On
18 November 2016 Vietnam’s 14th National Assembly passed the nation’s first ever Law on
Belief and Religion, amid concerns that multiple drafts of the Bill did not
conform to international standards on freedom of religion or belief.
Although the final text has not yet been made public, it is not
expected to have altered significantly from previous drafts. The text of the law has been revised
numerous times. Some
improvements to the draft were made during the revision process, possibly in
response to the feedback offered by religious communities. However, these
improvements, and the inclusion of basic guarantees of the right to freedom of religion
or belief, were undermined by onerous registration requirements and excessive
State interference in the internal affairs of religious organisations.
In a joint statement
published prior to the passing of the law, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) and the
Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR),
together with over 50 civil society organisations and Vietnamese religious
groups called upon the Vietnamese
Government to ensure that registration is not a pre-requisite for the
exercise of freedom of religion or belief.
The statement echoed comments made by the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom
of Religion or Belief, Professor Heiner Bielefeldt, after his visit to Vietnam
in 2014, that, “registration should be an offer by the State but not a
compulsory legal requirement”.
The statement also called on the government to remove ambiguities in the law which leave
space for discrimination and abuse, and to bring its definition of religion in
line with Article 18 of the ICCPR, to
which Vietnam is a state party.
CSW’s Chief Executive
Mervyn Thomas said, “When the possibility of a law on religion was first
mentioned, some were hopeful that it would address the obstacles to freedom of
religion or belief in the existing regulations. Unfortunately, throughout the
drafting process the law continued to focus on the control and management of
religious activities, rather than the protection of religious freedom. Basic guarantees of the right to
freedom of religion or belief must not be undermined by onerous registration
requirements, and groups which cannot or choose not to register must not be
excluded from the enjoyment of this right. We urge the Vietnamese government to
guarantee in law and in practice the right to freedom of religion or belief for
all people in Vietnam in line with Article
18 of the ICCPR”.