International
Federation
for Human Rights (FIDH)
Vietnam
Committee
on Human Rights (VCHR)
Press
Release
Vietnam
- Clampdown on peaceful protests: another illustration
of the
Government’s disregard of its international human rights
obligations
Paris-Bangkok,
4 July 2012 -
The heavy-handed interference in the peaceful protests
in several locations across Vietnam on Sunday 1 July 2012,
including
restrictions on freedom of movement and intimidation of
participants,
especially followers of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam
(UBCV), is yet another indication of Vietnam’s flagrant
disrespect
for the internationally protected right to freedom of peaceful
assembly, said the International Federation for Human Rights
(FIDH)
and its member organization, the Vietnam Committee on Human
Rights
(VCHR).
The
peaceful protests took place on 1 July in Hue, Ho Chi Minh
City and
the capital Hanoi, following calls made by bloggers as well as
by the
Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, Supreme Patriarch of the UBCV,
for a
nationwide demonstration to peacefully protest China’s recent
incursions into areas in the South China Sea that Vietnam
considers
as its territory.
In Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, there have been reports of police harassment, surveillance and brief detention of bloggers before and during the peaceful protests. Blogger Nguyen Hoang Vi told reporters that she and about five to six people in Ho Chi Minh City were detained by the police and released later on 1 July.
Restrictions
on
followers of the outlawed UBCV are especially harsh leading up
to
and on the day of the protests. On 30 June, police forces
tightly
surrounded the Thanh Minh Zen Monastery in Ho Chi Minh City,
where
the Patriarch Thich Quang Do is under de facto house arrest,
and the
Giac Hoa Pagoda, Secretariat of the UBCV and residence of its
Deputy
leader Venerable Thich Vien Dinh. In the evening of the same
day,
police also broke into the private quarters of Venerable Thich
Thien
Hanh, head of the UBCV’s provincial committee in Hue, and
demanded
that he calls off a protest planned for the next morning at
the
Buddhist Martyrs Memorial. On 1 July, police surrounded Thich
Thien
Hanh’s pagoda to prevent him from leaving, and set up
road-blocks
around the memorial.
All monks, nuns and Buddhists in Hue attempting to join the protest in Hue and Ho Chi Minh City were either intercepted on their way or prevented from leaving their pagoda or homes. Police forces assaulted a group of UBCV followers at the An Cuu Bridge in Hue, injuring one monk on the head.
The
right to peaceful assembly is guaranteed by article 69 of the
Vietnamese Constitution of 1992 and by article 21 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which
Vietnam
has acceded to since 1982.
“Vietnam
has
a long trail of record in disregarding its human rights
obligations under domestic and international law,”
said Ms.
Souhayr Belhassen, president of FIDH. “Vietnam’s
intention
to run for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council is its
latest
attempt to embellish a façade of legitimacy over its human
rights
record, which is one of the worst in Asia.”
“The
demonstrations
of 1 July mark a turning point in Vietnam’s movement
for human rights. Thich Quang Do’s appeal has inspired a
new
generation of Vietnamese, and for the first time in
Vietnam, young
people, Buddhist monks and people from all walks to life
are joining
together to express in public their opinion on an issue of
public
interest. Vietnam should heed the people’s voices rather
than
stifling them.” said Mr Vo Van Ai,
President of
VCHR.
FIDH
and VCHR call on the government of Vietnam to conduct a
prompt,
effective, independent and impartial investigation into the
conduct
of the police and other government officials before and during
the 1
July protests, with a view to holding to account all those
responsible for actions that violated both Vietnamese and
international laws protecting the right to peaceful assembly.
Press
contact:
FIDH: Arthur
Manet/Karine Appy, +33 6 72 28 42 94 / +33 1 43 55 90 19
(Paris);
Shiwei Ye: +66 89 673 5265 (Bangkok)
VCHR: Vo Tran
Nhat, +33 1 45 98 30 85 (Paris)
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