Viet Nam Human Rights
Law on National Defense
16/1/19
The Law on National Defense (the Law) was passed in June this year to institutionalize new guidelines and viewpoints of the Party and the 2013 Constitution on national defense and building of armed forces of Vietnam.With effect from January 1 next year, the Law will replace its predecessor enacted in 2005.
The people’s armed forces
Under the Law, the people’s armed forces of Vietnam are composed of the People’s Army, the People’s Public Security, and the Militia and Self-Defense force. Their operation must comply with the Constitution and laws of Vietnam as well as with treaties to which Vietnam is a contracting party. The people’s armed forces are placed under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the supreme command of the President and the unified management of the Government.
Compared to the current Law, the Law contains new provisions to reduce overlapping tasks of the People’s Army, the People’s Public Security and the Militia and Self-Defense force. Accordingly, the people’s armed forces may be mobilized in the following six cases:
(i) In a state of war or state of defense emergency. In this case, the armed forces must abide by orders of the President and relevant laws;
(ii) Executing martial law or curfew orders in accordance with this Law and other relevant laws;
(iii) In a state of emergency due to disasters, dangerous epidemics or circumstances detrimental to national security and social order and safety in accordance with the law on states of emergency and other relevant laws;
(iv) When emerges a threat to national security and social order and safety which, however, is not serious to an extent that requires declaration of a state of emergency as provided by the law on national security and other relevant laws;
(v) When participating in the protection of peace in the region and the world under decisions of the Defense and Security Council; and
(vi) When occurs a complicated situation related to national security or social order and safety, combat of crime, or prevention, control and remediation of incidents, natural disasters or epidemics as required by the Government.
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| A drill of Battalion 77, Brigade 257, Division 361 of the Air Defense and Air Force Service__Photo: Internet |
Basic national defense activities
The Law states that national defense activities must comply with the Constitution and laws, and be placed under the absolute, direct and all-sided leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam and the centralized and unified management of the State.
The building of the entire-people national defense is addressed in Article 7 of the Law. Compared to the 2005 Law, this activity has several new contents such as making and implementing plans and measures on information warfare and cyberspace warfare; combining national defense with socio-economic development; and combining national defense with security and diplomacy. The Law stipulates that the State will work out plans and programs on combination of national defense with socio-economic development in conformity with the socio-economic development strategy and national defense strategy in each period. A number of construction projects in key defense areas must be of dual use, ready to serve national defense tasks.
Regarding defense diplomacy, the Law says that it will be carried out in line with the foreign policy of the Party and the State, aiming to promote the aggregate strength of the country for national construction and defense and contribute to the cause of peace, national independence, democracy and social progress in the world. Vietnam will continue to establish and develop defense ties with foreign states and international organizations. Defense diplomacy tasks include establishing and expanding relations of friendship and international cooperation; holding defense dialogues; building and consolidating mutual confidence, understanding and trust and solidarity between the Vietnam People’s Army and armies of other countries. Vietnam will participate in creating and enforcing mechanisms of bilateral, multilateral, regional, inter-regional and global defense cooperation for the goal of peace, stability and development.
Noteworthy, the Law lists up measures to be taken during periods of martial law and curfew in conformity with the 2013 Constitution. These measures somehow limit human rights and citizens’ rights.
According to Article 21 of the Law, during the time of martial law, special measures may be enforced, such as banning or restricting movement of people and vehicles; suspending or restricting activities at public places; banning demonstrations, workers’ strikes, vendors’ and students’ strikes and mass rallies; arresting individuals and organizations that carry out activities infringing upon national defense and security or forcing them to leave or stay at their places of residence or certain areas. Others include mobilizing people and vehicles of agencies, organizations and individuals; performing special management of weapons, explosives, supporting tools, flammables, toxins and radioactive substances; strictly controlling information technology infrastructure facilities, information devices, press and publication activities.
The commanders of the army units assigned to manage the area placed under martial law may order the application of the above said measures.
According to Article 22 of the Law, many measures can be applied during a curfew. These include banning mass rallies; prohibiting movement and activities of people and vehicles during certain hours and in certain areas; suspending or restricting activities at public places; and placing guard and control stations to check luggage, vehicles and documents of people passing by.
To protect national defense, the following acts are also prohibited:
- Opposing the independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the Fatherland, the people, the Party, the State, the socialist regime and the cause of national construction and defense.
- Founding, joining or financing unlawful armed organizations.
- Mobilizing and employing people, weapons, explosives, supporting tools, facilities, equipment and vehicles for carrying out armed activities without orders or decisions of competent authorities or not included in approved training, exercise or combat readiness plans.
- Opposing or obstructing the performance of national defense tasks.
- Taking advantage of or abusing the performance of national defense tasks to infringe upon national interests and lawful rights and interests of agencies, organizations and individuals.
- Committing gender discrimination in the performance of national defense tasks.
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All comments [ 15 ]
Correctly assessing the role and strength of the masses and learning from the nation’s military thought and strategies for national defence as well as the world’s military quintessence, our Party advocates that national defence is the cause of all people.
“All-people national defence” becomes a basic viewpoint by the Party in all phases of Vietnamese revolution and an integral part of its military guidelines.
Throughout realities of Vietnamese revolution, the military guidelines have been supplemented and developed in accord with the requirements of the revolutionary task.
Vietnam’s national defence by its nature is the national defence of all people, by all people and for all people and made comprehensively strong and increasingly modern, which profoundly demonstrates the nature of peace and self-defence.
That is also the feature of Vietnam’s national defence and clearly shows that our Party and State’s consistent policy on national defence is not to use violence (national defence strength) or threaten to use force against any country.
The national defence of all people, by all people and for all people emphasizes the people’s role in the building and operation of national defence with both their self-awareness and obligation under the regulations of law
The national defence strength is unceasingly consolidated with a view to safeguarding the socialist Homeland and ensuring that all people will enjoy a peaceful, free, independent life in a sovereign and impregnable country.
The all-people national defence is built with the close combination of external and internal resources in which the internal resources play the pivotal role.
it is vital to exploit the external resources via international cooperation in both bilateral and multilateral terms, particularly on defence field in order to serve the country’s national defence cause.
Building the comprehensively strong and increasingly strong all-people national defence is the goal set by the DNS and the objective requirements set by the process of building the all-people national defence in the new situation.
The national defence strength greatly depends on the degree of the national defence’s modernity.
the strength of the national defence is made up by the “hard strength” and the “soft strength”.
Our country is developing in peacetime but facing potential challenges and risks from both the inside and outside.
building the all-people national defence aims to not only defeat the enemy’s war of aggression, but first prevent and repel the risks of war and conflict
The process of building national defence must be the process of performing national defence tasks and dealing with national defence situations to ensure the country’s stability and development.
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