Quê Me Quê Me: Action for democracy in Vietnam & Vietnam Committee on Human Rights
BANGKOK, 13 September 2010 (AFP) – Thailand has threatened to deny visas to activists attending a Vietnamese human rights conference amid “pressure” to cancel the event, a journalist group said Sunday.
Authorities said that while Thailand attached “great importance” to freedom of expression, it would not allow “activities detrimental to other countries”, according to the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand (FCCT) in Bangkok.
The FCCT said Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thongphakdi emailed the club asking it not to allow its premises to be used for the meeting, led by Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR), due to be held on Monday.
It was asked to tell event organisers — an exiled Vietnamese rights group and long-time critic of that country’s communist regime — “that it was Thailand’s intention to deny visas to the scheduled speakers”, the FCCT said.
“We feel it is unfortunate that the Thai government has chosen to apply pressure on us in this way. We would appreciate if the government reconsiders the wisdom of such pressure,” it added in a statement.
A source close to the organisers said the event was now unlikely to take place at the FCCT because of the visa restrictions, although the group’s report on Vietnam will be published as planned on Monday.
The document, sent to AFP under embargo on Saturday, claims rights abuses continued unabated during Vietnam’s presidency of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a group that also includes Thailand.
Authorities in both countries were not immediately available for comment and it is not clear what sparked the Thai government intervention.
Thani said the country had a “long-standing position” of prohibiting activities deemed “detrimental” to other states, in the email received by the FCCT on Friday.
“I therefore hope that the FCCT will respect this position and not allow its premises to be used for such activities,” he added.
Critics complain that Thailand’s record on freedom of expression — already controversial because of web censorship driven by strict rules over insulting the monarchy — have worsened since deadly protests in April and May.
Emergency rules were imposed across many parts of Thailand during two months of “Red Shirt” protests in Bangkok from mid-March that left 91 people dead and ended with a bloody army crackdown .
Authorities have used the decree, which remain in place in seven out of Thailand’s 76 provinces including Bangkok, to arrest hundreds of suspects and silence anti-government media.
