Individuals and groups cooperating with SR religion
Cases- Location of case in SG report
- 2015-041-011
- Relevant SG report
- Year of the report
- 2015
- From Country
- Country Geolocation
Latitude: 14.058324
Longitude: 108.277199
- Country Geolocation (linked Cases)
- Vietnam
- From Region
- UN body that raised the case prior to the SG report
- UN Special Procedures: Thematic
- Dates of prior UN action
- 25 November 2014; 30 January 2015; 10 March 2015
- Type of record
- Unnamed individual/group/organization
- Was the victim a foreign national?
- No
- Was the victim a minor?
- No
- Type of rights defended
- Religious freedom
- Unclear in SG Report
- Was the victim a civil servant or member of the security forces or of the judiciary?
- No
- Reported trigger of reprisal
in relation to the country visit of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief to Viet Nam in July 2014 (A/HRC/28/85, case VNM 11/2014)
- Engagement with UN body
- UN Special Procedures: thematic
- Dates of engagement
- July 2014
- Type of attempted engagement
- Meeting with UN officials during country visit / with locally present UN officials
- Dates of mentioned reprisals
- July and August 2017
- Reprisal information
allegations of acts of intimidation and reprisal in relation to the country visit of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief to Viet Nam in July 2014
- Types of reprisals suffered
- Threats/Intimidations (incl. "fear of reprisal")
- Alleged/likely perpetrators
- State actors
- Was the reprisal based on new legislation?
- No
- Does the report make general comment about country’s environment for engagement with UN?
- No
- Further case development
In his oral statement to the Human Rights Council at its twenty-eighth session, on 10 March 2015, the Special Rapporteur emphasized that the acts of reprisal committed during his visit were a blatant violation of the terms of reference of the visit; In his mission report, the Special Rapporteur expressed his deep concern and outrage at these reports and reiterated his request to the Government of Viet Nam to reconfirm its guarantee that none of the individuals with whom he met or intended to meet would be subjected to any form of reprisal (A/HRC/28/66/Add.2, paras. 4, 83 (s) and 84 (c)).
- Government response dates
- 10 March 2015; 16 March 2015
- Is the country cited for a "pattern of reprisal" in the context of this case?
- No
- Is a pattern of reprisals mentioned otherwise in the context of this case?
- No
- Does the report cite "self-censorship" as an issue in the context of this case?
- No
- How many times has the case been followed up in subsequent SG reports?
- 1
- In which SG report was this case followed up on? 0
- 2019
- Follow up information provided in SG report 0
- Special procedures mandate holders expressed grave concern about surveillance, intimidation and travel bans against rights defenders and some members of the independent religious communities for their cooperation with the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion of belief during his visit to Viet Nam in July 2014 (VNM 11/2014). Despite concerns raised during and after the visit, individuals and groups reportedly continue to face severe restrictions in sharing information and meeting with United Nations experts and staff members.
- A number of representatives of civil society, human rights defenders and religious organizations reportedly faced acts of reprisals after attending the NGO-organized August 2018 Southeast Asia Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief in Bangkok, which included engagement with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion of belief. Of the 28 advocates invited from Viet Nam, two received police warnings against attending the conference, five were prevented from leaving Vietnam at border checkpoints or at the airport, two were detained and interrogated at the airport and their passports and cell phones were confiscated, and eight participants were summoned to the police station or visited by the police for questioning about their participation in the conference. Additionally, the police harassed family members of three participants while they were at the conference.
- On 26 June 2019, the Government responded to the allegations.[...] Regarding the civil society representatives that attended or tried to attend the 2018 Southeast Asia Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief, the Government stated that allegations are untrue, and that authorities do not “intimidate” or “harass” any individuals because they attend an international workshop.
- Followup Trends 0
- Deterioration/further reprisals
- Did the government respond? 0
- Yes