Democratic Voice of Vietnam

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

A project of BPSOS

Category: News

  • Farming land cleared in Vietnam for Eco Park

    Posted 12 January 2009, 12:01 AEST The clearing of land has begun for a new township and golf course south east of Vietnam’s capital Hanoi despite protests from hundreds of farmers.  Presenter: Christine Webster Speaker: Carl Thayer, specialist in Vietnamese politics and Professor of Politics from the University of New South Wales at the Australian…

  • Vietnam facing “time bomb” of dissent

    “The US government and rights groups are expressing concern over Vietnam’s crackdown on freedom of expression, as the regime faces growing dissent and labor militancy,” the Democracy Digest of April 18, 2012, reports. Among the more notorious human rights violations in recent days figure the following: A Catholic priest, Nguyen Van Binh of Yen Kien…

  • Hanoi contemplates further restrictions on Internet freedom

    In a new decree expected to replace the existing one, known as Ministerial Decree No. 97/2008/ND-CP, by June this year, the Ministry of Information and Communications proposes to: (1) forbid the use of a nickname in securing Internet services (for instance, one must use one’s real name on Facebook and on one’s blog); (2) protect…

  • US Department of State releases Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2011

    On May 24, the US Department of State releases its annual report on human rights practices in close to 200 countries. The report’s section on Vietnam paints a grim picture of that country’s human rights conditions: “The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is an authoritarian state ruled by a single party, the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV)…

  • Vietnam: The most repressive country in Southeast Asia

    In a recent article in Foreign Policy, Dustin Roasa, a long-time observer based in Cambodia, describes Vietnam as “the most repressive country in Southeast Asia” now that Burma has released hundreds of political prisoners and restored a modicum of freedoms (press, opinion, political campaigning, and honest voting) thus opening the way for a return to…

  • Viet Khang, Songwriter with a Conscience

    Viet Khang, Songwriter with a Conscience

    Jailed for expressing his patriotic feelings  Viet Khang, a songwriter currently detained by the public security police without charges, has quickly become the symbol and voice of conscience of the post-war generation of Vietnamese.  His arrest has prompted a movement among Vietnamese artists and intellectuals in Vietnam and overseas calling for his immediate and unconditional…

  • STATUS OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN VIETNAM: The Catholic Church

    STATUS OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN VIETNAM: The Catholic Church

    Reverend Peter Nguyễn Văn Khải, Redemptorist Order Rome, Italy October 16, 2011  The Vietnamese government claims that our people enjoys religious freedom.  When discussing religious freedom, officials frequently display pictures of recently built churches and scenes showing large numbers of believers attending Masses to convince others that there is religious freedom in Vietnam. Nothing is…

  • Vietnam’s Imprisoned Constituational Scholar In Short List for Human Rights Award

    JURY OF IRISH PARLIAMENTARIANS SHORTLISTS VIETNAMESE HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER DR CU HUY HA VU FOR 2012 FRONT LINE DEFENDERS AWARD FOR HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS AT RISK Every year the Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk is awarded to one individual, or group of individuals, who has made an outstanding contribution to…