5 Win Prestigious
Hellman/Hammett Awards
December
20, 2012
From
left to right: Nguyen Huu Vinh, Vu Quoc Tu, Pham Minh Hoang
From
left to right: © Nguyen Huu Vinh, © Vu Quoc Tu, © Pham Minh Hoang
Huynh
Ngoc Tuan (left), Huynh Thuc Vy (right)
Left:
© Huynh Ngoc Tuan; Right: © Huynh Thuc Vy
Related
Materials:
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(New
York) – Five Vietnamese bloggers are
among an extraordinary group of 41 people from 19 countries who have received
the prestigious Hellman/Hammett award recognizing writers who demonstrate
courage and conviction in the face of political persecution. They are Huynh Ngoc Tuan,
Huynh Thuc Vy, Nguyen Huu Vinh, Pham Minh Hoang, and Vu Quoc Tu (short
biographies below).
“Like
other Vietnamese exercising their right to free expression, many of the
country’s growing corps of bloggers are increasingly threatened, assaulted, or
even jailed for peacefully expressing their views,” said Brad Adams,
Asia director at Human Rights Watch, which administers the annual
Hellman/Hammett awards. “By recognizing these five brave men and women, who
have already suffered much and face on-going threats to their basic rights, we
are honored to amplify the voices the ruling Vietnamese Communist Party wants
to prevent from participating in public discussions of Vietnam’s many social
and political problems.”
This
year’s Vietnamese award-winners reflect the diversity of sectors in Vietnamese
society whose critical and concerned voices the government wishes to silence:
advocate of religious freedom Nguyen Huu Vinh (who blogs as J.B Nguyen Huu
Vinh); rights defender Pham Minh Hoang (who blogs as Phan Kien Quoc); freelance
journalist Vu Quoc Tu (known as Uyen Vu); novelist Huynh Ngoc Tuan; and the
youthful political, social commentator Huynh Thuc Vy. All five have been
persecuted for their writings.
Human
Rights Watch said that the Vietnamese government systematically suppresses
freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, and persecutes those
who question government policies, expose official corruption, or call for
democratic alternatives to one-party rule. Writers and bloggers often face
lengthy prison terms imposed by “people’s courts,” temporary police detention
and onerous interrogation, intrusive surveillance by various authorities,
restrictions on domestic travel and prohibitions on leaving the country,
beatings by security officials and anonymous thugs, fines, and denial of
opportunities for livelihood.
On
December 16, 2012, the police at Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh city
prohibited blogger Huynh Trong Hieu from leaving Vietnam for the United States
to receive the 2012 Hellman/Hammett awards on behalf of his father, Huynh Ngoc
Tuan, and his sister Huynh Thuc Vy, and confiscated his passport. According to
the police, they acted upon a request from the police of Quang Nam province
where the Huynh family resides. Two other 2012 Hellman/Hammett recipients,
bloggers Nguyen Huu Vinh and Vu Quoc Tu, have been also prohibited from leaving
the country (Nguyen Huu Vinh in August 2012 and Vu Quoc Tu in May 2010). Blogger Pham Minh Hoang
is serving a three-year probation term, which restricts his movement within his
residential ward.
In
a recent case, the three founders of Vietnam’s Club of Free Journalistsand former
Hellman/Hammett awardees, Nguyen Van Hai (who blogs as Dieu Cay), Ta Phong Tan,
and Phan Thanh Hai (who blogs as Anhbasg), were sentenced to imprisonmenton September 24, 2012,
for “propaganda against the state.” That same month, politically beleaguered
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung ordered the Ministry of Public Security to
target blogs and websites not approved by the authorities, punish those who
create them, and prohibit state employees to read and/or disseminate
information published on these websites.
“As
Vietnam’s government escalates its repression of an increasingly outspoken online
community, it is more important than ever for the world to celebrate the work
of the five Vietnamese recipients of this year’s Hellman/Hammett awards,” Adams
said. “The world’s democracies should not just continue with business as usual
in Vietnam. Instead, they should make the release of all writers and political
prisoners a condition of good relations.”
Human
Rights Watch also commemorated the life and work of the 1994 Hellman/Hammett
award winning poet Nguyen Chi Thien, who died in exile on October 2,
2012. Revered as one of Vietnam’s greatest political poets, Nguyen Chi
Thien symbolized personal courage and determination despite every effort by
Vietnamese authorities to silence him over many decades. Nguyen Chi Thien was
first detained in 1960 for questioning the Communist Party’s version of
history. In 1979, during one of his brief periods of freedom, he barged his way
into the British embassy in Hanoi to make available to the world hundreds of
poems he had composed in his head and memorized while previously in detention,
knowing that he would be arrested again. The poems were published under the
title “Flowers from Hell,” becoming a worldwide literary sensation as he indeed
languished in another series of Vietnamese jails.
About the Hellman/Hammett Awards
The Hellman/Hammett awards are given annually to writers around the world who have been targets of political persecution or human rights abuses. A distinguished selection committee awards the cash grants to honor and assist writers whose work and activities have been suppressed by repressive government policies.
The
grants are named for the American playwright Lillian Hellman and her longtime
companion, the novelist Dashiell Hammett. Both were questioned by US
congressional committees about their political beliefs and affiliations during
the aggressive anti-communist investigations inspired by Sen. Joseph McCarthy
in the 1950s. Hellman suffered professionally and had trouble finding work.
Hammett spent time in prison.
In
1989, the trustees appointed in Hellman’s will asked Human Rights Watch to
devise a program to help writers who were targeted for expressing views that
their governments oppose, for criticizing government officials or actions, or
for writing about subjects that their governments did not want reported.
Over
the past 23 years, more than 750 writers from 92 countries have received
Hellman/Hammett grants of up to US$10,000 each, totaling more than $3 million.
The program also gives small emergency grants to writers who have an urgent
need to leave their country or who need immediate medical treatment after
serving prison terms or enduring torture.
“The
Hellman/Hammett grants aim to help writers who have suffered because they
published information or expressed ideas that criticize policy or offend people
in power,” said Lawrence Moss, coordinator of the Hellman/Hammett grant
program. “Many of the writers honored by these grants share a common purpose
with Human Rights Watch: to protect the rights of vulnerable people by shining
a light on abuses and building pressure for change.”
For the biographies of all writers publically awarded 2012 Hellman/Hammett
grants, please visit: http://www.hrw.org/node/112138
Nominations for 2013 Hellman/Hammett grants are due by February 15, 2013.
More information on the Hellman/Hammett program, and the
2013 nomination form, are available at: http://www.hrw.org/hhgrants/nominations
For more Human Rights Watch reporting on Vietnam, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/asia/vietnam
http://www.hrw.org/asia/vietnam
For more information, please contact:
In Washington, DC, John Sifton (English): +1-646-479-2499 (mobile);
or siftonj@hrw.org. Follow on
twitter @johnsifton
In New York, Lawrence Moss (English), +1-212-216-1810; or +1-212-228-4272(mobile); or mossl@hrw.org
In Boston, Phil Robertson (English, Thai): +1-917-378-4097 (mobile); or robertp@hrw.org. Follow on twitter @Reaproy
In San Francisco, Brad Adams (English): +1-510-926-8443 (mobile); or adamsb@hrw.org.Follow on twitter @BradAdamsHRW
In New York, Lawrence Moss (English), +1-212-216-1810; or +1-212-228-4272(mobile); or mossl@hrw.org
In Boston, Phil Robertson (English, Thai): +1-917-378-4097 (mobile); or robertp@hrw.org. Follow on twitter @Reaproy
In San Francisco, Brad Adams (English): +1-510-926-8443 (mobile); or adamsb@hrw.org.Follow on twitter @BradAdamsHRW
Biographies and
Writings of Vietnamese 2012 Hellman/Hammett Winners
Huynh Ngoc Tuan
Huynh Ngoc Tuan has written dozens of influential articles, commentaries, and a novella exposing social injustice and government repression. His writings promote human rights, democracy, and what he believes are the virtues of a multi-party political system. He was arrested in October 1992 for attempting to send abroad a novella and several short stories critical of government policies, for which he was charged with conducting propaganda against the Socialist state. In April 1993 he was sentenced to 10 years in prison, followed by another four years of probation that restricted his movement and activities. He nevertheless resumed his dissident actions, writing a memoir detailing his 10 years in various prisons. In 2007, he joined the pro-democracy grouping Bloc 8406.
Huynh Ngoc Tuan has written dozens of influential articles, commentaries, and a novella exposing social injustice and government repression. His writings promote human rights, democracy, and what he believes are the virtues of a multi-party political system. He was arrested in October 1992 for attempting to send abroad a novella and several short stories critical of government policies, for which he was charged with conducting propaganda against the Socialist state. In April 1993 he was sentenced to 10 years in prison, followed by another four years of probation that restricted his movement and activities. He nevertheless resumed his dissident actions, writing a memoir detailing his 10 years in various prisons. In 2007, he joined the pro-democracy grouping Bloc 8406.
In 2011, the police searched Huynh Ngoc Tuan’s house and
confiscated a computer, computer accessories, and paper notebooks. He was fined
100,000,000.00Vietnamese Dong (about US$5,000) for using information technology
to conduct propaganda against the state. Police pressure has made it impossible
for Huynh Ngoc Tuan to obtain a secure job. Two of Huynh Ngoc Tuan’s children,
Huynh Thuc Vy and Huynh Trong Hieu, are prominent young bloggers in their own
right. They also suffer from police surveillance, intimidation, interrogation,
and other forms of police harassment, such as confiscation of cameras and cell
phones.
“In Vietnam, what dominates all social
relations is not the law, but the will of the Communist Party. The Party has
absolute power to make all decisions, ranging from the destiny of the nation to
economic, culture and daily life of the people. The Party has ‘hard’ power
including a prison system, a powerful police force, a big army and a system of
‘Law’ designed to serve this power. The Party also possesses ‘soft’ power
including national resources, the press and media and the state-owned religious
churches. It controls and dominates society using both ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ power
in an attempt to turn the people into a herd of sheep, or a kind of puppet that
is ignorant, powerless or complicit”.
– Huynh Ngoc Tuan, 2012
Huynh Thuc Vy
Huynh Ngoc Tuan’s daughter Huynh Thuc Vy is a young political blogger whose writing has spread extensively on the internet. Due to her father’s status as a political prisoner, Huynh Thuc Vy suffered discrimination during her childhood. She began publishing articles on the foreign-based website Dan Chim Viet in late 2008. Touching upon various social and political issues, Huynh Thuc Vy’s writing promotes a multi-party political system, freedom, and democracy, and urges young people to become socially and politically engaged. While teaching herself law, Huynh Thuc Vy has emerged as a proponent of a society run by rule of law and written in support of legal activists who have been imprisoned for their peaceful activism.
Huynh Ngoc Tuan’s daughter Huynh Thuc Vy is a young political blogger whose writing has spread extensively on the internet. Due to her father’s status as a political prisoner, Huynh Thuc Vy suffered discrimination during her childhood. She began publishing articles on the foreign-based website Dan Chim Viet in late 2008. Touching upon various social and political issues, Huynh Thuc Vy’s writing promotes a multi-party political system, freedom, and democracy, and urges young people to become socially and politically engaged. While teaching herself law, Huynh Thuc Vy has emerged as a proponent of a society run by rule of law and written in support of legal activists who have been imprisoned for their peaceful activism.
After the Huynh family home was searched and
computer equipment and notebooks seized, Huynh Thuc Vy was fined 85,000,000.000
Vietnamese Dong (about US$4,250). Like her father, she has difficulty finding
gainful employment because of police pressure.
“In Vietnam, one has to vote whether one wants
to or not. Who you vote for is not important. It does not affect or change any
national matter, whether big or small. It also has nothing to do with the life
of any particular community of normal people.…
“To remain silent before such absurdity is to agree with
such absurdity. It means a lack of responsibility to oneself and to society and
the country. We must choose for ourselves a progressive society in which the
right to vote and the right to run for an election must be carried out in a
meaningful, democratic and just manner.” – Huynh Thuc Vy, 2011
Nguyen Huu Vinh
Nguyen Huu Vinh (also known as Jean Baptiste Nguyen Huu Vinh or J.B Nguyen Huu Vinh) is a prominent Catholic blogger advocating freedom of religion and fundamental human rights. He writes about such topics of great public concern as land confiscation, police brutality, abusive government policies, and repression of church and religious freedom. He is also well known for having written a five-part series of reports narrating in detail the appeal trial of prominent legal activist Dr. Cu Huy Ha Vu. In addition, Nguyen Huu Vinh composes poetry and short fiction commenting on social and political issues. His 2012 blogs have included the four-part satire “Meeting President Obama,” with himself as protagonist, in which he encounters Obama in a dream and the two of them discuss issues like freedom of speech and freedom of press.
Nguyen Huu Vinh (also known as Jean Baptiste Nguyen Huu Vinh or J.B Nguyen Huu Vinh) is a prominent Catholic blogger advocating freedom of religion and fundamental human rights. He writes about such topics of great public concern as land confiscation, police brutality, abusive government policies, and repression of church and religious freedom. He is also well known for having written a five-part series of reports narrating in detail the appeal trial of prominent legal activist Dr. Cu Huy Ha Vu. In addition, Nguyen Huu Vinh composes poetry and short fiction commenting on social and political issues. His 2012 blogs have included the four-part satire “Meeting President Obama,” with himself as protagonist, in which he encounters Obama in a dream and the two of them discuss issues like freedom of speech and freedom of press.
Nguyen Huu Vinh has been subjected to
intrusive surveillance, intimidation, interrogation, and detention. He has been
assaulted twice by unknown thugs: first, in January 2010, for reporting police
ill-treatment of parishioners during a land dispute between Dong Chiem parish
and the local government; then, in July 2012, for blogging reports about
anti-China protests at Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi. In August 2012, the authorities
prohibited Nguyen Huu Vinh from leaving Vietnam to accompany his mother on a
medical trip to Singapore.
I am walking along the road
What changes in the last sixty years do I see?
On the side, new villas are being constructed
Syringes and needles are thrown on the path
Drug addicts hang out nearby
They are the children and grandchildren of
peasants
I asked what happened
They responded that there are many development
projects
Fertile rice fields in the old days
Have become parts of these projects to please
the leader
I am not sure if I was awake or in a nightmare
The countryside is “reformed,” yet individual
family is destroyed
The old master of the land before, the
peasants
Now become landless wanderers
A class of land petitioners grows every day
They used to toil the field,
Today they are drifting on urban streets… – Nguyen Huu Vinh, 2012
Pham Minh Hoang
Pham Minh Hoang (who blogs as Phan Kien Quoc) previously taught applied science at the Ho Chi Minh City Polytechnic University. In his blog, he has written about social and political issues, including workers’ rights, national destruction of Vietnamese cultural heritage sites, and environmental pollution. He has conducted free “soft” skills courses for young people, teaching them how to build self-confidence and how to form scientific views so they can be prepared for future careers. According to state media, in these courses, Pham Minh Hoang allegedly taught young people about civil disobedience.
Pham Minh Hoang (who blogs as Phan Kien Quoc) previously taught applied science at the Ho Chi Minh City Polytechnic University. In his blog, he has written about social and political issues, including workers’ rights, national destruction of Vietnamese cultural heritage sites, and environmental pollution. He has conducted free “soft” skills courses for young people, teaching them how to build self-confidence and how to form scientific views so they can be prepared for future careers. According to state media, in these courses, Pham Minh Hoang allegedly taught young people about civil disobedience.
Pham Minh Hoang was arrested on August 13,
2010, for his alleged affiliation with the officially-proscribed Viet Tan
party, a group that once espoused rebellion against the communist government
but later changed its approach to peaceful resistance. Human Rights Watch has
found no evidence that Pham Minh Hoang has advocated or participated in violent
action against the government. Instead, according to state media itself, Pham
Minh Hoang’s “crime” is having written “33 articles that distort the policies
and guidelines of the Party and the State.” He was convicted on August 10,
2011, by the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City for “conducting activities to
subvert the administration.” He was sentenced under article 79 of the
Vietnamese penal code to three years in prison, to be followed by three years
on probation. During his appeal trial on November 29, 2011, the People’s
Supreme Court reduced his sentence to 17 months, as a result of which Pham Minh
Hoang was released on January 13, 2012. However, he is currently serving his
three years of probation, which confines his movement to the residential ward
where he lives.
“For a long time, Vietnam’s human labor has
been among the cheapest in the world. This has attracted many investors,
primarily for labor-intensive industries. Now, Vietnam has become a big
processing [country] in the region. The consequence of cheap labor is that the
life of the worker becomes worse and worse. This leads to disputes, conflicts
and collective work stoppages.
“If the state does not have a mechanism to protect
laborers and keeps running after growth statistics, these conflicts will never
end. Vietnam will never get rid of the processing status with its usual risk,
uncertainty and dependency.
“Workers and peasants are not the only victims of the cost of political stability and economic growth. Another serious harm is environmental pollution, which has been and will continue to destroy the health of millions of people in the months and years to come.”
“Workers and peasants are not the only victims of the cost of political stability and economic growth. Another serious harm is environmental pollution, which has been and will continue to destroy the health of millions of people in the months and years to come.”
– Pham Minh Hoang, 2009
Vu Quoc Tu
Vu Quoc Tu (who writes as Uyen Vu) is a freelance journalist and a blogger. He worked for state-controlled magazines in the 1990s and started to blog in the mid-2000s. Vu Quoc Tu was a founding member of the Club for Free Journalists established in September 2007 to promote freedom of expression and independent journalism. During the first few months of its existence, club members covered newsworthy stories and events that were either suppressed or ignored by Vietnamese officialdom and the government-controlled media. For example, they covered wild-cat strikes by industrial workers in Binh Duong province, the trials of prominent dissidents such as Le Thi Cong Nhan and Nguyen Van Dai, 2008 street protests against the Beijing Olympics, land disputes between Catholic churches and local administrations, and the 2007 protests by Buddhist monks in Burma. Three other members of Club for Free Journalists have received Hellman /Hammett awards in the past: bloggers Nguyen Van Hai (known as Dieu Cay), Phan Thanh Hai (known as Anh Ba Sai Gon or Anhbasg) and Ta Phong Tan, all of whom are currently serving prison sentences for exercising their right to freedom of expression.
Vu Quoc Tu (who writes as Uyen Vu) is a freelance journalist and a blogger. He worked for state-controlled magazines in the 1990s and started to blog in the mid-2000s. Vu Quoc Tu was a founding member of the Club for Free Journalists established in September 2007 to promote freedom of expression and independent journalism. During the first few months of its existence, club members covered newsworthy stories and events that were either suppressed or ignored by Vietnamese officialdom and the government-controlled media. For example, they covered wild-cat strikes by industrial workers in Binh Duong province, the trials of prominent dissidents such as Le Thi Cong Nhan and Nguyen Van Dai, 2008 street protests against the Beijing Olympics, land disputes between Catholic churches and local administrations, and the 2007 protests by Buddhist monks in Burma. Three other members of Club for Free Journalists have received Hellman /Hammett awards in the past: bloggers Nguyen Van Hai (known as Dieu Cay), Phan Thanh Hai (known as Anh Ba Sai Gon or Anhbasg) and Ta Phong Tan, all of whom are currently serving prison sentences for exercising their right to freedom of expression.
Vu Quoc Tu writes about social, economic, and
political issues. He has also reviewed the Vietnamese translation of Orwell’s Animal
Farm and the dissident poetry of Tran Vang Sao and Bui Chat. He has voiced
support for imprisoned fellow writer Nguyen Van Hai.
Vu Quoc Tu lives with his wife, Le Ngoc Ho
Diep, who blogs as Trang Dem. The couple has been subjected to intensive police
harassment, including intrusive surveillance, interrogation, and beating. On
May 1, 2010, police detained Vu Quoc Tu and Le Ngoc Ho Diep at Tan Son Nhat
airport in Ho Chi Minh City as they were boarding a plane to Bangkok to go on honeymoon.
The police held and interrogated them for several hours and forbade them from
traveling abroad, contending this was necessary to protect Vietnam’s national
security. Police pressures have also prevented Vu Quoc Tu from securing
employment in Vietnam.
“… our participation in protests was a way
to peacefully express our views. But the enthusiasm of Vietnamese youth from
Hanoi to Saigon was rejected. Peaceful protests were crushed. I lost my job.
Many others lost a place to live or a job to earn their living. The most
enthusiastic protesters face the most difficulties. Some left our country…
Patriotic people look at one another in reservation. But I still believe that
these spirited young people, no matter how few of them, are like swallow that
signal a Spring is coming for the country of Vietnam.” – Vu Quoc Tu, 2009
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