Vietnam: Release Dissident Poet
Ex-Political Prisoner Tran Duc Thach Again Faces Prison
Human Rights Watch | November 25, 2020
(New York) – The Vietnamese authorities should immediately drop all charges and
release the dissident and poet Tran Duc Thach, Human Rights Watch said today. On
April 23, 2020, Vietnamese police arrested Tran Duc Thach, a longtime dissident
in Vietnam, for being affiliated with a pro-democracy group. He was charged with
subversion, and is scheduled to go on trial on November 30.
“The Vietnamese government wants to punish Tran Duc Thach for his work promoting
human rights and justice, claiming his exercise of free speech is a crime,” said
John Sifton, Asia advocacy director. “Other governments should be raising their
concerns ahead of his trial and calling for his release.”
After Tran Duc Thach’s arrest, the authorities did not allow him to see his
attorney until November 5, and then only under police supervision. His lawyer,
Ha Huy Son, told the media he could not even photocopy Tran Duc Thach’s
indictment papers, but only take notes by hand.
Tran Duc Thach, 69, has written hundreds of poems, a novel, and numerous
articles, most of which condemn corruption, injustice, and human rights abuses
in Vietnam. A veteran of the People’s Liberation Army, he was a member of the
Nghe An Writers Club. His 1988 novel, Doi ban tu (Two Companions in Prison)
described the arbitrary nature of Vietnam’s legal system and the inhumane
conditions in Vietnamese prisons. Poems published under the title Dieu chua thay
(Things Still Untold) speak about life without freedom and justice.
His short memoir, Ho chon nguoi am anh (A Haunting Collective Grave), retells
the story of the mass killing of civilians by northern army soldiers at Tan Lap
hamlet in Dong Nai province in April 1975, which he witnessed.
The authorities have repeatedly harassed him since 1975. In 1978, to protest his
mistreatment, he set himself on fire and was badly burned. In 2008, he
participated in anti-China protests and was arrested in September that year. He
was accused of writing “many articles that distort the truth, slander, and
badmouth the party and the state, and publishing them on To Quoc magazine,” a
clandestine dissident bulletin. In October 2009, a court found him guilty of
carrying out propaganda against the state under article 88 of the penal code. He
was sentenced to three years in prison.
After completing his prison term in 2011, Tran Duc Thach resumed his criticism
of the Communist Party and the state. He joined the Brotherhood for Democracy in
April 2013. On April 23, 2020, police arrested him in Nghe An province and
charged him with “carrying out activities that aim to overthrow the people’s
government” under article 109 of the penal code. Tran Duc Thach is the 10th
member of the Brotherhood for Democracy arrested in recent years.
The Brotherhood for Democracy was founded in April 2013 by the dissident Nguyen
Van Dai and fellow activists with a stated goal “to defend human rights
recognized by the Vietnam Constitution and international conventions” and “to
promote the building of a democratic, progressive, civilized, and just society
for Vietnam.” The group provides a network for activists both in and outside of
Vietnam who campaign for human rights and democracy in Vietnam.
Seven members of the group – Truong Minh Duc, Nguyen Trung Ton, Nguyen Bac
Truyen, Pham Van Troi, Tran Thi Xuan, Nguyen Van Tuc, and Nguyen Trung Truc –
are serving long prison terms for “carrying out activities that aim to overthrow
the people’s administration” under article 79 of the penal code. Two other
members, Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thu Ha, were sent directly from prison to exile
in Germany.
The jurists presiding over Tran Duc Thach’s trial have a record of harsh
punishments of dissidents. Judge Tran Ngoc Son and Judge Vi Van Chat have
convicted and issued severe prison sentences for several pro-democracy
campaigners. In December 2011, Vi Van Chat chaired the trial of a blogger, Ho
Thi Bich Khuong, and a pastor, Nguyen Trung Ton, for conducting propaganda
against the state. They were convicted and sentenced to five years and two years
in prison respectively. In January 2013, Tran Ngoc Son and Vi Van Chat presided
over the trial of 14 pro-democracy activists, and convicted and sentenced them
to up to 13 years in prison. In August 2018, the two judges
presided over the trial of a democracy campaigner, Le Dinh Luong,
convicting and sentencing him to 20 years in prison.
“Vietnam’s courts should be working to protect freedom of expression and other
human rights, not enforcing the Communist Party’s monopoly on power,” Sifton
said. “Tran Duc Thach isn’t going to receive a fair trial, because Vietnam
doesn’t have an independent and impartial judiciary.”
Vietnam Human Rights Network |