Human Rights Watch
Đăng bởi lúc 12:40 Sáng 10/01/13
VRNs (Jan 10th, 2013) – New York, USA – The conviction and harsh prison
sentences of 14 activists by the People’s Court of Nghe An province on January 9
marks a sharp escalation of government attacks on critics, Human Rights Watch
said today. The 14 should be released immediately, as should the prominent
blogger, Le Quoc Quan, arrested in late December.
The 14 were charged after attending a
training course in Bangkok held by the banned Viet Tan organization. Eleven
were charged with being members of Viet Tan, while three were charged with
actively participating in the organization. Viet Tan is an organization that in
the 1980s led a resistance movement against the Vietnamese communist government
but for the past few decades has worked for peaceful political reform,
democracy, and human rights in Vietnam.
As in numerous previous cases, the government relied
on loosely-worded national security laws – in this instance article 79 of the
penal code, which vaguely prohibits activities aimed at “overthrowing the
government” – to prosecute people engaged in the exercise of their fundamental
human rights.
Showing the sensitivity of the case, large
numbers of police were deployed at the court. Police detained a number of
bloggers who attempted to attend the trial.
“The conviction of yet more peaceful
activists is another example of a government that is increasingly afraid of the
opinions of its own people,” said Brad Adams, Asia
director at Human Rights Watch. “Instead of imprisoning critics, the Vietnamese
government should be honoring them for their efforts to address the myriad
problems facing the country that the government itself has also identified.”
The 14 convicted are Dang Ngoc Minh, Dang
Xuan Dieu, Ho Duc Hoa, Ho Van Oanh, Le Van Son, Nguyen Dang Minh Man, Nguyen
Dang Vinh Phuc, Nguyen Dinh Cuong, Nguyen Van Duyet, Nguyen Van Oai, Nguyen
Xuan Oanh, Nong Hung Anh, Thai Van Dung, and Tran Minh Nhat (for biographical
information on each, see the appendix). They were arrested between August and
December 2011 and held for more than a year before being put on trial.
A number of the defendants, including Nguyen
Xuan Anh, Nguyen Dinh Cuong, Ho Duc Hoa, and Dang Xuan Dieu, had participated
in volunteer activities in their local neighborhoods in Vinh, including
encouraging women not to have abortions, supporting the poor and people with
disabilities, founding the Vinh Human Development Foundation, and working to
protect the environment. Others, such as Nong Hung Anh, Thai Van Dung, Tran
Minh Nhat, Ho Van Oanh, Nguyen Van Oai, and Nguyen Van Duyet, have participated
in peaceful protests related to China or were involved in attempting to
manifest support of legal activist Cu Huy Ha Vu during the 2011 trial that
sentenced him to prison for the peaceful exercise of his fundamental rights.
Nguyen Van Oai, Nguyen Van Duyet, and Ho Van Oanh participated in activities
that protect workers’ rights in Binh Duong province, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh
City.
Three lesser known people in the group are
Dang Ngoc Minh, her daughter Nguyen Dang Minh Man, and her son Nguyen Dang Vinh
Phuc, from the city of Tra Vinh in Tra Vinh province. According to the
indictment, in April 2010, Dang Ngoc Minh and Nguyen Dang Minh Man “under the direction
of Viet Tan, bought black paint and painted the letters ‘HS.TS.VN’
on the outside of a sewer and on the wall” of an old school in Trung Ngai
commune, Vung Liem district, Vinh Long province “in order to incite people to
protest” so that they could take pictures and send them to the Viet Tan Party.
“HS.TS.VN” stands for
the Spratly and Paracel islands, one of the major sources of territorial
disputes between Vietnam and China, an issue which the Vietnamese authorities
deem highly sensitive.
Nguyen Dinh Cuong, Dang Xuan Dieu, Nong Hung
Anh, Thai Van Dung, and Tran Minh Nhat have blogged in favor of freedom of
expression and in support of the establishment of a multi-party and pluralist
political system. Before the trial, Dang Xuan Dieu said, “I have done nothing
contrary to my conscience, so although the authorities may punish me physically
and impose a severe sentence upon me, the government is only thereby trampling
on the eternal good morals of the Vietnamese nation, which as its affair is a
matter for which it must bear responsibility.”
Human Rights Watch said that the case of Le
Van Son (also known as Paulus Le Son), a 27-year-old blogger whose postings
reported on land disputes, assaults by local authorities on fellow activists,
police abuse, and discrimination against HIV patients, shows the misuse of the
courts for political purposes. Before he was arrested, Le Van Son tried to
observe the trials of other dissidents, such as the prominent legal activist Cu Huy Ha
Vu. As Le Van Son wrote in one posting,
“After all, those who are charged with ‘anti-government crimes’ are the ones
who use precious construction material to … point out the cracks, the holes and
the deep abyss in a political regime which faces the danger of collapse.”
Many of the 14 are affiliated with the
Redemptorist Thai Ha church in Hanoi and Ky Dong church in Ho Chi Minh City,
known for strongly backing bloggers and other peaceful religious and rights
activists. Over the last two years, both churches have regularly held prayer
vigils expressing support for those they consider prisoners of conscience and
detainees otherwise held for their political or religious belief. Dang Xuan
Dieu, Nguyen Dinh Cuong, Nguyen Van Duyet, Ho Van Oanh, Tran Minh Nhat, Thai
Van Dung, Nong Hung Anh, and Le Van Son either took media courses organized by
the Redemptorist churches or contributed writing to its website. The
Redemptorists, formally known as the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer,
are a Catholic missionary congregation founded in Italy in 1732 that currently
operate in more than 77 countries worldwide.
Redemptorist activists have been a growing
voice among Vietnamese movements for democracy and human rights in recent
years, especially in areas where they have a considerable presence, such as
Nghe An, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City. Some Redemptorist churches and parishes
have become centers of dissent. Religiously affiliated activists have been
targeted for arrest and other forms of
harassment and intimidation, including
restrictions on movement, violent assaults on individuals, and the deployment
of armed security forces around churches.
“It is not clear if those convicted were
targeted for alleged affiliations with Viet Tan, being members of the
Redemptorist church, or simply for their activism,” said Adams. “Whatever the
reason, the government appears despotic to its own people and the world when it
says that someone who tries to uphold the rights of others is a threat to the
state.”
The Case of Le Quoc Quan
Human Rights Watch also called for politically motivated charges to be dropped against prominent dissident Le Quoc Quan, who was arrested on December 27, 2012, nine days after he wrote an article entitled, “Constitution or a contract for electricity and water service?” The piece criticized the National Assembly for keeping article 4 in the new draft constitution and other issues related to the constitution. Article 4 states that the Communist Party has the leading role in Vietnam. Le Quoc Quan’s piece opened by stating, “I know my following lines will probably be thrown into a garbage can by the Communist Party. Worse, I may be put in prison. Nevertheless, my belief in human beings, the importance of the issue and the consciousness of a citizen urged me to write.” The piece was published on December 18 by the BBC.
Human Rights Watch also called for politically motivated charges to be dropped against prominent dissident Le Quoc Quan, who was arrested on December 27, 2012, nine days after he wrote an article entitled, “Constitution or a contract for electricity and water service?” The piece criticized the National Assembly for keeping article 4 in the new draft constitution and other issues related to the constitution. Article 4 states that the Communist Party has the leading role in Vietnam. Le Quoc Quan’s piece opened by stating, “I know my following lines will probably be thrown into a garbage can by the Communist Party. Worse, I may be put in prison. Nevertheless, my belief in human beings, the importance of the issue and the consciousness of a citizen urged me to write.” The piece was published on December 18 by the BBC.
Le Quoc Quan’s arrest is only the latest in a
long series of efforts by the authorities to put an end to his advocacy for
human rights and the rule of law, including efforts to turn the official promise
of religious freedom into reality. He has been a prolific blogger on a wide
variety of subjects, ranging from law to Vietnam’s relations with China. He was imprisoned for a period in 2007, repeatedly threatened with re-arrest
after release, subject to police interrogation and detention,
and beaten up by mysterious assailants. Politically
motivated charges of tax evasion have been used to imprison other political
dissidents, including blogger Nguyen Van Hai (a.k.a Dieu Cay). Two of Le Quoc Quan’s relatives, his
brother Le Dinh Quan and his cousin Nguyen Thi Oanh, have been detained as a
result of the same allegation. His arrest followed shortly after he circulated
a commentary condemning constitutional guarantees of Communist Party leadership
of the Vietnamese political system.
“The government has targeted Le Quoc Quan
because of the power of his ideas and the fact that many people in Vietnam agree
with him,” said Adams. “It is time for Vietnam’s donors to tell the government
that it can no longer conduct business as usual while it keeps locking up
people whose only crime is wanting the right to speak their minds and set the
country on the path of democracy.”
Human Rights Watch
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