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II. RECOMMENDATIONS

To the Government of Vietnam:

C Release immediately and unconditionally all persons who are being imprisoned or detained for peacefully expressing their religious or political views. (See Appendix 3 for a partial list of political prisoners.)

C Lift restrictions and cease harassment and surveillance of released political prisoners and religious leaders such as Nguyen Dan Que, Vu Huy Cuong, Nguyen Thanh Giang, Hoang Tien, Tran Do, Pham Que Duong, Duong Thu Huong, Phan Dinh Dieu, Hoang Minh Chinh, Nguyen Ho, Bui Minh Quoc, Ha Si Phu, Tieu Dao Bao Cu, Nguyen Ho, Le Quang Liem, Nguyen Thi Thu, Thich Huyen Quang, Thich Quang Do, Thich Nhat Ban, Thich Tue Si, Thich Tri Sieu, Thich Khong Tanh, Father Chan Tin, and Nguyen Ngoc Lan.

C Cease arrests, harassment, and arbitrary detention of individuals based on their religious beliefs. Implement the recommendations made by Abdelfattah Amor, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance, in his December 1998 report, including his recommendation that people imprisoned for their religious beliefs, upon theirrelease from prison, should be allowed to resume their religious activities in full freedom and with full rights of citizenship, obtain residence permits, and have their property restored to them.1

C Uphold the government's obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by Vietnam in 1982, and Vietnam's 1992 Constitution, to respect freedom of opinion and expression, including press freedom, as well as the rights to peaceful assembly, freedom of association, and other fundamental human rights.

C Amend, revise or repeal domestic laws and regulations that impose restrictions on these rights in order to bring them into compliance with international law. Eliminate ambiguities in the Criminal Code's section on crimes against national security to ensure that these laws cannot be applied against those who have merely exercised their basic right to freedom of expression.

C Repeal Administrative Detention Directive 31/CP, which authorizes village-level People's Committee and Public Security officials to detain individuals without trial for between six months and two years if they are deemed to have violated national security laws. The government should ensure that all detainees receive a fair trial within a reasonable time as required under international law.

C Repeal the 1999 press law and the 1993 Law on Publications and lift other restrictions on press freedom which limit the right of the domestic and foreign press to report independently and accurately without penalties or censorship.

C Allow access by humanitarian organizations and independent monitoring groups to Vietnamese prisons and implement the recommendations made to the Vietnamese government in 1994 by the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. The Working Group called for better compliance with the U.N.'s Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, greater transparency in the government's administration of detention facilities, and for the provision of adequate food and immediate medical treatment to all detainees.2

To the international community and foreign aid donors:

C Press Vietnam to release all political and religious prisoners, and to cease surveillance and harassment of dissidents including those released from prison or detention.

C Support Vietnam's process of legal reform but call on the Vietnamese government to introduce legislation that guarantees, both on its face and in its application, the rights to freedom of opinion and expression, assembly, and association, and specifically to repeal Directive 31/CP on administrative detention.

C Provide technical assistance - both bilateral and from the World Bank - for legal reforms incluidng reforms of criminal, press, and national security laws and not only lawsw dealing with commerical matters.

C Encourage Vietnam to achieve greater transparency and accountability in its legal and penal systems and continue to press for the establishment of an independent and impartial judiciary. Press for access for international observers and independent monitors to trials and persons held in prison or administrative detention.

C Urge the Vietnamese government to end its censorship and control over the domestic media, including electronic communications, recognizing that a free press is essential in promoting civil and political rights.

C Urge the Vietnamese government to implement the recommendations made by the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance.

1 Commission on Human Rights, "Civil and Political Rights, Including the Question of Religious Intolerance; Addendum: Visit to Vietnam," Report submitted by Abdelfattah Amor, December 12, 1998.

2 Commission on Human Rights, "Question of the Human Rights of All Persons Subjected to any Form of Detention or Imprisonment; Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Visit to Viet Nam," December 21, 1994, E/CN.4/1995/31/Add.4.

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