Human Rights
Watch: Clinton Should Press Hanoi on Rights
Make Expanded
Trade, Security Ties Contingent on Ending Harsh Restrictions on Freedoms
(New York, July
22, 2010) – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should highlight the
importance of respect for human rights in Vietnam during her visit to Hanoi to
attend the ASEAN Regional Forum on July 23, 2010, Human Rights Watch said today.
In both her public statements and private meetings with Vietnamese
officials, Clinton should stress the priority that the US places on
strengthening Vietnam’s respect for human rights as part of bilateral relations,
Human Rights Watch said.
“Secretary Clinton should make it clear that the US stands with Vietnam’s
courageous human rights defenders and peaceful democracy activists and will not
abandon them to enhance security and trade ties,” said Phil Robertson, deputy
Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
Ten years after President William J. Clinton’s historic visit to Vietnam and
15 years after normalization of relations with the US, Vietnam’s progress in
implementing economic reforms has not been matched by similar strides in
protecting fundamental human rights. Clinton should make the case that Vietnam’s
long-term economic stability and prosperity depends on protecting the rights of
the Vietnamese people to participate fully in forging their country’s political,
economic, and social future, Human Rights Watch said.
Vietnam remains a one-party state that restricts freedom of association and
assembly, controls religious and labor organizations, bars independent media,
obstructs free speech and unrestricted access to the internet, and harshly
prosecutes its most prominent public critics, often sentencing them to long
prison terms.
While Vietnam periodically releases a number of high-profile political
prisoners at politically expedient moments, it has detained and imprisoned many
hundreds more during the last ten years. These include democracy activists,
human rights lawyers, internet writers, workers’ rights advocates, and members
of unsanctioned religious groups such as Montagnard Christians and leaders of
the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam.
“As chair of ASEAN, Vietnam should respect the human rights provisions of
the ASEAN Charter and lead the region in a new commitment to promoting and
protecting human rights,” Robertson said. “Instead, Vietnam is driving ASEAN in
reverse on human rights by blithely locking up peaceful critics, anti-corruption
campaigners, independent church activists, internet writers, and others.”
Repressive laws employed to silence or imprison government critics include
national security provisions in Vietnam’s penal code, such as restrictions on
“abusing democratic freedoms,” regulations that ban bloggers from posting
articles about politics or issues the government considers state secrets,
subversive, or threats to national security and social order; and Ordinance 44,
which provides that peaceful dissidents and others deemed national security
threats can be involuntarily committed to mental institutions, placed under
house arrest, or detained in state-run “rehabilitation” centers – without trial.
“Vietnam has benefited immensely from growing US-Vietnam economic ties in
the 15 years since relations were resumed, but the relationship should be a full
two-way street in all aspects,” Robertson said. “Secretary Clinton should signal
that it’s time for the Vietnamese government to act decisively to protect human
rights defenders and community activists.”
During Secretary Clinton’s visit to Vietnam, Human Rights Watch urges her
to:
• Call on Vietnam to release all political and religious prisoners;
• Emphasize that
US willingness to engage with Vietnam on security and trade issues is contingent
on Vietnam’s respect for human rights and rule of law;
• Encourage
Vietnam to respect freedom of expression and end its efforts to censor and
control the media and the internet by ceasing to create firewalls for popular
human rights and democracy websites, and ending all state-sponsored or supported
hacking of such websites;
• Urge Vietnam to
repeal legislation that restricts or criminalizes the right to peaceful dissent,
particularly vague and problematic provisions on national security.
Background
The
bilateral relationship between the United States and Vietnam has steadily
improved during the last 20 years. In 1994, the US lifted its trade embargo on
Vietnam, normalizing relations in 1995. The two countries exchanged ambassadors
in 1997 and signed a Bilateral Trade Agreement in 2001.
Since 2006, foreign policy and security ties have grown dramatically, with the
US and Vietnam exchanging high-level state visits, resuming an annual human
rights dialogue, and embarking on military and anti-terror collaboration. The
week of President George W. Bush’s November 2006 visit to Hanoi, the US lifted
its designation of Vietnam as a Country of Particular Concern for religious
freedom violations. Following Vietnam’s entry into the World Trade Organization
in January 2007, the US granted Vietnam permanent normal trade relations status.
For more Human Rights Watch reporting on Vietnam, please visit:
https://www.hrw.org/en/asia/vietnam
For more information, please contact:
In Bangkok, Phil Robertson (English, Thai): +66-85-060-8406 (mobile)
In Washington, DC, Sophie Richardson (English, Mandarin): +1-202-612-4341; or
+1-917-721-7473 (mobile)