{"id":52168,"date":"2025-02-04T08:30:44","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T08:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/queme.org\/?p=52168"},"modified":"2025-02-03T20:03:08","modified_gmt":"2025-02-03T20:03:08","slug":"vietnam-systematic-attack-on-civil-society-breaches-evfta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/vietnam-systematic-attack-on-civil-society-breaches-evfta\/","title":{"rendered":"Vietnam\u2019s systematic attack on civil society breaches the free trade agreement with the EU, new complaint argues"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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JOINT PRESS RELEASE <\/em>
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR)
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW)
Global Witness <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nInternational Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), its member organisation\nVietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR), Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW),\nand Global Witness lodged a complaint with the European Commission\u2019s trade\ndepartment, stating that Hanoi\u2019s ongoing crackdown on human rights defenders\nworking on sustainable development violates the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement\n(EVFTA).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BRUSSELS-PARIS, \u00a04 February 2025<\/strong> – \u00a0In a complaint filed to the European Commission\u2019s Single Entry Point<\/a>, FIDH, VCHR, CSW and Global Witness outlined how the Vietnamese government\u2019s systematic suppression of individuals and organisations working on sustainable development violates EVFTA, which came into force in August 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe\ngovernment of Vietnam is imprisoning individuals who express legitimate\nconcerns on environmental protection, labour and land rights violations, and\nthe socio-economic impacts of infrastructure and investment projects. This\ncrackdown is unacceptable and also undermines effective monitoring of the\nEVFTA\u2019s sustainable development clauses,\u201d<\/em> said Ga\u00eblle\nDusepulchre, Deputy Director of FIDH\u2019s Business, Human Rights & Environment\nDesk<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur\norganisations call for the immediate release of all those arbitrarily detained\nfor their legitimate advocacy, and the creation of an enabling environment for\ncivil society. Vietnam pledged to uphold these rights when it ratified the\nEVFTA, yet it has still not delivered on its promises. It is high time the EU\nheld Vietnam accountable for these gross violations of the trade agreement.\nVietnamese defenders must feel safe and free to demand accountability and stand\nup for the rights of their communities,\u201d<\/em> said Penelope\nFaulkner, VCHR\u2019s President.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A feature\nof modern EU trade agreements, trade and sustainable development chapters\nrequire partners to ratify and implement fundamental international labour\nrights and environmental conventions, and to commit to upholding civil society\nparticipation, freedom of association, and access to information. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If EU\nmember states or civil society representatives consider these commitments are\nbeing breached, they may lodge a complaint so that the European Commission can\nexamine the allegations and consider appropriate action. Applicable measures\ncould result in the suppression of certain economic benefits enjoyed by Vietnam\nunder the EVFTA or the suspension of the Agreement as a whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe EU\nneeds to be firmer in insisting that states uphold the commitments and\nobligations they have made in their trade arrangements with the EU \u2013 in the\ncase of Vietnam, this includes those listed in the EVFTA\u2019s Trade and\nSustainable Development chapter. Pursuing adherence to these terms is in line\nwith both the interests and the values of the EU, including human rights \u2013 at a\ntime when these are gravely under threat,\u201d<\/em> said Jonathan\nde Leyser, CSW\u2019s Senior EU Advocate. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A\nfull-on attack on labour, land, and environmental rights<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the\npast several years, the Vietnamese government has intensified violations of\nrights, clamping down on critical voices with the declared aim to silence all\nforms of peaceful dissent. As the complaint demonstrates, such repression is\ninconsistent with Vietnam\u2019s commitments under international human rights law as\nwell as the EVFTA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 2021,\nthe government has broadened the range of offences used against human rights\ndefenders. Alongside the use of vaguely worded \u201cnational security\u201d provisions\nin the Penal Code, politically-motivated charges of \u201ctax evasion\u201d or disclosure\nof \u201cclassified information\u201d have been used to detain prominent climate change\nleaders and labour reformers. The authorities have also adopted extensive\nlegislation restricting the establishment and operations of civil society\norganisations, such as Decree 126 in 2024, and impeded the establishment of\nindependent trade unions and a robust legal framework to protect workers\u2019\nrights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\norganisations filing the complaint estimate that scores of defenders of\nenvironmental, land, and labour rights are currently arbitrarily detained in\nVietnam. The complaint documents around 40 emblematic cases of men and women\nserving prison sentences ranging from three-and-a-half to 20 years for their\nactions in favour of sustainable development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several of these defenders face repercussions for their direct work on the EVFTA. In 2019, Vietnam arrested journalist Pham Chi Dung <\/a>just two days after he sent a video message to the European Parliament calling for the postponement of the Agreement pending concrete progress on human rights. Before being sentenced to five years in prison in 2022, environmental lawyer Dang Dinh Bach<\/a> was actively advocating for civil society participation in Vietnam\u2019s Domestic Advisory Group, a body tasked with discussing and advising on the EVFTA\u2019s implementation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\nstrongly condemn the arrest and imprisonment of land and environmental\ndefenders in Vietnam, which appears to be part of a concerning pattern of\ncriminalisation designed to punish them for their environmental and human\nrights work. We call on the Vietnamese authorities to end all harassment and\nintimidation of these defenders and to release those still imprisoned\nimmediately and unconditionally. The EU must ensure that it upholds the highest\nenvironmental and human rights standards in its dealings with global trading\npartners and take immediate action if they fail to do so,\u201d<\/em> said Beate Beller, Campaigner at Global Witness.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note to editors:<\/strong>
Ga\u00eblle Dusepulchre, Deputy Director of FIDH\u2019s Business, Human Rights & Environment Desk, is available for interviews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Press contacts<\/strong>
FIDH<\/strong>: Lucia Posteraro | lposteraro@fidh.org<\/a> | +33 7 81 21 26 05
VCHR<\/strong>: Penelope Faulkner | penelope.faulkner@gmail.com<\/a> | +33 6 11 89 86 81
CSW: <\/strong>Jonathan de Leyser | jonathan@csw.org.uk<\/a> | +32 4 56 16 95 61
Global Witness: <\/strong>Paul Hallows | phallows@globalwitness.org<\/a> | +32 487 80 31 61<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JOINT PRESS RELEASE International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR) Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) Global Witness The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), its member organisation Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR), Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), and Global Witness lodged a complaint with the European Commission\u2019s trade department, stating that …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":434,"featured_media":52194,"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":[385,1441,634,1783,296,960],"class_list":["post-52168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-latest-posts","category-news","category-press-release","category-vchr","tag-csw","tag-dang-dinh-bach","tag-evfta","tag-global-witness","tag-hrd","tag-pham-chi-dung"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52168","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=52168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52168\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}