Two More Hanoi-based Activists Beaten by Thugs

Two Hanoi-based activists have been attacked by thugs after visiting land petitioners in Duong Noi, according to the Facebook page of Mr. Vu Manh Hung, a human rights activist in the Vietnamese capital city.

On Wednesday morning, Mr. Son Tien and Mr. Ha Thanh went to Duong Noi where they met with people whose land was illegally seized by local authorities for urban development project.

In the returning way, the duo was attacked by a group of four thugs who brutally beat the two activists, causing serious injuries to them in their heads and bodies.

The activists said they have no disputes with anyone so they suspected that the thugs are plainclothes agents or hired by Hanoi’s authorities to beat activists who came to support Duong Noi’s villagers.

During the past few months, a number of activists have been attacked by thugs when they supplied Duong Noi with food and clothes.

Along with remaining without land for crop cultivation, a number of Duong Noi residents were imprisoned for fabricated charges of causing public disorders.

Thugs also attacked other human rights activists. On Mar 15, Vu Quoc Ngu was attacked by two plainclothes agents when he returned home from a meeting in Hanoi’s center to commemorate Vietnamese soldiers murdered by China in Gac Ma (Johnson South Reef) in 1988 when Beijing sent its naval forces to attack the Vietnamese reef in the East Sea.

In order to maintain the one-party regime, Vietnam’s communist government has tolerated any criticism.

Along with using controversial articles such as 79, 88 and 258 of the Criminal Code to silence political critics, Vietnam’s security forces has enhanced their suppression against social activists. A number of social activists have been beaten and intimidated by thugs.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch has accused Vietnam of using mobs to attack human rights defenders in many places in the country.