September 4, 2014

Vietnam Activist Not Allowed to Visit Sick Mother in Foreign Country

by • Do Thi Minh Hanh

Pin
by Vu Quoc Ngu, Sept 04, 2014

Do Thi Minh Hanh, a well-known trade union activist, was barred by Vietnam’s security forces from leaving Vietnam for visiting her sick mother in Austria.

Do Thi Minh Hanh poses with her father after her release from prison, June 27, 2014. Photo courtesy of Do Thi Minh Hanh

Do Thi Minh Hanh poses with her father after her release from prison, June 27, 2014.
Photo courtesy of Do Thi Minh Hanh

On Sept 3, Ms. Hanh, who was a former political prisoner, was detained by security agents at Noi Bai International Airport when she tried to take a flight to Vienna, where her mother is receiving medical treatment, foreign media reported.

 
After a half-day detainment in a police station near the airport, Hanh was released without passport.
 
Ms. Hanh’s mother, Mrs. Tran Thi Ngoc Minh, fell sick and was hospitalized on July 25, one month after she was released from a prison, where she spent four years. Earlier, Mrs. Minh toured European country, the U.S., Australia and Canada to promote a campaign calling the Vietnamese government to free her.
 
In 2010, Ms. Hanh, Doan Huy Chuong and Nguyen Hoang Quoc Hung were arrested for assisting local workers in a Chinese-invested apparel factory in Vietnam’s southern province of Tra Vinh to ask for higher salary and better working conditions. The trio was accused of “causing social disorders which aim to undermine the people’s government” under Article 89 of the Criminal Code.
 
Ms. Hanh was given a seven-year jail sentence while Mr. Chuong and Mr. Hung were also sentenced to seven and nine years in jail, respectively.
 
The trio is part of the Defending Freedoms Project whereby Members of U.S. Congress “adopt” prisoners of conscience and commit to advocating on their behalf. The project is an initiative of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, launched in conjunction with the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and Amnesty International USA. On Jan 16, Ms. Hanh’s case was officially adopted by Representative Chris Van Hollen.
She was released in June, becoming the fourth political prisoner to be freed since the beginning of 2014 under international pressure. Other freed prisoners of conscience were Dr. Cu Huy Ha Vu, decade-long prisoner Nguyen Huu Cau and teacher Dinh Dang Dinh.

Ms. Hanh is one of dozens of Vietnamese activists that Hanoi does not allow to travel abroad. Earlier this year, blogger Nguyen Lan Thang and independent journalist Pham Chi Dung were barred from attending human rights conferences in foreign countries.

Pin