One of beaten followers in Dien Chau on Feb 14
By Defend the Defenders, February 14, 2017
On February 14, Vietnam’s security forces violently suppressed fishermen from the central province of Nghe An as they were on their way to file a legal complaint against the Taiwan-invested Formosa Steel Plant over polluting the local environment, an act that has affected their livelihoods, social networks reported.
Heavily-equipped police attacked the delegation, which consisted of more than a thousand residents from Song Ngoc parish, beating dozens of them, including Catholic priest J.B. Nguyen Van Thuc, when the delegation arrived in Dien Chau district. Many farmers suffered from severe injuries, citizens-journalists reported on the scene.
Police also detained a number of people and released them later on the same day, bloggers said. However, they were unable to provide the exact number of detainees.
The Catholic farmers came from the Song Ngoc parish, which covers three communes in Quynh Luu district – Quynh Ngoc, Son Hai and Quynh Tho – that have been severely affected by the discharge of a huge amount of very toxic industrial chemicals by the Formosa Steel Plant, an affiliate of the Taiwanese Formosa Plastic Group, into Vietnam’s central coast sea in April 2016.
In late June 2016, the Taiwanese company pledged to pay a compensation of $500 million for the affected fishermen in the four provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue. However, farmers from these areas are yet to receive any compensation.
Having been affected by the environmental disaster caused by the Formosa Steel Plant but excluded from the people eligible for receiving compensation, fishermen from the Song Ngoc parish planned to go to the People’s Court in Ky Anh district, Ha Tinh province (where the firm is located) to file their complaint against the Taiwanese company.
The delegation, led by Catholic priest J.B. Nguyen Van Thuc, was forced to go to Ha Tinh on foot after the car-renting company they had entered into a contract with announced that it had been ordered by the Nghe An’s police not to transport the farmers.
The delegation started their journey in the morning of Tuesday, heading to the neighboring province – an estimated journey of over 180 km.
In response, Vietnam’s government deployed thousands of policemen, military commandos and militia to National Road No. 1, on which the delegation was moving. It strived to stop the delegation by any means, observers reported.
In order to protect farmers from further being assaulted, the leadership of the Vinh diocese requested followers to return home and to send a small group of parishioners led by priest Thuc to Ky Anh to lodge their legal complaint on their behalf.
Last year, nearly a thousand of Catholic followers in Dong Yen parish, Ky Anh district, whose life was seriously affected by Formosa’s illegal discharge, also sued the Taiwanese company; however, Ky Anh district’s People’s Court rejected their conplaint.
Due to the illegal discharge, hundreds of tons of fish died in the central coast from April-June 2016. The negative impact of the spill is forecast to last for decades.
Last year, thousands of activists held peaceful demonstrations in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and other localities to protest the Formosa Plastic Group, demanding that the Taiwanese firm pay adequate compensation, restore a clean environment in the affected areas, and stop the operations of its steel plant in Ky Anh district. However, the protests were violently suppressed by Vietnam’s communist government. Hundreds of protestors were detained and many of them were brutally beaten in police custody.
Recently, Vietnam’s government allocated a huge plot of land to Formosa Steel Plant so it builds dormitories for its staff. Chinese firms also invested in the project.
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February 14, 2017
Vietnam Security Forces Violently Crack Down on Fishermen Seeking to Sue Polluting Formosa Plant
by Nhan Quyen • [Human Rights], JB Nguyen Dinh Thuc
One of beaten followers in Dien Chau on Feb 14
By Defend the Defenders, February 14, 2017
On February 14, Vietnam’s security forces violently suppressed fishermen from the central province of Nghe An as they were on their way to file a legal complaint against the Taiwan-invested Formosa Steel Plant over polluting the local environment, an act that has affected their livelihoods, social networks reported.
Heavily-equipped police attacked the delegation, which consisted of more than a thousand residents from Song Ngoc parish, beating dozens of them, including Catholic priest J.B. Nguyen Van Thuc, when the delegation arrived in Dien Chau district. Many farmers suffered from severe injuries, citizens-journalists reported on the scene.
Police also detained a number of people and released them later on the same day, bloggers said. However, they were unable to provide the exact number of detainees.
The Catholic farmers came from the Song Ngoc parish, which covers three communes in Quynh Luu district – Quynh Ngoc, Son Hai and Quynh Tho – that have been severely affected by the discharge of a huge amount of very toxic industrial chemicals by the Formosa Steel Plant, an affiliate of the Taiwanese Formosa Plastic Group, into Vietnam’s central coast sea in April 2016.
In late June 2016, the Taiwanese company pledged to pay a compensation of $500 million for the affected fishermen in the four provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue. However, farmers from these areas are yet to receive any compensation.
Having been affected by the environmental disaster caused by the Formosa Steel Plant but excluded from the people eligible for receiving compensation, fishermen from the Song Ngoc parish planned to go to the People’s Court in Ky Anh district, Ha Tinh province (where the firm is located) to file their complaint against the Taiwanese company.
The delegation, led by Catholic priest J.B. Nguyen Van Thuc, was forced to go to Ha Tinh on foot after the car-renting company they had entered into a contract with announced that it had been ordered by the Nghe An’s police not to transport the farmers.
The delegation started their journey in the morning of Tuesday, heading to the neighboring province – an estimated journey of over 180 km.
In response, Vietnam’s government deployed thousands of policemen, military commandos and militia to National Road No. 1, on which the delegation was moving. It strived to stop the delegation by any means, observers reported.
In order to protect farmers from further being assaulted, the leadership of the Vinh diocese requested followers to return home and to send a small group of parishioners led by priest Thuc to Ky Anh to lodge their legal complaint on their behalf.
Last year, nearly a thousand of Catholic followers in Dong Yen parish, Ky Anh district, whose life was seriously affected by Formosa’s illegal discharge, also sued the Taiwanese company; however, Ky Anh district’s People’s Court rejected their conplaint.
Due to the illegal discharge, hundreds of tons of fish died in the central coast from April-June 2016. The negative impact of the spill is forecast to last for decades.
Last year, thousands of activists held peaceful demonstrations in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and other localities to protest the Formosa Plastic Group, demanding that the Taiwanese firm pay adequate compensation, restore a clean environment in the affected areas, and stop the operations of its steel plant in Ky Anh district. However, the protests were violently suppressed by Vietnam’s communist government. Hundreds of protestors were detained and many of them were brutally beaten in police custody.
Recently, Vietnam’s government allocated a huge plot of land to Formosa Steel Plant so it builds dormitories for its staff. Chinese firms also invested in the project.