A/HRC/57/60
Universal Periodic Review of Viet Nam. Additional details of those concerned have been
withheld due to fear of reprisals.
178. On 10 July 2024, the Government responded to the note verbale sent in connection to
the present report noting that Vietnamese law does not prevent citizens from cooperating
with non-governmental organizations and United Nations human rights mechanisms. The
Government also noted that it had enacted numerous legal documents to create conditions
and legal frameworks for United Nations agencies and foreign nongovernmental
organizations to operate in Viet Nam, such as Decree 58/2022/ND-CP and Decree
80/2020/ND-CP. The Government further stated that it had facilitated the visits of United
Nations special procedures on human rights and they are permitted to meet and contact
relevant individuals to assess the human rights situation in the country.
179. Regarding the cases of Mr. Y Khiu Nie and Mr. Y Sĩ Eban, the Government noted
that the content of mandate holders’ communication VNM 2/2023 was not accurate, and the
allegations concerning these two individuals were false. The Government stated that on
6 November 2022, Mr. Y Khiu Niê had not gone through procedures for departure at the
airport, and that there had been no incident in which the authorities had prevented Mr. Y
Khiu Niê from leaving the country. The Government further noted that Mr. Y Sĩ Êban’s case
fell under the category of “Cases in which exit is postponed” for national defense and security
reasons, as per Article 36 of the Law on Entry and Exit of Vietnamese Citizens.
26.
Yemen
180. The case of the Mwatana Organization for Human Rights, a Sana’a-based civil
society organization, and members of its staff, was included in the 2019 report of the
Secretary-General and later in successive reports since 2021, 199 on allegations of detention
and prevention of travel following engagement with the United Nations Security Council and
United Nations human rights mechanisms (SAU 8/2018; YEM 4/2018). On 25 January 2022,
the head of Mwatana, Ms. Radhya al-Mutawakel, briefed the Security Council on the
situation in Yemen200 and was subjected to a smear campaign following her participation.
181. According to information received by OHCHR, on 30 Sep 2023, the
Houthis-controlled Sana’a Airport authorities prevented five staff members of Mwatana
Organization for Human Rights from flying to Amman, Jordan via Sana’a Airport including
Ms. Radhya al-Mutawakel. The five were flying first to Jordan to participate in peacebuilding
and human rights events, and then to Geneva, to participate in the Human Rights Council.
Reportedly, they were asked about the reason for their travel and travel destination and were
informed they were banned from travelling. Three of them traveled a few days later.
Reportedly, 21 incidents against Mwatana’s field researchers and lawyers were documented
during the reporting period including threats, intimidation, travel bans, investigative
summonses, restrictions on freedoms, arbitrary arrests, attempted arbitrary detention, in ten
governorates: Sana’a, Tai’zz, Hadramaut, Hudaydah, Lahj, Dhale’, Aden, Ibb, Sa’adah,
Amran, and Hajjah.
27.
State of Palestine
182. The case of several Palestinian and international women’s organizations and
human rights defenders has been included in the reports of the Secretary General since
2020201 concerning allegations of online smearing, intimidation and threats, including death
threats against them for their support for the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women (CEDAW) and for their actual or perceived engagement with the United
199
200
201
68
A/HRC/42/30, paras. 74, 85, Annex I, para. 94, 124 and A/HRC/48/28, Annex II, paras. 160–161 and
A/HRC/54/61, Annex II, para. 143.
https://media.un.org/en/asset/k19/k19ame0jq8.
A/HRC/45/36, para. 128, Annex 1 paras. 159–61, A/HRC/48/28 paras. 162–165, A/HRC/51/47
paras. 160–161, A/HRC/54/61, Annex II, 144–147.
GE.24-14259