{"id":45044,"date":"2021-01-21T15:35:56","date_gmt":"2021-01-21T15:35:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/queme.org\/?p=45044"},"modified":"2021-01-22T18:44:37","modified_gmt":"2021-01-22T18:44:37","slug":"european-parliament-condemns-conviction-of-journalists-and-escalating-crackdown-on-dissent-in-vietnam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/european-parliament-condemns-conviction-of-journalists-and-escalating-crackdown-on-dissent-in-vietnam\/","title":{"rendered":"European Parliament condemns conviction of journalists and escalating crackdown on dissent in Vietnam"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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PARIS, 21 January 2021 (VCHR) \u2013 The Vietnam Committee on Human Rights<\/strong> (VCHR) welcomes the strong Resolution adopted by the European Parliament (EP) in Brussels today on the \u201cHuman Rights situation in Vietnam, in particular the case of human rights journalists Pham Chi Dung, Nguyen Tuong Thuy and Le Huu Minh Tuan<\/a>\u201d. The resolution was tabled jointly by all seven of the political groups in the 705-member body from across the whole political spectrum <\/a>(1)<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Resolution is\nextremely relevant and timely\u201d<\/em><\/strong> said VCHR President V\u00f5 V\u0103n \u00c1i. \u201cIt sends a strong message to the Vietnamese\nCommunist Party on the eve of its 13th Congress in Hanoi, and reaches out to\nthe new US President Joe Biden to work together with Europe and its member\nstates to press for tangible human rights improvements in Vietnam\u201d<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nResolution, a long and detailed text, denounces a wide range of human rights\nviolations, notably the plight of political prisoners. Vietnam \u201ccurrently holds in detention the largest\nnumber of political prisoners in South-East Asia\u201d<\/em>, it said, adding that the\nEP is \u201cappalled by and condemns the\nescalating crackdown on dissent and increasing violations of human rights in\nVietnam, including the sentencing, political intimidation, surveillance,\nharassment, assaults, unfair trials and forced exiles of political activists,\njournalists, bloggers, dissidents and human rights defenders for exercising\ntheir freedom of expression, in clear violation of Vietnam\u2019s international\nhuman rights obligations\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Resolution expressed particular concern for the arbitrary arrest and conviction of Ph\u1ea1m Ch\u00ed D\u0169ng<\/strong>, Nguy\u1ec5n T\u01b0\u1eddng Th\u1ee5y<\/strong> and L\u00ea H\u1eefu Minh Tu\u1ea5n<\/strong>, founder and members of the Independent Journalist Association of Vietnam. The three men, who had reported on \u201cgovernment mismanagement and corruption\u201d<\/em>, human rights and democracy, were charged with \u201cmaking, storing, spreading information, materials, items for the purpose of opposing the State.\u201d<\/em> Ph\u1ea1m Ch\u00ed D\u0169ng was sentenced to 15 years in prison, and his two colleagues to 11 years each, followed by three years house arrest. Ph\u1ea1m Ch\u00ed D\u0169ng was also charged with \u201ccooperating foreign media to deliver distorted information\u201d<\/em> after he sent a video message<\/a> to MEPs urging them to postpone ratification of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) pending human rights progress in Vietnam. The video message was sent to VCHR and shown at a Hearing at the EP on 3 December 2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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