By Marianne Brown, Voice of America
Activists in Vietnam have complained of police harassment at events held to mark International Human Rights Day.
Vietnamese blogger Nguyen Lan Thang in a Hanoi cafe on Nov. 27, 2013. Reuters
To mark the day Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam David Shear issued a statement urging the country to uphold the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, an agreement adopted in 1948 which outlines fundamental freedoms and rights of people across the world.
Shear said achieving demonstrable progress on human rights is vital to the relationship between the two countries and affects every facet of foreign policy.
Over the last few months Vietnam has signed the U.N. Convention Against Torture and reached out to the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion and Belief to visit Vietnam, the statement said.
It has also become a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council. However, some activists question how much progress has really been made.
This week, participants at rallies to celebrate Human Rights Day reported being harassed by police.
Blogger Me Nam, which means “Mother Mushroom,” was at the inaugural meeting of Vietnamese Women For Human Rights on Tuesday at a pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City.
“Today we gave the invitation to about 50 people. Some of them couldn’t be there because the police stop [them] at the beginning at home,” said Me Nam.
The group was launched last month to provide a support network for women involved in human rights activism.
“The important issues that we talk about today is we gave the plan to visit the home of women who were arrested or who have husbands or brothers who were arrested. We also meet some people who are farmers who lost their land and they were evicted by the police,” said Me Nam.
Read the full story by Marianne Brown from Voice of America.
