News

Vo Van Ai sends Open Letter to the Vietnamese Government’s Delegation to the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review of Vietnam

PARIS, 3 February 2014 (VIETNAM COMMITTEE) – In the run-up to the second Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Vietnam at the United Nation’s Human Rights Council on Wednesday 5 February, Open letters from very different personalities have called on the Vietnamese delegation to the UPR to candidly admit its widespread …

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Vietnam must commit to measurable human rights progress at upcoming Universal Periodic Review

GENEVA, 3 February (Vietnam Committee) – The Vietnam Committee on Human Rights urges U.N. member states to press Vietnam to commit to concrete, measurable improvements when it examines the second Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Vietnam at the Human Rights Council on 5 February 2014. The UPR is a four-yearly …

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Security agents assault UBCV monk Thich Chon Tam and pursue crack-down on UBCV

PARIS, 14.01.2014 (IBIB) – At 8:00 am this morning (Vietnam time), Venerable Thich Chon Tam of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) was intercepted and assaulted by plain-clothed Security agents as he was riding his motorbike in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). As he stopped at a red traffic …

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Police harass and intercept UBCV monks and lay-followers to prevent celebrations of Buddhism’s Memorial Day in Hue

PARIS, 8 January 2014 (IBIB) – Buddhists in the central city of Hue inform the International Buddhist Information Bureau (IBIB) that Police and security forces are intercepting, harassing and intimidating monks, nuns and lay-followers of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) to prevent them from organizing a Memorial Day …

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Vietnam: Buddhist youth leader Lê Công Câu under house arrest in Hue

Bangkok, Paris, 2 January 2014 (FIDH/VCHR) – On the morning of January 1, 2014, security police arrested, Vietnamese human rights defender and head of the Buddhist Youth Movement (BYM), Lê Công Cau at Phu Bai Airport near Hue after he boarded a plane bound for Ho Chi Minh City. FIDH …

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Buddhist activist Lê Công Câu is arrested in Hue

PARIS, 1st January 2014 (IBIB) – The International Buddhist Information Bureau (IBIB) is concerned to announce that Buddhist activist Lê Công Câu was arrested at 10.15 (Vietnam time) this morning at Phu Bai Airport near Hue. He had boarded a plane bound for Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) when Security …

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Vietnam: International Human Rights Day and the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders

PARIS, 10 December 2013 (VIETNAM COMMITTEE) – Today, as the world celebrates International Human Rights Day and the 65th Anniversary of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, activists in Vietnam are facing harassments, threats, Police violence and arrest simply for publicly advocating their rights. Over the week-end, Police and …

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Vietnam Committee urges UN members to press Vietnam to pledge urgent reforms at its upcoming Universal Periodic Review

GENEVA, 27 November 2013 (VIETNAM COMMITTEE) – In advance of the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Vietnam which will be held on 28 January 2014, the Geneva-based UPR Info invited diplomats to hear the concerns of civil society organisations at a UPR pre-session at the International Conference Centre …

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From bad to worse: Reform of Vietnam’s Constitution threatens international standards of human rights

PARIS, 25 November 2013 (VCHR) – Vietnam’s first act after obtaining a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council this month may be to adopt a new Constitution which undermines internationally-recognized human rights. The National Assembly is currently considering revisions to its 1992 Constitution (amended in December 2001) and …

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The Wall Street Journal: Vietnam’s Semblance of Reform (by Vo Van Ai)

  Hanoi’s recent diplomatic efforts coincide with a brutal crackdown on free speech at home. Over the past four months, Vietnam’s communist leaders have launched an unprecedented diplomatic offensive. President Truong Tan Sang and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung have travelled to 10 countries including Russia, China, the U.S., the …

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