcl.2016.27 © National University of Singapore, 2017 Constitutional Debate and Development on Human Rights in Vietnam Giao Cong VU* Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Vietnam, [email protected] Kien TRAN** Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Vietnam, [email protected] Abstract This article analyzes the constitutional debate on and development of human rights in Vietnam throughout five constitutions from 1946 to 2013, as well as the prospects and challenges in promoting human rights in Vietnam during and after the development of its 2013 Constitution. It begins with an investigation and discussion of the human rights provisions from the 1946 Constitution to the 1992 Constitution – a period where the socialist human rights tradition was established in Vietnam. It follows with an analysis of the debates on the new human rights and citizens’ rights provisions in the 1992 Constitution, where a new concept of natural human rights emerged. The article continues to explore how the struggle and debates surrounding the competing conception of rights – socialist and positivist on one hand and natural law-based on the other – come into play in shaping the 2013 Constitution. It then proceeds to evaluate the potential challenges involved in the implementation of these rights in the coming years. The authors argue that the development of constitutional human rights in Vietnam is still limited by ideological barriers. It also faces substantial practical challenges owing to, inter alia, the absence of provisions for the immediate implementation of such rights as well as legal mechanisms for the protection of constitutional rights, such as a constitutional review system. -
Highlighting Vietnamese Government Human Rights Violations in Advance of the U.S.–Vietnam Dialogue
HIGHLIGHTING VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN ADVANCE OF THE U.S.–VIETNAM DIALOGUE HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS, AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION APRIL 11, 2013 Serial No. 113–54 Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/ or http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/ U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 80–363PDF WASHINGTON : 2013 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate 0ct 09 2002 10:54 Sep 24, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 F:\WORK\_AGH\041113\80363 HFA PsN: SHIRL COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American DANA ROHRABACHER, California Samoa STEVE CHABOT, Ohio BRAD SHERMAN, California JOE WILSON, South Carolina GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey TED POE, Texas GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia MATT SALMON, Arizona THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania BRIAN HIGGINS, New York JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina KAREN BASS, California ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts MO BROOKS, Alabama DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island TOM COTTON, Arkansas ALAN GRAYSON, Florida PAUL COOK, California JUAN VARGAS, California GEORGE HOLDING, North Carolina BRADLEY S. -
Art at the Crossroads: Lacquer Painting in French Vietnam
126 Art at the Crossroads Art at the Crossroads: Lacquer Painting in French Vietnam Lisa Bixenstine Safford, Hiram College During the last phase of French occupation in Vietnam (1887–1954), a new and unique direction for pictorial arts was inaugurated that continues to inform the country’s art scene to this day.1 In a culture that lacked a developed painting tradition from which to draw inspiration, painting with lacquer formed a distinctive and novel medium that could be applied to fresh artistic subjects. In 1925 the arts first began to evolve rapidly thanks to the creation of the École Superieure de Beaux Arts d’Indochine, a new school in Hanoi that was founded by the relatively unknown French painters Victor Tardieu (1870– 1937) and Joseph Inguimberty (1896–1971).2 Together with other artists such as Nguyễn Vạn Thọ (1890–1973, better known as Nam Sơn), who was sent to Paris for a year of training in 1924 for his new post as an art instructor,3 they embarked on a mission civilisatrice to educate promising artisans (thợ vẽ) so that they would advance to the status of “artists” (hoạ sĩ) and subsequently sign their works as individual creators.4 The French colonial view that La France d’Asie possessed no distinctive artistic and cultural identity was central to the school’s inception.5 Thus, the school set about creating a new cultural identity that was grafted from a modernist French pictorial language of art. The students’ training in European artistic styles eventually merged with East Asian and indigenous wood-based, folk craft sources, the privileging of which can be read as a rejection of French style. -
U.S.-Vietnam Relations in 2011: Current Issues and Implications for U.S
U.S.-Vietnam Relations in 2011: Current Issues and Implications for U.S. Policy Mark E. Manyin Specialist in Asian Affairs July 26, 2011 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov R40208 CRS Report for Congress Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress U.S.-Vietnam Relations in 2011: Current Issues and Implications for U.S. Policy Summary After communist North Vietnam’s victory over U.S.-backed South Vietnam in 1975, the United States and Vietnam had minimal relations until the mid-1990s. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1995, overlapping security and economic interests have led the two sides to begin to form a strategic partnership of sorts. In 2010, the Obama Administration indicated its intent to take relations to “the next level,” and cooperated with Vietnam to coordinate a multi- country diplomatic push back against perceived Chinese encroachment in the South China Sea. In the United States, voices favoring improved relations have included those reflecting U.S. business interests in Vietnam’s reforming economy and U.S. strategic interests in expanding cooperation with a populous country—Vietnam has 88 million people—that has an ambivalent relationship with China and that is asserting itself on the regional stage. Others argue that improvements in bilateral relations should be conditioned upon Vietnam’s authoritarian government improving its record on human rights. The population of more than 1 million Vietnamese-Americans, as well as legacies of the Vietnam War, also drive continued U.S. interest. Vietnamese leaders have sought to upgrade relations with the United States in part due to the desire for continued access to the U.S. -
Intimate Perspectives from the Battlefields of Iraq
'The Best Covered War in History': Intimate Perspectives from the Battlefields of Iraq by Andrew J. McLaughlin A thesis presented to the University Of Waterloo in fulfilment of the thesis requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 2017 © Andrew J. McLaughlin 2017 Examining Committee Membership The following served on the Examining Committee for this thesis. The decision of the Examining Committee is by majority vote. External Examiner Marco Rimanelli Professor, St. Leo University Supervisor(s) Andrew Hunt Professor, University of Waterloo Internal Member Jasmin Habib Associate Professor, University of Waterloo Internal Member Roger Sarty Professor, Wilfrid Laurier University Internal-external Member Brian Orend Professor, University of Waterloo ii Author's Declaration I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. iii Abstract This study examines combat operations from the 2003 invasion of Iraq War from the “ground up.” It utilizes unique first-person accounts that offer insights into the realities of modern warfare which include effects on soldiers, the local population, and journalists who were tasked with reporting on the action. It affirms the value of media embedding to the historian, as hundreds of journalists witnessed major combat operations firsthand. This line of argument stands in stark contrast to other academic assessments of the embedding program, which have criticized it by claiming media bias and military censorship. Here, an examination of the cultural and social dynamics of an army at war provides agency to soldiers, combat reporters, and innocent civilians caught in the crossfire. -
6. Mapping Civil Society in Vietnam 37 7
CIVICUS CIVIL SOCIETY INDEX SHORTENED ASSESSMENT TOOL CSI-SAT VIETNAM THE EMERGING CIVIL SOCIETY AN INITIAL ASSESSMENT OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN VIETNAM Structure 3 2 1.6 1 1.7 1.4 Values 0 Environment 1.2 Impact CIVICUS CIVIL SOCIETY INDEX SHORTENED ASSESSMENT TOOL CSI-SAT Vietnam THE EMERGING CIVIL SOCIETY AN INITIAL ASSESSMENT OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN VIETNAM Edited by Irene Norlund, International Coordinator Dang Ngoc Dinh, National Coordinator Bach Tan Sinh Chu Dung Dang Ngoc Quang Do Bich Diem Nguyen Manh Cuong Tang The Cuong Vu Chi Mai Hanoi, March 2006 FOREWORD Globally, civil society organizations are playing an increasingly important role in the guts and efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals on poverty reduction (MDGs). The organizations have been working alongside with governments in activities pertaining to the goals on poverty reduction, empowerment of women, increased transparency, and notably to encouraging people’s participation in decision-making and policy implementation. In Vietnam, as the Doimoi process moves forward, a wide range of civil society organizations have been established and tremendously developed. The people’s participation in the development process has been increasingly enhanced. However, substantial researches on civil society currently need to be conducted so as to clarify its roles, position and policies to encourage the people’s active participation, thus contributing to the socio- economic development of the country. Under the support from the UNDP, SNV and CIVICUS and the cooperation with local and international research institutes and experts, in 2005, the Vietnam Institute of Development Studies (VIDS) carried out the project titled “Civil Society Index - Shortened Assessment Tool in Vietnam”.