Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-07-12-Speech-4-258"
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"en.20070712.30.4-258"2
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"Mr President, the Commission shares the European Parliament’s concern about the violation of human rights in Vietnam. This affects, in particular, the exercise of freedom of expression, of association and of religion. However, we must view this in its full context. Vietnam has made considerable progress in terms of economic and social rights. Over the past decade, it has succeeded in lifting a significant part of its population out of absolute poverty and set the country firmly on a course of economic growth, whilst limiting the emergence of socioeconomic disparities within the population.
This has been accompanied by some improvements in recent years in the situation as regards civil and political rights. For instance, new legislation relating to religious freedom, which has been adopted in the last three years, has softened some, but not all, of the tools used by the state to control religious organisations and thus allows non-organised groups to seek official recognition.
This has already had a positive impact on the ground. Among other things, some Protestant denominations, such as Baptists and Mennonites, which had not been recognised in the past, have been able to register grassroots-level congregations.
That said, the implementation of the new legislation remains uneven, and progress in the Northern Uplands in particular has been markedly slower than in parts of the Central Highlands and in lowland areas. Moreover, some denominations seen as dissident by the regime, such as the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, and some Hoa Hao and Cao Dai groups, remain illegal and face continued harassment.
The climate has also improved for political dissidents in the past two years. A considerable number of high-profile activists were released in 2005 and 2006. Last year also saw the emergence of some new parties and other groupings of activists within the country, which was unprecedented both in terms of the number of groups and of that of their adherents. The official reaction to this development was, initially, relatively low-key. However, this changed in early 2007, and in particular since mid-February. Harassment of dissidents seems to have intensified, and scores of activists were arrested. A number of them have since been tried and sentenced to lengthy jail terms. This includes some well-known persons such as Father Nguyen Van Ly, and lawyers Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan. We do not know whether this is a temporary reflex or something more deep-seated, but it is of grave concern to the Commission.
The EU’s relations with Vietnam have developed dynamically in recent years, and the Commission has taken every opportunity to press for continued improvement in the human rights situation, especially as regards prisoners of concern. The Commission and EU Member States’ representatives in Hanoi have in particular followed the recent arrests and trials of activists with particular attention. EU diplomats were present at some of the trials as observers, and the EU reacted strongly to their sentencing. In its declaration of 15 May, it reiterated its plea to the Government of Vietnam to release all non-violent political activists exercising their rights to freedom of expression and association. The EU missions in Hanoi have also requested that the Vietnamese Government allow them to visit dissidents in prison, in order to ascertain the conditions of their detention.
The recent trials were also raised forcefully by Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner in her bilateral meeting with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Khiem on 28 May 2007, on the margins of the ASEM ministerial meeting in Hamburg. Apart from high-level political contacts, the EU and Vietnam have agreed on mechanisms to conduct a dialogue and exchange of views on human rights issues. A key instrument in this regard is the regular human rights dialogue between the EU missions in Hanoi and the Government of Vietnam. The Sub-Group on Cooperation in the Areas of Institution Building, Administrative Reform, Governance and Human Rights provides another opportunity for the Commission to raise these issues.
On all possible occasions, we have expressed our view that the arrest of non-violent political activists is incompatible with Vietnam’s obligations under the international human rights instruments to which it has acceded. Please rest assured that the Commission will continue to use all instruments at its disposal to press the case in question, as well as, more generally, to encourage and support progress on human rights and religious freedom in Vietnam. We also rely very much on the European Parliament to continue to press for the improvement of human rights in Vietnam."@en1
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