In his statement to the Council, Mr. \u00c1i condemned the use of \u201c<\/em>national security\u201d<\/em> pretexts to detain and harass not only Vietnamese civil society activists, but also international human rights leaders invited to Vietnam, e.g. Ms. Debbie Stothard, Secretary-general of the FIDH who was recently detained in Hanoi. He also deplored discrimination against non-recognized religions in Vietnam, such as the detention without charge of the Patriarch of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 for the past 36 years, and Police harassment of the Buddhist Youth Movement.<\/p>\n The text of Mr V\u00f5\u00a0V\u0103n\u00a0\u00c1i\u2019s Oral Statement to the Human Rights Council\u00a0is below:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cMr. Chairman,<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cAgir Ensemble pour les Droits de l\u2019Homme<\/strong> and its partner, the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights<\/strong> (VCHR) are deeply concerned by the current brutal crackdown on freedom of expression, association, peaceful assembly and freedom of religion or belief in Vietnam.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThis fierce repression targets all sectors of civil society, with recent prison sentences of up to 20 years for human rights defenders, and extremely harsh police violence deployed against peaceful demonstrators and civil society activists in custody.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cNot only Vietnamese, but also international human rights defenders are the target of attacks. We firmly condemn the detention and refoulement of Debbie Stothard<\/a>, Secretary-general of the FIDH, and the entry ban on her colleague from Amnesty International, both of whom were officially invited to speak at the ASEAN World Economic Forum in Hanoi last week. The Vietnamese authorities said their presence was a threat to national security.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThese repressive acts take place as Vietnam prepares for its third Universal Periodic Review in January 2019. The UPR provides an opportunity to engage in a frank and open dialogue with the aim of improving the protection of human rights. Unfortunately, the Vietnamese government\u2019s draft report for the UPR<\/a> masks these ongoing human rights abuses and deliberately misinforms the international community on the human rights situation in Vietnam.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cMr. Chairman,<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cUnder Vietnam\u2019s new Law on Belief and Religion, religious groups that are not recognized by the State are extremely vulnerable and exposed to continuous repression, notably the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), whose Patriarch Thich Quang Do has been under house arrest without charge for the past 36 years.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"V\u00f5](\"http:\/\/queme.org\/\/app\/uploads\/2018\/09\/2018-0918a-hrc39-vovanai2.jpg\")