Nha Trang, December 7 – Some bloggers today celebrated the International
Human Rights Day of December 10 by disseminating HR documents in public
sites.
From 8.30am, a group of bloggers, including Nguyễn Ngọc Như Quỳnh (aka.
Mẹ Nấm), Khổng Hy Thiêm, Võ Trường Thiện, and Phạm Văn Hải (aka. Việt
Man), wearing advocacy T-shirts of the Network of Vietnamese Bloggers,
walked down the streets to hand in HR documents to people.
The materials they disseminated included an article on basic human
rights, copies of the UN Convention against Torture to which Vietnam is a
signatory, and an article introducing this Convention.
The United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman
or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, abbreviated as UNCAT, is an
international human rights instrument, under the review of the United
Nations, that aims to prevent torture and cruel, inhuman degrading
treatment or punishment around the world.
The Convention requires states to take effective measures to prevent
torture within their borders, and forbids states to transport people to
any country where there is reason to believe they will be tortured.
According to the Network of Vietnamese Bloggers, Vietnam signed UNCAT on
November 7, 2013 and is set to ratify it in 2014. However, so far Vietnam's laws have not provided a clear definition of what acts constitute torture.
Law enforcement bodies in Vietnam, including, for example, police,
security officials and prison guards, still use torture for
interrogation and punishment of suspects, detainees and prisoners.
Torturous acts range from fetter to incommunicado detention and poor
prison conditions.
As a signatory to UNCAT, therefore, Vietnam should ratify the Convention soon and, at the same time, amend its laws to provide a clear definition of torturous acts as well as penalties for the offenders.”
Asked about the case of Nguyễn Thanh Chấn, who was tortured, extorted
confession and had to serve ten years of a life sentence before released
without compensation, some pedestrians said they did not read
newspapers so they were uninformed. However, people were enthusiastic in
receiving the documents and read them in eagerness. One pedestrian even
commented, “Good articles. Why don't you add 'pass this article on to
others after reading it'?”
Others said, “Each of us should have these documents for more knowledge
about human rights,” “We are bullied because we are uninformed,” “The
materials are really good. This is to help all of us, so all of us
should read them.”
The bloggers also disseminated the leaflets on buses and inside
bookstores. One bookstore, Ponagar, held ten kits for visitors. Many
young people eagerly joined the bloggers.
The celebration of the International HR Day ended at 10am. The bloggers
took photos of themselves raising three fingers marked with three
letters, M, L, and B, which stand for Mang Luoi Blogger, or The Network
of Vietnamese Bloggers.
The Network of Vietnamese Bloggers
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