{"id":2643,"date":"2016-04-06T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-04-06T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/queme.org\/en\/vietnam-new-law-on-access-to-information-and-amended-press-law-restrict-freedom-of-expression-and-the-right-to-know\/"},"modified":"2017-07-18T22:53:54","modified_gmt":"2017-07-18T22:53:54","slug":"vietnam-new-law-on-access-to-information-and-amended-press-law-restrict-freedom-of-expression-and-the-right-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/vietnam-new-law-on-access-to-information-and-amended-press-law-restrict-freedom-of-expression-and-the-right-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Vietnam: New Law on Access to Information and amended Press Law restrict freedom of expression and the right to know"},"content":{"rendered":"

PARIS, 6 April 2016 (VCHR) \u2013 The amended Press Law<\/strong> and the new Law on Access to Information<\/strong>, adopted by overwhelming votes by the Vietnamese National Assembly (respectively 89.5% and 97.5%) on 5 and 6 April, add new tools to Vietnam\u2019s arsenal of repressive legislation, just as the authorities are launching a fierce crackdown on freedom of expression in Vietnam.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithin the past two weeks alone, seven people have been sentenced to over 22 years in prison for exercising their legitimate rights to freedom of expression and assembly, and the Minister of Public Security is now the President of Vietnam\u201d<\/strong><\/em> said VCHR President V\u00f5 V\u0103n \u00c1i. \u201cThese laws confirm once again the government\u2019s all-out offensive against human rights. Under these laws, the one-Party State is empowered to stifle all free debate on politics, history, religion and social issues, and hide any information it wants from its population\u201d.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The amended Press Law appears more like a shield against anti-government criticism than a law on press freedom. It increases the number of \u201cprohibited acts\u201d from four to thirteen. All are unduly vague and place wide-ranging restrictions on the media. Banned activities include publishing \u201cdistorted information about the Socialist Republic of Vietnam\u201d<\/em> perceived to \u201cdefame the people\u2019s government\u201d<\/em>, \u201crun contrary to the country\u2019s international unity policies\u201d<\/em>, \u201ccause alarm amongst the people\u201d<\/em> or \u201csow division between the people and State authorities\u201d<\/em>. The diffusion of \u201cconfidential information\u201d<\/em> and \u201cstate secrets\u201d<\/em> is banned, and the lack of a clear definition of these terms enables the authorities to apply this classification to virtually any document. Contrary to recommendations by the United Nations and civil society to bring Vietnam\u2019s laws into line with international standards and norms, the amended Press Law continues to criminalize a wide range of activities which are left solely to the appreciation of the state, such as \u201cpropagating depraved lifestyles\u201d<\/em>, \u201cviolating the country\u2019s traditions and values\u201d<\/em>, or \u201cdistorting history, denying revolutionary achievements or offending the nation or its heroes\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Concerning freedom of religion or belief, the law bans \u201csuperstition\u201d<\/em>, without defining the term, and incorporates \u201cnational security\u201d<\/em> provisions from the Criminal Code such as \u201ccausing division between non-religious and religious people, people of different religions, between religious people and State authorities\u201d<\/em> which are routinely invoked to suppress independent religious activities. More disturbingly, the law adds a new prohibition on information which \u201coffends people\u2019s religious belief\u201d<\/em>. This evokes the \u201cdefamation of religions\u201d debate which has raised grave concerns in the United Nations and within civil society worldwide because it questions the right to freedom of expression and the universality of human rights.<\/p>\n

The amended Press Law also maintains state control on journalists by continuing to require that they re-apply for their press cards every five years. The law comes into force on 1st January 2017.<\/p>\n

The new Law on Access to Information<\/strong>, which takes effect on 1st July 2018, raises serious concerns regarding freedom of expression and the right to know, or the right of individuals to access information held by public authorities. The 2015 draft of this law was severely criticized by the Centre for Law and Democracy<\/span><\/a>, who placed Vietnam near the bottom (93rd out of 102) of a list of countries rated for their access to information legislation. First and foremost, citizens\u2019 right to access to information does not appear to be an inherent right in Vietnam, but one which only exists as regulated by law.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, the Law on Access to Information does not override existing legislation, but stipulates a number of grounds for restricting access to information which are inacceptable under international law. These include \u201cstate secrets\u201d<\/em>, which are not defined, or vague terms such as \u201csocial order and ethics\u201d<\/em>, \u201cState security\u201d, \u201cinterests of the nation, people and State\u201d<\/em>, or \u201cpropaganda\u201d<\/em>. Moreover, the public will only have access to information produced after the law comes into force, and only information declassified by government. There is no time frame provided for the declassification of information<\/p>\n

In addition, the law is dissuasive and cumbersome, requiring citizens who seek access to information explain why they need this information, and provide details of their names, addresses and ID or passport numbers. Under the law, the authorities are not obliged to provide receipts to those who request information, which deprives citizens of proof in case of dispute. Where access to information is denied, the authorities do not have to provide the reasons for their refusal, and the citizens have no alternative mechanisms of recourse. \u201cWrongful use of information\u201d<\/em> is subject to sanctions.<\/p>\n

Also of concern is the lack of protection for \u201cwhistleblowers\u201d, people who release information which reveals wrongdoing. Vietnamese laws provide heavy penalties for such acts under a range of different pretexts, such as the case of Nguy\u1ec5n M\u1ea1nh H\u00e0 and Tr\u1ea7n Anh H\u00f9ng, sentenced respectively to 5 and 6 years in prison in October 2013 for leaking a draft government report on a controversial development project in Nhatrang to the media. They were accused of \u201crevealing state secrets\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PARIS, 6 April 2016 (VCHR) \u2013 The amended Press Law and the new Law on Access to Information, adopted by overwhelming votes by the Vietnamese National Assembly (respectively 89.5% and 97.5%) on 5 and 6 April, add new tools to Vietnam\u2019s arsenal of repressive legislation, just as the authorities are launching a fierce crackdown on …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":375,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","","category-vchr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/375"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2643\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}