December 9, 2010
HANOI — The Internet and free expression have been increasingly stifled in Vietnam this year during a clampdown that seen almost 40 people arrested or convicted, the US ambassador said on Thursday.
“2010 witnessed an overall narrowing of the space for public discourse in Vietnam,” ambassador Michael Michalak told a forum ahead of international Human Rights Day on Friday.
“More than 24 people were arrested and an additional 14 were convicted for the peaceful expression of their views.”
There has been a recent spike in the number of arrests, Michalak added, after a jump at the end of last year.
Communist authorities have stepped up efforts to stifle the media, Internet and civil society, he said.
“Over the past year, Internet transparency has been repeatedly under attack. Whether we talk about the blocking of Facebook, hacking of critical websites, increasingly restrictive regulations on Internet cafes and blogging, this year has seen a significant downturn in Internet freedom,” the ambassador said.
He did not give a reason for the trend but other observers have noted that a recent crackdown against bloggers and activists comes as political tensions rise before a key Communist Party Congress in the first half of January.
“In our opinion, no one should be sent to jail for merely disagreeing with government policies, or labelled ’terrorist’ for wanting to be able to provide more input into policymaking,” said Michalak, whose posting to Vietnam ends next month.
At the same time, he said poverty reduction and other development measures had improved, along with freedom of religious practise.
At a World Bank-led forum on Tuesday, Swiss ambassador Jean-Hubert Lebet also said peaceful expression of opinion should not be punished. He said he “regrets” recent arrests of dissidents.
Lebet was speaking on behalf of Canada, Norway and New Zealand as well as his own country.
On Tuesday the Human Rights Institute of the London-based International Bar Association condemned Vietnam’s “continued practice of arresting and convicting human rights activists, dissidents, and lawyers” under the Penal Code.
The government says concerns over freedom of expression in Vietnam are groundless.