Defend the Defenders | April 30, 2017
===== April 24 =====
Vietnam Likely to Have Extended Investigation into Human Rights Lawyer Nguyen Van Dai by Two Months
Defend the Defenders: Vietnam’s authorities are likely to have extended the investigation period into human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai by two months, bringing the total pre-trial detention period against the prominent dissident to 18 months, said his lawyer Ha Huy Son.
Mr. Dai, who was arrested on December 16, 2015, is charged with conducting “anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the country’s Penal Code. He will face imprisonment of up to 20 years if convicted, according to the current Vietnamese law.
In its letter sent to Mr. Son dated on April 21, 2017, the Supreme People’s Procuracy said it will allow him to be involved in the case after the investigation is completed, but not now.
If confirmed, this will be the fourth extension of Mr. Dai’s pre-trial detention. The previous extensions were for four months each.
Two months earlier, in its notice sent to Son, the same agency said the investigation period would be extended until April 17, 2017.
According to Vietnam’s Code of Criminal Procedure, Dai’s lawyers will be allowed to meet with him to prepare his defense after the police agency completes its investigation, the Supreme People’s Procuracy said.
Mr. Dai, founder of the Vietnam Human Rights Center and of the Brotherhood for Democracy, was arrested together with his assistant Ms. Le Thu Ha on allegations of conducting “anti-state propaganda.”
Mr. Dai has been held incommunicado as he has not been allowed to meet with his lawyer and relatives. His wife was permitted to meet him twice since late 2015.
The arrest of Dai has been met with strong condemnation worldwide. The U.S., the EU and other countries, as well as many international and domestic human rights organizations, have urged Vietnam to release Mr. Dai and Ms. Ha immediately and unconditionally, saying the two activists only exercised their right to freedom of expression, which is enshrined in Vietnam’s 2013 Constitution and in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Vietnam is a state party.
In order to keep the country under a one-party regime, the Vietnamese Communist government has used many controversial articles such as Articles 79, 88 and 258 of the Penal Code to silence local political dissidents, social activists and human rights defenders.
Many human rights defenders and pro-democracy activists, including prominent blogger Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh and land rights activist Tran Thi Nga, have been held incommunicado for months.
According to Human Rights Watch, Vietnam holds around 130 political prisoners, while Amnesty International said the Southeast Asian nation detains around 90 prisoners of conscience.
Hanoi has consistently rejected holding any prisoners of conscience, saying it only detains persons who have violated the law.
———————
Vietnamese Protesters Surround Police Station, Demand Apology for Beatings, Stolen Shirts
Radio Free Asia: On April 24, nearly a thousand protesters surrounded the police station of Quynh Luu district in Vietnam’s central province of Nghe An to demand an apology from police for their confiscation of 200 T-shirts and beating of the two men who transported the shirts.
The shirts, which police promised later in the day to return, bore the slogan No-Formosa in a reference to the Taiwan-owned Formosa Plastics Group, whose steel plant in coastal Ha Tinh province caused a toxic waste spill last year that killed an estimated 115 tons of fish and left fishermen jobless in four coastal provinces.
Outraged by police mistreatment of those transporting the shirts, Quynh Luu residents including many Catholics gathered outside the district police headquarters on the same day to demand the shirts’ return, parish priest Dan Huu Nam told RFA’s Vietnamese Service.
Due to the protest, the local police agreed to return the shirts and apologize for their beating.
“We and the police have agreed on a solution. They have to apologize for their behavior and must return the shirts to Song Ngoc Church so that we can give them back to the people,” priest Nam said.
“I told the authorities in front of everyone that if they don’t resolve this situation properly, we will continue to peacefully protest to demand our rights,” he said, adding, “The authorities have promised to make a statement in written form.”
The protest ended without clashes, and by 6:00 p.m. all protesters had returned to their homes, sources said.
The Formosa Company has voluntarily paid $500 million to clean up and compensate coastal residents affected by the April 2016 spill, but slow and uneven payout of the funds by the Vietnamese government has prompted protests that continue to be held a year later.
Vietnam’s government has meanwhile rebuked former Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Nguyen Minh Quang and dismissed two of his deputies over their handling of the waste spill and its aftermath, state media reported on April 22.
Vo Kim Cu, former party chief secretary of Ha Tinh province has also been dismissed for the posts he no longer held. He is expected to be expelled out of the country’s legislative body National Assembly.
——————–
Authorities in Nghe An Ask Local Diocese not to Allow Priest Nguyen Duy Tan to Hold Vigils
Defend the Defenders: Authorities in the central province of Nghe An have sent a letter to the Vinh Diocese to ask the local Catholic church not to allow priest Nguyen Duy Tan to hold vigils for local followers.
Priest Tan has criticized the ruling Communist Party and its government, encouraging local Catholic followers to participate in demonstrations which have caused “social disorder” and calling for not respecting the party’s leadership in the country, the letter read.
The move came after priest Tan and thousands of followers in Phu Yen parish held a peaceful demonstration on April 24 to protest the Quynh Luu district police for beating two followers and robbing their t-shirts, which showed “No-Formosa” slogans.
In the evening of the next day, Father Tan held talks with local followers after a vigil about the situation in the country, in which he blamed the government for bad economic management and polluted environment.
Priest Dang Huu Nam from the Vinh Diocese said priest Tan has not violated the law as he discussed the country’s situations with followers. The request to deny him the right to hold vigils interferes with the internal affairs of the church, he noted.
Nghệ An cấm linh mục Nguyễn Duy Tân giảng lễ, đề nghị giáo phận kỷ niệm 30/04
===== April 25 =====
Vietnam Court Offers Apology for Wrongly-sentenced Han Duc Long
Defend the Defenders: On April 25, Vietnam’s Supreme People’s Court held a meeting in the northern province of Bac Giang to offer a public apology to local resident Han Duc Long, who was wrongly sentenced in a murder case and spent eleven years in prison before being released, state media has reported.
The event was held in the communal building of Phuc Son commune, Yen The district. Tran Van Tuan, deputy head of the High People’s Court in Hanoi delivered the apology statement.
On December 20, 2016, the People’s Procuracy of Bac Giang province issued a decision to cease investigations into the case of defendant Long on charges of murder and rape of a local girl named Nguyen Thi Yen, as well as to suspend his temporary detention.
According to the decision, Mr. Long was not guilty and he was wrongfully sentenced to 11 years in prison. Long had been arrested on October 18, 2005. He was released in the afternoon of December 20, 2016.
During the event, relatives of the victim attacked Mr. Tuan with their footwear, interrupted his reading of the court’s statement of apology, and asked for further investigation into the murder and to bring those responsible to justice.
Mr. Long is among the many victims of miscarriage of justice in Vietnam. Others include, for instance, Nguyen Thanh Chan in Bac Giang, Luong Ngoc Phi in Thai Binh, and Huynh Van Nen, who all spent years in prison for severe crimes before being proved innocent.
Mr. Chan and Mr. Phi received compensation of respectively VND 7.2 billion ($313,000) and VND 167 billion.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance has approved to pay Mr. Nen VND10 billion in compensation.
The compensation comes from the state budget, and is not paid by state officials who were responsible for the wrong sentencing.
Miscarriage of justice has grabbed headlines in Vietnam over the past years.
Most recent data released mid-2015 by Vietnam’s top legislative body, the National Assembly, showed that at least 71 people were wrongfully charged or convicted in the country from October 2011 to September 2014. Most of the cases were related to murder, robbery and child rape.
Investigators have dropped 31 of the cases after finding that the suspects were innocent. In 12 other cases, they failed to find evidence to support the charges within the legally required time frame. Prosecutors dropped nine cases themselves and appeals courts overturned criminal verdicts against 19 persons.
===== April 26 =====
Justice Ministry Affirms People’s Rights to Use Hidden Recording Devices
Defend the Defenders: A draft decree prepared by Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS) does not ban people from recording or filming with hidden devices but deals with the sales of these devices, said the Ministry of Justice (MOJ).
At a press conference held in Hanoi on April 26, Le Dai Hai, deputy head of the Civil and Economic Law Department under the MOJ, said his department had been assigned to give its opinion on the draft decree developed by the MPS.
The draft decree aims to address the sale of such devices but not their use, he said, adding that the draft decree had been sent to the Ministry for the third time.
Mr. Hai said the decree would elaborate on the Investment Law and only regulate who would be eligible for selling the devices.
The decree does not regulate who will be eligible for using hidden recording and filming devices and every citizen can engage in any action which is not banned by the law, Hai was quoted as saying by the Voice of Vietnam radio.
The Ministry of Justice will prepare a report about the draft decree, seeing the decree as a tool to regulate the sale of hidden devices but not their use by people. Only the army and police are eligible to sell hidden devices for recording and filming, according to the draft decree.
In its latest move, the Ministry of Public Security removed the controversial regulations on using hidden recording and filming devices from the draft decree, announced Major General Tran The Quan, Deputy Head of the Ministry’s Department of Legal and Administrative Reform.
Earlier this month, the draft decree became a hot topic in Vietnam as most people interpreted it as meaning that journalists and civilians could not use filming equipment under the guise of tools such as pencils and lighters.
Many bloggers and citizen journalists, who provide the only independently reported information in Vietnam, where the media is controlled by the ruling Communist Party, believe that the bill will prevent them from covering events and writing about abuses committed by authorities and infringements upon people’s rights.
Vietnam is listed by Reporters Without Borders as one of the biggest enemies of the Internet. The Paris-based organization ranked the Communist country 175th out of 180 countries in its 2017 World Press Freedom Index.
===== April 27 =====
Vietnam Is World’s Second Largest Prison for Journalist: RSF
Defend the Defenders: Vietnam is the world’s second largest prison for journalists, after China, said the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontières, or RSF) in its 2017 World Press Freedom Index.
According to the RSF’s Index released this week, Vietnam remains 175th out of 180 countries, a position that is unchanged from last year.
Benjamin Ismail, head of Asia-Pacific Desk of RSF, said Vietnam’s government has brutally suppressed bloggers and netizens who have shared information on social networks about the environmental disaster caused by the Taiwanese Formosa steel plant in the central coastal region.
Meanwhile, the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said Vietnam is imprisoning at least eight bloggers, including prominent blogger and entrepreneur Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, prominent human rights activist Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, and well-known blogger Nguyen Huu Vinh (also known as Anh Ba Sam). Vietnam is the world’s sixth biggest prison for journalists, CPJ said.
===== April 28 =====
Vietnam: Blogger “Mother Mushroom” Spends 200th Day in Detention
Civil Rights Defenders: Vietnamese blogger Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh was arrested and detained on 10 October 2016 for allegedly conducting “Anti-state propaganda”. 200 days have passed and she continues to be denied any contact with her family and lawyer.
Popularly known under her pen name Me Nam (“Mother Mushroom”), Ms. Quynh has been for more than a decade using social media to speak out against the Vietnamese government’s human rights violations, power abuses and socio-economic issues such as corruption. Her latest detention came after reporting on the environmental disaster caused by the Formosa steel plant, which in April 2016 discharged a huge amount of toxic waste into Vietnam’s coastal waters, and posting a report highlighting civilian deaths in police custody.
Me Nam, who is a founding member of the independent group Vietnamese Bloggers’ Network, has since October 2016 been detained incommunicado.
”Me Nam’s ongoing incommunicado detention exposes her to a high risk of torture and ill-treatment, and constitutes such treatment in itself. She has still not been allowed to see her family, including two young children, and a lawyer, which clearly violates her right to a fair trial and due process of law”, says John Stauffer, Legal Director at Civil Rights Defenders.
A wave of politically motivated arrests
Her detention came amid the Vietnamese government’s intensified repression against the country’s growing civil society. Dozens of bloggers and human rights defenders have been detained on politically motivated and other trumped-up charges under various national security provisions of Vietnam’s Penal Code, including Article 88, which carries a maximum of 20 years’ imprisonment.
”The Vietnamese authorities should immediately and unconditionally release blogger Me Nam and all others who are detained solely for the legitimate exercise of their rights”, says John Stauffer.
In 2015, Civil Rights Defenders awarded Me Nam the Civil Rights Defender of the Year Award for her dedication to speaking out against human rights violations and exposing corruption. In March 2017, she was awarded one of the U.S State Department International Women of Courage Awards.
——————–
Vietnamese Civil Society Groups Seek Signatures for Petition on Land Reforms
Defend the Defenders: Dozens of independent civil society groups, including Defend the Defenders, and hundreds of activists have signed a petition requesting the Vietnamese government to “urgently reform its land policy.”
The petition formulates two major demands for the country’s legislative body, the National Assembly, as well as the government and the Communist Party of Vietnam: (i) “recognize and protect the private ownership of land and houses”; and (ii) “make compensation in accordance with the value” when local authorities seize land from the people to make way for construction projects or other investment.
The petitioners also demand that whenever a dispute arises in a land grabbing case that cannot be settled bilaterally, there must be an independent verification process and disputes must be settled by the court.
They also ask both Vietnamese and foreign real estate developers to reach agreements with local people residing on or using the land before implementing their for-profit projects.
Another key point of the petition is a request to “ban the armed forces from partaking in land eviction” and to “strictly handle officials violating land policy.”
This petition was initiated only a few days after the land dispute standoff in Dong Tam commune in the outskirts of Hanoi ended.
All land in Vietnam belongs to the state and citizens have only the right to use it. Authorities can seize land for socio-economic development or simply allocate it to property and industrial developers without paying adequate compensation for its users.
===== April 29 =====
Hoa Hao Buddhist Follower in An Giang under Constant Harassment
Defend the Defenders: Hoa Hao Buddhist follower Vuong Van Tha and his family from Vinh Hau commune, An Phu district, An Giang province has been under constant harassment by thugs and local residents for weeks, according to local social networks.
The attackers, who are believed to have received support from the local authorities, have thrown stones and bricks to his private residence where his old mother as well as children and grandchildren live.
Dozens of thugs have been stationed near his house and have disturbed his family for whole days, netizens said.
State media reported that some of his neighbors attacked his house by throwing eggs at it.
Mr. Tha was said to have set up a branch of the Hoa Hao sect, which is independent from the state. He has conducted numerous live streams on Facebook to allegedly defame Ho Chi Minh, the Communist leader and founder of modern Vietnam, as well as to call for overthrowing the Communist government.
===== April 30 =====
USCIRF Urges U.S. Government to Put Vietnam on CPC List
Defend the Defenders: The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has recommended that the U.S. Department of State again designate Vietnam, together with 16 other countries as “country of particular concern” (or CPC) for its severe religious freedom violations, according to USCIRF Release 2017 Annual Report.
The recommendation was made as the USCIRF found that there is a “disconnect” between the Vietnamese government’s “overtures to improve religious freedom conditions” and “ongoing actions taken by local officials, public security, and organized thugs to threaten and physically harm religious followers and their houses of worship or other religious property”.
The report said that “the Vietnamese government either directs or allows harassment and discrimination against unregistered, independent religious organizations, particularly those that also advocate for human rights and/or religious freedom.”
Many individuals and groups are targeted by the Vietnamese government because of their faith, ethnicity, advocacy for democracy, human rights or religious freedom, or desire to remain independent of the government’s control, USCIRF reported, citing the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), independent Cao Dai, Hoa Hao and Khmer-Krom Buddhists, Montagnards, Hmong, Falun Gong practitioners, and followers of the Duong Van Minh sect.
USCIRF expressed concern for the plight of several detained religious figures, including UBCV Patriarch Thich Quang Do, Christian human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai, Khmer Krom Buddhist Venerable Thach Thuol, and Lutheran Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh.
Not only religious organizations but also lawyers, bloggers, activists and civil society are the target of repression, said the report. USCIRF observed that “in general, the Vietnamese government continues to crack down on anyone challenging its authority”.
While acknowledging positive new language in Vietnam’s new Law on Belief and Religion, USCIRF cited serious concerns raised by critics of the law.
In its report, USCIRF suggested it could consider moving Vietnam to its Tier 2 list (an improvement on CPC designation) if the government implements the new law “in a manner that ensures the rights of religious organizations and religious believers”.
Russia, Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan (already on the CPC list), as well as the Central African Republic, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia and Syria are the other countries recommended to be designated as CPCs by the USCRIF this year.
The U.S. State Department designated Vietnam as a CPC in 2004 and 2005, but removed it in 2006. In a 2016 report marking the ten-year anniversary of Vietnam’s removal from the CPC list, USCIRF regretted that the U.S. had lifted the designation too soon, resulting in backsliding and continuing abuses of freedom of religion or belief by the Vietnamese authorities.
Created under the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act, USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan government advisory body that monitors religious freedom worldwide and makes policy recommendations to the U.S. President, Secretary of State, and Congress. Under the International Religious Freedom Act, the U.S. may impose a series of measures, ranging from travel restrictions to economic sanctions, on countries designated as CPCs.
USCIRF Releases 2017 Annual Report
VIETNAM: USCIRF Assesses State Department’s CPC Removal
——————–
Vietnamese Activists Continue to Hold Peaceful Demonstrations to Protest Formosa
Defend the Defenders: Vietnamese activists have continued to hold peaceful demonstrations in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to protest the Taiwanese Formosa Group, which is responsible for last year’s environmental disaster in the central coastal region.
In Hanoi, a group of environmentalists led by Nguyen Thuy Hanh and Truong Dung held demonstrations in many places on April 30, including in front of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. They hung banners demanding Formosa to cease its operations and leave Vietnam.
During the protest on Khuat Duy Tien street, activist Truong Dung was attacked by an unidentified man who is likely a plainclothes agent.
Another group led by bloggers Trinh Dinh Hoa and Le Van Phong wore t-shirts indicating “No-Formosa” and cycled around Ho Tay Lake during Sunday morning.
In Ho Chi Minh City, many activists, led by teacher Nguyen Thi Loan, held a demonstration in a local botanical park Thao Cam Vien on Sunday.
Meanwhile, authorities in HCM City have continued to maintain close surveillance over local dissidents, effectively placing them under de facto house arrest during the weekend.
Among the victims of state persecution are Dr. Nguyen Dan Que and Dinh Duc Long.
The move was part of a bid to prevent them from participating in peaceful demonstrations to mark the loss of Saigon to the Communist soldiers 42 years ago, the victims suggested.
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May 1, 2017
Vietnam Human Rights Defenders Weekly April 24-30: USCIRF Urges Trump Administration to Designate Vietnam as CPC Due to Its Ongoing Religious Freedom Violations
by Nhan Quyen • DEFENDER’S WEEKLY
Defend the Defenders | April 30, 2017
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has recommended that the U.S. Department of State again designate Vietnam, together with 16 other countries as “country of particular concern” (or CPC) due to its severe religious freedom violations, according to USCIRF’s 2017 Annual Report.
The recommendation was made as the USCIRF found that there is a “disconnect” between the Vietnamese government’s “overtures to improve religious freedom conditions” and “ongoing actions taken by local officials, public security, and organized thugs to threaten and physically harm religious followers and their houses of worship or other religious property”.
In its 2017 World Press Freedom Index released this week, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said Vietnam is the world’s second largest prison for journalists. According to the Paris-based organization, Vietnam remains ranked 175th out of 180 countries in its press freedom index this year, a position that is unchanged from last year.
Meanwhile, the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said Vietnam is the world’s sixth biggest prison for journalists. It is holding at least eight bloggers, including prominent blogger and entrepreneur Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, prominent human rights activist Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, and well-known blogger Nguyen Huu Vinh (also known as Anh Ba Sam).
Vietnam’s authorities are likely to have extended the pre-trial detention of prominent human rights attorney Nguyen Van Dai and his assistant Ms. Le Thu Ha for another two months, raising the total investigation period to 18 months. The duo was arrested on December 16, 2015 and charged with conducting “anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the country’s Penal Code.
Meanwhile, Vietnam’s authorities continue to hold prominent human rights defender and environmentalist Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh. She has been detained incommunicado since her arrest on October 10, 2016. Quynh, who is charged with “anti-state propaganda” under Article 88, continues to be denied any contact with her family and lawyer.
Dozens of independent civil society groups, including Defend the Defenders, and hundreds of activists have signed a petition requesting the Vietnamese government to “urgently reform its land policy.” The petition formulates two major demands for the country’s legislative body, the National Assembly, as well as the government and the Communist Party of Vietnam: (i) “recognize and protect the private ownership of land and houses”; and (ii) “make compensation in accordance with the value” when local authorities seize land from the people to make way for construction projects or other investment.
The Ministry of Public Security removed the controversial regulations on using hidden devices for recording and filming from a draft decree. The Ministry planned to use the decree to ban journalists and citizens from using hidden recording and filming devices, alleging only police and military forces were eligible for using filming equipment under the guise of tools such as pencils and lighters.
And many other news
===== April 24 =====
Vietnam Likely to Have Extended Investigation into Human Rights Lawyer Nguyen Van Dai by Two Months
Defend the Defenders: Vietnam’s authorities are likely to have extended the investigation period into human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai by two months, bringing the total pre-trial detention period against the prominent dissident to 18 months, said his lawyer Ha Huy Son.
Mr. Dai, who was arrested on December 16, 2015, is charged with conducting “anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the country’s Penal Code. He will face imprisonment of up to 20 years if convicted, according to the current Vietnamese law.
In its letter sent to Mr. Son dated on April 21, 2017, the Supreme People’s Procuracy said it will allow him to be involved in the case after the investigation is completed, but not now.
If confirmed, this will be the fourth extension of Mr. Dai’s pre-trial detention. The previous extensions were for four months each.
Two months earlier, in its notice sent to Son, the same agency said the investigation period would be extended until April 17, 2017.
According to Vietnam’s Code of Criminal Procedure, Dai’s lawyers will be allowed to meet with him to prepare his defense after the police agency completes its investigation, the Supreme People’s Procuracy said.
Mr. Dai, founder of the Vietnam Human Rights Center and of the Brotherhood for Democracy, was arrested together with his assistant Ms. Le Thu Ha on allegations of conducting “anti-state propaganda.”
Mr. Dai has been held incommunicado as he has not been allowed to meet with his lawyer and relatives. His wife was permitted to meet him twice since late 2015.
The arrest of Dai has been met with strong condemnation worldwide. The U.S., the EU and other countries, as well as many international and domestic human rights organizations, have urged Vietnam to release Mr. Dai and Ms. Ha immediately and unconditionally, saying the two activists only exercised their right to freedom of expression, which is enshrined in Vietnam’s 2013 Constitution and in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Vietnam is a state party.
In order to keep the country under a one-party regime, the Vietnamese Communist government has used many controversial articles such as Articles 79, 88 and 258 of the Penal Code to silence local political dissidents, social activists and human rights defenders.
Many human rights defenders and pro-democracy activists, including prominent blogger Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh and land rights activist Tran Thi Nga, have been held incommunicado for months.
According to Human Rights Watch, Vietnam holds around 130 political prisoners, while Amnesty International said the Southeast Asian nation detains around 90 prisoners of conscience.
Hanoi has consistently rejected holding any prisoners of conscience, saying it only detains persons who have violated the law.
———————
Vietnamese Protesters Surround Police Station, Demand Apology for Beatings, Stolen Shirts
Radio Free Asia: On April 24, nearly a thousand protesters surrounded the police station of Quynh Luu district in Vietnam’s central province of Nghe An to demand an apology from police for their confiscation of 200 T-shirts and beating of the two men who transported the shirts.
The shirts, which police promised later in the day to return, bore the slogan No-Formosa in a reference to the Taiwan-owned Formosa Plastics Group, whose steel plant in coastal Ha Tinh province caused a toxic waste spill last year that killed an estimated 115 tons of fish and left fishermen jobless in four coastal provinces.
Outraged by police mistreatment of those transporting the shirts, Quynh Luu residents including many Catholics gathered outside the district police headquarters on the same day to demand the shirts’ return, parish priest Dan Huu Nam told RFA’s Vietnamese Service.
Due to the protest, the local police agreed to return the shirts and apologize for their beating.
“We and the police have agreed on a solution. They have to apologize for their behavior and must return the shirts to Song Ngoc Church so that we can give them back to the people,” priest Nam said.
“I told the authorities in front of everyone that if they don’t resolve this situation properly, we will continue to peacefully protest to demand our rights,” he said, adding, “The authorities have promised to make a statement in written form.”
The protest ended without clashes, and by 6:00 p.m. all protesters had returned to their homes, sources said.
The Formosa Company has voluntarily paid $500 million to clean up and compensate coastal residents affected by the April 2016 spill, but slow and uneven payout of the funds by the Vietnamese government has prompted protests that continue to be held a year later.
Vietnam’s government has meanwhile rebuked former Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Nguyen Minh Quang and dismissed two of his deputies over their handling of the waste spill and its aftermath, state media reported on April 22.
Vo Kim Cu, former party chief secretary of Ha Tinh province has also been dismissed for the posts he no longer held. He is expected to be expelled out of the country’s legislative body National Assembly.
——————–
Authorities in Nghe An Ask Local Diocese not to Allow Priest Nguyen Duy Tan to Hold Vigils
Defend the Defenders: Authorities in the central province of Nghe An have sent a letter to the Vinh Diocese to ask the local Catholic church not to allow priest Nguyen Duy Tan to hold vigils for local followers.
Priest Tan has criticized the ruling Communist Party and its government, encouraging local Catholic followers to participate in demonstrations which have caused “social disorder” and calling for not respecting the party’s leadership in the country, the letter read.
The move came after priest Tan and thousands of followers in Phu Yen parish held a peaceful demonstration on April 24 to protest the Quynh Luu district police for beating two followers and robbing their t-shirts, which showed “No-Formosa” slogans.
In the evening of the next day, Father Tan held talks with local followers after a vigil about the situation in the country, in which he blamed the government for bad economic management and polluted environment.
Priest Dang Huu Nam from the Vinh Diocese said priest Tan has not violated the law as he discussed the country’s situations with followers. The request to deny him the right to hold vigils interferes with the internal affairs of the church, he noted.
Nghệ An cấm linh mục Nguyễn Duy Tân giảng lễ, đề nghị giáo phận kỷ niệm 30/04
===== April 25 =====
Vietnam Court Offers Apology for Wrongly-sentenced Han Duc Long
Defend the Defenders: On April 25, Vietnam’s Supreme People’s Court held a meeting in the northern province of Bac Giang to offer a public apology to local resident Han Duc Long, who was wrongly sentenced in a murder case and spent eleven years in prison before being released, state media has reported.
The event was held in the communal building of Phuc Son commune, Yen The district. Tran Van Tuan, deputy head of the High People’s Court in Hanoi delivered the apology statement.
On December 20, 2016, the People’s Procuracy of Bac Giang province issued a decision to cease investigations into the case of defendant Long on charges of murder and rape of a local girl named Nguyen Thi Yen, as well as to suspend his temporary detention.
According to the decision, Mr. Long was not guilty and he was wrongfully sentenced to 11 years in prison. Long had been arrested on October 18, 2005. He was released in the afternoon of December 20, 2016.
During the event, relatives of the victim attacked Mr. Tuan with their footwear, interrupted his reading of the court’s statement of apology, and asked for further investigation into the murder and to bring those responsible to justice.
Mr. Long is among the many victims of miscarriage of justice in Vietnam. Others include, for instance, Nguyen Thanh Chan in Bac Giang, Luong Ngoc Phi in Thai Binh, and Huynh Van Nen, who all spent years in prison for severe crimes before being proved innocent.
Mr. Chan and Mr. Phi received compensation of respectively VND 7.2 billion ($313,000) and VND 167 billion.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance has approved to pay Mr. Nen VND10 billion in compensation.
The compensation comes from the state budget, and is not paid by state officials who were responsible for the wrong sentencing.
Miscarriage of justice has grabbed headlines in Vietnam over the past years.
Most recent data released mid-2015 by Vietnam’s top legislative body, the National Assembly, showed that at least 71 people were wrongfully charged or convicted in the country from October 2011 to September 2014. Most of the cases were related to murder, robbery and child rape.
Investigators have dropped 31 of the cases after finding that the suspects were innocent. In 12 other cases, they failed to find evidence to support the charges within the legally required time frame. Prosecutors dropped nine cases themselves and appeals courts overturned criminal verdicts against 19 persons.
===== April 26 =====
Justice Ministry Affirms People’s Rights to Use Hidden Recording Devices
Defend the Defenders: A draft decree prepared by Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS) does not ban people from recording or filming with hidden devices but deals with the sales of these devices, said the Ministry of Justice (MOJ).
At a press conference held in Hanoi on April 26, Le Dai Hai, deputy head of the Civil and Economic Law Department under the MOJ, said his department had been assigned to give its opinion on the draft decree developed by the MPS.
The draft decree aims to address the sale of such devices but not their use, he said, adding that the draft decree had been sent to the Ministry for the third time.
Mr. Hai said the decree would elaborate on the Investment Law and only regulate who would be eligible for selling the devices.
The decree does not regulate who will be eligible for using hidden recording and filming devices and every citizen can engage in any action which is not banned by the law, Hai was quoted as saying by the Voice of Vietnam radio.
The Ministry of Justice will prepare a report about the draft decree, seeing the decree as a tool to regulate the sale of hidden devices but not their use by people. Only the army and police are eligible to sell hidden devices for recording and filming, according to the draft decree.
In its latest move, the Ministry of Public Security removed the controversial regulations on using hidden recording and filming devices from the draft decree, announced Major General Tran The Quan, Deputy Head of the Ministry’s Department of Legal and Administrative Reform.
Earlier this month, the draft decree became a hot topic in Vietnam as most people interpreted it as meaning that journalists and civilians could not use filming equipment under the guise of tools such as pencils and lighters.
Many bloggers and citizen journalists, who provide the only independently reported information in Vietnam, where the media is controlled by the ruling Communist Party, believe that the bill will prevent them from covering events and writing about abuses committed by authorities and infringements upon people’s rights.
Vietnam is listed by Reporters Without Borders as one of the biggest enemies of the Internet. The Paris-based organization ranked the Communist country 175th out of 180 countries in its 2017 World Press Freedom Index.
===== April 27 =====
Vietnam Is World’s Second Largest Prison for Journalist: RSF
Defend the Defenders: Vietnam is the world’s second largest prison for journalists, after China, said the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontières, or RSF) in its 2017 World Press Freedom Index.
According to the RSF’s Index released this week, Vietnam remains 175th out of 180 countries, a position that is unchanged from last year.
Benjamin Ismail, head of Asia-Pacific Desk of RSF, said Vietnam’s government has brutally suppressed bloggers and netizens who have shared information on social networks about the environmental disaster caused by the Taiwanese Formosa steel plant in the central coastal region.
Meanwhile, the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said Vietnam is imprisoning at least eight bloggers, including prominent blogger and entrepreneur Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, prominent human rights activist Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, and well-known blogger Nguyen Huu Vinh (also known as Anh Ba Sam). Vietnam is the world’s sixth biggest prison for journalists, CPJ said.
===== April 28 =====
Vietnam: Blogger “Mother Mushroom” Spends 200th Day in Detention
Civil Rights Defenders: Vietnamese blogger Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh was arrested and detained on 10 October 2016 for allegedly conducting “Anti-state propaganda”. 200 days have passed and she continues to be denied any contact with her family and lawyer.
Popularly known under her pen name Me Nam (“Mother Mushroom”), Ms. Quynh has been for more than a decade using social media to speak out against the Vietnamese government’s human rights violations, power abuses and socio-economic issues such as corruption. Her latest detention came after reporting on the environmental disaster caused by the Formosa steel plant, which in April 2016 discharged a huge amount of toxic waste into Vietnam’s coastal waters, and posting a report highlighting civilian deaths in police custody.
Me Nam, who is a founding member of the independent group Vietnamese Bloggers’ Network, has since October 2016 been detained incommunicado.
”Me Nam’s ongoing incommunicado detention exposes her to a high risk of torture and ill-treatment, and constitutes such treatment in itself. She has still not been allowed to see her family, including two young children, and a lawyer, which clearly violates her right to a fair trial and due process of law”, says John Stauffer, Legal Director at Civil Rights Defenders.
A wave of politically motivated arrests
Her detention came amid the Vietnamese government’s intensified repression against the country’s growing civil society. Dozens of bloggers and human rights defenders have been detained on politically motivated and other trumped-up charges under various national security provisions of Vietnam’s Penal Code, including Article 88, which carries a maximum of 20 years’ imprisonment.
”The Vietnamese authorities should immediately and unconditionally release blogger Me Nam and all others who are detained solely for the legitimate exercise of their rights”, says John Stauffer.
In 2015, Civil Rights Defenders awarded Me Nam the Civil Rights Defender of the Year Award for her dedication to speaking out against human rights violations and exposing corruption. In March 2017, she was awarded one of the U.S State Department International Women of Courage Awards.
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Vietnamese Civil Society Groups Seek Signatures for Petition on Land Reforms
Defend the Defenders: Dozens of independent civil society groups, including Defend the Defenders, and hundreds of activists have signed a petition requesting the Vietnamese government to “urgently reform its land policy.”
The petition formulates two major demands for the country’s legislative body, the National Assembly, as well as the government and the Communist Party of Vietnam: (i) “recognize and protect the private ownership of land and houses”; and (ii) “make compensation in accordance with the value” when local authorities seize land from the people to make way for construction projects or other investment.
The petitioners also demand that whenever a dispute arises in a land grabbing case that cannot be settled bilaterally, there must be an independent verification process and disputes must be settled by the court.
They also ask both Vietnamese and foreign real estate developers to reach agreements with local people residing on or using the land before implementing their for-profit projects.
Another key point of the petition is a request to “ban the armed forces from partaking in land eviction” and to “strictly handle officials violating land policy.”
This petition was initiated only a few days after the land dispute standoff in Dong Tam commune in the outskirts of Hanoi ended.
All land in Vietnam belongs to the state and citizens have only the right to use it. Authorities can seize land for socio-economic development or simply allocate it to property and industrial developers without paying adequate compensation for its users.
===== April 29 =====
Hoa Hao Buddhist Follower in An Giang under Constant Harassment
Defend the Defenders: Hoa Hao Buddhist follower Vuong Van Tha and his family from Vinh Hau commune, An Phu district, An Giang province has been under constant harassment by thugs and local residents for weeks, according to local social networks.
The attackers, who are believed to have received support from the local authorities, have thrown stones and bricks to his private residence where his old mother as well as children and grandchildren live.
Dozens of thugs have been stationed near his house and have disturbed his family for whole days, netizens said.
State media reported that some of his neighbors attacked his house by throwing eggs at it.
Mr. Tha was said to have set up a branch of the Hoa Hao sect, which is independent from the state. He has conducted numerous live streams on Facebook to allegedly defame Ho Chi Minh, the Communist leader and founder of modern Vietnam, as well as to call for overthrowing the Communist government.
===== April 30 =====
USCIRF Urges U.S. Government to Put Vietnam on CPC List
Defend the Defenders: The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has recommended that the U.S. Department of State again designate Vietnam, together with 16 other countries as “country of particular concern” (or CPC) for its severe religious freedom violations, according to USCIRF Release 2017 Annual Report.
The recommendation was made as the USCIRF found that there is a “disconnect” between the Vietnamese government’s “overtures to improve religious freedom conditions” and “ongoing actions taken by local officials, public security, and organized thugs to threaten and physically harm religious followers and their houses of worship or other religious property”.
The report said that “the Vietnamese government either directs or allows harassment and discrimination against unregistered, independent religious organizations, particularly those that also advocate for human rights and/or religious freedom.”
Many individuals and groups are targeted by the Vietnamese government because of their faith, ethnicity, advocacy for democracy, human rights or religious freedom, or desire to remain independent of the government’s control, USCIRF reported, citing the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), independent Cao Dai, Hoa Hao and Khmer-Krom Buddhists, Montagnards, Hmong, Falun Gong practitioners, and followers of the Duong Van Minh sect.
USCIRF expressed concern for the plight of several detained religious figures, including UBCV Patriarch Thich Quang Do, Christian human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai, Khmer Krom Buddhist Venerable Thach Thuol, and Lutheran Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh.
Not only religious organizations but also lawyers, bloggers, activists and civil society are the target of repression, said the report. USCIRF observed that “in general, the Vietnamese government continues to crack down on anyone challenging its authority”.
While acknowledging positive new language in Vietnam’s new Law on Belief and Religion, USCIRF cited serious concerns raised by critics of the law.
In its report, USCIRF suggested it could consider moving Vietnam to its Tier 2 list (an improvement on CPC designation) if the government implements the new law “in a manner that ensures the rights of religious organizations and religious believers”.
Russia, Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan (already on the CPC list), as well as the Central African Republic, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia and Syria are the other countries recommended to be designated as CPCs by the USCRIF this year.
The U.S. State Department designated Vietnam as a CPC in 2004 and 2005, but removed it in 2006. In a 2016 report marking the ten-year anniversary of Vietnam’s removal from the CPC list, USCIRF regretted that the U.S. had lifted the designation too soon, resulting in backsliding and continuing abuses of freedom of religion or belief by the Vietnamese authorities.
Created under the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act, USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan government advisory body that monitors religious freedom worldwide and makes policy recommendations to the U.S. President, Secretary of State, and Congress. Under the International Religious Freedom Act, the U.S. may impose a series of measures, ranging from travel restrictions to economic sanctions, on countries designated as CPCs.
USCIRF Releases 2017 Annual Report
VIETNAM: USCIRF Assesses State Department’s CPC Removal
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Vietnamese Activists Continue to Hold Peaceful Demonstrations to Protest Formosa
Defend the Defenders: Vietnamese activists have continued to hold peaceful demonstrations in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to protest the Taiwanese Formosa Group, which is responsible for last year’s environmental disaster in the central coastal region.
In Hanoi, a group of environmentalists led by Nguyen Thuy Hanh and Truong Dung held demonstrations in many places on April 30, including in front of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. They hung banners demanding Formosa to cease its operations and leave Vietnam.
During the protest on Khuat Duy Tien street, activist Truong Dung was attacked by an unidentified man who is likely a plainclothes agent.
Another group led by bloggers Trinh Dinh Hoa and Le Van Phong wore t-shirts indicating “No-Formosa” and cycled around Ho Tay Lake during Sunday morning.
In Ho Chi Minh City, many activists, led by teacher Nguyen Thi Loan, held a demonstration in a local botanical park Thao Cam Vien on Sunday.
Meanwhile, authorities in HCM City have continued to maintain close surveillance over local dissidents, effectively placing them under de facto house arrest during the weekend.
Among the victims of state persecution are Dr. Nguyen Dan Que and Dinh Duc Long.
The move was part of a bid to prevent them from participating in peaceful demonstrations to mark the loss of Saigon to the Communist soldiers 42 years ago, the victims suggested.