Democratic Voice of Vietnam

VIETNAMESE WOMEN FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
A human rights CSO in Vietnam
Presented to the CEDAW Committee on 6 July 2015

Madame Chair, Vietnamese Women for Human Rights (VNWHR) is a independent civil society organization committed to protecting Vietnamese women, especially those whose rights are violated by the government and its police forces.

We wish to bring to the Committee’s attention three key issues:

1. The illegal status of independent civil society and criminalization of free association
Vietnam’s laws and decrees on associations are used as a means of firm control and regulation, often blocking the establishment of independent groups, especially those with a human rights focus like VNWHR.  Fundamental rights to civic engagement are actively denied, and through this denial, Vietnamese women and independent voices are excluded from contributing to solving civil problems.

2. Patterns of violent attacks and harassment of female activists
Female dissidents, bloggers, journalists and human rights activists are tracked, harassed, assaulted, arrested and imprisoned by the Government and police.  Women are targeted for commenting on social injustices,  expressing pro-democracy views, conducting trial observations, peaceful assembly, visiting victims of persecution and their families, and establishing or joining independent civil society organizations (CSOs) and independent religious groups. Attacks are not isolated incidents, but are pervasive and systematic, and aim at discouraging civic engagement through intimidation.

Recent victims of state-sponsored violence include Tran Thi Hai, a member of VNWHR, and former prisoner of conscience, Pham Thanh Nghien.

3. The imprisonment of female rights defenders and mistreatment of female prisoners of conscience
Repressive articles in Vietnam’s Penal Code punish individuals for exercising fundamental rights.  Presently, there are at least 19 female prisoners of conscience.

These women face harsh prison conditions that include poor sanitation, forced labor, inadequate food, traumatization, denial of access to medical care, and solitary confinement.

We wish to recommend that:

1. The Government should immediately remove all restrictions against human rights organizations and allow independent civil society to exist, continually develop, and retain independent status.

2. The Government should end impunity and take immediate measures to end police violence and torture against women human rights defenders and should release all prisoners of conscience.

Thank you.