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EU-Vietnam: FIDH and VCHR submit a Complaint to EU Ombudsperson FIDH – 7 August 2014 In a complaint filed today , FIDH and its member organisation VCHR requested that the EU Ombudsperson address the European Commission’s refusal to take human rights into account in negotiations for trade and investment agreements with Vietnam. Negotiations on the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement are taking place against a backdrop of intensifying repression in Vietnam. In a fierce crackdown on freedom of expression, Vietnam prosecuted and imprisoned at least 65 bloggers andactivists in 2013, and at least 14 more have been arrested in the first half of 2014.Scores of civil society activists were brutally beaten for staging peacefuldemonstrations or holding human rights debates. Hundreds of dispossessed farmerswere wounded and several others killed in massive protests over forced eviction andland confiscation. “It is inadmissible that the Commission is negotiating a Free Trade Agreementwithout any regard for human rights in Vietnam. Over the past year, humanrights abuses have reached a climax. Top EU officials have repeatedlydenounced the harsh sentences of bloggers and human rights defenders, yetthe Commission proposes “business as usual” – and even upgrading traderelations with Vietnam. We call upon the Ombudsperson to address this and tohelp put human rights back at the centre of the EU-Vietnam relationship” said VCHR President Vo Van Ai. Trade and investment agreements have the potential to exacerbate human rightsviolations in the context of labor rights, access to land and natural resources or whenrecourse mechanisms are designed to protect investors and not affected communities. “These human rights violations can be prevented by conducting human rightsimpact assessments and by including safeguards in trade and investmentagreements that address violations and offer redress mechanisms”, said FIDH President Karim Lahidji. “We believe that the European Commission’s refusal tocarry out human rights impact assessments (HRIAs) is inconsistent with its legalobligations to respect, protect, and fulfill human rights”, he added. Despite numerous calls by FIDH and VCHR and a resolution of the European Parliament for the European Commission to include HRIAs in the ongoing tradeand investment negotiations with Vietnam, the EU Commissioner for Trade stated thatthe Commission did not “envisage carrying out a specific human rights impactassessment for the EU-Vietnam FTA”. FIDH and VCHR believe that the EuropeanCommission’s refusal constitutes a case of maladministration. The two organizations urge the EU Ombudsperson to address the situation and recommend that the EuropeanCommission review it.
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