A cross party delegation of the subcommittee on human rights in the European Parliament, led by S&D Euro MP Antonio Panzeri, together with S&D spokesperson Soraya Post and David Martin, member of the ASEAN delegation, visited Hanoi, in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam from 20 to 24 February 2017 to evaluate the human rights situation in the country and to encourage the ratification of international human rights conventions as well as their implementation.
Despite renewed economic growth and progress on a number of social indicators, Vietnam’s record on civil and political rights has room for improvement. The ruling Communist Party has a monopoly on political power and allows no challenge to its leadership: basic rights, including freedoms of speech, of religion, of opinion, of press and of association are unnecessarily restricted.
S&D MEP Antonio Panzeri said:
"Our objective is to initiate a constructive dialogue between the EU and Vietnam thereby promoting an atmosphere of reciprocal trust to take steps forward in the area of cooperation and human rights. One way to achieve this would be inter-parliamentary cooperation in the area of economic cooperation and trade, sustainable development and human rights. On behalf of the delegation, I have submitted a letter to the National Assembly Chair to consider the establishment of a joint parliamentary committee under the umbrella of the EP inter-parliamentary ASEAN delegation."
S&D MEP Soraya Post said:
"We met with human rights activists who have been harassed and intimidated preventing them from attending meetings. This is evidence of the challenging environment in which they operate, as they face harassment, arrests and detention. We reconfirm our commitment to support their courageous work and we strongly reiterate our call to put an end to their repression"
S&D MEP David Martin added:
"We acknowledge that the recent economic and social development of Vietnam comes from the openness of the country to other countries, notably in the context of trade agreements.
"The European Parliament has become more sceptical about trade deals and one can no longer assume an automatic majority for any agreement. Progress on human rights, particularly in relation to core ILO conventions, would assist in putting together a majority in the European Parliament for the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement."
The delegation met with members of the various committees of the National Assembly, government authorities, UN agencies, local NGOs, human rights activists and religious groups. The delegation also made a field visit where the members visited a re-education centre for juvenile delinquents, as well as a centre for women and development.
