November 28, 2014

Foreign Diplomats Meet Vietnam Prodemocracy Activists

by • Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh (Me Nam)

Pin
by KTT, Nov 26, 2014
Defend the Defenders
A number of foreign diplomats in Vietnam have met Vietnamese pro-democracy activists to evaluate the human rights situation in the communist country.
Germany’s Vice Chancellor

Germany’s Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel

On Nov 21, Germany’s Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, who is also chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, met a group of five activists on the sidelines of the 14th Asia-Pacific Conference of German Businesses (APK) in Ho Chi Minh City.

On the same day, the group worked with representatives of the U.S. Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City.
One day earlier, the group met newly-appointed Dutch Ambassador to Vietnam Nienke Trooster and Kees van Baar, Dutch human rights ambassador to Vietnam.
Joining all three meetings with the diplomats, Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh (or blogger Me Nam) told the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) that the meetings were aimed to have more information of crackdown in Vietnam to pressure Hanoi-based government to implement international treaties after it became a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Nov 2013
Domestic pro-democracy activists have made efforts, including international support, to call for better enforcement of fundamental rights in Vietnam but “only domestic strength can help change the situation,” Mrs. Quynh said.
The communist country has been criticized by foreign rights groups for its intensified clampdown on human rights activists since it acquired the UNHRC membership.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that Vietnam jailed at least 63 political activists in 2013, representing a rise of about 50% from a year earlier.

Dissidents, including anti-China activists, pro-democracy and land rights activists, have been imprisoned under controversial articles in the Penal Code for “subversion charges.”

Pin