Defend the Defenders | April 09, 2017
===== April 3 =====
Vietnam Montagnards Flee to Thailand for Fear of Persecution in Homeland
Defend the Defenders: About 50 Montagnard asylum-seekers are currently hiding in Thailand after fleeing Cambodia last month for fear of being sent back to Vietnam, where they claim to face widespread persecution.
The group ran away from a United Nations-funded accommodation in Phnom Penh after the applications for refugee status submitted by some of them were turned down, said Denise Coghlan, head of the Jesuit Refugee Service, which has been providing assistance to the Montagnards in Phnom Penh.
Ms. Coghlan said that there had been no contact with the group since then and she had little information about their whereabouts in Thailand.
However, she believed that they will be granted refugee status there. She said refugee status may be given to them by the UN, not the Thai government.
The news is the latest information about the Montagnards who reside Vietnam’s Central Highlands. They began trickling into Cambodia’s Ratanakkiri province in late 2014, claiming to escape political and religious persecution in their homeland.
However, this flow stopped after Cambodian authorities began to deport dozens back to their home country.
In its 2015 report, entitled “Persecuting ‘Evil Way’ Religion”, Human Rights Watch accused the Hanoi government of operating a systematic program of arrest, detention and torture against the Montagnards in an attempt to curtail religious practices and politically “autonomous thoughts” among the mainly Christian minority group.
Dozens of Montagnards Flee Cambodia For Thailand Amid Fears of Repatriation to Vietnam
===== April 5 =====
Two Hanoi-based Activists Beaten While Holding Facebook Live Stream about Formosa
Defend the Defenders: On April 5, two activists from Hanoi, Le My Hanh and Trinh Dinh Hoa, were brutally beaten by unidentified individuals as they were broadcasting a live stream on Facebook about the environmental disaster caused by the Taiwanese Formosa steel plant in the central coastal region in April 2016.
According to the video posted on their Facebook accounts, as Ms. Hanh and Mr. Hoa were conducting the live stream in Ho Tay (West Lake) to report about the current situation in the central region, a group of six thugs appeared behind them, attacking Ms. Hanh and robbing her cell phone with which she was filming herself.
Throwing her cell phone into the lake, the thugs turned to beat Hanh and Mr. Hoa, who stood near her.
Due to the assault, Hanh and Hoa suffered from a number of injuries. Mr. Hoa’s face was covered in blood as his nose was broken.
Hanh recognized one of the attackers as Ha Vu, a member of a pro-government group in Hanoi which has received support by the local authorities to disturb patriotic and pro-democracy activities organized by local activists. In 2015, the same group persecuted the family of activist Nguyen Lan Thang.
Ms. Hanh is a citizen journalist who has actively reported peaceful demonstrations by central coast residents who seek compensation for the environmental consequences of a waste discharge by the Taiwanese Formosa steel plant in the central coastal waters and request the Taiwanese group to leave Vietnam.
Meanwhile, Mr. Hoa has actively attended peaceful demonstrations which aim to protest China’s violations of the country’s sovereignty in the East Sea (South China Sea), human rights violations and other issues in the communist nation.
Hanh and Hoa are among numerous activists who have been assaulted by plainclothes agents and pro-government individuals in the past few years.
Among victims are human rights lawyers Nguyen Van Dai and Nguyen Bac Truyen, prominent human rights activists Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, Nguyen Trung Ton, Pham Thanh Nghien, and Vu Quoc Ngu, anti-China activists La Viet Dung and Truong Minh Tam.
In order to silence local critics, Vietnam’s communist government has deployed a number of measures, including intimidation, harassment, physical assaults, and arbitrary arrests and detentions against them.
Over a hundred of pro-democracy advocates, social activists and human rights defenders have been imprisoned while dozens of others have been assaulted as the government has intensified its crackdown against local dissent amid increasing public dissatisfaction due to its failure to address systemic corruption, economic slowdown, and rising social inequality.
Facebook’s live streaming is an effective tool used by Vietnamese activists to address social issues.
Meanwhile, state media, including the Vietnam Television (VTV) has continued to broadcast false information about peaceful demonstrations of fishermen in the central region to accuse protestors of conducting violence against local authorities, and to provide untrue facts about the polluted waters in the central coast.
At the same time, citizen journalists are striving to cover the news about the situation in the central coastal region, particularly the hard life of the local residents due to the environmental pollution caused by the Formosa steel plant, and the unfair compensation from the insufficient overall $500 million pledged by the Taiwanese group.
/2017/04/05/two-hanoi-based-activists-beaten-while-holding-facebook-live-stream-about-formosa/
———————
Detained Vietnamese Human Rights Lawyer Honored by German Association of Judges
Defend the Defenders: The German Association of Judges (Deutscher Richterbund, or DRB), the largest professional organization of judges and public prosecutors in Germany, has honored imprisoned Vietnamese human rights attorney Nguyen Van Dai by awarding him its Human Rights Award.
On April 5, at a ceremony held in Bellevue Palace, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier handed over the award in the absence of the receiver, who has been in detention since December 16, 2015. Mr. Vu Quoc Dung, executive officer of VETO! Human Rights Defenders‘ Network, accepted the award on behalf of Mr. Dai, who is charged with conducting “anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of Vietnam’s Penal Code.
Every year, DRB bestows a Human Rights Award on a judge, public prosecutor, or lawyer for his or her outstanding merits in the defense of human rights.
Mr. Dai, who was previously imprisoned for four years, co-founded the online group Brotherhood of Democracy in 2013 to coordinate human rights activities across Vietnam and host forums in Hanoi and Saigon to mark International Human Rights Day.
Vietnam’s Communist government took Dai into custody again in December 2015 after he left his home in Hanoi to meet with EU representatives who were researching human rights issues in Vietnam. He is facing imprisonment of up to 20 years if he is convicted, according to Vietnam’s current law.
Dai’s arrest came a few days after masked assailants beat him and other activists in what he said at the time was retaliation for his work educating Vietnamese people about human rights.
In December 2016, Vietnamese authorities extended Dai’s time in prison until April of this year, marking the third time the government added time to his pre-trial detention.
During nearly 16 months in police custody, Mr. Dai was allowed to meet with his wife only two times. He has yet to be permitted to be represented by lawyers.
Detained Vietnamese Human Rights Attorney to Receive Award For His Work
——————–
“Mother Mushroom” Arrested in Vietnam for Criticizing the Government
Civil Rights Defenders, April 2017: Me Nam (“Mother Mushroom”) has been detained incommunicado since October 2016, which exposes her to a high risk of torture and ill-treatment. She has still not been allowed to see a lawyer, which clearly violates her right to a fair trial and due process of law.
Because of her activism for freedom of expression and other universal human rights, Vietnamese blogger Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh has been harassed and threatened by Vietnamese authorities on several occasions. On October 10, 2016, she was arrested and arbitrarily detained, accused of “spreading propaganda against the Socialistic Republic of Vietnam.”
Ms. Quynh, also known under her pen name Me Nam, which translates as “Mother Mushroom”, is one of five human rights defenders who have been awarded the Civil Rights Defender of the Year Award since its inauguration in 2013.
As a result of unlawful imprisonment and travel bans, three of the five recipients never made it to Stockholm to receive the award in person. Instead, an empty chair on the stage became a symbol for the laureates, all of whom share the risk of reprisals being meted out to them. In April 2015, an empty chair stood as a symbol for the courage of Me Nam, who, at the time, was unable to travel because her passport had been confiscated by Vietnamese authorities.
More than 100 political prisoners behind bars
Since then, the authorities have stepped up their illegal actions against Me Nam and other bloggers and human rights defenders in the country. Today, she faces up to 20 years’ imprisonment under Article 88 of the country’s draconian Penal Code.
She has been detained incommunicado, which exposes her to a high risk of torture and ill-treatment. She has still not been allowed to see a lawyer, which clearly violates her right to a fair trial and due process of law.
She has also been denied visits from her family, including her 10-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son.
Along with Me Nam, more than 100 political prisoners remain arbitrarily detained under various national security provisions in Vietnam.
On December 21, 2016, 70 days after Me Nam had been detained, Civil Rights Defenders issued a statement calling for the immediately release of all imprisoned human rights defenders, activists, journalists and bloggers, and urging the Vietnamese authorities to put an end to the persecution of independent and critical voices in the country.
——————–
Vietnamese Environmental Group Seeks to Monitor Formosa Payout Process
Defend the Defenders: Green Trees, a Vietnamese independent environmental group, has filled a letter to ask the country’s government to allow it to monitor the payment of compensation to those affected by the Formosa environmental disaster.
On April 5, the group, led by independent blogger Pham Doan Trang, handed the letter over to Ministry of Finance to request that the group be able to scrutinize payments to people who lost their livelihoods in the fishing and tourism industries in four central coastal provinces following a toxic chemical spill by the Taiwanese Formosa steel plant in April 2017.
The group said it is necessary for civil society groups to be involved in monitoring payments because of several contradictory reports by different sources—victims of the spill themselves and state-run television—about the compensation and settlement of the environment disaster.
Green Trees cited Articles 2 and 28 of Vietnam’s 2013 Constitution as the legal basis for its filing of the letter. Article 2 stipulates that all state powers belong to the Vietnamese people, while Article 28 says citizens have the right to participate in the administration of the state and management of society and to take part in discussions and recommendations to state bodies on the issues concerning communities, regions and the country.
Green Trees expects the government to listen and provide favorable conditions for the monitoring work.
In late June 2016, Formosa agreed to pay a sum of $500 million to clean up and compensate people affected by the spill, but the government has faced protests over the amount of the settlement and the slow pace of payouts.
On September 29, 2016, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc issued a decision detailing stipulations regarding the compensation rates and those who are to receive payouts.
“Since then, according to our assessment based on media news, local people’s thoughts, and our own observations, the compensation process has been slow, and many victims in the affected regions have yet to receive it [payouts],” the letter says.
“In many regions, local people continue to protest unfair compensation rates,” it says. “In addition, we notice a lot of reflections about discrepancies relating to compensation.”
Green Trees has asked the government, relevant ministries, and local authorities to provide it with all information and documents related to the payout so it can exercise the right to monitor the compensation process.
Nguyen Manh Cuong, a member of the group, said people in the central region have conducted a number of protests as the government fails to issue the compensation.
“As an independent civil society group, Green Trees want to join in the monitoring of compensation for victims,” he said.
Protests Held in Vietnam to Mark One Year of Formosa Chemical Spill
Vietnamese Environmental Group Seeks to Monitor Formosa Payout Process
===== April 06 =====
Vietnam Announces Arrest of Blogger Covering News about Formosa after Three-Month Incommunicado Detention
Defend the Defenders: On April 6, Vietnam’s authorities announced the arrest of blogger Nguyen Van Hoa, a blogger who has covered news related to the illegal discharge of toxic industrial waste of the Taiwanese Formosa steel plant in the central province of Ha Tinh.
Hoa, who was arrested on January 11, was accused of producing videos that deliver “false message” and incite social unrest. The 22-year-old activist is being probed for “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State” under Article 258 of the Penal Code.
The blogger, who has been kept incommunicado since the arrest, may face imprisonment of up to seven years in jail if convicted according to the Vietnamese current law.
The police in Ha Tinh province said that Hoa signed a $1,500 contract with foreign radios and websites to produce 16 videos per month. The police did not identify those radios and websites.
Hoa allegedly participated in a protest In October 2016, outside the premises of Taiwanese Formosa steel plant in Ha Tinh, which is responsible for the massive fish deaths in April 2016 – Vietnam’s worst environmental disaster to date. He then shared a video of the incident on social media, “complicating security and order in the area,” the police said.
Vietnam’s government portal said Hoa had already admitted to inciting protests, causing unrest as well as distorting facts and smearing the Communist Party and the Vietnamese government. It is worth noting that the young activist has not been allowed to meet with lawyers and his family’s member since his arrest on January 11.
Vietnam continues to use draconian legal provisions, such as Articles 79, 88, and 258 in the Penal Code, to silence local dissidents, social activists, bloggers and human rights defenders, according to international human rights organizations. Amnesty International said the Communist nation is holding around 112 prisoners of conscience, while Human Rights Watch said Vietnam detains around 130 political prisoners.
Meanwhile, Catholic farmers in Ha Tinh and Nghe An continue to hold peaceful demonstrations to demand fair compensation for the harm caused by Formosa and to request the Taiwanese firm to leave the country.
The announcement of Hoa’s arrest aims to threaten peaceful protestors and disseminate wrong information about the legal activities of Formosa-affected fishermen who have sought justice, said local observers.
===== April 7 =====
Vietnamese Prominent Dissident Badly Treated while Serving 16-year Sentence
Defend the Defenders: Authorities in Prison No. 6 of Vietnam’s central province of Nghe An continue their inhuman treatment against prominent political prisoner Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, who is serving a 16-year sentence on charges of trying to “overthrow the state” under Article 79 of the Penal Code.
According to Mr. Thuc’s family, who visited him in the prison on April 1, his eyes suffer from the lack of adequate light inside the prison cell as the prison authorities have cut off electricity during the daytime.
During sunny days, his room has some natural light but it is dark on cloudy days. His family had tried to send him plastic battery-operated flashlights to use for reading and writing, but the prison’s authorities refused to receive them, saying they were “electronic devices” which prisoners are not allowed to receive.
The prison’s authorities have also denied him the right to receive books and newspapers, including copies of Vietnam’s laws, the family said.
The family plans to submit a letter to President Tran Dai Quang to report the inhuman treatment meted out on Thuc by the authorities of the prison, which is famous for harassing many political prisoners, including independent journalist Nguyen Van Hai (a.k.a. Dieu Cay).
Thuc was arrested in May 2009 and sentenced to 16 years’ imprisonment and five years under house arrest. In August 2012, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention deemed that the arrests of Thuc and his co-defendants were arbitrary and called for their release.
In August 2016, Thuc was disciplined by the prison’s authorities after he refused forced labor without being paid. The prison’s authorities cut off electricity in his room during hot summer period in one of the hottest regions in Vietnam as reprisal for his refusal.
Update on Trần Huỳnh Duy Thức from Prison No.6, Nghệ An, April 6, 2017
===== April 9 =====
Numerous Vietnamese Activists under House Arrest for 6th Consecutive Weekend, Many Others Detained
Defend the Defenders: On April 9, Vietnam’s securities forces detained numerous activists on streets and placed many others under house arrest in a bid to prevent them from holding peaceful demonstrations on environmental issues related to the Formosa-caused environmental disaster in the central coastal region.
In Hanoi, the detainees included blogger Nguyen Thuy Hanh, Pham Sy Hiep, Nguyễn Khánh Nam, and Tran Quang Nam. Police held them in different locations in the city for many hours and released them in the late afternoon.
Many activists in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City reported that local authorities sent large numbers of plainclothes agents, militia and members of so-called Fatherland Front to station around their private residences from Saturday until late Sunday, not allowing activists to leave their house to travel during Sunday, even to exercise.
Hanoi-based blogger La Viet Dung posted a video on his Facebook account, which showed a group of six or seven plainclothes agents blocking him at around 3:00pm when he tried to leave his house to go play football. These agents were keeping surveillance over his house since the early morning of Sunday, Dung said.
Earlier this week, Green Trees, an environmental group, called on activists nationwide to go biking on Sunday to raise speak out on the environmental disaster caused by the illegal discharge of toxic industrial waste into the central coastal waters in April 2016.
In March, political prisoner Catholic priest Nguyen Van Ly and other activists also called for nationwide demonstrations to demand that Taiwanese company Formosa withdraw its projects from Vietnam and pay compensation to the people affected by last year’s environmental disaster and clean the maritime environment in the central coast.
Vietnam’s Communist government has tried to prevent public demonstrations on matters of public concern, including the environmental catastrophe caused by the Ha Tinh province-based Formosa plant, which in April 2016 discharged a huge amount of toxic industrial waste into Vietnam’s central coast waters and caused massive deaths of fisheries.
Formosa Plastic Group agreed to pay a compensation of $500 million to the affected fishermen; however, the sum is too small to settle the consequences of the catastrophe it caused, environmentalists said.
===== End =====
Height Insoles: Hi, I do believe this is an excellent site. I stumbledupon …
http://fishinglovers.net: Appreciate you sharing, great post.Thanks Again. Keep writi…
Achilles Pain causes: Every weekend i used to pay a quick visit this site, as i w…
April 10, 2017
Vietnam Human Rights Defenders Weekly April 03-09: Two Activists Beaten by Government Loyalists While Broadcasting News on Formosa
by Nhan Quyen • DEFENDER’S WEEKLY
Defend the Defenders | April 09, 2017
On April 5, two Hanoi-based activists, Trinh Dinh Hoa and Le My Hanh, were brutally attacked by government loyalists as they were broadcasting a live stream about the situation in the central region affected by the Formosa steel plant’s pollution.
The assault occurred in Ho Tay (West Lake). As a result, the two activists sustained numerous injuries. Mr. Hoa’s face was covered in blood.
After holding him incommunicado for nearly three months, authorities in the central province of Ha Tinh announced the arrest of local blogger Nguyen Van Hoa, accusing him of “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State” under Article 258 of the Penal Code.
Imprisoned human rights attorney Nguyen Van Dai is the next Vietnamese prisoner of conscience to be honored abroad. The German Association of Judges (Deutscher Richterbund, or DRB), the largest professional organization of judges and public prosecutors in Germany, bestowed him with its Human Rights Award.
Last week, imprisoned human rights activist Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh was awarded the 2017 U.S. International Women of Courage Award while former prisoner of conscience Pham Thanh Nghien was selected by the Dublin-based advocacy group Front Line Defenders as one of the five final candidates for its Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk this year.
Authorities in Prison No. 6 in the central province of Nghe An continues to treat prominent political dissident Tran Huynh Duy Thuc inhumanely as they cut of electricity in his cell during the day time, which affects his eyesight. They have also denied him the right to receive books from his family.
And other important news
===== April 3 =====
Vietnam Montagnards Flee to Thailand for Fear of Persecution in Homeland
Defend the Defenders: About 50 Montagnard asylum-seekers are currently hiding in Thailand after fleeing Cambodia last month for fear of being sent back to Vietnam, where they claim to face widespread persecution.
The group ran away from a United Nations-funded accommodation in Phnom Penh after the applications for refugee status submitted by some of them were turned down, said Denise Coghlan, head of the Jesuit Refugee Service, which has been providing assistance to the Montagnards in Phnom Penh.
Ms. Coghlan said that there had been no contact with the group since then and she had little information about their whereabouts in Thailand.
However, she believed that they will be granted refugee status there. She said refugee status may be given to them by the UN, not the Thai government.
The news is the latest information about the Montagnards who reside Vietnam’s Central Highlands. They began trickling into Cambodia’s Ratanakkiri province in late 2014, claiming to escape political and religious persecution in their homeland.
However, this flow stopped after Cambodian authorities began to deport dozens back to their home country.
In its 2015 report, entitled “Persecuting ‘Evil Way’ Religion”, Human Rights Watch accused the Hanoi government of operating a systematic program of arrest, detention and torture against the Montagnards in an attempt to curtail religious practices and politically “autonomous thoughts” among the mainly Christian minority group.
Dozens of Montagnards Flee Cambodia For Thailand Amid Fears of Repatriation to Vietnam
===== April 5 =====
Two Hanoi-based Activists Beaten While Holding Facebook Live Stream about Formosa
Defend the Defenders: On April 5, two activists from Hanoi, Le My Hanh and Trinh Dinh Hoa, were brutally beaten by unidentified individuals as they were broadcasting a live stream on Facebook about the environmental disaster caused by the Taiwanese Formosa steel plant in the central coastal region in April 2016.
According to the video posted on their Facebook accounts, as Ms. Hanh and Mr. Hoa were conducting the live stream in Ho Tay (West Lake) to report about the current situation in the central region, a group of six thugs appeared behind them, attacking Ms. Hanh and robbing her cell phone with which she was filming herself.
Throwing her cell phone into the lake, the thugs turned to beat Hanh and Mr. Hoa, who stood near her.
Due to the assault, Hanh and Hoa suffered from a number of injuries. Mr. Hoa’s face was covered in blood as his nose was broken.
Hanh recognized one of the attackers as Ha Vu, a member of a pro-government group in Hanoi which has received support by the local authorities to disturb patriotic and pro-democracy activities organized by local activists. In 2015, the same group persecuted the family of activist Nguyen Lan Thang.
Ms. Hanh is a citizen journalist who has actively reported peaceful demonstrations by central coast residents who seek compensation for the environmental consequences of a waste discharge by the Taiwanese Formosa steel plant in the central coastal waters and request the Taiwanese group to leave Vietnam.
Meanwhile, Mr. Hoa has actively attended peaceful demonstrations which aim to protest China’s violations of the country’s sovereignty in the East Sea (South China Sea), human rights violations and other issues in the communist nation.
Hanh and Hoa are among numerous activists who have been assaulted by plainclothes agents and pro-government individuals in the past few years.
Among victims are human rights lawyers Nguyen Van Dai and Nguyen Bac Truyen, prominent human rights activists Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, Nguyen Trung Ton, Pham Thanh Nghien, and Vu Quoc Ngu, anti-China activists La Viet Dung and Truong Minh Tam.
In order to silence local critics, Vietnam’s communist government has deployed a number of measures, including intimidation, harassment, physical assaults, and arbitrary arrests and detentions against them.
Over a hundred of pro-democracy advocates, social activists and human rights defenders have been imprisoned while dozens of others have been assaulted as the government has intensified its crackdown against local dissent amid increasing public dissatisfaction due to its failure to address systemic corruption, economic slowdown, and rising social inequality.
Facebook’s live streaming is an effective tool used by Vietnamese activists to address social issues.
Meanwhile, state media, including the Vietnam Television (VTV) has continued to broadcast false information about peaceful demonstrations of fishermen in the central region to accuse protestors of conducting violence against local authorities, and to provide untrue facts about the polluted waters in the central coast.
At the same time, citizen journalists are striving to cover the news about the situation in the central coastal region, particularly the hard life of the local residents due to the environmental pollution caused by the Formosa steel plant, and the unfair compensation from the insufficient overall $500 million pledged by the Taiwanese group.
/2017/04/05/two-hanoi-based-activists-beaten-while-holding-facebook-live-stream-about-formosa/
———————
Detained Vietnamese Human Rights Lawyer Honored by German Association of Judges
Defend the Defenders: The German Association of Judges (Deutscher Richterbund, or DRB), the largest professional organization of judges and public prosecutors in Germany, has honored imprisoned Vietnamese human rights attorney Nguyen Van Dai by awarding him its Human Rights Award.
On April 5, at a ceremony held in Bellevue Palace, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier handed over the award in the absence of the receiver, who has been in detention since December 16, 2015. Mr. Vu Quoc Dung, executive officer of VETO! Human Rights Defenders‘ Network, accepted the award on behalf of Mr. Dai, who is charged with conducting “anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of Vietnam’s Penal Code.
Every year, DRB bestows a Human Rights Award on a judge, public prosecutor, or lawyer for his or her outstanding merits in the defense of human rights.
Mr. Dai, who was previously imprisoned for four years, co-founded the online group Brotherhood of Democracy in 2013 to coordinate human rights activities across Vietnam and host forums in Hanoi and Saigon to mark International Human Rights Day.
Vietnam’s Communist government took Dai into custody again in December 2015 after he left his home in Hanoi to meet with EU representatives who were researching human rights issues in Vietnam. He is facing imprisonment of up to 20 years if he is convicted, according to Vietnam’s current law.
Dai’s arrest came a few days after masked assailants beat him and other activists in what he said at the time was retaliation for his work educating Vietnamese people about human rights.
In December 2016, Vietnamese authorities extended Dai’s time in prison until April of this year, marking the third time the government added time to his pre-trial detention.
During nearly 16 months in police custody, Mr. Dai was allowed to meet with his wife only two times. He has yet to be permitted to be represented by lawyers.
Detained Vietnamese Human Rights Attorney to Receive Award For His Work
——————–
“Mother Mushroom” Arrested in Vietnam for Criticizing the Government
Civil Rights Defenders, April 2017: Me Nam (“Mother Mushroom”) has been detained incommunicado since October 2016, which exposes her to a high risk of torture and ill-treatment. She has still not been allowed to see a lawyer, which clearly violates her right to a fair trial and due process of law.
Because of her activism for freedom of expression and other universal human rights, Vietnamese blogger Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh has been harassed and threatened by Vietnamese authorities on several occasions. On October 10, 2016, she was arrested and arbitrarily detained, accused of “spreading propaganda against the Socialistic Republic of Vietnam.”
Ms. Quynh, also known under her pen name Me Nam, which translates as “Mother Mushroom”, is one of five human rights defenders who have been awarded the Civil Rights Defender of the Year Award since its inauguration in 2013.
As a result of unlawful imprisonment and travel bans, three of the five recipients never made it to Stockholm to receive the award in person. Instead, an empty chair on the stage became a symbol for the laureates, all of whom share the risk of reprisals being meted out to them. In April 2015, an empty chair stood as a symbol for the courage of Me Nam, who, at the time, was unable to travel because her passport had been confiscated by Vietnamese authorities.
More than 100 political prisoners behind bars
Since then, the authorities have stepped up their illegal actions against Me Nam and other bloggers and human rights defenders in the country. Today, she faces up to 20 years’ imprisonment under Article 88 of the country’s draconian Penal Code.
She has been detained incommunicado, which exposes her to a high risk of torture and ill-treatment. She has still not been allowed to see a lawyer, which clearly violates her right to a fair trial and due process of law.
She has also been denied visits from her family, including her 10-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son.
Along with Me Nam, more than 100 political prisoners remain arbitrarily detained under various national security provisions in Vietnam.
On December 21, 2016, 70 days after Me Nam had been detained, Civil Rights Defenders issued a statement calling for the immediately release of all imprisoned human rights defenders, activists, journalists and bloggers, and urging the Vietnamese authorities to put an end to the persecution of independent and critical voices in the country.
——————–
Vietnamese Environmental Group Seeks to Monitor Formosa Payout Process
Defend the Defenders: Green Trees, a Vietnamese independent environmental group, has filled a letter to ask the country’s government to allow it to monitor the payment of compensation to those affected by the Formosa environmental disaster.
On April 5, the group, led by independent blogger Pham Doan Trang, handed the letter over to Ministry of Finance to request that the group be able to scrutinize payments to people who lost their livelihoods in the fishing and tourism industries in four central coastal provinces following a toxic chemical spill by the Taiwanese Formosa steel plant in April 2017.
The group said it is necessary for civil society groups to be involved in monitoring payments because of several contradictory reports by different sources—victims of the spill themselves and state-run television—about the compensation and settlement of the environment disaster.
Green Trees cited Articles 2 and 28 of Vietnam’s 2013 Constitution as the legal basis for its filing of the letter. Article 2 stipulates that all state powers belong to the Vietnamese people, while Article 28 says citizens have the right to participate in the administration of the state and management of society and to take part in discussions and recommendations to state bodies on the issues concerning communities, regions and the country.
Green Trees expects the government to listen and provide favorable conditions for the monitoring work.
In late June 2016, Formosa agreed to pay a sum of $500 million to clean up and compensate people affected by the spill, but the government has faced protests over the amount of the settlement and the slow pace of payouts.
On September 29, 2016, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc issued a decision detailing stipulations regarding the compensation rates and those who are to receive payouts.
“Since then, according to our assessment based on media news, local people’s thoughts, and our own observations, the compensation process has been slow, and many victims in the affected regions have yet to receive it [payouts],” the letter says.
“In many regions, local people continue to protest unfair compensation rates,” it says. “In addition, we notice a lot of reflections about discrepancies relating to compensation.”
Green Trees has asked the government, relevant ministries, and local authorities to provide it with all information and documents related to the payout so it can exercise the right to monitor the compensation process.
Nguyen Manh Cuong, a member of the group, said people in the central region have conducted a number of protests as the government fails to issue the compensation.
“As an independent civil society group, Green Trees want to join in the monitoring of compensation for victims,” he said.
Protests Held in Vietnam to Mark One Year of Formosa Chemical Spill
Vietnamese Environmental Group Seeks to Monitor Formosa Payout Process
===== April 06 =====
Vietnam Announces Arrest of Blogger Covering News about Formosa after Three-Month Incommunicado Detention
Defend the Defenders: On April 6, Vietnam’s authorities announced the arrest of blogger Nguyen Van Hoa, a blogger who has covered news related to the illegal discharge of toxic industrial waste of the Taiwanese Formosa steel plant in the central province of Ha Tinh.
Hoa, who was arrested on January 11, was accused of producing videos that deliver “false message” and incite social unrest. The 22-year-old activist is being probed for “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State” under Article 258 of the Penal Code.
The blogger, who has been kept incommunicado since the arrest, may face imprisonment of up to seven years in jail if convicted according to the Vietnamese current law.
The police in Ha Tinh province said that Hoa signed a $1,500 contract with foreign radios and websites to produce 16 videos per month. The police did not identify those radios and websites.
Hoa allegedly participated in a protest In October 2016, outside the premises of Taiwanese Formosa steel plant in Ha Tinh, which is responsible for the massive fish deaths in April 2016 – Vietnam’s worst environmental disaster to date. He then shared a video of the incident on social media, “complicating security and order in the area,” the police said.
Vietnam’s government portal said Hoa had already admitted to inciting protests, causing unrest as well as distorting facts and smearing the Communist Party and the Vietnamese government. It is worth noting that the young activist has not been allowed to meet with lawyers and his family’s member since his arrest on January 11.
Vietnam continues to use draconian legal provisions, such as Articles 79, 88, and 258 in the Penal Code, to silence local dissidents, social activists, bloggers and human rights defenders, according to international human rights organizations. Amnesty International said the Communist nation is holding around 112 prisoners of conscience, while Human Rights Watch said Vietnam detains around 130 political prisoners.
Meanwhile, Catholic farmers in Ha Tinh and Nghe An continue to hold peaceful demonstrations to demand fair compensation for the harm caused by Formosa and to request the Taiwanese firm to leave the country.
The announcement of Hoa’s arrest aims to threaten peaceful protestors and disseminate wrong information about the legal activities of Formosa-affected fishermen who have sought justice, said local observers.
===== April 7 =====
Vietnamese Prominent Dissident Badly Treated while Serving 16-year Sentence
Defend the Defenders: Authorities in Prison No. 6 of Vietnam’s central province of Nghe An continue their inhuman treatment against prominent political prisoner Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, who is serving a 16-year sentence on charges of trying to “overthrow the state” under Article 79 of the Penal Code.
According to Mr. Thuc’s family, who visited him in the prison on April 1, his eyes suffer from the lack of adequate light inside the prison cell as the prison authorities have cut off electricity during the daytime.
During sunny days, his room has some natural light but it is dark on cloudy days. His family had tried to send him plastic battery-operated flashlights to use for reading and writing, but the prison’s authorities refused to receive them, saying they were “electronic devices” which prisoners are not allowed to receive.
The prison’s authorities have also denied him the right to receive books and newspapers, including copies of Vietnam’s laws, the family said.
The family plans to submit a letter to President Tran Dai Quang to report the inhuman treatment meted out on Thuc by the authorities of the prison, which is famous for harassing many political prisoners, including independent journalist Nguyen Van Hai (a.k.a. Dieu Cay).
Thuc was arrested in May 2009 and sentenced to 16 years’ imprisonment and five years under house arrest. In August 2012, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention deemed that the arrests of Thuc and his co-defendants were arbitrary and called for their release.
In August 2016, Thuc was disciplined by the prison’s authorities after he refused forced labor without being paid. The prison’s authorities cut off electricity in his room during hot summer period in one of the hottest regions in Vietnam as reprisal for his refusal.
Update on Trần Huỳnh Duy Thức from Prison No.6, Nghệ An, April 6, 2017
===== April 9 =====
Numerous Vietnamese Activists under House Arrest for 6th Consecutive Weekend, Many Others Detained
Defend the Defenders: On April 9, Vietnam’s securities forces detained numerous activists on streets and placed many others under house arrest in a bid to prevent them from holding peaceful demonstrations on environmental issues related to the Formosa-caused environmental disaster in the central coastal region.
In Hanoi, the detainees included blogger Nguyen Thuy Hanh, Pham Sy Hiep, Nguyễn Khánh Nam, and Tran Quang Nam. Police held them in different locations in the city for many hours and released them in the late afternoon.
Many activists in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City reported that local authorities sent large numbers of plainclothes agents, militia and members of so-called Fatherland Front to station around their private residences from Saturday until late Sunday, not allowing activists to leave their house to travel during Sunday, even to exercise.
Hanoi-based blogger La Viet Dung posted a video on his Facebook account, which showed a group of six or seven plainclothes agents blocking him at around 3:00pm when he tried to leave his house to go play football. These agents were keeping surveillance over his house since the early morning of Sunday, Dung said.
Earlier this week, Green Trees, an environmental group, called on activists nationwide to go biking on Sunday to raise speak out on the environmental disaster caused by the illegal discharge of toxic industrial waste into the central coastal waters in April 2016.
In March, political prisoner Catholic priest Nguyen Van Ly and other activists also called for nationwide demonstrations to demand that Taiwanese company Formosa withdraw its projects from Vietnam and pay compensation to the people affected by last year’s environmental disaster and clean the maritime environment in the central coast.
Vietnam’s Communist government has tried to prevent public demonstrations on matters of public concern, including the environmental catastrophe caused by the Ha Tinh province-based Formosa plant, which in April 2016 discharged a huge amount of toxic industrial waste into Vietnam’s central coast waters and caused massive deaths of fisheries.
Formosa Plastic Group agreed to pay a compensation of $500 million to the affected fishermen; however, the sum is too small to settle the consequences of the catastrophe it caused, environmentalists said.
===== End =====