Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Recently I had the pleasure of attending the 11th anniversary of Bloc 81706, a remarkable organisation dedicated to the cause of human rights in Vietnam. I congratulate Bloc 81706, in particular Joachim and his wife, Bao Khanh, for their tireless work in raising awareness of the ongoing struggle for freedom, democracy and respect for human rights for the people of Vietnam. In Vietnam today, bloggers, journalists, lawyers, religious leaders are being harassed, arrested, imprisoned all for drawing attention to human rights violations. We see a Vietnamese government virtually suppressing any attempt by its citizens to exercise basic freedoms of speech, expression, rights of association and assembly.

Marred by a judicial system that fails to operate without fear or favour, the Vietnamese people do not get a fair go in the courts. The severity of this situation was highlighted in a recent report issued by Human Rights Watch entitled No Country for Human Rights Activists: Assaults on Bloggers and Democracy Campaigners in Vietnam. The report reveals an alarming 36 incidents in which men dressed in civilian clothes targeted and assaulted human rights activists and bloggers between January 2015 and April this year, with many of the cases resulting in serious injury. What is more concerning is that many of these attacks occurred in front of uniformed police officers, who failed to intervene.

Interestingly, in respect of all but one case, Human Rights Watch found that no-one had been charged. This poses a very serious question as to the relationship between the Vietnamese authorities and the assailants in these cases, which appears to range from passive tolerance to active collaboration. These attacks highlight a disturbing trend in physical assaults on activists by attackers who appear to act at the discretion of, or at least with the acquiescence of Vietnamese officials. This trend signals a move away from the government's reliance on police and judicial repression to effectively a new form of extra judicial repression to enforce their tight control over its citizens. Speaking about this emerging trend, Brad Adams, the Asia director of Human Rights Watch said, 'It is bad enough for activists in Vietnam to have to risk prison for speaking out but now they have to risk their safety on a daily basis simply for exercising basic human rights.'

The Formosa Ha Tinh Steel environmental disaster which occurred some 12 months ago saw dead fish being washed up on the shores of central Vietnam and devastating local fishing communities. It was not just the environmental impacts that grabbed global headlines but also the victimisation of activists campaigning about the environmental impacts of the toxic waste dumping and the need for just compensation for those communities reliant on the fishing industry. Two Catholic priests, Father Dang Huu Nam and Father Nguyen Dinh Thuc have been subjected to harassment and intimidation by officials because of their involvement in the campaign for justice for those who rely on the fishing industry. Just recently, I have been informed that a blogger, Ms Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for her activism in drawing attention to this environmental scandal.

During periods of trade negotiations such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, there seems to be a downturn in the prosecution of human right activists in Vietnam as the country's human rights activity obviously features very significantly in these discussions. However, following these discussions, Vietnam always reverts to tightening its control and, over recent years, there has been a very clear indication that Vietnam is making no attempt to honour its domestic and international human rights obligations. This is the same sign-and-forget mentality that they showed when they signed off on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

As Australians, we are fortunate that our courts and our police operate without fear or favour, but it is not the same for the people of Vietnam. Once again, I congratulate Joachim and Boa Khanh and Bloc 1706 for their advocacy and support for people in Vietnam experiencing human rights abuses.

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