Hostaged policemen say goodbye to Dong Tam villagers on April 24, 2017 when they were released after being kept in one week
Defend the Defenders, April 22, 2018
On April 21, authorities in Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi detained a group of local intellectuals in a trumped-up traffic case during their visit to residents in Dong Tam commune, the localitlocality for keeping around 40 state officials in hostage last year in a land dispute case.
The group consists of Dr. Nguyen Quang A, considered as one of the leading dissenting figures in the country, retired police Colonel Nguyen Dang Quang, and veteran writer Nguyen Nguyen Binh, a daughter of retired Major General Nguyen Trong Vinh. They visited the commune in the morning of Saturday.
The group returned to Hanoi’s center afternoon by their own car. However, they were chased by a group of thugs at a location about few kilometers from the commune. One of the thugs stopped their car and knoked down his motor in front of the vehicle, claiming the car hit his motorbike.
Few seconds later, traffic policemen as well as other police and militia came and launched investigation the “accident” case. Police requested the intellectuals to step out of their car and intended to take the car to a local police station.
Being informed about the trouble facing the guests, residents of Dong Tam commune came and blocked the moves of police.
After a long dispute, police took the car and requested the guests to the building of the Phuc Lam commune’s People’s Committee where they held the intellectuals until late evening.
In order to avoid other troubles, residents of Dong Tam asked the guests to return to their commune to stay overnight there.
In the morning of Sunday, being escorted by Dong Tam residents, the guests safely returned in Hanoi’s center, escaping the trick carried out by the city’s security forces.
In mid April last year, residents in Dong Tam comune held in hostage around 40 state officials, including 38 police commandos who were sent to the commune to suppress local citizens after police in My Duc district brutally beat retired official Le Dinh Kinh and detained a dozen of others.
The hostage crise ended one week later as local residents agreed to release the officials and policemen after Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung of the Hanoi People’s Committee promised to launch an investigation in a land dispute case to settle the case. The dispute started many years ago as Hanoi’s authorities took a large area of rice field from Dong Tam and gave the land to the military-run Viettel Group for property development, saying the land belongs to the army.
Few week ago, the army admitted that the disputed land belongs to the villagers and returned it to the owners.
Meanwhile, in order to prevent activists from going to Dong Tam to attend a party to mark the land dispute crisis, authorities of Hanoi are deploying undercovered policemen to their private residences to place them under house arrest.
Land grabbing is problematic in Vietnam where all land belongs to the state and local residents have only right to use it. The central government and local governemtns are authorized to seize any land from citizens for socio-economic development without paying adequate compensation.
In many localities, authorities have grabbed local residents’ land at very low compensation prices and give it to property and industrial developers at prices much higher.
Thousands of farmers losing their land in that way are gathering in big cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to demand for justice. The land petitioners are treated like second-class residents by the government. They are living in streets and house with cheap renting fees, being subjects of torture and detention by security forces.
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April 22, 2018
Hanoi-based Intellectuals Detained after Visiting Dong Tam
by Nhan Quyen • [Human Rights]
Hostaged policemen say goodbye to Dong Tam villagers on April 24, 2017 when they were released after being kept in one week
Defend the Defenders, April 22, 2018
On April 21, authorities in Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi detained a group of local intellectuals in a trumped-up traffic case during their visit to residents in Dong Tam commune, the localitlocality for keeping around 40 state officials in hostage last year in a land dispute case.
The group consists of Dr. Nguyen Quang A, considered as one of the leading dissenting figures in the country, retired police Colonel Nguyen Dang Quang, and veteran writer Nguyen Nguyen Binh, a daughter of retired Major General Nguyen Trong Vinh. They visited the commune in the morning of Saturday.
The group returned to Hanoi’s center afternoon by their own car. However, they were chased by a group of thugs at a location about few kilometers from the commune. One of the thugs stopped their car and knoked down his motor in front of the vehicle, claiming the car hit his motorbike.
Few seconds later, traffic policemen as well as other police and militia came and launched investigation the “accident” case. Police requested the intellectuals to step out of their car and intended to take the car to a local police station.
Being informed about the trouble facing the guests, residents of Dong Tam commune came and blocked the moves of police.
After a long dispute, police took the car and requested the guests to the building of the Phuc Lam commune’s People’s Committee where they held the intellectuals until late evening.
In order to avoid other troubles, residents of Dong Tam asked the guests to return to their commune to stay overnight there.
In the morning of Sunday, being escorted by Dong Tam residents, the guests safely returned in Hanoi’s center, escaping the trick carried out by the city’s security forces.
In mid April last year, residents in Dong Tam comune held in hostage around 40 state officials, including 38 police commandos who were sent to the commune to suppress local citizens after police in My Duc district brutally beat retired official Le Dinh Kinh and detained a dozen of others.
The hostage crise ended one week later as local residents agreed to release the officials and policemen after Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung of the Hanoi People’s Committee promised to launch an investigation in a land dispute case to settle the case. The dispute started many years ago as Hanoi’s authorities took a large area of rice field from Dong Tam and gave the land to the military-run Viettel Group for property development, saying the land belongs to the army.
Few week ago, the army admitted that the disputed land belongs to the villagers and returned it to the owners.
Meanwhile, in order to prevent activists from going to Dong Tam to attend a party to mark the land dispute crisis, authorities of Hanoi are deploying undercovered policemen to their private residences to place them under house arrest.
Land grabbing is problematic in Vietnam where all land belongs to the state and local residents have only right to use it. The central government and local governemtns are authorized to seize any land from citizens for socio-economic development without paying adequate compensation.
In many localities, authorities have grabbed local residents’ land at very low compensation prices and give it to property and industrial developers at prices much higher.
Thousands of farmers losing their land in that way are gathering in big cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to demand for justice. The land petitioners are treated like second-class residents by the government. They are living in streets and house with cheap renting fees, being subjects of torture and detention by security forces.