Defend the Defenders | 13/10/2014
Defenders’ Weekly
Political prisoner Le Van Tinh was arrested in 1996 together with 45 others in Thailand-Cambodia border and was deported to Vietnam. After three years of detaining, he was sentenced to 20 years in jail and five years under house arrest for “fleeing abroad with aim to act against the people’s government.” On Sept 27, he was released 26 months before his term ends.
Truong Minh Tam, an anti-China activist known with nickname Truong Ba Khong, completed his one-year imprisonment this week. He was arrested on Oct 7 last year and accused of a financial fraud. Later, he was sentenced for the accusation he always reiterated that he has not conducted.
Katherine Lawson, an officer of the International Religious Freedom under the U.S. Department of State is visiting Vietnam on Oct 4-11. During her stay in Vietnam, she meets a number of state agencies, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Government Committee for Religions as well as some religious organizations in Hanoi, Gia Lai and Ho Chi Minh City to investigate religious freedom in the communist nation.
On Oct 7-8, hundreds of farmers from Hanoi, Ninh Binh, Haiphong, Quang Ninh, HCM City, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Tien Giang, An Giang, Dong Thap, Dak Nong and Dak Lak whose land was illegally seized by local authorities gathered before the front of the buildings of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, Nhan Dan/People’s newspaper and other state agencies in Hanoi to demand the communist government to return the land ownership to people.
and other interesting news during the week.
******6/10/2014******
Vietnam Civil Societíe Support Hong Kong Democratic Protests
On Oct 5, 22 Vietnamese unsanctioned civil societies agreed to sign a joint statement to support the democratic protests of Hong Kong students and residents. In their statement, these civil societies expressed their admiration and reaffirmed that Hong Kong is the good example that Vietnam should follow.
The Vietnamese civil societies praised peaceful purposes of Hong Kong students’ protests and their good organizational skills, the support of students’ parents and teachers. They also raised concerns over Beijing’s hiring of thugs to supress students.
The Vietnamese civil societies called on local residents to follow peaceful people in Tiananmen, Hong Kong, Tibet and Northern Africa to uprise against dictarship and protect the country from China’s expansionism.
RFI: Xã hội dân sự Việt Nam ủng hộ phong trào dân chủ Hồng Kông
BBC: Có 22 tổ chức VN ‘ủng hộ biểu tình HK’
******7/10/2014******
Activists Visit Former Political Le Van Tinh in Hoa Hao Village
On Oct 6, a delegation of the Former Vietnamese Prisoners of Conscience and the Human Rights Women Association, led by former political prisoner Pham Ba Hai visited Mr. Le Van Tinh, who was released on Oct 27, 26 months before his term ends.
In Oct, 2008, political prisoner Pham Ba Hai was transferred from B34 Prison of the Ministry of Public Security to Z30 in Xuan Loc in Dong Nai province. Due to his regular protests against prison’s inhumane treatment, Hai was placed in a special zone for political prisoners. He shared a small cell with maximum security with three long-term prisoners namely Ho Duc Long, Le Kim Hung and Le Van Tinh.
Mr. Tinh was born in 1941. Before the country’s reunification in 1975, he was a member of the parliament of the South Vietnam. When communists soldiers invaded Saigon, he decided not to go abroad but to stay to seek ways to rescue the country. However, he was arrested and sent to re-educational camp until 1984. In 1995, he joined the People’s Action Party led by Nguyen Si Binh, and was elected to head the party’s unit in Cambodia.
In 1996, he was arrested together with 45 others party’s members and was deported to Vietnam. After three years of detaining, he was sentenced to 20 years in jail and five years under house arrest for “fleeing abroad with aim to act against the people’s government.”
The Former Vietnamese Prisoners of Conscience and the Human Rights Women Association gifted him VND3 million.
CTNLT: VỀ LÀNG HÒA HẢO VIẾNG THĂM NGƯỜI TÙ 28 NĂM LÊ VĂN TÍNH
==============
Former Prisoner of Conscience Tran Duc Thach under Medical Treatment in Hanoi
On Oct 6, blogger Nguyen Tuong Thuy, vice president of the unsanctioned Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam visited former prisoner of conscience Tran Duc Thach who is currently under medical treatment in Hanoi.
Mr. Thuy acknowledged about Mr. Thach’s case when the latter was sentenced to 3 years in prison in a political case involving writer Nguyen Xuan Nghia, Mr. Nguyen Kim Nhan, Mr. Nguyen Van Tuc, Mr. Nguyen Manh Son and student Ngo Quynh. All of them were charged under allegation of “conducting anti-state activities.”
Mr. Thach was released on Aug 30, 2011, 14 days before his term ends. However, he was under a three-year house arrest in his Tam Hop commune in Quy Hop district in Nghe An province.
During the talks, Mr. Thach told Thuy about his activities and the imprisonment period. Since 1975, Thach had been regularly harassed by local authorities. The humiliation rose, forcing him to self-immolate and he was heavily burned.
He was arrested for over teen times, and was tried four times, but they could not imprison him due to lack of evidences. Finally, they arrested him in September, 2008 and sentenced him to three years under prison.
During his imprisonment, he was placed in a dark room for 550 days. In an interview, he said he was a victim of inhumane treatment and brutal torture of Vietnam’s police.
FB Nguyễn Tường Thụy: Nguyễn Tường Thụy – Tù nhân lương tâm Trần Đức Thạch
******8/10/2014******
Political Prisoner Dang Xuan Dieu at Critical Situation: Former Prisoner of Conscience Condemns Inhumane Treatment in Prisons
Mr. Dang Xuan Dieu, one of a group of 17 young Catholic followers arrested and sentenced to 13 years in jail for allegation of conducting anti-state activities. He rejected to admit the allegation, considering the trial unfair. He refused to appeal. He has been rejected to be visited by his family and is placed in a solitary cell.
Due to long-lasting hunger strike against inhumane treatment of prison’s authorities, Dieu’s health is critical, said Truong Minh Tam, a former political prisoner who was released last week from the same prison in the central province of Thanh Hoa.
Mr. Tam, an anti-China activist with the nickname Truong Ba Khong, was imprisoned for fabricated charge of conducing financial fraud last year. After completing his one-year imprisonment which was as a revenge for his political activities, described inhumane treatment of prison’s authorities against prisoners of conscience.
Mr. Tam is one of political dissidents who were imprisoned for fabricated criminal charges which can be tax evasion or financial fraud or conducting traffic violations.
At a meeting with his fellows after returning from prison, Mr. Tam expressed his deep concerns over Dieu’s case. He called on international human rights bodies and social activists to take actions to rescue Dieu. He is not sure how long Dieu can survive to overcome the brutality in the Thanh Hoa province-based prison.
FB Nguyen Huu Vinh: HÃY CỨU LẤY TÙ NHÂN LƯƠNG TÂM F.X ĐẶNG XUÂN DIỆU. TÙ NHÂN LƯƠNG TÂM KỂ VỀ TỘI ÁC CỦA NHÀ TÙ CỘNG SẢN.
============
Anti-China Activists Completes One-Year Imprisonment
Truong Minh Tam, an active protester against China’s violations of Vietnam’s sovereignty in the East Sea, completed his one-year imprisonment for fabricated allegation of conducting financial fraud, on Oct 7.
He was arrested on Oct 7 last year and was charged of conducting financial fraud but in fact, the trial was the revenge for his political activities.
Like other political cases, his trial and the appeal was with maximum security while his family and friends were not allowed to be in the courtroom
After returning home, Mr. Tam said in an interview to the Free Asia Radio, that Vietnam’s government accused him of conducting financial fraud, but in fact, his case was political and during interrogations, investigating officers always ignored about the allegation but asked him about his social activities. They offered some bargains but he strongly rejected. Later, they tried him at an “open hearing” on which security agents were filled the courtroom.
After the trial and the appeal, he was placed in Prison No. 5 of the Ministry of Public Security in Yen Dinh district in Thanh Hoa province. He spent 167 days in a special room where prisoners are treated like animals without basic human rights.
RFA: Một thanh niên hoạt động chống Trung Quốc mãn hạn tù
Radio chân trời mới: Khẩn : TNLT Đặng Xuân Diệu bị hành hạ và xúc phạm nhân phẩm
VRNs: Đặng Xuân Diệu: Hãy trả cho tôi quyền ăn cơm
********9/10/2014********
U.S. Delegation of Religious Freedom Visits Vietnam
A delegation of the International Religious Freedom under the U.S. Department of State, led by Mrs. Katherine Lawson, is visiting Vietnam on Oct 4-11. During her stay in Vietnam, Mrs. Lawson meets a number of state agencies, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Government Committee for Religions as well as some religious organizations in Hanoi, Gia Lai and Ho Chi Minh City to investigate religious freedom in the communist nation.
She met a number of senior monks of the Vietnam Buddhist and asked them about religious freedom in Vietnam, the relations between Buddhist and other religions as well as the government’s support for the religion.
On Oct 9, she is scheduled to visit a number of religious facilities in Ho Chi Minh City.
The International Religious Freedom is the agency producing an annual report on religious freedom for the U.S. State Department to submit to the Congress.
CTNLT: Phái Đoàn Tự Do Tôn Giáo Quốc Tế Trực Thuộc Bộ Ngoại Giao Hoa Kỳ Đến Việt Nam
********10/10/20114********
Religious Freedom Protection Association Asks Rights for Military Staff
Vietnamese military soldiers and officers are not allowed to practice their religions during their duty in army, although the country’s Constitution states that everyone has freedom to religion and beliefs, said the Religious Freedom Protection Association.
Many soldiers said they want to share their feeling with religious clerks.
Chapter 7 of Vietnam’s Law on military duty mentions about duties and privileges of military staff but says nothing about religious freedom of people serving in the army.
The Religious Freedom Protection Association demands the country’s president to protect the Constitution and grant the right for military staff to practice their religious rituals. It also asks the parliament to build laws which allow military staff to conduct their spiritual activities during their military duty.
The association also requests the UN’s Special Reporter on religious freedom to report Vietnam’s violation of military staff’s rights of religious practice.
VRNs: Hội Bảo vệ Quyền Tự Do Tôn Giáo – Dự án Quyền Tôn giáo của Quân nhân
********11/10/2014********
Reasons for U.S. Partial Removal of Lethal Weapon Ban for Vietnam
The U.S.’s partial removal of its arm embargo imposed over Vietnam showed the two countries’ diplomatic progress.
After four decades of the end of the Vietnam War, the Vietnam-U.S. relationship has improved with following remarks:
On April 23, 1975, the U.S. declared the end of the Vietnam War. American military staff and civil officials were taken out of the Southern Vietnam.
In 1984, the U.S. imposed an lethal weapon sale for Vietnam based on Hanoi’s bad human rights record. In 2007, the ban was eased when the administration of President George W. Bush allowed non-lethal weapons to Vietnam.
On July 12, 1995, then President Bill Clinton and Vietnamese Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet announced the two countries’ diplomatic normalization which created opportunities for the two nations to boost bilateral ties on economics, culture, politics and security.
On Oct 2, the U.S. announced its partial removal of lethal weapon ban to the communist nation after the meeting of Secretary John Kerry and his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh in Washington.
BBC: Lý do Mỹ nới lỏng cấm vận vũ khí với VN
===========
Land Victims Protest in Hanoi against Illegal Seizure
On Oct 7-8, hundreds of farmers from Hanoi, Ninh Binh, Haiphong, Quang Ninh, HCM City, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Tien Giang, An Giang, Dong Thap, Dak Nong and Dak Lak whose land was illegally seized by local authorities gathered before the front of the buildings of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, Nhan Dan/People’s newspaper and other state agencies in Hanoi to demand the communist government to return the land ownership to people.
The protestors were with banners demanding Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and Chief Judge of the Supreme People’s Court Truong Hoa Binh to negotiate with them to settle illegal seizure of local authorities across the nation, and systemic corruption which make millions of families to fall in poverty.
The demonstrations were peaceful while security forces kept their restraining to ensure social order at the protesting areas.
Dân Quyền: Dân oan Bắc – Trung – Nam biểu tình tại Hà Nội tố cáo tham nhũng và ruộng đât bị cướp đoạt
*********12/10/2014*********
How Vietnam Suppresses Government Critics?
In the period before 1980s, Vietnam’s government often imprisoned political dissidents in prisons in remote areas such as Can Ty in the northern province of Ha Giang or Tho Xuan in the central province of Thanh Hoa. Many of them have not returned.
Prominent legal expert Cu Huy Ha Vu, who criticized the government’s policies and advocated for democracy, launched lawsuits against the prime minister’s approval of bauxite mining projects in the Central Highlands, and construction of tourism project in Vong Canh Hill in the old citadel Hue.
The French-trained doctor in law was arrested in a motel in Ho Chi Minh City with two used condoms.
Other high-profile activists, Nguyen Van Hai (aka Dieu Cay), founded the Club for Independent Journalists and criticized the government online, and lawyer Le Quoc Quan who wrote many articles promoting multi-party democracy, were accused of tax evasion and were given with heavy imprisonment sentences.
Many peaceful dissidents have been harassed and humiliated by the Vietnamese communists who vow to maintain the country under the one-party regime.
IJAVN: Nhà cầm quyền làm gì với người bất đồng chính kiến?
Summary: Nguyen Ngoc Anh
Translator: Vu Quoc Ngu
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October 13, 2014
Oct 6- Oct 12, 2014 Defender’s Weekly: Prisoners of Conscience Le Van Tinh and Truong Minh Tam Released
by Nhan Quyen • [Human Rights], DEFENDER’S WEEKLY
Defenders’ Weekly
Political prisoner Le Van Tinh was arrested in 1996 together with 45 others in Thailand-Cambodia border and was deported to Vietnam. After three years of detaining, he was sentenced to 20 years in jail and five years under house arrest for “fleeing abroad with aim to act against the people’s government.” On Sept 27, he was released 26 months before his term ends.
Truong Minh Tam, an anti-China activist known with nickname Truong Ba Khong, completed his one-year imprisonment this week. He was arrested on Oct 7 last year and accused of a financial fraud. Later, he was sentenced for the accusation he always reiterated that he has not conducted.
Katherine Lawson, an officer of the International Religious Freedom under the U.S. Department of State is visiting Vietnam on Oct 4-11. During her stay in Vietnam, she meets a number of state agencies, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Government Committee for Religions as well as some religious organizations in Hanoi, Gia Lai and Ho Chi Minh City to investigate religious freedom in the communist nation.
On Oct 7-8, hundreds of farmers from Hanoi, Ninh Binh, Haiphong, Quang Ninh, HCM City, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Tien Giang, An Giang, Dong Thap, Dak Nong and Dak Lak whose land was illegally seized by local authorities gathered before the front of the buildings of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, Nhan Dan/People’s newspaper and other state agencies in Hanoi to demand the communist government to return the land ownership to people.
and other interesting news during the week.
******6/10/2014******
Vietnam Civil Societíe Support Hong Kong Democratic Protests
On Oct 5, 22 Vietnamese unsanctioned civil societies agreed to sign a joint statement to support the democratic protests of Hong Kong students and residents. In their statement, these civil societies expressed their admiration and reaffirmed that Hong Kong is the good example that Vietnam should follow.
The Vietnamese civil societies praised peaceful purposes of Hong Kong students’ protests and their good organizational skills, the support of students’ parents and teachers. They also raised concerns over Beijing’s hiring of thugs to supress students.
The Vietnamese civil societies called on local residents to follow peaceful people in Tiananmen, Hong Kong, Tibet and Northern Africa to uprise against dictarship and protect the country from China’s expansionism.
RFI: Xã hội dân sự Việt Nam ủng hộ phong trào dân chủ Hồng Kông
BBC: Có 22 tổ chức VN ‘ủng hộ biểu tình HK’
******7/10/2014******
Activists Visit Former Political Le Van Tinh in Hoa Hao Village
On Oct 6, a delegation of the Former Vietnamese Prisoners of Conscience and the Human Rights Women Association, led by former political prisoner Pham Ba Hai visited Mr. Le Van Tinh, who was released on Oct 27, 26 months before his term ends.
In Oct, 2008, political prisoner Pham Ba Hai was transferred from B34 Prison of the Ministry of Public Security to Z30 in Xuan Loc in Dong Nai province. Due to his regular protests against prison’s inhumane treatment, Hai was placed in a special zone for political prisoners. He shared a small cell with maximum security with three long-term prisoners namely Ho Duc Long, Le Kim Hung and Le Van Tinh.
Mr. Tinh was born in 1941. Before the country’s reunification in 1975, he was a member of the parliament of the South Vietnam. When communists soldiers invaded Saigon, he decided not to go abroad but to stay to seek ways to rescue the country. However, he was arrested and sent to re-educational camp until 1984. In 1995, he joined the People’s Action Party led by Nguyen Si Binh, and was elected to head the party’s unit in Cambodia.
In 1996, he was arrested together with 45 others party’s members and was deported to Vietnam. After three years of detaining, he was sentenced to 20 years in jail and five years under house arrest for “fleeing abroad with aim to act against the people’s government.”
The Former Vietnamese Prisoners of Conscience and the Human Rights Women Association gifted him VND3 million.
CTNLT: VỀ LÀNG HÒA HẢO VIẾNG THĂM NGƯỜI TÙ 28 NĂM LÊ VĂN TÍNH
==============
Former Prisoner of Conscience Tran Duc Thach under Medical Treatment in Hanoi
On Oct 6, blogger Nguyen Tuong Thuy, vice president of the unsanctioned Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam visited former prisoner of conscience Tran Duc Thach who is currently under medical treatment in Hanoi.
Mr. Thuy acknowledged about Mr. Thach’s case when the latter was sentenced to 3 years in prison in a political case involving writer Nguyen Xuan Nghia, Mr. Nguyen Kim Nhan, Mr. Nguyen Van Tuc, Mr. Nguyen Manh Son and student Ngo Quynh. All of them were charged under allegation of “conducting anti-state activities.”
Mr. Thach was released on Aug 30, 2011, 14 days before his term ends. However, he was under a three-year house arrest in his Tam Hop commune in Quy Hop district in Nghe An province.
During the talks, Mr. Thach told Thuy about his activities and the imprisonment period. Since 1975, Thach had been regularly harassed by local authorities. The humiliation rose, forcing him to self-immolate and he was heavily burned.
He was arrested for over teen times, and was tried four times, but they could not imprison him due to lack of evidences. Finally, they arrested him in September, 2008 and sentenced him to three years under prison.
During his imprisonment, he was placed in a dark room for 550 days. In an interview, he said he was a victim of inhumane treatment and brutal torture of Vietnam’s police.
FB Nguyễn Tường Thụy: Nguyễn Tường Thụy – Tù nhân lương tâm Trần Đức Thạch
******8/10/2014******
Political Prisoner Dang Xuan Dieu at Critical Situation: Former Prisoner of Conscience Condemns Inhumane Treatment in Prisons
Mr. Dang Xuan Dieu, one of a group of 17 young Catholic followers arrested and sentenced to 13 years in jail for allegation of conducting anti-state activities. He rejected to admit the allegation, considering the trial unfair. He refused to appeal. He has been rejected to be visited by his family and is placed in a solitary cell.
Due to long-lasting hunger strike against inhumane treatment of prison’s authorities, Dieu’s health is critical, said Truong Minh Tam, a former political prisoner who was released last week from the same prison in the central province of Thanh Hoa.
Mr. Tam, an anti-China activist with the nickname Truong Ba Khong, was imprisoned for fabricated charge of conducing financial fraud last year. After completing his one-year imprisonment which was as a revenge for his political activities, described inhumane treatment of prison’s authorities against prisoners of conscience.
Mr. Tam is one of political dissidents who were imprisoned for fabricated criminal charges which can be tax evasion or financial fraud or conducting traffic violations.
At a meeting with his fellows after returning from prison, Mr. Tam expressed his deep concerns over Dieu’s case. He called on international human rights bodies and social activists to take actions to rescue Dieu. He is not sure how long Dieu can survive to overcome the brutality in the Thanh Hoa province-based prison.
FB Nguyen Huu Vinh: HÃY CỨU LẤY TÙ NHÂN LƯƠNG TÂM F.X ĐẶNG XUÂN DIỆU. TÙ NHÂN LƯƠNG TÂM KỂ VỀ TỘI ÁC CỦA NHÀ TÙ CỘNG SẢN.
============
Anti-China Activists Completes One-Year Imprisonment
Truong Minh Tam, an active protester against China’s violations of Vietnam’s sovereignty in the East Sea, completed his one-year imprisonment for fabricated allegation of conducting financial fraud, on Oct 7.
He was arrested on Oct 7 last year and was charged of conducting financial fraud but in fact, the trial was the revenge for his political activities.
Like other political cases, his trial and the appeal was with maximum security while his family and friends were not allowed to be in the courtroom
After returning home, Mr. Tam said in an interview to the Free Asia Radio, that Vietnam’s government accused him of conducting financial fraud, but in fact, his case was political and during interrogations, investigating officers always ignored about the allegation but asked him about his social activities. They offered some bargains but he strongly rejected. Later, they tried him at an “open hearing” on which security agents were filled the courtroom.
After the trial and the appeal, he was placed in Prison No. 5 of the Ministry of Public Security in Yen Dinh district in Thanh Hoa province. He spent 167 days in a special room where prisoners are treated like animals without basic human rights.
RFA: Một thanh niên hoạt động chống Trung Quốc mãn hạn tù
Radio chân trời mới: Khẩn : TNLT Đặng Xuân Diệu bị hành hạ và xúc phạm nhân phẩm
VRNs: Đặng Xuân Diệu: Hãy trả cho tôi quyền ăn cơm
********9/10/2014********
U.S. Delegation of Religious Freedom Visits Vietnam
A delegation of the International Religious Freedom under the U.S. Department of State, led by Mrs. Katherine Lawson, is visiting Vietnam on Oct 4-11. During her stay in Vietnam, Mrs. Lawson meets a number of state agencies, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Government Committee for Religions as well as some religious organizations in Hanoi, Gia Lai and Ho Chi Minh City to investigate religious freedom in the communist nation.
She met a number of senior monks of the Vietnam Buddhist and asked them about religious freedom in Vietnam, the relations between Buddhist and other religions as well as the government’s support for the religion.
On Oct 9, she is scheduled to visit a number of religious facilities in Ho Chi Minh City.
The International Religious Freedom is the agency producing an annual report on religious freedom for the U.S. State Department to submit to the Congress.
CTNLT: Phái Đoàn Tự Do Tôn Giáo Quốc Tế Trực Thuộc Bộ Ngoại Giao Hoa Kỳ Đến Việt Nam
********10/10/20114********
Religious Freedom Protection Association Asks Rights for Military Staff
Vietnamese military soldiers and officers are not allowed to practice their religions during their duty in army, although the country’s Constitution states that everyone has freedom to religion and beliefs, said the Religious Freedom Protection Association.
Many soldiers said they want to share their feeling with religious clerks.
Chapter 7 of Vietnam’s Law on military duty mentions about duties and privileges of military staff but says nothing about religious freedom of people serving in the army.
The Religious Freedom Protection Association demands the country’s president to protect the Constitution and grant the right for military staff to practice their religious rituals. It also asks the parliament to build laws which allow military staff to conduct their spiritual activities during their military duty.
The association also requests the UN’s Special Reporter on religious freedom to report Vietnam’s violation of military staff’s rights of religious practice.
VRNs: Hội Bảo vệ Quyền Tự Do Tôn Giáo – Dự án Quyền Tôn giáo của Quân nhân
********11/10/2014********
Reasons for U.S. Partial Removal of Lethal Weapon Ban for Vietnam
The U.S.’s partial removal of its arm embargo imposed over Vietnam showed the two countries’ diplomatic progress.
After four decades of the end of the Vietnam War, the Vietnam-U.S. relationship has improved with following remarks:
On April 23, 1975, the U.S. declared the end of the Vietnam War. American military staff and civil officials were taken out of the Southern Vietnam.
In 1984, the U.S. imposed an lethal weapon sale for Vietnam based on Hanoi’s bad human rights record. In 2007, the ban was eased when the administration of President George W. Bush allowed non-lethal weapons to Vietnam.
On July 12, 1995, then President Bill Clinton and Vietnamese Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet announced the two countries’ diplomatic normalization which created opportunities for the two nations to boost bilateral ties on economics, culture, politics and security.
On Oct 2, the U.S. announced its partial removal of lethal weapon ban to the communist nation after the meeting of Secretary John Kerry and his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh in Washington.
BBC: Lý do Mỹ nới lỏng cấm vận vũ khí với VN
===========
Land Victims Protest in Hanoi against Illegal Seizure
On Oct 7-8, hundreds of farmers from Hanoi, Ninh Binh, Haiphong, Quang Ninh, HCM City, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Tien Giang, An Giang, Dong Thap, Dak Nong and Dak Lak whose land was illegally seized by local authorities gathered before the front of the buildings of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, Nhan Dan/People’s newspaper and other state agencies in Hanoi to demand the communist government to return the land ownership to people.
The protestors were with banners demanding Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and Chief Judge of the Supreme People’s Court Truong Hoa Binh to negotiate with them to settle illegal seizure of local authorities across the nation, and systemic corruption which make millions of families to fall in poverty.
The demonstrations were peaceful while security forces kept their restraining to ensure social order at the protesting areas.
Dân Quyền: Dân oan Bắc – Trung – Nam biểu tình tại Hà Nội tố cáo tham nhũng và ruộng đât bị cướp đoạt
*********12/10/2014*********
How Vietnam Suppresses Government Critics?
In the period before 1980s, Vietnam’s government often imprisoned political dissidents in prisons in remote areas such as Can Ty in the northern province of Ha Giang or Tho Xuan in the central province of Thanh Hoa. Many of them have not returned.
Prominent legal expert Cu Huy Ha Vu, who criticized the government’s policies and advocated for democracy, launched lawsuits against the prime minister’s approval of bauxite mining projects in the Central Highlands, and construction of tourism project in Vong Canh Hill in the old citadel Hue.
The French-trained doctor in law was arrested in a motel in Ho Chi Minh City with two used condoms.
Other high-profile activists, Nguyen Van Hai (aka Dieu Cay), founded the Club for Independent Journalists and criticized the government online, and lawyer Le Quoc Quan who wrote many articles promoting multi-party democracy, were accused of tax evasion and were given with heavy imprisonment sentences.
Many peaceful dissidents have been harassed and humiliated by the Vietnamese communists who vow to maintain the country under the one-party regime.
IJAVN: Nhà cầm quyền làm gì với người bất đồng chính kiến?
Summary: Nguyen Ngoc Anh
Translator: Vu Quoc Ngu