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PRESS RELEASE

Viewpoint of Forum „Vietnam 21“ on the state visit by Austrian President Heinz Fischer to Vietnam.

"It's as if our president were almost arrested!"

The Federal President of Austria, Heinz Fischer, recently made a state visit to Vietnam to conduct dialogues with the vietnamese President, the Prime Minister and the Chief of Parliament. Something customary in the framework of a state visit. However, what was not really customary was the way he criticized the communist leaders of the country.

Using words with an unmistakable meaning, he has caused discussions to erupt when he raised the issue that a pluralism in politics should go hand-in-hand with a pluralism in economy. With that, Fischer made known of his standing, outright, that in Vietnam the political line should be more open to effectively follow the liberalization of the economy. Such a criticism from the Austrian President was, obviously, annoying to

the leaders of the Vietnamese Government. They were stunned with it to the point they could hardly show any reaction, at the moment. Toward the end of the ensuing press conference, Christoph Leitl, president of the Chamber of Commerce and one member of the Austrian Delegation, has noticed, jokingly, how Fischer, because of his opinion, came close to a brush with ... being arrested by them!

The criticizing attitude of Fischer directed at the Hanoi Regime deserved to be highly appreciated, and as such became, all the more, precious in a time when politicians, out of fear of facing economic disadvantages, dared not address the issue of Human Rights Violations to the despots, much less to say, dared engage in a frank discussion with them on the issue.

But, the 'stepping in' by President Fischer in Vietnam, in spite of its honest and noble cause, still did not explain why the federal government of Austria came to the decision of backing up the candidacy-nomination process for Vietnam to be made member of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). Fischer distanced himself then, by this move, from the Vienna Administration. With the application for membership in the UNHRC, the Hanoi Regime has acted in the strategy "Stop thief!” (let's go catch the thieves together) Such an idea is unacceptable and even absurd, when Vietnam - as one of the worst violators of human rights, also a notorious renouncer of all democratic principles - now joins the UNHRC to jointly "defend" human rights and go after other despots in the world who oppress Human Rights, to bring them to the execution pillory !

First of all, Hanoi must stop committing continuous violations against its own people, and must set free all its political prisoners, before thinking of someday becoming the guardian of human rights for other peoples in the world.

2012 June 06

Dr. Hong-An Duong

Forum Vietnam 21

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