Twelve human rights defenders have the floor

20/04/2007
Report

Between 4 March and 12 March 2006, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), in the framework of their joint programme, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, in collaboration with the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights, sent a mission to Vietnam to meet with several dissidents and religious leaders engaged in the struggle for fundamental human rights, in the face of continuing repression by the Vietnamese authorities.

Many of those met by the mission are members or supporters of the independent Buddhist church, the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), which was outlawed in 1981 and has been a constant target of the regime. The mission also met with writers, academics and others involved in defending human rights and the struggle for democratic reform.
Several of those met by the mission had spent many years in prison, in connection with their activities in support of democratic reforms and human rights and against corruption. Many have suffered the most extreme physical and mental privations, and even on release have been kept under surveillance and denied the fundamental rights to freedom of movement, expression and association. They have nevertheless maintained their determination and continued to struggle for an end to repression.
The mission delegation was composed of Christine Martineau, lawyer at the Paris Bar, France, and Michael McColgan, solicitor of the Supreme Court practising in Sheffield, England. The Observatory extends its special thanks to the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights, and in particular to its President, Vo Van Ai, for their important contribution to this report.
Over a period of many years, FIDH has requested permission from the Vietnamese authorities, via the Vietnamese Embassy in Paris, to organise an official mission of investigation in Vietnam. However, on each occasion these requests met with no response.
It was in this context that in March 2006 the Observatory decided to send a mission to Vietnam to meet with several prominent human rights defenders, to hear their testimonies first hand. The mission delegates met only with individuals who had already received significant coverage in the national and international media and who would not be exposed to increased risks of repression as a result of their contact with the Observatory. It is emphasised that all those met by the mission agreed to their identities being revealed and to the publication of their testimonies.
The objective of this report is to shed light on human rights defenders, whose situation has been dealt with since many years by the Observatory, by collecting their first-hand testimonies. This report also aims at sensitizing the international community and public opinion on the state of freedom of expression and freedom of association in Vietnam, and the Observatory will use it as an advocacy tool in the framework of bilateral and multilateral relations between Vietnam and third countries.

Read more