Vietnamese
Activists Stopped from Holding Rights Rallies
Tra Mi - VOA
December 09, 2013
Dissidents in Vietnam say authorities have stopped them from holding gatherings
to mark International Human Rights Day.
In interviews with VOA's Vietnamese service, online activists say officials
dispersed crowds in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday.
Activist Trang Loan said her group was treated roughly by police.
"They had members of Communist Youth Union yelling at us through loudspeakers
‘Assembling is not allowed,’ and asking us to leave the site. I was slapped in
the face by a police officer in plain clothes. They beat me and the other
participants, which showed they were frightened by our peaceful activities for
human rights," said Loan.
But Phuong Dung says activists like her will not be intimidated.
“When organizing and participating in these activities we know beforehand that
we are going to face with such harassment and repression from the government.
However, we want to show to everybody that these advocacy acts are normal. We
want our country to develop and we want our people to understand their basic
rights. We will definitely continue such activities and keep going with what
are beneficial to our society . We will not give up," said Dung.
The bloggers say they were only trying to discuss human rights, and hand out
copies of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the U.N .Convention Against
Torture and balloons with rights advocacy logos.
Vietnamese officials have not commented on the gatherings.
U.N. International Human Rights Day is Tuesday.
This report was produced in collaboration with the VOA Vietnamese service.