Evolving concepts of human rights in Vietnam

Human Rights in Asia: A Comparative Legal Study of Twelve Asian Jurisdictions, France and the USA

Volumn , Issue , 2006, Pages 452-486

  Gillespie, John ^a  

^a DEAKIN UNIVERSITY   (Australia)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 84905945599     PISSN: None     EISSN: None     Source Type: Book    
DOI: 10.4324/9780203008157     Document Type: Chapter

References (114)

1. Chinese influence was impeded by linguistic and administrative barriers that effectively isolated villagers from deep Chinese culture. See Keith Taylor, The Birth of Vietnam, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983.
2. See E. S. Ungar, "From myth to history: imagined polities in 14th century Vietnam", in David Marr and A. C. Milner (eds), Southeast Asia in the 9th and 14th Centuries, Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1986, pp. 177-86;
3. Keith K. Taylor, "Authority and legitimacy in eleventh-century Vietnam," Vietnam Forum, vol. 12, 1988, pp. 20-59.
4. Notions emphasizing self-reliance such as tu do (self-originating freedom) gave way to Confucian values that stressed inner perfection such as chi thanh (total sincerity) and tu thanh (self-completion). See Alexander Woodside, "Freedom and elite political theoiy in Vietnam before the French", in David Kelly and Anthony Reid (eds), Asian Freedoms, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1998, pp. 206-8.
5. Of the code's 722 articles, 200 were either directly borrowed from, or were substantially influenced by the Tang Code and 17 were borrowed from the Ming Code. See Ta Van Tai, "Vietnam's Code of the Lé Dynasty (1428-1788)", American Journal of Comparative Law, vol. 30, no. 3, 1982, pp. 523, 525.
6. A married woman, for example, was entitled to reclaim her contributions to the matrimonial estate after her husband's death. See Tran Thi Tuyet, "Vietnam's feudal laws and the protection of women's interests", Vietnam Law and Legal Forum, vol. 6, no. 65, 2000, pp. 28-30.
7. See S. H. Roberts, The History of French Colonial Policy 1870-1925, London: Frank Cass, 1929 (new impression 1963), pp. 64-75;
8. also see Nguyen The Anh, "The Vietnamese monarchy under French colonial rule 1884-1945", Modern Asian Studies, vol. 19, 1985, pp. 153-5.
9. See Nguyen Khac Vien, "Confucianism and Marxism", Vietnam Studies, no. 1, 1994, pp. 54-5.
10. Ho Chi Minh caustically observed that: Justice is represented by a good lady holding scales in one hand and a sword in the other. As the greatness of the distance between Indochina and France was so great, so great that, on arrival there, the scales lost their balance and the pans melted and turned into opium pipes and official bottles of spirits, that the poor lady had only the sword left with which to strike. She even struck innocent people and innocent people especially. Ho Chi Minh, Selected Works, Hanoi: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1961, vol. 2, p. 96.
11. See, e.g., Vo Van Ai, "Human rights and Asian values in Vietnam", in Michael Jacobsen and Ole Bruun (eds), Human Rights and Asian Values: Identities and Cultural Representations in Asia, Surrey: Curzon, 2000, pp. 95-7.
12. See Hoang Van Hao, "National sovereignty and human rights", Tap Chi Cong San online: www.tapchicongsan.org.vn/show_content.pl?topic;
13. Vu Cong Giao, "Nhung Gia Tri Nhan Quyen Chau A Hay Nhung Muu Do Va Do Dao Duc Gia Cua Phuong Tay Trong Linh Vuc Nhan Quyen?" [Asian Values of Human Rights or Western Conspiracy and Hypocrisy in Human Rights Issues?], Nghien Cuu Quoc Te [International Studies], no. 2, 2002, p. 42.
14. The socialist legality (phap che xa hoi chu nghia), borrowed from the Soviet Union, treated law as a "management tool" (cong cu quan ly) to adjust or balance (dieu chinh) social relationships-a practice allowing for the substitution of party policy for law. For a discussion about how this doctrine interacts with the law-based-state doctrine see John Gillespie, "Concepts of law in Vietnam: transforming statist socialism", in Randall Peerenboom (ed.), Asian Discourses of Rule of Law: Theories and Implementation of the Rule of Law in Twelve Asian Countries, France and the U.S., London: Routledge, 2004, p. 146.
15. See Dinh Gia Trinh, "May Y Kien Dong Gop Ve Van De Bao Ve Phap Che" [Some Opinions on the Protection of Legality], Tap San Tu Phap, no. 3, 1961, pp. 20-32.
16. Tuong Chinh, "Report to the National Assembly 12 December 1980", trans. FBIS East Asia Daily Report, 15 December 1980, p. K15.
17. Le Duan, "Speech to the September 1980 Communist Party Plenum", trans. FBIS East Asia Daily Report, 13 January 1981, p. K22.
18. See Ta Van Thai, The Vietnamese Tradition of Human Rights, Berkeley: Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, 1988, pp. 180-5.
19. See Hoang Viet Hinh Luat [Criminal Code of the Vietnamese Emperor], ch. 12. Reproduced in the Ta Van Thai, 1988, The Vietnamese Tradition of Human Rights.
20. Carlyle A. Thayer, "Mono-organizational socialism and the state", in Benedict J. Tria Kerkvliet and Doug J. Porter (eds), Vietnam's Rural Transformation, Boulder, Co: Westview Press, 1995, p. 52.
21. See also Benedict Kerkvliet, "An approach for analyzing state-society relations in Vietnam", Sojourn, vol. 16, no. 2, 2001, p. 238.
22. R. Dalton and N. Ong "The Vietnamese public in transition: the World Values survey: Vietnam 2001", Center for the Study of Democracy, University of California, Irvine, 2001: www.uci.edu/csd (hereafter, the "World Values Survey Vietnam 2001").
23. See Philip Taylor, "The ethnicity of efficacy: Vietnamese goddess worship and the encoding of popular histories", Asian Ethnicity, vol. 3, no. 1, 2002, p. 85;
24. Philip Taylor, Goddess on the Rise, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2004.
25. See Pierro Gheddo, The Cross and the Bo Tree, trans. W. Quinn, New York: Sheed and Ward, 1968, pp. 4, 25.
26. See "Religion in Vietnam today", Indochina Journal, January-February, 1983;
27. David Marr, "Church and state in Vietnam", Indochina Issues, no. 74, 1968, p. 4.
28. See Party Central Committee, "Party Central Committee 7th Plenum; Resolution on Religious Work", Vietnam Law and Legal Forum, vol. 9, no. 106, 2003, pp. 19-21.
29. See also Pham Huy Thong, "Su Phat Trien Ve Nhan Thuc Ton Giao Cua Dang" [Developing the Party's Perception of Religion], Tap Chi Cong San, no. 7, 2003, pp. 15-18.
30. See Shaun Kingsley Malarney, "Return to the past? The dynamics of contemporary religious and ritual transformation", in Hy V. Luong (ed.), Postwar Vietnam: Dynamics of a Transforming Society, Boulder, Co: Rowman and Littlefield, 2003, pp. 235-45;
31. Stephen Denney, "The Catholic church in Vietnam", in Pedro Ramet (ed.), Catholicism and Politics in Communist Societies, Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1999, pp. 270-95.
32. Le Quang Vinh, "Facts about religious freedom in Viet Nam", Tap Chi Cong San online (2003):www.tapchicongsan.org.vn. In the 1997 census over 15 million people or 21 percent of the population claimed adherence to a religious faith. There were approximately 7 million Buddhists, 5 million Catholics, 400,000 Protestants; 100,000 Muslims; 2 million Cao Dai and 2 million Hoa Hao. See Vietnam Law and Legal Forum, vol. 9, no. 106, 2003, pp. 20-1.
33. See Nguyen Hong Duong, Nghi Le va Loi Song Ton Giao Van Hoa Viet Nam [Liturgy and the Catholic Way of Life in Vietnamese Culture], Hanoi: Nha Xuat Ban Khoa Hoc Xa Hoi [Social Sciences Publishing House], 2001, pp. 6975.
34. Dang Nghiem Van, "On the problem of religion", Vietnam Social Sciences, no. 2, 2001, pp. 48, 54. See also Ordinance on Beliefs and Religions, Articles 5, 7.
35. See Trung Ba Can, "Interview with Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet", Saigon Giai Phong, 27 February 1994, p. 7, trans. FBIS East Asia Daily Reports, pp. 56-8.
36. See Margie Mason, "Vietnam refused to recognize Vatican appointment of Ho Chi Minh Cardinal", Associated Press, 29 September 2003.
37. See Human Rights Watch Report Vietnam 2001: www.hrw.org.
38. See Marr, Vietnamese Anti-Colonialism 1885-1925, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971, pp. 44-53.
39. See Georges Boudarel, "The Nhan-Van Giai Pham affair: intellectual dissidence in the 1950s", Vietnam Forum, vol. 13, 1990, pp. 154-74.
40. See Russell Hiang-Khng Heng, "Media in Vietnam and the structure of its management", in David Marr (ed.), The Mass Media in Vietnam, Canberra: Political and Social Change Monograph ANU, 1998, pp. 32-4.
41. In 2003 there were over 500 accredited media agencies, with over 600 publications, 20 online newspapers, and over 10,000 media officials. See Ha Dang, "Improvement of the party's media work in the light of Ho Chi Minh thought", Tap Chi Cong San online (2003).
42. See, e.g., Le Hong Minh, "Co Mot Thi Truong 'An Theo' Dam Tang Le Cong Tuan Anh", Saigon Tiep Thi, 16 October 1996, p. 3.
43. Le Kha Phieu, "Party leader addresses cultural officials", Nhan Dan, 9 October 1998, pp. 1, 5.
44. See Cong An Thanh Pho Ho Chi Minh, "Mot Vu Vi Pham Nghiem Trong Luat Bao Chi", Cong An Thanh Pho Ho Chi Minh [Ho Chi Minh City People's Court], 7 August 1996, p. 7.
45. Nguyen Nhu Phong and Vu Cao, "Minh Phung Lam Giau va Sup Do The Noa" [Minh Phung-How did It Get Rich? How did It Collapse?], The Anh Ninh The Gioi [The World Security Magazine], no. 61, 13 February 1998, pp. 1-3.
46. See generally Russell Heng Hiang Khng, "Media negotiating the state: in the name of the law in anticipation", Sojourn, vol. 16, no. 2, 2001, p. 213.
47. See Le Kha Phieu, Vietnam Entering the 21st Century, Hanoi: The Gioi Publishers, 2001, p. 85.
48. See David Marr and Mark Sidel, "Understanding the outside world", in David Marr (ed.), The Mass Media in Vietnam, Canberra: Political and Social Change Monograph 25, ANU, 1998, p. 142.
49. Carole Beaulieu "Vietnamese media ride an economic boom and the censors take the back seat", Institute of Current World Affairs, Report CB-19, 14 March 1994.
50. See Vietnam News Service, "Crime boss faces court in nation's biggest trial", vietnamnews-online, 27 February 2003: www.vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn.
51. See Reuters, "Vietnam orders media to limit scandal coverage", Reuters, 21 June 2002.
52. See Reporters Without Borders, 2003 Vietnam: Annual Report: www.rsf.org/t.php3?id_article=6491.
53. See VNA, "Party leader urges army's newspapers to promote attractiveness and diversity", Nhan Dan online, 17 July 2003.
54. Criminal Code 1986, Article 73. See Reporters Without Borders, "Vietnam: Annual Report 2003", at: www.rsf.org/t.php3?id_article=6491_/url_.
55. See Minh Tu, "Bao Lao Dong va Nha Bao Nguyen Hoan Bi Ra Toa Vi Chong Ham Nhung?" [Were Labour and Reporter Nguyen Hoan in the Dock because they Fought Corruption?], Nguoi Lam Bao [The Journalist], 1999, pp. 35-6, 50.
56. See, e.g., Ordinance on State Secrets 2000; Decree No. 33 Detailing the Implementation of the Ordinance on State Secrets 2002.
57. Reporters Without Borders, "Internet in Vietnam", 2003: www.fva.org/200306/story07.htm.
58. See VNA, "Suspension of unlicensed website TTVNOnline", Vietnam News Agency online, 13 August 2002: www.vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn.
59. Criminal Code 1999, Article 88. See "Amnesty International condemns sentence against Le Chi Quang", 2002: www.fva.org/200211/story03.htm.
60. See Dinh Gia Trinh, Nghien Cuu Nha Nuoc va Phap Quyen [Studies about State and Legality], Nha Xuat Ban Su Hoc [Hanoi: Historical Studies Publishing House], 1964, pp. 90-2.
61. See Duong Xuan Ngoc, "Social democracy according to socialist orientation", Vietnam Social Sciences, no. 3, 1996, p. 41.
62. See Ha Xuan Truong, "Problem of democracy", Vietnam Social Sciences, no. 1, 1991, p. 77.
63. Constitution 1992, Article 2. See Nguyen Dang Quang et al., "Scientific forum: democracy in Vietnam", Vietnam Social Sciences, no. 1, 1991, pp. 69-83.
64. In the 1997 elections 663 candidates stood for 450 NA seats, and CPV members stood for every seat. Among the 450 winners, 384 were CPV members, and only 3 "self-nominated" candidates won seats. See Report, "Newly elected National Assembly holds its first session", Vietnam Law and Legal Forum, vol. 8, no. 95, 2002, pp. 6, 7.
65. See Nhan Dan, "Rights to vote and stand for National Assembly election", www.nhandan.org.vn.2002:
66. Interview with Nguyen Si Dung, Director, Center for Information, Library, and Research, Office of the National Assembly, Hanoi, 17 February 2000.
67. Delegates from the same province generally meet voters in combined meetings. See Legis, "The National Assembly in a nutshell", Nghien Cuu Lap Phap [Legislative Studies], English edn, no. 1, 2001, p. 60.
68. See VNS, "National Assembly delegates told to pay close heed to voters' complaints", Vietnam News Agency online, 24 April 2002.
69. The NA is now comprised of almost 500 delegates, of whom only 125 are full-time. See Nguyen Duc Lam, "De Tien Toi Chuyen Nghiep" [Towards Professionalism in the NA], Nghien Cuu Lap Phap [Legislative Studies], no. 6, 2002, pp. 3, 25-30.
70. Of 20,000 petitions sent to the NA 40 percent are sent to the Law Committee, and the remainder go the Standing Committee. See Goran Andersson et al., "Strengthening the capacity of the office of the Vietnam National Assembly", unpublished paper, Sida Evaluation 12/12, Stockholm, 2002, p. 25.
71. See Economic Affairs Reports, "Can Trong Ne Nang, Dai Khai" [Serious, Careful and not Perfunctory and Spare No One], Lao Dong, 11 September 2000, p. 3.
72. See Nhan Dan, "PM instructs openness and democracy at communal level", Nhan Dan online, 11 July 2003: www.nhandan.com.vn.
73. See Martin Gainsborough, "Political change in Vietnam", Asian Survey, vol. 45, no. 5, 2002, pp. 706-7.
74. See VNS, "Draft Criminal Procedure Code prompts long debate", Vietnamnews-online, 17 June 2003.
75. See VNS, "New law gives sharper teeth to prosecutors", Vietnamnews-online, 29 March 2002.
76. See John Gillespie, "Self-interest and ideology: bureaucratic corruption in Vietnam", The Australian Journal of Asian Law, vol. 3, no. 1, 2002, pp. 18-19.
77. Dinh, Van Que, Legal Practice and Precedent [Phap Luat Tuc Tien va An Le], Da Nang: Da Nang Publishing House, Nha Xuat Ban Da Nang, 1999, pp. 181-7.
78. See, e.g., Amnesty International, "The case of Le Hong Ha and Ha Si Phu", 1996, Report-ASA 41/09/96: www.amnesty.org/ailib/aireport/ar96/index.html.
79. See Cohen, "Rare move targets gangs, protects those in government", The Asian Wall Street Journal, 6 June 2003.
80. See Vnexpress, Vien kiem sat de nghi khoi to luat su Dang Van Luan [The Procuracy Wants to Try Lawyer Dang Van Luan], 20 May 2003: http://vnexpress/vietnam/phapluat/2003/05/3B9C7FB3.htm.
81. Thanh Duy, "Co So Khoa Hoc va Van Hoa Trong Tu Tuong Ho Chi Minh Ve Nha Nuoc va Phap Luat" [Scientific and Cultural Basis of Ho Chi Minh's Ideas of State and Law], Tap Chi Cong San, January 1997, pp. 26, 27-8.
82. Vo Van Kiet, "Report of the National Assembly on the 1987 Socio-Economic Development Plan", Hanoi Domestic Service, 26 December 1986, Foreign Broadcast Information Service East Asian Domestic Service, 30 December, p. 9.
83. See Trinh Duy Luon and Nguyen Quong Vinh, "Tac Dong Kinh Te Xa Hoi Cua Doi Moi Trong Linh Vuc Nha O Do Thi Vietnam" [Social and Economic Impact of Reforms on City Residential Areas in Vietnam], Xa Hoi Hoc [Sociology Review], no. 21, 1996, pp. 5, 17-19.
84. See VNS, "Health sector gets greater autonomy", Vietnamnews-online, 20 June 2003. See also Decree No. 73 ND-CP on Policies to Encourage Socialization of Education, Health, Culture and Sports, 1999.
85. See Decree No. 36 CP 1996. Tran Dinh Thanh Lam, "Rights-Vietnam: crackdown on child beggars has little effect", Global Information Network, 11 November 2003, p. 11.
86. See Education Law 1998. See also Tran Tam Dan, "Luat Giao Duc-Co So Phap Ly De Phat Trien Giao Duc va Dao Tao" [The Education Law-Legal Foundations to Develop Education and Training], Nhan Dan, 27 January 1999, p. 3.
87. Vietnam has a Gini-coefficient of 0.407 that compares favourably with Malaysia on 0.49 and is similar to China on 0.4, source: UNDP Human Development Index 2000. See Do Hoai, Vu Quoc Huy, Vo Tri Thanh and Tran Dinh Thien, "The doi moi process and human development", Vietnam's Socio-Economc Development, no. 29, 2002, pp. 6-24.
88. See VNS, "Health sector gets greater autonomy", Vietnamnews-online, 20 June 2003;
89. "Graft rampant in Vietnam health insurance system", Agence France Presse, 21 October 1996.
90. See Nguyen Phuong Quynh Trang, "Doing business under the New Enterprise Law: a survey of newly registered companies", Mekong Project Development Facility, Hanoi, 2001, pp. 13-15.
91. Of private sector respondents surveyed 90 percent concluded that economic courts could not satisfactorily resolve commercial disputes. See John McMillan and Christopher Woodruff, "Interfirm relationships and informal credit in vietnam", Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 114, no. 4, 1999, pp. 1285, 1286.
92. See Dien, Khong, Population and Ethno-Demography in Vietnam, Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 2001;
93. VNA, "List of 54 nationalities of Vietnam", Vietnam Law and Legal Forum, vol. 9, no. 107, 2003, pp. 9-11.
94. Drawing from the Chinese Ching Code, the Nguyen Code insisted that "all people of alien culture who are guilty shall be adjudged under the national law". See Nguyen Code, Article 33.
95. See Alexander Woodside, Vietnam and the Chinese Model: A Comparative Study of Nguyen and Ch'ing Civil Government in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971, p. 167.
96. See G. C. Hickey, Sons of the Mountains, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1982, p. 300.
97. By 1968, 830,000 Kinh people had migrated with government assistance into a highland population of 2.36 million, and by 1999 several million Kinh had migrated. See Canh Quang, "Economic transformation of mountainous regions", Vietnamese Studies, no. 15, 1969, p. 108.
98. See Chung Viet, "National minorities and nationality policy in the DRV", Vietnamese Studies, no. 15, 1968, p. 12.
99. See Hoang Van Chuc, "National unity and equality in Ho Chin Minh thought", Tap Chi Cong San online, 2003: www.tapchicongsan.org.vn.
100. See Constitution 1980, Article 5; Constitution 1992, Article 5. See Joachim Schlesinger, Hill Tribes of Vietnam, Bangkok: Lotus Press, 1997.
101. See Minh Quang Dao, "History of land tenure in pre-1954 Vietnam", Journal of Contemporary Asia, vol. 23, 1993, pp. 84-90.
102. See Nguyen Duy Quy, "Phan Dau Vi Mot Nen Van Hoa Viet Nam Tien Tien Dam Da Ban Sac Dan Toc" [Striving for a Vietnamese Culture that is Advanced and Profoundly Imbued with National Identity], Tap Chi Cong San, no. 7, 2003, pp. 12-14.
103. See Nguyen Van Huy, "Van De Bao Ton va Phat Huy Nhung Di San Van Hoa Cua Cac Dan Toc" [The Issue of Preserving and Promoting Cultural Heritage of Nationalities], Tap Chi Cong San, no. 7, 2003, pp. 25-8.
104. According to Marxist historical materialism, labour is insufficiently specialized in tribal economies to excite class antagonisms. See Nguyen Viet Huong, "Values of customary law from legal perspectives", Vietnam Law and Legal Forum, vol. 7, January 2001, pp. 29-32.
105. See Nguyen The Sang, "Ruglai customary law on ecological environment", unpublished papers, Conference on Customary Law and Contemporary Rural Development in Vietnam in Buon Ma Thuot, 23-25 November 1999.
106. Le Sy Giao, "The traditional customs of natural land management of some ethnic minority groups in the northern mountains", unpublished papers, Conference on Customary Law and Contemporary Rural Development in Vietnam in Buon Ma Thuot, 23-25 November 1999.
107. See Vo Quy, "Ethnic minorities in Vietnam: culture, environment and development", Vietnam Social Sciences, vol. 2, 1995, pp. 84-8.
108. Phan Dang Nhat, "The nature of customary law of Tay Nguyen", unpublished papers, Conference on Customary Law and Contemporary Rural Development in Vietnam in Buon Ma Thuot, 23-5 November 1999.
109. Hill tribesmen were either convinced to transfer their land use rights to lowland settlers or lowlanders simply encroached on forest land with the collaboration of corrupt local officials. See VNA, "Mass organizations hold the key to Central Highland's social stability", Vietnamnews-online, 18 May 2001;
110. Clare Arthurs, "Hanoi admits a role in hill tribes crisis", BBC World Service, 12 June 2003.
111. See Ben Rowse, "Demonstrators arrested in Vietnam's Central Highlands", Agence France Presse, 6 September 2002;
112. VNA, "Central Highlands Dac Lac Province undergoes great changes", Vietnamnews-online, 14 August 2002.
113. See Tine Gammeltoft and Rolf Herno, "Human rights in Vietnam: exploring tensions and ambiguities", in Michael Jacobsen and Ole Bruun (eds), Human Rights and Asian Values: Constesting National Identities and Cultural Representations in Asia, Surrey: Curzon Press, 2000, p. 173.
114. Martin Gainsborough, Changing Political Economy of Vietnam: the Case of Ho Chi Minh City, London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003, pp. 53-8.