Activists Harassed and Assaulted for Discussing Rights
(New York, May 11, 2013) – The Vietnamese authorities should stop impeding and abusing people trying to hold “human rights picnics” in public spaces, Human Rights Watch said today. Despite government abuse and bullying, some people did succeed in holding informal gatherings and discussed the day’s events online.
On Sunday, May 5, 2013, a group of Vietnamese rights activists made a public call for people to meet and discuss human rights issues at public parks in Hanoi, Nha Trang, and Ho Chi Minh City. The authorities employed various devices to prevent people from attending and dispersed those who arrived at the parks in Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City. Vietnamese rights activists are calling for public distribution and discussion of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on Sunday, May 12.
“Why is the Vietnamese government afraid of allowing its citizens to gather in parks to discuss human rights?” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Vietnam has ratified international human rights treaties and there is a vibrant discussion about how to incorporate rights into a new constitution, yet people who want to discuss this subject face harassment, intimidation, house arrest, and physical assaults.”
In advance of the May 5 picnics, police put a number of bloggers under house arrest so they could not attend the events. In Hanoi, blogger Phuong Bich (also known as Dang Bich Phuong) reported that under police instruction, 14 people blocked her hallway so she could not leave her house.
Blogger Tran Thi Thuy Nga and her two sons, aged 3 years and 5 months, came from Ha Nam to Hanoi on Saturday evening so they could attend the human rights picnic at Nghia Do Park on Sunday morning. Police pressured a motel owner to kick Nga and her sons out during the rain at midnight. Nga and her sons had no choice but to sleep on the sidewalk until her friends came to help them.
Read more: http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/05/10/vietnam-stop-blocking-human-rights-picnics
