Asia

VIETNAM Hanoi creates riot squads to suppress protests

Police unveiled the new bodies at a ceremony two days ago. The Constitution guarantees the right to demonstrate, but an application decree has never been approved. Since 2018, they don’t even talk about it anymore.

Hanoi ( / Agencies) – At least 15 provinces and cities in Vietnam have created reserve riot police squads to suppress “illegal demonstrations” and detain people accused of “disturbing public order”.

Ho Chi Minh City Police unveiled the new squad at a ceremony on August 10. According to the digital daily Công an Nhân dân, specialized bodies must be ready to act in any situation by order of the Ministry of Public Security or the directors of provincial police departments.

For its part, Radio Free Asia (RFA) explained that the squads could be used to stop protests by ethnic and religious minorities. A lawyer from Ho Chi Minh, who for security reasons wished to remain anonymous, said that “the suppression of illegal protests” goes against the Constitution of Vietnam: “The right to protest is a constitutional right, therefore, repression is illegal.” However, there is currently no legislation regulating demonstrations in the country.

“The Constitution establishes that people have the right to protest, but the bill in this regard has been blocked for years,” explained a woman who participated in 2014 in the demonstrations against the construction of a Chinese oil platform in the exclusive economic zone of Vietnam. “In practice, all protests are repressed in Vietnam.”

In 2013, the government had commissioned the Ministry of Public Security to deal with drafting a bill on protests. When it was ready he was repeatedly removed from Parliament’s agenda. Since 2018 neither the deputies nor the local media have mentioned it again.

According to the most recent Human Rights Watch report released in February this year, “Basic civil and political rights are systematically suppressed in Vietnam. The communist government has tightened control over the rights to freedom of expression, association, peaceful assembly, movement and religion.”



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