Seven embassies within the Vietnamese capital Hanoi have issued a joint assertion marking Monday’s “Worldwide Day Commemorating Victims of Violence based mostly on Faith or Perception.”
The diplomatic missions of Austria, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, the UK and the US stated they: “strongly condemn the persevering with acts of violence in opposition to people based mostly on faith or perception, together with these belonging to spiritual minorities.”
The assertion was revealed in Vietnamese and English on the social media websites of the seven embassies to mark the non secular freedom occasion, which has taken place on Aug. 22 yearly since 2019.
It stated respect for freedom of faith and perception performs an essential function in combating xenophobia, narrow-mindedness and discrimination, in addition to selling peaceable and inclusive social growth.
The assertion famous that freedom of faith and perception is enshrined within the Common Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations.
“On this essential day, we wish to categorical our assist for victims of acts of violence based mostly on faith or perception, in addition to their households and family members,” the assertion stated, including: “We honor those that have suffered such acts of violence just because they’ve carried out and defended human rights.”
The seven embassies urged nations and people to affix collectively to fight violence and discrimination and make sure that everybody is ready to “take pleasure in their human rights in dignity and freedom.”
Greater than 50 non secular communities throughout Vietnam held occasions on Monday, together with Buddhists, Catholics, Protestants and members of Cao Dai 1926, which mixes parts of Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism and Christianity.
Some impartial non secular communities, comparable to Cao Dai 1926 and Protestants within the Central Highlands, have been harassed by police and native authorities, who tried to cease them commemorating the day.
Vietnam joined the U.N. Human Rights Council in 2013, following authorities pledges to respect and promote human rights within the nation however has did not honor its guarantees.
In April this yr a report by the U.S. Fee on Worldwide Spiritual Freedom accused the Vietnamese authorities of spiritual persecution, particularly of impartial non secular teams and ethnic minorities.
“Authorities continued to persecute impartial non secular communities, together with Protestant Hmong and Montagnard Christians, Hoa Hao Buddhists, Unified Buddhists, Cao Dai followers and adherents of different non secular actions comparable to Falun Gong, Duong Van Minh, the World Mission Society Church of God and Ha Mon,” the report stated, including “The federal government designated many of those teams as ‘unusual,’ ‘evil,’ or ‘heretical’ religions and infrequently cited safety grounds to suppress them, inflicting some, comparable to Ha Mon, to reportedly face extinction.”
