Defend the Defenders | April 16, 2017
===== April 10 =====
Vietnam Police Begin Prosecuting Anti-Formosa Protesters on National Highway 1A
Defend the Defenders: Police in Ky Anh district in Vietnam’s central province of Ha Tinh have pressed charges in a criminal case in which hundreds of people blocked traffic on National Highway 1A. They will face charges of “causing public disorder,” state media reported on April 10.
About 100 people blocked the highway section through Con Pass a week ago with fishing nets, bricks and stones, holding up thousands of vehicles, the government said in a statement dated April 9.
The protest in the town of Ky Anh was directed against the steel factory being built by the Formosa Hung Nghiep Steel Company, a subsidiary of the Taiwanese Formosa Plastics Corp.
Last year, the $11 billion Ha Tinh plant spilled toxic waste that polluted more than 200 km (125 miles) on Vietnam’s central coast, sparking a wave of protests not seen in four decades of Communist Party rule.
Speaking at a meeting of the police units on April 10, Minister of Public Security To Lam has asked his subordinates to resolutely prevent the reoccurrence of “large crowd gatherings and national highway blockades” like it happened in central Vietnam recently. He called for timely handling of such cases, especially targeting those who also protest and spread “anti-state propaganda.”
In an op-ed published on April 10, the Quan Doi Nhan Dan (People’s Army) newspaper, the mouthpiece of the Vietnam People’s Army, called for strict punishment of those taking advantage of religion to carry out ill ploys.
The height of these ploys was the mobilization of Catholics in the central provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh to block National Highway 1A, attacks on local authorities and disorder at the Loc Ha district People’s Committee in February and April, the article noted, condemning the priests, Viet Tan terrorist elements, and extremist Catholics for such behaviors.
Earlier on April 6, Vietnamese police initiated prosecution against Nguyen Van Hoa, a 22-year-old man who has been detained since February for spreading news about environmental pollution and the local protests against Formosa plant.
Colonel Nguyen Tien Nam, deputy director of the Ha Tinh police, said Mr. Hoa, a “Viet Tan element,” was charged with “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and/or citizens” as per Article 258 of the Penal Code. (Government News Portal; Nhan Dan; Infonet; Lao Dong; Ha Tinh Police Website; VietnamNet; Tuoi Tre; Thanh Nien; Saigon Giai Phong; Nguoi Lao Dong; Thanh Tra Apr 9-10)
===== April 11 =====
Vietnam Executes 429 People from August 2013-June 2016: Amnesty International
Defend the Defenders: Amnesty International’s 2016 global review of the death penalty report showed that Vietnam executed 429 people between August 2013 and June 2016.
But the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security did not disclose the execution figures for 2016.
Amnesty International’s Secretary-general Salil Shetty said that the Vietnamese figures were appalling and questioned what the nation was hiding by not revealing how many people it executed last year.
Amnesty’s Individuals at Risk Program Coordinator Rose Kolak said that Vietnam’s execution figures over the last few years was particularly concerning and also singled out China over its lack of transparency.
Vietnam imposes death sentences for a list of more than 20 crimes, including drug trafficking. In the revised Criminal Code that took effect in July 2016, Vietnamese lawmakers removed seven crimes from the list of crimes that attract capital punishment.
===== April 13 =====
Two Activists Kidnapped, Beaten and Robbed in Quang Binh; the Second Such Case in Two Months
Defend the Defenders: On April 13, two young activists, namely Tran Hoang Phuc and Huynh Thanh Phat, were kidnapped by plainclothes agents, who robbed and brutally beat them before releasing the activists in a remote area in central Vietnam, the victims told Defend the Defenders.
The assault occurred in the central province of Quang Binh, where two months ago pro-democracy advocate Nguyen Trung Ton and his friend were also kidnapped, robbed and beaten by plainclothes agents.
Mr. Phuc, a Saigon-based young human rights and pro-democracy activist said earlier this week that he and Mr. Phat came back to Quang Binh province’s Ba Don town four months after his first visit there when he participated in a charity campaign for the local residents who are facing a difficult situation due to floods and man-made disasters.
After meeting with local Catholic priests and supplying local residents with donations, Phuc and Phat went to the Xuan Truyen station to get on a bus headed back to Saigon. After arriving in the station, the duo was kidnapped by a group of eight masked men who came with a seven-seat car.
The kidnappers introduced themselves as criminals and drove the car to a remote area near the Ho Chi Minh Road of Tam Quang commune, Tuong Duong district, Nghe An province. Phat said the thugs stripped them of their clothes, covered their heads with clothes, knocked them down to the car’s floor and continuously beat the two activists with their hands and belts during the journey.
After hours of traveling, they stopped in a remote area of the newly-built road. The thugs robbed all belongings of Phuc and Phat, including cell phones and wallets with money and personnel documents and left.
Severely injured, the two young activists were rescued by people in the area who provided them with clothes and helped them contact other activists.
Currently, Phuc and Phat are treated for their injuries by their friends.
On February 27, Mr. Ton, president of the Brotherhood for Democracy, and his friend were also kidnapped in Ba Don town and subjected to the same kind of abuse. Due to the attack, Ton’s feet were broken and he spent a month receiving treatment at a hospital. His health is still very bad.
Phuc is a political activist and businessman. Phat is a young human rights defender. Both have participated in many peaceful demonstrations on environmental issues and advocated for human rights and multi-party democracy in the Southeast Asian nation.
They have also actively participated in charity campaigns to assist fishermen in Vietnam’s central region who have suffered from the environmental disaster caused by the illegal discharge of toxic industrial waste by the Taiwanese Formosa steel plant located in the central province of Ha Tinh.
Phuc and Phat were the latest victims of kidnapping, robbery and assault by plainclothes agents in the past few years. Many activists, including Nguyen Trung Truc and Mai Van Tam from Quang Binh, Nguyen Cong Huan from Nghe An, Nguyen Van Dai and La Viet Dung were kidnapped, beaten and robbed by unidentified thugs who were supposed to be plainclothes agents.
Along with arrest, detention and imprisonment, Vietnam’s security forces have also applied a number of tricks to discourage local activists.
Physical attacks by police and plainclothes agents are on the rise in Vietnam. Nationwide, as many as 140 activists were physically attacked by Vietnam’s security forces in 2016 compared to 65 in 2014 and 125 in 2015, according to statistics of the Former Vietnamese Prisoners of Conscience.
Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Thai Binh, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Gia Lai and Lam Dong were the localities where the highest level of brutality and disrespect for the rule of law by local police was recorded. Police frequently resorted to arbitrary detention.
No perpetrators have been punished so far, Defend the Defenders said.
===== April 14 =====
Vietnam to Postpone Adoption of Draft Law on Associations Again: NA Committee
Defend the Defenders: The draft law on Associations, which is expected to be adopted at the June meeting of Vietnam’s legislative body, the National Assembly, will once again be pulled from the agenda, the Dan Tri newswire reported on April 13.
The information was disclosed during an April 13 meeting of the Judicial Affairs Committee.
The two-day meeting, chaired by National Assembly’s Vice Chairman Uong Chu Luu, covers a draft government proposal on the building of laws and ordinances for 2018 and the revised program for law making in 2017.
Speaking at the event, Minister of Justice Le Thanh Long informed participants that the government had proposed adding 21 projects to the law-making program in 2018. State media gave no details of these draft laws.
Vice Chairman Luu urged agencies not to submit documents lacking research and preparations and to ensure that the laws are consistent with the existing legal framework. Another report said lawmakers are expected to discuss the revised Law on Anti-Corruption at the end of this year.
——————–
Only Army, Police Can Use Hidden Devices for Recording: Vietnam Ministry
Defend the Defenders: Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security has proposed a draft decree which permits only police and army forces to use hidden equipment for filming and recording while journalists and ordinary people can use ordinary equipment, state media has reported.
The ministry said the move aims to protect the state secrets as well as people’s privacy.
According to the draft, journalists and civilians cannot use filming equipment under the guise of tools such as pencils and lighters.
The ministry said on its website that people still can use cameras and other tools such as smart phones for filming and recording.
The draft has given rise to concerns among journalists and local activists, who say the ban is intended to prevent them from doing their job in a repressive environment characterized by restrictions on the media.
Many bloggers and citizen journalists, who provide the only independently reported information in Vietnam, where the media is controlled by the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam, believe that the bill will prevent them from covering events and writing about abuses committed by authorities and infringements upon people’s rights.
Independent journalist and blogger Pham Chi told the Radio Free Asia that the ministry designed the draft bill because it fears the dramatic development of social media in Vietnam while freelance journalist Nguyen Thien Nhan said the police just want to make things more convenient for themselves but do not want people to record officers who carry out unlawful acts.
Vietnam is listed by Reporters Without Borders as one of the biggest enemies of Internet. The Paris-based organization ranked the Communist nation 175th out of 180 countries in its 2016 World Press Freedom Index.
During the first nine months of 2016, at least 19 bloggers and activists were put on trial and convicted in Vietnam, according to Human Rights Watch’s most recent annual review of human rights around the world.
===== April 15 =====
Land Grabbing in Hanoi Outskirts Results in Violence
Defend the Defenders: Land grabbing in My Duc district, Hanoi, has resulted in a violent clash between farmers and local authorities, with the arrests of numerous farmers by security forces and the detention of dozens of policemen by angry residents.
The incident stems from disputes over an agricultural land area of 47 hectares in Mieu Mon village that the city’s government wants to seize from local farmers and give to the military-run Viettel Group, the biggest mobile phone operator in the country, without providing compensation for the farmers.
According to citizen journalists, in the morning of April 15, authorities in Hanoi tricked farmers in Dong Tam commune by calling them to the area and later arresting 15 of them, among those who resist the land seizure. The arrests were made without warrants.
In response, Dong Tam farmers held in custody two plainclothes police officers, one of whom is a deputy chief of the My Tam district police.
In the afternoon of the same day, the city’s authorities sent numerous police officers, mobile policemen and militia to block the village. Villagers detained another 20 mobile policemen, kept them in a closed room and declared that they will burn them with petrol if the authorities attack the village.
So far, one young man of the village has been beaten with severe injuries. The victim is under special treatment in the district’s general hospital. Another man of the village was reported to have died under unclear circumstances.
Hanoi’s authorities refuse to negotiate with the villagers and continue to send large numbers of mobile police and thugs to block the village, banning people from going in and out of the area.
The city also demanded to cut electricity during the night of April 15, as well as the Internet and wireless phone networks in the area, keeping the village isolated. Local residents cannot contact people outside.
Activists nationwide have called on the city’s authorities to withdraw all forces and release the detained farmers, and they encouraged Mieu Mon villagers to release the policemen they are keeping in custody. The two sides need to settle the dispute peacefully, they said.
Hanoi should abandon its plan to take the land parcel without paying compensation, they noted.
It is worth noting that in Communist Vietnam, all land belongs to the state and local residents only have a right to use it. This has permitted local authorities to seize land for socio-economic development projects.
In many places, local authorities have seized land from residents to make way for property development and industrial projects. In most cases, they have paid low compensation and have later made the land available to developers at prices many folds higher.
Thousands of Vietnamese residents across the country have become land petitioners gathering in Hanoi and other big cities to seek justice and demand adequate compensation for their grabbed land.
Vietnam’s authorities, instead of finding ways to meet land petitioners’ requests, treat them as second-class citizens. Many of them have been beaten and imprisoned on allegations of causing public disorder under Article 245 of the Penal Code.
===== April 16 =====
Vietnam Has No Plans to Bring Prominent Human Rights Advocate Nguyen Van Dai to Court after 16-Month Detention Runs Out
Defend the Defenders: Vietnam’s authorities are yet to bring prominent human rights attorney Nguyen Van Dai to court after 16 months of pre-trial detention.
Mr. Dai and his assistant Ms. Le Thu Ha were arrested on December 16, 2016 on charges of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the country’s Penal Code.
Vietnam’s authorities have extended the investigation period three times, making the pre-trial period to last 16 months in total, to date.
On April 15, Mrs. Vu Minh Khanh, the wife of Mr. Dai, came to the Hanoi-based B14 detention facility of the Ministry of Public Security to supply her husband with foodstuff. She told Defend the Defenders that she has no idea when they will bring him to court.
On April 2, Mrs. Khanh was barred from leaving the country to Germany where she was invited to attend a ceremony and on behalf of her husband to accept the Human Rights Award which the German Association of Judges (Deutscher Richterbund, or DRB), the largest professional organization of judges and public prosecutors in Germany, honored Mr. Dai with.
Vietnam’s security forces at Noi Bai International Airport said she could not leave the country for political reasons without providing more details.
Mr. Dai, who was previously imprisoned for four years, co-founded the online group Brotherhood for Democracy in 2013 to coordinate human rights activities across Vietnam and host forums in Hanoi and Saigon to mark International Human Rights Day.
Vietnam’s Communist government took Dai into custody again in December 2015 after he left his home in Hanoi to meet with EU representatives who were researching human rights issues in Vietnam. He is facing imprisonment of up to 20 years if he is convicted, according to Vietnam’s current law.
Dai’s arrest came a few days after masked assailants beat him and other activists in what he said at the time was retaliation for his work educating Vietnamese people about human rights.
During the past 16 months, Mr. Dai was allowed to meet with his wife only two times. He has yet to be permitted to be represented by lawyers.
——————–
HCM City-based Human Rights Activist under Constant Surveillance, Threatened by Plainclothes Agents
Defend the Defenders: Medical doctor Dinh Duc Long, a human rights activist based in Ho Chi Minh City, has revealed that he had been threatened by plainclothes agents who have been following him closely in recent months.
The plainclothes agents have been following him everywhere, from his private residence to his workplace. When Mr. Long took pictures of them, they threatened to beat him.
Dr. Long was a member of the ruling Communist Party. A few years ago, he declared to leave the party saying it had failed to deal with systemic corruption, ensure respect human rights, and protect the country’s sovereignty amid increasing Chinese aggressiveness in the East Sea.
In November last year, Dr. Long and other activists formed the Association for Support of Victims of Torture, which aims to realize the rights enshrined in the Convention Against Torture (CAT) in Vietnam.
Height Insoles: Hi, I do believe this is an excellent site. I stumbledupon …
http://fishinglovers.net: Appreciate you sharing, great post.Thanks Again. Keep writi…
Achilles Pain causes: Every weekend i used to pay a quick visit this site, as i w…
April 17, 2017
Vietnam Human Rights Defenders Weekly April 10-16, 2017: Land Grabbing in Hanoi Results in Violence
by Nhan Quyen • DEFENDER’S WEEKLY
Defend the Defenders | April 16, 2017
Land grabbing in My Duc district, Hanoi has resulted in a violent clash between affected farmers and local authorities, with the arrest of numerous farmers by security forces and the detention of dozens of policemen by angry residents.
While Hanoi’s authorities are deploying thousands of police, army, militia and thugs to the Mieu Mon village in a bid to suppress local farmers and rescue the police officers who are in hostage.
Activists nationwide have called on the two sides to settle the dispute peacefully to avoid any clash which may have severe consequences.
On April 13, two young activists, namely Tran Hoang Phuc and Huynh Thanh Phat, were kidnapped by plainclothes agents in Ba Don town, Quang Binh province, who robbed and brutally beat them before releasing them in a remote area of central Vietnam. The same treatment was meted out to pro-democracy activist Nguyen Trung Ton and his friend at the same place on February 27.
Instead of asking Formosa Steel Plant to provide additional compensation to people affected by the environmental disaster it caused and to clean the polluted areas in the central region, Vietnam’s authorities have exercised reprisals against the victims for the peaceful protests they held. State media reported that police in Ky Anh district, Ha Tinh province had pressed charges in a criminal case in which hundreds of people blocked traffic on National Highway 1A. They will face charges of “causing public disorder” under Article 245 of the Penal Code.
Vietnam’s legislative body the National Assembly will not discuss the draft law on Association in its coming session in May-June as the Parliament’s Judicial Affairs Committee decided that it is not ready for being introduced to legislators for debate and approval.
The Ministry of Public Security has put forward a draft decree which permits only police and army forces to use hidden equipment for filming and recording, while journalists and ordinary people can use ordinary equipment. The draft has given rise to concerns among journalists and local activists who say the ban is intended to prevent them from doing their job in a repressive environment that is characterized by restrictions on the media.
And other important news
===== April 10 =====
Vietnam Police Begin Prosecuting Anti-Formosa Protesters on National Highway 1A
Defend the Defenders: Police in Ky Anh district in Vietnam’s central province of Ha Tinh have pressed charges in a criminal case in which hundreds of people blocked traffic on National Highway 1A. They will face charges of “causing public disorder,” state media reported on April 10.
About 100 people blocked the highway section through Con Pass a week ago with fishing nets, bricks and stones, holding up thousands of vehicles, the government said in a statement dated April 9.
The protest in the town of Ky Anh was directed against the steel factory being built by the Formosa Hung Nghiep Steel Company, a subsidiary of the Taiwanese Formosa Plastics Corp.
Last year, the $11 billion Ha Tinh plant spilled toxic waste that polluted more than 200 km (125 miles) on Vietnam’s central coast, sparking a wave of protests not seen in four decades of Communist Party rule.
Speaking at a meeting of the police units on April 10, Minister of Public Security To Lam has asked his subordinates to resolutely prevent the reoccurrence of “large crowd gatherings and national highway blockades” like it happened in central Vietnam recently. He called for timely handling of such cases, especially targeting those who also protest and spread “anti-state propaganda.”
In an op-ed published on April 10, the Quan Doi Nhan Dan (People’s Army) newspaper, the mouthpiece of the Vietnam People’s Army, called for strict punishment of those taking advantage of religion to carry out ill ploys.
The height of these ploys was the mobilization of Catholics in the central provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh to block National Highway 1A, attacks on local authorities and disorder at the Loc Ha district People’s Committee in February and April, the article noted, condemning the priests, Viet Tan terrorist elements, and extremist Catholics for such behaviors.
Earlier on April 6, Vietnamese police initiated prosecution against Nguyen Van Hoa, a 22-year-old man who has been detained since February for spreading news about environmental pollution and the local protests against Formosa plant.
Colonel Nguyen Tien Nam, deputy director of the Ha Tinh police, said Mr. Hoa, a “Viet Tan element,” was charged with “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and/or citizens” as per Article 258 of the Penal Code. (Government News Portal; Nhan Dan; Infonet; Lao Dong; Ha Tinh Police Website; VietnamNet; Tuoi Tre; Thanh Nien; Saigon Giai Phong; Nguoi Lao Dong; Thanh Tra Apr 9-10)
===== April 11 =====
Vietnam Executes 429 People from August 2013-June 2016: Amnesty International
Defend the Defenders: Amnesty International’s 2016 global review of the death penalty report showed that Vietnam executed 429 people between August 2013 and June 2016.
But the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security did not disclose the execution figures for 2016.
Amnesty International’s Secretary-general Salil Shetty said that the Vietnamese figures were appalling and questioned what the nation was hiding by not revealing how many people it executed last year.
Amnesty’s Individuals at Risk Program Coordinator Rose Kolak said that Vietnam’s execution figures over the last few years was particularly concerning and also singled out China over its lack of transparency.
Vietnam imposes death sentences for a list of more than 20 crimes, including drug trafficking. In the revised Criminal Code that took effect in July 2016, Vietnamese lawmakers removed seven crimes from the list of crimes that attract capital punishment.
===== April 13 =====
Two Activists Kidnapped, Beaten and Robbed in Quang Binh; the Second Such Case in Two Months
Defend the Defenders: On April 13, two young activists, namely Tran Hoang Phuc and Huynh Thanh Phat, were kidnapped by plainclothes agents, who robbed and brutally beat them before releasing the activists in a remote area in central Vietnam, the victims told Defend the Defenders.
The assault occurred in the central province of Quang Binh, where two months ago pro-democracy advocate Nguyen Trung Ton and his friend were also kidnapped, robbed and beaten by plainclothes agents.
Mr. Phuc, a Saigon-based young human rights and pro-democracy activist said earlier this week that he and Mr. Phat came back to Quang Binh province’s Ba Don town four months after his first visit there when he participated in a charity campaign for the local residents who are facing a difficult situation due to floods and man-made disasters.
After meeting with local Catholic priests and supplying local residents with donations, Phuc and Phat went to the Xuan Truyen station to get on a bus headed back to Saigon. After arriving in the station, the duo was kidnapped by a group of eight masked men who came with a seven-seat car.
The kidnappers introduced themselves as criminals and drove the car to a remote area near the Ho Chi Minh Road of Tam Quang commune, Tuong Duong district, Nghe An province. Phat said the thugs stripped them of their clothes, covered their heads with clothes, knocked them down to the car’s floor and continuously beat the two activists with their hands and belts during the journey.
After hours of traveling, they stopped in a remote area of the newly-built road. The thugs robbed all belongings of Phuc and Phat, including cell phones and wallets with money and personnel documents and left.
Severely injured, the two young activists were rescued by people in the area who provided them with clothes and helped them contact other activists.
Currently, Phuc and Phat are treated for their injuries by their friends.
On February 27, Mr. Ton, president of the Brotherhood for Democracy, and his friend were also kidnapped in Ba Don town and subjected to the same kind of abuse. Due to the attack, Ton’s feet were broken and he spent a month receiving treatment at a hospital. His health is still very bad.
Phuc is a political activist and businessman. Phat is a young human rights defender. Both have participated in many peaceful demonstrations on environmental issues and advocated for human rights and multi-party democracy in the Southeast Asian nation.
They have also actively participated in charity campaigns to assist fishermen in Vietnam’s central region who have suffered from the environmental disaster caused by the illegal discharge of toxic industrial waste by the Taiwanese Formosa steel plant located in the central province of Ha Tinh.
Phuc and Phat were the latest victims of kidnapping, robbery and assault by plainclothes agents in the past few years. Many activists, including Nguyen Trung Truc and Mai Van Tam from Quang Binh, Nguyen Cong Huan from Nghe An, Nguyen Van Dai and La Viet Dung were kidnapped, beaten and robbed by unidentified thugs who were supposed to be plainclothes agents.
Along with arrest, detention and imprisonment, Vietnam’s security forces have also applied a number of tricks to discourage local activists.
Physical attacks by police and plainclothes agents are on the rise in Vietnam. Nationwide, as many as 140 activists were physically attacked by Vietnam’s security forces in 2016 compared to 65 in 2014 and 125 in 2015, according to statistics of the Former Vietnamese Prisoners of Conscience.
Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Thai Binh, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Gia Lai and Lam Dong were the localities where the highest level of brutality and disrespect for the rule of law by local police was recorded. Police frequently resorted to arbitrary detention.
No perpetrators have been punished so far, Defend the Defenders said.
===== April 14 =====
Vietnam to Postpone Adoption of Draft Law on Associations Again: NA Committee
Defend the Defenders: The draft law on Associations, which is expected to be adopted at the June meeting of Vietnam’s legislative body, the National Assembly, will once again be pulled from the agenda, the Dan Tri newswire reported on April 13.
The information was disclosed during an April 13 meeting of the Judicial Affairs Committee.
The two-day meeting, chaired by National Assembly’s Vice Chairman Uong Chu Luu, covers a draft government proposal on the building of laws and ordinances for 2018 and the revised program for law making in 2017.
Speaking at the event, Minister of Justice Le Thanh Long informed participants that the government had proposed adding 21 projects to the law-making program in 2018. State media gave no details of these draft laws.
Vice Chairman Luu urged agencies not to submit documents lacking research and preparations and to ensure that the laws are consistent with the existing legal framework. Another report said lawmakers are expected to discuss the revised Law on Anti-Corruption at the end of this year.
——————–
Only Army, Police Can Use Hidden Devices for Recording: Vietnam Ministry
Defend the Defenders: Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security has proposed a draft decree which permits only police and army forces to use hidden equipment for filming and recording while journalists and ordinary people can use ordinary equipment, state media has reported.
The ministry said the move aims to protect the state secrets as well as people’s privacy.
According to the draft, journalists and civilians cannot use filming equipment under the guise of tools such as pencils and lighters.
The ministry said on its website that people still can use cameras and other tools such as smart phones for filming and recording.
The draft has given rise to concerns among journalists and local activists, who say the ban is intended to prevent them from doing their job in a repressive environment characterized by restrictions on the media.
Many bloggers and citizen journalists, who provide the only independently reported information in Vietnam, where the media is controlled by the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam, believe that the bill will prevent them from covering events and writing about abuses committed by authorities and infringements upon people’s rights.
Independent journalist and blogger Pham Chi told the Radio Free Asia that the ministry designed the draft bill because it fears the dramatic development of social media in Vietnam while freelance journalist Nguyen Thien Nhan said the police just want to make things more convenient for themselves but do not want people to record officers who carry out unlawful acts.
Vietnam is listed by Reporters Without Borders as one of the biggest enemies of Internet. The Paris-based organization ranked the Communist nation 175th out of 180 countries in its 2016 World Press Freedom Index.
During the first nine months of 2016, at least 19 bloggers and activists were put on trial and convicted in Vietnam, according to Human Rights Watch’s most recent annual review of human rights around the world.
===== April 15 =====
Land Grabbing in Hanoi Outskirts Results in Violence
Defend the Defenders: Land grabbing in My Duc district, Hanoi, has resulted in a violent clash between farmers and local authorities, with the arrests of numerous farmers by security forces and the detention of dozens of policemen by angry residents.
The incident stems from disputes over an agricultural land area of 47 hectares in Mieu Mon village that the city’s government wants to seize from local farmers and give to the military-run Viettel Group, the biggest mobile phone operator in the country, without providing compensation for the farmers.
According to citizen journalists, in the morning of April 15, authorities in Hanoi tricked farmers in Dong Tam commune by calling them to the area and later arresting 15 of them, among those who resist the land seizure. The arrests were made without warrants.
In response, Dong Tam farmers held in custody two plainclothes police officers, one of whom is a deputy chief of the My Tam district police.
In the afternoon of the same day, the city’s authorities sent numerous police officers, mobile policemen and militia to block the village. Villagers detained another 20 mobile policemen, kept them in a closed room and declared that they will burn them with petrol if the authorities attack the village.
So far, one young man of the village has been beaten with severe injuries. The victim is under special treatment in the district’s general hospital. Another man of the village was reported to have died under unclear circumstances.
Hanoi’s authorities refuse to negotiate with the villagers and continue to send large numbers of mobile police and thugs to block the village, banning people from going in and out of the area.
The city also demanded to cut electricity during the night of April 15, as well as the Internet and wireless phone networks in the area, keeping the village isolated. Local residents cannot contact people outside.
Activists nationwide have called on the city’s authorities to withdraw all forces and release the detained farmers, and they encouraged Mieu Mon villagers to release the policemen they are keeping in custody. The two sides need to settle the dispute peacefully, they said.
Hanoi should abandon its plan to take the land parcel without paying compensation, they noted.
It is worth noting that in Communist Vietnam, all land belongs to the state and local residents only have a right to use it. This has permitted local authorities to seize land for socio-economic development projects.
In many places, local authorities have seized land from residents to make way for property development and industrial projects. In most cases, they have paid low compensation and have later made the land available to developers at prices many folds higher.
Thousands of Vietnamese residents across the country have become land petitioners gathering in Hanoi and other big cities to seek justice and demand adequate compensation for their grabbed land.
Vietnam’s authorities, instead of finding ways to meet land petitioners’ requests, treat them as second-class citizens. Many of them have been beaten and imprisoned on allegations of causing public disorder under Article 245 of the Penal Code.
===== April 16 =====
Vietnam Has No Plans to Bring Prominent Human Rights Advocate Nguyen Van Dai to Court after 16-Month Detention Runs Out
Defend the Defenders: Vietnam’s authorities are yet to bring prominent human rights attorney Nguyen Van Dai to court after 16 months of pre-trial detention.
Mr. Dai and his assistant Ms. Le Thu Ha were arrested on December 16, 2016 on charges of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the country’s Penal Code.
Vietnam’s authorities have extended the investigation period three times, making the pre-trial period to last 16 months in total, to date.
On April 15, Mrs. Vu Minh Khanh, the wife of Mr. Dai, came to the Hanoi-based B14 detention facility of the Ministry of Public Security to supply her husband with foodstuff. She told Defend the Defenders that she has no idea when they will bring him to court.
On April 2, Mrs. Khanh was barred from leaving the country to Germany where she was invited to attend a ceremony and on behalf of her husband to accept the Human Rights Award which the German Association of Judges (Deutscher Richterbund, or DRB), the largest professional organization of judges and public prosecutors in Germany, honored Mr. Dai with.
Vietnam’s security forces at Noi Bai International Airport said she could not leave the country for political reasons without providing more details.
Mr. Dai, who was previously imprisoned for four years, co-founded the online group Brotherhood for Democracy in 2013 to coordinate human rights activities across Vietnam and host forums in Hanoi and Saigon to mark International Human Rights Day.
Vietnam’s Communist government took Dai into custody again in December 2015 after he left his home in Hanoi to meet with EU representatives who were researching human rights issues in Vietnam. He is facing imprisonment of up to 20 years if he is convicted, according to Vietnam’s current law.
Dai’s arrest came a few days after masked assailants beat him and other activists in what he said at the time was retaliation for his work educating Vietnamese people about human rights.
During the past 16 months, Mr. Dai was allowed to meet with his wife only two times. He has yet to be permitted to be represented by lawyers.
——————–
HCM City-based Human Rights Activist under Constant Surveillance, Threatened by Plainclothes Agents
Defend the Defenders: Medical doctor Dinh Duc Long, a human rights activist based in Ho Chi Minh City, has revealed that he had been threatened by plainclothes agents who have been following him closely in recent months.
The plainclothes agents have been following him everywhere, from his private residence to his workplace. When Mr. Long took pictures of them, they threatened to beat him.
Dr. Long was a member of the ruling Communist Party. A few years ago, he declared to leave the party saying it had failed to deal with systemic corruption, ensure respect human rights, and protect the country’s sovereignty amid increasing Chinese aggressiveness in the East Sea.
In November last year, Dr. Long and other activists formed the Association for Support of Victims of Torture, which aims to realize the rights enshrined in the Convention Against Torture (CAT) in Vietnam.