Hanoi, 14 April 2012
In the first 3 months of 2012, the human rights situation in Vietnam continued to worsen rapidly. After the crackdowns and arrests of 2011, the government of Vietnam, in 2012, continues to persecute, harass, detain and prosecute many religious, democracy and human rights activists. To maintain its absolute power, the Vietnamese Communist government continues to violate Vietnam’s Constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The dialogue on human rights between Vietnam and other nations had not brought improvements. Now, the Vietnamese communist government replaces Myanmar as the worst human rights violator in SouthEast Asia. All crimes must be condemned and punished. On behalf of those oppressed by the Vietnamese government and the imprisoned dissidents, I urge all foreign diplomatic missions in Hanoi, all foreign parliaments and governments, and all international human right organizations to speak up for the victims of human rights violations in Vietnam and to urge the Vietnamese government to immediately stop all the persecution.
Below is the list of human rights violations by the communist government of Vietnam
Following the arrest of professor Dinh Dang Dinh on 10-21, 2011, Hanoi police detained Mr Nguyen Trung Linh on 1-17, 2012 for helping Mr Dinh to form the Democracy and Freedom party. But the police did not put Mr Nguyen Trung Linh in prison while investigating the charge; instead they threw him into the Central Psychiatric Hospital 1, as they did with Pastor Than Van Truong in 2005 and attorney Bui Kim Thanh in 2006. From April 2011 until he was arrested, I met Mr Linh 3 times and can attest to his normal physical and mental health. His wife and relatives were so threatened and terrorised that they dare not contact others or answer any interview.
On 2-2,2012, when Falun Gong practitioners assembled at the Le Van Tam Park, in the Dakao ward of Saigon District 1, the police beat them up then arrested five of them. Four were released after several hours of questioning but Vu Van Tinh, 29, has yet to be released. His family has not yet received any notification from the police.
In the morning of May 2, the police of Phu Yen Province detained Mr. Tran Cong (also known as Phan Van Thu), said to be the leader of the Bia Son Council of Public Law, an organization that the police considers reactionary and intending to overthrow the government. Then the police continued to arrest others, including Mr. Doan Dinh Nam, Doan Van Cu, Le Duc Dong, Le Duy Loc, Le Phuc, Le Trong Cu, Nguyen Ky Lac, Phan Thanh Truong, Ta Park, Tran Phi Dung, Tran Quan, Vo Ngoc Cu, Vo Thanh Le, Vuong Tan Son. The police have started their prosecution under Article 258, “Abuse of democratic freedoms and infringing upon the interests of the State …”.
On March 6, 2012, the Nghe An province court sentenced Ms Vo Thi Thu Thuy to 5 years and Mr Nguyen Van Thanh to 3 years in prison for the crime of “propaganda against the state”, under Article 88 of the Penal Code. All they did were collecting news and reports on the situation at the Tam Toa parish in Quang Binh province, and reporting on the land dispute between the people and the government.
On March 13, the Dien Bien province court tried and sentenced eight Hmong Protestants from 20 to 30 months in prison for the crime of “disrupting security” under Article 89 of the Penal Code. The reason was that these eights had gathered thousands of Hmong Protestants in Muong Nhe in Dien Bien province to pray and wait for the appearance of the Lord Jesus.
In mid-March, 2012, over 100 households in the Con Dau parish of Da Nang received notice of land appropriation. The government will carry out the confiscation after 15 days. The Con Dau Parish priest also received government notice to cede the cemetery. The land dispute between the Con Dau parish and the state began in 2010 and has led to protests by the parishioners. Dozens have been arrested and interrogated, and nearly 100 have fled to Thailand through Laos to seek refuge.
On March 17, 2012, the Cho Moi district police, An Giang Province, mobilized more than 100 officers and civilian guards to surround the Quang Minh Buddhist temple. The aim was to prevent Hoa Hao Buddhist followers to take part in the memorial on the anniversary of its founder, Huynh Phu So. Every year, on the occasion of this Hoa Hao Buddhist celebration, the An Giang police always organised siege to prevent Hoa Hao followers from participating.
On March 5, 2012, after more than 15 months of detention, the Saigon city procuracy finally issued visitation papers to the family of blogger Nguyen Van Hai. On March 16, 2012, Hai’s wife and son arrived at prison camp B34 for the visit. There, the police pressured his son to sign over the papers giving temporary custody of Hai’s assets to the government. When his son refused, they were denied visitation. This is a violation of the law because the Procuracy had issued the permit, and the visitation process should be handled by the prison administration. But the police prevented this. Hai’s wife has lodged a complaint with the Procuracy.
On March 26, 2012, the Gia Lai province court tried Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh on the charge of “undermining the unity policy” under Article 87 of the Penal Code. The pastor was sentenced to 11 years in prison. This is an extremely harsh sentence because Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh only did missionary work for the Lutheran Church among the ethnic minorities of Tay Nguyen. He also worked on helping poor families of the Republic of Vietnam veterans. Before that he had urged other montagnard Protestant groups to join the Mennonite Church.
On March 28, the Appellate Supreme Court began hearings on the case of Pastor Nguyen Trung Ton and Ms. Ho Bich Khuong. After an hour of debate, the Court of Appeal adjourned for re-investigation. Previously, on December 29, 2011, the Nghe An Province Court sentenced pastor Nguyen Trung Ton to two years in prison and two years of house arrest. Ms. Ho Bich Khuong received 5 years in prison and three years of house arrest. During the hearings, Mrs Ho Bich Khuong informed her family and the court that the Nghe An prison guards repeatedly opened her cell door so other inmates can come in and beat her. The reason these two people were arrested and sentenced to prison, was because they had written articles against corruption, expressed their views about democracy and criticised government policies.
On March 19, 2012, the Quang Nam People’s Committee rejected the appeal of Mr Huynh Ngoc Tuan and his children Huynh Thuc Vy and Huynh Trong Hieu. Mr Huynh Ngoc Tuan and his children had written many articles expressing their views about democracy on the internet. As a result, on December 2, 2011, the Quang Nam People’s Committee decided to impose administrative sanctions on them for a total amount of 270 million VND (equivalent to approximately 12 thousand eight hundred US dollars). On March 21, 2012, the Quang Nam People’s Committee ordered appropriation of the Huynh Ngoc Tuan family’s assets and incomes for a period of 10 days.
Report on the political prisoners
On November 30, 2011, Nguyen Xuan Nghia and Pham Van Troi, inmates at the Nam Ha prison, were placed in solitary confinement for a period of 3 months. The reason was that when watching the news on TV, they made comments critical of Vietnam’s leaders as incompetent and corrupted. On February 29, 2012, Nam Ha prison extended the solitary confinement period for another 3 months, for these two prisoners. Fortunately, on March 5, 2012, the police moved these two prisoners, along with eight others, from the Nam Ha prison to the Thanh Chuong prison camp No. 6, in Nghe An province. There, they were no longer placed in solitary confinement. March 25, 2012, Nguyen Xuan Nghia’s wife and son were allowed visitations and were told by him that the condition during his solitary confinement was extremely harsh; his cell was very small, about 7m2, with only one small ventilation hole, no light and no power even at night. Many times he contemplated suicide from the psychological stress.
The situation in Tay Nguyen
In Dak Lak province, there are about 20 ethnic Ede Protestants who have completed their prison sentence and about 50 others currently imprisoned at Phu Son prison in Thai Nguyen, Nam Ha prison in Ha Nam, Lam Son prison in Thanh Hoa, Thanh Chuong prison in Nghe An, and Phu Yen prison in Phu Yen. Life is very difficult for the families of these political and religious prisoners. From October 2011, the Prisoners Of Conscience Fund in Australia, through Mr. Mai Xuan Tuan of Buon Me Thuot city, Mr. Y Het Nie of Tien village (Ea Tleo precint, Cu Kuin district, Dak Lak province) and Ms Hbak Rcam of PoC village (PoC Ea precint, Cu Mgar district, Dak Lak province) has provided financial assistance to these families and other prisoners families who are struggling. The purpose was to help them buy food and medicine, and pay for their children school fees. When the Dak Lak police found out, from Feb 3 to 9 of 2012, they detained and interrogated Mai Xuan Tuan, Y Het Nie, Hbak Rcam, Y Wo Nie (just released from prison), Ms Hmuen Bya and others. The police searched their houses and confiscated their phones and cameras. They conducted the interrogations from 8 am to 11 pm without providing food and water. The police forced them to admit to receiving money from POCF to dissent against the State. Throughout several days of questioning, these people adamantly denied the accusation. The police beat them and threatened to rape Ms Rcam Hbak causing her having severe psychological distress for several days. On February 10, they were released. This incident was reported to the Australian Embassy and other diplomatic missions in Hanoi. On February 29, a delegation from the Australian Embassy and Consulate General came to Dak Lak to investigate. On February 28, learning of the Australian delegation arrival, the police returned the cameras and phones to Mr. Mai Xuan Tuan, Y Het Nie and Y Wo Nie and told them, when meeting with the Australian delegation, to say that the government had treated them kindly. The delegation has met with Mr. Mai Xuan Tuan and Pastor E Ky Eban. Since then, the police no longer harass Mr Mai Xuan Tuan, Y Het Nie and Y Wo Nie. But with Ms Hbak Rcam, Ms Hmuen Bya, and other political prisoners’ wives, the police regularly beat and threatened them and prevented them from going out. The Dak Lak police make lives of the prisoners’ families extremely difficult.
