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PARIS, 9th<\/sup> November 2017 (VCHR) \u2013 Mr. V\u00f5 V\u0103n \u00c1i, President of the Paris-based Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR) has sent an Open Letter calling on world leaders at the 25th<\/sup> Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in \u0110\u00e0 N\u1eb5ng from 11-12 November to press Vietnam to uphold its binding international obligations and cease repressing citizens who simply speak out for human rights and freedom of religion or belief.<\/p>\n The Summit takes place as Vietnam is pursuing \u201cthe fiercest assault on human rights in recent years\u201d<\/em> with arrests and harsh sentences of human rights defenders, bloggers and civil society activists such as M\u1eb9 N\u1ea5m (Nguy\u1ec5n Ng\u1ecdc Nh\u01b0 Qu\u1ef3nh)<\/a>, Tr\u1ea7n Thi Nga<\/a> and Nguy\u1ec5n V\u0103n \u0110\u00e0i<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mr. Ai denounced grave violations of freedom of religion or belief – \u201cthe mother of all freedoms\u201d<\/em> – such as the 30-year detention of Buddhist monk and scholar Th\u00edch Quang \u0110\u1ed9<\/a>. Whilst Vietnam hosts the Summit near the famed Buddhist grottoes of the Marble Mountains, it is \u201csuppressing the 2,000-year heritage of Vietnamese Buddhism by outlawing the independent Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), banning its religious activities and ruthlessly repressing its followers\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n The 2017 APEC Summit\u2019s theme of \u201cCreating New Dynamism, Fostering a Shared Future\u201d<\/em> could only become reality if its members stood firm on their commitment to human rights and the rule of law: \u201cVietnam\u2019s future, and the \u201cshared future\u201d of the Asia-Pacific region depend on the decision you make today to place decency, dignity and democratic freedoms at the centre of economic cooperation and trade\u201d<\/em>, wrote V\u00f5 V\u0103n \u00c1i.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n As you gather in \u0110\u00e0 N\u1eb5ng for the 25th<\/sup> Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, I am writing to express my deep concern about grave human rights violations in the host country, Vietnam. I urge you to press your Vietnamese partner to uphold its binding international obligations and cease persecuting citizens for their legitimate appeals for human rights, democracy and freedom of religion or belief.<\/p>\n APEC is an influential forum, accounting for almost 40% of the world\u2019s population, 57% of the global GDP and 49% of international trade. The aim of the 21 member economies is to promote economic growth and prosperity, and the 2017 summit\u2019s theme is \u201cCreating a New Dynamism, Fostering a Shared Future\u201d<\/em>. Yet this shared future of growth and prosperity is surely only attainable if it is based on a common commitment to the principles of freedom and human rights?<\/p>\n As history has proved, economic development and human rights are not incompatible. On the contrary, they are interdependent and mutually reinforcing. Development is freedom, said Indian Nobel Economics laureate Amartya Sen, but he stressed that this freedom can only exist when \u201ceconomic opportunities, political freedoms, social facilities, transparency guarantees and protective security\u201d<\/em> are equally guaranteed.<\/p>\n Whilst the APEC Summit takes place, Vietnam is pursuing the fiercest assault on human rights in recent years. In the past twelve months, at least 28 people have been arrested under vaguely-worded \u201cnational security\u201d crimes<\/a> which have been strongly denounced by the United Nations and many APEC member states. Prominent bloggers and human right defenders such as Nguy\u1ec5n Ng\u1ecdc Nh\u01b0 Qu\u1ef3nh (M\u1eb9 N\u1ea5m)<\/a> and Tr\u1ea7n Th\u1ecb Nga<\/a> were condemned to ten and nine years in prison respectively this summer. Human rights lawyer Nguy\u1ec5n V\u0103n \u0110\u00e0i<\/a> has been detained for over 22 months without trial, and is now charged with \u201csubversion\u201d which is punishable by death.<\/p>\n The right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief \u2013 the mother of all freedoms \u2013 is gravely violated in Vietnam<\/a>. The venue of this year\u2019s APEC Summit has a deep symbolic significance for religious followers. The Marble Mountains (Ng\u0169 H\u00e0nh S\u01a1n)<\/em> in \u0110\u00e0 N\u1eb5ng contain some of Vietnam\u2019s most remarkable Buddhist grottoes devoted to the Bodhisattva of Compassion Kwan Yin, and represent a place of pilgrimage and spiritual retreat. Yet whilst the government promotes tourism and draws revenues from these sites, it is suppressing the 2,000-year heritage of Vietnamese Buddhism by outlawing the independent Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), banning its religious activities and ruthlessly repressing its followers.<\/p>\n Today, the UBCV\u2019s leader, Most Venerable Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9<\/a>, 89, a renowned scholar, dissident and 16-times Nobel Peace Prize nominee, is under house arrest at the Thanh Minh Zen Monastery in Ho Chi Minh City. He is deprived of citizenship rights and held under constant Police surveillance. A symbol of the growing movement for democracy and human rights in Vietnam, Th\u00edch Quang \u0110\u1ed9 has spent the past thirty years in prison, internal exile and house arrest. In May 2017, Police prevented him from travelling to Hu\u1ebf to enjoy the care of his disciples at the Long Quang Pagoda on the grounds that \u201che is not welcome\u201d<\/em> in Hu\u1ebf. L\u00ea C\u00f4ng C\u1ea7u<\/a>, the UBCV\u2019s Secretary-general and leader of the Buddhist Youth Movement (Gia \u0111\u00ecnh Ph\u1eadt t\u1eed Vi\u1ec7t Nam)<\/em> is constantly interrogated, harassed and forbidden to travel by Police. Scores of members of the Buddhist Youth Movement have been threatened and placed under restrictions during major Buddhist festivals such as the Vesak and the Lunar New Year.<\/p>\nOpen Letter to APEC Members
\nat the 25th<\/sup> Summit in \u0110\u00e0 N\u1eb5ng, 11-12 November 2017<\/h3>\n