In Viet Nam there is little room for human rights defenders to act independently of the state. Those who seek to promote human rights are often perceived to be against the state and so are threatened, harassed and often imprisoned. Those who act to protect the rights of others also risk punishment as shown by the cases of Le Thi Cong Nhan and Nguyen Van Dai, two human rights lawyers, who have been branded as a threat and imprisoned by the authorities. FINDING A VOICE – BLOC 8406 In November 2006, Viet Nam hosted the Asia Pacific Economic Co­operation (APEC) Summit in Ha Noi, attended by world economic leaders. In the months preceding the Summit, there was a brief window of tolerance as the government attempted to counter international concern about its human rights record. In early 2006, activists attempted to use the internet to work more closely with one another and communicate their ideas and aspirations more broadly. The “Manifesto 2006 on Freedom and Democracy for Viet Nam” was launched on 8 April 2006. The Manifesto was an online petition, signed by 118 pro­democracy activists calling for peaceful political change and respect for human rights, guided by the rights included in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The aims of the petition were multiparty democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of association, including voting and standing for election, freedom to organize trade unions and to strike legitimately, and freedom of religion, to be achieved peacefully and without violence. targeted by the authorities. These included the United Workers­Farmers Organization (UWFO) which advocates for the right to form and join independent trade and labour unions; the Viet Nam Progression Party, the Vietnamese Political and Religious Prisoners Fellowship Association and the Committee for Human Rights in Viet Nam, which documents and distributes information about human rights violations. An online petition in 2006 marked the effective creation of an internet­based pro­democracy movement, now known as Bloc 8406 CRACKDOWN: OPEN ARTICLE FOR MORE Amnesty International December 2008 Index: ASA 41/003/2008 Index: ASA 41/003/2008 Amnesty International December 2008 WRITE TO: Pham Gia Khiem Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ministry of Foreign Affairs 1 Ton That Dam Ha Noi Viet Nam Fax: + 844 8259 205 Email: bc.mfa@mofa.gov.vn   more »