Many Vietnamese Activists Detained, Others Kept under House Arrest Prior to Obama’s Meeting with CSOs

President Barack Obama arrived in Hanoi in mid night of May 22 for three-day state visit to Vietnam

President Barack Obama arrived in Hanoi in mid night of May 22 for three-day state visit to Vietnam

Vietnam’s security forces have detained a number of activists while keep many others under house arrest few days ahead of the planned meeting between President Barack Obama and local civil society organizations (CSOs), human rights defenders have said.

By Vu Quoc Ngu, May 23, 2016

Vietnam’s security forces have detained a number of activists while keep many others under house arrest few days ahead of the planned meeting between President Barack Obama and local civil society organizations (CSOs), human rights defenders have said.

Police have detained Hanoi-based blogger Doan Trang and Vu Huy Hoang while security forces in the central city of Nha Trang violently arrested bloggers Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh (aka Me Nam or Mushroom Mother) and Mr. Nguyen Ba Vinh.

On May 20, police in Ho Chi Minh City detained former prisoner of conscience Nguyen Viet Dung, the founder and leader of the unsanctioned Republican Party of Vietnam, and questioned him until late afternoon of May 22. The young activist was forced to take a flight to his home province of Nghe An. However, Dung went missing after landing in Vinh Airport, and bloggers suggested that he was held by the local police.

Dozens of political dissidents, social activists and human rights defenders across the nation have reported that they are under house arrest as local authorities have deployed a large number of police officers to station near their private residences and not allow them to go out.

During his three-day visit to Vietnam starting on Monday, President Obama has met with the local leadership to discuss measures to deepen the two countries’ comprehensive strategic partnership. He has a plan to meet with representatives of local CSOs to hear their opinions about the two countries’ ties as well as the human rights situation in the communist nation.

It is unlikely Obama to have chance to meet with representatives of independent CSOs due to the Vietnamese police blockage.

Last week, police also applied the same tactics to block local activists and members of the Independent Journalist Association of Vietnam, barring them from meeting with Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel and Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Tom Malinowski when the two diplomats visited the communist nation to prepare for Obama’s visit.

Meanwhile, former prisoner of conscience Tran Ngoc Anh in Ba Ria-Vung Tau complained that the local police have continuously attacked her family’s members and threatened to burn the cafeteria of her daughter. Police have also blocked her from going to hospitals to take medical treatment for her illness.