Democratic Voice of Vietnam

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

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Category: News

  • Morther of political prisoner reportedly self-immodated

    According to Vietnam Redemptorist News (VRN), a woman in Bac Lieu Province self-immolated to protest the government’s imprisonment of her daughter, a well-known blogger. Mrs. Dang Thi Kim Lieng reportedly burnt herself in front of the provincial People’s Committee and was taken to the hospital. Her daughter, Ms. Ta Phong Tan (45), was arrested last September and…

  • South China Sea: From Bad to Worse?

    By Joshua Kurlantzick, Fellow for Southeast AsiaJuly 24, 2012 Tensions in the South China Sea have risen to their highest level in at least two years in the wake of the disastrous breakup of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers meeting in Phnom Penh. Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan, an eternal optimist, admitted that the…

  • Human rights organizations deplore UN’s caving in to Vietnam regarding consultative status of NGO

    Viet Nam: UN caves in to Vietnamese pressure, rejects the consultative status of the NGO KKF   JOINT PRESS RELEASE – THE OBSERVATORY Viet Nam: UN caves in to Vietnamese pressure, rejects human rights group’s consultative status Bangkok-Paris-Geneva, July 24, 2012. The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (an FIDH and OMCT joint…

  • Wildlife Crime: Vietnam Ranked Worst Country In New WWF Report On Animal Protection

    By MIKE IVES Posted: 07/22/2012 10:07 pm Updated: 07/23/2012 10:06 am HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — A conservation group ranked Vietnam the worst country for wildlife crime Monday in its first-ever report on how well 23 Asian and African countries protect rhinos, tigers and elephants. WWF said Vietnam’s tiger farms and its citizens’ voracious appetite for rhino…

  • Arrests, surveillance and intimidation used to prevent destabilization

    Reporters Without Borders condemns a new crackdown on Vietnam’s bloggers and human rights activists. “The authorities are stopping at nothing to silence dissidents, following them, assaulting them, subjecting them to heavy-handed interrogation and holding them illegally,” Reporters Without Borders said. “They are acting like thugs with peaceful bloggers because they fear that a wave of…

  • Asean Issues Statement Against ‘Use of Force’ in South China Sea Disputes

    The Jakarta Globe, July 21, 2012 Member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have issued a joint communique on disputes in the South China Sea, an Indonesian official said on Friday, after Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa shuttled between five Asean countries to build a consensus. A joint statement from Asean’s foreign ministers said…

  • ASEAN seeks common ground

    Vietnam News, July 20, 2012 PHNOM PENH — Cambodia and Indonesia have agreed in principle on a number of issues over the East Sea, said diplomats from the two countries. Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong and his visiting Indonesian counterpart, Marty Natale-gawa told a press briefing held yesterday in Phnom Penh after their meeting, that…

  • Asean Near Consensus on Sea Row: Indonesia

    The Jakarta Globe, July 19, 2012 Southeast Asian nations are “on the cusp” of agreeing a statement of unity on the South China Sea dispute, Indonesia’s top diplomat said Thursday after meeting his Cambodian counterpart. Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa has taken on the role of mediator after the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)…

  • Indonesia scrambles to end ASEAN rift over sea

     July 18, 2012 11:35 AM MANILA, Philippines — Indonesia’s top diplomat started an emergency trip to Southeast Asian nations Wednesday to ease differences among them over the handling of territorial disputes in the South China Sea.Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said he met his Philippine counterpart, Albert del Rosario, in Manila on Wednesday and would…

  • Vietnam court rejects police beating death appeal

     2012-07-17 17:58 HANOI, July 17, 2012 (AFP) – A Vietnamese court Tuesday upheld a four-year jail term for a policeman over the fatal beating of a man in custody, rejecting a plea for a tougher sentence in a case that alarmed rights activists. Trinh Xuan Tung, 53, died last year after being detained for a…