UNHRC statement on HRDS in Vietnam and Cuba

Human Rights Council36th Session

Agenda 4 General Debate

Topic: Attacks against Human Rights Defenders in Cuba and Vietnam

Speaker:Sini Maria Heikkila

September 2017

Thank you Mr President.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide would like to draw the Council’s attention to human rights violations targeting defenders of freedom of religion or belief and other human rights in Vietnam and Cuba.

CSW remains deeply concerned about the arrest and detention of religious leaders and human rights defenders in Vietnam. We call on the Vietnamese government to release Nguyễn Văn Đài and Le Thu Ha, Vietnamese human rights activists arbitrarily arrested on 16 December 2015 and subsequently charged with ‘spreading propaganda against the state’ under Article 88 of the Vietnamese penal code. Since then, the two of them have been held in prison without trial, with limited contact with the outside world. We call on the government to remove the unfounded charges against Nguyen Van Dai, Le Thu Ha release them and all other prisoners of conscience.

The government should also launch an independent, impartial investigation to the brutal death of Nguyen Huu Tan, a Vietnamese Hoa Hao Buddhist who died within ten hours of being taken into custody at a police detention facility on 3 May. The authorities claim that Mr Tan committed suicide by cutting his own throat. However, his injuries suggest that he may have been tortured in police custody.

In Cuba, attacks and harassment on defenders of freedom of religion or belief have increased both in number and severity. For example, Felix Yuniel Llerena Lopez, who is affiliated with the Patmos Institute, and Karina Galvez of Convivencia, have had trumped-up criminal charges brought against them. Felix was expelled from university in May after returning from an advocacy visit to Washington.

Throughout 2017, state security and political police have also continued to arrest members of the Ladies in White movement in order to prevent them from attending Sunday Mass. These arrests are often violent, and women are regularly threatened and fined. So far this year, CSW has received reports of the arrests of over 1100 Ladies in White and 320 human rights activists. CSW calls on the Cuban Government to stop harassment and arbitrary arrest of members of White movement and other HRDs immediately, to drop charges against Karina and Felix and to allow Fếlix to resume his studies, and to begin addressing its ongoing violations of freedom of religion or belief and freedom of expression as a matter of urgency.

Finally, we urge the members of this Council to raise the concerning situation of human rights defenders in Cuba and Vietnam through all available means including international human rights mechanisms such as sessions of this Council and the upcoming UPR reviews.

Thank you Mr President.