Three Activists in HCM City Detained after Holding Demonstration to Demand Investigation of Pedophile Case in Local Elementary School

Activists hold protest to demand for speeding up molestation investigation in Luong The Vinh elementary school

by Defend the Defenders, March 16, 2017

On March 16, authorities in Ho Chi Minh City detained three local activists who held a public demonstration to demand an investigation into a pedophile case in a local elementary school.

In the afternoon of Thursday, a group of activists gathered on a street near the Luong The Vinh primary school in Thu Duc district where a seven-year-old schoolgirl was reported to be a victim of sexual abuse. The activists held banners saying “Molestation is severe crime” and “Objection to covers-up of child abuse.”

Shortly after the activists arrived to the place, police and militia came to detain three of the protesting activists, Nguyen Thanh Loan, Bao Nhi Le and Nga Thi Bich Nguyen.

After hours of detention, police released Nga Thi Bich Nguyen and Bao Nhi Le. The latter said police officers tried to confiscate her cell phone but she refused to hand it over. She voluntarily broke the phone instead.

Meanwhile, Ms. Loan fell unconscious after her head hit a police car. Police took her to Go Vap district general hospital for urgent treatment but her health is still critical.

Meanwhile, police in Ho Chi Minh City have refused to arrest a suspect of child rape case despite strong evidence. The suspect, a male teacher in the school, is said to be the younger brother of a deputy head of the city’s Department of Education and Training. The slow investigation into the case has triggered anger among the public.

A number of cases of child molestation were reported in Vietnam recently. Under international pressure, particularly from UNESCO, authorities in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau were forced to launch an investigation into a series of child rapes. 77-year-old Nguyen Khac Thuy, a former chief of the Vietcombank branch in the province and a member of the ruling Communist party, has been accused of the crimes.

Earlier this week, President Tran Dai Quang requested speeding up the investigation of the case.

This week, police in Hanoi also arrested an official of Vietinbank who is accused of sexually abusing a local girl. The arrest was made after great pressure from netizens through social networks as the local authorities did not dare to launch an investigation since the suspect is the nephew of a senior official.

On average, according to statistics, 1,000 Vietnamese children are victims of sexual assault every year, according to the Gender-based Violence Prevention Network in Vietnam (GBVNet), a network of 12 organizations working on gender and gender-based violence in the country.

The Ministry of Public Security said that the number of child abuse cases reported in 2014 hit 1,544, nearly doubling that of 2010.

Nguyen Van Anh, director of the Center for Studies and Applied Sciences in Gender, Family, Women, and Adolescents (CSAGA), attributed the rising but low figures to the authorities’ failure to live up to their responsibilities, compromise, or fear of being ashamed among victims.

Perpetrators were often people exercising authority over the children. They include teachers, school security guards, or relatives.

Meanwhile, Dang Hoa Nam, head of the Agency of Children Protection and Care under the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs, said that it seems that child abuse cases tend to be covered up by authorities.

He called for stronger public protest against molestation to protect the victims, and children in general.