Growing concerns over harassment of H’mong people

VNWHR / Translate by  Jasmine Tran (Danlambao)

The authorities and security personnel of Tuyen Quang district had arranged the Appellate Court to be in the police detention centre. Their intention was to furtively prosecute the three religious prisoners, whilst restricting the involvement of supporters and those concerned with the case.

Thao Quan Mua, Ly Van Dinh and Duong Van Tu were prosecuted for “abusing the rights of democracy and freedom” under Article 258 of the Criminal Code (Abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and/or citizens). According to the indictment, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate accused them of repeatedly gathering people together and of building a funeral house. This type of funeral house is known in H’mong as a “small house – nhà bé” or “funeral service house – nhà đòn”, where communities can leave ceremonial funeral items.

Hoang Van Sang was another person from this same case. He was arrested on 10 October 2013. During the court trial on 14 March 2014, Sang was sentenced to 18 months in prison under article 258 of the Criminal Code. Sang did not appeal and started serving the sentence.

At the end of the Appellate Court on 27 May 2014, Ly Van Dinh’s sentence remained unchanged with 15 months in prison, whilst Duong Van Tu’s sentence was reduced to 19 months (2 months less than before). Thao Quan Mua’s sentence also remained the same, with 18 months in prison.

Thao Quan Mua, Ly Van Dinh, Duong Van Tu and Hoang Van Sang are ardent supporters for modernising some of the traditional customs. They encouraged their fellow H’mong people to discontinue some of their problematic, archaic traditions and asked for government recognition of their work and were unjustly arrested and sentenced. This demonstrates the Vietnamese government’s obvious and invasive intervention into the daily life, rituals, and religion of indigenous people. This is despite their many slogans praising themselves as creating “solidarity for the whole nation”.

With the advantage of communication restrictions in the remote mountainous regions, Tuyen Quang authorities have prevented and harassed those attempting to make contact with the four H’mong accused. They have been unable to receive any support from human rights defenders through the postal offices or other services. They have been blocked from all services, and even their personal mail is regularly checked by the securities.

For this reason, the Vietnamese Women for Human Rights made an effort to go to Tuyen Quang to assess the situation and offer gifts of support to them. However, Tuyen Quang securities arrested our two members Nguyen Ngoc Lua and Huynh Phuong Ngoc on 27 May 2014. Lua and Ngoc were starved, cursed at, and mentally harassed until 4 am on 28 May. Tuyen Quang police then had them escorted to Hanoi; both Lua and Ngoc were in an extremely exhausted state.

‘Vietnamese Women for Human Rights’ urges you, the human rights defenders and Vietnamese civil organizations, to show concern, speak out, and become involved with this ethnic group’s case. We believe that the more support they receive from the media, increasing information and awareness, the more effectively they can be protected.

Below are contact details of the religious prisoner’s families, to assist in contact with them.

Addresses of the H’mong families:

Dương Văn Tu, Village 3, Ngòi Sen, Yên Lâm commune, Hàm Yên district, Tuyên Quang province. Relative’s contact number: 01642460039

Lý Văn Dinh, Village 1A Thống Nhất, Yên Phú commune, Hàm Yên district, Tuyên Quang province. Relative’s contact number: 0966736052

Thào Quán Mua, Village 9 Minh Tiến, Minh Hương commune, Hàm Yên district, Tuyên Quang province. Relative’s contact number: 01689624244

Hoàng Văn Sang, Village Làng Lè, Hùng Lợi commune, Yên Sơn district, Tuyên Quang province. Relative’s contact number: 0966416903

Regards,

The Vietnamese Women for Human Rights Executive Board

VNWHR