Miss Hanh could not walk when she was released in mid night of Nov 22, 2015
Policemen brutally assaulted Hanh and Duc on the way from the Yupoon’s factory to the Long Binh polic station. Hanh said she was detained by five police officers who beat her continuously until she fell unconscious.
By Vu Quoc Ngu, Nov 23, 2015
Police in Vietnam’s southern province of Dong Nai on November 22 detained two labor activists Do Minh Hanh and Truong Minh Duc and brutally beat them before releasing the duo mid night, the victims claimed.
On Sunday (November 22) afternoon, Ms. Hanh and Mr. Duc, two former political prisoners, went to Dong Nai to meet with representative of 2,000 workers of who were recently fired by the South Korea-invested Yupoong Vietnam Co. Ltd. When the duo talked with the group’s lawyer in a bid to seek for justice for the illegally-fired workers, security agents arrested the two Ho Chi Minh City-based activists.
Policemen brutally assaulted Hanh and Duc, two members of independent trade union Lao Dong Viet (Viet Labor), on the way from the Yupoon’s factory to the Long Binh polic station. Hanh said she was detained by five police officers who beat her continuously until she fell unconscious.
In the police station, the duo was questioned until mid night without receiving food or medical assistance. Police released the duo at 1.30 am on Monday (November 23).
Local activists came to bring the two activists to a hospital for urgent treatment. Mr. Duc, who was arrested in 2007 and sentenced to five years in prison on charge of “abusing democracy” under Article 258 of the Penal Code, suffered light injuries and recovered fast, but Ms. Hanh is still under special care due to extremely heavy injuries.
Since being released in 2012, Mr. Duc has become a target of police harassment. In November last year, he was brutally assaulted by plainclothes agents and suffered numerous severe injuries on his face, head and body.
Police have also constantly harassed 30-year-old Hanh after she was released in June last year. Two weeks ago, police in Ho Chi Minh City locked her house in a bid to block her from attending anti-China protest on the occasion of the official visit of President Xi Jinping to Vietnam.
Hanh has assisted Vietnamese workers in demanding for higher wages and better working conditions since 2004. In 2010, she was arrested while calling on workers in Tra Vinh to strike. She was sentenced to seven years in jail, but was released in late June 2014 due to international pressure.
In 2011, Hanh and Dr. Cu Huy Ha Vu were honored with the Vietnam Human Rights Awards given by the Vietnam Human Rights Network.
The detention and brutal assault of Hanh and Duc came 50 days after Vietnam, the U.S. and other ten nations completed negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement which is expected to boost trade and investment among the member of the bloc which accounts for 40% of the world’s economy.
In order to join the TPP, Vietnam pledged to allow independent trade unions and protect labor rights. Currently, the communist government controls the sole, officially recognized trade union which has collaborated with employers to suppress workers instead of protecting their rights.
Vietnam is likely to use technical barriers to limit formation and activities of independent trade unions, said political observers.
The Vietnamese government has tightened political control several months ahead of the ruling communist party’s National Congress slated for early 2016. It has launched a crackdown against political dissidents, social activists and human rights defenders recently.
Along with arresting prominent blogger Nguyen Huu Vinh and his assistant Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy, Nguyen Viet Dung, the founder and leader of the unsanctioned Republican Party of Vietnam, and Tran Anh Kim, former political prisoner in Thai Binh, the police has deployed plainclothes agents and thugs to attack activists.
Former prisoners of conscience Tran Minh Nhat, Chu Manh Son and Tran Duc Thach, human rights lawyers Tran Thu Nam and Le Van Luan, bloggers Truong Van Dung, Tran Thi Nga, Truong Minh Hương and Nguyen Tuong Thuy are among the recent victims of the intensified persecution by Vietnam’s security forces which strive to prevent the formation of any opposition parties or movements.
Vietnam’s Minister of Public Security General Tran Dai Quang has labelled 60 unregistered civil society organizations which have voiced against systemic corruption, poor economic management and weak response to China’s violations of the country’s sovereignty in the East Sea, as “reactionary groups”.
Quang, who is expected to be promoted to one of the country’s four key leadership posts next year, has pledged to take tough measures to deal with government critics and human rights activists in coming months. He admitted that between June 2012 and November 2015, the police under his supervision have received, dealt with, and made arrests in 1,410 cases involving 2,680 people who violated national security.
On November 19, the New York-based Human Rights Watch said Vietnam is using vague national security laws to stifle dissent and arrest critics. It urged the U.S. and other signatories to the TPP to press Vietnam to drop proposed legislation that would add even more rights-abusing penalties to its already draconian criminal code.
“The Vietnam government’s announcement of thousands of arrests, while admitting that it is targeting democracy and human rights groups, is deeply troubling,” said Brad Adams, Asia director of the Human Rights Watch. “This suggests the government is massively overusing the country’s repressive national security laws to criminalize peaceful expression and persecute critics.”
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November 23, 2015
Vietnam Police Detain, Severely Beat Two Labor Activists Who Try to Assist Workers in Settling Contract Dispute
by Nhan Quyen • [Human Rights], Do Thi Minh Hanh, Truong Minh Duc
Miss Hanh could not walk when she was released in mid night of Nov 22, 2015
By Vu Quoc Ngu, Nov 23, 2015
Police in Vietnam’s southern province of Dong Nai on November 22 detained two labor activists Do Minh Hanh and Truong Minh Duc and brutally beat them before releasing the duo mid night, the victims claimed.
On Sunday (November 22) afternoon, Ms. Hanh and Mr. Duc, two former political prisoners, went to Dong Nai to meet with representative of 2,000 workers of who were recently fired by the South Korea-invested Yupoong Vietnam Co. Ltd. When the duo talked with the group’s lawyer in a bid to seek for justice for the illegally-fired workers, security agents arrested the two Ho Chi Minh City-based activists.
Policemen brutally assaulted Hanh and Duc, two members of independent trade union Lao Dong Viet (Viet Labor), on the way from the Yupoon’s factory to the Long Binh polic station. Hanh said she was detained by five police officers who beat her continuously until she fell unconscious.
In the police station, the duo was questioned until mid night without receiving food or medical assistance. Police released the duo at 1.30 am on Monday (November 23).
Local activists came to bring the two activists to a hospital for urgent treatment. Mr. Duc, who was arrested in 2007 and sentenced to five years in prison on charge of “abusing democracy” under Article 258 of the Penal Code, suffered light injuries and recovered fast, but Ms. Hanh is still under special care due to extremely heavy injuries.
Since being released in 2012, Mr. Duc has become a target of police harassment. In November last year, he was brutally assaulted by plainclothes agents and suffered numerous severe injuries on his face, head and body.
Police have also constantly harassed 30-year-old Hanh after she was released in June last year. Two weeks ago, police in Ho Chi Minh City locked her house in a bid to block her from attending anti-China protest on the occasion of the official visit of President Xi Jinping to Vietnam.
Hanh has assisted Vietnamese workers in demanding for higher wages and better working conditions since 2004. In 2010, she was arrested while calling on workers in Tra Vinh to strike. She was sentenced to seven years in jail, but was released in late June 2014 due to international pressure.
In 2011, Hanh and Dr. Cu Huy Ha Vu were honored with the Vietnam Human Rights Awards given by the Vietnam Human Rights Network.
The detention and brutal assault of Hanh and Duc came 50 days after Vietnam, the U.S. and other ten nations completed negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement which is expected to boost trade and investment among the member of the bloc which accounts for 40% of the world’s economy.
In order to join the TPP, Vietnam pledged to allow independent trade unions and protect labor rights. Currently, the communist government controls the sole, officially recognized trade union which has collaborated with employers to suppress workers instead of protecting their rights.
Vietnam is likely to use technical barriers to limit formation and activities of independent trade unions, said political observers.
The Vietnamese government has tightened political control several months ahead of the ruling communist party’s National Congress slated for early 2016. It has launched a crackdown against political dissidents, social activists and human rights defenders recently.
Along with arresting prominent blogger Nguyen Huu Vinh and his assistant Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy, Nguyen Viet Dung, the founder and leader of the unsanctioned Republican Party of Vietnam, and Tran Anh Kim, former political prisoner in Thai Binh, the police has deployed plainclothes agents and thugs to attack activists.
Former prisoners of conscience Tran Minh Nhat, Chu Manh Son and Tran Duc Thach, human rights lawyers Tran Thu Nam and Le Van Luan, bloggers Truong Van Dung, Tran Thi Nga, Truong Minh Hương and Nguyen Tuong Thuy are among the recent victims of the intensified persecution by Vietnam’s security forces which strive to prevent the formation of any opposition parties or movements.
Vietnam’s Minister of Public Security General Tran Dai Quang has labelled 60 unregistered civil society organizations which have voiced against systemic corruption, poor economic management and weak response to China’s violations of the country’s sovereignty in the East Sea, as “reactionary groups”.
Quang, who is expected to be promoted to one of the country’s four key leadership posts next year, has pledged to take tough measures to deal with government critics and human rights activists in coming months. He admitted that between June 2012 and November 2015, the police under his supervision have received, dealt with, and made arrests in 1,410 cases involving 2,680 people who violated national security.
On November 19, the New York-based Human Rights Watch said Vietnam is using vague national security laws to stifle dissent and arrest critics. It urged the U.S. and other signatories to the TPP to press Vietnam to drop proposed legislation that would add even more rights-abusing penalties to its already draconian criminal code.
“The Vietnam government’s announcement of thousands of arrests, while admitting that it is targeting democracy and human rights groups, is deeply troubling,” said Brad Adams, Asia director of the Human Rights Watch. “This suggests the government is massively overusing the country’s repressive national security laws to criminalize peaceful expression and persecute critics.”