Dr. Pham Chi Dung is with his injured arm after the assault on Dec 17
Defend the Defenders, December 18, 2017
Dr. Pham Chi Dung, president of the unsanctioned Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam (IJAVN) has escaped death in a traffic accident intentionally caused by plainclothes agents.
The incident occurred at around 7 PM of Sunday (December 17) when Mr. Dung travelled on his motorbike near his private residence in Ho Chi Minh City.
Dung, a former government official, said a guy on another motorbike followed him, hitting his motorbike and running away. The attack made Dung’s motorbike collapsed on a street and he suffered many injuries on his left arm, two hands and legs.
Dr. Dung told Defend the Defenders that his helmet saved him.
“Today, I felt as though I had been followed… After having a telephone conversation with an international media outlet, on my way home, I nearly died.”
“A motorbike rider followed me, hit my vehicle from behind… throwing me off my vehicle. Without my protection helmet which is now dismantled and flattened, I would have died today.”
“I had to apply bandage to my injuries, my hand is also injured requiring bandage,” he noted.
“I have often been followed, even kidnapped by the police… but today was horrifying, we can say in Vietnam today, those who engage in independent journalism or speak out for [independent] civil society, democracy and human rights, are facing a lot of risks and danger.”
The assault of Mr. Dung is one of many attacks of police and plainclothes agents against political dissidents, human rights defenders, social activists and online bloggers.
In its report “No Country for Human Rights Activists: Assaults on Bloggers and Democracy Campaigners in Vietnam” released in mid June, Human Rights Watch documented 36 incidents in which unknown men in civilian clothes beat rights campaigners and bloggers between January 2015 and April 2017, often resulting in serious injuries. Many victims reported that beatings occurred in the presence of uniformed police who did nothing to intervene, said the New York-based right group.
IJAVN’s website Thoibaovietnam.org is providing many articles not censored by the government with independent views on different issues of the country, many of them are critical to the communist government.
Mr. Dung and many other members of IJAVN have been subjects of intimidation and persecution from security forces who have carried out a number of measures such physical attacks, arbitrary detentions, police summoning, international travel ban and placement under house arrest to harass local activists.
Vietnam is among the world’s biggest prison for journalists, holding ten journalists and bloggers due to their journalism activities, according to the Reporters Without Borders.
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December 18, 2017
President of Unsanctioned Independent Journalists Association Attacked, Escaping Death in Traffic Accident
by Nhan Quyen • Pham Chi Dung
Dr. Pham Chi Dung is with his injured arm after the assault on Dec 17
Defend the Defenders, December 18, 2017
Dr. Pham Chi Dung, president of the unsanctioned Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam (IJAVN) has escaped death in a traffic accident intentionally caused by plainclothes agents.
The incident occurred at around 7 PM of Sunday (December 17) when Mr. Dung travelled on his motorbike near his private residence in Ho Chi Minh City.
Dung, a former government official, said a guy on another motorbike followed him, hitting his motorbike and running away. The attack made Dung’s motorbike collapsed on a street and he suffered many injuries on his left arm, two hands and legs.
Dr. Dung told Defend the Defenders that his helmet saved him.
“Today, I felt as though I had been followed… After having a telephone conversation with an international media outlet, on my way home, I nearly died.”
“A motorbike rider followed me, hit my vehicle from behind… throwing me off my vehicle. Without my protection helmet which is now dismantled and flattened, I would have died today.”
“I had to apply bandage to my injuries, my hand is also injured requiring bandage,” he noted.
“I have often been followed, even kidnapped by the police… but today was horrifying, we can say in Vietnam today, those who engage in independent journalism or speak out for [independent] civil society, democracy and human rights, are facing a lot of risks and danger.”
The assault of Mr. Dung is one of many attacks of police and plainclothes agents against political dissidents, human rights defenders, social activists and online bloggers.
In its report “No Country for Human Rights Activists: Assaults on Bloggers and Democracy Campaigners in Vietnam” released in mid June, Human Rights Watch documented 36 incidents in which unknown men in civilian clothes beat rights campaigners and bloggers between January 2015 and April 2017, often resulting in serious injuries. Many victims reported that beatings occurred in the presence of uniformed police who did nothing to intervene, said the New York-based right group.
IJAVN’s website Thoibaovietnam.org is providing many articles not censored by the government with independent views on different issues of the country, many of them are critical to the communist government.
Mr. Dung and many other members of IJAVN have been subjects of intimidation and persecution from security forces who have carried out a number of measures such physical attacks, arbitrary detentions, police summoning, international travel ban and placement under house arrest to harass local activists.
Vietnam is among the world’s biggest prison for journalists, holding ten journalists and bloggers due to their journalism activities, according to the Reporters Without Borders.