Japan: Raise Rights on Trip to Vietnam, Indonesia Prime Minister Suga Should Use Favorable Position to Advocate Reforms

By Khmer Post USA

Human Rights Watch, in an October 16 letter, urged newly elected Japan Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to address the concerns about Vietnam’s widespread violations of civil and political rights, including freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and movement. He was also urged to criticize Indonesia’s suppression on freedom of religion, press freedom, the rights to sexual orientation and gender identity, and the rights of Indigenous peoples. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga scheduled his first foreign trip to Indonesia and Vietnam from October 18 – 21, 2020.

“Japan should use its significant leverage as a major donor to the Vietnamese and Indonesian governments to press both to stop violating human rights,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director. “Prime Minister Suga should publicly and privately show that Japan is serious about its policy declarations to promote human rights abroad.”

People who criticize the Vietnamese government or the ruling Communist Party are subjected to police harassment, restricted movement, physical assault, arbitrary arrest and detention, and imprisonment. The police routinely detain political activists for months without access to legal counsel and subject them to bullying interrogation. Vietnamese authorities have also shut down access to politically independent websites and social media pages, while pressuring social media and telecommunication companies to remove content deemed critical of the government or the party.

Read full statement here on Human Rights Watch website at: https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/10/18/japan-raise-rights-trip-vietnam-indonesia