Last week, Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR) leaders and World Movement participants Vo Van Ai (in photo) and Penelope Faulkner were denied entry into Thailand to prevent them from holding a press conference with the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) on human rights in Vietnam.  Although Mr. Vo Van Ai had received a visa, the night before his departure the Thai Embassy informed him that he would not be allowed into Thailand. Later, Ms. Faulkner was informed by the airline that she would not be allowed to board her flight, since the airline had been informed by Thai authorities that she, too, would not be allowed to enter the country.

 

Mr. Vo Van Ai and Ms. Faulkner were scheduled to speak at the press event in Bangkok to discuss the report, “From ‘Vision’ to Facts: Human Rights in Vietnam under its Chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).” The report, co-produced by VCHR and FIDH, emphasizes that human rights violations in Vietnam continued unabated during its chairmanship of ASEAN in 2010. 

 

In addition to the Thai authorities’ denial of entry to Thailand, on September 12, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand (FCCT) announced that due to pressure from the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it was canceling the press conference on human rights in Vietnam altogether. According to VCHR and FIDH, canceling the event reveals Vietnam’s influence in the region and the Vietnamese government’s intolerance of any debate on its human rights record. According to Voice of America (VOA), Thailand itself has come under widespread international and domestic criticism for curtailing media freedoms this year.

 

For more information from Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR), go to: www.queme.net/eng/news_detail.php?numb=1356

 

For more information from the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), go to: www.fidh.org/The-Thai-authorities-prevent-a-press-conference

 

To read “From ‘Vision’ to Facts: Human Rights in Vietnam under its Chairmanship of ASEAN,” go to: www.fidh.org/VIETNAM-From-Vision-to-Facts-HUMAN-RIGHTS-IN

 

For more information from Democracy Digest, go to: www.demdigest.net/blog/regions/asia/thailand-bars-vietnam-human-rights-activists.html