Vietnamese edition of fighting impunity with Magnitsky sanctions now out
Safeguard Defenders
| 02 Dec 2020
2020-12-02.
Today, Safeguard Defenders, in collaboration with Vietnamese detained journalist
Pham Doan Trang, are releasing the Vietnamese language version of Fighting
Impunity: A guide on how civil society can use Magnitsky Acts to sanction human
rights violators. This comprehensive manual, localized for Vietnam, is
aimed at civil society, and is the only resource of its kind, providing
step-by-step instructions on how to file recommendations for sanctions on
Vietnamese perpetrators of gross human rights violations. The guide
empowers victims to use #Magnitsky sanctions -- increasingly being adopted
by more countries around the globe -- to seek justice in situations where
Vietnam's own legal system does not allow for such redress. It also empowers
local groups, civil society organisations, or even individuals to become rights
defenders, and to make perpetrators of human rights violations or corruption,
and others responsible, such as those who command them, to be accountable for
their crimes. Magnitsky sanctions are powerful because they allow countries to
target individuals with travel bans, asset freezes including of bank accounts
and property, assets that many corrupt human rights violators have hidden away
overseas. The
release is dedicated to Pham Doan Trang who researched,
translated, and edited the guide, before she was arrested by
Vietnamese authorities for her peaceful exercise of basic legal rights. Our
release is guided by her expressed wish that we publish the material whatever
her situation. The
manual also provides an in-depth ‘investigator’s guide’, showing in detail how
to track down information on perpetrators. Being able to identify the persons
responsible, and those who command them, is a crucial stage in filing a
successful sanctions submission. Two
different editions – a single
page and a double-page
spread layout - can be downloaded as pdf files via those links. You
can find the English language original, aimed at China and Hong Kong, here,
and the Chinese edition here.
Read the
full report on the brutal Dong Tam crackdown, whose commanding officers are
ideal targets for Magnitsky sanctions here.
You can also find the English edition of Safeguard Defenders' report on
Vietnam's use of forced televised confessions - before trial and after torture
- here,
a subject which can also be a focus for targeted Magnitsky sanctions. This
manual has been made possible due to significant support from a variety of
sectors. To encourage candid responses, all interviewees were offered full
anonymity, ranging from diplomats, government officials, those involved in
drafting or developing Magnitsky legislation, and members of the international
NGO community who have experience in filing for sanctions through Magnitsky
Acts. This manual offers not only the procedural step-by-step method for how
civil society can interact with Magnitsky sanctioning but also the political
realities behind how it actually works and what works best.
Vietnam Human Rights Network |