OHCHR / VIET NAM
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29-Sep-2023
00:02:46
The UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence said that the arrest, detention, and sentencing of human rights defenders in Viet Nam who advocate for the environment and the country’s transition to clean-energy use raises serious concerns “not only with respect to the charges leveled against them but also the conduct of their trials.” UNTV CH
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STORY: OHCHR / VIET NAM
TRT: 02:46
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 29 SEPTEMBER 2023 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / FILE
SHOTLIST:
FILE - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, exterior, Palais des Nations
29 SEPTEMBER 2023, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. Wide shot, briefing room
3. SOUNDBITE (English), Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“The arrest, detention, and sentencing of human rights defenders in Viet Nam who advocate for the environment and the country’s transition to clean-energy use raise serious concerns not only with respect to the charges leveled against them but also the conduct of their trials.”
4. Wide shot, briefing room
5. SOUNDBITE (English), Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“Yesterday, Hoang Thi Minh Hong became the fifth of six environmental human rights defenders arrested from 2021 to 2023 to be sentenced. She has been prosecuted on tax evasion charges, which appear to be politically motivated, according to UN independent experts.”
6. Wide shot, briefing room
7. SOUNDBITE (English), Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“Arrests of environmental human rights defenders are taking place amid Viet Nam’s implementation of the Just Energy Transition Partnership. We reiterate that to achieve the goal of a just and sustainable transition to green energy, human rights defenders and environmental organizations must be able to participate freely and actively in shaping climate and environmental policies and decision-making.”
8. Wide shot, briefing room
9. SOUNDBITE (English), Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“These prosecutions and the arbitrary application of restrictive legislation are having a chilling effect on the critically important work of environmental defenders, and that of other human rights defenders in Viet Nam.”
10. Wide shot, briefing room
11. SOUNDBITE (English), Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“We call to the Government of Viet Nam to refrain from using criminal charges to curtail the exercise of fundamental freedoms and to release unconditionally all those who have been detained in such cases. We also remind the authorities of their obligations under international law to respect the rule of law, the right to a fair trial, and ensuring judicial independence.”
12. Wide shot, briefing room
STORYLINE:
The UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence said that the arrest, detention, and sentencing of human rights defenders in Viet Nam who advocate for the environment and the country’s transition to clean-energy use raises serious concerns “not only with respect to the charges leveled against them but also the conduct of their trials.”
Addressing the biweekly press briefing today (29 Sep) in Geneva, Laurence said, “Yesterday, Hoang Thi Minh Hong became the fifth of six environmental human rights defenders arrested from 2021 to 2023 to be sentenced. She has been prosecuted on tax evasion charges, which appear to be politically motivated, according to UN independent experts,” he said.
After a trial lasting just three hours, Hong was sentenced to three years imprisonment and fined USD 4,100.
Her access to a defense counsel and her family has been limited throughout her detention.
Four other environmental rights advocates have been prosecuted on similar charges and sentenced to up to five years imprisonment in what seems to be a wider crackdown on environmental rights defenders and against civic space in Viet Nam.
The charges leveled against the sixth person are still unknown.
“Arrests of environmental human rights defenders are taking place amid Viet Nam’s implementation of the Just Energy Transition Partnership. We reiterate that to achieve the goal of a just and sustainable transition to green energy, human rights defenders and environmental organizations must be able to participate freely and actively in shaping climate and environmental policies and decision-making,” Laurence said.
“These prosecutions and the arbitrary application of restrictive legislation are having a chilling effect on the critically important work of environmental defenders and that of other human rights defenders in Viet Nam,” the spokesperson said.
This issue has also been highlighted in the 2023 Secretary General’s report on intimidation and reprisals, as well as by UN Human Rights Mechanisms, including Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council, Treaty Bodies, and the Universal Periodic Review.
“We call to the Government of Viet Nam to refrain from using criminal charges to curtail the exercise of fundamental freedoms and to release unconditionally all those who have been detained in such cases. We also remind the authorities of their obligations under international law to respect the rule of law, the right to a fair trial, and ensuring judicial independence,” Laurence stressed.
TRT: 02:46
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 29 SEPTEMBER 2023 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / FILE
SHOTLIST:
FILE - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, exterior, Palais des Nations
29 SEPTEMBER 2023, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. Wide shot, briefing room
3. SOUNDBITE (English), Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“The arrest, detention, and sentencing of human rights defenders in Viet Nam who advocate for the environment and the country’s transition to clean-energy use raise serious concerns not only with respect to the charges leveled against them but also the conduct of their trials.”
4. Wide shot, briefing room
5. SOUNDBITE (English), Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“Yesterday, Hoang Thi Minh Hong became the fifth of six environmental human rights defenders arrested from 2021 to 2023 to be sentenced. She has been prosecuted on tax evasion charges, which appear to be politically motivated, according to UN independent experts.”
6. Wide shot, briefing room
7. SOUNDBITE (English), Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“Arrests of environmental human rights defenders are taking place amid Viet Nam’s implementation of the Just Energy Transition Partnership. We reiterate that to achieve the goal of a just and sustainable transition to green energy, human rights defenders and environmental organizations must be able to participate freely and actively in shaping climate and environmental policies and decision-making.”
8. Wide shot, briefing room
9. SOUNDBITE (English), Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“These prosecutions and the arbitrary application of restrictive legislation are having a chilling effect on the critically important work of environmental defenders, and that of other human rights defenders in Viet Nam.”
10. Wide shot, briefing room
11. SOUNDBITE (English), Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“We call to the Government of Viet Nam to refrain from using criminal charges to curtail the exercise of fundamental freedoms and to release unconditionally all those who have been detained in such cases. We also remind the authorities of their obligations under international law to respect the rule of law, the right to a fair trial, and ensuring judicial independence.”
12. Wide shot, briefing room
STORYLINE:
The UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence said that the arrest, detention, and sentencing of human rights defenders in Viet Nam who advocate for the environment and the country’s transition to clean-energy use raises serious concerns “not only with respect to the charges leveled against them but also the conduct of their trials.”
Addressing the biweekly press briefing today (29 Sep) in Geneva, Laurence said, “Yesterday, Hoang Thi Minh Hong became the fifth of six environmental human rights defenders arrested from 2021 to 2023 to be sentenced. She has been prosecuted on tax evasion charges, which appear to be politically motivated, according to UN independent experts,” he said.
After a trial lasting just three hours, Hong was sentenced to three years imprisonment and fined USD 4,100.
Her access to a defense counsel and her family has been limited throughout her detention.
Four other environmental rights advocates have been prosecuted on similar charges and sentenced to up to five years imprisonment in what seems to be a wider crackdown on environmental rights defenders and against civic space in Viet Nam.
The charges leveled against the sixth person are still unknown.
“Arrests of environmental human rights defenders are taking place amid Viet Nam’s implementation of the Just Energy Transition Partnership. We reiterate that to achieve the goal of a just and sustainable transition to green energy, human rights defenders and environmental organizations must be able to participate freely and actively in shaping climate and environmental policies and decision-making,” Laurence said.
“These prosecutions and the arbitrary application of restrictive legislation are having a chilling effect on the critically important work of environmental defenders and that of other human rights defenders in Viet Nam,” the spokesperson said.
This issue has also been highlighted in the 2023 Secretary General’s report on intimidation and reprisals, as well as by UN Human Rights Mechanisms, including Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council, Treaty Bodies, and the Universal Periodic Review.
“We call to the Government of Viet Nam to refrain from using criminal charges to curtail the exercise of fundamental freedoms and to release unconditionally all those who have been detained in such cases. We also remind the authorities of their obligations under international law to respect the rule of law, the right to a fair trial, and ensuring judicial independence,” Laurence stressed.
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