Statement of Vietnamese Organizations and Individuals for ASEAN’s People Testimony on the Occasion of the ASEAN Civil Society Conference
Jakarta, Indonesia, May 2-4, 2011
We, Vietnamese organizations and individuals both inside Vietnam and overseas, respectfully request the governments and peoples of ASEAN to promote freedom, democracy, justice, peace, and prosperity in all ASEAN countries and in all countries throughout the world.
In particular, we ask that you insist that the people of all ASEAN countries be permitted to exercise their internationally recognized human rights, including:
--- The right to speak, write, and publish freely and without censorship or recrimination, including on the internet and in other modern communications media, and including expression that is critical of governments;
--- The right to associate with other people of their own choosing and to assemble peacefully for whatever purposes they choose;
--- The right to practice their religions, including not only freedom of worship but also the fulfillment of other religious obligations including social and humanitarian activities and the right to organize religious institutions that are independent of the government and not subject to its direction or control;
--- The right to be free from torture and other cruel and inhuman treatment;
--- The right to leave countries, including their own;
--- The right to form independent labor unions, free from any interference from the government or government-controlled mass organizations, so as to defend the rights and interests of workers;
--- The right of citizens of ASEAN countries to freely form civil society organizations, serve as watchdogs to ensure transparency in government and a system of checks and balances, and participate in the promotion of people-to-people integration according to the ASEAN Charter;
--- The right to be free from human trafficking and other severe forms of exploitation, especially when such trafficking and exploitation takes place with the complicity of government officials and institutions, such as in government- connected forced-labor or labor-export programs; and
--- The right to change their government through free and fair elections in which candidates and political parties may stand for office with no requirement for approval by the government, the military, or the ruling party, and without other unreasonable restrictions.
In order to promote and protect these rights, we ask that ASEAN governments review their constitutions and laws and that they immediately repeal any provisions that allow the punishment of free expression or the exercise of other human rights when such activities are deemed to “injure the national unity” or to be otherwise contrary to the interests of the state or the ruling party, as well as laws that allow imprisonment, house arrest, required “working sessions” at police stations, or other forms of detention except after fair and public trials by impartial and independent judicial systems. We also ask ASEAN governments to free immediately any prisoners who are detained pursuant to such laws as well as all other prisoners of conscience.
Finally, we ask the peoples and governments of ASEAN, and particularly ASEAN civil society organizations, to recognize that civil society in countries with authoritarian governments does not consist of “Government Organized Non- Governmental Organizations” that are closely connected to such authoritarian governments and/or to the ruling political parties that dominate them. Rather, we ask that you recognize and honor the real civil society in such countries, including human rights defenders, independent journalists, independent labor organizations, independent religious institutions, prisoners of conscience, and other genuinely independent voices, including those within the country and others who are forced to live in exile.
1) Father Phan Van Loi, in-country member, Provisional Representative Committee, Bloc 8406
2) Nguyen Khac Toan, Journalist
3) Pastor Nguyen Hong Quang, Mennonite Church of Viet Nam
4) Le Thanh Tung, Journalist
5) Father Nguyen Van Ly, in-country member, Provisional Representative Committee, Bloc 8406
6) Ven. Thich Nguyen Tri, Vice Chair, Executive Committee of the Unified Buddhist Church of Viet Nam in the USA
7) Prof. Nguyen Chinh Ket, overseas member, Provisional Representative Committee, Bloc 8406
8) Prof. Nguyen Thanh Liem, President, International Organization for the Study of Southeast Asian Sea
9) Pham Tran Anh, President, Vietnamese Political and Religious Prisoners Fellowship Association
10) Ngo Thi Hien, Board Chair, Committee for Religious Freedom in Viet Nam
11) Nguyen Dinh Thang, PhD, Executive Director, Boat People SOS
12) Le Duy Can, PhD, Commissioner for External Affairs, Vietnamese Canadian Federation