Defend the Defenders | July 02, 2017
===== June 26 =====
Seminars on Torture Held in Hanoi, HCM City
Defend the Defenders: The Former Vietnam Prisoners of Conscience on June 26 held two separate meetings on torture in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, with participation of numerous activists and former prisoners of conscience.
Ms. Pamela Pontius, political officer of the U.S. General Consulate in HCM City attended the meeting in Saigon while in Hanoi, Mr. Yann Righetti, academic associate of the Embassy of Switzerland in Vietnam participated in the event.
During the two meetings, activists discussed measures to deal with increasing violence conducted by Vietnam’s security forces against local political dissidents, social activists and human rights defenders as well as independent bloggers.
Many agreed that along with taking preventive measures, activists have to report government-supported attacks to international human rights organizations as well as UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment or UN Working Groups on Arbitrary Detention.
The meetings were made amid increasing physical assaults against local activists. On June 19, Human Rights Watch released its report documenting 36 cases of assaults in which 45 Vietnamese activists were brutally beaten by police or unidentified men which were believed to be plainclothes agents in the period between January 2016 and April 2017.
In addition, hundreds of detainees were found dead in police stations and detention facilities nationwide from 2010. Police said most of their deaths were caused by suicides and illness while their families believe that police torture is the main cause.
Vietnam ratified the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in 2015 but the number of detainees died in police facilities is still high.
——————–
Hoa Hao Buddhist Followers in An Giang Detained
Defend the Defenders: At 11 AM of June 26, Hoa Hao Buddhist followers Bui Van Trung, his son Bui Van Tham and daughter Bui Thi Tham as well as his grandchildrens Tran Thanh Luan and Nguyen Ly Tinh in An Phu district, An Giang province were detained by the district police.
In afternoon of the same day, police released Bui Thi Tham, Tran Thanh Luan and Nguyen Ly Tinh. Police barred other members of the family from going out.
On June 27, An Phu district police announced that they will prosecute Mr. Trung and Mr. Tham on allegation of “causing public disorders” and “resisting on-duty state officials.
Mr. Trung has sent a letter to his family to ask for hiring lawyers for defending him and his son.
Mr. Trung and his son Tham were prisoners of conscience. Mr. Tham was arrested in July 2012 and later sentenced to 30 months in prison for “resisting on-duty state officials” while Mr. Trung was arrested in October 2012 and sentenced to four years in jail on the same charge. Their arrests were related to Mr. Trung’s establishment of the unsanctioned Hoa Hao Buddhist sect which encourages followers to study the doctrine of late Master Huynh Phu So, who found Hoa Hao Buddhist and later assassinated by communists.
The sect established by Mr. Trung is independent from the Hoa Hao Buddhist set up by the communist regime.
On June 27, An Phu district police announced that they will prosecute Mr. Trung and Mr. Tham on allegation of “causing public disorders” and “resisting on-duty state officials.
Mr. Trung has sent a letter to his family to ask for hiring lawyers for defending him and his son.
===== June 27 =====
Vietnam Blocks Catholic Priest, Sister of Labor Activist from Leaving Abroad
Defend the Defenders: On June 17, Vietnam’s security forces blocked Catholic priest Nguyen Ngoc Nam Phong and Mrs. Do Ngoc Xuan Tram, an older sister of labor activist Do Thi Minh Hanh from leaving the country, saying the two separate blockage cases were made based on national security.
Priest Joan Nguyen Ngoc Nam Phong, an outspoken priest from the Hanoi-based Thai Ha Redemptory Church, was not permitted to leave for Australia where he is scheduled to participate in a study program related to religious affairs.
Security forces in the border gate of the Noi Bai International Airport said the ban is based on the proposal of the Hanoi Police Department’s Immigration. They also cited the government Decree 136 as the reason for their move.
Priest Phong is among outspoken religious clerks in Vietnam, often calling for human rights enhancement and democracy as well as talking about environmental issues and China’s violations of the country’s sovereignty in the East Sea (South China Sea).
Recently, he was granted a passport after years of being refused by the Ministry of Public Security.
In recent weeks, authorities in Hanoi have launched a campaign to denounce him in a bid to expel him from the Thai Ha Redemptory Church to silence him.
Meanwhile, Ho Chi Minh City’s security force in the border gate in the Tan Son Nhat International Airport did not allow Mrs. Tram to leave for Austria where she is a permanent resident. She has lived in the European country for five years with her family, including sick mother and small daughter.
The reason for the ban is similar to that in priest Phong’s case.
Mrs. Tram is contacting Austria’s Embassy in Vietnam for help.
In mid-June, Ms. Hanh, chairwoman of the unsanctioned Viet Labor Movement, was also barred from going to Cambodia where she planned to go to Austria to visit her sick mother and sister’s family.
Vietnam has blocked hundreds of local activists from leaving the country in a bid to prevent them from meeting with foreign diplomats, officials, and international activists or to study.
Many Vietnamese who reside in foreign countries have also been not allowed to return to their home country.
Meanwhile, Vietnam has expelled a number of local activists, forcing them to leave in exile. The victims include France-trained legal expert Cu Huy Ha Vu, bloggers and government critics Nguyen Van Hai and Ta Phong Tan, human rights activist Dang Xuan Dieu and Pham Minh Hoang.
===== June 28 =====
HRW Urges Vietnam to Free Government Critic Blogger Me Nam
Defend the Defenders: Vietnam should immediately free Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, a well-known blogger under penname Me Nam or Mother Mushroom, and drop all charges against her, Human Rights Watch has said.
The New York-based NGO made this statement on June 28, one day ahead of the open trial set for Ms. Quynh, who was arrested on October 10 last year and charged with “conducting propaganda against the state” under Article 88 of Vietnam’s 1999 Penal Code.
The People’s Court of Khanh Hoa province plans to hear her case on June 29 and Quynh faces imprisonment of between three and 12 years in jail if is convicted.
“It’s outrageous to put Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh on trial simply for using her right to free expression to call for government reform and accountability,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
“The scandal here is not what Mother Mushroom said, but Hanoi’s stubborn refusal to repeal draconian, rights-abusing laws that punish peaceful dissent and tarnish Vietnam’s international reputation,” he said.
Ms. Quynh wrote numerous articles on social and political issues including land confiscation, police brutality, and freedom of expression. She voiced support for fellow dissidents and publicly campaigned for the release of many political prisoners.
Above all, she advocated for a social and political environment free from fear.
Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh participated in numerous public protests that advocated for human rights and a cleaner environment. She was subject to constant police harassment, intimidation, interrogation, and put under house arrest on numerous occasions to prevent her from attending important events.
State media reported that the police alleged that the evidence against Ms. Quynh for anti-state blogging included a file named “Stop police killing civilians.” The file included data on 31 cases regarding people who died in police custody, which she and others had collected from state media. The police claimed that the file “bears a hostile viewpoint against the people’s police force. The document makes the readers misunderstand the nature of the problem, offends and lowers the prestige of the people’s police force, and harms the relationship between the people and the police force.”
Many cases summarized in “Stop police killing civilians” had been documented and published by Human Rights Watch. According to Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security, reported by state media, from October 2011 to September 2014, there were 226 cases of death in detention facilities.
The police claimed that during the search of Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh’s house, they found many documents providing evidence of crimes. Among these documents were slogans such as “Fish Need Water,” “The Country Needs Transparency,” “Take Legal Action Against Formosa,” “No Formosa,” “Formosa Get Out,” and anti-China claims over the disputed East Sea (South China Sea) such as “No to Chinese Expansionism.”
The police reportedly said that in addition to her Facebook and blog posts, other “crimes” she committed included giving interviews to CNN and Radio Free Asia.
Ms. Quynh received a Hellman Hammett grant from Human Rights Watch in 2010 as a writer defending free expression. In 2015, Civil Rights Defenders gave her the 2015 Civil Rights Defender of the Year award. In March 2017, she received the International Women of Courage award from the U.S. State Department.
“For the last 10 years, Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh has worked tirelessly to advance human rights and promote freedom and democracy in Vietnam,” said Robertson.
“International donors and trade partners should publicly condemn her arrest and urge the Vietnamese government to immediately and unconditionally release her.”
Along with calling for freedom of Ms. Quynh, Human Rights Watch urges Vietnam to unconditionally release all those detained or imprisoned for their peaceful activities and speeches, including human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai, land rights and labor activist Tran Thi Nga. Mr. Dai was detained on December 16, 2015 while Ms. Nga was arrested on January 21 this year, both were charged with “conducting anti-state propaganda.”
===== June 29 =====
Vietnam Human Rights Defender Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Criticizing Government
Defend the Defenders: Vietnam’s authorities have sentenced prominent human rights advocate Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh to ten years in prison for criticizing government and voicing against China’s violations of the country’s sovereignty in the East Sea (South China Sea).
On June 29, the People’s Court of Vietnam’s central province of Khanh Hoa found Ms. Quynh, a well-known blogger with pen-name Me Nam (Mother Mushroom) guilty of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the country’s 1999 Penal Code.
According to the indictment, Quynh posted a number of anti-state articles on her blog Me Nam, including documents about 31 cases regarding people who died in police custody, which she and others had collected from state media. The police claimed that the file “bears a hostile viewpoint against the people’s police force. The document makes the readers misunderstand the nature of the problem, offends and lowers the prestige of the people’s police force, and harms the relationship between the people and the police force.”
The court also used evidences provided by the Khanh Hoa police when they searched Ms. Nam’s private residence on October 10 last year after they arrested her. These evidences included banners and slogans such as “Fish Need Water, The Country Needs Transparency,” “Take Legal Action Against Formosa,” “No Formosa,” “Formosa Get Out,” and anti-China claims over the disputed Truong Sa (Spratlys) and Hoang Sa (Paracels) such as “No to Chinese Expansionism.”
Her interviews to CNN and Radio Free Asia were also used as evidences against her.
Ms. Quynh was detained in October last year. She had been kept incommunicado until June 20 this year and was permitted to meet with her lawyers for the first time for preparing defense.
One day prior to the trial, she was allowed to meet with her mother. “Mother, I am so, so sorry to you. But if I was given the chance to start all over again and reconsider my options, I would still take the same path,” she told her before police divided the two females after short conversation.
On the day of the trial, authorities in Khanh Hoa deployed large numbers of police and militia to block all roads leading to the courtroom, not allowing civil people to approach it. Many relatives and friends of Quynh and activists were forced to stay far from the court’s areas while her mother was not allowed to be in the courtroom but watched the trial in an another room via television screen.
Many foreign embassies, including the EU, the U.S., Germany and Sweden and international news agencies had applied to attend the open trial, however, authorities in Khanh Hoa rejected their requests, citing technical and security issues.
Many activists in Ho Chi Minh City and Nha Trang city said they were kept de facto under house arrest since very early of Thursday as local authorities sent plainclothes agents to station near their private residences in a bid to prevent them from going to the court areas to support the defendant. Seven activists were detained by police when they tried to approach the courtroom, local bloggers said.
Quynh’s heavy sentence was made to silence local political dissidents, human rights defenders, social activists and independent bloggers amid rising social dissatisfaction due to systemic corruption, bad economic management and increasing environmental pollution as well as weak response to China’s violations of the country’s sovereignty in the East Sea.
Before the trial, many international organizations including Amnesty International, Civil Rights Defenders, Reporters Without Borders, and Human Rights Watch issued statements calling Vietnam’s communist government to immediately and unconditionally release Quynh who was arrested and charged just because she exercised her rights of freedom of expression.
Last year, four days after her arrest, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights urged Vietnam’s Government “to abide by its obligations under human rights law, to drop these charges against Ms. Quynh and to release her immediately”. He noted that Article 88 of the Vietnamese Penal Code is “overly broad and ill-defined” and “effectively makes it a crime for any Vietnamese citizen to express an opinion, to discuss or to question the Government and its policies.”
Quynh is among leading human rights activists in Vietnam. She received a Hellman Hammett grant from Human Rights Watch in 2010 as a writer defending free expression, the 2015 Civil Rights Defender of the Year award of Civil Rights Defenders in 2015 and the International Women of Courage award from the U.S. State Department this year.
——————–
Catholic Clergy in Central Vietnam Brutally Beaten by Thugs as Local Authorities Want to Seize Thien An Monastery’s Land
Defend the Defenders: Catholic clergy and followers in Vietnam’s central province of Thua Thien-Hue have been brutally assaulted by thugs when they were trying to protect the pine forest belonging to the Thien An Saint Benedict Monastery.
Dozens of men believed to be plainclothes police broke in the monastery and demolished a cross and a statue of Jesus on land the church says it owns for decades. When the priests, monks and nuns from the monastery came to protect their religious signs and the monastery’s property, the men used sticks, saws and water pipes to beat them.
The attack occurred on June 28 and continued in the morning of June 29. Due to the assaults, a number of the monastery’s staff suffered from severe injuries. Monk Gioan Batis Truong Vinh Hau fell in coma.
When other monks tried to take him to a hospital, police blocked their way, bloggers posted on social networks.
The Thien An pine forest is a subject of dispute between the monastery and the local authorities. The Thien An Monastery affirmed that they owns the land and has developed the pine forest since 1940.
Authorities in Thua Thien-Hue province wants to seize the land to build a road to connect a lake and a tourist resort over its land.
The Thien An monastery has been the focus of a protracted legal dispute, with government officials attempting to seize the property and the monks arguing that the government’s claim to the property is illegal. A similar violence incident occurred almost exactly a year ago, on June 26, 2016, when police raided the monastery.
Land disputes are common in Communist-ruled Vietnam, and conflicts over property between Catholics and local authorities have been one of the main obstacles over a normalization of relations between Vietnam and the Vatican.
In Vietnam which has been ruled by communists for decades, all land belongs to the state and residents and organizations have only right to use it. The government can take land for socio-economic development or just to give to investors to build industrial and property projects.
——————–
Hanoi Police Kidnap Activist Tran Hoang Phuc
Defend the Defenders: On June 29, Hanoi’s police kidnapped young activist Tran Hoang Phuc and brought him to unknown direction, local activists said.
According to people who live together with him in rent apartments in Hoang Hoa Tham street, Ba Dinh district, a group of five police officers came to his room and took him away without showing warrant.
Phuc is an young human rights and pro-democracy activist from Ho Chi Minh City. He has been under close surveillance of Vietnam’s security forces.
On April 13, Phuc and Huynh Thanh Phat were kidnapped by plainclothes agents, who robbed and brutally beat them before releasing the activists in a remote area in the central province of Quang Binh.
After meeting with Catholic priests in Ba Don town and supplying local residents with some donations, Phuc and Phat went to the Xuan Truyen station to get on a bus headed back to Saigon. After arriving in the station, the duo was kidnapped by a group of eight masked men who came with a seven-seat car.
The kidnappers introduced themselves as criminals and drove the car to a remote area near the Ho Chi Minh Road of Tam Quang commune, Tuong Duong district, Nghe An province. Phat said the thugs stripped them of their clothes, covered their heads with clothes, knocked them down to the car’s floor and continuously beat the two activists with their hands and belts during the journey.
After hours of traveling, they stopped in a remote area of the newly-built road. The thugs robbed all belongings of Phuc and Phat, including cell phones and wallets with money and personnel documents and left.
Severely injured, the two young activists took hours to find people who provided them with clothes and helped them contact other activists.
Phuc’s safety is under concerns given the fact that torture is systemic in Vietnam, with hundreds of detainees and prisoners died in police stations and detention facilities nationwide in the past few years.
Ten days ago, Human Rights Watch released a report highlighting 36 cases in which Vietnamese activists were brutally assaulted by unidentified men which were believed to be plainclothes police since the beginning of 2016 until the end of April this year.
“It’s bad enough that activists in Vietnam have to risk prison for speaking out, but now they have to risk their safety on a daily basis simply for exercising their basic rights,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
===== June 30 =====
International Human Rights Groups, Foreign Governments Condemn Sentence of Mother Mushroom
Defend the Defenders: 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.
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July 2, 2017
Vietnam Human Rights Defenders’ Weekly June 26-July 2, 2017: Human Rights Defender Mother Mushroom Sentenced to 10 Year in Unfair Trial
by Nhan Quyen • DEFENDER’S WEEKLY
Defend the Defenders | July 02, 2017
On June 29, the People’s Court in Vietnam’s central province of Khanh Hoa sentenced prominent human rights campaigner and environmental activist Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh to ten years in prison in an trial which failed to meet international standards.
Ms. Quynh, well-known blogger under penname Mother Mushroom, was arrested in October last year and kept incommunicado until June 20, more than one week ahead of her trial when she was permitted to meet with her lawyer for her defense.
The 38-year old activist was imprisoned on charge of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the country’s 1999 Penal Code, the vague national security provision which aims to silence government critics.
Foreign diplomats and reporters of international news agencies were not allowed to attend the trial while Quynh’s mother was in an another room to watch her daughter’s trial on a television screen. The court areas were blocked for civilians while the courtroom was filled with plainclothes police.
After the trial ended, many foreign governments including the EU, the U.S., and Germany as well as international human rights organizations condemned the sentencing of Mother Mushroom and called for her immediate and unconditional release, saying 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.”
One day prior to the trial, international rights groups such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Civil Rights Defenders and Reporters Without Borders issued statements urging Vietnam to drop all charges against Quynh and release her, who won a Hellman Hammett grant from Human Rights Watch in 2010 as a writer defending free expression, the 2015 Civil Rights Defender of the Year award from Civil Rights Defenders and the 2017 International Women of Courage award from the U.S. State Department.
On June 28-29, authorities in the central province of Thua Thien Hue sent plainclothes police and thugs to break in Thien An Saint Benedict Monastery in Huong Thuy town, demolishing a Cross and beat clergy of the monastery. Due to their attack, monk Gioan Batis Truong Vinh Hau fell in coma.
On June 29, Hanoi police detained young activist Tran Hoang Phuc and still keep him incommunicado. His family has not been informed about the detention. In mid-April, Phuc and his friend Huynh Thanh Phat were kidnapped, beaten and robbed by plainclothes agents in central province of Quang Binh.
Catholic priest Nguyen Ngoc Nam Phong from the Thai Ha Redemptory Church in Hanoi is the latest activist being barred from leaving the country. On June 27, security forces in Hanoi blocked him from taking an international flight when he was on his way to Australia for religious study. Priest Phong is among those who call for multi-party democracy, human rights enhancement and environmental protection.
and other news
===== June 26 =====
Seminars on Torture Held in Hanoi, HCM City
Defend the Defenders: The Former Vietnam Prisoners of Conscience on June 26 held two separate meetings on torture in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, with participation of numerous activists and former prisoners of conscience.
Ms. Pamela Pontius, political officer of the U.S. General Consulate in HCM City attended the meeting in Saigon while in Hanoi, Mr. Yann Righetti, academic associate of the Embassy of Switzerland in Vietnam participated in the event.
During the two meetings, activists discussed measures to deal with increasing violence conducted by Vietnam’s security forces against local political dissidents, social activists and human rights defenders as well as independent bloggers.
Many agreed that along with taking preventive measures, activists have to report government-supported attacks to international human rights organizations as well as UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment or UN Working Groups on Arbitrary Detention.
The meetings were made amid increasing physical assaults against local activists. On June 19, Human Rights Watch released its report documenting 36 cases of assaults in which 45 Vietnamese activists were brutally beaten by police or unidentified men which were believed to be plainclothes agents in the period between January 2016 and April 2017.
In addition, hundreds of detainees were found dead in police stations and detention facilities nationwide from 2010. Police said most of their deaths were caused by suicides and illness while their families believe that police torture is the main cause.
Vietnam ratified the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in 2015 but the number of detainees died in police facilities is still high.
——————–
Hoa Hao Buddhist Followers in An Giang Detained
Defend the Defenders: At 11 AM of June 26, Hoa Hao Buddhist followers Bui Van Trung, his son Bui Van Tham and daughter Bui Thi Tham as well as his grandchildrens Tran Thanh Luan and Nguyen Ly Tinh in An Phu district, An Giang province were detained by the district police.
In afternoon of the same day, police released Bui Thi Tham, Tran Thanh Luan and Nguyen Ly Tinh. Police barred other members of the family from going out.
On June 27, An Phu district police announced that they will prosecute Mr. Trung and Mr. Tham on allegation of “causing public disorders” and “resisting on-duty state officials.
Mr. Trung has sent a letter to his family to ask for hiring lawyers for defending him and his son.
Mr. Trung and his son Tham were prisoners of conscience. Mr. Tham was arrested in July 2012 and later sentenced to 30 months in prison for “resisting on-duty state officials” while Mr. Trung was arrested in October 2012 and sentenced to four years in jail on the same charge. Their arrests were related to Mr. Trung’s establishment of the unsanctioned Hoa Hao Buddhist sect which encourages followers to study the doctrine of late Master Huynh Phu So, who found Hoa Hao Buddhist and later assassinated by communists.
The sect established by Mr. Trung is independent from the Hoa Hao Buddhist set up by the communist regime.
On June 27, An Phu district police announced that they will prosecute Mr. Trung and Mr. Tham on allegation of “causing public disorders” and “resisting on-duty state officials.
Mr. Trung has sent a letter to his family to ask for hiring lawyers for defending him and his son.
===== June 27 =====
Vietnam Blocks Catholic Priest, Sister of Labor Activist from Leaving Abroad
Defend the Defenders: On June 17, Vietnam’s security forces blocked Catholic priest Nguyen Ngoc Nam Phong and Mrs. Do Ngoc Xuan Tram, an older sister of labor activist Do Thi Minh Hanh from leaving the country, saying the two separate blockage cases were made based on national security.
Priest Joan Nguyen Ngoc Nam Phong, an outspoken priest from the Hanoi-based Thai Ha Redemptory Church, was not permitted to leave for Australia where he is scheduled to participate in a study program related to religious affairs.
Security forces in the border gate of the Noi Bai International Airport said the ban is based on the proposal of the Hanoi Police Department’s Immigration. They also cited the government Decree 136 as the reason for their move.
Priest Phong is among outspoken religious clerks in Vietnam, often calling for human rights enhancement and democracy as well as talking about environmental issues and China’s violations of the country’s sovereignty in the East Sea (South China Sea).
Recently, he was granted a passport after years of being refused by the Ministry of Public Security.
In recent weeks, authorities in Hanoi have launched a campaign to denounce him in a bid to expel him from the Thai Ha Redemptory Church to silence him.
Meanwhile, Ho Chi Minh City’s security force in the border gate in the Tan Son Nhat International Airport did not allow Mrs. Tram to leave for Austria where she is a permanent resident. She has lived in the European country for five years with her family, including sick mother and small daughter.
The reason for the ban is similar to that in priest Phong’s case.
Mrs. Tram is contacting Austria’s Embassy in Vietnam for help.
In mid-June, Ms. Hanh, chairwoman of the unsanctioned Viet Labor Movement, was also barred from going to Cambodia where she planned to go to Austria to visit her sick mother and sister’s family.
Vietnam has blocked hundreds of local activists from leaving the country in a bid to prevent them from meeting with foreign diplomats, officials, and international activists or to study.
Many Vietnamese who reside in foreign countries have also been not allowed to return to their home country.
Meanwhile, Vietnam has expelled a number of local activists, forcing them to leave in exile. The victims include France-trained legal expert Cu Huy Ha Vu, bloggers and government critics Nguyen Van Hai and Ta Phong Tan, human rights activist Dang Xuan Dieu and Pham Minh Hoang.
===== June 28 =====
HRW Urges Vietnam to Free Government Critic Blogger Me Nam
Defend the Defenders: Vietnam should immediately free Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, a well-known blogger under penname Me Nam or Mother Mushroom, and drop all charges against her, Human Rights Watch has said.
The New York-based NGO made this statement on June 28, one day ahead of the open trial set for Ms. Quynh, who was arrested on October 10 last year and charged with “conducting propaganda against the state” under Article 88 of Vietnam’s 1999 Penal Code.
The People’s Court of Khanh Hoa province plans to hear her case on June 29 and Quynh faces imprisonment of between three and 12 years in jail if is convicted.
“It’s outrageous to put Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh on trial simply for using her right to free expression to call for government reform and accountability,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
“The scandal here is not what Mother Mushroom said, but Hanoi’s stubborn refusal to repeal draconian, rights-abusing laws that punish peaceful dissent and tarnish Vietnam’s international reputation,” he said.
Ms. Quynh wrote numerous articles on social and political issues including land confiscation, police brutality, and freedom of expression. She voiced support for fellow dissidents and publicly campaigned for the release of many political prisoners.
Above all, she advocated for a social and political environment free from fear.
Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh participated in numerous public protests that advocated for human rights and a cleaner environment. She was subject to constant police harassment, intimidation, interrogation, and put under house arrest on numerous occasions to prevent her from attending important events.
State media reported that the police alleged that the evidence against Ms. Quynh for anti-state blogging included a file named “Stop police killing civilians.” The file included data on 31 cases regarding people who died in police custody, which she and others had collected from state media. The police claimed that the file “bears a hostile viewpoint against the people’s police force. The document makes the readers misunderstand the nature of the problem, offends and lowers the prestige of the people’s police force, and harms the relationship between the people and the police force.”
Many cases summarized in “Stop police killing civilians” had been documented and published by Human Rights Watch. According to Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security, reported by state media, from October 2011 to September 2014, there were 226 cases of death in detention facilities.
The police claimed that during the search of Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh’s house, they found many documents providing evidence of crimes. Among these documents were slogans such as “Fish Need Water,” “The Country Needs Transparency,” “Take Legal Action Against Formosa,” “No Formosa,” “Formosa Get Out,” and anti-China claims over the disputed East Sea (South China Sea) such as “No to Chinese Expansionism.”
The police reportedly said that in addition to her Facebook and blog posts, other “crimes” she committed included giving interviews to CNN and Radio Free Asia.
Ms. Quynh received a Hellman Hammett grant from Human Rights Watch in 2010 as a writer defending free expression. In 2015, Civil Rights Defenders gave her the 2015 Civil Rights Defender of the Year award. In March 2017, she received the International Women of Courage award from the U.S. State Department.
“For the last 10 years, Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh has worked tirelessly to advance human rights and promote freedom and democracy in Vietnam,” said Robertson.
“International donors and trade partners should publicly condemn her arrest and urge the Vietnamese government to immediately and unconditionally release her.”
Along with calling for freedom of Ms. Quynh, Human Rights Watch urges Vietnam to unconditionally release all those detained or imprisoned for their peaceful activities and speeches, including human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai, land rights and labor activist Tran Thi Nga. Mr. Dai was detained on December 16, 2015 while Ms. Nga was arrested on January 21 this year, both were charged with “conducting anti-state propaganda.”
===== June 29 =====
Vietnam Human Rights Defender Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Criticizing Government
Defend the Defenders: Vietnam’s authorities have sentenced prominent human rights advocate Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh to ten years in prison for criticizing government and voicing against China’s violations of the country’s sovereignty in the East Sea (South China Sea).
On June 29, the People’s Court of Vietnam’s central province of Khanh Hoa found Ms. Quynh, a well-known blogger with pen-name Me Nam (Mother Mushroom) guilty of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the country’s 1999 Penal Code.
According to the indictment, Quynh posted a number of anti-state articles on her blog Me Nam, including documents about 31 cases regarding people who died in police custody, which she and others had collected from state media. The police claimed that the file “bears a hostile viewpoint against the people’s police force. The document makes the readers misunderstand the nature of the problem, offends and lowers the prestige of the people’s police force, and harms the relationship between the people and the police force.”
The court also used evidences provided by the Khanh Hoa police when they searched Ms. Nam’s private residence on October 10 last year after they arrested her. These evidences included banners and slogans such as “Fish Need Water, The Country Needs Transparency,” “Take Legal Action Against Formosa,” “No Formosa,” “Formosa Get Out,” and anti-China claims over the disputed Truong Sa (Spratlys) and Hoang Sa (Paracels) such as “No to Chinese Expansionism.”
Her interviews to CNN and Radio Free Asia were also used as evidences against her.
Ms. Quynh was detained in October last year. She had been kept incommunicado until June 20 this year and was permitted to meet with her lawyers for the first time for preparing defense.
One day prior to the trial, she was allowed to meet with her mother. “Mother, I am so, so sorry to you. But if I was given the chance to start all over again and reconsider my options, I would still take the same path,” she told her before police divided the two females after short conversation.
On the day of the trial, authorities in Khanh Hoa deployed large numbers of police and militia to block all roads leading to the courtroom, not allowing civil people to approach it. Many relatives and friends of Quynh and activists were forced to stay far from the court’s areas while her mother was not allowed to be in the courtroom but watched the trial in an another room via television screen.
Many foreign embassies, including the EU, the U.S., Germany and Sweden and international news agencies had applied to attend the open trial, however, authorities in Khanh Hoa rejected their requests, citing technical and security issues.
Many activists in Ho Chi Minh City and Nha Trang city said they were kept de facto under house arrest since very early of Thursday as local authorities sent plainclothes agents to station near their private residences in a bid to prevent them from going to the court areas to support the defendant. Seven activists were detained by police when they tried to approach the courtroom, local bloggers said.
Quynh’s heavy sentence was made to silence local political dissidents, human rights defenders, social activists and independent bloggers amid rising social dissatisfaction due to systemic corruption, bad economic management and increasing environmental pollution as well as weak response to China’s violations of the country’s sovereignty in the East Sea.
Before the trial, many international organizations including Amnesty International, Civil Rights Defenders, Reporters Without Borders, and Human Rights Watch issued statements calling Vietnam’s communist government to immediately and unconditionally release Quynh who was arrested and charged just because she exercised her rights of freedom of expression.
Last year, four days after her arrest, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights urged Vietnam’s Government “to abide by its obligations under human rights law, to drop these charges against Ms. Quynh and to release her immediately”. He noted that Article 88 of the Vietnamese Penal Code is “overly broad and ill-defined” and “effectively makes it a crime for any Vietnamese citizen to express an opinion, to discuss or to question the Government and its policies.”
Quynh is among leading human rights activists in Vietnam. She received a Hellman Hammett grant from Human Rights Watch in 2010 as a writer defending free expression, the 2015 Civil Rights Defender of the Year award of Civil Rights Defenders in 2015 and the International Women of Courage award from the U.S. State Department this year.
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Catholic Clergy in Central Vietnam Brutally Beaten by Thugs as Local Authorities Want to Seize Thien An Monastery’s Land
Defend the Defenders: Catholic clergy and followers in Vietnam’s central province of Thua Thien-Hue have been brutally assaulted by thugs when they were trying to protect the pine forest belonging to the Thien An Saint Benedict Monastery.
Dozens of men believed to be plainclothes police broke in the monastery and demolished a cross and a statue of Jesus on land the church says it owns for decades. When the priests, monks and nuns from the monastery came to protect their religious signs and the monastery’s property, the men used sticks, saws and water pipes to beat them.
The attack occurred on June 28 and continued in the morning of June 29. Due to the assaults, a number of the monastery’s staff suffered from severe injuries. Monk Gioan Batis Truong Vinh Hau fell in coma.
When other monks tried to take him to a hospital, police blocked their way, bloggers posted on social networks.
The Thien An pine forest is a subject of dispute between the monastery and the local authorities. The Thien An Monastery affirmed that they owns the land and has developed the pine forest since 1940.
Authorities in Thua Thien-Hue province wants to seize the land to build a road to connect a lake and a tourist resort over its land.
The Thien An monastery has been the focus of a protracted legal dispute, with government officials attempting to seize the property and the monks arguing that the government’s claim to the property is illegal. A similar violence incident occurred almost exactly a year ago, on June 26, 2016, when police raided the monastery.
Land disputes are common in Communist-ruled Vietnam, and conflicts over property between Catholics and local authorities have been one of the main obstacles over a normalization of relations between Vietnam and the Vatican.
In Vietnam which has been ruled by communists for decades, all land belongs to the state and residents and organizations have only right to use it. The government can take land for socio-economic development or just to give to investors to build industrial and property projects.
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Hanoi Police Kidnap Activist Tran Hoang Phuc
Defend the Defenders: On June 29, Hanoi’s police kidnapped young activist Tran Hoang Phuc and brought him to unknown direction, local activists said.
According to people who live together with him in rent apartments in Hoang Hoa Tham street, Ba Dinh district, a group of five police officers came to his room and took him away without showing warrant.
Phuc is an young human rights and pro-democracy activist from Ho Chi Minh City. He has been under close surveillance of Vietnam’s security forces.
On April 13, Phuc and Huynh Thanh Phat were kidnapped by plainclothes agents, who robbed and brutally beat them before releasing the activists in a remote area in the central province of Quang Binh.
After meeting with Catholic priests in Ba Don town and supplying local residents with some donations, Phuc and Phat went to the Xuan Truyen station to get on a bus headed back to Saigon. After arriving in the station, the duo was kidnapped by a group of eight masked men who came with a seven-seat car.
The kidnappers introduced themselves as criminals and drove the car to a remote area near the Ho Chi Minh Road of Tam Quang commune, Tuong Duong district, Nghe An province. Phat said the thugs stripped them of their clothes, covered their heads with clothes, knocked them down to the car’s floor and continuously beat the two activists with their hands and belts during the journey.
After hours of traveling, they stopped in a remote area of the newly-built road. The thugs robbed all belongings of Phuc and Phat, including cell phones and wallets with money and personnel documents and left.
Severely injured, the two young activists took hours to find people who provided them with clothes and helped them contact other activists.
Phuc’s safety is under concerns given the fact that torture is systemic in Vietnam, with hundreds of detainees and prisoners died in police stations and detention facilities nationwide in the past few years.
Ten days ago, Human Rights Watch released a report highlighting 36 cases in which Vietnamese activists were brutally assaulted by unidentified men which were believed to be plainclothes police since the beginning of 2016 until the end of April this year.
“It’s bad enough that activists in Vietnam have to risk prison for speaking out, but now they have to risk their safety on a daily basis simply for exercising their basic rights,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
===== June 30 =====
International Human Rights Groups, Foreign Governments Condemn Sentence of Mother Mushroom
Defend the Defenders: 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.
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