WRITTEN QUESTION E-0216/04 by Marco Pannella (NI) to the Commission. Violation of religious freedom in Vietnam.
Date: 2004-01-30
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU relations, Viet Nam, church-State relations, freedom of religious beliefs, religious discrimination, right to justice

C 88 E/690

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

8.4.2004

Answer given by Mr Lamy on behalf of the Commission

(10 March 2004)

is a non-binding arrangement between the most
The ‘Pharmaceutical Tariff Elimination Agreement’
important pharmaceutical producing countries to reduce their World Trade Organisation (WTO) bindings
of duties on certain pharmaceutical products, including active ingredients and intermediate products, to
zero. Because new pharmaceutical products are constantly being developed, the arrangement envisages
periodic reviews of these products. Any of the participants could have launched the process for the third
update (Update III) which was due to be completed in 2002, even if it was indeed the EU that proposed
and took forward the previous two updates. Given the interest of the EU Pharmaceutical industry, the
Commission is actually considering launching Update III.

As regards the simplification of the updating procedures as well as the extension of the Agreement to
other WTO Members, the Commission shall certainly consider such options if they were to be in the wider
interests of the EU within the Doha Development Agenda.

(2004/C 88 E/0709)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0216/04

by Marco Pannella (NI) to the Commission

(30 January 2004)

Subject: Violation of religious freedom in Vietnam

According to the International Religious Freedom Report 2003 produced by the U.S. Department of State,
significant restrictions have been imposed in Vietnam on the activities of religious groups not recognised
by the government.

The Communist Party has imposed severe restrictions on the hierarchies and clergy of religious groups.

In this respect, the Vietnamese Government has:

1.

2.

3.

4.

used judicial methods to control the religious hierarchies and organised religious activities;

repressed the religious organisation ‘Assemblies of God’ and forced its members into unemployment,
forbidding their children to attend school and confiscating their property;

continued to isolate certain religious figures, restricting their movement and exerting pressure on their
followers and relatives, as in the case of Thich Huyen Quang, the Supreme Patriarch of the Unified
Buddhist Church of Vietnam, who lived under conditions resembling house arrest between 1982 and
March 2003;

used a noxious gas to disperse a gathering of Hmong Protestants in Lau Chau province in late
December 2002, as a result of which one pregnant woman miscarried and other people required
medical attention.

Similarly, the Hmong Protestants Mua Bua Senh and Vang Seo Giao were beaten to death by local officials
in July 2002.

Moreover, cases have been recorded of people being convicted under Article 258 of the Penal Code (to up
to 3 years in prison) for ‘practising religion illegally’. Some of the judicial measures employed to convict
religious prisoners violate international instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The Religious Affairs Office is violating religious freedom via the actions of government officials and the
security forces, who have persecuted and arbitrarily detained people who practise religion.

8.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 88 E/691

US embassy officials have informed the government that the lack of progress on religious matters and
human rights is an obstacle to the full normalisation of bilateral relations.

The European Commission has urged the Vietnamese Government to show greater respect for political and
religious freedom, but has taken no further action against it. Its position on this issue, which is simply to
‘monitor the situation’, therefore differs from the stance adopted by the United States.

In view of the above:

(cid:1) Has the Commission taken any active measures in relation to respect for political and religious
freedom, or in relation to prospective economic and social freedom, since the Joint Statement by the
Commission and Member States at the Consultative Group meeting in Hanoi in December 2002?

(cid:1) Has it given thought to and attempted to stop the abuses and restrictions on the religious freedom of

individuals such as Thich Huyen Quang, Thich Quang Do and Father Nguyen Van Ly?

(cid:1) Has it reflected on the US stance of designating Vietnam a Country of Particular Concern under the

International Religious Freedom Act should the government fail to improve conditions?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(25 February 2004)

In the context of its human rights dialogue with the Vietnamese authorities, as well as in other settings,
including the EU Troika missions to the Central Highlands (cid:1) the latest in December 2003 (cid:1), the EU has
consistently raised the severe restrictions on religious freedom in Vietnam. Specifically,
the EU has
expressed its serious concerns about the situation of the Protestant communities in the Central Highlands
and the measures taken against the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV). It has asked for the
release of Protestant pastors and followers, and UBCV religious leaders and monks placed in detention, and
urged the government to re-launch the dialogue with the UBCV.

The EU has also called for the release of other prisoners and detainees of concern held for the peaceful
expression of their personal opinion, in contravention of international legal instruments to which Vietnam
is a party. It has voiced its concern on the vagueness and discretionary application of some Vietnamese
laws, and called for their revision: these include a number of provisions in the Criminal Code, such as the
one that the Honourable Member refers to, as well as decree no. CP/31 which allows citizens to be put
under house arrest for up to two years without the intervention of a judge. In the latter context, the EU
has suggested that experts from the United Nations (UN) Working Group on Arbitrary Detention be
invited to Vietnam.

The EU has pressed the government for increased transparency in relation to human rights-related issues,
referring to the damage that the present lack of openness is causing to Vietnam’s international image. In
this respect, the EU has called for unrestricted access by independent monitoring missions by UN human
rights rapporteurs, notably the UN Special Rapporteur on Religious Freedom, as well as the High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and reputable human rights non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
to the country,
It has also requested the government to allow
diplomats of EU Member States to visit prisoners of concern, and to monitor the trials of dissidents.

including to the Central Highlands.

The EU will continue to call for improvements of Vietnam’s human rights record on all occasions
including the Consultative Group meetings, and to offer support through cooperation programmes to
contribute to concrete changes on the ground.