Tag: Vietnam

Vietnamese government urged to cease persecution of religious minorities ahead of UN review

January 22, 2019 Human rights, Minorities, Nguyễn Trung Tôn, Nguyen Van Dai, Religion Law, Vietnam

Vietnamese human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai, 48, was sentenced to 15 years in jail in April. (Photo: -/AFP/Getty Images)

Religious freedom advocates have called on the Vietnamese government to cease persecution of Christians and members of other religious minorities, including torture. Their calls come ahead of the UN Review of the country’s human rights records in Geneva today, 22 January. Non-governmental organisations said in their submission to the UN . . . Read More

From China to sub-Saharan Africa, Christians experience high levels of persecution in 73 countries

January 16, 2019 Global News -- No Particular Country Buddhist nationalism, China, Colombia, Copts, Egypt, Hindu nationalism, India, Indonesia, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Libya, Mexico, Myanmar, Nigeria, Somalia, Vietnam, World Watch List

In its latest annual survey of 150 countries monitoring how difficult it is to live as a Christian, out today, the overall trend in the 2019 World Watch List is that almost half (73) showed extreme, very high or high levels of persecution. A year earlier, it was 58 countries. . . . Read More

UK parliamentary group calls out 27 countries for ‘significant’ religious freedom violations

December 10, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Afghanistan, Ahmed Shaheed, Bangladesh, Central African Republic, China, Colombia, Egypt, Eritrea, Human rights, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Maldives, Myanmar, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Religious freedom, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tariq Ahmad, Turkey, Turkmenistan, UK, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen

A church in Bartella, a town near the Iraqi city of Mosul, after Islamic State militants left the area in October 2016. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

A “Commentary on the Current State of Freedom of Religion or Belief” presented by a group of British parliamentarians today, 10 December, highlights 27 countries where people’s religious freedom has been denied and abused in the past year. The report, presented by the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for International . . . Read More

Vietnam frees Catholic blogger but upholds 20-year sentence for another activist

October 22, 2018 Vietnam Catholics, Human rights, Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, Vietnam

Vietnamese blogger Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh (L), also known as 'Mother Mushroom', stands trial at a courthouse in the central city of Nha Trang on June 29, 2017. (Photo: Getty Images)

A Vietnamese Catholic blogger arrived in the United States last week after she was released from jail unexpectedly, reports the Catholic news site UCAN. Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, also known as “Mother Mushroom”, was sentenced in June last year to ten years in prison for posting what police described as . . . Read More

Vietnam uses ‘national security’ to detain rights activists, UN told

September 19, 2018 Vietnam Catholics, Human rights, Nguyen Van Dai, Religious freedom, UN, Vietnam

Vietnam has been accused of “misinforming” the international community about the human rights issues in the country. The president of the Paris-based Vietnam Committee on Human Rights, Vo Van Ai, speaking at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, condemned the alleged “brutal crackdown on freedom of expression, association, peaceful . . . Read More

Thailand called to release detained Vietnamese Montagnard refugees

September 3, 2018 Asylum seekers, Cambodia, Children, Hmong, Minorities, Montagnards, Refugees, Religious freedom, Thailand, Vietnam

The Montagnard-people are persecuted because of their faith but getting asylum in neighbouring countries is difficult. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Thailand should release the group of ethnic minority refugees and asylum seekers, mostly Christians, arrested last week during a crackdown just outside the capital Bangkok, rights groups say. Most of the 181 refugees detained are Montagnards, an indigenous group from Vietnam who face “harsh persecution if they are returned to . . . Read More

Vietnamese Christian rights defender exiled to Germany after release

June 11, 2018 Vietnam Exile, Hanoi, Human rights, Nguyễn Trung Tôn, Nguyen Van Dai, Vietnam

Vietnam has released a Christian human rights lawyer and his assistant – both of whom were given long prison sentences in April – and sent them to Germany. No statement was issued by the government on the release of Nguyen Van Dai, 48, and his assistant, Le Thu Ha, on . . . Read More

A Christian escapee from North Korea has his doubts about Kim’s peace overtures

May 9, 2018 North Korea Bibles, Communism, Corruption, Donald Trump, Human rights, Kim Jong-Un, North Korea, Pyongyang, Religious freedom, South Korea, Torture, Vietnam

South Koreans at the Seoul Railway Station on 9 May, 2018 watch on a screen reporting the visit of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, to meet North Korea Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, right.

What North Korea’s leader seeks from the international community is appeasement and not peace, let alone the freedom of his own people, a North Korean escapee says. “True peace will have to come alongside freedom of faith, belief, expression, speech for North Korean people,” said the former citizen of North . . . Read More

Vietnam’s ‘country of concern’ recommendation welcomed

May 3, 2018 Vietnam Human rights, Nguyen Cong Chinh, Religious freedom, USA, Vietnam

The Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR) has welcomed the recommendation that Vietnam be designated as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC). The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said on 25 April that it wanted six more countries, including Vietnam, to be added to the US State Department’s . . . Read More

Another ‘harsh’ jail sentence for a Vietnamese Christian

April 17, 2018 Vietnam Nguyen Van Dai, Vietnam

Business Trip to Hanoi Vietnam, Walking around with the Canon G10.

A court in Vietnam has jailed a Catholic rights activist for nine years. Teresa Tran Thi Xuan, 42, was convicted on 12 April of “attempting to overthrow the people’s government”, reported Catholic news agency UCAN. Fellow Christian human rights activist Nguyen Van Dai was jailed earlier in April for 15 . . . Read More

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