Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  There are two points to your remarks. First of all, the statistics in Vietnam are usually open to questions, and secondly, thanks to the foreign investment and the foreign assistance of many countries to Vietnam in the last few decades, GDP has increased significantly, but the di

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Precisely. On the point you mentioned, the Internet—as I mentioned earlier in the presentation—is severely controlled by the government. The bloggers and other people have difficulty getting the true information to the vast majority of the people. The Prime Minister of Vietnam ha

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Actually, in reality the majority of people are still living in poverty. Whatever benefits have been derived from the recent foreign assistance, foreign investment, and the economic prosperity have gone into the hands of people who are related to the Vietnamese authorities. Becau

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  What you said was 58%?

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Definitely, Madam, as I mentioned in my presentation, the question of negotiations to join the TPP has to be closely associated with the human rights issues in Vietnam. This is a view that was expressed by President Obama recently, when he mentioned that the TPP agreement must in

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes, there are many things, but in my personal experience I can mention one particular issue, which concerns some facts related to Ho Chi Minh himself. He was the leader of Vietnam but he committed many crimes, and the most serious involved the land reforms in which hundreds of t

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Ladies and gentlemen, before joining the United Nations Human Rights Council, Vietnam pledged and promised to do many things. It promised to carry out free elections, it promised not to punish the bloggers, and it promised freedom of expression and freedom of the press. But up un

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Sir, I am an independent activist in Vietnam and my work is not related to Viet Tan at all, but in my opinion, Viet Tan is also a party that wants to fight for freedom and democracy in Vietnam.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  My answer is that in Vietnam those judges who would like to be independent are usually not allowed to preside over the trials of the locals and the activists.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Actually, the control of the Internet has been practised by Vietnam for a long time. With the police security they have a special branch to manage and monitor the activities on the Internet. They also installed a firewall that prevents the people from getting the news from outsid

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  First, I don't agree with that statement.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I do not agree with that observation because the police in Vietnam are a tool of the government authority and they cannot do anything without the approval of the authority.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Those 20 people are not of any particular religions, but they are followers of a range of religious organizations and societies that are not approved by the government.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Ladies and gentlemen, thank you. Today is May 12, 2015. I am here at the invitation of the human rights committee of the Parliament of Canada. lt is an honour for me personally as well as for my friends who have been or are fighting for human rights and freedom in Vietnam. La