{"id":41776,"date":"2019-07-15T05:30:52","date_gmt":"2019-07-15T05:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/queme.org\/?p=41776"},"modified":"2019-07-15T05:03:06","modified_gmt":"2019-07-15T05:03:06","slug":"vchr-participates-in-us-ministerial-to-advance-religious-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/vchr-participates-in-us-ministerial-to-advance-religious-freedom\/","title":{"rendered":"VCHR participates in US Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><br>WASHINGTON D.C., 15 July 2019 (VCHR) &#8211; The <strong>Vietnam Committee on Human Rights<\/strong> (<strong>VCHR<\/strong>) is joining government representatives and over 1,000 civil society activists, religious leaders, policymakers and academics at the <strong>Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom <\/strong>hosted by the U.S. Department of State in Washington D.C. from 16-18 July 2019.This is the second consecutive Ministerial, building on actions and projects launched at the inaugural event last year. Three members of VCHR were invited to participate this high-level event, VCHR President V\u00f5 V\u0103n \u00c1i, Vice-President Penelope Faulkner and Executive Secretary V\u00f5 Tr\u1ea7n Nh\u1eadt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>\u201cViolations of freedom\nof religion or belief are rising globally\u201d <\/em><\/strong>said VCHR President V\u00f5 V\u0103n \u00c1i. <strong><em>\u201cIn\nVietnam, religious communities are subjected to daily harassments, and those\nwho defend religious freedom and human rights face assaults, arrest, torture\nand imprisonment. At this Ministerial, we urge the United States and all\nparticipating governments to take concrete action to press Vietnam to respect the\nright to freedom of religion or belief and commit to substantive legislative\nand political reforms\u201d<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mr. V\u00f5 V\u0103n \u00c1i issued the following statement at the Ministerial with VCHR\u2019s concerns and recommendations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:center\"><br><strong>FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR BELIEF \u2013 A HUMAN RIGHT UNDER THREAT IN VIETNAM<\/strong><br><strong>Statement by the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights<br>at the Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom<br><\/strong><em>Washington D.C., 16-18 July 2019<\/em><br><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Vietnam Committee on Human Rights\n(VCHR) welcomes the initiative of the U.S. Department of State to hold a second\nconsecutive Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom in Washington D.C. from\n16-18 July 2019. This high-level event, hosted by Secretary of State Mike\nPompeo, brings together representatives of governments and over 1,000 civil\nsociety activists, religious leaders, policymakers and academics from all over\nthe world. Over 80 side-events addressing all aspects of the challenges to\nfreedom of religion or belief will be held on the margins of the Ministerial.\nU.S. Ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback has\ndescribed it as <em>\u201cthe biggest religious freedom event ever held in the\nworld\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This gathering is timely, for across the\nworld, the right to freedom of religion or belief is under threat. Research by\nthe Pew Centre shows that around 80% of the world\u2019s population lives in areas\nwith high restrictions or outright hostilities on religion, and violations are\nrising globally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is also much needed, for whilst the\nright to freedom of religion or belief is widely recognised as a central facet\nof human rights, it remains a misunderstood freedom. Conceptions of and\napproaches to freedom of religion or belief not only differ, but are sometimes\ndirectly in conflict. For some, it is a \u201cluxury\u201d, the \u201cpoor sister\u201d of human\nrights. For others, religious freedom is \u201cthe first and foremost right\u201d, one\nwhich holds priority over all others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this context, we are especially\nconcerned by a recent project to \u201crevisit\u201d the concept of religious freedom and\nhuman rights with the creation of a \u201cCommission on Unalienable Rights.\u201d This Commission would distinguish between\noriginal unalienable rights and \u201cad hoc rights\u201d, and establish a hierarchy of\nhuman rights with religious freedom at its pinnacle. This initiative is deeply\ntroubling, for it risks undermining the whole international human rights system\nand negatively impacting the lives of millions of vulnerable people for\ngenerations to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong>Vietnam Committee on Human Rights<\/strong>\nwishes to take the opportunity of this Ministerial to recall the fundamental\nfeatures of freedom of religion or belief as enshrined in the UN Universal\nDeclaration on Human Rights and relevant international human rights laws:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Freedom of religion or belief\nis a universal right to which we are all entitled, simply because we are\nmembers of the human family; States cannot create this right, nor can they take\nit away;<\/li><li>Freedom of religion or belief\nis not limited to religions alone. It encompasses the right to freedom of\nthought and conscience, and includes all religions, faiths, convictions and philosophies\nof life, be they theistic, non-theistic or atheistic. As such, it could be\ncalled the mother of all freedoms, for it reflects the dictates of one\u2019s\nconscience and shapes the very core of one\u2019s identity as a human being;&nbsp; <\/li><li>Freedom of religion or belief\ndoes not protect religions. It protects people. People who follow a religion or\nwho follow none enjoy the same protection and rights, no matter who they are or\nwhere they live. No religion has a monopoly of the right to freedom of religion\nor belief;<\/li><li>Freedom of religion or belief\ncannot exist in isolation. It is indivisible, interdependent and interrelated\nwith all other human rights, such as the rights of freedom of expression,\nassociation, assembly and gender rights. These rights mutually reinforce each\nother in combating intolerance and shaping societies based on respect for the\ndignity and freedom of all;<\/li><li>Freedom of religion or belief,\nlike other human rights, is based on non-discrimination, equality, human\ndignity and respect for diversity.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>In Vietnam,<\/strong>\nit is precisely these notions of freedom, diversity and pluralism that are\nperceived as threats to government authority. In the one-Party state, those who\nexpress beliefs or opinions at odds with those of the ruling Communist Party of\nVietnam face harassments, arrest and imprisonment on charges of \u201cthreatening\nnational security.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whilst the government tolerates a veneer of\nfreedom of worship, true freedom of religion and belief remains taboo.\nFor Vietnam, like China, lives in fear of a spiritual awakening, in which the\nyoung generation is increasingly heeding the calls of higher powers that the Communist\nParty cannot control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Braving\ngovernment repression, members of the independent Unified\nBuddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), Catholics, Protestants, Hoa Hao, Cao Dai,\nKhmer Krom Buddhists and other religious communities are continuing the\nstruggle for freedom of conscience and\nfor a more decent and lawful society. Sooner or later, the Communist\nauthorities will be obliged to heed their voice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In recent years, alongside political\nrepression, detention and harassments, Vietnam has been using the law to restrict religious freedom.\nThe newly amended Vietnamese\nConstitutionenshrines\nreligious freedom, but says that no-one may <em>\u201cabuse\nreligious freedom to threaten the interests of the state\u201d.<\/em> The 2015 Criminal\nCode contains a whole string of vaguely-worded \u201cnational security\u201d crimes \u2013 many of which carry the death penalty \u2013 that\ncriminalise political and religious dissent, with Kafkaesque provisions such as\n<em>\u201cundermining national solidarity\u201d,<\/em> <em>\u201cdividing religious and non-religious people<\/em>\u201d\nor <em>\u201cabusing democratic freedoms\u201d. <\/em>These\nlaws give Vietnam a pretext to cynically inform the international community\nthat <em>\u201cthere are no religious or political\nprisoners in Vietnam, only people who violate the law!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another\nstep back for religious freedom is Vietnam\u2019s \u201cLaw on Belief and Religion\u201d that\ncame into force in January 2018. Rather than providing a framework to protect\nreligious freedom, it imposes increased restrictions on religious practice, and\nlegalises intrusive state interference into religious affairs. The law imposes\na draconian system of registration that the state can offer or refuse at will.\nMost disturbingly, it virtually outlaws non registered religious groups. Regulations\nannexed to the law impose heavy fines on people who conduct unsanctioned\nreligious activities. Since the law came into force, violations of religious\nfreedom have escalated, and members of the UBCV and other independent religious\ncommunities who reject the Party\u2019s pervasive controls have become extremely\nvulnerable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At this Ministerial, the Vietnam Committee\non Human Rights calls on the U.S. government and all participating delegations to\nimpress upon Vietnam its binding international obligations to respect freedom\nof religion or belief. Specifically, Vietnam should:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Immediately and unconditionally\nrelease all persons arbitrarily detained for the peaceful expression of their\nconvictions or religious beliefs;<\/li><li>Revise the Law on Belief and Religion and all other legislation and\nregulations on religion to align them with the international standards\nenshrined in Article 18 of the ICCPR; remove all administrative obstacles that\nimpede the exercise of peaceful religious activities; <\/li><li>Ensure that registration of religious groups is optional, not\nmandatory, as recommended by the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion\nor Belief, and is not used as a tool to control religious activities; <\/li><li>Ensure the right of religious groups to practice freely, including\nnon-registered groups such as the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV),\nindependent Hoa Hao, Cao Dai, Protestant house churches, as well as ethnic and\nreligious minorities such as the Christian H\u2019mong and Montagnards, and Khmer\nKrom Buddhists.<\/li><li>Review its treatment of religious communities; religious followers\nshould not be seen as threats to national security, but welcomed into a\npluralistic society where they can contribute to the spiritual and economic\ndevelopment of the country. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:right\"><strong>V\u00f5 V\u0103n \u00c1i<\/strong><br><em>President, Vietnam Committee on Human Rights <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WASHINGTON D.C., 15 July 2019 (VCHR) &#8211; The Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR) is joining government representatives and over 1,000 civil society activists, religious leaders, policymakers and academics at the Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom hosted by the U.S. Department of State in Washington D.C. from 16-18 July 2019.This is the second consecutive Ministerial, &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":434,"featured_media":41777,"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":[137,113,98,64],"tags":[922,923,345],"class_list":["post-41776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-latest-posts","category-news","category-press-release","category-vchr","tag-ministerial","tag-us-department-of-state","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41776","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\/434"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41776\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}