Stop Torture and Violence in Vietnam by Huỳnh Thục Vy

Published on Nov 18, 2014

Tôi là Huỳnh Thục Vy, một blogger bất đồng chính kiến, một người bảo vệ nhân quyền tại Việt Nam. Trong khi tôi đang chia sẻ với bạn những lời này, tra tấn và bạo lực chống lại người dân, đặc biệt là những người bất đồng chính kiến vẫn còn tiếp tục và ngày càng nghiêm trọng hơn.

Các nguyên tắc phổ quát: Tự do, Dân chủ và Nhân quyền là những thứ xa xỉ đối với người dân của chúng tôi. Nông dân bị di dời khỏi vùng đất của họ. Công nhân bị bóc lột trong các nhà máy. Những người biểu tình bị đánh đập tàn nhẫn do sự tụ tập để bày tỏ lòng yêu nước ôn hòa.

Chúng tôi thực sự muốn có dân chủ. Chúng tôi thực sự muốn được tự do. Chúng tôi thực sự muốn có nhân quyền. Những giá trị này được bảo vệ và phát huy ở đất nước các bạn, nhưng ở đất nước chúng tôi, chúng tôi phải trả một giá cao cho những điều đó.

Chúng tôi có thể bị bỏ tù vì thực hiện quyền tự do tôn giáo, ngôn luận, hội họp ôn hòa và lập hội. Các nhà chức trách không chỉ sử dụng công cụ pháp lý để bịt miệng những người bất đồng chính kiến, mà còn sử dụng bạo lực và tra tấn đối với họ.
Qua các năm, số nạn nhân bạo lực của chính quyền tăng lên nhanh chóng. Chúng tôi thường xuyên bị tấn công bạo lực bởi những tên côn đồ được hỗ trợ bởi công an và thậm chí cả công an mặc đồng phục trong đồn cảnh sát.

Tương lai của đất nước chúng tôi sẽ ra sao với bạo lực của chính quyền? Làm thế nào trẻ em của chúng tôi sẽ lớn lên khi họ thường nhìn thấy cha mẹ của chúng bị đánh đập. Chúng tôi không được hưởng cuộc sống yên bình và không thể góp phần xây dựng đất nước của chúng tôi bởi vì các cơ quan thực thi pháp luật không ngần ngại vi phạm nhân quyền một cách thô bạo.

Chúng tôi muốn nói với thế giới rằng chúng tôi chỉ thực sự muốn thực hiện các quyền cơ bản của chúng tôi.

Các bạn sẽ giúp chúng tôi? Chia sẻ video này và có những hành động để nói với các nhà chức trách Việt Nam:
Trả lại đất cho dân oan nghèo khổ!
Trả lại quyền tự do của công đoàn cho người lao động.
Trả lại quyền tự do ngôn luận cho người dân của chúng tôi!
Trả lại chùa và nhà thờ cho các tôn giáo!
Trả tự do cho các tù nhân lương tâm!
Với video này, tôi có thể yêu cầu các bạn hãy giúp chúng tôi:
Ngăn chặn bạo lực! Ngăn chặn tra tấn tại Việt Nam!

I am Huynh Thuc Vy, a dissident blogger, a human rights defender in Vietnam. While I am sharing these words with you, torture and violence against civilians, especially dissidents still continue and get more serious.

The universal principles: Freedom, Democracy and Human rights are "luxurious things to our people. Farmers are displaced from their land. Workers are exploited in factories. Protesters are brutally beaten due to their gathering to express peaceful patriotism.

We really want to enjoy Democracy. We really want to get Freedom. We really want to have Human Rights. These values are protected and promoted in your countries, but in our country, we have to pay a high price for them.
We might be imprisoned because of exercising the rights to freedom of religion, expression, peaceful assembly, and association.

The authorities not only use legal instruments to muzzle dissidents , but also use violence and torture against them. Year by year, the number of the authorities’ violent victims increases rapidly. We are frequently under violent attack by police-sponsored thugs and even by uniformed police in police stations.

How will the future of our country be with violence encouraged by the authorities? How will our children grow up when they usually see their parents beaten. We fail to enjoy peaceful lives and fail to contribute to building our country because law enforcement agencies do not hesitate to brazenly violate human rights.
We want to tell the world that we just really want to exercise our fundamental rights.

What would you to help us? Share this video and take actions to tell the Vietnamese authorities to:
Return land to poor petitioners!
Return the right to freedom of trade union to labors.
Return the right to freedom of expression to our people!
Return pagodas and churches to congregations!
Free all prisoners of conscience!
With this video, I may ask you to help us:
Stop violence! Stop torture in Vietnam!
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AYGkkyEFgU)

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=511729945635419&set=vb.100003952533089&type=2&theater

11-18-2014 On a Final City Council Vote Merchants Address New Transit Impacts

Dear International Blvd. Merchants,

We did it!

At the November 18^th Oakland City Council meeting, the Council approved a resolution that included $2 million for direct assistance to businesses!

This is a giant step toward making sure that International Blvd merchants are able to survive and thrive in the new environment created by the BRT. It goes hand in hand with commitments we won from AC-Transit and City staff to make design changes based on consultations with each business along the route and to create parking solutions based on neighborhood input.  

This victory comes after three years of work and resulted from an unprecedented collaborative effort, launched by the East Bay Asian Youth Center, between merchants in three neighborhoods—Eastlake, San Antonio and Fruitvale. Congratulations to all the merchants who worked so hard for this for so long. 

Thanks also to the support we received from Allen Temple, who consistently advocated on behalf of all merchants on International Blvd. 

There is still work to be done, of course. The details of who can access the fund and how it can be used have to be worked out. Also, at the last minute Mayor-elect Libby Schaaf inserted some language into the resolution which we still need to sort out. Stay tuned for how you can help on this.

And of course, we will need to work with City staff to make sure that they follow through on their commitments to design parking solutions based on neighborhood input sessions, between now and April.

In the meantime, let’s celebrate the fact that we won $2 million—which is $2 million more than the City or AC Transit planned to provide—to directly assist businesses. Let’s thank the elected officials who stood up for us, including Council President Pat Kernighan, Councilmember at Large Rebecca Kaplan, Councilmember Larry Reid, Councilmember Desley Brooks and Councilmember Lynette McElhaney. 

At the end, four of the five Councilmembers whose districts include the BRT voted to support the existing community of businesses. These four Councilmembers have very diverse views, and very diverse constituencies, but they all united behind us on this issue, and we deeply appreciate their support.

Most of all, though, let’s celebrate the power that was created by sticking together and building relationships that emphasized our common interests as merchants and community members. This is the real victory, and it is a great foundation that we can build on.

Again, congratulations and now let’s finish the job!

Andy Nelsen                                     Xavier Sibaja

EBAYC                                             EBAYC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, November 17, 2014
On a Final City Council Vote Merchants Address New Transit Impacts Merchants from Eastlake, San Antonio, Frutivale, and East Oakland demand mitigations support
Oakland, CA – On Tuesday, November 18, 2014 at 5:30 pm, at a City Council hearing which it will likely be lengthy, merchants all along the 9.5 mile stretch of International Blvd. will pressure City Council members for them to commit to sound business mitigation plans in response to impacts caused by the new, AC-Transit’s Bus Rapid Transit (BRT.)
 A point of contention has been expressed by Councilmember Noel Gallo, who objects to direct financial assistance to those business severely impacted by a new street configuration brought by the BRT. Case in point is: the loss of over 500 parking spaces; virtually no left turns to vehicular traffic; reduction of two traffic lanes; compromised loading and access to businesses; and stations placed in new created medians.
This Tuesday, merchants will also pressure the Council for clarity of what it is offered as support. At a recent Public Works Committee Meeting, AC Transit and City staff presented a report which included “bid packages” which are the project phases and the support programs to help merchants survive construction, and the new created physical environment. Council committee members Rebecca Kaplan, and Larry Reid shared their concerns that of the almost 9 million dollars in merchant aid, “potentially” only 1 million could be used in direct financial assistance whether it be loans or grants. The rest of the funds will be used for technical assistance which was often referenced by these committee members as “advise.” Therefore, this International Blvd, merchant coalition is mobilizing to demand project conditions of approval that effectively and fairly address BRT related impacts to their businesses.
With slogans such as “A BRT for Everyone,” and “Justice for Merchants” small business owners are advocating for workable solutions, given that the project will be approved. These proposed solutions aim to help them mitigate disruption to regular business operations during, and after construction. As well, these demands include relocation assistance in case some businesses become unviable in this new street configuration.
According to AC Transit, project cost will be approximately 200 million dollars. The merchant proposals to mitigate these impacts, beyond project design changes, represent less than 5%.
BRT is planned to run 9.7 miles from Downtown Oakland to Downtown San Leandro. All along this stretch a little over 500 parking spaces will be lost; almost all left turns will be prohibited; and from 14thAvenue to 107th Ave. (7.1 miles) on International Blvd the new vehicular traffic will be on two lanes, rather than the actual 4 lanes.
1/18/14