The Tablet | Jun 06, 2016
Tran Thi Hong claims she was beaten and tortured during arrest for campaigning work on religious freedom.
Two human rights advisers to the UN have called on the government of Vietnam to stop the persecution of Christian activist Tran Thi Hong.
In a statement released by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the experts said Mrs Hong had been “repeatedly arrested and tortured as retaliation for informing the international community of human rights violations against her husband, who is in prison for peaceful religious activities”.
Her spouse, Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh, was imprisoned in 2011 because of his role as director of the Vietnam-US Lutheran Alliance Church, which is considered anti-government and anti-communist by the authorities.
Hong was initially arrested on 14 April when she was allegedly tortured and warned to stop her activities promoting freedom of religion. Since then she “has been repeatedly arrested and harassed by the authorities, who are trying to force her to ‘cooperate’ with the government,” the UN statement said.
The Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Heiner Bielefeldt, and the Special Rapporteur on torture, Juan Mendez, urged the Vietnamese authorities to put an end to all persecution and harassment, including criminalisation against religious leaders and human rights defenders, women human rights defenders and members of their families.
“We are concerned that the repeated arrests and the continuing detention of Ms Hong resulted from her peaceful human rights work and exercise of her fundamental rights,” the statement said.
Religious freedom charity Christian Solidarity Worldwide has been monitoring Mrs Hong’s situation. In a response to her arrest in April, Chief Executive Mervyn King said: “Rather than apologising and compensating Mrs Hong for the injuries she sustained on 14 April, the authorities have continued to harass her family, interrogate and detain her against her will, and use physical abuse to try to force her to sign a false statement of guilt. We call on the authorities to cease all harassment of Mrs Hong and her family, to investigate immediately and impartially reports of torture in custody, and to uphold the right of Mrs Hong and her family to practise their faith without harassment, in accordance with the right to freedom of religion or belief.”
The UN advisers said Vietnam should release Pastor Chinh and Mrs Hong, “as well as all persons detained for their legitimate activities in the defence of human rights”.
“The Vietnamese government has the obligation to respect the right of religious communities to organise themselves as independent communities and to appoint their own leaders,” Bielefeldt said.
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June 7, 2016
VIETNAMESE AUTHORITIES ACCUSED OF TORTURING CHRISTIAN ACTIVIST
by Nhan Quyen • Nguyen Cong Chinh (Nguyen Thanh Long), Tran Thi Hong
The Tablet | Jun 06, 2016
Tran Thi Hong claims she was beaten and tortured during arrest for campaigning work on religious freedom.
Two human rights advisers to the UN have called on the government of Vietnam to stop the persecution of Christian activist Tran Thi Hong.
In a statement released by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the experts said Mrs Hong had been “repeatedly arrested and tortured as retaliation for informing the international community of human rights violations against her husband, who is in prison for peaceful religious activities”.
Her spouse, Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh, was imprisoned in 2011 because of his role as director of the Vietnam-US Lutheran Alliance Church, which is considered anti-government and anti-communist by the authorities.
Hong was initially arrested on 14 April when she was allegedly tortured and warned to stop her activities promoting freedom of religion. Since then she “has been repeatedly arrested and harassed by the authorities, who are trying to force her to ‘cooperate’ with the government,” the UN statement said.
The Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Heiner Bielefeldt, and the Special Rapporteur on torture, Juan Mendez, urged the Vietnamese authorities to put an end to all persecution and harassment, including criminalisation against religious leaders and human rights defenders, women human rights defenders and members of their families.
“We are concerned that the repeated arrests and the continuing detention of Ms Hong resulted from her peaceful human rights work and exercise of her fundamental rights,” the statement said.
Religious freedom charity Christian Solidarity Worldwide has been monitoring Mrs Hong’s situation. In a response to her arrest in April, Chief Executive Mervyn King said: “Rather than apologising and compensating Mrs Hong for the injuries she sustained on 14 April, the authorities have continued to harass her family, interrogate and detain her against her will, and use physical abuse to try to force her to sign a false statement of guilt. We call on the authorities to cease all harassment of Mrs Hong and her family, to investigate immediately and impartially reports of torture in custody, and to uphold the right of Mrs Hong and her family to practise their faith without harassment, in accordance with the right to freedom of religion or belief.”
The UN advisers said Vietnam should release Pastor Chinh and Mrs Hong, “as well as all persons detained for their legitimate activities in the defence of human rights”.
“The Vietnamese government has the obligation to respect the right of religious communities to organise themselves as independent communities and to appoint their own leaders,” Bielefeldt said.