Democratic Voice of Vietnam

Bringing the voice of Vietnam’s civil society to the world

A project of BPSOS

Category: Freedoms

  • Vietnam’s Economy Needs Reoriented Foreign Policy

    David Brown YaleGlobal, 20 February 2013     HANOI: The Vietnamese Communist Party, once credited for opening the country and joining the global economy, is in crisis. Its factional conflict, economic mismanagement and inattention to quality-of-life issues have eroded its claim to be “the force leading the State and society.” With the country’s earlier blazing…

  • Hard Times for Press Freedom in Asia

    The Diplomat, By Zachary Keck February 1, 2013 Nearly half of the twenty countries with the least amount of press freedom in the world are located in the Asia-Pacific, according to Reporters Without Borders’ 2013 World Press Freedom Index. Of the twenty countries making the bottom of the list, nine are located in the Asia-Pacific.…

  • Vietnam jails 22 for subversion

    Reuters in Bangkok, Monday 4 February 2013 04.43 EST A court in Vietnam has sentenced a man to life in prison and given jail terms of up to 17 years to other defendants after they were found guilty of “subversive activities”, according to the state-run Vietnam Television. The verdict follows a series of harsh punishments handed down for…

  • Front Line Defenders: Vietnam — Country in Focus

    In its report released on Jan 23, 2013, Dublin-based Front Line Defenders lists Vietnam as a country in focus in the section on Asia, highlighting increased violations of human rights in that communist country. Country in Focus: Vietnam The space for human rights activism in Vietnam remains very limited, and those engaged in human rights…

  • Vietnam: Crackdown on Critics Escalates

    Human Rights Watch, Feb 1, 2013 Retrograde Policies, Persecuting Activists Holds Back Development (London, February 1, 2013) – The Vietnamese government is systematically suppressing freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, and persecuting those who question government policies, expose official corruption, or call for democratic alternatives to one-party rule, Human Rights Watch said today in…

  • Vietnam Is Poised for a Revolution, One Text Message at a Time

    Andrew Lam New America Media 01/16/2013 1:28 pm Vietnam, a police state where freedom of expression can come with a multi-year prison term, is awash in cell phones. Whether for talking, texting or taking photos, Vietnamese are buying up mobile devices at a rate exceeding the country’s own population. A sign of the communist nation’s…

  • Vietnam’s propaganda agents battle bloggers online

    18 January 2013 – 19H05 AFP – After harassment and prison failed to silence Vietnam’s dissident bloggers, the communist government started building an army of propaganda agents to infiltrate chatrooms and sing the regime’s praises. “Their favourite arguments are: ‘shut up and trust the government’. They don’t engage in rational debate. They go in for…

  • Franz Jessen, EU Ambassador: Vietnam should respect human rights

    Tuesday Jan 15, 2013 Earlier today the EU Ambassador to Vietnam, Franz Jessen, expressed his concerns over the sentencing of 14 bloggers and journalists (activists) in Nghe An province on 9 January to prison terms ranging form 3 to13 years, for acts related to the exercise of freedom ofexpression. Ambassador Jessen recalled the fundamental right for all…

  • Bloggers imprisoned in mass sentencing in Vietnam

    Committee to Protect Journalists, Jan 9, 2013 Vietnamese activists and bloggers stand for sentencing in court. (AFP/Vietnam News Agency) Bangkok, January 9, 2013–At least five independent bloggers were sentenced today to harsh jail terms in Vietnam, according to local and international news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns this move and calls on Vietnamese…

  • Vietnamese blogger reports sexual assault by officials

    By Shawn W. Crispin / CPJ Southeast Asia Representative Vietnam’s crackdown on independent bloggers hit a new low in recent days with reports of sexual violence perpetrated by state officials against a prominent online reporter.   In a disturbing first person account posted Friday to the Danlambao collective blog, Nguyen Hoang Vi detailed how police officials beat and stripped her and ordered…