A report issued on October 6, 2008 from Human Rights Watch are asking that Vietnamese government release the Roman Catholics parishioners from jail. They have been arrested at a peaceful prayer vigil in Hanoi and has since not been released. HRW is urging the government to return the church's properties which was confiscated during the arrest. There are also been lots of reports of harassments, threats and restrictions on the archbishop of Hanoi Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet, he has been adamantly trying to defend the rights of those who have been arrested. “This is the harshest crackdown on Catholics in Vietnam in decades,” said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch. “Sadly, religious repression and violent crackdowns by the Vietnamese authorities against peaceful protesters are nothing new.” This is the first time in 50 years that Vietnam as seen such a rise in the Catholic community unity. It is also true that there has been a increasing number of more violence among the government and the Roman Catholic community. The Vietnamese government is using smoke bombs, electric baton beating, and false arrest without just cause. The two Hanoi properties in dispute are the site of the former Nunciature (a Vatican diplomatic mission), and the Thai Ha Church of the Redemptorists, both of which were confiscated in the mid-1950s. Construction workers, backed by hundreds of police officers, bulldozed church buildings at the site of the Nunciature on September 19, 2008. There are 6 officially recognized languages in Vietnam, Roman Catholic is one of them, so the intense disapproval from the government is concerning and has been using a smear campaign tactic to protrayal Archbishop Kiet as unpatriotic to Vietnam.
I think that is sad that even as a recognize religion but they are being surpressed just because the government is unhappy with the parishioner coming together. The government is using this as an scapegoat to say that this religious group is rioting and becoming a public distraction who is led my a religious figure that they do not approve of. I think this is the first time that the Vietnamese government has felt threaten by such a small group. I know that it is traditional for the Vietnamese to feel in control and this is the farthest from control they have seen in recent years.
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/10/04/vietna19915.htm
1 comment:
I believe that the Vietnamese government's actions are not beneficial to them as they reveal that there are other underlying reasons for the arrests and by taking action, they have highlighted it. Also, the protestors will be viewed as heroes for their cause, further discrediting the government.
Post a Comment