Defend the Defenders | April 23, 2017
===== April 17 =====
18 Vietnamese Police Officers Released, 20 Others Still Held Hostage in Hanoi Land Dispute
Defend the Defenders: On April 17, farmers in Mieu Mon village, Dong Tam commune, My Duc district released 18 policemen but still held 20 policemen and cadres hostage in relation to a land dispute case in Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi.
In the evening of April 17, the farmers released 15 mobile policemen, while another three managed to escape. The villagers seek to protect a 47-hectare plot of agricultural land which the district authorities plan to allocate to the military-run Viettel Group, the biggest telecom provider in the Southeast Asian nation.
Authorities said some cadres were injured, while the villagers said one of them was severely beaten on April 15, when the clash began, and is still being treated in a local hospital.
The authorities are still deploying a large number of mobile policemen, militia and thugs to block access to the village, demanding that the local residents release all policemen and district, communal and village cadres.
Activists said the local authorities demanded that the electricity and water supply to the village be stopped. The village was isolated from outside as the Internet and telecommunications were interrupted, although authorities rejected that they intervened in this regard.
Police also temporarily released all villagers who were detained on April 15 without warrants.
Authorities said the villagers destroyed five vehicles of the police forces, including an ambulance.
Taking policemen and cadres hostage is a severe violation [of the law] and must be punished, said Major General Bach Thanh Dinh, head of the Hanoi Police Investigation Agency.
The dispute over the land parcel started three years ago. The Hanoi authorities said the land belongs to the army while villagers said it is their agricultural land.
Mieu Mon villagers have petitioned to demand the return of their land or the payment of adequate compensation. Eight local cadres members of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam have been disciplined for wrongdoings in the case.
The villagers have showed fierce opposition to the seizure of the land in February 2017, when Viettel started construction work in the area.
In Vietnam, all land belongs to the state and authorities can evict from local residents from their plots without paying adequate compensation, and later allocate them to property and industrial developers at much higher prices.
——————–
HCM City Detains Many Anti-Formosa Activists, Holding Them for Nearly 24 Hours
Defend the Defenders: On April 16, security forces in Ho Chi Minh City detained many anti-Formosa activists and released the next day at night, after interrogating them for hours.
At 9:00am on Sunday, police in District 1 arrested five activists, including Nguyen Thi Ngoc Lua, Quoc Anh, Nguyet Anh and Dinh Phuong Thao, as they held a small peaceful demonstration with banners reading “Formosa, get out” on Nguyen Binh Street.
Late in the evening of the same day, police in District 1 arrested another nine activists, namely Phuong Hoa, Nguyen Hao, Nguyen Phuong, Minh Tam, Tran Ban, Trung Duc, Thanh Truc and former prisoners of conscience Do Thi Minh Hanh and Nguyen Thuy Quynh, when they came to Ben Nghe ward police station to demand the release of the detainees, who were still being kept by the police.
Police held the detainees in different places in a bid to prevent the gathering of a large group of other activists to demand their release.
Activists said that during their detention, police continuously interrogated them and forced them to sign documents in which the activists “confessed” acts that caused “public disorder.” All of the detainees refuse to admit the accusation.
Ms. Quynh said a police officer slapped her on the face. Mr. Phuong was also beaten by a policeman.
——————–
Police in Lao Cai Harass Local Catholic Priests, Followers
Defend the Defenders: On April 16, police in Muong Khuong district, the northernmost province of Lao Cai, came to Muong Khuong village of Hung Hoa diocese to harass local Catholic priests and followers as they were holding vigils for Easter.
Around 30 police officers went to the private residence of Ms. Tran Thi Tram to disperse local followers and violently arrested Father Nguyen Dinh Thai, demanding that he follow them to a police station for interrogation. The police said the priest could not hold the vigil without asking permission from the local authorities.
Ms. Tram said police insulted both the priest and followers.
Priest Nguyen Van Thanh, head of the Lao Cai province’s church, said the province’s authorities agreed to vigils being held in Muong Khuong commune, Ban Xen and Ban Lau; however, the district authorities permitted Catholics to gather in Ban Xen only. Police have disturbed vigils held by local priests and followers in the last few months, he said. Their moves have triggered anger among Catholic followers, he added.
===== April 18 =====
Vietnam Arrests 11 People in Land Dispute in Lai Chau Province
Defend the Defenders: On April 18, authorities in Vietnam’s northern province of Lai Chau arrested 11 local residents in relation to a land dispute case, charging them with “resisting persons in the performance of their official duties” under Article 257 of the Penal Code, the Nhan Dan newspaper reported.
The detainees are from five related families in Dong Phong ward, Lai Chau city who were said to use man-made weapons to resist local police forces during the land seizure operations.
The families were said to have caused injuries to over ten policemen and local cadres. The local government deployed Special Forces to deal with them, the newspaper said.
The land seizure occurred on Tuesday after the families allegedly illegally occupied 60 square meters of their neighbor and 1,000 square meters of public land but refused to give it back as the local authorities required, the newspaper said.
The detainees may face imprisonment of between six months and three years in prison, according to the Vietnamese current law.
Land dispute is a thorny issue in Vietnam, where all land belongs to the state and residents only enjoy user rights. Authorities can seize land for socio-economic development or allocate it to property and industrial developers without paying adequate compensation to the users.
Five days ago, a land dispute in My Duc district, Hanoi resulted in violence. Local authorities arrested 15 residents of the Mieu Mon village who protest the seizure of 47 hectares of agricultural land. In response, the villagers detained 38 policemen and cadres and kept them as hostages.
After the local government released detained farmers, Mieu Mon villagers released 18 of their hostages. They still hold around 20 policemen and cadres.
The case could become more complicated and violent as the Hanoi government has yet to agree to negotiate with Mieu Mon villagers, who vowed to sacrifice their lives in order to protect their land.
===== April 19 =====
Hoa Hao Buddhists Protest against Harassment, Beatings in Vietnam’s An Giang
Radio Free Asia: Scores of Hoa Hao Buddhists in a village in southwestern Vietnam’s An Giang province protested on Wednesday against local authorities for harassing and beating them when they gathered to pray at the home of a former prisoner of conscience.
Police in Phuoc Hung village, Phuoc Hoa commune, in the province’s An Phu district followed a group of Hoa Hao motorbikers as they were leaving the home of Bui Van Trung, who served a four-year jail sentence for four years for resisting officials carrying out state deeds. He was released in October 2016.
“Five policemen followed Hoa Nam, also known as Teo, to a deserted place and beat him,” Trung told RFA’s Vietnamese Service. “Teo was among the group of 11 motorbikers leaving my house after the prayers.”
Trung said that the harassment began on the night of April 18 when traffic police stopped fellow Hoa Hao Buddhists going to his house.
They confiscated their motorbike registration papers and did not return them, he said.
When the harassment continued, Trung and scores of fellow Hoa Hao Buddhist followers raised a banner to protest against local authorities for preventing them from worshipping.
The Hoa Hao Buddhists in An Giang province are among those who do not obey the officially sanctioned Hoa Hao Church Committee by Hanoi’s communist government.
Vietnam’s government officially recognizes the Hoa Hao religion, which has some two million followers across the country, but imposes harsh controls on dissenting Hoa Hao groups, including the sect in An Giang province, that do not follow the state-sanctioned branch.
Rights groups say that authorities in An Giang routinely harass followers of the unapproved groups, prohibiting public readings of the Hoa Hao founder’s writings and discouraging worshipers from visiting Hoa Hao pagodas in An Giang and other provinces.
===== April 20 =====
Negotiations between Hanoi Mayor and My Duc Villagers over Land Disputes Fail as No Villagers Show up
Defend the Defenders: The negotiations between the Chairman of Hanoi City’s executive body, the People’s Committee, and farmers in Dong Tam commune, My Duc district failed as no villagers showed up for a bilateral dialogue.
Chung, who was lieutenant general and head of the city’s Police Department, led a group of 30 people, including Deputy Secretary of the municipal Communist Party Committee Dao Duc Toan, came to the district to seek dialogue with local people of Dong Tam commune, where 20 policemen and officials are still being held hostage.
Chung insisted that the dialogue be held in the district’s government building, while the farmers requested the meeting to occur in Mieu Mon village for security reasons.
Speaking at a conference after the failed meeting, Chung recapped the situation from April 15, expressed a willingness to talk to the people at the earliest, and asked the local villagers to free the remaining officials and policemen.
He added that on April 20, Hanoi decided to inspect thoroughly the land usage in this district, including the Dong Senh land plot being petitioned by the locals. Inspection results will be available in 45 days from now.
Ending the press conference, Mr. Chung informed the locals that all organizations and individuals including Viettel had been asked to stop construction in the area. He hoped the local people would cooperate with inspection teams, continue dialogue and free the hostages.
Meanwhile, a delegation of lawmakers representing Hanoi at the National Assembly is scheduled to meet with My Duc voters in the morning of April 21. Nguyen Van Chien, a member of the delegation, said on April 19 that he directly visited Dong Tam commune to meet with local villagers.
Following this news, at a regular press conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) held in Hanoi on April 20, Ministry Spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang said the Hanoi authorities were handling the case in accordance with Vietnamese law, ensuring the legal rights of all parties involved.
She stressed the MOFA’s stance that Vietnam needs to strictly handle any illegal act in order to protect the integrity of the law.
The Dong Tam conflict is rooted in land eviction decisions that have affected the local people. Four local villagers were detained during the clash and in turn 38 officials, many of whom mobile policemen, were held hostage by the villagers.
In the latest move, on April 21, Dong Tam villagers released Mr. Dang Van Canh, head of the municipal Committee for Propaganda and Education. The release was made based on his bad health despite having been treated well by villagers.
===== April 21 =====
Private Residence of HCM City-based Labor Activist Attacked with Dirty Substance
Defend the Defenders: Former prisoner of conscience and labor activist Do Thi Minh Hanh announced that her private residence in Ho Chi Minh City had been attacked with a dirty substance on April 21.
The substance was made of decaying shrimp and other unidentified components, she said.
She blamed local police for the attack. However, the latter rejected the accusation.
Ms. Hanh’s private residence has been under constant surveillance of the local police, who have installed a number of cameras nearby to monitor her moves and sent police officers to prevent her from going out on many occasions – whenever local activists planned to hold peaceful demonstrations.
Ms. Hanh was released in 2010 after serving four years of a seven-year sentence for distributing leaflets in support of striking footwear workers.
After being released, she continued to work for laborers’ rights, trying to assist them in demanding better salaries and work conditions.
===== April 22 =====
Dong Tam Farmers Release All Policemen, Cadres after Negotiation with Hanoi Leaders
Defend the Defenders: On April 22, farmers in Dong Tam commune, My Duc district in Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi released the remaining 19 police officers and cadres who had been held hostage for eight days in a dispute over 47 hectares of land.
The move came after negotiations with the city’s leadership. Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung of the city’s executive body, the People’s Committee, pledged not to seek prosecution of local residents for resisting the local authorities. The latter attempted to seize their land to allocate it to the military-run Viettel Group in order to build non-military facilities.
Mr. Chung pledged not to seek prosecution of the farmers for detaining policemen and officials and keeping them hostage.
Yesterday, Chung also requested Viettel Group and other companies to stop construction works on the disputed land and launched an inspection, to be held over the next 45 days.
The incident started on April 15 when authorities in My Duc district detained many farmers without warrants. In response, Mieu Mon villagers detained around 40 policemen and local officials and kept them in the village’s common building.
Hanoi deployed thousands of police, militia and thugs to the area, blocking all roads to the village. The electricity and water supply of the village were cut as well as telecommunications, making the village isolated from the outside world.
On April 17, the villagers released 18 policemen, and on April 21 they freed a senior propagandist of the district, on humanitarian grounds.
Many activists in Hanoi have also been under close police surveillance as the authorities tried to prevent them from going to My Duc to support the farmers.
——————–
Authorities in HCM City Continue to Persecute Local Female Activist
Defend the Defenders: Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City have continued to harass and intimidate primary school teacher Nguyen Thi Loan (also known by her Facebook user name Nguyen Thanh Loan) for her activities that aim to promote human rights and protect the environment.
In addition to summoning her to the police station on many occasions in order to interrogate her about her relations with pro-democracy activist Luu Van Vinh, who was arrested and charged with “attempting to overthrow the people’s government” under Article 79 of the Penal Code last year, police in Ho Chi Minh City pressured her landlords in order to make them cancel the lease agreement for her apartment.
As a result, Loan now has to move out within a few weeks.
Ms. Loan told Defend the Defenders that earlier this week, as she was riding her motorbike, a man with a mask chased her and tried to cause an accident. Loan nearly fell under a moving truck. Later, she fell on a street, which caused severe injuries to her legs while the man left the scene. She suspected that the unidentified man had been sent by the local police.
On March 12, police in Go Vap district locked her inside her apartment with a big lock and an iron chain in a bid to prevent her from going out on Sunday, the day when some activists had called for a peaceful gathering to protest the polluting Formosa plant.
Four days later, she was detained by local police together with other local activists while trying to hold a peaceful demonstration to demand justice for victims of child molestation 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. Police officers roughly forced her into their car, and her head hit a metal part of the car, which knocked her unconscious. Police took her to a hospital, left her there and fled to avoid being held to account.
Loan is among the many young citizens in HCM City who attended peaceful demonstrations on a number of issues such as human rights violations, the environmental pollution caused by the Taiwanese Formosa steel plant in the central coastal region in April 2016, and the inadequate response of the city’s authorities to child abuse.
In order to discourage activists from carrying out their work, Vietnam’s security forces have used a number of repressive measures, including kidnapping, arbitrary detention and torture, as well as various intimidation tricks.
For an account of previous harassment against Ms. Nguyen Thi Loan, see: Security Forces in HCM City Lock Local Activist’s Apartment to Prevent Her from Going out
Three Activists in HCM City Detained after Holding Demonstration to Demand an Investigation into Pedophile Case in a Local Elementary School
==== April 23 =====
Many Hanoi-based Activists Placed under House Arrest during Dong Tam Crisis
Defend the Defenders: Authorities in Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi have deployed large numbers of plainclothes agents near the private residences of local activists during the week in a bid to prevent them from going to Dong Tam commune, My Duc district to support local residents involved in a land dispute case.
The move has effectively placed local activists under de facto house arrest, as they cannot go out to work or carry out other activities.
Among the victims of the Hanoi authorities’ harassment are blogger Nguyen Tuong Thuy, Vice-President of the Independent Journalists’ Association of Vietnam, Vu Quoc Ngu, chief executive officer of Defend the Defenders, blogger La Viet Dung, and independent journalist Le Anh Hung.
Blogger Thuy said the local authorities have also sent militia and members of the local Fatherland Front branch to harass his family and guests when they held a small demonstration to support Dong Tam farmers.
Some activists in Ho Chi Minh City have also been placed under house arrest during the week.
In the six previous weekends, authorities in many Vietnamese localities sent plainclothes agents to block the private residences of local activists in a bid to prevent them from gathering to protest the Taiwanese Formosa steel plant, which illegally discharged a large volume of toxic industrial waste in Vietnam’s central coastal region in April 2016, causing the most serious environmental disaster in the country for decades.
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 22, 2017
Vietnam Human Rights Defenders Weekly April 17-23: Hanoi Farmers Release All Policemen, Cadres after 8-Day Hostage Situation in Land Dispute Case
by Nhan Quyen • DEFENDER’S WEEKLY
Defend the Defenders | April 23, 2017
On April 22, farmers in Mieu Mon village, Dong Tam commune, My Duc district in the capital city of Hanoi released the remaining 19 police officers and cadres who had been held hostage for eight days in a dispute over 47 hectares of land.
The move came after negotiations with the city’s leadership. Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung of the city’s executive body People’s Committee, pledged not to seek prosecution of local residents for resisting the local authorities. The latter attempted to seize their land to allocate it to the military-run Viettel Group in order to build non-military facilities.
During the week, in addition to blocking Mieu Mon village, authorities in Hanoi sent a large number of plainclothes agents and militia to the private residences of local activists in order to prevent them from going to Dong Tam to support the farmers, who vowed to scarify their lives to protect their agricultural land.
On April 16-17, police in Ho Chi Minh City held 14 local activists who demand that the Taiwanese Formosa Group cease its operations and get out of Vietnam. The police arrested five of them as they held a peaceful demonstration against Formosa and detained another nine when they came to demand the release of the former. Activists said they were interrogated and insulted in police custody. Some complained that they were beaten by police officers.
Security forces in Ho Chi Minh City continue harassing local female activist Nguyen Thi Loan. In addition to summoning her on multiple occasions to the police station to question her about her relations with jailed pro-democracy activist Luu Van Vinh, police also put pressure on her landlords, who were requested to cancel the lease agreement pertaining to her apartment. Ms. Loan suspects that plainclothes agents attempted to kill her as she travelled on her motorbike.
And other important news
===== April 17 =====
18 Vietnamese Police Officers Released, 20 Others Still Held Hostage in Hanoi Land Dispute
Defend the Defenders: On April 17, farmers in Mieu Mon village, Dong Tam commune, My Duc district released 18 policemen but still held 20 policemen and cadres hostage in relation to a land dispute case in Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi.
In the evening of April 17, the farmers released 15 mobile policemen, while another three managed to escape. The villagers seek to protect a 47-hectare plot of agricultural land which the district authorities plan to allocate to the military-run Viettel Group, the biggest telecom provider in the Southeast Asian nation.
Authorities said some cadres were injured, while the villagers said one of them was severely beaten on April 15, when the clash began, and is still being treated in a local hospital.
The authorities are still deploying a large number of mobile policemen, militia and thugs to block access to the village, demanding that the local residents release all policemen and district, communal and village cadres.
Activists said the local authorities demanded that the electricity and water supply to the village be stopped. The village was isolated from outside as the Internet and telecommunications were interrupted, although authorities rejected that they intervened in this regard.
Police also temporarily released all villagers who were detained on April 15 without warrants.
Authorities said the villagers destroyed five vehicles of the police forces, including an ambulance.
Taking policemen and cadres hostage is a severe violation [of the law] and must be punished, said Major General Bach Thanh Dinh, head of the Hanoi Police Investigation Agency.
The dispute over the land parcel started three years ago. The Hanoi authorities said the land belongs to the army while villagers said it is their agricultural land.
Mieu Mon villagers have petitioned to demand the return of their land or the payment of adequate compensation. Eight local cadres members of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam have been disciplined for wrongdoings in the case.
The villagers have showed fierce opposition to the seizure of the land in February 2017, when Viettel started construction work in the area.
In Vietnam, all land belongs to the state and authorities can evict from local residents from their plots without paying adequate compensation, and later allocate them to property and industrial developers at much higher prices.
——————–
HCM City Detains Many Anti-Formosa Activists, Holding Them for Nearly 24 Hours
Defend the Defenders: On April 16, security forces in Ho Chi Minh City detained many anti-Formosa activists and released the next day at night, after interrogating them for hours.
At 9:00am on Sunday, police in District 1 arrested five activists, including Nguyen Thi Ngoc Lua, Quoc Anh, Nguyet Anh and Dinh Phuong Thao, as they held a small peaceful demonstration with banners reading “Formosa, get out” on Nguyen Binh Street.
Late in the evening of the same day, police in District 1 arrested another nine activists, namely Phuong Hoa, Nguyen Hao, Nguyen Phuong, Minh Tam, Tran Ban, Trung Duc, Thanh Truc and former prisoners of conscience Do Thi Minh Hanh and Nguyen Thuy Quynh, when they came to Ben Nghe ward police station to demand the release of the detainees, who were still being kept by the police.
Police held the detainees in different places in a bid to prevent the gathering of a large group of other activists to demand their release.
Activists said that during their detention, police continuously interrogated them and forced them to sign documents in which the activists “confessed” acts that caused “public disorder.” All of the detainees refuse to admit the accusation.
Ms. Quynh said a police officer slapped her on the face. Mr. Phuong was also beaten by a policeman.
——————–
Police in Lao Cai Harass Local Catholic Priests, Followers
Defend the Defenders: On April 16, police in Muong Khuong district, the northernmost province of Lao Cai, came to Muong Khuong village of Hung Hoa diocese to harass local Catholic priests and followers as they were holding vigils for Easter.
Around 30 police officers went to the private residence of Ms. Tran Thi Tram to disperse local followers and violently arrested Father Nguyen Dinh Thai, demanding that he follow them to a police station for interrogation. The police said the priest could not hold the vigil without asking permission from the local authorities.
Ms. Tram said police insulted both the priest and followers.
Priest Nguyen Van Thanh, head of the Lao Cai province’s church, said the province’s authorities agreed to vigils being held in Muong Khuong commune, Ban Xen and Ban Lau; however, the district authorities permitted Catholics to gather in Ban Xen only. Police have disturbed vigils held by local priests and followers in the last few months, he said. Their moves have triggered anger among Catholic followers, he added.
===== April 18 =====
Vietnam Arrests 11 People in Land Dispute in Lai Chau Province
Defend the Defenders: On April 18, authorities in Vietnam’s northern province of Lai Chau arrested 11 local residents in relation to a land dispute case, charging them with “resisting persons in the performance of their official duties” under Article 257 of the Penal Code, the Nhan Dan newspaper reported.
The detainees are from five related families in Dong Phong ward, Lai Chau city who were said to use man-made weapons to resist local police forces during the land seizure operations.
The families were said to have caused injuries to over ten policemen and local cadres. The local government deployed Special Forces to deal with them, the newspaper said.
The land seizure occurred on Tuesday after the families allegedly illegally occupied 60 square meters of their neighbor and 1,000 square meters of public land but refused to give it back as the local authorities required, the newspaper said.
The detainees may face imprisonment of between six months and three years in prison, according to the Vietnamese current law.
Land dispute is a thorny issue in Vietnam, where all land belongs to the state and residents only enjoy user rights. Authorities can seize land for socio-economic development or allocate it to property and industrial developers without paying adequate compensation to the users.
Five days ago, a land dispute in My Duc district, Hanoi resulted in violence. Local authorities arrested 15 residents of the Mieu Mon village who protest the seizure of 47 hectares of agricultural land. In response, the villagers detained 38 policemen and cadres and kept them as hostages.
After the local government released detained farmers, Mieu Mon villagers released 18 of their hostages. They still hold around 20 policemen and cadres.
The case could become more complicated and violent as the Hanoi government has yet to agree to negotiate with Mieu Mon villagers, who vowed to sacrifice their lives in order to protect their land.
===== April 19 =====
Hoa Hao Buddhists Protest against Harassment, Beatings in Vietnam’s An Giang
Radio Free Asia: Scores of Hoa Hao Buddhists in a village in southwestern Vietnam’s An Giang province protested on Wednesday against local authorities for harassing and beating them when they gathered to pray at the home of a former prisoner of conscience.
Police in Phuoc Hung village, Phuoc Hoa commune, in the province’s An Phu district followed a group of Hoa Hao motorbikers as they were leaving the home of Bui Van Trung, who served a four-year jail sentence for four years for resisting officials carrying out state deeds. He was released in October 2016.
“Five policemen followed Hoa Nam, also known as Teo, to a deserted place and beat him,” Trung told RFA’s Vietnamese Service. “Teo was among the group of 11 motorbikers leaving my house after the prayers.”
Trung said that the harassment began on the night of April 18 when traffic police stopped fellow Hoa Hao Buddhists going to his house.
They confiscated their motorbike registration papers and did not return them, he said.
When the harassment continued, Trung and scores of fellow Hoa Hao Buddhist followers raised a banner to protest against local authorities for preventing them from worshipping.
The Hoa Hao Buddhists in An Giang province are among those who do not obey the officially sanctioned Hoa Hao Church Committee by Hanoi’s communist government.
Vietnam’s government officially recognizes the Hoa Hao religion, which has some two million followers across the country, but imposes harsh controls on dissenting Hoa Hao groups, including the sect in An Giang province, that do not follow the state-sanctioned branch.
Rights groups say that authorities in An Giang routinely harass followers of the unapproved groups, prohibiting public readings of the Hoa Hao founder’s writings and discouraging worshipers from visiting Hoa Hao pagodas in An Giang and other provinces.
===== April 20 =====
Negotiations between Hanoi Mayor and My Duc Villagers over Land Disputes Fail as No Villagers Show up
Defend the Defenders: The negotiations between the Chairman of Hanoi City’s executive body, the People’s Committee, and farmers in Dong Tam commune, My Duc district failed as no villagers showed up for a bilateral dialogue.
Chung, who was lieutenant general and head of the city’s Police Department, led a group of 30 people, including Deputy Secretary of the municipal Communist Party Committee Dao Duc Toan, came to the district to seek dialogue with local people of Dong Tam commune, where 20 policemen and officials are still being held hostage.
Chung insisted that the dialogue be held in the district’s government building, while the farmers requested the meeting to occur in Mieu Mon village for security reasons.
Speaking at a conference after the failed meeting, Chung recapped the situation from April 15, expressed a willingness to talk to the people at the earliest, and asked the local villagers to free the remaining officials and policemen.
He added that on April 20, Hanoi decided to inspect thoroughly the land usage in this district, including the Dong Senh land plot being petitioned by the locals. Inspection results will be available in 45 days from now.
Ending the press conference, Mr. Chung informed the locals that all organizations and individuals including Viettel had been asked to stop construction in the area. He hoped the local people would cooperate with inspection teams, continue dialogue and free the hostages.
Meanwhile, a delegation of lawmakers representing Hanoi at the National Assembly is scheduled to meet with My Duc voters in the morning of April 21. Nguyen Van Chien, a member of the delegation, said on April 19 that he directly visited Dong Tam commune to meet with local villagers.
Following this news, at a regular press conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) held in Hanoi on April 20, Ministry Spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang said the Hanoi authorities were handling the case in accordance with Vietnamese law, ensuring the legal rights of all parties involved.
She stressed the MOFA’s stance that Vietnam needs to strictly handle any illegal act in order to protect the integrity of the law.
The Dong Tam conflict is rooted in land eviction decisions that have affected the local people. Four local villagers were detained during the clash and in turn 38 officials, many of whom mobile policemen, were held hostage by the villagers.
In the latest move, on April 21, Dong Tam villagers released Mr. Dang Van Canh, head of the municipal Committee for Propaganda and Education. The release was made based on his bad health despite having been treated well by villagers.
===== April 21 =====
Private Residence of HCM City-based Labor Activist Attacked with Dirty Substance
Defend the Defenders: Former prisoner of conscience and labor activist Do Thi Minh Hanh announced that her private residence in Ho Chi Minh City had been attacked with a dirty substance on April 21.
The substance was made of decaying shrimp and other unidentified components, she said.
She blamed local police for the attack. However, the latter rejected the accusation.
Ms. Hanh’s private residence has been under constant surveillance of the local police, who have installed a number of cameras nearby to monitor her moves and sent police officers to prevent her from going out on many occasions – whenever local activists planned to hold peaceful demonstrations.
Ms. Hanh was released in 2010 after serving four years of a seven-year sentence for distributing leaflets in support of striking footwear workers.
After being released, she continued to work for laborers’ rights, trying to assist them in demanding better salaries and work conditions.
===== April 22 =====
Dong Tam Farmers Release All Policemen, Cadres after Negotiation with Hanoi Leaders
Defend the Defenders: On April 22, farmers in Dong Tam commune, My Duc district in Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi released the remaining 19 police officers and cadres who had been held hostage for eight days in a dispute over 47 hectares of land.
The move came after negotiations with the city’s leadership. Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung of the city’s executive body, the People’s Committee, pledged not to seek prosecution of local residents for resisting the local authorities. The latter attempted to seize their land to allocate it to the military-run Viettel Group in order to build non-military facilities.
Mr. Chung pledged not to seek prosecution of the farmers for detaining policemen and officials and keeping them hostage.
Yesterday, Chung also requested Viettel Group and other companies to stop construction works on the disputed land and launched an inspection, to be held over the next 45 days.
The incident started on April 15 when authorities in My Duc district detained many farmers without warrants. In response, Mieu Mon villagers detained around 40 policemen and local officials and kept them in the village’s common building.
Hanoi deployed thousands of police, militia and thugs to the area, blocking all roads to the village. The electricity and water supply of the village were cut as well as telecommunications, making the village isolated from the outside world.
On April 17, the villagers released 18 policemen, and on April 21 they freed a senior propagandist of the district, on humanitarian grounds.
Many activists in Hanoi have also been under close police surveillance as the authorities tried to prevent them from going to My Duc to support the farmers.
——————–
Authorities in HCM City Continue to Persecute Local Female Activist
Defend the Defenders: Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City have continued to harass and intimidate primary school teacher Nguyen Thi Loan (also known by her Facebook user name Nguyen Thanh Loan) for her activities that aim to promote human rights and protect the environment.
In addition to summoning her to the police station on many occasions in order to interrogate her about her relations with pro-democracy activist Luu Van Vinh, who was arrested and charged with “attempting to overthrow the people’s government” under Article 79 of the Penal Code last year, police in Ho Chi Minh City pressured her landlords in order to make them cancel the lease agreement for her apartment.
As a result, Loan now has to move out within a few weeks.
Ms. Loan told Defend the Defenders that earlier this week, as she was riding her motorbike, a man with a mask chased her and tried to cause an accident. Loan nearly fell under a moving truck. Later, she fell on a street, which caused severe injuries to her legs while the man left the scene. She suspected that the unidentified man had been sent by the local police.
On March 12, police in Go Vap district locked her inside her apartment with a big lock and an iron chain in a bid to prevent her from going out on Sunday, the day when some activists had called for a peaceful gathering to protest the polluting Formosa plant.
Four days later, she was detained by local police together with other local activists while trying to hold a peaceful demonstration to demand justice for victims of child molestation 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. Police officers roughly forced her into their car, and her head hit a metal part of the car, which knocked her unconscious. Police took her to a hospital, left her there and fled to avoid being held to account.
Loan is among the many young citizens in HCM City who attended peaceful demonstrations on a number of issues such as human rights violations, the environmental pollution caused by the Taiwanese Formosa steel plant in the central coastal region in April 2016, and the inadequate response of the city’s authorities to child abuse.
In order to discourage activists from carrying out their work, Vietnam’s security forces have used a number of repressive measures, including kidnapping, arbitrary detention and torture, as well as various intimidation tricks.
For an account of previous harassment against Ms. Nguyen Thi Loan, see: Security Forces in HCM City Lock Local Activist’s Apartment to Prevent Her from Going out
Three Activists in HCM City Detained after Holding Demonstration to Demand an Investigation into Pedophile Case in a Local Elementary School
==== April 23 =====
Many Hanoi-based Activists Placed under House Arrest during Dong Tam Crisis
Defend the Defenders: Authorities in Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi have deployed large numbers of plainclothes agents near the private residences of local activists during the week in a bid to prevent them from going to Dong Tam commune, My Duc district to support local residents involved in a land dispute case.
The move has effectively placed local activists under de facto house arrest, as they cannot go out to work or carry out other activities.
Among the victims of the Hanoi authorities’ harassment are blogger Nguyen Tuong Thuy, Vice-President of the Independent Journalists’ Association of Vietnam, Vu Quoc Ngu, chief executive officer of Defend the Defenders, blogger La Viet Dung, and independent journalist Le Anh Hung.
Blogger Thuy said the local authorities have also sent militia and members of the local Fatherland Front branch to harass his family and guests when they held a small demonstration to support Dong Tam farmers.
Some activists in Ho Chi Minh City have also been placed under house arrest during the week.
In the six previous weekends, authorities in many Vietnamese localities sent plainclothes agents to block the private residences of local activists in a bid to prevent them from gathering to protest the Taiwanese Formosa steel plant, which illegally discharged a large volume of toxic industrial waste in Vietnam’s central coastal region in April 2016, causing the most serious environmental disaster in the country for decades.