JOINT
PRESS RELEASE - THE OBSERVATORY
Viet
Nam:
UN caves in to Vietnamese pressure, rejects human rights group’s consultative
status
Bangkok-Paris-Geneva,
July
24, 2012.
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (an FIDH and OMCT
joint programme) and the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR) condemn the
resolution passed by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
overturning a previous decision to grant consultative status to the
non-governmental human rights organisation Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation
(KKF).
In
May 2012, ECOSOC’s Committee on Non-governmental Organisations, in a consensus
decision, approved KKF’s application for special consultative status with the
Council. Vietnam
protested strongly against the decision. On July 23, member States of ECOSOC, in
a vote of 27 in favour to 14 against, with 10 abstentions, adopted a resolution
to rescind that decision. The resolution was tabled by
Vietnam
along with El
Salvador
and fellow ASEAN
member States
Burma,
Indonesia,
Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia,
the Philippines,
Singapore
and Thailand.
In
a joint letter[1]
issued on July
18, 2012,
the Observatory, along with 12 international and regional human rights groups
across the globe, urged ECOSOC member states to oppose the draft resolution and
to “support the ability of civil society organisations to freely participate in
the work of the United Nations”. Special consultative status is granted to
non-governmental organisations that “have a special competence in, and are
concerned specifically with, only a few of the fields of activity covered by the
Council and its subsidiary bodies, and that are known within the fields for
which they have or seek consultative status”.
Before
the vote, representatives of Cuba,
Indonesia,
Philippines,
Lao PDR, Nicaragua,
Russia,
and Venezuela
took to the floor in support of the resolution. On the other hand,, the
United
States
and Ireland,
speaking on behalf of the European Union, expressed their opposition to the resolution. “It was
not appropriate to oppose accreditation for an organization simply because it
expressed views different from those of Governments represented on the Council”,
said the representative of Ireland.
“It
is shameful that many UN member states caved in to
Vietnam’s
pressure and became an accomplice in stifling the rightful voices of human
rights defenders. It sends a chilling signal to the people in
Vietnam
that the international community is not on their side in their quest for greater
freedom”,
said Vo Van Ai, president of VCHR.
KKF
is headquartered in the United
States
and conducts human rights advocacy globally. KKF aims, “through the use of
peaceful measures and international laws, to seek freedom, justice, and the
right to self-determination for the Indigenous Khmer-Krom Peoples”. It has an
established track record in engaging with UN human rights mechanisms and
providing valuable and quality information on abuses against the Khmer Krom
minority group in Vietnam.
Vietnam’s ambassador to the UN, Le Hoai Trung, labeled KKF’s activities as
“politically motivated” and characterised KKF’s aim to seek freedom and justice
for the Khmer people as a “grave offence” to the “sacred, national value” of
national unity.
In
the 2010 joint report Vietnam: From “Vision” to Facts: Human Rights in
Vietnam under its Chairmanship of ASEAN, the International Federation for
Human Rights (FIDH) and the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR) documented
human rights violations against the Khmer Krom, including religious persecution,
land confiscation, and excessive use of force. In the last five years, the
Observatory and VCHR documented instances of arbitrary arrests and forced
defrocking of Khmer Krom Buddhist monks in retaliation of their peaceful
protests against religious persecution[2].
In
another example of its diplomatic offensive against criticisms abroad, in
September 2010, Vietnam
lobbied the government of Thailand
to obstruct a press conference in Bangkok
where FIDH and VCHR were to launch their joint report on
Vietnam.[3]
Vietnam’s
hostilities against independent human rights defenders and groups at home and
abroad are nothing new and reflect its consistently dismal human rights records,
said FIDH and VCHR.
Vietnam
intends to run for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council, which requires member
States to uphold the highest human rights standards. “Before it is even
elected to the Human Rights Council,
Vietnam
is already busy obstructing human rights groups from cooperating with the UN to
promote human rights. This kind of intimidation must not be tolerated anywhere
in the UN system”,
said Souhayr Belhassen, President of FIDH.
"The
political intervention led by a coalition of Asean States overturning the
decision of the competent committee excluding civil society access is an
expression of fear to hear unpleasant truths and opinions. The basis of any
commitment to human rights defenders is the recognition of their very existence
and their right to speak and to be heard, and the states have failed in this
test - Vietnam in the first place", said Gerald Staberock, Secretary-General
of OMCT.
Press
contact:
VCHR: Vo
Tran Nhat: +33 1 45 98 30 85
FIDH:
Karine Appy +33 1 43 55 14 12 / + 33 1 43 55 25 18
OMCT: Isabelle Scherer: +41 22 809 49
39
[2] FIDH and VCHR,
Vietnam: From “Vision” to Facts: Human Rights in
Vietnam under its Chairmanship of
ASEAN, September 2010, pg.
25. Available at: http://www.fidh.org/VIETNAM-From-Vision-to-Facts-HUMAN
[3] See, i.e., Observatory Press
Release of September 13, 2010.
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