Vietnam: Nguyen Dang Vu arbitrarily arrested and beaten by the police

Front Line Defenders, June 13, 2017

On 8 June 2017, human rights defender, Nguyen Dang Vu, was arbitrarily arrested by police officers in Buon Ma Thuot city, Dak Lak province, and taken to the Tan Lap police station, where they beat him and detained him for 31 hours. The police confiscated his belongings, including his cell phone, before taking him to a bus and forcing him to go back to Ho Chi Minh City the following night. Nguyen Dang Vu reported that he was not supplied with food during the time he was kept in police custody.

Nguyen Dang Vu is a human rights defender who regularly posts articles on Facebook denouncing human rights violations by the Vietnamese authorities and calling for multi-party democracy in the country. He also advocates for the rights of the poorest and against child abuse. Nguyen Dang Vu took part in several peaceful demonstrations on environmental rights. He was arrested while protesting in Ho Chi Minh City against the consequences of the Formosa spill disaster in April 2016, and was also beaten by thugs twice in 2016, in attacks considered to be linked to his activism.

On 8 June 2017, in the afternoon, Nguyen Dang Vu was arriving in Buon Ma Thuot, in Vietnam’s Central Highlands province of Dak Lak to meet with local activists when plainclothes police officers arrested him and brought him to the police station in Tan Lap district. There, he was kept in detention for more than 30 hours, without any food, and repeatedly beaten in the stomach, resulting in injuries. His belongings and cell phone were confiscated. He was then forced to take the bus back to Ho Chi Minh City on the evening of 9 June 2017.

Front Line Defenders expresses concern at the arbitrary arrest and beating of Nguyen Dang Vu while in police custody, which it believes to be directly related to his peaceful and legitimate work in the defence of human rights in Vietnam.

Front Line Defenders urges the authorities in Vietnam to:

1. Immediately cease all further harassment of Nguyen Dang Vu;

2. Carry out an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation into the arbitrary arrest, beating and ill treatment of Nguyen Dang Vu, with a view to publishing the results and bringing those responsible to justice in accordance with international standards;

3. Return the defender’s belongings and cell phone which were confiscated during the arrest, as they are manifestly not linked to any criminal activity;

4. Cease targeting all human rights defenders in Vietnam and guarantee in all circumstances that they are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment.