
Human Rights Situation in Vietnam 2017 - 2018 Report Office of Senator Thanh Hai Ngo t a b l e o f c o n t e n t s introduction ENVIRONMENTAL MESSAGE FROM DISASTER THE SENATOR religious oppression LABOUR DISPUTEs internet restrictions and regulations 01 02 04 09 13 17 PROPERTY SEIZUREs CONCLUSION List of PRISONERS VIETNAM’s PENAL OF CONSCIENCE CODE articles 21 26 End notes 27 appendix 29 32 39 Message from the Senator Preface A message from Senator thanh hai Ngo April 30, 1975 marked the end of the Vietnam the Vietnamese Heritage and Freedom Flag government’s actions hampers the positive War when Saigon fell under Communist rule. was raised both at the Legislative Assembly of momentum of the growing rights movement For millions of people, this day not only signi- Ontario and on Parliament Hill. During these in Vietnam, which has been escalating in light fied the end of the War, but also fueled their historic events, Senators, Ministers, Members of recent events such as the Formosa environ- pursuit for freedom and democracy. They fled of Parliament and Provincial Parliament and mental disaster. into the open ocean in small, unseaworthy city officials wore the Vietnamese Freedom With this in mind, I am proud to present you boats with many falling victim to violent pirate Scarves in honour of Journey to Freedom Day. with the latest edition of my office’s 2017- Hu attacks, drowning, starvation and being sold While Canada has certainly set an example man Rights Report, the result of the hard work into prostitution. Behind them, their home fell of openness and compassion in the past, it and passion of my team of student research in the grip of an authoritarian regime that sup- must once again reclaim that leadership role assistants from across the country: Vy Huynh, pressed the very people they espoused to help. to ensure that foreign nationals are held ac- Kim Anh Khong, Nathan Tinh Bang Ly, Kim As the Vietnamese exodus became an inter- countable for gross violations of international Nguyen, Amy Phi Au Tran and Vinh Tran. It is national humanitarian crisis, Canada not only human rights standards. Vietnam continues my sincerest hope that by providing a compre- opened its doors to those in their greatest to field one of the poorest human rights re- hensive report on the current human rights time of need, but also inspired international cords in the world, as the Communist Party of situation in Vietnam, the young generation communities to offer compassion towards ref- Vietnam continues to oppress ethnic, religious of Canadians will be inspired to advocate for ugees everywhere. By 1980, Canada stunned and political groups and attack those who rights in Vietnam and around the world. the world by welcoming over 60,000 Vietnam- dare to criticize government policies. In recent ese refugees. years, plainclothes police officers have also Over the years, Vietnamese-Canadians have been reported to be increasingly dispatched made great contributions to Canada’s prosper- to violently stifle dissenting voices. ity and diversity. In 2015, I was proud to repre- Canada must assert its commitment to pro- sent our community in introducing Bill S-219, moting international justice and human rights Journey to Freedom Day Act, commemorating by joining many of our close allied countries the perilous exodus of the Vietnamese refu- in publicly and systematically condemning gees and acknowledging the immeasurable the harsh treatment of peaceful activists and efforts that Canadians made to welcome them bloggers. Arbitrary detention, unfair sentenc- to their new home. es and lack of due process are incompatible This year, in spirit of Canada’s 150th anniver- with our democratic values and are contrary sary and for the first time in the 42-year his- to our foreign affairs priorities. Canada’s cur- tory of the Vietnamese-Canadian community, rent unofficial disapproval of the Vietnamese Senator Thanh Hai Ngo Violated Freedoms introduction Introduction uman rights ensure that everyone, regardless of race, sex, lan- Despite Vietnam’s duty to its citi zens and its obligati ons to honour in- guage, religion or other status, is enti tled to fundamental freedoms ternati onal agreements, the country has fallen far behind in its commit- Hand human dignity without prejudice or discriminati on.1 Universal ments and currently holds one of the poorest human rights records in human rights set forth obligati ons and standards to which governments the world.6 should be held accountable, outlining the basic freedoms that must be This report will draw att enti on to the mounti ng human rights abuses and 2 respected and protected at domesti c and internati onal levels. violati ons in Vietnam through academic research, comparati ve analyses, Unfortunately, in countries such as Vietnam, legal proceedings fail to observati ons made by NGOs, foreign parliamentarians and acti ve case uphold human rights standards. Because of the single-party system, the studies of current prisoners of conscience. Each chapter will focus on Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP) is able to maintain full control over recent rights violati ons and movements aimed at exposing the dire hu- the country’s laws, regulati ons and policies without oppositi on. Candi- manitarian situati on in Vietnam. Ongoing social injusti ces covered within dates for politi cal offi ce are vett ed and appointed by the party, resulti ng the report include: religious oppression, internet restricti ons, the Formo- in all offi cials in positi ons of power having views that align with the VCP.3 sa environmental disaster, labour disputes, as well as land and property Vietnam has rati fi ed several internati onal treati es with respect to human seizures. The report will also be highlighti ng key advocacy strategies and rights, such as the Internati onal Covenant on Civil and Politi cal Rights and emphasizing opportuniti es that internati onal communiti es could take to the Internati onal Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.4,5 urge Vietnam to uphold its obligati ons with respect to human rights. Key Violated freedoms In Vietnam FREEDOM OF FREEDOM OF FREEDOM OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION ASSEMBLY RELIGION ASSOCIATION The right to express one’s opinions The right to collecti vely gather and The right to support, practi ce and The right to form unions and groups and ideas verbally and online is defend a common interest is limited worship a belief or religion is strin- have always been interfered with by heavily regulated in Vietnam through in Vietnam. Peaceful protests oft en gently controlled by the state. The the state, not allowing independent methods such as censorship.7 This result in police crackdowns as VCP does not recognize unregistered organizati ons from forming.12 This has led to numerous arrests and authoriti es use violence to suppress religious minoriti es due to strict legis- prevents the VCP from losing their violent assaults aimed specifi cally at nonviolent dissidents who repeatedly lati ons for religions.10 Suppression of power to dictate and control the peo- Vietnamese bloggers and journalists demand for accountability, religious freedom occurs regularly by ple. Vague laws are used to arrest and in order to silence citi zens and control responsibility and transparency from punishing worshippers and expropri- detain organizati ons such as web as- online media content.8 the government.9 ati ng their land.11 sociati ons and religious minoriti es.13 2 Plainclothes officers introduction PLAINCLOTHES OFFICERS Over the last few years, rightsrights actiacti vistsvists andand internetinternet bloggersbloggers their harsh sentences of actiacti vists.vists. TheThe NatiNati onalonal EndowmentEndowment have suff ered severe physical assaultsassaults fromfrom un-un- of Democracy believes that att ackingacking protestersprotesters identi fi able individualsindividuals wearingwearing civiliancivilian clothes.clothes. instead of incarcerati ngng themthem isis aa ployploy toto avoidavoid Countless threats and att acks havehave beenbeen sys-sys- unwanted internati onal diplomati c att enti20 on. temati cally made against peaceful politi cal What’s more, uniformed offi cers have been dissidents. These “thugs” have been report- reported to not intervene in the att acks, and ed to be tacitly acti ng on behalf of the VCP in some cases, will arrest and detain the vic- 14,15,16 as “plainclothes offi cers”. ti m instead of the assailant. However, the link The alleged plainclothes offi cerscers havehave beenbeen ob-ob- between the att acks and governmentgovernment plannedplanned served to target only specifispecifi cc casescases ofof interest,interest, withwith terrorism is impossible to detect.detect.21,22,23 The brutal re- most of them involving att acksacks thatthat targettarget prominentprominent pression, both verbal and physical, hashas deterreddeterred manymany internet bloggers and actiacti vists.vists. ManyMany socialsocial injustiinjusti cesces people in Vietnam from acti vism.vism. have been speculated to have emanatedemanated fromfrom thethe decisions made by government offi cialscials inin Vietnam,Vietnam, sparking numerous protests and rightsrights movementsmovements for various issues across the country.17 The 2017 Hu-Hu- did you know? man Rights Watch report on democracy campaigners in Vietnam states thatthat therethere werewere atat leastleast 2121 actiacti vistsvists The Vietnamese judiciary exercises who have been convicted. More thanthan 5050 campaign-campaign- “rule by law”, in which the VCP ers have been physically
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