The Honorable John Kerry
Secretary of State
2201 C St NW Ste 7276
Washington DC 20520S
17 June 2013
Re: Mr. Le Quoc Quan and the Government of Viet Nam
Dear Mr. Kerry,
The signatory organisations respectfully request you to raise the issue of the unlawful arrest and detention of the prominent Vietnamese lawyer, blogger and human rights defender Mr. Le Quoc Quan with the Vietnamese Government.
We understand that you will attend the ASEAN conference later this month, and we sincerely hope that the opportunity will arise for you to discuss this matter with representatives of the Vietnamese Government.
As you may know, Mr. Quan is currently arbitrarily detained due to having exercised his right to freedom of expression, his right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, as well as his activities as a human rights defender.
Mr. Quan is a qualified lawyer and active blogger. On his popular blog, he exposes human rights abuses commonly ignored by Vietnamese state media. Prior to being disbarred in 2007, Mr. Quan defended human rights cases in court. Upon his return from the United States, he was arrested in 2007 and detained for 100 days. In April 2011, he was arrested again and ultimately released without charges. In August 2012, Mr. Quan was severely injured because of a violent attack, by – he believes – State agents. On 27 December 012, Mr. Quan was arrested and charged for what he believes are false charges of ‘tax evasion’. He has been detained incommunicado for the first two months. At this moment, Mr. Quan is still imprisoned. His trial will take place on 9 July 2013.
More detailed information about Mr. Quan and the unlawful interference with his human rights is set forth in the attached Letter of Allegation, as recently sent by the signatory organisations to the Special Rapporteurs of the United Nations. Mr. Quan is on the list of the European Union of Prisoners of Concern.
International attention is of key importance to Mr. Quan. We do hope that you will seize the opportunity to request the Vietnamese Government to release him. It will hopefully result in the end of his current detention.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or need any additional information.
Yours sincerely,
Contact person on behalf of Lawyers for Lawyers
Otto Volgenant
Otto.Volgenant@kvdl.nl, telephone: +31205506637Haarlemmerweg 333, 1051 LH Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Article 19
Agnes Callamard
Executive Director
info@article19.org
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
Eva Galperin
Senior Policy Analyst
eva@eff.org
English PEN
Jo Glanville
Director
jo@englishpen.org
Freedom House
Sue Gunawardena-Vaughn
Director – Southeast Asia
vaughn@freedomhouse.org
Frontline Defenders
Mary Lawlor
Executive Director
mary@frontlinedefenders.org
Lawyers for Lawyers (L4L)
Adrie van de Streek
Executive Director
info@lawyersforlawyers.nl
Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada
Gail Davidson
Executive Director
lrwc@portal.ca
Media Defence – Southeast Asia
HR Dipendra
Director
dipendra3000@gmail.com
Media Legal Defence Initiative (MLDI)
Nani Jansen
Senior Legal Counsel
nani.jansen@mediadefence.org
National Endowment for Democracy (NED)
Sally Blair
Senior Director, Fellowships Program
sallyb@ned.org
Reporters Without Borders
Benjamin Ismail
Head Asia-Pacific Desk
asia@rsf.org
World Movement for Democracy
Art Kaufman
Senior Director
artk@ned.org
***
PRESS STATEMENT 17 June 2013
A broad coalition of NGO’s requests John Kerry to take action to free the Vietnamese human rights defender Mr. Le Quoc Quan.
Mr. Quan is currently arbitrarily detained due to having exercised his right to freedom of expression, his right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, as well as his activities as a human rights defender.
Mr. Quan is a qualified lawyer and active blogger. On his popular blog, he exposes human rights abuses commonly ignored by Vietnamese state media. Prior to being disbarred in 2007, Mr. Quan defended human rights cases in court. Upon his return from the United States, he was arrested in 2007 and detained for 100 days. In April 2011, he was arrested again and ultimately released without charges. In August 2012, Mr. Quan was severely injured because of a violent attack, by – he believes – State agents. On 27 December 2012, Mr. Quan was arrested and charged for what he believes are false charges of ‘tax evasion’. He has been detained incommunicado in a Hanoi prison for the first two months. At this moment, Mr. Quan is still imprisoned. His trial will take place on 9 July 2013.
US Secretary of State John Kerry will attend the ASEAN conference later this months. By letter dated 17 June 2013, the signatory organisations have requested him to seize the opportunity to request the Vietnamese Government to release Mr. Quan.
More detailed information about information about Mr. Quan and the unlawful interference with his human rights is set forth in a recent Letter of Allegation sent to the Special Rapporteurs of the United Nations: http://www.advocatenvooradvocaten.nl/wp-content/uploads/Le-Quoc-Quan-Letter-of-allegation-FINAL.pdf
SIGNATORY ORGANISATIONS
Article 19, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), English PEN, Freedom House, Frontline Defenders, Lawyers for Lawyers (L4L), Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada, Media Defence South East Asia, Media Legal Defence Initiative (MLDI), National Endowment for Democracy (NED), Reporters Without Borders, World Movement for Democracy
For further information, please contact:
Otto Volgenant, Lawyers for Lawyers
Otto.Volgenant@kvdl.nl, tel +31205506637
Source: National Endowment for Democracy
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June 18, 2013
Twelve NGOs urge Kerry to Raise the Case of Le Quoc Quan
by Nhan Quyen • Le Quoc Quan
The Honorable John Kerry
Secretary of State
2201 C St NW Ste 7276
Washington DC 20520S
17 June 2013
Re: Mr. Le Quoc Quan and the Government of Viet Nam
Dear Mr. Kerry,
The signatory organisations respectfully request you to raise the issue of the unlawful arrest and detention of the prominent Vietnamese lawyer, blogger and human rights defender Mr. Le Quoc Quan with the Vietnamese Government.
We understand that you will attend the ASEAN conference later this month, and we sincerely hope that the opportunity will arise for you to discuss this matter with representatives of the Vietnamese Government.
As you may know, Mr. Quan is currently arbitrarily detained due to having exercised his right to freedom of expression, his right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, as well as his activities as a human rights defender.
Mr. Quan is a qualified lawyer and active blogger. On his popular blog, he exposes human rights abuses commonly ignored by Vietnamese state media. Prior to being disbarred in 2007, Mr. Quan defended human rights cases in court. Upon his return from the United States, he was arrested in 2007 and detained for 100 days. In April 2011, he was arrested again and ultimately released without charges. In August 2012, Mr. Quan was severely injured because of a violent attack, by – he believes – State agents. On 27 December 012, Mr. Quan was arrested and charged for what he believes are false charges of ‘tax evasion’. He has been detained incommunicado for the first two months. At this moment, Mr. Quan is still imprisoned. His trial will take place on 9 July 2013.
More detailed information about Mr. Quan and the unlawful interference with his human rights is set forth in the attached Letter of Allegation, as recently sent by the signatory organisations to the Special Rapporteurs of the United Nations. Mr. Quan is on the list of the European Union of Prisoners of Concern.
International attention is of key importance to Mr. Quan. We do hope that you will seize the opportunity to request the Vietnamese Government to release him. It will hopefully result in the end of his current detention.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or need any additional information.
Yours sincerely,
Contact person on behalf of Lawyers for Lawyers
Article 19 Agnes Callamard Executive Director info@article19.org Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Eva Galperin Senior Policy Analyst eva@eff.org English PEN Jo Glanville Director jo@englishpen.org Freedom House Sue Gunawardena-Vaughn Director – Southeast Asia vaughn@freedomhouse.org Frontline Defenders Mary Lawlor Executive Director mary@frontlinedefenders.org Lawyers for Lawyers (L4L) Adrie van de Streek Executive Director info@lawyersforlawyers.nl Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada Gail Davidson Executive Director lrwc@portal.ca Media Defence – Southeast Asia HR Dipendra Director dipendra3000@gmail.com Media Legal Defence Initiative (MLDI) Nani Jansen Senior Legal Counsel nani.jansen@mediadefence.org National Endowment for Democracy (NED) Sally Blair Senior Director, Fellowships Program sallyb@ned.org Reporters Without Borders Benjamin Ismail Head Asia-Pacific Desk asia@rsf.org World Movement for Democracy Art Kaufman Senior Director artk@ned.orgOtto Volgenant
Otto.Volgenant@kvdl.nl, telephone: +31205506637Haarlemmerweg 333, 1051 LH Amsterdam, the Netherlands
***
PRESS STATEMENT 17 June 2013
A broad coalition of NGO’s requests John Kerry to take action to free the Vietnamese human rights defender Mr. Le Quoc Quan.
Mr. Quan is currently arbitrarily detained due to having exercised his right to freedom of expression, his right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, as well as his activities as a human rights defender.
Mr. Quan is a qualified lawyer and active blogger. On his popular blog, he exposes human rights abuses commonly ignored by Vietnamese state media. Prior to being disbarred in 2007, Mr. Quan defended human rights cases in court. Upon his return from the United States, he was arrested in 2007 and detained for 100 days. In April 2011, he was arrested again and ultimately released without charges. In August 2012, Mr. Quan was severely injured because of a violent attack, by – he believes – State agents. On 27 December 2012, Mr. Quan was arrested and charged for what he believes are false charges of ‘tax evasion’. He has been detained incommunicado in a Hanoi prison for the first two months. At this moment, Mr. Quan is still imprisoned. His trial will take place on 9 July 2013.
US Secretary of State John Kerry will attend the ASEAN conference later this months. By letter dated 17 June 2013, the signatory organisations have requested him to seize the opportunity to request the Vietnamese Government to release Mr. Quan.
More detailed information about information about Mr. Quan and the unlawful interference with his human rights is set forth in a recent Letter of Allegation sent to the Special Rapporteurs of the United Nations: http://www.advocatenvooradvocaten.nl/wp-content/uploads/Le-Quoc-Quan-Letter-of-allegation-FINAL.pdf
SIGNATORY ORGANISATIONS
Article 19, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), English PEN, Freedom House, Frontline Defenders, Lawyers for Lawyers (L4L), Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada, Media Defence South East Asia, Media Legal Defence Initiative (MLDI), National Endowment for Democracy (NED), Reporters Without Borders, World Movement for Democracy
For further information, please contact:
Otto Volgenant, Lawyers for Lawyers
Otto.Volgenant@kvdl.nl, tel +31205506637
Source: National Endowment for Democracy
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