Defend the Defenders | January 21, 2018
===== January 15 =====
Vietnam Court Rejects Appeal of Human Rights Defender Nguyen Van Oai, Sending Him Back to Prison
Defend the Defenders: On January 15, the People’s Court in Vietnam’s central province of Nghe An rejected the appeal of human rights defender and former prisoner of conscience Nguyen Van Oai, upholding the sentence given by the People’s Court in Hoang Mai town on the trial on September 18 last year.
Mr. Oai, who served 4 years in jail in 2011-2015, was arrested on January 19, 2017 on allegation of “Resisting persons in the performance of their official duties” under Article 257 and “Failing to execute judgments” under Article 304 of the country’s 1999 Penal Code. On the trial in mid September last year, the lower court gave him total five years in jail and additional four years under house arrest afterward.
Ha Huy Son, the lawyer of Mr. Oai in the trial and in the appeal hearing, affirmed that his client is innocent and both trial and appeal hearing are unfair.
On Monday, authorities in Nghe An deployed numerous police, plainclothes, soldiers and militia to block all the roads leading to the court areas, preventing activists and Oai’s relatives from gathering to support him. Police suppressed them, beating them and robbing their cellphones and taking a number of his relatives and supporters in custody for hours.
Mr. Oai, a former prisoner of conscience, was re-arrested in early 2017 when he was fishing near his private house in Hoang Mai town.
Oai, who was imprisoned for four years between 2011 and 2015 on charge of subversion under Article 79 of the Penal Code, got support from domestic and international community after his detention last year. After his arrest, the EU, the US and other countries and international human rights have condemned Vietnam’s move, urging the communist government to release him immediately and unconditionally.
After his trial in September last year and one day prior to the appeal hearing, the New York-based NGO Human Rights Watch issued a statement calling Vietnam to release him immediately and unconditionally.
The arrest and conviction of Oai is part of Vietnam’s intensifying crackdown on local activists.
Last year, Vietnam arrested at least 45 activists and convicted 19 of them, mostly on serious charges in the national security provisions of the 1999 Penal Code such as subversion and anti-state propaganda. Among the convicted are prominent human rights defender Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh and labor activist Tran Thi Nga.
In order to maintain the country under a one-party regime, the communist government has little tolerance to its critics.
Vietnam is imprisoning over 100 activists, according to Human Rights Watch while BPSOS, Defend the Defenders, and 13 other partners, in their Now! Campaign found Vietnam to be holding 165 prisoners of conscience as of the end of November 2017. The number did not include 15 activists jailed in December last year.
——————–
Pro-democracy Activist Vu Van Hung Accused of Inflicting Injury
Defend the Defenders: Pro-democracy activist and human rights advocate Vu Van Hung (or Vu Hung) has been accused of “Intentionally inflicting injury on or causing harm to the health of other persons,” the allegation under Article 134 of the country’s 2015 Penal Code, according to the notice of Hanoi police.
In its written notice given to his family dated on January 13, police said the former secondary school teacher will be held for at least two months for investigation of the accusation. It is unclear on whom he inflicted injury and what the level of his victim’s injury.
Mr. Hung, member of the unsanctioned online group Brotherhood for Democracy, is currently held in the Temporary Detention facility No. 2 managed by Hanoi police.
Mr. Hung was arrested on January 4 after participating in 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.
At a meeting with his lawyer after several days in police custody, Hung said when the meeting ended, he went back to his private residence in Ha Dong district by bus. Two plainclothes agent followed him and they provoked him near his house.
The agents attacked him and with the support of local police, they detained him to the police station of Thanh Xuan Bac ward, Thanh Xuan district, Hung told his lawyer. Later, he was taken to the temporary detention facility of the Thanh Xuan district police.
In their notice given to his family last week, Thanh Xuan district police said Hung was held for investigation on the allegation of “causing public disorders” under Article 318 of the 2015 Penal Code.
According to the current law, people accused of “inflicting injury” may face imprisonment of between six months to 12 years in prison.
Hung’s arrest 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 criminal allegations.
As a member of the Brotherhood for Democracy, Mr. Hung has been targeted for long time ago, Mr. Ngu said. He was summoned by Hanoi police for interrogation about his membership in the pro-democracy group after authorities in the capital city detained its seven key members on allegation of subversion.
Brotherhood for Democracy is 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.
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 physic 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 at least 45 activists on allegations under controversial articles 79 and 88 of the 1999 Penal Code. The communist government convicted 19 activists, sentencing them to between three and 16 years in prisons.
In addition, Vietnam also expelled two pro-democracy activists to France.
===== January 16 =====
Pressured by Police, Landlord Expels Family of Prominent Activist Expelled
Defend the Defenders: The family of prominent human rights and pro-democracy activist Le Quoc Quan has been expelled out of their apartment in Hanoi as the landlord acts under pressure of the local police.
Mr. Quan, a former prisoner of conscience, said when his family came home in the evening of January 16, he saw that their apartment was locked as the landlord removed their lock and replaced by his new lock.
The electricity and water supplies were also cut, said Quan, a lawyer spending 30 months in prison due to his democracy advocacy.
He said the renting two-year contract was signed in early January and and the landlord did not inform him in advance about his act.
Quan was forced to temporarily relocate his family in a hotel for overnight. He has no intention to break the apartment to get in because he may get trouble from the local authorities.
Local authorities are behind the move which targets his family, said Quan.
Lawyer Quan, who was imprisoned for 30 months for fabricated allegation of tax evasion, has been under harassment of Hanoi police since being released in mid 2015. He has been blocked from meeting with foreign diplomats many times in the past few years.
Meanwhile, Protestant pastor Pham Ngoc Thach and his family face similar harassment. The family was forced to relocate from the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak to Buon Me Thuat town after the landlord broke a renting contract under pressure of the local police. Pastor Thach, who is a former prisoner of conscience, has worked for religious freedom for ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands and faced constant intimidation and harassment from the local authorities in decades, including being banned from traveling abroad.
===== January 19 =====
Hanoi Cancels Vietnam-China Cultural Event but Block Activists from Commemorating Paracels Fallen Soldiers
Defend the Defenders: Authorities in Hanoi have decided a Vietnam-China cultural performance scheduled on the evening of January 19, the same day 44 years ago Vietnam lost its Hoang Sa (Paracels) to the northern giant country.
However, authorities in many Vietnamese localities have taken many measures to prevent local activists from gathering to commemorate 74 soldiers of the Vietnam Republic who were killed by the Chinese naval forces which took over the archipelago from Vietnam after bloody battles in 1974.
The cultural event cancelation was made due to technical problem, according to the authorities of the Big Theater where it was planned on the occasion of a visit of a Chinese delegation.
It is likely the cancelation is taken after many activists expressed their dissatisfaction about the event which is considered as the shame move on the day of Hoang Sa commemoration. Many activists called the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism to demand for its suspension while others criticized the planned event on their Facebook accounts.
Patriotic Vietnamese planned to gather in centers of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to pay tributes to Hoang Sa fallen soldiers on Friday, as they did in recent years. However, authorities in the two cities have applied many measures to prevent their gatherings.
Authorities have sent numerous police, plainclothes agents and militia to the Ly Thai To statue in Hanoi and the Tran Hung Dao statue in HCM City to block people from gathering there. They also deploy pro-government thugs there who are ready to disturb all activists of patriotic people and not allow them to make commemoration.
At the same time, plainclothes agents were sent to private residences of activists in a bid to block them from going out on Friday, activists have complained on their Facebook accounts.
China took over Hoang Sa from the Vietnam Republic in 1974 when the two parts of the Southeast Asian nation held war. While the Saigon regime strongly protested the Chinese invasion, Hanoi remained silent as it received huge assistance from Beijing in the internal war which started in late 1950s and ended with the invasion of the communist troops in the southern region in 1975.
The Chinese invasion of Hoang Sa is the first step of Beijing’s plan to take the entire East Sea (South China Sea), including Hoang Sa and Truong Sa (Spratlys), the two archipelagos under peaceful administration of Vietnam since the 17th century.
China claims nearly the East Sea while other countries in the region, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan claim partly. In 2016, the Hague Arbitrary Court rejected China’s claim, saying it is groundless.
Hanoi verbally protests China’s claim, however, the communist government has suppressed local activists who are voicing against Beijing’s expansionism in the resource-rich sea which is very important for global trade as goods around $5 billion are transported in the waters annually.
Many anti-China activists have been imprisoned and harassed in the past few years.
===== January 20 =====
Vietnam to Try Three Activists Reviving Vietnam Campaign on Allegation of Anti-state Propaganda on January 31
Defend the Defenders: The People’s Court of Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi will try three activists Vu Quang Thuan, Nguyen Van Dien, and Tran Hoang Phuc on allegation of “conducting anti-State propaganda” under Article 88 of the country’s 1999 Penal Code on January, said Nguyen Van Mieng, one of four lawyers of the trio.
The three activists, members of the Chan hung Nuoc Viet (Reviving Vietnam Campaign), will be challenged under Clause 1 of Article 88 and they will face imprisonment of between three and twelve years if convicted, according to the Vietnamese current law.
Particularly, Mr. Thuan and Mr. Dien are accused of producing 17 video clips which defame the ruling communist party and its leaders, and posting them on Internet while Phuc is alleged to assist the two activists in holding and posting three of them.
Mr. Thuan and Mr. Dien were arrested in early March while Mr. Phuc was detained on July 3 last year. They were firstly kidnapped by Hanoi police who later prosecuted them with anti-state propaganda, one of controversial articles in the national security provisions in the Penal Code often used to silence peaceful activists.
In several months before being arrested, Mr. Thuan and Mr. produced and posted on their Facebook pages many video clips in which Mr. Thuan as a speaker criticized the Communist leaders and their government for human rights violations, corruption, and weak response to China’s violations of the country’s sovereignty in the East Sea (South China Sea).
Late President Ho Chi Minh and incumbent General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong are among figures criticized by Mr. Thuan. Their clips were viewed by millions of Vietnamese Internet users.
The trio was held incommunicado since their arrests until recent months when the investigation was completed. They were allowed to meet with lawyer Son to prepare for their defense. However, they have been yet to be permitted to meet with their families.
After their arrests, some members of the Chan Hung Nuoc Viet had also been summoned to police stations for questioning. However, other members of the campaign continue their live streams on Facebook to provide independent TV channels to describe social situations in the country, especially in land grabbing, miscarriage of justice, human rights abuse, and corruption. Their programs have attracted hundreds of thousands of people who have lost their trust in the state media.
The Chan Hung Nuoc Viet was established by technocrat and entrepreneur Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, who is serving his 16-year imprisonment after being convicted guilty on allegation of subversion in 2010.
The arrests and trials of the three members of the Chan Hung Nuoc Viet are part of Vietnam’s ongoing crackdown on political dissidents, human rights defenders, social activists and online bloggers which started in early 2016 when the Communist Party of Vietnam selected its new leadership with many police generals being appointed to senior positions of the party and its government.
The political persecution was severe last year as Vietnam detained at least 45 activists and charged most of them with serious accusations such as “conducting anti-State propaganda” under Article 88 and subversion under Article 79 of the Penal Code 1999.
Last year, Vietnam convicted at least 19 activists, including human rights defenders Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh and Tran Thi Nga, anti-corruption activist Phan Kim Khanh, and bloggers Nguyen Van Oai and Nguyen Van Hoa. All of them received heavy sentences ranging from five years to ten years in prison.
In order to keep the country under a one-party regime, Vietnam has shown little tolerance to local dissent.
According to Amnesty International, Vietnam is holding around 100 prisoners of conscience while Defend the Defenders’ counting showed that the Southeast Asian nation is imprisoning at least 180 prisoners of conscience.
Hanoi always denies imprisoning any prisoner of conscience but only law violators.
===== January 21 =====
Dong Nai Police Seek to Arrest Labor Activist Doan Huy Chuong While Still Holding His Father Illegally in Custody
Defend the Defenders: Police in Vietnam’s southern province of Dong Nai have sought to arrest former prisoner of conscience Doan Huy Chuong after detaining his father Doan Van Dien since December 24 last year without issuing arrest warrant.
The family of Chuong, who is a vice president of unsanctioned Viet Labor Movement, informed him that police have come to their private residence in Ho Chi Minh City to seek for him.
Police asked the family and neighbors where is he now, saying they would detain him. However, they have not disclosed the reason for the move, Chuong told Defend the Defenders.
Currently, Chuong is hiding in a bid to avoid being caught.
Meanwhile, police still hold Mr. Dien, who is a Protestant pastor and former prisoner of conscience.
In 2006, Mr. Dien and his son Chuong established the unregistered United Workers-Farmers Organization which aimed to fight for the rights of the two working classes. They were arrested one week later and convicted of “abusing democracy freedom” under Article 258 of the country’s 1999 Penal Code. Mr. Dien was sentenced to four years and six months in jail while Chuong was given to 18 months in prison.
After being released, Chuong and Nguyen Hoang Quoc Hung and Do Thi Minh Hanh formed the unregistered Viet Labor Movement to work for promoting workers’ rights. The organization strived to educate workers about their rights, including the right to hold public demonstration to demand for higher salary and better working conditions.
With their assistance, workers in some foreign-invested firms in the southern region held strikes in late 2009.
The trio was arrested in 2009 and charged with “Disrupting security” under Article 89 of the 1999 Penal Code. In October 2010, Mr. Hung was sentenced to nine years in prison while Chuong and Hanh were given seven years in jail each.
Chuong completed his sentence in February last year while Hung is still in prison. Hanh was released after spending four years in jail thanks to international pressure on Vietnam’s government.
In 2013, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued a statement considering the trio’s arrest arbitrary and requested Vietnam’s government to release them immediately and unconditionally. However, Hanoi remained silent about the case, like other cases.
Since being released, Chuong continues to work on union affairs in the country where the state-controlled Vietnam General Confederation of Labour has not really worked for the workers’ rights.
He has been under constant harassment of police where he is residing, in HCM City or Dong Nai province. He has been summoned many times to police station for interrogation about his activities.
The detention of his father aims to force him to show up so they can arrest him, Chuong affirmed.
For more information about Chuong, please go to Defend the Defenders’ website: /category/doan-huy-chuong/
Height Insoles: Hi, I do believe this is an excellent site. I stumbledupon …
http://fishinglovers.net: Appreciate you sharing, great post.Thanks Again. Keep writi…
Achilles Pain causes: Every weekend i used to pay a quick visit this site, as i w…
January 21, 2018
Vietnam Human Rights Defenders’ Weekly January 15-21, 2018: Dong Nai Police Seek to Arrest Labor Activist Doan Huy Chuong while still Illegally Holding His Father in Custody
by Nhan Quyen • [Human Rights], DEFENDER’S WEEKLY
Defend the Defenders | January 21, 2018
Authorities in Vietnam’s southern province of Dong Nai have strived to arrest former prisoner of conscience Doan Huy Chuong in a bid to halt his labor activities.
In recent days, police have come to Chuong’s private residence in Ho Chi Minh City to seek for him and they said they would arrest him if he is seen.
Meanwhile, police are still holding his father Doan Van Dien, a former prisoner of conscience, from December 24 last year without issuing arrest warrant. Given the father’s quite life in recent years, Chuong said the detention aims to force him to go out so police can arrest him.
Authorities in Hanoi have decided to hold former prisoner of conscience and member of the targeted Brotherhood for Democracy Vu Van Hung in the next two months for investigation on allegation of “inflicting injuries” without providing evidences about his “attack” nor his “victims.” The allegation was changed suddenly as the police in Thanh Xuan district detained him on January and later informed his family that he was accused of “causing public disorders.”
The People’s Court in Hanoi will hold a trial against Vu Quang Thuan, Nguyen Van Dien and Tran Hoang Phuc on allegation of “conducting anti-state propaganda” on January 31. The trio, allegedly producing and posting anti-state video clips on Internet, was arrested last year.
On Monday, the People’s Court in the central province of Nghe An upheld the sentence of human rights defender Nguyen Van Oai, who was convicted of “failure to enforce judgments” under Article 330 and “Resisting persons in the performance of their official duties” under Article 331 of the country’s 2015 Penal Code. Oai was sent back to prison and he has to serve five years in jail and additional four years under house arrest afterward as the lower court decided on September last year.
Vietnam is likely to continue its crackdown on local dissent after arresting at least 45 activists and convicting at least 19 of them last year, the highest figures for recent years.
Along with arrest and conviction of activists, authorities in many localities have suppressed others. Police in Hanoi and Dak Lak have pressured landlords, requesting them to cancel leasing contracts with former prisoners of conscience lawyer Le Quoc Quan and Protestant pastor Pham Ngoc Thach. The intimidation makes them difficulties in getting new places for relocation.
Many activists in Hanoi and HCM City complained that they were placed under house arrest on January 19 as local authorities did not want them to gather to mark the 44th loss of Hoang Sa (Paracels) to China and pay attribute to 74 soldiers killed by China’s naval forces during the invasion.
Vietnam’s repression of human rights and democracy activists increased significantly in 2017, Human Rights Watch said January 18 in its World Report 2018. Despite this, most of Vietnam’s donors continued to prioritize trade over rights, said the New York-based human rights watchdog in the report.
===== January 15 =====
Vietnam Court Rejects Appeal of Human Rights Defender Nguyen Van Oai, Sending Him Back to Prison
Defend the Defenders: On January 15, the People’s Court in Vietnam’s central province of Nghe An rejected the appeal of human rights defender and former prisoner of conscience Nguyen Van Oai, upholding the sentence given by the People’s Court in Hoang Mai town on the trial on September 18 last year.
Mr. Oai, who served 4 years in jail in 2011-2015, was arrested on January 19, 2017 on allegation of “Resisting persons in the performance of their official duties” under Article 257 and “Failing to execute judgments” under Article 304 of the country’s 1999 Penal Code. On the trial in mid September last year, the lower court gave him total five years in jail and additional four years under house arrest afterward.
Ha Huy Son, the lawyer of Mr. Oai in the trial and in the appeal hearing, affirmed that his client is innocent and both trial and appeal hearing are unfair.
On Monday, authorities in Nghe An deployed numerous police, plainclothes, soldiers and militia to block all the roads leading to the court areas, preventing activists and Oai’s relatives from gathering to support him. Police suppressed them, beating them and robbing their cellphones and taking a number of his relatives and supporters in custody for hours.
Mr. Oai, a former prisoner of conscience, was re-arrested in early 2017 when he was fishing near his private house in Hoang Mai town.
Oai, who was imprisoned for four years between 2011 and 2015 on charge of subversion under Article 79 of the Penal Code, got support from domestic and international community after his detention last year. After his arrest, the EU, the US and other countries and international human rights have condemned Vietnam’s move, urging the communist government to release him immediately and unconditionally.
After his trial in September last year and one day prior to the appeal hearing, the New York-based NGO Human Rights Watch issued a statement calling Vietnam to release him immediately and unconditionally.
The arrest and conviction of Oai is part of Vietnam’s intensifying crackdown on local activists.
Last year, Vietnam arrested at least 45 activists and convicted 19 of them, mostly on serious charges in the national security provisions of the 1999 Penal Code such as subversion and anti-state propaganda. Among the convicted are prominent human rights defender Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh and labor activist Tran Thi Nga.
In order to maintain the country under a one-party regime, the communist government has little tolerance to its critics.
Vietnam is imprisoning over 100 activists, according to Human Rights Watch while BPSOS, Defend the Defenders, and 13 other partners, in their Now! Campaign found Vietnam to be holding 165 prisoners of conscience as of the end of November 2017. The number did not include 15 activists jailed in December last year.
——————–
Pro-democracy Activist Vu Van Hung Accused of Inflicting Injury
Defend the Defenders: Pro-democracy activist and human rights advocate Vu Van Hung (or Vu Hung) has been accused of “Intentionally inflicting injury on or causing harm to the health of other persons,” the allegation under Article 134 of the country’s 2015 Penal Code, according to the notice of Hanoi police.
In its written notice given to his family dated on January 13, police said the former secondary school teacher will be held for at least two months for investigation of the accusation. It is unclear on whom he inflicted injury and what the level of his victim’s injury.
Mr. Hung, member of the unsanctioned online group Brotherhood for Democracy, is currently held in the Temporary Detention facility No. 2 managed by Hanoi police.
Mr. Hung was arrested on January 4 after participating in 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.
At a meeting with his lawyer after several days in police custody, Hung said when the meeting ended, he went back to his private residence in Ha Dong district by bus. Two plainclothes agent followed him and they provoked him near his house.
The agents attacked him and with the support of local police, they detained him to the police station of Thanh Xuan Bac ward, Thanh Xuan district, Hung told his lawyer. Later, he was taken to the temporary detention facility of the Thanh Xuan district police.
In their notice given to his family last week, Thanh Xuan district police said Hung was held for investigation on the allegation of “causing public disorders” under Article 318 of the 2015 Penal Code.
According to the current law, people accused of “inflicting injury” may face imprisonment of between six months to 12 years in prison.
Hung’s arrest 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 criminal allegations.
As a member of the Brotherhood for Democracy, Mr. Hung has been targeted for long time ago, Mr. Ngu said. He was summoned by Hanoi police for interrogation about his membership in the pro-democracy group after authorities in the capital city detained its seven key members on allegation of subversion.
Brotherhood for Democracy is 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.
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 physic 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 at least 45 activists on allegations under controversial articles 79 and 88 of the 1999 Penal Code. The communist government convicted 19 activists, sentencing them to between three and 16 years in prisons.
In addition, Vietnam also expelled two pro-democracy activists to France.
===== January 16 =====
Pressured by Police, Landlord Expels Family of Prominent Activist Expelled
Defend the Defenders: The family of prominent human rights and pro-democracy activist Le Quoc Quan has been expelled out of their apartment in Hanoi as the landlord acts under pressure of the local police.
Mr. Quan, a former prisoner of conscience, said when his family came home in the evening of January 16, he saw that their apartment was locked as the landlord removed their lock and replaced by his new lock.
The electricity and water supplies were also cut, said Quan, a lawyer spending 30 months in prison due to his democracy advocacy.
He said the renting two-year contract was signed in early January and and the landlord did not inform him in advance about his act.
Quan was forced to temporarily relocate his family in a hotel for overnight. He has no intention to break the apartment to get in because he may get trouble from the local authorities.
Local authorities are behind the move which targets his family, said Quan.
Lawyer Quan, who was imprisoned for 30 months for fabricated allegation of tax evasion, has been under harassment of Hanoi police since being released in mid 2015. He has been blocked from meeting with foreign diplomats many times in the past few years.
Meanwhile, Protestant pastor Pham Ngoc Thach and his family face similar harassment. The family was forced to relocate from the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak to Buon Me Thuat town after the landlord broke a renting contract under pressure of the local police. Pastor Thach, who is a former prisoner of conscience, has worked for religious freedom for ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands and faced constant intimidation and harassment from the local authorities in decades, including being banned from traveling abroad.
===== January 19 =====
Hanoi Cancels Vietnam-China Cultural Event but Block Activists from Commemorating Paracels Fallen Soldiers
Defend the Defenders: Authorities in Hanoi have decided a Vietnam-China cultural performance scheduled on the evening of January 19, the same day 44 years ago Vietnam lost its Hoang Sa (Paracels) to the northern giant country.
However, authorities in many Vietnamese localities have taken many measures to prevent local activists from gathering to commemorate 74 soldiers of the Vietnam Republic who were killed by the Chinese naval forces which took over the archipelago from Vietnam after bloody battles in 1974.
The cultural event cancelation was made due to technical problem, according to the authorities of the Big Theater where it was planned on the occasion of a visit of a Chinese delegation.
It is likely the cancelation is taken after many activists expressed their dissatisfaction about the event which is considered as the shame move on the day of Hoang Sa commemoration. Many activists called the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism to demand for its suspension while others criticized the planned event on their Facebook accounts.
Patriotic Vietnamese planned to gather in centers of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to pay tributes to Hoang Sa fallen soldiers on Friday, as they did in recent years. However, authorities in the two cities have applied many measures to prevent their gatherings.
Authorities have sent numerous police, plainclothes agents and militia to the Ly Thai To statue in Hanoi and the Tran Hung Dao statue in HCM City to block people from gathering there. They also deploy pro-government thugs there who are ready to disturb all activists of patriotic people and not allow them to make commemoration.
At the same time, plainclothes agents were sent to private residences of activists in a bid to block them from going out on Friday, activists have complained on their Facebook accounts.
China took over Hoang Sa from the Vietnam Republic in 1974 when the two parts of the Southeast Asian nation held war. While the Saigon regime strongly protested the Chinese invasion, Hanoi remained silent as it received huge assistance from Beijing in the internal war which started in late 1950s and ended with the invasion of the communist troops in the southern region in 1975.
The Chinese invasion of Hoang Sa is the first step of Beijing’s plan to take the entire East Sea (South China Sea), including Hoang Sa and Truong Sa (Spratlys), the two archipelagos under peaceful administration of Vietnam since the 17th century.
China claims nearly the East Sea while other countries in the region, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan claim partly. In 2016, the Hague Arbitrary Court rejected China’s claim, saying it is groundless.
Hanoi verbally protests China’s claim, however, the communist government has suppressed local activists who are voicing against Beijing’s expansionism in the resource-rich sea which is very important for global trade as goods around $5 billion are transported in the waters annually.
Many anti-China activists have been imprisoned and harassed in the past few years.
===== January 20 =====
Vietnam to Try Three Activists Reviving Vietnam Campaign on Allegation of Anti-state Propaganda on January 31
Defend the Defenders: The People’s Court of Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi will try three activists Vu Quang Thuan, Nguyen Van Dien, and Tran Hoang Phuc on allegation of “conducting anti-State propaganda” under Article 88 of the country’s 1999 Penal Code on January, said Nguyen Van Mieng, one of four lawyers of the trio.
The three activists, members of the Chan hung Nuoc Viet (Reviving Vietnam Campaign), will be challenged under Clause 1 of Article 88 and they will face imprisonment of between three and twelve years if convicted, according to the Vietnamese current law.
Particularly, Mr. Thuan and Mr. Dien are accused of producing 17 video clips which defame the ruling communist party and its leaders, and posting them on Internet while Phuc is alleged to assist the two activists in holding and posting three of them.
Mr. Thuan and Mr. Dien were arrested in early March while Mr. Phuc was detained on July 3 last year. They were firstly kidnapped by Hanoi police who later prosecuted them with anti-state propaganda, one of controversial articles in the national security provisions in the Penal Code often used to silence peaceful activists.
In several months before being arrested, Mr. Thuan and Mr. produced and posted on their Facebook pages many video clips in which Mr. Thuan as a speaker criticized the Communist leaders and their government for human rights violations, corruption, and weak response to China’s violations of the country’s sovereignty in the East Sea (South China Sea).
Late President Ho Chi Minh and incumbent General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong are among figures criticized by Mr. Thuan. Their clips were viewed by millions of Vietnamese Internet users.
The trio was held incommunicado since their arrests until recent months when the investigation was completed. They were allowed to meet with lawyer Son to prepare for their defense. However, they have been yet to be permitted to meet with their families.
After their arrests, some members of the Chan Hung Nuoc Viet had also been summoned to police stations for questioning. However, other members of the campaign continue their live streams on Facebook to provide independent TV channels to describe social situations in the country, especially in land grabbing, miscarriage of justice, human rights abuse, and corruption. Their programs have attracted hundreds of thousands of people who have lost their trust in the state media.
The Chan Hung Nuoc Viet was established by technocrat and entrepreneur Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, who is serving his 16-year imprisonment after being convicted guilty on allegation of subversion in 2010.
The arrests and trials of the three members of the Chan Hung Nuoc Viet are part of Vietnam’s ongoing crackdown on political dissidents, human rights defenders, social activists and online bloggers which started in early 2016 when the Communist Party of Vietnam selected its new leadership with many police generals being appointed to senior positions of the party and its government.
The political persecution was severe last year as Vietnam detained at least 45 activists and charged most of them with serious accusations such as “conducting anti-State propaganda” under Article 88 and subversion under Article 79 of the Penal Code 1999.
Last year, Vietnam convicted at least 19 activists, including human rights defenders Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh and Tran Thi Nga, anti-corruption activist Phan Kim Khanh, and bloggers Nguyen Van Oai and Nguyen Van Hoa. All of them received heavy sentences ranging from five years to ten years in prison.
In order to keep the country under a one-party regime, Vietnam has shown little tolerance to local dissent.
According to Amnesty International, Vietnam is holding around 100 prisoners of conscience while Defend the Defenders’ counting showed that the Southeast Asian nation is imprisoning at least 180 prisoners of conscience.
Hanoi always denies imprisoning any prisoner of conscience but only law violators.
===== January 21 =====
Dong Nai Police Seek to Arrest Labor Activist Doan Huy Chuong While Still Holding His Father Illegally in Custody
Defend the Defenders: Police in Vietnam’s southern province of Dong Nai have sought to arrest former prisoner of conscience Doan Huy Chuong after detaining his father Doan Van Dien since December 24 last year without issuing arrest warrant.
The family of Chuong, who is a vice president of unsanctioned Viet Labor Movement, informed him that police have come to their private residence in Ho Chi Minh City to seek for him.
Police asked the family and neighbors where is he now, saying they would detain him. However, they have not disclosed the reason for the move, Chuong told Defend the Defenders.
Currently, Chuong is hiding in a bid to avoid being caught.
Meanwhile, police still hold Mr. Dien, who is a Protestant pastor and former prisoner of conscience.
In 2006, Mr. Dien and his son Chuong established the unregistered United Workers-Farmers Organization which aimed to fight for the rights of the two working classes. They were arrested one week later and convicted of “abusing democracy freedom” under Article 258 of the country’s 1999 Penal Code. Mr. Dien was sentenced to four years and six months in jail while Chuong was given to 18 months in prison.
After being released, Chuong and Nguyen Hoang Quoc Hung and Do Thi Minh Hanh formed the unregistered Viet Labor Movement to work for promoting workers’ rights. The organization strived to educate workers about their rights, including the right to hold public demonstration to demand for higher salary and better working conditions.
With their assistance, workers in some foreign-invested firms in the southern region held strikes in late 2009.
The trio was arrested in 2009 and charged with “Disrupting security” under Article 89 of the 1999 Penal Code. In October 2010, Mr. Hung was sentenced to nine years in prison while Chuong and Hanh were given seven years in jail each.
Chuong completed his sentence in February last year while Hung is still in prison. Hanh was released after spending four years in jail thanks to international pressure on Vietnam’s government.
In 2013, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued a statement considering the trio’s arrest arbitrary and requested Vietnam’s government to release them immediately and unconditionally. However, Hanoi remained silent about the case, like other cases.
Since being released, Chuong continues to work on union affairs in the country where the state-controlled Vietnam General Confederation of Labour has not really worked for the workers’ rights.
He has been under constant harassment of police where he is residing, in HCM City or Dong Nai province. He has been summoned many times to police station for interrogation about his activities.
The detention of his father aims to force him to show up so they can arrest him, Chuong affirmed.
For more information about Chuong, please go to Defend the Defenders’ website: /category/doan-huy-chuong/