Update: Four Activists Detained for Advocating for Dong Tam Land Petitioners

Hanoi-based activist Trinh Ba Phuong

Defend the Defenders, June 24, 2020

 

Later, the state-controlled media reported that Ms. Theu and her younger son Tu were charged with “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of the Criminal Code with the imprisonment of between seven and 12 years in prison but maybe up to 20 years in jail. Police said they confiscated a number of books printed by the unsanctioned Liberal Publishing House led by dissident blogger Pham Doan Trang. It is unclear about the charge(s) against Mr. Phuong and Mrs. Tam.

On the same day, Vietnam’s security forces arrested two other activists: Facebooker Vu Tien Chi in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong and former teacher Nguyen Thi Cam Thuy from the central coastal province of Khanh Hoa. Both are charged with the allegation under Article 117. Full report will be soon available on DTD’s website.

 

Defend the Defenders, June 24, 2020

 

On June 24, Vietnam’s security forces violently detained Hanoi-based four activists for their voicing to support land petitioners in Dong Tam commune, Hoai Duc district who were brutally suppressed by the communist regime in January this year.

According to a short video clip made by human rights defender Trinh Ba Phuong, a large number of uniformed and plainclothes policemen gathered near his private residence in the early hours of Wednesday. At around 5.30 am, police cut Internet connection in the area and used pliers to cut his house’s lock to break in and arrest him in the front of his wife who gave the birth of their second child four days ago.

Phuong’s mother, former prisoner of conscience Can Thi Theu and his younger brother Trinh Ba Tu were also detained by the police. Theu, who was imprisoned twice a total 35 months for objecting land grabbing, was arrested while staying in her daughter’s house in the same village while Tu was detained in their agricultural field in Hoa Binh province.

Land petitioner and human rights defender Nguyen Thi Tam was the fourth victim of Vietnam’s persecution today. She was arrested while going to a local wet market. She was taken back to her private residence in Duong Noi village for house searching.

According to their families, the detainees as well as their relatives were beaten by police officers during their detention and house search, during which police confiscated a computer set and four cell phones from Ms. Tam’s house and cell phones from Ms. Theu’s private residence.

All of them from Duong Noi village, Ha Dong district, Hanoi where the city’s authorities seized their agricultural land without paying adequate compensation. Theu and her husband Trinh Ba Khiem as well as Phuong, Tu, and Tam were active fighters for their land although they failed.

Later, the state-controlled media reported that Ms. Theu and her younger son Tu were charged with “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of the Criminal Code with the imprisonment of between seven and 12 years in prison but maybe up to 20 years in jail. Police said they confiscated a number of books printed by the unsanctioned Liberal Publishing House led by dissident blogger Pham Doan Trang.

It is unclear about the charge(s) against Mr. Phuong and Mrs. Tam.

The detentions are likely related to the brutal massacre on January 9 when the Ministry of Public Security deployed thousands of riot policemen to Dong Tam commune to attack Hoanh villagers. Police killed 84-year-old communist member Le Dinh Kinh, the spiritual leader of the local land petitioners, and arrested nearly 30 people, including his two sons and two grandchildren.

Police said during the attack, three police officers were killed and blamed the local petitioners for their death although there are no solid shreds of evidence for their deaths and even no traces of their bodies.

In its investigation report released recently, the Hanoi Police Department proposed 25 detainees be prosecuted of murders and four others of “resisting on-duty state officials.”

Since the land dispute in Dong Tam commune started in 2017, Phuong and Tam have provided strong support for the local petitioners. Right after the massacre in early January this year, Phuong and Tam kept updating their posts about the case on their Facebook accounts. Phuong also met with US diplomat in Hanoi to report the case.

Tam is a well-known strong woman in Duong Noi. She often criticized Hanoi police for persecuting her. In recent weeks, she made a number of online surveys about the communist regime’s policies and its senior officials.

Along with recent detentions across the country, the arrests on Wednesday prove that the communist regime will apply all measures to crack down on the local dissent in a bid to ensure a “stable environment” for preparation of the 13th National Congress of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam. It is likely that the police generals want to show their power after dozens of police and army generals have been imprisoned for fired for economic wrongdoings.