Submission to DFAT: Australia-Viet Nam Human Rights Dialogue 2015 – Civil Society consultation

Amnesty | Aug 4, 2015

Amnesty International has prepared this submission to the Department of Foreign Affairs in advance of the Civil Society consultation ahead of the Australia-Viet Nam Human Rights Dialogue 2015.

The paper provides an overview of human rights issues in Viet Nam during 2014-15, including information about individual cases of concern. It also recommends closer working-level engagement between Australian and Vietnamese officials on individual cases of concern.

Ta Phong Tan is a former policewoman and co-founder of the independent Free Journalists’ Club of Viet Nam, established in September 2007 to encourage freedom of expression and alternatives to state-controlled media. Arrested in 2011, Ta Phong Tan was tried on 24 September 2012 with two other bloggers and founders of the Free Journalists’ Club who have since been released. Ta Phong Tan was convicted of “conducting propaganda” against the state, under Article 88 of the Penal Code, and received a 10-year prison sentence with years’ house arrest on release. In May she began a hunger strike which lasted 23 days in protest at prison guards’ harsh and abusive treatment of her and other political prisoners.

Tran Huynh Duy Thuc is a blogger, entrepreneur and human rights defender arrested in May 2009. He advocates for economic, social and administrative reform, and respect for human rights. In January 2010 he was sentenced to 16 years’ imprisonment under Article 79 of the Penal Code (“attempting to overthrow” the state), plus five years’ house arrest on release. During his trial he claimed that he was tortured in detention to force him to confess.

Ho Thi Bich Khuong has been a peaceful activist for social justice for more than 20 years. She was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment in December 2011 for “conducting propaganda” against the state. She was arrested in November 2010 after giving interviews to foreign media and distributing “anti-government” material. According to her family, she has been beaten in prison by other prisoners and has not had medical treatment for her injuries.

Father Nguyen Van Ly is a well-known Catholic priest and co-founder of Bloc 8406. He has spent around 20 years in prison because of his peaceful activism on human rights and criticism of government policies. He is currently serving an eight years sentence imposed in March 2007, with five years’ house arrest on release.

What does Amnesty International recommend?

Amnesty International recommends that Australia:

• Press the Viet Nam authorities to include the above prisoners of conscience, as well as others, in the prisoner amnesty to mark the 70th anniversary of National Day on 2 September 2015.
• Consider the establishment of particular cases of concern, which would form the bases of an ongoing working-level engagement between Australian Vietnamese officials. Such an approach has been sucessfully used by Australia and other like-minded countries in the past. It has proved effective in highlighting individuals cases, and providing a basis for an ongoing and productive engagement.