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Vietnamrightnow.com Launches, Provides Complete Human Rights Information on Vietnam Essential information portal on one of world’s worst violator VNRN - March 24, 2014 HANOI, Vietnam – A new comprehensive and essential web portal on the Vietnamese human rights situation, www.vietnamrightnow.com, launched on March 24, providing much needed information in English and in real-time on one of the world’s worst violator of human rights. This website, a joint transnational effort of independent Vietnamese civil society organizations activists in Vietnam and throughout the world, reports on the current human rights situation on the ground, providing accurate and real-time information in English to an international audience. The site also contains a detailed database of nearly 300 prisoners of conscience being held or prosecuted in Vietnam for exercising their rights to freedom of speech, freedom of religion, or other political and human rights. Vietnamrightnow.com fills a large informational gap that currently separates activists in Vietnam from international organizations, the media, and foreign governments, says Dr. Huan Nguyen, Director of The Vietnam Path Movement. “We have made numerous presentations about human rights on international forums, but that is not enough for the world to fully understand what is presently taking place in our country,” states Nguyen. “That is why there is a critical need for vietnamrightnow and it couldn’t have come at a better time.” Trinh Huu Long, an attorney from Hanoi, agrees. “Human rights groups in other Southeast Asian countries all have news and data sites in English that are rich in information,” Long notes. He cites as an example the Irrawaddy site by Burmese activists “that has contributed greatly to the reform process in that country.” The majority of VietnamRightNow’s news and analysis come from activists in Vietnam, some of whom prefer anonymity for their safety. “We welcome the contribution from new participants,” says Nguyen. “We hope to turn this project into a joint effort between Vietnamese people across the globe to remedy the serious human rights offenses taking place inside Vietnam.” March 24 was chosen as
the date for the launch as it is the United Nations’ International Day for the
Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity
of Victims. “Information is the essence of the right to the truth,” Long says. About VietnamRightNow.com Founded by a transnational network of activists and independent civil society organizations, VietnamRightNow.com is the essential web portal on the human rights situation in Vietnam, providing news, analysis and data in real-time and in English on the facts on the ground in a country that is one of the world’s worst violator of rights. Contact Vietnam Right Now www.vietnamrightnow.com ; editor@vietnamrightnow.com
Vietnam Human Rights Network |