International human rights lawyer submits case of journalist Pham Doan Trang to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD)

Turkey-based human rights lawyer Kurtulus Bastimar told VOA Vietnamese that he had submitted the case of Pham Doan Trang to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) over the Vietnamese government’s arbitrary arrest of Doan Trang and its alleged violations of her freedom of speech and right to a fair trial.

According to Bastimar, the UNWGAD has accepted his legal submission and is expected to announce an official ruling this September.

Pham Doan Trang was arrested in October last year and subsequently charged under Article 88 of the 1999 Penal Code and Article 117 of the 2015 Penal Code.

Quick take: As of September 19, 2021, Vietnam has recorded over 677,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with nearly 17,000 fatalities. Only under 7 percent of the country’s population has been fully vaccinated.

Ho Chi Minh City risks social and economic costs as COVID-19 lockdown is extended until the end of September, reports Nikkei Asia: “The city has failed to meet the criteria for lifting the lockdown. The two-week average of new daily cases must drop continuously from the prior two weeks and be lower than half of the infections in the week with the highest COVID-19 caseload. But new cases have remained around 5,000 to 6,000 over the past few days.”

Major retailers rethink Vietnam as a manufacturing hub over prolonged coronavirus restrictions, writes CNBC: “The obstacles in Vietnam join a litany of other supply chain troubles, ranging from a shortage of cargo shipping containers to backlogged ports and a limited number of truck drivers. Some companies that moved their manufacturing out of China and into Vietnam in the past few years — in a bid to diversify their supply chains and avoid tariffs — have gone as far as to say they are bringing production back to China.”

Vietnamese migrant workers were found hiding in a freezer truck as they tried to return home from Ho Chi Minh City, reports VnExpress: “Fifteen people were found hiding inside a refrigerated truck at a Covid-19 checkpoint in the south-central Binh Thuan Province on Sunday. The 15 passengers, who all had negative coronavirus test certificates, claimed they did not know they would be transported in a refrigerated truck.”

Vietnam approves the Cuban-made Abdala vaccine for use as it is battling its worst COVID-19 outbreak, reports Reuters. The approval of Abdala, which becomes the eighth COVID-19 vaccine approved for use in Vietnam, comes amid the country’s low vaccination rates and its urgent need for coronavirus vaccinations. The vaccine approval announcement came hours after Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc left Hanoi for an official visit to Havana.

Donations of vaccines and medical equipment to arrive in Vietnam: On September 16, Vietnam received more than 850,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine donated by Germany via the COVAX Initiative. On the same day, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs also announcedthat Japan would provide Vietnam with personal protective equipment to help the country fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ho Chi Minh City introduces “green pass” certificates for vaccinated citizens, aiming to boost vaccination rates and foster economic recovery, reports VnExpress: “The passes, valid for six months, were expected to allow holders to undertake certain activities without normal coronavirus restrictions, like domestic and international travel and participating in public events.”

Vietnamese president to seek allies against COVID-19 during U.S. visit for the U.N. General Assembly session

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