by Defend the Defenders, June 16, 2017
The decision of Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang to revoke the citizenship of former political prisoner Pham Minh Hoang was made in line with the country’s law, Spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang of Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said.
Speaking at a press conference in Hanoi on June 15, Ms. Hang said Vietnam’s authorities had officially announced Mr. Hoang and the French Embassy in Vietnam about the decision.
In an interview with the Agence France Press (AFP), the ministry’s Consular Department said clearly that Mr. Hoang had violated Vietnam’s law and affected the country’s national security, Hang said.
On May 17, President Quang signed the decision to revoke the citizenship of Mr. Hoang, who has also French nationality. The move will make his stay in Ho Chi Minh City illegal and he may be extradited to France soon.
Mr. Hoang, a former prisoner of conscience, may be not allowed to stay in Vietnam with his family which includes his old mother and older brother, an invalid veteran of the South Vietnam.
Hoang was sent to France to study mathematics in 1973. When he returned, the communist soldiers took over the South Vietnam and unified the country. He hardly found his job until 2000 he started as a mathematics lecturer in the Saigon Polytechnics University.
He has posted many articles criticizing government’s policies and systemic corruption as well as the government’s weak response to China’s expansionism in the East Sea (South China Sea). In 2010, he was arrested for online writings and charged with “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the Penal Code. He was sentenced to 17 months in prison and additional three years under house arrest.
After being released, Hoang met difficulties in teaching. Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City have tried to cause problems for his French classes.
In 2016, police violently dispersed his class in democracy and human rights, confiscating many laptops of his students. He is under close surveillance of HCM City’s security forces.
Professor Hoang said he would stay in Vietnam, even in prison rather than living in other countries. Affter being informed about the Vietnamese decision to revoke his citizenship, he sent a letter to the French authorities to reject his French nationality.
Responding to Vietnam’s move against Mr. Hoang, the New York-based organization Human Rights Watch and the Dublin-based organization Front Line Defenders condemned the move and called on the international community to pressure Hanoi to reverse the ruling.
Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch said in a statement that the Vietnamese government’s action to strip Hoang of his citizenship “is nothing short of outrageous,” and called for pressure on Hanoi to withdraw the decision.
“This completely unjustified abuse of human rights marks a new low for Hanoi’s treatment of political dissidents because it says that they cannot even be considered Vietnamese, stripping them of their identity and nationhood in one abrupt maneuver,” Robertson said.
“The international community, especially aid donors to Vietnam, must tell Hanoi that this abuse cannot be allowed to stand, the President’s letter must be rescinded, and the action must be immediately reversed.”
Meanwhile, Front Line Defenders expresses concern at this recent act of harassment against Mr. Hoang, which it believes to be directly related to his peaceful and legitimate work in the defense of human rights in Vietnam. It urges Vietnam’s authorities to immediately reverse their decision to revoke Hoang’s Vietnamese citizenship and cease targeting all human rights defenders in Vietnam and guarantee in all circumstances that they are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment.
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June 16, 2017
Vietnam Defends Decision on Revoking Citizenship of Political Dissident Pham Minh Hoang
by Nhan Quyen • Pham Minh Hoang
by Defend the Defenders, June 16, 2017
The decision of Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang to revoke the citizenship of former political prisoner Pham Minh Hoang was made in line with the country’s law, Spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang of Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said.
Speaking at a press conference in Hanoi on June 15, Ms. Hang said Vietnam’s authorities had officially announced Mr. Hoang and the French Embassy in Vietnam about the decision.
In an interview with the Agence France Press (AFP), the ministry’s Consular Department said clearly that Mr. Hoang had violated Vietnam’s law and affected the country’s national security, Hang said.
On May 17, President Quang signed the decision to revoke the citizenship of Mr. Hoang, who has also French nationality. The move will make his stay in Ho Chi Minh City illegal and he may be extradited to France soon.
Mr. Hoang, a former prisoner of conscience, may be not allowed to stay in Vietnam with his family which includes his old mother and older brother, an invalid veteran of the South Vietnam.
Hoang was sent to France to study mathematics in 1973. When he returned, the communist soldiers took over the South Vietnam and unified the country. He hardly found his job until 2000 he started as a mathematics lecturer in the Saigon Polytechnics University.
He has posted many articles criticizing government’s policies and systemic corruption as well as the government’s weak response to China’s expansionism in the East Sea (South China Sea). In 2010, he was arrested for online writings and charged with “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the Penal Code. He was sentenced to 17 months in prison and additional three years under house arrest.
After being released, Hoang met difficulties in teaching. Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City have tried to cause problems for his French classes.
In 2016, police violently dispersed his class in democracy and human rights, confiscating many laptops of his students. He is under close surveillance of HCM City’s security forces.
Professor Hoang said he would stay in Vietnam, even in prison rather than living in other countries. Affter being informed about the Vietnamese decision to revoke his citizenship, he sent a letter to the French authorities to reject his French nationality.
Responding to Vietnam’s move against Mr. Hoang, the New York-based organization Human Rights Watch and the Dublin-based organization Front Line Defenders condemned the move and called on the international community to pressure Hanoi to reverse the ruling.
Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch said in a statement that the Vietnamese government’s action to strip Hoang of his citizenship “is nothing short of outrageous,” and called for pressure on Hanoi to withdraw the decision.
“This completely unjustified abuse of human rights marks a new low for Hanoi’s treatment of political dissidents because it says that they cannot even be considered Vietnamese, stripping them of their identity and nationhood in one abrupt maneuver,” Robertson said.
“The international community, especially aid donors to Vietnam, must tell Hanoi that this abuse cannot be allowed to stand, the President’s letter must be rescinded, and the action must be immediately reversed.”
Meanwhile, Front Line Defenders expresses concern at this recent act of harassment against Mr. Hoang, which it believes to be directly related to his peaceful and legitimate work in the defense of human rights in Vietnam. It urges Vietnam’s authorities to immediately reverse their decision to revoke Hoang’s Vietnamese citizenship and cease targeting all human rights defenders in Vietnam and guarantee in all circumstances that they are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment.