Land right activist Can Thi Theu participated in a peaceful demonstration to protest police’s torture in 2015
by Vu Quoc Ngu, September 19, 2016
On September 17, three days ahead of the scheduled trial against land rights activist Can Thi Theu, the New York-based Human Rights Watch issued a statement calling on Vietnam’s communist government to drop all charges and unconditionally release Mrs. Theu who was accused of “disrupting public order” under Article 245 of the Penal Code after she and others staged peaceful protests against land confiscation.
Mrs. Theu, a former prisoner of conscience, was arrested on June 10 by Hanoi authorities who blamed her of causing public disorders while leading people from Hanoi’s Duong Noi ward in carrying banners to various government offices to petition against land confiscation.
More than a decade ago, in June 2006, the local government decided to confiscate farmland in Duong Noi ward of Ha Dong district and transform the area into an urban zone. Hundreds of families protested the confiscation process and inadequate compensation for those who would lose their livelihoods. The authorities made little effort to engage the local residents or respond to their complaints. In April 2014, the authorities forcibly confiscated the land and brutally beat many protesters, arresting a number of people, including Theu and her husband Trinh Ba Khiem.
In September 2014, both were convicted of “resisting against those who are on public duties” under Article 257 of the Penal Code. She was sentenced to 15 months in prison and her husband to 18 months (later reduced to 14 months).
“Conflicts between farmers and the government over land confiscation have become a serious problem in Vietnam in the last few years,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The government should reform its land law and compensation system instead of punishing people who protest the loss of their land.”
“When the Communist Party of Vietnam needed farmers’ support, it advocated that ‘farmers must have land’ (‘nguoi cay co ruong’),” said Adams. “But now it puts those who make the same point in prison.”
Since her release, Can Thi Theu has continued to advocate on land and environmental issues. She participated in protests calling for the release of prominent rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai and his colleague Le Thu Ha, urging the government to repeal Article 88 of the Penal Code, which criminalizes peaceful criticism. She joined protests against police violence and carried out a hunger strike in support of political prisoner Tran Huynh Duy Thuc.
She also participated in peaceful demonstrations on environmental issues, particularly against the Taiwanese Formosa steel plant in Vietnam’s central province of Ha Tinh which illegally discharged a huge volume of toxic industrial waste causing environmental catastrophe in the central coastal region which killed hundreds of tons of fish in April-May.
Mrs. Theu is among the 82 prisoners of conscience whom Amnesty International has called on Vietnam’s government to release unconditionally and immediately.
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September 19, 2016
Human Rights Watch Urges Vietnam to Drop Charges and Free Land Rights Activist Can Thi Theu
by Nhan Quyen • Can Thi Theu
Land right activist Can Thi Theu participated in a peaceful demonstration to protest police’s torture in 2015
by Vu Quoc Ngu, September 19, 2016
On September 17, three days ahead of the scheduled trial against land rights activist Can Thi Theu, the New York-based Human Rights Watch issued a statement calling on Vietnam’s communist government to drop all charges and unconditionally release Mrs. Theu who was accused of “disrupting public order” under Article 245 of the Penal Code after she and others staged peaceful protests against land confiscation.
Mrs. Theu, a former prisoner of conscience, was arrested on June 10 by Hanoi authorities who blamed her of causing public disorders while leading people from Hanoi’s Duong Noi ward in carrying banners to various government offices to petition against land confiscation.
More than a decade ago, in June 2006, the local government decided to confiscate farmland in Duong Noi ward of Ha Dong district and transform the area into an urban zone. Hundreds of families protested the confiscation process and inadequate compensation for those who would lose their livelihoods. The authorities made little effort to engage the local residents or respond to their complaints. In April 2014, the authorities forcibly confiscated the land and brutally beat many protesters, arresting a number of people, including Theu and her husband Trinh Ba Khiem.
In September 2014, both were convicted of “resisting against those who are on public duties” under Article 257 of the Penal Code. She was sentenced to 15 months in prison and her husband to 18 months (later reduced to 14 months).
“Conflicts between farmers and the government over land confiscation have become a serious problem in Vietnam in the last few years,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The government should reform its land law and compensation system instead of punishing people who protest the loss of their land.”
“When the Communist Party of Vietnam needed farmers’ support, it advocated that ‘farmers must have land’ (‘nguoi cay co ruong’),” said Adams. “But now it puts those who make the same point in prison.”
Since her release, Can Thi Theu has continued to advocate on land and environmental issues. She participated in protests calling for the release of prominent rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai and his colleague Le Thu Ha, urging the government to repeal Article 88 of the Penal Code, which criminalizes peaceful criticism. She joined protests against police violence and carried out a hunger strike in support of political prisoner Tran Huynh Duy Thuc.
She also participated in peaceful demonstrations on environmental issues, particularly against the Taiwanese Formosa steel plant in Vietnam’s central province of Ha Tinh which illegally discharged a huge volume of toxic industrial waste causing environmental catastrophe in the central coastal region which killed hundreds of tons of fish in April-May.
Mrs. Theu is among the 82 prisoners of conscience whom Amnesty International has called on Vietnam’s government to release unconditionally and immediately.