Thread: Thailand opposes Bangkok launch for Vietnam human rights report

Thailand opposes Bangkok launch for Vietnam human rights report
Sep 12, 2010

Bangkok - Thailand objected to the use of Bangkok to launch a report denouncing Vietnam's human rights record and has reportedly revoked the visa of the main author, sources said Sunday.

The Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights and the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights planned a press conference Monday at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT) to publish the report titled From Rhetoric to Reality: Human Rights in Vietnam.

Thailand's Foreign Ministry objected to the event, and it is unclear whether it will be held.

'While the Royal Thai government attaches great importance to the principles of freedom of expression and diversity of views, it also has a longstanding position of not allowing organizations and/or persons to use Thailand as a place to conduct activities detrimental to other countries,' ministry spokesman Thani Thongpaksi said in a letter to the press club.

'I therefore hope that the FCCT will respect this position and not allow its premises to be used for such activities,' he said.

The press conference was to be held by Vietnam Committee on Human Rights chairman Vo Van Ai and vice president Penelope Faulkner.

Ai, a critic of the Vietnamese government who runs the Buddhist Information Center in Paris, was initially granted a visa but it was later revoked by the Thai embassy in France, sources said.

It was not immediately known whether Faulkner would be allowed to attend the planned Bangkok event.

'We feel it is unfortunate that the Thai government has chosen to apply pressure on us in this way. We would appreciate if the government reconsiders the wisdom of such pressure,' the FCCT said in a statement.

monstersandcritics.com

FCCT Under Pressure to Cancel Press Conference

Sunday 12th September 2010

To Members and Guests:

Approximately one month ago, the FCCT accepted a booking from the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR) for them to hold a press conference in the Clubhouse launching a new report, "From Rhetoric to Reality: Human Rights in Vietnam", on Monday, September 13th.

The event has been publicised continuously in The Bulletin, our weekly e-newsletter, since August 16th.

However, this past Thursday evening, September 9th, we were contacted by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, asking that we cancel the press conference as it might contain information detrimental to a neighbouring country. We pointed out that this press conference was not sponsored by the FCCT but was a paid event, at which point the Ministry asked us to convey to the event organisers that it was Thailand’s intention to deny visas to the scheduled speakers.

We declined to accept that responsibility, reasoning that it was improper for us to act as a messenger in what should be a confidential matter between individuals and a sovereign government, over which we had no control and in which we had no legal standing.

As for taking action to cancel the press conference, we asked the Ministry to explain its position in writing. On Friday evening, we received an e-mail from Khun Thani Thongphakdi, the Ministry’s acting director general of the department of information.

It stated:

• "I wish to refer to the press conference to be organized by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR) to launch its report, 'From Rhetoric to Reality: HUMAN RIGHTS IN VIETNAM, Under its Chairmanship of ASEAN in 2010', which is scheduled to be held at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand (FCCT) on Monday 13 September 2010.
  
  "While the Royal Thai Government attaches great importance to the principles of freedom of expression and diversity of views, it also has a long-standing position of not allowing organizations and/or persons to use Thailand as a place to conduct activities detrimental to other countries. I therefore hope that the FCCT will respect this position and not allow its premises to be used for such activities.
  
  "I thank you for your understanding and cooperation."

The FCCT attaches great importance to the principles of free expression and diversity of views. We also appreciate the importance the Thai government has placed in such principles, as stated in the Foreign Ministry's note.

We feel it is unfortunate that the Thai government has chosen to apply pressure on us in this way. We would appreciate if the government reconsiders the wisdom of such pressure.

As of Sunday morning, the FCCT has not been informed by the Paris-based organisers of the press conference that the event has been cancelled.

Executive Committee,
FCCT

Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand
Penthouse, Maneeya Center Building
518/5 Ploenchit Road (connected to the BTS Skytrain Chitlom station)
Patumwan, Bangkok 10330
Tel.: 02-652-0580-1
Fax: 02-652-0582
E-mail: info[at]fccthai.com
Web Site: http://www.fccthai.com

Hours of Operation -
All departments are open Monday-Friday and closed Saturday, Sunday, and Holidays

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(including Photo Gallery)
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FCCT Bulletin

Press Conference:
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR)
Report Launch: “From Rhetoric to Reality: HUMAN RIGHTS IN VIETNAM, Under its Chairmanship of ASEAN in 2010”

10.30 am Mon, September 13, 2010

Free

The launch of the new report “From Rhetoric to Reality: HUMAN RIGHTS IN VIETNAM,
Under its Chairmanship of ASEAN in 2010” by the International Federation for
Human Rights (FIDH) and its member organization, the Vietnam Committee on Human
Rights (VCHR), will shed light on the human rights situation in Vietnam and the
serious gaps that remain between Vietnam’s professed adherence to international
human rights law and its actual laws and practices to the contrary. Despite Vietnam’s accession to core international human rights treaties and its adoption of extensive new legislation, Vietnam continues to adopt laws that restrict the exercise of human rights and imprisons peaceful critics under vague “national security” provisions in violation of its international obligations.

This report will detail serious human rights violations in the country,
including administrative detention, religious repression, crackdowns on human
rights defenders, stifling of press freedom, widespread use of the death
penalty, and abuses of women’s rights.

Speakers:

Mr Vo Van Ai, President of the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights
Ms Penelope Faulkner, Vice President of the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights

For more information: contact Mr. Shiwei Ye at sye[at]fidh.org or 02-275-4233.

Refreshments will be served.

* This program is a paid event. Responsibility for program content is solely that of the event organizer.

FCCT Bulletin

Thai 'pressure' to stop event
Sep 12, 2010

BANGKOK - THAILAND has threatened to deny visas to activists attending a Vietnamese human rights conference amid 'pressure' to cancel the event, a journalist group said on Sunday.

Authorities said that while Thailand attached 'great importance' to freedom of expression, it would not allow 'activities detrimental to other countries", according to the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand (FCCT) in Bangkok.

The FCCT said Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thongphakdi emailed the club asking it not to allow its premises to be used for the meeting, led by Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR), due to be held on Monday.

It was asked to tell event organisers - an exiled Vietnamese rights group and long-time critic of that country's communist regime - 'that it was Thailand's intention to deny visas to the scheduled speakers", the FCCT said.

A source close to the organisers said the event was now unlikely to take place at the FCCT as one speaker was delayed and the other may be subject to visa restrictions.

However, the group's report on human rights abuses in Vietnam will be published as planned on Monday. Authorities in Thailand and Vietnam were not immediately available for comment and it is not clear what sparked the Thai government intervention. -- AFP

straitstimes.com

Rights group slams move to deny visas for activists
13/09/2010

Thailand has come under criticism from Human Rights Watch for its decision to deny visas to activists and ban a media event in Bangkok organised to criticise Vietnam.

Deputy Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thongpakdi said yesterday Vo Van Ai and Penelope Faulkner, who had been scheduled to speak at a media eventMr, had not been allowed to enter the country.

Mr Ai, who is president of the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights, and Ms Ms Faulkner, its vice president, planned to hold a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand (FCCT) today.

Their committee and the International Federation for Human Rights jointly planned to launch a report which, they said, would ''shed light on the human rights situation in Vietnam and the serious gaps that remain between Vietnam's professed adherence to international human rights law and its actual laws and practices to the contrary''.

The FCCT, which did not sponsor the event, said it had come under pressure from the the ministry to cancel the news conference.

It was told on Thursday that the report ''might contain information detrimental to a neighbouring country''.

Mr Thani said yesterday the government had a policy not to allow any person or group to use the kingdom to attack other countries.

He explained the position in a written statement to the FCCT on Friday.

''While the Royal Thai Government attaches great importance to the principles of freedom of expression and diversity of views, it also has a long-standing position of not allowing organisations and/or persons to use Thailand as a place to conduct activities detrimental to other countries.

''I therefore hope that the FCCT will respect this position and not allow its premises to be used for such activities,'' he said.

The FCCT executive committee called in a statement released yesterday for the government to reconsider the position.

''We feel it is unfortunate that the Thai government has chosen to apply pressure on us in this way.

''We would appreciate if the government reconsiders the wisdom of such pressure,'' the statement said.

Sunai Phasuk, an adviser to the New York-based HRW in Thailand, criticised the government's decision saying the decision to ban the event and the visas of the two speakers had tainted efforts by the government to improve its image on human rights in the wake of the dispersal of red shirt protesters in May.

The decision also affected Thailand's regional image as the kingdom was trying to ''cover up bad records on human rights of other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)''.

''It is disappointing to see a key player on human rights issues in Asean like Thailand adopt this kind of culture,'' Mr Sunai said.

Vietnam is chair of the 10-member Asean this year.

The Thai decision to ban the entry of the two speakers into the country forced the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights and the International Federation for Human Rights to cancel the event, the FCCT said.

bangkokpost.com

Officials 'have betrayed Thai's reputation'
September 13 2010

Bangkok - The Thai government blocked a news conference planned on Monday on Vietnamese human rights because it feared the disclosures might insult the neighbouring country.

The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand was hosting the news conference in Bangkok by two international human rights groups whose report pledged to "shed light on the human rights situation in Vietnam," the FCCT said.

But late last week Thai authorities contacted the FCCT asking for the event to be cancelled and subsequently refused to issue entry visas to speakers from the groups - the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights and the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thongphakdi said in an emailed explanation to the FCCT on Friday that the Thai government "attaches great importance to the principles of freedom of expression and diversity of views" but it also has a "long-standing position of not allowing organisations and/or persons to use Thailand as a place to conduct activities detrimental to other countries."

The Foreign Correspondents' Club, which hosts local and international news conferences, lamented the government's stance.

"We feel it is unfortunate that the Thai government has chosen to apply pressure on us in this way," the FCCT said in a statement dated on Sunday.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch noted that Thailand is the current chair of the UN Human Rights Council and that the writers of the report, "From Rhetoric to Reality: Human Rights in Vietnam," had chosen Thailand because of its reputation for honouring freedom of expression, unlike the Communist government of Vietnam and others in the region.

"But the actions of Thai officials have betrayed that reputation," Human Rights Watch said in a statement.

"The Thai government owes the FCCT and the public an explanation (of) why instead it took a page from Hanoi's playbook."

Thailand has been criticised recently over its press freedoms as anti-government websites and publications have been censored for allegedly helping fuel deadly political protests.

Vietnam strictly controls media, and human rights groups say journalists and others have been arrested, fired and fined for criticising the government or disclosing information it considers sensitive. - Sapa-AP

iol.co.za

here is the report :

Vietnam: “From ”Vision” to Facts: Human Rights in Vietnam Under its Chairmanship of ASEAN”

scribd.com

13 September 2010

Debating Vietnam’s human rights record under its ASEAN Chairmanship is more than ever impossible

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand (FCCT) announced yesterday that it has been under pressure by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs to cancel a press conference on human rights in Vietnam, organized by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR).

The press conference was intended at presenting to the Bangkok-based media a new report entitled “From”vision“to facts: human rights in Vietnam under its chairmanship of ASEAN”. Vo Van Ai and Penelope Faulkner, respectively President and Vice-President of VCHR, were scheduled to speak at this press event.

On the eve of his departure, Vo Van Ai received a call from the Royal Embassy of Thailand in Paris, and was told that in spite of the fact that he had obtained a visa for Thailand, he would not be allowed to enter Thai territory, following a request by the Vietnamese government. This morning, Penelope Faulkner was told by the air company at the Paris airport that she would not be allowed to board her flight because she would not be allowed to enter the Thai territory upon arrival in Bangkok.

“We are dismayed by the Thai authorities’ decision to ban entry on the Thai territory of two well-known human rights defenders who have been peacefully advocating for human rights in Vietnam for years. This is frightening: it illustrates that it is impossible to speak about Vietnam’s human rights record not only in Vietnam, but also in neighbouring countries”, declared Souhayr Belhassen, President of FIDH.

“Our report is exclusively based on international human rights law and statistics from the Vietnamese official press. It includes concrete recommendations to the authorities of Vietnam in order to improve their human rights record, both in the country and as Chair of the ASEAN. It echoes voices inside Vietnam that are calling for the respect of human rights and the rule of law”, added Vo Van Ai, President of VCHR.

The pressure on the FCCT and the refusal to allow advocacy activities on human rights in Vietnam to be held on the Thai territory witness the powerful nuisance capacity of Vietnam at regional level, and the total incapacity of the authorities of Vietnam to tolerate any debate on their human rights record.

The decision of the Thai authorities blatantly violates the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, which notably provides that “Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, freely to publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms” (Art 6.b); and that “Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to participate in peaceful activities against violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms” (Art. 12). In addition, under this Declaration, the Thai authorities should “take all necessary measures” to ensure the protection of human rights defenders against any threats, retaliation, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the above-mentioned rights.

The report “From”vision“to facts: human rights in Vietnam under its chairmanship of ASEAN” is available at the following link :

http://www.fidh.org/VIETNAM-From-Vi...

Press contacts : Karine Appy/Fabien Maitre + 33 1 43 55 14 12 / + 33 1 43 55 90 19

fidh.org

วันพุธ ที่ 15 ก.ย. 2553

Vietnam welcomes Thailand's denial of entry to two human rights campaigners due to speak at Bangkok press conference about alleged abuses in communist nation: Vietnam's foreign ministry spokeswoman

mcot.net

The Wall Street Journal : Opinion

Bangkok Human-Rights Blunder
SEPTEMBER 15, 2010

How to draw attention to your own country's problems.

For a government that hasn't yet held anyone accountable for killing scores of pro-democracy protestors, backtracks from elections and silences opposition media, the best kind of press coverage is no coverage at all.

Which makes Thailand's decision to curtail free speech at the nation's biggest foreign press club more than passing strange.

The irony is that Paris-based Vo Van Ai and Penelope Faulkner weren't even interested in speaking about Thailand.

Instead, they had booked the Foreign Correspondents' Club in Bangkok to release their NGO's report on human-rights abuses in neighboring Vietnam.

The club has played host to the Dalai Lama, Malaysia's Anwar Ibrahim and Burmese pro-democracy activists, among others.

The event was advertised on the club's website for weeks.

Yet when Ms. Faulkner tried to board her flight Sunday, she was told Thai immigration had blocked her trip.

Mr. Vo was denied entry a few days earlier.

The government didn't want the club "used as a base for activities to be undertaken undermining friendly countries," a Foreign Ministry spokesman explained to us in an email this week.

Hanoi's rights abuses are certainly embarrassing for a country that's striving to join the global economy, although it's unclear how a small NGO's report could "undermine" the entire country.

The regime has a long history of locking up dissidents and severely curtailing political speech—a record which has gotten worse in recent months as the Communist Party gears up for its fifth Congress in January.

Thailand's political direction is equally worrying.

The government of Abhisit Vejjajiva has tried to put a good face on its continuing military crackdown on pro-democracy advocates.

But there's no solid commitment to hold elections anytime soon, nor to lift the state of emergency in the north and northeastern provinces.

Meanwhile, there are signs that part of the "red-shirt" pro-democracy movement may be turning militant.

Police found three unexploded bombs in Bangkok last week, and the red shirts are holding protests there this weekend to remember those killed in May's protests.

The longer Thai leaders deny democracy, the more their people will want it.

online.wsj.com

Originally Posted by Mid

But there's no solid commitment to hold elections anytime soon,

Could that possiably be because the current term of Parliment does not exprie until December next year? Guess they missed that part.

Originally Posted by Mid

Meanwhile, there are signs that part of the "red-shirt" pro-democracy movement may be turning militant.

Turning militant? How many grenades do you have to throw or buildings burn to actually be militant for the WSJ?
TH

Thailand Again Bars Vietnamese Activist
SIMON ROUGHNEEN
Friday, October 15, 2010

BANGKOK—Thailand has drawn fire by again preventing a prominent Vietnamese dissident from speaking at a conference in Bangkok, one year after the founding of the Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights.

The president of the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights, Vo Van Ai, was refused a visa by the Thai Embassy in Paris, the second time that he has been prevented from travelling to Bangkok in recent weeks.

His previous visa was cancelled in the run-up to a stillborn September launch of a critical report on human rights in Vietnam, a move which brought international criticism upon Thailand.

An empty chair marked the place where Vo Van Ai was to have delivered a lecture titled "Universality and Particularity in Human Rights: A Vietnamese Buddhist Viewpoint" at the "First International Conference on Human Rights in Asia." The event drew scholars and activists from across southeast Asia and beyond and was held by the Southeast Asia Human Rights Network (SEAHRN) and Bangkok's Mahidon University.

Speaking today, Dr. Srirapha Petcharamasree read letter from Vo Van Ai to SEAHRN, in which he said that "the attitude of the Thai government is particularly shocking given that Thailand holds the presidency of the UN Human Rights Council." Dr. Srirapha is Thailand's representative at the AICHR, but stressed that she was speaking in a personal capacity. She called on the Thai Government "to be faithful to the commitment made to the UN when it made its candidacy to the presidency."

In September, Thai authorities refused to grant entry to Vo Van Ai and Penelope Faulkner, respectively the president and vice president of the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights, following pressure from Vietnam, when they sought to travel to Bangkok to launch a report on human rights in Vietnam.

Another Vietnamese speaker who was scheduled to address the SEAHRN gathering on Thursday pulled out at the last moment, after hearing that Vo Van Ai would not be present. According to the conference organisers, the man, whose identity cannot be confirmed for security reasons, was wary of Vietnamese government attention on the conference, where a number of papers were to be presented on that country.

Coming as Southeast Asia takes stock of developments in human rights, and one year after the AICHR was launched in Hua Hin, Thailand, the barring could undermine Thailand's professed commitment to human rights, which Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya described as a cornerstone of Thai foreign policy when addressing the UN General Assembly recently.

Differing interpretations of human rights could, in some views, undermine how rights issues are addressed in Southeast Asia, say some. Challenging what he termed "Western universalism," Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan told the SEAHRN gathering that others "should not impose on us."

Surin acknowledged that progress with human rights has been piecemeal in
the region, but that progress would come "in [an] evolutionary manner," and reminded the audience that it took centuries of progress before human rights laws were fully implemented in the West.

The AICHR has been dismissed for having no oversight or punitive arm, prompting critics to say it will do little to protect human rights in Southeast Asia.

"It does not have a complaints mechanism or investigative powers," lamented Vitit Muntarbhorn, a former UN envoy to North Korea and a law professor at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University. "A human rights declaration is not enough we need an Asean human rights treaty and regional human rights courts."

Asean countries have typically shied away from criticizing each other, with a culture of non-interference seen as a major barrier toward human rights promotion and protection, according to Azmi Sharon, an academic at the University of Malaya. However, the formation of the relatively toothless AICHR may be a step in the right direction.

Carlos Medina, the executive director of the Ateneo Human Rights Center in the Philippines, recounted his long engagement with Asean officials and government representatives on setting up AICHR. He said that over time attitudes are changing. "Mostly, they no longer see us activists as adversaries," he said.

With elections coming up in less than a month, Burma was widely discussed at the SEAHRN event. The country remains the prime example of egregious human rights violations in the region, according to some of the speakers discussing the military-run country.

A Burmese activist, Ko Bo Byi, added a poignant and real-world edge to the academic tone, by describing in detail his torture at the hands of Burma's security forces.

He spent seven years in a Burmese jail and now leads the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners—Burma, which monitors the number of and the conditions facing the 2,100-plus prisoners currently detained for political beliefs or activism.He told The Irrawaddy that there is no indication yet as to whether political prisoners will be released as part of the planned freeing of 1,1000 prisoners in Burma before the Nov. 7 election.

"I would not be surprised if some political prisoners are released, as a public relations stunt before the elections," he said.

His AAPP colleague, Hannah Scott, provided more details about what she described as "a systematic and widespread system of torture" imposed on political activists, 144 of whom have died in prison since 1988. All told, more than 10,000 political prisoners are estimated to have passed through Burma's torture gulag since the student uprising against military rule that year, she said.

"There are 109 hard labor camps that we know of in Burma, and children as young as 14 have been tortured for political issues," she said.

irrawaddy.org