Opening speeches by Blogger Nguyen Ho Nhat Thanh and Me Nam – Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh
(Photo: Danlambao)
Danlambao - Translated by Jasmine Tran (Danlambao) -
At 9:30 am on 20 March 2014, a discussion took place at Joma Bakery
Coffee (22 Ly Quoc Su, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi). The topic: “Viewing
the prohibition of citizens from exiting the country due to national
security reasons from an international perspective”.
Around thirty people were present at the meeting. They were
representatives from the Embassies of Germany, Australia, Sweden, and
the European Union – Dr Nguyen Quang A, Professor Chu Hao, Mr Nguyen Hoang Duc, and members of the Network of Vietnamese Bloggers.
Representatives of the police force failed to turn up for the discussion, even though Me Nam – Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh
had sent an invitation to the Chief of the Department of Immigration
Management of the Ministry of Public Security. One notable fact was the
presence of Hoang Thi Nhat Le, a member of the group
protesting Statement 258 (the Network of Vietnamese Bloggers’ Statement,
requesting that the Vietnamese government amend laws for more human
rights).
Blogger Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh revealed: “Even though there were some troubles, the meeting occurred as planned.”
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| Civilians participating in the Network of Vietnamese Bloggers’ discussion on“The Rights to Freedom of Movement”. Photo: Danlambao |
Joma Bakery Coffee was chosen as the meeting spot, however that morning
it announced it was to remain closed due to “maintenance”.
However, outside the café, the discussion continued as planned with the
attendance of representatives from the Embassies of Germany, Australia,
Sweden, and the European Union.
A remarkable point today was the participation of group of youth
representing the protesters against Statement 258. After speaking about
and stressing the importance of freedom of movement, a speaker for the
Network of Vietnamese Bloggers started the conversation.
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| Despite a formal invitation, the table reserved for the police was unoccupied. Around the café, many police made recordings and monitored the meeting’s contributors. |
Video: Blogger Me Nam – Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh and Nguyen Ho Nhat Thanh started the discussion on the Rights to Freedom of Movement and introduced the visitors
Nguyen Ho Nhat Thanh mentioned:
Our discussion today will continue what was discussed in Saigon about
the freedom of movement. From the day Statement 258 was announced,
followed by activities such as travelling abroad to gain support from
international organizations and embassies, more and more citizens have
been blocked from departing the country. This was especially seen for
those that already signed their support to the Statement; they were all
denied the right to exit Vietnam.
“National security” has been used as a wide-ranging pretext from the
Vietnamese government in banning people from departing the country
without providing them with any departure prohibition orders beforehand.
“National security” is the vague reason given to anybody abused by
such prohibitions, and is not followed by any practical or detailed
clarification. In such cases, which laws did these citizens (whose
rights to depart the country were prohibited) violate to disturb
national security? The government has not given them an answer.
Based on the vague grounds of “national security”, authorities have
great freedom to arbitrarily exercise their power. They can prevent
anyone from leaving if they feel threatened by these people’s
activities. Such a system of police functioning has the potential to
cause great human rights abuses.
So for all these reasons, in today’s discussion a member in Saigon has analysed some unreasonable rules in the Vietnamese law.
We will also discuss “how the international community regards the given excuse of ‘national security’”.
National security is a requirement for all nations worldwide. But, it
is usually followed by clear laws and regulations on what citizens can
and cannot do, unlike the imprecise rules of Vietnam.
Invited guests to the discussion:
Mr. Schwarz, German Embassy
Mr. Skowronski, Australian Embassy
Mr. Alex, European Union
Professor Chu Hao and Dr Nguyen Quang A were also in attendance.
It is very good that today’s discussion was joined by Hoang Thi Nhat
Le’s group. Nhat Le shows support for the government and has a different
opinion. It is valuable to have people of different perspective to
discuss an issue.
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| Representatives from the Australian and German Embassies attended the discussion Photo:Danlambao |
Mr David Skowronski, second secretary of the Australian Embassy and
Mr Felix Schwarz, Political Counsellor and Consul of the German Embassy
gave speeches on the right to freedom of movement at the discussion.
(Video: Danlambao)
In his speech, Mr David Skowronski, second secretary of the Australian Embassy, spoke very fluent Vietnamese:
Good morning everyone,
Thank you to all of you for inviting us to join the discussion today,
my special thanks to Me Nam. Today’s event is a great opportunity for
us to learn more about the human rights status in Vietnam.
I know that the Australian government and my colleagues’ governments
are very concerned about the human rights status in Vietnam, and we are
always pressing Vietnam on such matters.
Mr Felix Schwarz, Political Counsellor and Consul of the
German Embassy in Vietnam stressed the importance of the right to
freedom of movement and shared his story:
I am here on behalf of my colleagues and other embassies that cannot
be present today for this gathering due to their many commitments. I am
glad that our discussion is based on many different points of views on
the right to freedom of movement and other subjects.
In Europe, we can freely travel to all the countries of the European
Union, regardless of our nationalities. For us, the biggest success of
the European Union is the right to freedom of movement.
I would like to tell you a story of myself as a child, a story of
East and West Germany. At that time I lived in West Germany with my
family. When my grandmother passed away, our relatives from the East
wanted to attend her funeral. However, not all of them were allowed to
leave East Germany for the funeral.
As a child, I did not understand why people could not attend a funeral as they wished, when a member of the family died.
I believe in the important notion that everyone should have the right to move and travel around the world.
They (authorities) have to give their citizens clear answers and
reasoning if they impede on their rights to freedom of movement, not
simply a few words. Authorities need to respect the right to freedom of
movement.
I would like to further what Mr Nguyen Quang A has shared. Even in
Germany there are people whose passports are not issued for them to
travel. However, these are the rare cases related to serious crimes.
We believe that saying something different to, or expressing one’s
own opinion that challenges the government’s perspective cannot be
considered a crime. Thus the people who do so cannot be prohibited from
departing the country, nor have their passports seized.
That is all I would like to say. I am glad to have participated in
this discussion with such diverse points of view. It is great that we
can share and talk about them.
One final example: I have two children, and they often have
different views to me. They don’t want to eat when I tell them to, and
not wanting to sleep when told. They even cry sometimes.
I would like to say this - the most important thing is that we have
to talk. You can say “I want this thing, that thing”… but after that we
have to solve the problem together.
Dr Nguyen Quang A talks about the right to freedom of movement (Video: Danlambao)
In his speech Dr Nguyen Quang A said:
I see that all other nations have laws regarding their national
security. But in Vietnam, the government uses such laws in a despotic
way to prevent citizens the right to freedom of travelling, especially
when travelling abroad.
When the Network of Vietnamese Bloggers’ young members returned from
the Philippines or from Geneva after the Universal Periodic Review, they
were detained and had their passports confiscated. This was an
unacceptable act.
Nguyen Hoang Duc here, having received an invitation from the
Vatican, was stopped at Noibai airport, not being allowed to exit the
country.
I think that if the “national security” is truly a concern for the
government, they must inform the applicants as to the security reasons
behind why their applications were denied. Prior notice should also be
required, allowing the applicants time to dispute or review such claims.
The important thing is that the government should manage this matter in a legitimate way, not through arbitrary means.
*
Alarming news! After participating in the gathering, at 11:35 in the morning, blogger Trinh Anh Tuan (Facebook Gio Lang Thang)
was brutally beaten on his way back by plainclothes security officials.
The attack took place at Giai Phong Street near Giap Bat train station.
Trinh Anh Tuan affirmed that these people were the plainclothes police
who had just previously appeared and scrutinized those participating in
the human rights café.
On the way home, Tuan was closely followed by at least three
plainclothes security officials. Near Giap Bat train station those three
police suddenly slammed into him and knocked over his motorbike. Tuan
fell to the ground. As he lay there, the three officers surrounded him
and hit him continuously all over his body.
After savagely beating Tuan, the three officers quickly departed on
their motorbikes. Blogger Trinh Anh Tuan was badly injured; his face
swollen and bleeding, scratches all over his body. His mobile phone was
smashed.
Trinh Anh Tuan was born in 1989, he is a member of the Network of Vietnamese Bloggers.
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Blogger Trinh Anh Tuan (Gio Lang Thang) was beaten by police after
participating in the gathering of the Network of Vietnamese Bloggers
focussing on the right to freedom of movement.
(Photo: Facebook Bach Hong Quyen)
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