Vietnam: EU parliamentarians on human rights visit

The European Parliaments Subcommittee on Human Rights is visiting Vietnam to assess human rights.

The European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights is visiting Vietnam from 20-24 February to assess the human rights situation in the country.

Prior to the visit, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) sent information to the delegation on cases of concern in the country, including the harassment and detention of members of the Evangelical Church of Christ, and the destruction of property and torture of religious communities in the northern part of the country.

CSW also sent updates on a crackdown on Catholics in Dong Yen Parish who gathered to file law suits and protest against the Formosa steel plant following a widely-reported environmental disaster in April 2016. Families in Dong Yen Parish have been left with no source of income because the local fishery, their only means of livelihood, has been completely destroyed.

CSW is concerned about the ill treatment in prison of Nguyen Cong Chinh, a pastor and advocate for the right to freedom of religion or belief who is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence.

Pastor Chinh’s wife, Tran Thi Hong, recently visited him in prison and reports that Chinh’s health has deteriorated to a potentially life-threatening degree due to ongoing abuse in prison. Hong says he is suffering from acute sinusitis, joints inflammation, and gastritis, as well as high blood pressure, but he has been denied medical treatment and Hong herself has not been allowed to bring him medicine. He has been in solitary confinement since October 2016.

Hoa Hao Buddhist and activist Tran Thi Thuy, who has been detained since 2010, has also been denied urgently needed medical attention for a tumour on her uterus. She was sentenced to eight years in prison for anti-State activities after she petitioned for the return of land confiscated by local officials. Thuy is reportedly in severe pain and cannot walk without help. Despite her condition, prison authorities have denied her access to medical care.

CSW’s Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said, “Nguyen Cong Chinh and Tran Thi Thuy are two cases among many of Vietnamese citizens detained for peacefully advocating for the rights and freedoms of others. They are both in need of urgent medical treatment for serious conditions caused or exacerbated by prison conditions. To deny them this urgently needed medical care is utterly inhumane, and a violation of their inherent dignity. We urge the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights to press the government to release all those detained in connection with their religion or belief or their defence of human rights, and to ensure that all detainees have access to legal counsel, adequate medical care and family visits.”