Mr. Ngo Duy Quyen and his wife Le Thi Cong Nhan and their baby in 2011
Police verbally announced that they detained Mr. Quyen and searched his apartment to investigate his role in a case which “has signs” of “Abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and/or citizens” under Article 258 of the country’s Penal Code.
By Vu Quoc Ngu, Feb 04, 2016
Security forces in Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi on February 4 detained pro-democracy activist and human rights defender Ngo Duy Quyen and searched his private residence, confiscating a number of communication devices and other personal items, the victim said.
Mr. Quyen, 40, was held by security agents when he was delivering his agricultural products to his regular clients in Hanoi. At the same time, policemen came to his apartment in Dong Da district to search his personal items, including two laptops and four cell phones as well as many books and documents.
Police verbally announced that they detained Mr. Quyen and searched his apartment to investigate his role in a case which “has signs” of “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and/or citizens” under Article 258 of the country’s Penal Code. However, police neither gave him a copy of the warrants for the detention and the apartment search nor allowed him and his relatives to read the original documents.
After a long interrogation which lasted from the afternoon until midnight, police released him but asked him to come back to police station on the next day. Quyen said police also confiscated all his money from selling chickens.
During the interrogation, security officers said they want to clarify Quyen’s role in a joint petition of civil society organizations which had been sent to state agencies to raise their concerns on recent deaths of many detainees in police stations and detention facilities. Few months ago, Quyen, on behalf of many independent civil society organizations, sent the petition to a number of state agencies, including the president’s office, the Supreme People’s Procuracy and the Supreme People’s Court to demand for full investigation of the death of many detainees in custody.
However, Quyen refused to cooperate with the police since they failed to show any documents from the procuracy about his detention and the search of his apartment. He also refused to come to the police station later as they demanded.
Mr. Quyen, the husband of prominent former political prisoner Le Thi Cong Nhan and an older brother of former prisoner of conscience Ngo Quynh, is an anti-China activist, participating in many peaceful protests in Hanoi in the 2011-2014 period to protest China’s violations of the country’s sovereignty in the East Sea.
He had been detained many times during peaceful anti-China demonstrations.
Due to his political activities, he has been suppressed by local authorities. Under police’s pressure, Quyen was forced to quit his job as legal expert in a law company. He tried to work in other fields, however, he was forced to abandon them because he could not tolerate systemic corruption among state officials.
Finally, Quyen returned to his hometown in Bac Giang, and together with his brother Quynh, he set up an organic farm for the production of chicken, ducks, fish and vegetables. His high-quality products meet high demand, and he became a regular supplier of safe farm produce for social activists in Hanoi and adjacent localities.
Quyen is a key member of a charity organization named People Solidarity which has provided financial assistance to prisoners of conscience and their families as well as land petitioners. The unsanctioned human rights body has provided limited but valuable supports for hundreds of activists nationwide.
Quyen’s detention is the first political case in Vietnam one week after the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam ended its 12th National Congress, with election of the new leadership for the next five-year term. Police generals have dominated the new leadership, with four generals elected to the party’s 19-member Politburo, the most powerful body in the communist nation, and two others in the party’s Secretariat. Three other police generals were elected to the 200-member Central Committee which has the highest power in
between consecutive party congresses.
The detention took place on the same day when Vietnam and 11 other nations signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in New Zealand. The pact, which is expected to boost trade and investment between Vietnam and other Asia-Pacific nations, needs approval of parliaments of the countries members, some of which are concerned about increasing human rights violations in Vietnam.
Mr. Pham Van Troi, leader of the unsanctioned Brotherhood for Democracy, said the police’s main goal in detaining Quyen is to search his apartment for documents of his wife Nhan, who is one of the key members of the independent Lao Dong Viet (Viet Labor) which advocates for workers’ rights. In recent days, police in Ho Chi Minh City have intensified their surveillance on other leaders of Lao Dong Viet, including former prisoners of conscience Do Thi Minh Hanh, Mr. Troi noted.
Vietnam has yet to allow workers to form their independent labor unions to protect their rights while the Vietnam General Trade Union is under government control and has no activities to effectively protect workers’ rights.
The communists have vowed to maintain the country under a one-party regime, and their government has used controversial Penal Code articles such as Articles 79, 88 and 258 to silence political dissidents, social activists and human rights defenders. The ruling party has ordered the country’s security forces to prevent the establishment of opposition parties while Minister of Public Security General Tran Dai Quang, who is set to succeed incumbent President Truong Tan Sang in July, labeled 60 unregistered civil societies as “reactionary groups.”
With more police generals taking up key positions in the party and state agencies, Vietnam is expected to continue its socialism path and prioritize the deepening of the comprehensive strategic partnership with China, which has been increasingly aggressive in the East Sea to turn the sea into its own lake, observers said, adding more political suppression will be seen in coming days.
According to the New York-based Human Rights Watch, Vietnam is holding at least 130 political prisoners while Hanoi consistently denies it is keeping any prisoner of conscience and insists that only law violators are imprisoned.
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February 5, 2016
Vietnamese Pro-democracy Activist Detained, Private Residence Searched
by Nhan Quyen • [Human Rights], Ngo Duy Quyen
Mr. Ngo Duy Quyen and his wife Le Thi Cong Nhan and their baby in 2011
By Vu Quoc Ngu, Feb 04, 2016
Security forces in Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi on February 4 detained pro-democracy activist and human rights defender Ngo Duy Quyen and searched his private residence, confiscating a number of communication devices and other personal items, the victim said.
Mr. Quyen, 40, was held by security agents when he was delivering his agricultural products to his regular clients in Hanoi. At the same time, policemen came to his apartment in Dong Da district to search his personal items, including two laptops and four cell phones as well as many books and documents.
Police verbally announced that they detained Mr. Quyen and searched his apartment to investigate his role in a case which “has signs” of “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and/or citizens” under Article 258 of the country’s Penal Code. However, police neither gave him a copy of the warrants for the detention and the apartment search nor allowed him and his relatives to read the original documents.
After a long interrogation which lasted from the afternoon until midnight, police released him but asked him to come back to police station on the next day. Quyen said police also confiscated all his money from selling chickens.
During the interrogation, security officers said they want to clarify Quyen’s role in a joint petition of civil society organizations which had been sent to state agencies to raise their concerns on recent deaths of many detainees in police stations and detention facilities. Few months ago, Quyen, on behalf of many independent civil society organizations, sent the petition to a number of state agencies, including the president’s office, the Supreme People’s Procuracy and the Supreme People’s Court to demand for full investigation of the death of many detainees in custody.
However, Quyen refused to cooperate with the police since they failed to show any documents from the procuracy about his detention and the search of his apartment. He also refused to come to the police station later as they demanded.
Mr. Quyen, the husband of prominent former political prisoner Le Thi Cong Nhan and an older brother of former prisoner of conscience Ngo Quynh, is an anti-China activist, participating in many peaceful protests in Hanoi in the 2011-2014 period to protest China’s violations of the country’s sovereignty in the East Sea.
He had been detained many times during peaceful anti-China demonstrations.
Due to his political activities, he has been suppressed by local authorities. Under police’s pressure, Quyen was forced to quit his job as legal expert in a law company. He tried to work in other fields, however, he was forced to abandon them because he could not tolerate systemic corruption among state officials.
Finally, Quyen returned to his hometown in Bac Giang, and together with his brother Quynh, he set up an organic farm for the production of chicken, ducks, fish and vegetables. His high-quality products meet high demand, and he became a regular supplier of safe farm produce for social activists in Hanoi and adjacent localities.
Quyen is a key member of a charity organization named People Solidarity which has provided financial assistance to prisoners of conscience and their families as well as land petitioners. The unsanctioned human rights body has provided limited but valuable supports for hundreds of activists nationwide.
Quyen’s detention is the first political case in Vietnam one week after the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam ended its 12th National Congress, with election of the new leadership for the next five-year term. Police generals have dominated the new leadership, with four generals elected to the party’s 19-member Politburo, the most powerful body in the communist nation, and two others in the party’s Secretariat. Three other police generals were elected to the 200-member Central Committee which has the highest power in
between consecutive party congresses.
The detention took place on the same day when Vietnam and 11 other nations signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in New Zealand. The pact, which is expected to boost trade and investment between Vietnam and other Asia-Pacific nations, needs approval of parliaments of the countries members, some of which are concerned about increasing human rights violations in Vietnam.
Mr. Pham Van Troi, leader of the unsanctioned Brotherhood for Democracy, said the police’s main goal in detaining Quyen is to search his apartment for documents of his wife Nhan, who is one of the key members of the independent Lao Dong Viet (Viet Labor) which advocates for workers’ rights. In recent days, police in Ho Chi Minh City have intensified their surveillance on other leaders of Lao Dong Viet, including former prisoners of conscience Do Thi Minh Hanh, Mr. Troi noted.
Vietnam has yet to allow workers to form their independent labor unions to protect their rights while the Vietnam General Trade Union is under government control and has no activities to effectively protect workers’ rights.
The communists have vowed to maintain the country under a one-party regime, and their government has used controversial Penal Code articles such as Articles 79, 88 and 258 to silence political dissidents, social activists and human rights defenders. The ruling party has ordered the country’s security forces to prevent the establishment of opposition parties while Minister of Public Security General Tran Dai Quang, who is set to succeed incumbent President Truong Tan Sang in July, labeled 60 unregistered civil societies as “reactionary groups.”
With more police generals taking up key positions in the party and state agencies, Vietnam is expected to continue its socialism path and prioritize the deepening of the comprehensive strategic partnership with China, which has been increasingly aggressive in the East Sea to turn the sea into its own lake, observers said, adding more political suppression will be seen in coming days.
According to the New York-based Human Rights Watch, Vietnam is holding at least 130 political prisoners while Hanoi consistently denies it is keeping any prisoner of conscience and insists that only law violators are imprisoned.