Vietnam Free Expression Newsletter No. 42/2017 – Week of December 11-17

NEWS & ANALYSIS

What’s behind Vietnam’s corruption crackdown?: “Although the party presents a public image of unity, there are diverse views on everything from the pace and openness of reforms to Vietnam’s delicate diplomatic balancing between China, the United States and other powers. What best characterizes the current leadership is conservatism in preserving the party’s absolute authority in close alignment with the security establishment. It marks a change of style from the leadership under Dung and his allies, some of whom emerged as personalities in their own right and showed signs of readiness for greater political openness. Alongside the corruption arrests, Vietnam has also arrested more bloggers, activists and other critics this year than in any other since a 2011 crackdown on youth activists.”

‘No human rights at all’: Vietnamese drug addicts undergo ‘work therapy’ while authorities collect profits: “Most will stay for one or two years, or up to four if they are deemed unfit for release, and are subject to a range of daily labour – from farming cashews to making sportswear for Western clothing brands, which they can sometimes earn a meagre salary from. Rights groups accuse officials at the centres of skimming from those salaries or pocketing boarding fees paid by some users’ families, and say addicts are detained against their will. ‘These are a failure in terms of drug treatment, but they’re incredibly successful in terms of generating money for government functionaries who run the centres,’ said Richard Pearshouse, an associate director at Human Rights Watch who wrote a report about the facilities.”