More emphasis on human rights in German-Vietnamese relations

One year after the Vietnamese ex-functionary Trinh Xuan Thanh was abducted in Berlin, the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) demands new human rights standards in the German-Vietnamese relations. “There must be consequences of the spectacular abduction! Germany should not only focus on economic interests, but should also place more emphasis on human rights in the German-Vietnamese relations,” explained Ulrich Delius, the STP’s director, in Göttingen on Sunday. “Even if the abductee were to be set free soon, things can’t just go on like before. The abduction clearly shows that Vietnam’s security forces are ruthless when dealing with regime critics and minorities.”

The human rights organization also called for a revision of the EU’s Free Trade Agreement with Vietnam, which hardly covers any human rights aspects. “The main problem is that there are no real procedures according to which Vietnamese people could complain in cases of human rights violations,” Delius emphasized. So far, the European Parliament refused to sign the final draft of the agreement because of Trinh’s abduction.

A Vietnamese intelligence squad had abducted the former Communist Party leader in Berlin Tiergarten on July 23, 2017, together with his girlfriend. They were brought to Hanoi – and he was sentenced to twice life. Now, however, there are rumors that Trinh might be released in order to normalize the relations with Germany.

As a means to protest against the abduction, the German government had suspended the strategic partnership with Vietnam and expelled several diplomats from the country. A criminal case against the Vietnamese-Czech kidnapper Nguyen Hai Long produced evidence on how meticulous the intelligence squad had planned and carried out the operation.

Vietnam’s government obviously did not expect such a harsh reaction from the German government. In order to emphasize its interests in normalizing the relations, Vietnam allowed the prominent detained human rights advocate Nguyen Van Dai to travel to Germany on June 8. 2018. The German Foreign Office had praised this decision as “a notable humanitarian move”. The responsible district court in Berlin will probably sentence Trinh’s kidnappers to imprisonment in the next few days, and it is expected that Vietnam will, as a consequence, release the abductee. 

Headerpicture: Lanphuongnguyen via Wikimedia Commons