November
14, 2013
Following
the mechanisms for electing four out of five candidates for Asia, the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the People’s Republic of China, the
Republic of Maldives, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have been
elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council for the 2014-2016
term. The previous withdrawal of Jordan from the election paved the
way for these four countries to win their seats in an uncontested
manner.
Under
UN Resolution 60/251, as a member state, Vietnam, including both the
government and its 90 million citizens, are obliged to uphold core
values in promoting and protecting human rights as well as to respect
provisions that Vietnam has voluntarily committed itself to. This
obligation was confirmed by Vietnam's Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Mr. Pham Binh Minh, after Vietnam's election, who stated “[Vietnam
shall] fully implement obligations and commitments as a member state
of the UNHCR and the United Nations.”
In
light of Vietnam's successful election to UNHCR, the Network of
Vietnamese Bloggers (NVB) holds the opinions that:
To
be a credible member of the UNHRC, Vietnam must implement its
obligations and commitments through specific actions rather than mere
statements by government officials.
In
particular, Vietnam should:
1.
Agree to the seven UN requests, not yet met by the Vietnamese
government, to allow UN delegations to visit Vietnam to investigate
alleged human rights abuses;
2.
End torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and punishment of
any and all Vietnamese citizens as provided for by the UN Convention
against Torture, to which Vietnam has been a state party since
November 7, 2013;
3.
Release those who are being imprisoned solely for peacefully
exercising their freedom of expression and other rights based on core
and universal values in UN treaties.
4.
Repeal vaguely-worded laws and decrees which are arbitrarily
interpreted, such as Article 258 of the Penal Code, on “abusing
democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, the
legitimate rights of organizations and/ or citizens...”;
5.
End the state monopoly on media and publishing; ensure that all
individuals and organizations are entitled to establish media
agencies and publishing houses; remove firewalls that bar users from
accessing social media networks; and nullify Decree 72 72/2013/NĐ-CP
which tightly restricts freedom of expression and of information
online.
As
free citizens and with the understanding that Vietnam's membership of
UNHRC means all the 90 millions Vietnamese people are members of the
Council, the NVB will participate in and contribute to upholding core
values in promoting and protecting human rights and respecting
provisions that Vietnam has voluntarily committed itself to.
In
particular, the NVB will call on every Vietnamese citizen to:
1.
Publicly disseminate human rights documents of which Vietnam is a
signatory, specifically the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UN
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, UN Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights, UN Convention against Torture, and
related documents.
2.
Openly facilitate human rights discussions and/ or advocacy events
for human rights, employing diverse means, such as social gatherings,
picnics, and salons, and walking or biking for human rights.
3.
Assign network delegates to UNHRC offices in particular and UN
offices in general to report on human rights in Vietnam and to
submit petitions and requests for change, so that the Vietnamese
people can truly enjoy universal human rights and establish Vietnam’s credible member of UNHRC.
4.
Work with individuals and organizations to build an online database
in order to record human rights violations in Vietnam, which
concerned individuals and organizations, including government
agencies, can easily access in order to promote and protect human
rights as well as to fulfill the obligation and commitments of a
member of UNHRC.
5.
Conduct the official inauguration ceremony of the NVB on December 10,
2013 to mark the International Human Rights Day established by the
United Nations.
The
Network of Vietnamese Bloggers
Vietnamese/ Bản tiếng Việt: http://www.phamdoantrang.com/2013/11/thong-bao-cua-mang-luoi-blogger-vn-ve.html
Vietnamese/ Bản tiếng Việt: http://www.phamdoantrang.com/2013/11/thong-bao-cua-mang-luoi-blogger-vn-ve.html
