Defend the Defenders | February 23, 2020
The US Embassy in Hanoi is closely monitoring the development after the attack of Vietnam’s police in Dong Tam commune on January 9 and gathering information about the incident from different sources. According to its reply to RFA, the embassy is concerned about the deaths from the two sides in the violent clash between Vietnam’s security forces and residents in Hoanh village. It said it is important for the two sides to settle the dispute publicly, peacefully and transparently.
There are some independent reports about the police attack in Dong Tam commune on January 9. The first report was released by a group of activists named The Dong Tam Task Forces which consists of prominent dissident blogger Pham Doan Trang, American citizen William Nguyen, who was detained for one month for participation in the mass protest in Ho Chi Minh on June 10, 2018, and Amnesty International’s campaigner Nguyen Truong Son.
The second report was made by Dr. Hoang Xuan Phu, a professor at the Institute of Mathematics, a member of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology. Using his formidable analytical skills as a renown Professor in Mathematics, he made the report (in Vietnamese) based on the evidence he gathered himself at the scenes where the attack happened, photos he took himself as well as photos and video clips circulated on the Internet while comparing that with the version released by the Ministry of Public Security.
Vietnam’s authorities have decided to hold the first-instance hearing on March 10 to try eight members of the unsanctioned group Hiến Pháp (Constitution) 18 months after holding them in police custody. The open trial will be carried out by the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City and the defendants are facing imprisonments of between three years and 15 years if are convicted of “disruption of security” under Article 118 of the country’s Penal Code. The defendants, whose activities were peaceful and aimed to promote political and civil rights among ordinary people, were kidnapped by HCM City security forces in early September 2018. Among them is single mother Doan Thi Hong who has a daughter under three years old at the time of her arbitrary detention.
After a week-long appeal hearing, on February 21, the People’s Court of Khanh Hoa province upheld the one year of non-custodial reform on human rights attorney Tran Vu Hai and his wife Ngo Tuyet Phuong on tax evasion charge under Article 161 of the 1999 Penal Code. In addition, Mr. Hai and his wife have to pay an administrative fine of VND20 million ($850) each for the crime they have not committed. The case is clearly political aiming to prevent him from giving legal counseling in many sensitive cases, including the case of former prisoner of conscience Truong Duy Nhat, who was kidnapped by Vietnam’s secret agents in Thailand in early 2019 while seeking political asylum to the UN High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) in Bangkok.
Thich Quang Do, head of the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, died on February 22 in Saigon at age 93. He is a famous prisoner of conscience, being imprisoned two times for a total of eight years and has effectively been under house arrest since 2003. He was nominated multiple times for the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to promote religious freedom, human rights and democracy in Vietnam.
Prior to the EU-Vietnam Annual Human Rights Dialogue, a number of international rights groups including Human Rights Watch and FIDH called on the 27-country bloc to press Vietnam for improving its human rights record.
On February 17, on the occasion of the 41st anniversary of China’s invasion of Vietnam’s six northernmost provinces, authorities in many localities, especially Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, sent plainclothes agents to private residences of local activists to block them from going out because they fear that activists will gather to commemorate the fallen soldiers and killed civilians during the war.
===== February 17 =====
US Embassy in Vietnam Closely Monitors Dong Tam Incident: RFA
Defend the Defenders: The US Embassy in Hanoi is closely monitoring the development after the attack of Vietnam’s police in Dong Tam commune on January 9 and gathering information about the incident from different sources, according to the embassy’s reply to RFA.
Accordingly, the embassy is concerned about the deaths from the two sides in the violent clash between Vietnam’s security forces and residents in Hoanh village. It said it is important for the two sides to settle the dispute publicly, peacefully and transparently.
Last week, three American diplomats led by Michele Roulbet, head of the Political division of the embassy, met with land right activist Trinh Ba Phuong to collect information about the police attack in Hoanh village in which 84-year-old Le Dinh Kinh, the spiritual leader of Dong Tam commune’s residents, was brutally killed while the police said three police officers were also murdered. Phuong has close ties with Dong Tam people and the local residents have trust in the human rights defender.
On February 12, more than one month after the massacre, police came to Mr. Kinh’s house and met with his widow Du Thi Thanh, who was also detained and tortured on January 9. Police officers asked her to allow them to take away all the steel doors, to get a sample of their metal types. She denied their request, saying they were not allowed to take away anything from her house. It is likely police want to wipe out evidence of the attack because there were too many bullet marks left on Mr. Kinh’s house, including windows and doors.
On next day, police officers came to her house again with a summon, demanding her to present herself at the city’s Police Office at 8 am on February 14 but she told them that she would not go anywhere.
There are some independent reports about the police attack in Dong Tam commune on January 9. The first report was released by a group of activists named The Dong Tam Task Forces which consists of prominent dissident blogger Pham Doan Trang, American citizen William Nguyen, who was detained for one month for participation in the mass protest in Ho Chi Minh on June 10, 2018, and Amnesty International’s campaigner Nguyen Truong Son.
The second report was made by Dr. Hoang Xuan Phu, a professor at the Institute of Mathematics, a member of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology. Using his formidable analytical skills as a renown Professor in Mathematics, based on the evidence he gathered himself at the scenes where the attack happened, photos he took himself, photos and video clips circulated on the Internet, comparing that with the official version, Professor Phu came to the following findings (summary of key points):
- On January 9, 2020, the Vietnamese government deployed several thousand members of the police attacked Dong Tam village, tortured and killed Mr. Le Dinh Kinh when he was lying on his bed, arrested and took away dozens of villagers.
The regime’s initial announcement on January 9 was “.. During the process of building a wall to protect Mieu Mon airport, in the morning of January 9, a number of opposing subjects, used grenades, petrol bombs, throwing knives… attacked law enforcement authorities, opposed those performing public duties, causing public disorder, as a result, three police officers sacrificed, one opposing subject died, another subject injured…”
According to Prof. Phu, the above announcement was a lie, as the attack happened in Hoanh village, several kilometers in distance from Mieu Mon airport, several hours before the actual construction of a wall in Mieu Mon airport started. Those behind the attack knew very well they had acted illegally, and so had to make up this lie to justify their attack on Dong Tam village. This also reflected their habit of disregarding the law and showing utter contempt towards the people.
- Before being shot at his heart, 84-year-old Le Dinh Kinh had been brutally tortured. Photos showing his knee was totally smashed by gunshots, his body was cut open from his throat to his lower abdomen, reflect the ringleaders’ desire and determination to take revenge on him and Dong Tam villagers, for daring to protect the land that they had been cultivating on. This brutality was also to intimidate all those who dare to be stubborn enough to fight tyranny and defend their land like Dong Tam villagers.
Mr. Kinh had committed the sin of being… totally innocent. That was why ringleaders could not lock him up then bring him to court, they had to kill him when he was lying on his bed. That was why, as the exemplary Party member could not be expelled from the Party, his comrades had to execute him.
- The deaths of three police officers during the attack (according to the later official version, they were burned alive by villagers after falling into a “technical” hole), served the purpose of generating public anger and hatred towards Mr.Kinh’s family and Dong Tam villagers, generated support for the illegal attack on Dong Tam commune, and helped quieten down the voices of those who condemned Mr. Kinh’s murder. However, based on Prof. Phu’s detailed analysis, it was impossible for Dong Tam villagers to be able to burn alive these three officers in the context they were in. Also, the officers could not fall down the “technical” hole by themselves. They had been thrown down the hole, and were burned to death, but not by Dong Tam villagers.
- The murdering of Mr. Kinh and the killings of three police officers were all acts of evil. They all have to be subject to legal criminal proceedings and stern justice.
- Hanoi police have decided to start legal criminal proceedings against 20 Dong Tam villagers for “the killings of police officers,” however from Prof. Phu’s analysis, these 20 people had nothing to do with the deaths of the three police officers.
Meanwhile, the killing of Mr. Kinh hasn’t been subject to any legal criminal proceedings. Vietnam’s authorities cannot just focus on the crime of killing officers while they were performing public duties, but ignore the crime of killing people in the name of performing public duties.
- The regime had dealt itself a fatal blow by committing an evil crime in Dong Tam. To get itself out of the hole, it must confess its evil crime, stop immediately its campaign to mount false accusations, to lie, to lock up innocent people, to subject them to forced confession. By doing all these things, it only pours more oil into a burning fire.
- To stop the long string of evil crimes stemming from the scourge of land robbery in the name of “the land belongs to the people but managed and controlled by the state,” the regime must repeal the rules on “collective ownership of land” in the Constitution.
- To alleviate the pain and suffering caused by the evil crime it had committed in Dong Tam, the regime should at the very least, say sorry to Mr. Kinh’s family and Dong Tam villagers.
===== February 20 =====
Eight Members of Hiến Pháp Group to Go to First-instance Hearing on March 10, 18 Months after Being Detained
Defend the Defenders: Vietnam’s communist regime has re-scheduled the first-instance hearing on March 10 to try eight members of the unregistered group Hiến Pháp (Constitution) on the allegation “disruption of security” under Article 118 of the country’s Criminal Code” for their intention to participate in a peaceful demonstration, Defend the Defenders has learned.
The open trial will be held in the headquarters of the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City, more than 18 months after kidnapping the activists and held them incommunicado without informing their families for months.
Earlier, the court postponed the trial set on January 14, saying the postpone was due to the request of Mr. Le Quy Loc, one of the defendants, for summoning witness(es). Some observers have linked the delay with the bloody attack of police in Dong Tam in which land rights activist Le Dinh Kinh was killed by riot police. The communist regime is likely willing to reduce social dissatisfaction after the police’s brutal campaign against land petitioners in the capital so they don’t want people to get more anger from lengthy sentences that would be given for the group members.
According to the court’s announcement, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hanh and Mrs. Hoang Thi Thu Vang are charged with the allegation of “disruption of security” under Clause 1 of Article 118 of the Criminal Code with imprisonment of between five and 15 years in prison. Six others named Mr. Do The Hoa, Mr. Ho Dinh Cuong, Mr. Tran Thanh Phuong, Mr. Ngo Van Dung, Mr. Le Quy Loc and Ms. Doan Thi Hong are subjected to the allegation under Clause 2 of the same article with imprisonment of between two and seven years if are convicted.
All of them were kidnapped by HCM City’s police on September 2-4, 2018 and held incommunicado for months. Their families had not been informed about their detentions and charges for months after they went to different state agencies and police stations to ask for their status and found out that they were kept by the city’s police.
Hiến Pháp (Constitution) is a group of activists working to educate the public about the human rights they are entitled to under Vietnam’s 2013 Constitution by disseminating the country’s 2013 Constitution among citizens. Its members were active during the mass demonstration in HCM City on June 10, 2018 in which tens of thousands of Vietnamese rallied on streets to protest the communist regime’s plan to approve two bills on Special Economic Zones and Cybersecurity.
In order to prevent similar protests in early September 2018, Vietnam’s security forces launched a big campaign to persecute local dissent and all members of the Hiến Pháp group became their targets. Two other members of the group named Huynh Truong Ca and Le Minh The were arrested and convicted of “conducting anti-state propaganda” and “abusing democratic freedom,” respectively while three others were forced to relocate in Thailand to avoid being arrested.
Defend the Defenders considers eight jailed members of the group as prisoners of conscience and the accusations against them are groundless.
It is expected that the activists would be convicted and sentenced to lengthy sentences after Vietnam’s communist regime got all it wants, including the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). On February 12, the European Parliament approved the pact, ignoring the call for postponing the agreement by numerous international and Vietnamese human rights groups. Although the EU says the pact may be postponed or terminated if Vietnam’s human rights record gets worsened, it is unlikely Hien Phap activists will be freed or receive light sentences.
Vietnam continues to be among the world’s biggest prisons for activists, holding at least 241 prisoners of conscience, including ten members of Hiến Pháp group, according to Defend the Defenders’ latest statistics.
===== February 21 =====
Khanh Hoa Court Upholds One-year Non-custodial Reform on Human Rights Lawyer Tran Vu Hai and His Wife for Tax Evasion
Defend the Defenders: On February 21, the People’s Court of Khanh Hoa province upheld the one year of non-custodial reform on human rights attorney Tran Vu Hai and his wife Ngo Tuyet Phuong on tax evasion charge under Article 161 of the 1999 Penal Code.
After one week, the court issued its final decision to keep the sentences given by the lower court, the People’s Court of Nha Trang City. Accordingly, Mr. Hai and his wife have to pay an administrative fine of VND20 million ($850) each for the crime they have not committed, according to the lawyers providing legal assistance for the experienced couple attorneys.
According to the indictment against them, they were accused of committing a tax evasion worth VND276 million in a property deal in 2014. Mr. Hai and his wife reportedly bought a land parcel from Khanh Hoa province-based citizenNgo Van Lam and Vietnamese Norwegian Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hanh. The deal value was about VND16 billion but the sellers reported to the local authorities just VND1.8 billion, by that way the sellers paid less tax for the deal. The province’s tax authorities had approved the deal.
Nearly two dozens lawyers took part in the appeal to protect Mr. Hai. Like in the first-instance hearing on November 15 last year, Khanh Hoa province’s authorities deployed a large number of police officers to block all the roads leading to the court areas and the lawyers were under strict security check-up before entering the courtroom. They were requested to leave all electrical devices, including laptops and cell phones outside. A few reporters of the state-run newspapers were allowed to enter the courtroom to cover the trial.
The defense lawyers said as buyers, Mr. Hai and his wife are not subjects for tax payment for the deal, and they are innocent since the province’s tax authorities approved the deal. Ms. Hanh is a citizen of Norway and the house she sold to Mr. Hai was the only house she owned so she is not required to pay tax for the deal, according to current Vietnam’s law.
Mr. Hai reported on his Facebook page that the judge ordered the representative of the Nha Trang tax authorities and the representative of the province’s Procuracy not to answer the questions of lawers.
Authorities in Khanh Hoa probed the case in early July last year and placed the four under restricted travel, including travel abroad. In addition, Khanh Hoa police also conducted searching Mr. Hai’s law office and private residence in Hanoi, in which they allegedly took away a large sum of money and documents from other cases.
It is clear that the allegation and convictions against Mr. Hai and his wife are political as recently the Ministry of Public Security denied Mr. Hai’s request for representing former prisoner of conscience Truong Duy Nhat who is accused of “power abuse” after being kidnapped in Bangkok and taken to Vietnam in late January.
Lawyer Hai is well-known for his participation in sensitive cases to represent victims of injustice, victims of forced land appropriation and political dissidents.
===== February 22 =====
Vietnamese Dissident Monk Who Was a Nobel Prize Nominee Dies at 93
AFP-JIJI: Thich Quang Do, a dissident Buddhist monk who has effectively been under house arrest since 2003 and was nominated multiple times for the Nobel Peace Prize, has died at age 93.
Head of the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, the vocal patriarch was born in 1928 in Thai Binh province and spent most of his life advocating for religious freedom and human rights in communist-run Vietnam.
His staunch activism landed him under what was effectively house arrest in 2003 in Ho Chi Minh City, where he was under constant surveillance.
Do died on Saturday night at Tu Hieu pagoda, UBCV announced on Sunday morning.
According to his will signed on April 2019, Do requested a “simple funeral, not more than three days.”
“After the cremation, my ashes will be scattered at sea,” said the statement quoting his will.
The UBCV also requested for followers not to bring money, as is customary for Vietnamese funerals. “There will be no final words, no biographies, no emotional showings … just praying.”
Do has long been a thorn on the side for communist-run Vietnam, and he has been nominated multiple times for the Nobel Peace Prize for his vocal advocacy for democracy.
In 2001, he wrote an “Appeal for Democracy” and also called on northern and southern dissidents to drop their cultural differences and unite in 2005.
He received Norway’s Rafto human rights award the following year for “his personal courage and perseverance through three decades of peaceful opposition against the communist regime in Vietnam.”
The UBVC has been banned since the early 1980s, when it refused to join the state-sanctioned Vietnam Buddhist Church.
Vietnam has long had an uneasy relationship with organized religion.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended to the State Department that Vietnam be designated as a “country of particular concern,” citing “systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom.”
======================
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…
February 23, 2020
Vietnam Human Rights Defenders’ Weekly Report for February 17-23, 2020: US Embassy in Vietnam Closely Monitors Dong Tam Incident
by Nhan Quyen • DEFENDER’S WEEKLY
Defend the Defenders | February 23, 2020
The US Embassy in Hanoi is closely monitoring the development after the attack of Vietnam’s police in Dong Tam commune on January 9 and gathering information about the incident from different sources. According to its reply to RFA, the embassy is concerned about the deaths from the two sides in the violent clash between Vietnam’s security forces and residents in Hoanh village. It said it is important for the two sides to settle the dispute publicly, peacefully and transparently.
There are some independent reports about the police attack in Dong Tam commune on January 9. The first report was released by a group of activists named The Dong Tam Task Forces which consists of prominent dissident blogger Pham Doan Trang, American citizen William Nguyen, who was detained for one month for participation in the mass protest in Ho Chi Minh on June 10, 2018, and Amnesty International’s campaigner Nguyen Truong Son.
The second report was made by Dr. Hoang Xuan Phu, a professor at the Institute of Mathematics, a member of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology. Using his formidable analytical skills as a renown Professor in Mathematics, he made the report (in Vietnamese) based on the evidence he gathered himself at the scenes where the attack happened, photos he took himself as well as photos and video clips circulated on the Internet while comparing that with the version released by the Ministry of Public Security.
Vietnam’s authorities have decided to hold the first-instance hearing on March 10 to try eight members of the unsanctioned group Hiến Pháp (Constitution) 18 months after holding them in police custody. The open trial will be carried out by the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City and the defendants are facing imprisonments of between three years and 15 years if are convicted of “disruption of security” under Article 118 of the country’s Penal Code. The defendants, whose activities were peaceful and aimed to promote political and civil rights among ordinary people, were kidnapped by HCM City security forces in early September 2018. Among them is single mother Doan Thi Hong who has a daughter under three years old at the time of her arbitrary detention.
After a week-long appeal hearing, on February 21, the People’s Court of Khanh Hoa province upheld the one year of non-custodial reform on human rights attorney Tran Vu Hai and his wife Ngo Tuyet Phuong on tax evasion charge under Article 161 of the 1999 Penal Code. In addition, Mr. Hai and his wife have to pay an administrative fine of VND20 million ($850) each for the crime they have not committed. The case is clearly political aiming to prevent him from giving legal counseling in many sensitive cases, including the case of former prisoner of conscience Truong Duy Nhat, who was kidnapped by Vietnam’s secret agents in Thailand in early 2019 while seeking political asylum to the UN High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) in Bangkok.
Thich Quang Do, head of the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, died on February 22 in Saigon at age 93. He is a famous prisoner of conscience, being imprisoned two times for a total of eight years and has effectively been under house arrest since 2003. He was nominated multiple times for the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to promote religious freedom, human rights and democracy in Vietnam.
Prior to the EU-Vietnam Annual Human Rights Dialogue, a number of international rights groups including Human Rights Watch and FIDH called on the 27-country bloc to press Vietnam for improving its human rights record.
On February 17, on the occasion of the 41st anniversary of China’s invasion of Vietnam’s six northernmost provinces, authorities in many localities, especially Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, sent plainclothes agents to private residences of local activists to block them from going out because they fear that activists will gather to commemorate the fallen soldiers and killed civilians during the war.
===== February 17 =====
US Embassy in Vietnam Closely Monitors Dong Tam Incident: RFA
Defend the Defenders: The US Embassy in Hanoi is closely monitoring the development after the attack of Vietnam’s police in Dong Tam commune on January 9 and gathering information about the incident from different sources, according to the embassy’s reply to RFA.
Accordingly, the embassy is concerned about the deaths from the two sides in the violent clash between Vietnam’s security forces and residents in Hoanh village. It said it is important for the two sides to settle the dispute publicly, peacefully and transparently.
Last week, three American diplomats led by Michele Roulbet, head of the Political division of the embassy, met with land right activist Trinh Ba Phuong to collect information about the police attack in Hoanh village in which 84-year-old Le Dinh Kinh, the spiritual leader of Dong Tam commune’s residents, was brutally killed while the police said three police officers were also murdered. Phuong has close ties with Dong Tam people and the local residents have trust in the human rights defender.
On February 12, more than one month after the massacre, police came to Mr. Kinh’s house and met with his widow Du Thi Thanh, who was also detained and tortured on January 9. Police officers asked her to allow them to take away all the steel doors, to get a sample of their metal types. She denied their request, saying they were not allowed to take away anything from her house. It is likely police want to wipe out evidence of the attack because there were too many bullet marks left on Mr. Kinh’s house, including windows and doors.
On next day, police officers came to her house again with a summon, demanding her to present herself at the city’s Police Office at 8 am on February 14 but she told them that she would not go anywhere.
There are some independent reports about the police attack in Dong Tam commune on January 9. The first report was released by a group of activists named The Dong Tam Task Forces which consists of prominent dissident blogger Pham Doan Trang, American citizen William Nguyen, who was detained for one month for participation in the mass protest in Ho Chi Minh on June 10, 2018, and Amnesty International’s campaigner Nguyen Truong Son.
The second report was made by Dr. Hoang Xuan Phu, a professor at the Institute of Mathematics, a member of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology. Using his formidable analytical skills as a renown Professor in Mathematics, based on the evidence he gathered himself at the scenes where the attack happened, photos he took himself, photos and video clips circulated on the Internet, comparing that with the official version, Professor Phu came to the following findings (summary of key points):
The regime’s initial announcement on January 9 was “.. During the process of building a wall to protect Mieu Mon airport, in the morning of January 9, a number of opposing subjects, used grenades, petrol bombs, throwing knives… attacked law enforcement authorities, opposed those performing public duties, causing public disorder, as a result, three police officers sacrificed, one opposing subject died, another subject injured…”
According to Prof. Phu, the above announcement was a lie, as the attack happened in Hoanh village, several kilometers in distance from Mieu Mon airport, several hours before the actual construction of a wall in Mieu Mon airport started. Those behind the attack knew very well they had acted illegally, and so had to make up this lie to justify their attack on Dong Tam village. This also reflected their habit of disregarding the law and showing utter contempt towards the people.
Mr. Kinh had committed the sin of being… totally innocent. That was why ringleaders could not lock him up then bring him to court, they had to kill him when he was lying on his bed. That was why, as the exemplary Party member could not be expelled from the Party, his comrades had to execute him.
Meanwhile, the killing of Mr. Kinh hasn’t been subject to any legal criminal proceedings. Vietnam’s authorities cannot just focus on the crime of killing officers while they were performing public duties, but ignore the crime of killing people in the name of performing public duties.
===== February 20 =====
Eight Members of Hiến Pháp Group to Go to First-instance Hearing on March 10, 18 Months after Being Detained
Defend the Defenders: Vietnam’s communist regime has re-scheduled the first-instance hearing on March 10 to try eight members of the unregistered group Hiến Pháp (Constitution) on the allegation “disruption of security” under Article 118 of the country’s Criminal Code” for their intention to participate in a peaceful demonstration, Defend the Defenders has learned.
The open trial will be held in the headquarters of the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City, more than 18 months after kidnapping the activists and held them incommunicado without informing their families for months.
Earlier, the court postponed the trial set on January 14, saying the postpone was due to the request of Mr. Le Quy Loc, one of the defendants, for summoning witness(es). Some observers have linked the delay with the bloody attack of police in Dong Tam in which land rights activist Le Dinh Kinh was killed by riot police. The communist regime is likely willing to reduce social dissatisfaction after the police’s brutal campaign against land petitioners in the capital so they don’t want people to get more anger from lengthy sentences that would be given for the group members.
According to the court’s announcement, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hanh and Mrs. Hoang Thi Thu Vang are charged with the allegation of “disruption of security” under Clause 1 of Article 118 of the Criminal Code with imprisonment of between five and 15 years in prison. Six others named Mr. Do The Hoa, Mr. Ho Dinh Cuong, Mr. Tran Thanh Phuong, Mr. Ngo Van Dung, Mr. Le Quy Loc and Ms. Doan Thi Hong are subjected to the allegation under Clause 2 of the same article with imprisonment of between two and seven years if are convicted.
All of them were kidnapped by HCM City’s police on September 2-4, 2018 and held incommunicado for months. Their families had not been informed about their detentions and charges for months after they went to different state agencies and police stations to ask for their status and found out that they were kept by the city’s police.
Hiến Pháp (Constitution) is a group of activists working to educate the public about the human rights they are entitled to under Vietnam’s 2013 Constitution by disseminating the country’s 2013 Constitution among citizens. Its members were active during the mass demonstration in HCM City on June 10, 2018 in which tens of thousands of Vietnamese rallied on streets to protest the communist regime’s plan to approve two bills on Special Economic Zones and Cybersecurity.
In order to prevent similar protests in early September 2018, Vietnam’s security forces launched a big campaign to persecute local dissent and all members of the Hiến Pháp group became their targets. Two other members of the group named Huynh Truong Ca and Le Minh The were arrested and convicted of “conducting anti-state propaganda” and “abusing democratic freedom,” respectively while three others were forced to relocate in Thailand to avoid being arrested.
Defend the Defenders considers eight jailed members of the group as prisoners of conscience and the accusations against them are groundless.
It is expected that the activists would be convicted and sentenced to lengthy sentences after Vietnam’s communist regime got all it wants, including the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). On February 12, the European Parliament approved the pact, ignoring the call for postponing the agreement by numerous international and Vietnamese human rights groups. Although the EU says the pact may be postponed or terminated if Vietnam’s human rights record gets worsened, it is unlikely Hien Phap activists will be freed or receive light sentences.
Vietnam continues to be among the world’s biggest prisons for activists, holding at least 241 prisoners of conscience, including ten members of Hiến Pháp group, according to Defend the Defenders’ latest statistics.
===== February 21 =====
Khanh Hoa Court Upholds One-year Non-custodial Reform on Human Rights Lawyer Tran Vu Hai and His Wife for Tax Evasion
Defend the Defenders: On February 21, the People’s Court of Khanh Hoa province upheld the one year of non-custodial reform on human rights attorney Tran Vu Hai and his wife Ngo Tuyet Phuong on tax evasion charge under Article 161 of the 1999 Penal Code.
After one week, the court issued its final decision to keep the sentences given by the lower court, the People’s Court of Nha Trang City. Accordingly, Mr. Hai and his wife have to pay an administrative fine of VND20 million ($850) each for the crime they have not committed, according to the lawyers providing legal assistance for the experienced couple attorneys.
According to the indictment against them, they were accused of committing a tax evasion worth VND276 million in a property deal in 2014. Mr. Hai and his wife reportedly bought a land parcel from Khanh Hoa province-based citizenNgo Van Lam and Vietnamese Norwegian Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hanh. The deal value was about VND16 billion but the sellers reported to the local authorities just VND1.8 billion, by that way the sellers paid less tax for the deal. The province’s tax authorities had approved the deal.
Nearly two dozens lawyers took part in the appeal to protect Mr. Hai. Like in the first-instance hearing on November 15 last year, Khanh Hoa province’s authorities deployed a large number of police officers to block all the roads leading to the court areas and the lawyers were under strict security check-up before entering the courtroom. They were requested to leave all electrical devices, including laptops and cell phones outside. A few reporters of the state-run newspapers were allowed to enter the courtroom to cover the trial.
The defense lawyers said as buyers, Mr. Hai and his wife are not subjects for tax payment for the deal, and they are innocent since the province’s tax authorities approved the deal. Ms. Hanh is a citizen of Norway and the house she sold to Mr. Hai was the only house she owned so she is not required to pay tax for the deal, according to current Vietnam’s law.
Mr. Hai reported on his Facebook page that the judge ordered the representative of the Nha Trang tax authorities and the representative of the province’s Procuracy not to answer the questions of lawers.
Authorities in Khanh Hoa probed the case in early July last year and placed the four under restricted travel, including travel abroad. In addition, Khanh Hoa police also conducted searching Mr. Hai’s law office and private residence in Hanoi, in which they allegedly took away a large sum of money and documents from other cases.
It is clear that the allegation and convictions against Mr. Hai and his wife are political as recently the Ministry of Public Security denied Mr. Hai’s request for representing former prisoner of conscience Truong Duy Nhat who is accused of “power abuse” after being kidnapped in Bangkok and taken to Vietnam in late January.
Lawyer Hai is well-known for his participation in sensitive cases to represent victims of injustice, victims of forced land appropriation and political dissidents.
===== February 22 =====
Vietnamese Dissident Monk Who Was a Nobel Prize Nominee Dies at 93
AFP-JIJI: Thich Quang Do, a dissident Buddhist monk who has effectively been under house arrest since 2003 and was nominated multiple times for the Nobel Peace Prize, has died at age 93.
Head of the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, the vocal patriarch was born in 1928 in Thai Binh province and spent most of his life advocating for religious freedom and human rights in communist-run Vietnam.
His staunch activism landed him under what was effectively house arrest in 2003 in Ho Chi Minh City, where he was under constant surveillance.
Do died on Saturday night at Tu Hieu pagoda, UBCV announced on Sunday morning.
According to his will signed on April 2019, Do requested a “simple funeral, not more than three days.”
“After the cremation, my ashes will be scattered at sea,” said the statement quoting his will.
The UBCV also requested for followers not to bring money, as is customary for Vietnamese funerals. “There will be no final words, no biographies, no emotional showings … just praying.”
Do has long been a thorn on the side for communist-run Vietnam, and he has been nominated multiple times for the Nobel Peace Prize for his vocal advocacy for democracy.
In 2001, he wrote an “Appeal for Democracy” and also called on northern and southern dissidents to drop their cultural differences and unite in 2005.
He received Norway’s Rafto human rights award the following year for “his personal courage and perseverance through three decades of peaceful opposition against the communist regime in Vietnam.”
The UBVC has been banned since the early 1980s, when it refused to join the state-sanctioned Vietnam Buddhist Church.
Vietnam has long had an uneasy relationship with organized religion.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended to the State Department that Vietnam be designated as a “country of particular concern,” citing “systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom.”
======================