Statement at the 57th Session of the Human Rights Council
Adoption of the UPR report of Vietnam
Delivered by Juli Lopez Arenas
Thank you, Mr President.
CIVICUS, the Vietnam Advocates for Change and ADN welcome the government of Vietnam’s engagement with the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process.
Since its last review, Vietnam did not implement 40 recommendations related to civic space. We note that Vietnam fully accepted 17 of the 34 recommendations on civic space it received during this cycle. The government has committed to creating an enabling environment for independent civil society organizations, free expression online and offline, as well as independence of the media.
Despite these commitments, there continues to be severe repression of civil society and human rights defenders. Freedom of association is drastically subverted by a highly restrictive regulatory regime. Human rights defenders including NGO leaders, environmental, land and minority rights activists and journalists had been subjected to arbitrary arrest and detention on trumped-up national security or tax evasion charges. Some are serving long prison sentences and face torture and ill-treatment in detention.
Activists are subjected to surveillance, intimidation, harassment and violent assaults. They also face restrictions on their movement and those in exile are at risk of transnational repression. Digital freedoms are severely restricted in law, censorship is rampant and peaceful assembly is tightly restricted.
Mr President, as a UN Human Rights Council member, we urge the government of Vietnam to take its role seriously by revising all restrictive laws and regulations, so they are consistent with the ICCPR, release all human rights defenders including Pham Doan Trang, Dang Dinh Bach and Nguyen Chi Tuyen. It must also ensure that HRDs are able to carry out their legitimate activities without fear of legal action or harassment.
We thank you.
