Hanoi (AsiaNews) – Vietnam’s law on religious freedom is not really being upheld. People don’t feel they have the right to express themselves and be accepted whatever their beliefs.
Even talking about freedom of religious is difficult because of the government’s attitude. Some ideas remain beyond the pale of public discourse, ideas like freedom of religion, multiparty democracy, and the right to have opinions different from those of the government.
“We are really scared that the government might come and arrest us; hurt us,” said a professor at Hanoi University. “So we stay in the cage in which our rulers have forced us. Media censorship is very tight and we cannot even speak freely at work.”
A young man said that “when we go to the US to study or other developed countries, we lack the courage to speak our minds. When we come back home, we also dare not do certain things even if they are good. Catholics are especially discriminated and have no chance of growing. The government wants to check their growth.”
“Some of my friends were arrested by the local authorities,” said an elderly gentleman in Hanoi. “Since the beginning of the year the Vietnamese government has persecuted and arrested people because they held different points of view, because they were involved in human rights activities, because the talked about democracy, legal reform, jobs, and freedom of speech.”