{"id":46004,"date":"2021-07-08T13:49:43","date_gmt":"2021-07-08T13:49:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/queme.org\/?p=46004"},"modified":"2022-01-12T17:16:46","modified_gmt":"2022-01-12T17:16:46","slug":"vietnam-blocks-civil-society-participation-in-scrutiny-of-evfta-and-arrests-cso-leaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/vietnam-blocks-civil-society-participation-in-scrutiny-of-evfta-and-arrests-cso-leaders\/","title":{"rendered":"Vietnam arrests CSO leaders and blocks civil society participation in scrutiny of EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PARIS, 8\nJuly 2021 (VCHR) \u2013 With the first anniversary of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade\nAgreement (EVFTA) only weeks away (1st<\/sup> August 2021), Vietnam has\nbacktracked on its promises to the European Union by arresting key civil\nsociety activists and blocking the establishment of a mandatory \u201cDomestic\nAdvisory Group\u201d of civil society actors provided for in EVFTA to monitor\nimplementation of the trade agreement.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 2nd<\/sup> July 2021, Security Police in Hanoi announced the arrest of two prominent civil society activists, journalist Mai Phan L\u1ee3i<\/strong>, chair of the Scientific Board of the Centre for Media in Educating Community (MEC<\/a>) and lawyer \u0110\u1eb7ng \u0110\u00ecnh B\u00e1ch<\/strong>, director of the Law and Policy for Sustainable Development (LPSD).<\/a> Both men are under investigation for \u201ctax evasion\u201d (article 200 of the 2015 Criminal Code) which carries a maximum penalty of seven years in prison. Although details of the alleged offences are not yet known, tax-related charges are frequently used to arbitrarily detain bloggers, civil society activists and other government critics (e.g. Nguy\u1ec5n V\u0103n H\u1ea3i, L\u00ea Qu\u1ed1c Qu\u00e2n<\/a>, Tr\u01b0\u01a1ng Duy Nh\u1ea5t). This is the first time, however, that the authorities have targeted leaders of registered civil society organizations which run public activities and manage large-scale community projects, many of which receive support from the international community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mai Phan L\u1ee3i,<\/strong> 50, is a specialist in the press and social media. Before founding MEC, he ran the \u201cYoung Journalists\u2019 Forum\u201d,<\/em> an unofficial group with 33,000 members, mostly journalists and students of journalism, and a public forum entitled \u201cFrom the Press and Citizens\u2019 Perspective\u201d<\/em> which has 120,000 members. He was Hanoi Bureau chief of the Ho Chi Minh City Law Magazine (Ph\u00e1p Lu\u1eadt). <\/em>In 2016, his press card was revoked and he was accused of \u201cgravely dishonouring the Vietnam People\u2019s Army\u201d <\/em>after he conducted a poll on Facebook about incidents involving Vietnamese naval aircraft. He was amongst the civil society activists invited to meet President Obama during his trip to Vietnam in 2016. Mai Phan L\u1ee3i, who also writes on social media under the name \u201cInk Brush\u201d (B\u00fat L\u00f4ng), <\/em>was in fact arrested on 24 June 2021 and detained for a week without charge before Police officially announced the investigation against him on 2 July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mai
Mai Phan L\u1ee3i at a MEC workshop on the right of access to information<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Lawyer \u0110\u1eb7ng \u0110\u00ecnh B\u00e1ch, <\/strong>43, is a defender of environmental rights. He is not recognized as a member of the dissident community, focusing rather on training and educational activities to help communities understand and protect their rights. His website\u2019s mission statement states that \u201cLPSD aims to become a major data bank and research centre on violations of the rights and interests of people due to the adverse impacts of industrial development and modernisation. When people understand their rights and legitimate interests and know how to exercise those rights, the law and policy is no longer just on paper but actually into the life of the people\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Lawyer
Lawyer \u0110\u1eb7ng \u0110\u00ecnh B\u00e1ch<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Mai Phan L\u1ee3i and \u0110\u1eb7ng \u0110\u00ecnh B\u00e1ch are both Executive Board members of VNGO-EVFTA Network, a group of seven development and environmental CSOs established last November to raise awareness about EVFTA and its civil society component in Vietnam, the Vietnam Domestic Advisory Group (DAG). All seven of the organizations (including MEC and LPSD) submitted applications for membership of the Vietnam DAG<\/a> (1), but have received no reply. Now two of their members are under arrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nDomestic Advisory Groups (DAGs) were established under the Trade and\nSustainable Development Chapter of EVFTA to enable independent civil society\nrepresentatives to monitor implementation of the agreement and make concrete\nrecommendations, notably on issues of worker rights, land rights and the\nenvironment. The EU DAG was established in December 2020 and has met twice\nsince then. Vietnam, on the contrary, has systematically delayed the\nestablishment of its own DAG, effectively blocking the whole process of civil\nsociety involvement in the implementation of EVFTA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June 2021, the EU was obliged to cancel the very first Joint Forum between European and Vietnamese civil society at the last minute because of Vietnam\u2019s failure to establish its DAG, in violation of its binding commitments under EVFTA. In a statement,<\/a> the EU DAG expressed its \u201cdeep regret and concern\u201d<\/em> about the cancellation of this event, stressing that \u201ccivil society engagement and scrutiny of EVFTA is not an optional element of the agreement, but should be ensured and applied as a matter of urgency.\u201d <\/em>It called on Vietnam to \u201cswiftly establish a counterpart to the EU DAG\u201d<\/em>, recalling that \u201cEVFTA explicitly stipulated that DAGs be composed of \u201cindependent representative organizations\u201d<\/em> (Article 13.15.4)<\/em>\u201d.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVietnam\npromised EU the moon to obtain the conclusion of EVTFA, but it is now time to deliver\u201d<\/em><\/strong> declared V\u00f5 V\u0103n \u00c1i, President of\nthe Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR). \u201cThe problem is that\nVietnam does not trust civil society. In the past, the Communist Party relied\non \u201cmass organizations\u201d and GONGOs to faithfully relay its message. Today, even\ngovernment-registered CSOs are calling for greater transparency, independence\nand the right of access to information. Hanoi is reacting in the only way it\nknows – by arresting activists and back-tracking on its commitments to\nguarantee civil society\u2019s participation in the implementation of EVFTA.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nquestion of the independence of DAGs is one of the weaknesses of EVFTA, for\nthere are no truly independent non-governmental organizations in Vietnam. All\nassociations are institutionally linked the Communist Party of Vietnam. Most\nare registered under the umbrella of VUSTA, the Vietnam Union of Science and\nTechnology Associations which is a member of the para-governmental Vietnam\nFatherland Front. Moreover, given the government\u2019s zero-tolerance on dissent\nand the vaguely-worded \u201cnational security\u201d provisions in the Vietnamese\nCriminal Code, no domestic civil society group can play an effective monitoring\nrole or express critical views without fear of reprisals, harassment or arrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. \u00c1i recalled that Vietnam has pursued an unabated crackdown on civil society and human rights defenders during the negotiations on EVFTA and since its entry into force. Independent journalist Ph\u1ea1m Ch\u00ed D\u0169ng<\/strong> and his colleagues Nguy\u1ec5n T\u01b0\u1eddng Th\u1ee5y<\/strong> and L\u00ea H\u1eefu Minh Tu\u1ea5n<\/strong> were sentenced to prison terms of up to 15 years in January 2021<\/a> simply for urging the European Parliament to postpone EVFTA\u2019s ratification pending concrete human rights progress in Vietnam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VCHR President V\u00f5 V\u0103n \u00c1i nevertheless expressed his hopes that civil society could play a positive role in the implementation of EVFTA thanks to the engagement of the EU Domestic Advisory Group: \u201cThe International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH)<\/a> is a member of the EU DAG. VCHR is the FIDH\u2019s member organization for Vietnam. We will work closely with the FIDH, in concertation with independent Vietnamese civil society, to ensure that their concerns are raised and their recommendations are voiced at every opportunity in discussions with the EU DAG and other institutions involved with implementation of the EVFTA\u201d.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n



———————————–

(1) NB\u00a0: Since we posted this Press Release at 4.30 pm Paris time on 8.7.2021 with a link to the VNGO-EVFTA inaugural meeting on the SRD website (<\/strong>http:\/\/www.srd.org.vn\/index.php\/thu-vi-n-nh-menu\/1324-h-p-bdh-1<\/a>) , some interesting changes have been made. Instead of seven founding organizations and a group photo, there is now no group photo and only five organizations \u2013 Mai Phan L\u1ee3i (MEC) and \u0110\u1eb7ng<\/strong> \u0110\u00ecnh B\u00e1ch (LPSD) have been mysteriously removed from the list (see screen capture of the original press release below).<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This is the censored version :<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PARIS, 8 July 2021 (VCHR) \u2013 With the first anniversary of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) only weeks away (1st August 2021), Vietnam has backtracked on its promises to the European Union by arresting key civil society activists and blocking the establishment of a mandatory \u201cDomestic Advisory Group\u201d of civil society actors provided for …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":434,"featured_media":46022,"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":[289,756,773,1439,1441,634,343,1352,1440,1351,960],"class_list":["post-46004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-latest-posts","category-news","category-press-release","category-vchr","tag-arbitrary-detention","tag-civil-society","tag-cso","tag-dag","tag-dang-dinh-bach","tag-evfta","tag-freedom-of-expression","tag-le-huu-minh-tuan","tag-mai-phan-loi","tag-nguyen-tuong-thuy","tag-pham-chi-dung"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46004","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=46004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46004\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}