Vietnamese Civil Society Groups Discuss Human Rights With U.S. Delegation
RFA –
05/06/2015
A U.S.
human rights delegation met with representatives from Vietnam’s civil society on
Wednesday to discuss issues related to human rights and democracy and gauge
their support for a U.S.-led regional trade pact.
Blogger Nguyen Tuong Thuy (who blogs for Radio Free Asia), one of the attendees,
told RFA’s Vietnamese Service that the U.S. embassy invited civil society
organizations to meet with the delegation to discuss the country’s human rights
situation at the two-day conference in Hanoi.
“They wanted to meet with us before their dialogue with Vietnam’s Ministry of
Foreign Affairs,” he said. “They listened to us, and we had a lot of opinions
but we did not have enough time.”
He said the meeting, which lasted about an hour and 20 minutes, was “too short”
for the 14 Vietnamese who attended to cover the issue with the large U.S.
delegation.
Attorney Le Thi Cong Nhan, who was also at the meeting, told RFA that the U.S.
delegation paid a great deal of attention to the opinions of the Vietnamese
civil society organizations with regards to whether or not the Trans-Pacific
Partnership (TPP) should be passed, given Vietnam’s current sociopolitical
issues, especially when it comes to human rights.
A dozen countries, including the U.S. and Vietnam, have been holding
negotiations for several years to create a multilateral free trade agreement in
the Asia-pacific region. The TPP has been controversial in Vietnam, which is
sensitive to the economic and trade predominance of China. Its implementation is
one of the trade agenda goals of the Obama administration.
“They even asked us to raise our hands to vote yes or no,” Nhan said. “Of those
representing Vietnamese civil society organizations at the meeting, half said
no, and half said yes to the TPP’s passage.”
Nhan, who was among those who were not in favor of the TPP, said the U.S.
delegation did not appear surprised by the result, which they said would
influence the upcoming vote of U.S. senators about the TPP with Vietnam during
the next legislative session, she said.
Police detain activists
The morning before the meeting, police detained some activists in Hanoi and Ho
Chi Minh City to prevent them from possibly attending the event.
Thao Teresa, an activist who was among those detained, told RFA that police
stopped her as she was taking her child to school and took her to the district
police station in Hanoi, but later released her.
“They used about 20 people to detain me, but they did not tell me what the
reason was,” she said.” They only told me that they had sent an order to me to
see them several times before, but because I never showed up, they now had to
take me to the district police station.”
“I protested, but they had too many people,” she said. “They forced me to go, so
I had to go.”
Likewise, Nguyen Dan Que, a pro-democracy activist in Ho Chi Minh City who has
been imprisoned several times on state security charges related to his activism,
said he was prevented from leaving his home.
Whenever national holidays or other notable events occur, police block and watch
democracy activists very closely, he said.
“All that the government has said in its official documents and announcements or
in mainstream media is that they always respect human rights, people’s opinions,
and that they always ask people for opinions and get the support from the
majority of people…Everybody inside Vietnam and around the world knows that
those words are for their propaganda only.
“In reality, I see that they do the opposite things to the people. Media always
show beautiful pictures of people’s life while in fact people are suffering.”
He went on to say that the government cracks down on activists by targeting
people and trying to isolate them in various ways and make life more difficult
for their family.
“There is no sign of any improvement in the human rights situation,” he said
“When we talk about activists’ demands that the government needs to listen to
people, respect their right to access information from the Internet… they [the
government] takes revenge even on the Internet or Facebook.”
Reported by Mac Lam and Gia Minh of RFA’s Vietnamese Service. Translated by
the Vietnamese Service. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.