27 August 2020
Moderated by Dr Justin Lee, First Assistant Secretary, DFAT
By Dr Zeny Edwards, on behalf of the Australian Council for Human Rights Education (ACHRE)
Purpose of the dialogue:
- – to maintain the momentum in engagement on Australian-Vietnamese Human Rights
- – to inform the Australian Ambassador to Vietnam the various issues brought up in the dialogue as main issues to discuss with Vietnamese government
- – to ensure representation on human rights issue is broad ranging and non-partisan Current Situation:
– General submissions from community groups and representation from lobbyists dealt with advocacy for individual cases of Australian citizens incarcerated in Vietnam for various reasons.
– A consensus among Vietnamese community groups in Australia that Human Rights dialogue has not had any results. “There is no substance”. Australian government needs to increase and maintain interaction with Vietnamese community.
– Human Rights violations are still happening in Vietnam. Many other cases are not known and kept secret. The Vietnamese community feels that they are not part of the human rights dialogue.
– Consular representation is the main avenue for dialogue and advocacy on human rights issues.
– There is demonstrable progress with some aspects on human rights but more challenges ahead
– Healthwise, Vietnam has done well re addressing and limiting Covid-19 outbreaks
– Increase and maintain ongoing partnerships with government agencies and NGOs.
Issues Raised:
Cyber-security- increase work with Vietnamese ministers re national security concerns
o Closer look at cybersecurity laws
o Suppression of freedom of expression e.g.comments made on social media (Facebook) on coronavirus
– Detention of Australian-Vietnamese on terrorism, drug trafficking and cyber breach. Concernfor Australian citizens incarcerated in Vietnam and facing death penalties and
o Unfair trials
- Victims are not allowed to appear on trials
- Lack of transparency
- Need to increase consular advocacy
o Greater transparency on death penalty data e.g. execution statistics are not made public in Vietnam – country is one of top five executioners in 2018. Question use of lethal injection as a death penalty.
– Land rights
o Confiscation of farmland without justification
o Lack of land rights and discrimination against farmers and landowners
o Forced evictions and illegal land acquisitions by government – involving violence and harassment.
o Growing interest in renewable energy practices among farmers and landowners
– Freedom of association – prosecution of publishing houses; individuals questioned about purchases of books and certain publications that are “critical” of government.
– Discrimination
o Work discrimination against women particularly pregnant women
o Gender equality
o Religious discrimination – persecution of religious groups on the grounds that they are a threat to national security
▪ Christian community a specific target
▪ Religious groups that engage in activism i.e. pro-democracy work are prosecuted
o Workers’rights
- ▪ Workers are underpaid
- ▪ Lack of government support ▪ Harassment
Human Rights
- – Human Rights Education programs should be expanded to universities and included in school curriculum
- – Human trafficking issues and modern slavery need to be urgently addressed
- – Increase promotion of the rights of the child – need to criminalise according to international standards
o Child protection and safety, including on-line abuse
o Orphanage trafficking as a form of modern slavery
o Malnutrition
o Increase support for children with disability
o Access to education – 21M children had education disrupted because of Covid-19
– Substantial gaps in support for ethnic minorities. Discrimination issues need to be addressed.
– Increase in support facilities – economic and social support
– Worsening living conditions because of the virus
– Gender equality
Note: This is a representation of the issues raised during the dialogue. DFAT did not release a list of the participants and I was not able to identify the majority of speakers and the organisations they represented except among them were Save the Children Fund, The Law Council of Australia, Australian Council of Trade Unions, Human Rights Watch. Dr Zeny Edwards 31/08/20