Majority of Legislators Unwilling to Approve Draft Laws on Association, Penal Code

by Defend the Defenders, November 18, 2016

A majority of Vietnamese legislators are unwilling to approve the draft law on Association and the draft law on amended and supplemented Penal Code, saying the two bills need further perfection, state media has reported.

On November 17, during a working session of the ongoing second session of Vietnam’s legislative body National Assembly, 443 out of the participating 460 lawmakers said the bill on Association is not suitable for the current actual activities of associations and limits citizens’ rights.

The draft law on Association aims to enhance government control over associations so the Ministry of Home Affairs needs to perfect it before submitting to the parliament in its next session.

As many as 448 lawmakers disagreed to approve the draft law on amended and supplemented Penal Code submitted by the Ministry of Justice due to many technical errors, the Thoi Bao Kinh Te Viet Nam newspaper said. They also said some new crimes should be added in the bill which will be returned to the Ministry of Justice for perfection.

Vietnam’s parliament in the 13th tenure approved the Penal Code 2015 last year. However, one month prior to its effectiveness on July 1, 2016, Vietnam found a number of errors in the approved bill and the parliament decided to suspend its implementation for adjustment.

In mid-October, prior to the beginning of this parliament’s session, many international human rights organizations and domestic independent civil societies signed a joint petition urging the lawmaking body not to approve the two bills, saying the draft laws were designed to limit the rights of Vietnamese people.

On October 18, Human Rights Watch issued a press release calling on Vietnam’s parliament to respect rights to freedom of expression, association, assembly, and religion of its people as the legislature will consider revision of the Penal Code during its second session in October-November.

According to the New York-based human rights organization, many articles related to national security in Vietnam’s laws are vaguely defined and often used arbitrarily to punish critics, activists, and bloggers. Therefore, the Vietnamese parliament should take this opportunity to outline clearer rules to be in line with international standards.