Defend the Defenders | January 7, 2018
Former prisoner of conscience Vu Van Hung (or Vu Hung), member of the unsanctioned Brotherhood for Democracy has become the first victim of Vietnam’s crackdown on local dissent in 2018 after being arrested by Hanoi security forces on January 4.
After participating in a meeting of the unregistered Chu Van An Teachers Association, the former secondary school teacher was detained and beaten by security forces near his private residence in Ha Dong district. Later, police transferred to Thanh Xuan Bac ward police station and finally to the Temporary Detention Facility of the Thanh Xuan district police. According to a police notice to his family, Mr. Hung was charged with “causing public disorders” under Article 318 of the country’s 2015 Penal Code.
Mr. Hung’s detention is related to his peaceful activities, Vu Quoc Ngu, chief executive officer affirmed, adding Vietnam’s security forces often kidnap or detain targeted activists in trumped-up cases and later charge them with controversial articles in the Penal Code’s national security provisions.
Mr. Hung has been the 8th member of the Brotherhood for Democracy detained by Vietnam’s communist government. Other detained members are prominent human rights attorney Nguyen Van Dai, Nguyen Trung Ton, Pham Van Troi, Nguyen Van Tuc, Nguyen Trung Truc, Le Thu Ha and Truong Minh Duc.
Meanwhile, authorities in the southern province of Dong Nai are still holding former prisoner of conscience Doan Van Dien for the consecutive15 days without issuing arrest warrant nor criminal charge. The arrest of the Protestant pastor may aim to force his son Doan Huy Chuong to show up so they can arrest him. Chuong, who was released in February after spending seven years in prison due to his labor activities, has been sought by police in recent weeks.
The detentions of Mr. Hung and pastor Dien says Vietnam will continue its crackdown on local dissent this year after severe period last year in which the communist government arrested at least 45 activists on serious allegation including subversion and anti-state propaganda, and convicted 19 activists, giving them hard sentences of between three and 16 years in prison.
===== January 4 =====
Hanoi Detains Former Prisoner of Conscience Vu Hung amid Increasing Crackdown on Dissent
Defend the Defenders: The family of former prisoner of conscience Vu Van Hung (or Vu Hung) was informed by the Hanoi police that he is held in the Temporary Detention Center of Thanh Xuan district police from January 4.
The detention will last at least three days, police told his wife Ly Mai. The family can provide some supplements for him but not allowed to meet him, police said.
Hung, a former secondary school teacher, will be investigated on allegation of “causing public disorders” under Article 318 of the country’s 2015 Penal Code, according to the arrest warrant.
Mr. Hung, a member of the unsanctioned Brotherhood for Democracy, went missing from 1.30 PM of Thursday after participating a meeting of the unsanctioned Chu Van An Teachers Association in a restaurant in Thanh Xuan Bac ward, Thanh Xuan district. The lunch-meeting was disrupted as the restaurant owner under district police pressure asked the participants left the facility at the middle of the event.
After failure to connect with Mr. Hung by phones, his relatives went to different places to seek for him. When his wife and son came to the police station of Thanh Xuan Bac ward, they found him kept here.
Police denied telling them the reason for his detention while Mr. Hung said he was caught in a trumped-up case and beaten by plainclothes before being arrested and taken to the police station. He was hand-cuffed, the wife said.
At 10.30 PM of the same day, police took Mr. Hung to a taxi which droved away. Police refused to tell the family where he will be held.
A policeman who is responsible for security in his area and was invited by Thanh Xuan Bac police on the case told the family that Hung was arrested due to his involvement in a clash but refused to give more details.
The detention is related to his human rights activities, affirmed Vu Quoc Ngu, chief executive officer of Defend the Defenders, adding Vietnam’s security forces often detain or kidnap targeted activists in trumped-up cases and later charge them with controversial articles in the Penal Code’s national security provisions.
Mr. Hung is a member of the unsanctioned Brotherhood for Democracy, one of main targets of Vietnam’s ongoing crackdown on local dissent, the most severe campaign for many years.
Last year, Vietnam arrested key members of the online organization, including Nguyen Trung Ton, Pham Van Troi, Nguyen Van Tuc, Truong Minh Duc, and Nguyen Trung Truc. The founder Nguyen Van Dai and his assistant Ms. Le Thu Ha were arrested in late 2015. They were charged with subversion under Article 79 of the country’s 1999 Penal Code and face life imprisonment or even death punishment if convicted, according to the current law.
In November 2017, Mr. Hung was summoned by Hanoi police several times for interrogation about his membership of the Brotherhood for Democracy.
Mr. Hung is a former political prisoner. In 2008, he was arrested for hanging banners calling for multi-party democracy and later convicted with “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the 1999 Penal Code. He was sentenced to three years in jail and three years under house arrest. He was forced to abandon his job as a secondary school teacher.
After being released in 2011, Hung has actively participated in peaceful demonstrations and meetings on social issues, including the environmental disaster caused by the toxic industrial waste discharge of the Taiwanese Formosa steel plant in the central coastal region in 2016 which caused massive death of marine there.
The Communist Party of Vietnam has ruled the country for decades and strives to maintain the nation under a one-party regime.
Since the 12th National Congress of the party in February 2016 with appointments of many police officers to senior positions of the party and state apparatuses, Vietnam has launched severe campaign to suppress local political dissidents, human rights defenders, social activists and online bloggers.
The peak of the crackdown was 2017 with arrests of 45 activists on allegations under controversial articles 79 and 88 of the 1999 Penal Code. The communist government convicted 20 activists, sentencing them to between three and 16 years in prisons.
In addition, Vietnam also expelled two pro-democracy activists to France.
——————–
Vietnam Human Rights Defenders Targeted Systemically in 2017: Front Line Defenders
On January 3, 2018, the Dublin-based international human rights organization Front Line Defenders released its annual report on global human rights situation in 2017. In its report themed Annual Report on Human Rights Defenders at Risks in 2017, Vietnam is in focus in Southeast Asia.
Here is about Vietnam, according to the report:
“Vietnamese bloggers, academics and citizen journalists who have been working for years to push forward a human rights agenda were targeted in a systematic campaign in 2017. Those advocating for freedom of expression, environmental rights and religious rights were arrested, charged and handed lengthy jail terms as “enemies of the state”. Articles 79 and 88 of the Penal Code, relating to “activities aimed at overthrowing the government” and “anti-state propaganda” were used to sentence HRDs Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh (aka Me Nam), Tran Thi Nga and Nguyen Van Oai to five to ten years in jail and additional time under house arrest.
A number of loosely organised HRDs and groups using the Internet to promote human rights bore the brunt of the crackdown and were targeted with arbitrary arrests and incommunicado detentions. HRDs also faced harassment, intimidation and surveillance for liaising with foreign diplomats or meeting representatives of international human rights organisations. In November, three HRDs were detained after meeting with the EU Delegation in Hanoi ahead of the EU- Vietnam Human Rights Dialogue. Environmental rights defenders peacefully protesting the government’s lack of transparency following a massive oil spill by Formosa, a Taiwanese-owned company, were physically attacked when exercising their right to freedom of assembly. In November 2017, 22-year-old Nguyen Van Hoa was sentenced to seven years in prison for reporting on the Formosa spill. While Vietnam had seemed to be making some progress towards greater respect for human rights and civil society, this ground to a halt in 2017, with some HRDs suggesting a link to China’s increasing influence in the region and the deprioritisation of human rights by the US under President Trump.”
For full report:
ANNUAL REPORT ON HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS AT RISK IN 2017
===== January 5 =====
Vietnam: Annus horribilis ends with more arrests and imprisonment
PARIS, 5 January 2018 (FIDH & VCHR): Vietnam’s unprecedented repression of dissent during 2017 calls for the international community’s renewed engagement with Hanoi on human rights, FIDH and its member organization Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR) said today.
“The fact that the EU and the US are more interested in signing business deals than talking about human rights has emboldened Hanoi to harden its attacks on basic civil and political rights. It’s time for the international community to vigorously re-engage with Hanoi on human rights,” said FIDH Secretary-General Debbie Stothard.
In 2017, Vietnamese authorities arbitrarily detained or imprisoned at least 46 activists and human rights defenders, including 7 women, for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly. The crackdown accelerated in late December 2017, when 15 activists were sentenced to prison terms.
“Vietnam’s accelerated repression at the end of December was strategically timed to coincide with the distractions provided by the end-of-year holidays. The EU and the US should open their eyes and raise their voices to demand the immediate release of all political prisoners and the speedy implementation of much-needed institutional and legislative reforms in Vietnam,” said VCHR President Vo Van Ai.
On 20 December 2017, police and security forces in Ho Chi Minh City beat at least 20 people and detained five of them for participating in a peaceful protest against the Taiwanese-owned company Formosa, which was responsible for a massive environmental catastrophe in Vietnam’s three coastal provinces in 2016.
On 21 December 2017, a court in An Giang Province sentenced five people under Article 88 of the Criminal Code (‘spreading propaganda against the state’) for hanging 26 flags emblazoned with three red stripes (the flag of the former Republic of Vietnam, also known as South Vietnam before 1975) in the province’s Chau Doc Township on 25 April 2017. Nguyen Tan An was sentenced to five years in prison; Huynh Thi Kim Quyen and Nguyen Ngoc Qui received four-year sentences; and Pham Van Trong and Nguyen Thanh Binh were jailed for three years.
On 22 December 2017, a court in Ha Nam Province rejected an appeal by prominent human rights defender Tran Thi Nga against her conviction and nine-year prison sentence under Article 88 of the Criminal Code. The court upheld the lower court’s decision in a hearing from which authorities barred Nga’s family members and supporters. Outside the court, police and security forces took into custody nine activists who had gathered to show support for Tran Thi Nga. At least one of them was beaten by thugs before being arrested.
On 24 December 2017, authorities arrested former political prisoner Doan Van Dien at his home in Lam Dong Province and detained him in the B5 detention center in Dong Nai Province. The reason for his arrest was not immediately known.
On 28 December 2017, a court in Binh Dinh Province sentenced nine people to prison terms ranging from three to 14 years for printing and distributing leaflets. Pham Long Dai, Doan Thi Bich Thuy, Truong Thi Thu Hang, and Tran Thi Bich Ngoc were convicted Under Article 88 of the Criminal Code. Ta Tan Loc, Nguyen Quang Thanh, Huynh Huu Dat, Nguyen Van Nghia, and Nguyen Van Tuan were convicted under Article 79 of the Criminal Code (‘conducting activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s administration’). In addition, all nine were sentenced to three years of house arrest to be served upon the completion of their prison terms.
FIDH and VCHR are also troubled by the Vietnamese government’s latest move to tighten monitoring of internet content. On 25 December 2017, Deputy Head of the People’s Army Political Department Lt Gen Nguyen Trong Nghia announced that a new 10,000-strong military cyber unit, named ‘Force 47’, had begun operating “to fight proactively against the wrong views.”
FIDH and VCHR reiterate their calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners in Vietnam and for the repeal of all provisions of the Criminal Code that are inconsistent with the country’s obligations under international law. At least 130 political prisoners remain behind bars in jails across the country. Nearly all of those arbitrarily detained or imprisoned in 2017 were arrested and charged under Articles 79, 88, or 258 (‘abusing democratic freedoms to harm the interests of the state’) of the Criminal Code.
===== January 7 =====
Former Vietnamese Prisoner of Conscience Still in Custody after 15 Days Without Charge
Defend the Defenders: Police in Vietnam’s southern province of Dong Nai are still holding former prisoner of conscience Protestant pastor Doan Van Dien for the 15 consecutive day without issuing arrest warrant nor criminal charge.
On December 24, 2017, Dong Nai police arrested Mr. Dien in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong where he temporarily stays. The detainee is a member of the Inter-faith Council, an unregistered coalition working for religious freedom in the Southeast Asian nation.
Police verbally informed the family about the detention of Mr. Dien but did not unveil the reason for the arrest.
Pastor Dien, who was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison in 2007 for “abusing democratic freedom” under Article 258 of the country’s 1999 Penal Code, is the father of e-political prisoner Doan Huy Chuong, who is a key member of the unsanctioned Viet Labor Movement.
Mr. Chuong, who spent total 8.5 years in prison, told Defend the Defenders that his father’s detention aims to force him to show up so police can arrest him. After the arrest, police in Dong Nai send officers to different places to seek for him, he added.
The prolonged detention of his father without charge and arrest warrant is violation of the country’s Criminal Procedure Law, which allows police hold suspects for maximum nine days without charge(s).
Mr. Chuong was arrested in 2006 together with his father. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
After being released, Chuong and Do Thi Minh Hanh and Nguyen Hoang Quoc Hung formed the Viet Labor Movement aiming to help workers to demand for higher salary and better working conditions.
In 2010, the trio was arrested on allegation of “Disrupting security” under Article 89 of the Penal Code 1999. Chuong and Hanh were sentenced to seven years in prison each while Hung was given nine years in jail. Chuong was released in February last year while Hung is still in prison and Hanh was released in 2015 after four years in prison thanks to international pressure.
Mr. Dien is the latest victim of Vietnam’s ongoing crackdown on local political dissidents, human rights defenders, social activists and online bloggers. In 2017, Vietnam arrested 45 activists on allegation of anti-state activities in the national security provisions of the Penal Code and sentenced 19 of them to between three and 16 years.
Vietnam is holding around 180 prisoners of conscience, according to Defend the Defenders’ counting.
====================
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January 7, 2018
Vietnam Human Rights Defenders’ Weekly January 1-7, 2018: Vietnam Arrests 8th Member of Brotherhood for Democracy, Still Holding Former Prisoner of Conscience Doan Van Dien
by Nhan Quyen • [Human Rights], DEFENDER’S WEEKLY
Defend the Defenders | January 7, 2018
Former prisoner of conscience Vu Van Hung (or Vu Hung), member of the unsanctioned Brotherhood for Democracy has become the first victim of Vietnam’s crackdown on local dissent in 2018 after being arrested by Hanoi security forces on January 4.
After participating in a meeting of the unregistered Chu Van An Teachers Association, the former secondary school teacher was detained and beaten by security forces near his private residence in Ha Dong district. Later, police transferred to Thanh Xuan Bac ward police station and finally to the Temporary Detention Facility of the Thanh Xuan district police. According to a police notice to his family, Mr. Hung was charged with “causing public disorders” under Article 318 of the country’s 2015 Penal Code.
Mr. Hung’s detention is related to his peaceful activities, Vu Quoc Ngu, chief executive officer affirmed, adding Vietnam’s security forces often kidnap or detain targeted activists in trumped-up cases and later charge them with controversial articles in the Penal Code’s national security provisions.
Mr. Hung has been the 8th member of the Brotherhood for Democracy detained by Vietnam’s communist government. Other detained members are prominent human rights attorney Nguyen Van Dai, Nguyen Trung Ton, Pham Van Troi, Nguyen Van Tuc, Nguyen Trung Truc, Le Thu Ha and Truong Minh Duc.
Meanwhile, authorities in the southern province of Dong Nai are still holding former prisoner of conscience Doan Van Dien for the consecutive15 days without issuing arrest warrant nor criminal charge. The arrest of the Protestant pastor may aim to force his son Doan Huy Chuong to show up so they can arrest him. Chuong, who was released in February after spending seven years in prison due to his labor activities, has been sought by police in recent weeks.
The detentions of Mr. Hung and pastor Dien says Vietnam will continue its crackdown on local dissent this year after severe period last year in which the communist government arrested at least 45 activists on serious allegation including subversion and anti-state propaganda, and convicted 19 activists, giving them hard sentences of between three and 16 years in prison.
===== January 4 =====
Hanoi Detains Former Prisoner of Conscience Vu Hung amid Increasing Crackdown on Dissent
Defend the Defenders: The family of former prisoner of conscience Vu Van Hung (or Vu Hung) was informed by the Hanoi police that he is held in the Temporary Detention Center of Thanh Xuan district police from January 4.
The detention will last at least three days, police told his wife Ly Mai. The family can provide some supplements for him but not allowed to meet him, police said.
Hung, a former secondary school teacher, will be investigated on allegation of “causing public disorders” under Article 318 of the country’s 2015 Penal Code, according to the arrest warrant.
Mr. Hung, a member of the unsanctioned Brotherhood for Democracy, went missing from 1.30 PM of Thursday after participating a meeting of the unsanctioned Chu Van An Teachers Association in a restaurant in Thanh Xuan Bac ward, Thanh Xuan district. The lunch-meeting was disrupted as the restaurant owner under district police pressure asked the participants left the facility at the middle of the event.
After failure to connect with Mr. Hung by phones, his relatives went to different places to seek for him. When his wife and son came to the police station of Thanh Xuan Bac ward, they found him kept here.
Police denied telling them the reason for his detention while Mr. Hung said he was caught in a trumped-up case and beaten by plainclothes before being arrested and taken to the police station. He was hand-cuffed, the wife said.
At 10.30 PM of the same day, police took Mr. Hung to a taxi which droved away. Police refused to tell the family where he will be held.
A policeman who is responsible for security in his area and was invited by Thanh Xuan Bac police on the case told the family that Hung was arrested due to his involvement in a clash but refused to give more details.
The detention is related to his human rights activities, affirmed Vu Quoc Ngu, chief executive officer of Defend the Defenders, adding Vietnam’s security forces often detain or kidnap targeted activists in trumped-up cases and later charge them with controversial articles in the Penal Code’s national security provisions.
Mr. Hung is a member of the unsanctioned Brotherhood for Democracy, one of main targets of Vietnam’s ongoing crackdown on local dissent, the most severe campaign for many years.
Last year, Vietnam arrested key members of the online organization, including Nguyen Trung Ton, Pham Van Troi, Nguyen Van Tuc, Truong Minh Duc, and Nguyen Trung Truc. The founder Nguyen Van Dai and his assistant Ms. Le Thu Ha were arrested in late 2015. They were charged with subversion under Article 79 of the country’s 1999 Penal Code and face life imprisonment or even death punishment if convicted, according to the current law.
In November 2017, Mr. Hung was summoned by Hanoi police several times for interrogation about his membership of the Brotherhood for Democracy.
Mr. Hung is a former political prisoner. In 2008, he was arrested for hanging banners calling for multi-party democracy and later convicted with “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the 1999 Penal Code. He was sentenced to three years in jail and three years under house arrest. He was forced to abandon his job as a secondary school teacher.
After being released in 2011, Hung has actively participated in peaceful demonstrations and meetings on social issues, including the environmental disaster caused by the toxic industrial waste discharge of the Taiwanese Formosa steel plant in the central coastal region in 2016 which caused massive death of marine there.
The Communist Party of Vietnam has ruled the country for decades and strives to maintain the nation under a one-party regime.
Since the 12th National Congress of the party in February 2016 with appointments of many police officers to senior positions of the party and state apparatuses, Vietnam has launched severe campaign to suppress local political dissidents, human rights defenders, social activists and online bloggers.
The peak of the crackdown was 2017 with arrests of 45 activists on allegations under controversial articles 79 and 88 of the 1999 Penal Code. The communist government convicted 20 activists, sentencing them to between three and 16 years in prisons.
In addition, Vietnam also expelled two pro-democracy activists to France.
——————–
Vietnam Human Rights Defenders Targeted Systemically in 2017: Front Line Defenders
On January 3, 2018, the Dublin-based international human rights organization Front Line Defenders released its annual report on global human rights situation in 2017. In its report themed Annual Report on Human Rights Defenders at Risks in 2017, Vietnam is in focus in Southeast Asia.
Here is about Vietnam, according to the report:
“Vietnamese bloggers, academics and citizen journalists who have been working for years to push forward a human rights agenda were targeted in a systematic campaign in 2017. Those advocating for freedom of expression, environmental rights and religious rights were arrested, charged and handed lengthy jail terms as “enemies of the state”. Articles 79 and 88 of the Penal Code, relating to “activities aimed at overthrowing the government” and “anti-state propaganda” were used to sentence HRDs Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh (aka Me Nam), Tran Thi Nga and Nguyen Van Oai to five to ten years in jail and additional time under house arrest.
A number of loosely organised HRDs and groups using the Internet to promote human rights bore the brunt of the crackdown and were targeted with arbitrary arrests and incommunicado detentions. HRDs also faced harassment, intimidation and surveillance for liaising with foreign diplomats or meeting representatives of international human rights organisations. In November, three HRDs were detained after meeting with the EU Delegation in Hanoi ahead of the EU- Vietnam Human Rights Dialogue. Environmental rights defenders peacefully protesting the government’s lack of transparency following a massive oil spill by Formosa, a Taiwanese-owned company, were physically attacked when exercising their right to freedom of assembly. In November 2017, 22-year-old Nguyen Van Hoa was sentenced to seven years in prison for reporting on the Formosa spill. While Vietnam had seemed to be making some progress towards greater respect for human rights and civil society, this ground to a halt in 2017, with some HRDs suggesting a link to China’s increasing influence in the region and the deprioritisation of human rights by the US under President Trump.”
For full report:
ANNUAL REPORT ON HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS AT RISK IN 2017
===== January 5 =====
Vietnam: Annus horribilis ends with more arrests and imprisonment
PARIS, 5 January 2018 (FIDH & VCHR): Vietnam’s unprecedented repression of dissent during 2017 calls for the international community’s renewed engagement with Hanoi on human rights, FIDH and its member organization Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR) said today.
“The fact that the EU and the US are more interested in signing business deals than talking about human rights has emboldened Hanoi to harden its attacks on basic civil and political rights. It’s time for the international community to vigorously re-engage with Hanoi on human rights,” said FIDH Secretary-General Debbie Stothard.
In 2017, Vietnamese authorities arbitrarily detained or imprisoned at least 46 activists and human rights defenders, including 7 women, for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly. The crackdown accelerated in late December 2017, when 15 activists were sentenced to prison terms.
“Vietnam’s accelerated repression at the end of December was strategically timed to coincide with the distractions provided by the end-of-year holidays. The EU and the US should open their eyes and raise their voices to demand the immediate release of all political prisoners and the speedy implementation of much-needed institutional and legislative reforms in Vietnam,” said VCHR President Vo Van Ai.
On 20 December 2017, police and security forces in Ho Chi Minh City beat at least 20 people and detained five of them for participating in a peaceful protest against the Taiwanese-owned company Formosa, which was responsible for a massive environmental catastrophe in Vietnam’s three coastal provinces in 2016.
On 21 December 2017, a court in An Giang Province sentenced five people under Article 88 of the Criminal Code (‘spreading propaganda against the state’) for hanging 26 flags emblazoned with three red stripes (the flag of the former Republic of Vietnam, also known as South Vietnam before 1975) in the province’s Chau Doc Township on 25 April 2017. Nguyen Tan An was sentenced to five years in prison; Huynh Thi Kim Quyen and Nguyen Ngoc Qui received four-year sentences; and Pham Van Trong and Nguyen Thanh Binh were jailed for three years.
On 22 December 2017, a court in Ha Nam Province rejected an appeal by prominent human rights defender Tran Thi Nga against her conviction and nine-year prison sentence under Article 88 of the Criminal Code. The court upheld the lower court’s decision in a hearing from which authorities barred Nga’s family members and supporters. Outside the court, police and security forces took into custody nine activists who had gathered to show support for Tran Thi Nga. At least one of them was beaten by thugs before being arrested.
On 24 December 2017, authorities arrested former political prisoner Doan Van Dien at his home in Lam Dong Province and detained him in the B5 detention center in Dong Nai Province. The reason for his arrest was not immediately known.
On 28 December 2017, a court in Binh Dinh Province sentenced nine people to prison terms ranging from three to 14 years for printing and distributing leaflets. Pham Long Dai, Doan Thi Bich Thuy, Truong Thi Thu Hang, and Tran Thi Bich Ngoc were convicted Under Article 88 of the Criminal Code. Ta Tan Loc, Nguyen Quang Thanh, Huynh Huu Dat, Nguyen Van Nghia, and Nguyen Van Tuan were convicted under Article 79 of the Criminal Code (‘conducting activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s administration’). In addition, all nine were sentenced to three years of house arrest to be served upon the completion of their prison terms.
FIDH and VCHR are also troubled by the Vietnamese government’s latest move to tighten monitoring of internet content. On 25 December 2017, Deputy Head of the People’s Army Political Department Lt Gen Nguyen Trong Nghia announced that a new 10,000-strong military cyber unit, named ‘Force 47’, had begun operating “to fight proactively against the wrong views.”
FIDH and VCHR reiterate their calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners in Vietnam and for the repeal of all provisions of the Criminal Code that are inconsistent with the country’s obligations under international law. At least 130 political prisoners remain behind bars in jails across the country. Nearly all of those arbitrarily detained or imprisoned in 2017 were arrested and charged under Articles 79, 88, or 258 (‘abusing democratic freedoms to harm the interests of the state’) of the Criminal Code.
===== January 7 =====
Former Vietnamese Prisoner of Conscience Still in Custody after 15 Days Without Charge
Defend the Defenders: Police in Vietnam’s southern province of Dong Nai are still holding former prisoner of conscience Protestant pastor Doan Van Dien for the 15 consecutive day without issuing arrest warrant nor criminal charge.
On December 24, 2017, Dong Nai police arrested Mr. Dien in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong where he temporarily stays. The detainee is a member of the Inter-faith Council, an unregistered coalition working for religious freedom in the Southeast Asian nation.
Police verbally informed the family about the detention of Mr. Dien but did not unveil the reason for the arrest.
Pastor Dien, who was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison in 2007 for “abusing democratic freedom” under Article 258 of the country’s 1999 Penal Code, is the father of e-political prisoner Doan Huy Chuong, who is a key member of the unsanctioned Viet Labor Movement.
Mr. Chuong, who spent total 8.5 years in prison, told Defend the Defenders that his father’s detention aims to force him to show up so police can arrest him. After the arrest, police in Dong Nai send officers to different places to seek for him, he added.
The prolonged detention of his father without charge and arrest warrant is violation of the country’s Criminal Procedure Law, which allows police hold suspects for maximum nine days without charge(s).
Mr. Chuong was arrested in 2006 together with his father. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
After being released, Chuong and Do Thi Minh Hanh and Nguyen Hoang Quoc Hung formed the Viet Labor Movement aiming to help workers to demand for higher salary and better working conditions.
In 2010, the trio was arrested on allegation of “Disrupting security” under Article 89 of the Penal Code 1999. Chuong and Hanh were sentenced to seven years in prison each while Hung was given nine years in jail. Chuong was released in February last year while Hung is still in prison and Hanh was released in 2015 after four years in prison thanks to international pressure.
Mr. Dien is the latest victim of Vietnam’s ongoing crackdown on local political dissidents, human rights defenders, social activists and online bloggers. In 2017, Vietnam arrested 45 activists on allegation of anti-state activities in the national security provisions of the Penal Code and sentenced 19 of them to between three and 16 years.
Vietnam is holding around 180 prisoners of conscience, according to Defend the Defenders’ counting.
====================