Defend the Defenders | July 09, 2017
===== July 3 =====
Vietnam Officially Announces Arrest of Young Activist Tran Hoang Phuc, Charging Him with “Conducting Anti-state Propaganda”
Defend the Defenders: On July 3, the police of Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi officially announced the arrest of young activist Tran Hoang Phuc, five days after detaining him without warrant in a renting apartment on Hoang Hoa Tham street, Buoi ward, Tay Ho district.
The police said Phuc will be kept for investigation on allegation of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the country’s Penal Code, particularly for making, storing and disseminating videos defaming the ruling communist party and its government. He will face imprisonment of up to 20 years if is convicted, according to the current Vietnamese law.
Currently, Phuc is imprisoned in the Detention facility No. 1 under the management of the Hanoi city’s Department of Police. He will be likely kept incommunicado for at least four months for investigation, the common practice applied for those who were accused of allegations in the national security provision of the Penal Code.
On June 29, Hanoi’s police broke in his apartment on Hoang Hoa Tham street, detaining without showing arrest warrant.
The arrest announcement was made after his mother came from Ho Chi Minh City to ask about him.
On April 13, Phuc and Huynh Thanh Phat were kidnapped by plainclothes agents, who robbed and brutally beat them before releasing the activists in a remote area in the central province of Quang Binh.
Phuc is a 23-year-old activist based in Saigon. He is a member of the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI), which was established few years ago by then U.S. President Barack Obama. In May 2016, as an YSEALI member, Mr. Phuc was invited to attend a talk given by President Obama in HCM City, but he was barred from attending the event by Vietnam’s security forces.
He publicly calls for multi-party democracy and human rights enhancement as well as environmental protection. In late May last year, when then U.S. President Barack Obama visited Saigon, he was invited to meet him but was detained by local security shortly prior to the meeting
Phuc’s arrest was made amid Vietnam’s intensified crackdown against local political dissidents, human rights campaigners, social activists and independent bloggers.
Numerous activists have been arrested and charged with controversial articles 79, 88, and 258 of the Penal Code since late 2015 when the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam prepared its 12th National Congress with election of the new leadership for the 2016-2021 period.
Human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai and his assistant Ms. Le Thu Ha, and land rights activist Tran Thuy Nga are under investigation on charges of anti-state propaganda. The first two were arrested in late 2015 while the last two were detained in January this year.
On the same day of Phuc’s detention, Vietnam sentenced human rights activist and environmental campaigner Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh or Mother Mushroom to 10 years in prison who was convicted of “conducting anti-state propaganda.” Her sentencing was condemned by many foreign governments including the EU, the U.S., the UK, and Germany as well as many international rights groups such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Civil Rights Defenders, Reporters Without Borders and Front Line Defenders.
Over 30 Vietnamese activists were tried and sentenced to heavy imprisonment since the beginning of 2016.
——————-
Vietnam Human Rights Defender Not Allowed to Meet with Mother after Trial
Defend the Defenders: Authorities in Vietnam’s central province of Khanh Hoa have not allowed to allow Mrs. Nguyen Thi Tuyet Lan to visit her daughter Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, a prominent human rights campaigner and environmental activist who was sentenced to ten years on allegation of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the country’s 1999 Penal Code three days ago.
On July 3, Mrs. Lan came to the province’s detention facility and filled a request for meeting with the well-known blogger with pen name Mother Mushroom, however, the facility’s authorities returned her letter and rejected her request.
They said they are holding the human rights activist but the province’s security forces are eligible for taking decision to allow visiting her or not.
Mrs. Lan said the refusal is a revenge against the blogger who did not commit guilty during the unfair trial on Thursday last week.
Ms. Quynh was kept incommunicado during pre-trial detention from October 10, 2016 until June 20, 2017, nine days prior to her first hearing when she was allowed to meet her lawyers for the first time to prepare her defense.
Her mother was allowed to meet her shortly one day before the trial while her children have not been permitted to meet with their mother since her arrest last year.
Some bloggers said Khanh Hoa province’s authorities had not provided her with basic hygienic materials during the pre-trial detention between October last year until late June this year.
Vietnam has drawn great international condemnation for sentencing Mother Mushroom who was awarded with a Hellman Hammett grant from Human Rights Watch in 2010 as a writer defending free expression, the 2015 Civil Rights Defender of the Year award of Civil Rights Defenders in 2015 and the International Women of Courage award from the U.S. State Department this year.
For more information about Mother Mushroom’s case, you can read in our archive: /category/nguyen-ngoc-nhu-quynh-me-nam/
===== July 4 =====
France-based VCHR Urges Vietnam to Free Prisoners of Conscience
Defend the Defenders: The France-based Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR) and more than 40 civil society organizations and individuals worldwide have signed a letter calling on Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to immediately free three prisoners of conscience.
The three prisoners named in the letter are Monk Thich Quang Do, human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai, and environmental activist Do Thi Hong.
The letter was signed and addressed to PM Phuc just as he arrived in Hamburg, Germany to attend the G20 Summit on July 5-8.
VCHR and other organizations expressed deep concerns about Vietnamese authorities’ arrest and mistreatment of prisoners of conscience, especially the three aforementioned cases.
Many renowned international organizations have signed the letter, such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Freedom House, among others.
For detail: At G20 Summit: VCHR calls on Vietnamese Prime Minister to release prisoners of conscience Thích Quảng Độ, Nguyễn Văn Đài and Đỗ Thị Hồng
===== July 5 =====
Human Rights Groups Request Vietnam to Investigate Death of Hoa Hao Buddhist Follower in Police Custody
Defend the Defenders: Defend the Defenders, Amnesty International and more than 30 other organizations have sent a letter to Vietnam’s Minister of Public Security To Lam to ask for an “independent, unbiased and effective” investigation into the suspicious death of Nguyen Huu Tan, a Hoa Hao Buddhist follower, at a police station in the southern province of Vinh Long in May.
The letter also called on Vietnam to stop threatening and harassing Mr. Tan’s family.
The organizations signing the letter include the U.S.-based Boat People SOS (BPSOS), the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), Belgium-based Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF), the Coalition to Abolish Modern-day Slavery in Asia (CAMSA), among others.
Mr. Tan was detained by the police on May 2 for allegedly spreading “anti-state materials,” violating Article 88 of the Penal Code.
The next day, his family learned from the police that he had used a letter opener to commit suicide at the police station.
The family didn’t believe that he would do such a thing although Vinh Long authorities showed them two video clips in which a man – they said is Tan – was seen using a knife to cut his neck.
Mr. Tan’s father, Nguyen Huu Quang, told international organizations that his son is right-handed, not left-handed as the man seen in the video. The family suspected that Mr. Tan was tortured to death.
Tan is among hundreds of Vietnamese found dead in police stations and detention facilities nationwide in the past few years. Police said most of their deaths were caused by illness and suicides, however, their families believe that police torture is the main reason for their deaths.
===== July 6 =====
Canadian Senator Ngo Condemns Vietnam’s Harsh Sentencing of Peaceful Bloggers
Ottawa, July 6, 2017 – Senator Thanh Hai Ngo today made the following statement on the rising trend in violent attacks against independent bloggers, and the Communist Party’s increased crackdown on human rights activists in Vietnam:
“I unequivocally condemn the arrest of the blogger and single mother of two, Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, also known as Mother Mushroom, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday, June 29, 2017, after being found guilty of distorting government policies and defaming the Communist regime in Facebook posts and in interviews with foreign media.
“The Communist Party of Vietnam must also immediately release Nguyen Van Dai, who has been imprisoned since December 2015 following charges under Article 88 for ‘conducting propaganda against the state.’ After more than one year, he is still unfairly detained without a fair trial or access to legal counsel, and is in poor health without proper medical attention.
“I am deeply concerned about the increasing pattern of plainclothes police officers and ‘thugs’ violently assaulting targeted human right activists, bloggers and their families with the tacit approval of Vietnamese authorities. For the last two years, peaceful campaigners like Father Dang Huu Nam who are publically demanding justice for the victims of the Formosa ecological disaster, and many other prominent dissidents have been exposed targets to vicious threats and physical harm. This campaign to spread fear and uncertainty among activists and potential government critics is a reaction from the Vietnamese Communist Party against a growing pro-democracy and human rights movement.
“Unfortunately, the Government of Canada’s silence on this trend toward targeted physical violence, increased arrests and the conviction of peaceful protestors in Vietnam is inconsistent with Canada’s values and its foreign policy priorities. The Government of Canada should follow the example of its close allies like the United States, the European Union and Australia, and international organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, who condemn these human rights violations. Furthermore, Canada should urge Vietnam to immediately release all other prisoners of conscience and allow all individuals in Vietnam to express their views freely and assemble peacefully without fear of retribution.”
——————-
Quynh Luu Authorities Continue to Terror Catholic Community in Van Thai Sub-parish
Defend the Defenders: Authorities in Quynh Luu district, Nghe An province continue to terror the Catholic community in the Van Thai sub-parish by sending thugs to beet followers, local bloggers said.
During the late night of July 6, a group of thugs led by a Facebooker with nickname Quynh Hoan broke in a private residence of Mr. Nen and beat his daughter namely Ha.
The thugs also broke in the house of Mr. Thanh, threatening to destroy the house with fire. They threw animal waste to the house, said Priest Nguyen Dinh Thuc.
In the next evening, they came to Thanh’s house and assaulted his laborer.
Priest Thuc calls on domestic and international community to pay attention to the ongoing crackdown against the Catholic community in the Song Ngoc parish in Son Hai commune, Quynh Luu district.
===== July 7 =====
One More Detainee Dies in Police Station
Defend the Defenders: Nguyen Hong De is the latest detainee found dead in a detention facility of the Phan Rang city police who said he committed suicide by hanging himself.
De, 25, was arrested on July 6 for investigation about his roles in a civil dispute case in May. One day later, his mother came to the police station to visit him and police said he was writing confession. When they went to an interrogation room where he was held, they found him hanged on a window with his shirt.
De was taken to a local hospital but died in the early morning of the next day.
His family and relatives took his body on streets and in front of the building of the province’People’s Committee to demand for investigation of his death, saying he was killed and rejecting police’s explaination of committing suicide.
There have been a number of detainees found dead in police stations in many localities in recent months.
In early May, Nguyen Huu Tan from Vinh Long died with his throat cut and many injuries to his head after one day being kept in police station. Police said Tan, who was arrested for anti-state propaganda, committed by using a letter opener of a investigation officer to cut his throat. The list of dead detainees includes one guy in Ho Chi Minh City and another guy in Vinh city.
Vietnam ratified the UN Convention against Torture (CAT) but people continue to suffer from torture in police custody. Hundreds of criminal suspects were found dead in police stations in the past few years.
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July 9, 2017
Vietnam Human Rights Defenders’ Weekly July 3-9, 2017: Vietnam Officially Charges Young Activist Tran Hoang Phuc with Anti-state Propaganda Allegation
by Nhan Quyen • DEFENDER’S WEEKLY
Defend the Defenders | July 09, 2017
Vietnam has officially charged young activist Tran Hoang Phuc with allegation of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the country’s 1999 Penal Code after detaining him for five days.
On July 3, Hanoi’s police said they will hold Phuc for investigation for producing, holding and spreading videoclips which defame the ruling communist party and its leaders. Phuc, a member of the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) established few years ago by then U.S. President Barack Obama, was kidnapped by security forces in his renting apartment in Hanoi on June 29 and the arrest was publicized after his mother came from Ho Chi Minh City to ask about his situation.
Mrs. Nguyen Thi Tuyet Lan, the mother of imprisoned Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, said she came to the police detention facility in Khanh Hoa province on July 3 to request for meeting with her daughter but the prison’s authorities denied. Quynh, who was arrested on October 10 last year and sentenced to 10 years in prison on allegation of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the 1999 Penal Code, met with her mother once since her arrest on June 28, one day ahead of her trial on June 29.
Authorities in Quynh Luu district, Nghe An province continue to terror the Catholic community in the Van Thai sub-parish by sending thugs to beet followers.
Many Vietnamese detainees continue to be found dead in police stations in a number of localities. This week, the victim came from Phan Rang city and police said the detainee hanged himself with his shirt.
Many domestic and international human rights signed in a joint letter to request Vietnam’s government to launch an “independent, unbiased and effective” investigation into the suspicious death of Nguyen Huu Tan, a Hoa Hao Buddhist follower, at a police station in the southern province of Vinh Long in May.
Many international rights groups also jointly sent a petition to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to demand for release of prisoners of conscience Buddhist monk Thich Quang Do, human rights attorney Nguyen Van Dai and environmental activist Do Thi Hong.
===== July 3 =====
Vietnam Officially Announces Arrest of Young Activist Tran Hoang Phuc, Charging Him with “Conducting Anti-state Propaganda”
Defend the Defenders: On July 3, the police of Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi officially announced the arrest of young activist Tran Hoang Phuc, five days after detaining him without warrant in a renting apartment on Hoang Hoa Tham street, Buoi ward, Tay Ho district.
The police said Phuc will be kept for investigation on allegation of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the country’s Penal Code, particularly for making, storing and disseminating videos defaming the ruling communist party and its government. He will face imprisonment of up to 20 years if is convicted, according to the current Vietnamese law.
Currently, Phuc is imprisoned in the Detention facility No. 1 under the management of the Hanoi city’s Department of Police. He will be likely kept incommunicado for at least four months for investigation, the common practice applied for those who were accused of allegations in the national security provision of the Penal Code.
On June 29, Hanoi’s police broke in his apartment on Hoang Hoa Tham street, detaining without showing arrest warrant.
The arrest announcement was made after his mother came from Ho Chi Minh City to ask about him.
On April 13, Phuc and Huynh Thanh Phat were kidnapped by plainclothes agents, who robbed and brutally beat them before releasing the activists in a remote area in the central province of Quang Binh.
Phuc is a 23-year-old activist based in Saigon. He is a member of the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI), which was established few years ago by then U.S. President Barack Obama. In May 2016, as an YSEALI member, Mr. Phuc was invited to attend a talk given by President Obama in HCM City, but he was barred from attending the event by Vietnam’s security forces.
He publicly calls for multi-party democracy and human rights enhancement as well as environmental protection. In late May last year, when then U.S. President Barack Obama visited Saigon, he was invited to meet him but was detained by local security shortly prior to the meeting
Phuc’s arrest was made amid Vietnam’s intensified crackdown against local political dissidents, human rights campaigners, social activists and independent bloggers.
Numerous activists have been arrested and charged with controversial articles 79, 88, and 258 of the Penal Code since late 2015 when the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam prepared its 12th National Congress with election of the new leadership for the 2016-2021 period.
Human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai and his assistant Ms. Le Thu Ha, and land rights activist Tran Thuy Nga are under investigation on charges of anti-state propaganda. The first two were arrested in late 2015 while the last two were detained in January this year.
On the same day of Phuc’s detention, Vietnam sentenced human rights activist and environmental campaigner Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh or Mother Mushroom to 10 years in prison who was convicted of “conducting anti-state propaganda.” Her sentencing was condemned by many foreign governments including the EU, the U.S., the UK, and Germany as well as many international rights groups such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Civil Rights Defenders, Reporters Without Borders and Front Line Defenders.
Over 30 Vietnamese activists were tried and sentenced to heavy imprisonment since the beginning of 2016.
——————-
Vietnam Human Rights Defender Not Allowed to Meet with Mother after Trial
Defend the Defenders: Authorities in Vietnam’s central province of Khanh Hoa have not allowed to allow Mrs. Nguyen Thi Tuyet Lan to visit her daughter Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, a prominent human rights campaigner and environmental activist who was sentenced to ten years on allegation of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the country’s 1999 Penal Code three days ago.
On July 3, Mrs. Lan came to the province’s detention facility and filled a request for meeting with the well-known blogger with pen name Mother Mushroom, however, the facility’s authorities returned her letter and rejected her request.
They said they are holding the human rights activist but the province’s security forces are eligible for taking decision to allow visiting her or not.
Mrs. Lan said the refusal is a revenge against the blogger who did not commit guilty during the unfair trial on Thursday last week.
Ms. Quynh was kept incommunicado during pre-trial detention from October 10, 2016 until June 20, 2017, nine days prior to her first hearing when she was allowed to meet her lawyers for the first time to prepare her defense.
Her mother was allowed to meet her shortly one day before the trial while her children have not been permitted to meet with their mother since her arrest last year.
Some bloggers said Khanh Hoa province’s authorities had not provided her with basic hygienic materials during the pre-trial detention between October last year until late June this year.
Vietnam has drawn great international condemnation for sentencing Mother Mushroom who was awarded with a Hellman Hammett grant from Human Rights Watch in 2010 as a writer defending free expression, the 2015 Civil Rights Defender of the Year award of Civil Rights Defenders in 2015 and the International Women of Courage award from the U.S. State Department this year.
For more information about Mother Mushroom’s case, you can read in our archive: /category/nguyen-ngoc-nhu-quynh-me-nam/
===== July 4 =====
France-based VCHR Urges Vietnam to Free Prisoners of Conscience
Defend the Defenders: The France-based Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR) and more than 40 civil society organizations and individuals worldwide have signed a letter calling on Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to immediately free three prisoners of conscience.
The three prisoners named in the letter are Monk Thich Quang Do, human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai, and environmental activist Do Thi Hong.
The letter was signed and addressed to PM Phuc just as he arrived in Hamburg, Germany to attend the G20 Summit on July 5-8.
VCHR and other organizations expressed deep concerns about Vietnamese authorities’ arrest and mistreatment of prisoners of conscience, especially the three aforementioned cases.
Many renowned international organizations have signed the letter, such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Freedom House, among others.
For detail: At G20 Summit: VCHR calls on Vietnamese Prime Minister to release prisoners of conscience Thích Quảng Độ, Nguyễn Văn Đài and Đỗ Thị Hồng
===== July 5 =====
Human Rights Groups Request Vietnam to Investigate Death of Hoa Hao Buddhist Follower in Police Custody
Defend the Defenders: Defend the Defenders, Amnesty International and more than 30 other organizations have sent a letter to Vietnam’s Minister of Public Security To Lam to ask for an “independent, unbiased and effective” investigation into the suspicious death of Nguyen Huu Tan, a Hoa Hao Buddhist follower, at a police station in the southern province of Vinh Long in May.
The letter also called on Vietnam to stop threatening and harassing Mr. Tan’s family.
The organizations signing the letter include the U.S.-based Boat People SOS (BPSOS), the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), Belgium-based Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF), the Coalition to Abolish Modern-day Slavery in Asia (CAMSA), among others.
Mr. Tan was detained by the police on May 2 for allegedly spreading “anti-state materials,” violating Article 88 of the Penal Code.
The next day, his family learned from the police that he had used a letter opener to commit suicide at the police station.
The family didn’t believe that he would do such a thing although Vinh Long authorities showed them two video clips in which a man – they said is Tan – was seen using a knife to cut his neck.
Mr. Tan’s father, Nguyen Huu Quang, told international organizations that his son is right-handed, not left-handed as the man seen in the video. The family suspected that Mr. Tan was tortured to death.
Tan is among hundreds of Vietnamese found dead in police stations and detention facilities nationwide in the past few years. Police said most of their deaths were caused by illness and suicides, however, their families believe that police torture is the main reason for their deaths.
===== July 6 =====
Canadian Senator Ngo Condemns Vietnam’s Harsh Sentencing of Peaceful Bloggers
Ottawa, July 6, 2017 – Senator Thanh Hai Ngo today made the following statement on the rising trend in violent attacks against independent bloggers, and the Communist Party’s increased crackdown on human rights activists in Vietnam:
“I unequivocally condemn the arrest of the blogger and single mother of two, Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, also known as Mother Mushroom, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday, June 29, 2017, after being found guilty of distorting government policies and defaming the Communist regime in Facebook posts and in interviews with foreign media.
“The Communist Party of Vietnam must also immediately release Nguyen Van Dai, who has been imprisoned since December 2015 following charges under Article 88 for ‘conducting propaganda against the state.’ After more than one year, he is still unfairly detained without a fair trial or access to legal counsel, and is in poor health without proper medical attention.
“I am deeply concerned about the increasing pattern of plainclothes police officers and ‘thugs’ violently assaulting targeted human right activists, bloggers and their families with the tacit approval of Vietnamese authorities. For the last two years, peaceful campaigners like Father Dang Huu Nam who are publically demanding justice for the victims of the Formosa ecological disaster, and many other prominent dissidents have been exposed targets to vicious threats and physical harm. This campaign to spread fear and uncertainty among activists and potential government critics is a reaction from the Vietnamese Communist Party against a growing pro-democracy and human rights movement.
“Unfortunately, the Government of Canada’s silence on this trend toward targeted physical violence, increased arrests and the conviction of peaceful protestors in Vietnam is inconsistent with Canada’s values and its foreign policy priorities. The Government of Canada should follow the example of its close allies like the United States, the European Union and Australia, and international organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, who condemn these human rights violations. Furthermore, Canada should urge Vietnam to immediately release all other prisoners of conscience and allow all individuals in Vietnam to express their views freely and assemble peacefully without fear of retribution.”
——————-
Quynh Luu Authorities Continue to Terror Catholic Community in Van Thai Sub-parish
Defend the Defenders: Authorities in Quynh Luu district, Nghe An province continue to terror the Catholic community in the Van Thai sub-parish by sending thugs to beet followers, local bloggers said.
During the late night of July 6, a group of thugs led by a Facebooker with nickname Quynh Hoan broke in a private residence of Mr. Nen and beat his daughter namely Ha.
The thugs also broke in the house of Mr. Thanh, threatening to destroy the house with fire. They threw animal waste to the house, said Priest Nguyen Dinh Thuc.
In the next evening, they came to Thanh’s house and assaulted his laborer.
Priest Thuc calls on domestic and international community to pay attention to the ongoing crackdown against the Catholic community in the Song Ngoc parish in Son Hai commune, Quynh Luu district.
===== July 7 =====
One More Detainee Dies in Police Station
Defend the Defenders: Nguyen Hong De is the latest detainee found dead in a detention facility of the Phan Rang city police who said he committed suicide by hanging himself.
De, 25, was arrested on July 6 for investigation about his roles in a civil dispute case in May. One day later, his mother came to the police station to visit him and police said he was writing confession. When they went to an interrogation room where he was held, they found him hanged on a window with his shirt.
De was taken to a local hospital but died in the early morning of the next day.
His family and relatives took his body on streets and in front of the building of the province’People’s Committee to demand for investigation of his death, saying he was killed and rejecting police’s explaination of committing suicide.
There have been a number of detainees found dead in police stations in many localities in recent months.
In early May, Nguyen Huu Tan from Vinh Long died with his throat cut and many injuries to his head after one day being kept in police station. Police said Tan, who was arrested for anti-state propaganda, committed by using a letter opener of a investigation officer to cut his throat. The list of dead detainees includes one guy in Ho Chi Minh City and another guy in Vinh city.
Vietnam ratified the UN Convention against Torture (CAT) but people continue to suffer from torture in police custody. Hundreds of criminal suspects were found dead in police stations in the past few years.
========================