Blogger human rights activist Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh in a courtroom on June 29, 2017
By Defend the Defenders, July 1, 2017
Many international human rights organizations and foreign governments have criticized Vietnam for sentencing human rights defender and environmental activist Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh or Mother Mushroom, demanding for her immediate and unconditional release.
One day after the People’s Court of Khanh Hoa gave Ms. Quynh with ten-year imprisonment, UN human rights experts including special rapporteurs on human rights related to the environment, freedom of opinion and expression, the situation of human rights defenders, hazardous wastes, and arbitrary detention said the trial did not meet international standards and appeared to be aimed at intimidating environmental activists.
In their statement released in Geneva, the experts said “This was little short of a show trial, designed to intimidate other environmental activists,” and “The trial did not meet international standards. She has been denied her fundamental right to due process.”
Vietnam’s government is increasingly targeting bloggers and organizers of peaceful protests to prevent wider civic and environmental activism, they said.
Ms. Quynh “has done no more than promote human rights through social media, and protect the environment from harm. In no country, including Vietnam, should this be regarded as a crime,” they said.
It is worth to note that last month, the UN Working Group on Arbitration Detention found that Quynh’s detention was arbitrary and urged her release.
On the same day, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Vietnam Ambassador Bruno Angelet released a message saying her sentence directly contradicts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Vietnam is a party, in which the freedoms of opinion and expression are enshrined as fundamental rights of every human being, indispensable for individual dignity and fulfillment, as well as Article 25 of the Vietnamese 2013 Constitution.
The fact that her lawyer was allowed to meet her to prepare her defense only a few days ago calls into question the due process to which every Vietnamese is entitled under the law, the ambassador said in the statement posted on the delegation’s website.
He also said that the decision by the Vietnamese authorities not to allow representatives of the EU Delegation and those of the EU Member States’ embassies to observe the trial raises questions as to the transparency of the process.
The 28-nation bloc calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Ms. Quynh and it will continue to monitor the Human Rights Situation in Vietnam, and work with the authorities towards the improvement of the human rights situation in the country, the statement said.
Few hours after the trial ended, Spokeswoman Heather Nauert of the U.S. State Department said in a press conference in Washington DC that the U.S. government is deeply concerned about the Vietnamese course and its conviction of Mr. Quynh who was granted with the 2017 International Woman of Courage.
Ms. Nauert said that the U.S. calls on Vietnam to release Mother Mushroom and all other prisoners of conscience immediately and to allow all individuals in Vietnam to express their views freely and assemble peacefully without fear of retribution.
There are some positive steps on human rights in Vietnam over the past few years. However, the trend of increased arrests and convictions of peaceful protests since early 2016 is deeply troubling, Nauert said, adding progress on human rights will allow the U.S.-Vietnam partnership to reach its fullest potential.
On Friday, German Human Rights Commissioner Bärbel Kofler said she is shocked with the sentences given to Ms. Quynh. The apparently politically driven verdict violates human rights principles and violates international commitments in the area of civil and political rights.
The sentence proved that the Vietnamese government does not use the potential of committed citizens for the further development of the country, Ms. Kofler said.
On July 1, the UK released its statement saying it is deeply concerned by the conviction of Mother Mushroom. It urges the Vietnamese authorities to immediately release Ms. Quynh and all other prisoners of conscience.
Vietnam’s continued action to criminalize the basic human rights of freedom of expression and association is out of line with its own constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the UK’s government said, adding allowing its people to freely debate issues of genuine public interest will be essential to Vietnam’s long-term sustainable economic growth.
The Ireland-based NGO Front Line Defenders said it strongly condemns the conviction of human rights defender Quynh, which it believes is solely motivated by her peaceful and legitimate work for human rights in Vietnam, and calls on the Vietnamese authorities to quash her conviction and immediately release the human rights defender.
Front Line Defenders also noted that before the trial, the security police and the anti-protest unit deployed a large number of officers in the surroundings of the People’s Court in Nha Trang as well as around the private residence of her mother Nguyen Thi Tuyet Lan. On the day of the trial, Ms. Lan was not allowed to enter the courtroom but observe the trial in an adjacent room where she watched her daughter’s trial on a television screen. No foreign delegations or diplomats were permitted in the courtroom, which was filled with plainclothes officers.
Seven activists were detained as they tried to approach the courtroom and others were kept away from the court’s areas. Many activists kept under de facto house arrest in Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City, Front Line Defenders noted.
One day ahead of the trial, the London-based NGO Amnesty International and the Stockholm-based NGO Civil Rights Defenders issued a joint statement calling on Vietnam to free her immediately and unconditionally. The New York-based organization Human Rights Watch and the Paris-based organization Reporters Without Borders also released separate statements urging Vietnam to drop all charges against her.
Hundreds of Vietnamese and many civil organizations in the country and abroad have signed a joint petition to condemn the trial and the heavy sentence that Vietnam imposed over Quynh, who won a Hellman Hammett grant from Human Rights Watch in 2010 as a writer defending free expression and the 2015 Civil Rights Defender of the Year award of Civil Rights Defenders in 2015.
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…
July 1, 2017
International Human Rights Groups, Foreign Governments Condemn Sentencing of Mother Mushroom
by Nhan Quyen • Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh (Me Nam)
Blogger human rights activist Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh in a courtroom on June 29, 2017
By Defend the Defenders, July 1, 2017
Many international human rights organizations and foreign governments have criticized Vietnam for sentencing human rights defender and environmental activist Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh or Mother Mushroom, demanding for her immediate and unconditional release.
One day after the People’s Court of Khanh Hoa gave Ms. Quynh with ten-year imprisonment, UN human rights experts including special rapporteurs on human rights related to the environment, freedom of opinion and expression, the situation of human rights defenders, hazardous wastes, and arbitrary detention said the trial did not meet international standards and appeared to be aimed at intimidating environmental activists.
In their statement released in Geneva, the experts said “This was little short of a show trial, designed to intimidate other environmental activists,” and “The trial did not meet international standards. She has been denied her fundamental right to due process.”
Vietnam’s government is increasingly targeting bloggers and organizers of peaceful protests to prevent wider civic and environmental activism, they said.
Ms. Quynh “has done no more than promote human rights through social media, and protect the environment from harm. In no country, including Vietnam, should this be regarded as a crime,” they said.
It is worth to note that last month, the UN Working Group on Arbitration Detention found that Quynh’s detention was arbitrary and urged her release.
On the same day, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Vietnam Ambassador Bruno Angelet released a message saying her sentence directly contradicts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Vietnam is a party, in which the freedoms of opinion and expression are enshrined as fundamental rights of every human being, indispensable for individual dignity and fulfillment, as well as Article 25 of the Vietnamese 2013 Constitution.
The fact that her lawyer was allowed to meet her to prepare her defense only a few days ago calls into question the due process to which every Vietnamese is entitled under the law, the ambassador said in the statement posted on the delegation’s website.
He also said that the decision by the Vietnamese authorities not to allow representatives of the EU Delegation and those of the EU Member States’ embassies to observe the trial raises questions as to the transparency of the process.
The 28-nation bloc calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Ms. Quynh and it will continue to monitor the Human Rights Situation in Vietnam, and work with the authorities towards the improvement of the human rights situation in the country, the statement said.
Few hours after the trial ended, Spokeswoman Heather Nauert of the U.S. State Department said in a press conference in Washington DC that the U.S. government is deeply concerned about the Vietnamese course and its conviction of Mr. Quynh who was granted with the 2017 International Woman of Courage.
Ms. Nauert said that the U.S. calls on Vietnam to release Mother Mushroom and all other prisoners of conscience immediately and to allow all individuals in Vietnam to express their views freely and assemble peacefully without fear of retribution.
There are some positive steps on human rights in Vietnam over the past few years. However, the trend of increased arrests and convictions of peaceful protests since early 2016 is deeply troubling, Nauert said, adding progress on human rights will allow the U.S.-Vietnam partnership to reach its fullest potential.
On Friday, German Human Rights Commissioner Bärbel Kofler said she is shocked with the sentences given to Ms. Quynh. The apparently politically driven verdict violates human rights principles and violates international commitments in the area of civil and political rights.
The sentence proved that the Vietnamese government does not use the potential of committed citizens for the further development of the country, Ms. Kofler said.
On July 1, the UK released its statement saying it is deeply concerned by the conviction of Mother Mushroom. It urges the Vietnamese authorities to immediately release Ms. Quynh and all other prisoners of conscience.
Vietnam’s continued action to criminalize the basic human rights of freedom of expression and association is out of line with its own constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the UK’s government said, adding allowing its people to freely debate issues of genuine public interest will be essential to Vietnam’s long-term sustainable economic growth.
The Ireland-based NGO Front Line Defenders said it strongly condemns the conviction of human rights defender Quynh, which it believes is solely motivated by her peaceful and legitimate work for human rights in Vietnam, and calls on the Vietnamese authorities to quash her conviction and immediately release the human rights defender.
Front Line Defenders also noted that before the trial, the security police and the anti-protest unit deployed a large number of officers in the surroundings of the People’s Court in Nha Trang as well as around the private residence of her mother Nguyen Thi Tuyet Lan. On the day of the trial, Ms. Lan was not allowed to enter the courtroom but observe the trial in an adjacent room where she watched her daughter’s trial on a television screen. No foreign delegations or diplomats were permitted in the courtroom, which was filled with plainclothes officers.
Seven activists were detained as they tried to approach the courtroom and others were kept away from the court’s areas. Many activists kept under de facto house arrest in Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City, Front Line Defenders noted.
One day ahead of the trial, the London-based NGO Amnesty International and the Stockholm-based NGO Civil Rights Defenders issued a joint statement calling on Vietnam to free her immediately and unconditionally. The New York-based organization Human Rights Watch and the Paris-based organization Reporters Without Borders also released separate statements urging Vietnam to drop all charges against her.
Hundreds of Vietnamese and many civil organizations in the country and abroad have signed a joint petition to condemn the trial and the heavy sentence that Vietnam imposed over Quynh, who won a Hellman Hammett grant from Human Rights Watch in 2010 as a writer defending free expression and the 2015 Civil Rights Defender of the Year award of Civil Rights Defenders in 2015.