wr2014_web_0

ASIAFreedom of Assembly, Association, and MovementVietnam bans all political parties, labor unions, and human rights organizationsindependent of the government or CPV. The authorities require official approvalfor public gatherings and refuse to grant permission for meetings, marches, orprotests they deem politically or otherwise unacceptable. If such events goahead, organizers and participants are sometimes punished. In 2013, suchmeasures were applied to individuals who questioned government domesticand foreign policies and to individuals who demonstrated against alleged landgrabs.In May 2013, authorities in three Vietnamese cities intervened with violence,temporary arrests, and concerted harassment to prevent and break up peaceful“human rights picnics” at which activists planned to disseminate and discussthe Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other human rights standards.The government also repeatedly prevented critics from making trips outsideVietnam, citing “national security reasons.” Prominent intellectuals Huynh NgocChenh and Nguyen Hoang Duc were prohibited from going abroad in May andJuly 2013.Freedom of ReligionIn January 2013, the prime minister put Decree 92 into effect, further extendingcontrols on religious groups. In its enforcement actions, the government monitors,harasses, and sometimes violently cracks down on religious groups thatoperate outside of official, government-registered and government-controlledreligious institutions. Targets in 2013 included unrecognized branches of theCao Dai church, the Hoa Hao Buddhist church, independent Protestant andCatholic house churches in the central highlands and elsewhere, Khmer KromBuddhist temples, and the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam.The January 2013 conviction and imprisonment of 14 mostly Catholic activistsby the People’s Court of Nghe An province initiated the year’s upsurge of governmentattacks on critics. The vehicle this time was article 79 of the penalcode, prohibiting activities aimed at “overthrowing the government,” eventhough the 14 activists were exercising fundamental human rights, such as participatingin volunteer church activities and peaceful political protests.401