Vietnam Rights Defenders Weigh Magnitsky Measures as Criticism of Hanoi’s
Crackdown Mounts
RFA | 2021-01-12
Rights activists and relatives of political prisoners in Vietnam called this
week for sanctions to be imposed on Vietnamese officials deemed responsible for
torture and other abuses in the country’s jails, as criticism of Hanoi’s
repression of critics and dissenters mounts around the world.
The call comes as authorities in Hanoi prepare for the Jan. 25 launch of the 13th ruling
Communist Party Congress, cited by activists and rights experts as the reason
Vietnam’s already low tolerance of dissent deteriorated sharply in 2020 with the
round-up of independent journalists, publishers, and Facebook commentators.
Speaking in interviews with RFA, rights workers and family members of prisoners
called for international action to be taken against Vietnamese authorities held
responsible for suppressing dissent, with the possible enforcement of sanctions
and travel bans under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act—a
U.S. law named after a Russian corruption whistleblower who died in prison.
The law, which has already been applied by Washington to level sanctions against
Chinese officials for repression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, calls for the seizure
of assets and a U.S. travel ban for foreign officials who violate human rights.
Eight police officers have already been named in the case of Nguyen Van Hoa, a
former blogger and RFA videographer now serving a seven-year prison term for
“conducting propaganda against the state,” whose guilty plea to the charges made
against him were coerced by torture in custody.
Hoa wrote in letters smuggled to his family from prison that police had “hung
him upside down from the ceiling and then beaten him,” London-based human rights
activist Son Tran told RFA on Jan. 10, adding that details of the abuses
inflicted by Hoa’s jailers were later submitted for action to the U.S.
government by a Magnitsky Act working group.
Penalties imposed under the Magnitsky Act, including the freezing of assets and
blocking of travel to the U.S., have not yet been applied to Vietnamese
officials, but their potential deterrent effect could force rights abusers in
Vietnam to carefully consider their actions, Son Tran said.
“As a deterrent, these could be effective, because wealthy leaders in Vietnam
often want to send their children to study in the United States and then buy
houses in the U.S. so they will have a ‘safe landing’ after they retire,” he
said.
Evidence difficult to collect
The difficulties involved in collecting evidence in Vietnam’s tightly controlled
security apparatus may hamper investigations into abuse, though, said Nguyen
Xoan, the daughter-in-law of prisoner of conscience Le Dinh Luong, now serving a
20-year prison term after being charged with membership in a U.S.-based
opposition party.
“Everyone knows that it is not unusual in Vietnam for police officers to torture
the body and spirit of prisoners of conscience and dissidents and their
relatives, Xoan said. “But in all places in Vietnam where police do their work,
it is forbidden to film or take photos, and so it will be difficult to collect
evidence against them.”
“Anyone found recording or filming the police will be in great danger,” she
said.
“Everything in Vietnam, from the state of the economy to the well-being of
prisoners and even to the activities of dissidents outside the jails, is under
the exclusive control of the [ruling Communist] Party,” said Nguyen Thi Chuong,
the wife of jailed writer Nguyen Duc Thach, now serving a 12-year prison term in
central Vietnam’s Nghe An province.
“I am a rural resident and don’t understand much about these things, but I think
it would be very good for other countries to intervene,” she said.
Criticism continues worldwide
Criticism of Hanoi’s repression of peacefully expressed opposition to Vietnam’s
one-party communist government continues to mount worldwide after a series of
heavy prison sentences were meted out to journalists and activists.
In a Jan. 12 statement, the Delegation of the European Union to Vietnam
condemned the rejection by a Vietnamese court on Jan. 8 of an appeal by four
jailed members of the Hien Phap (Constitution) Group, a network of activists
formed in 2017 to call for the rights to freedom of speech and assembly promised
under Article 25 of Vietnam’s Constitution.
“This verdict confirms a worrying trend aimed at reducing space for freedom of
expression, freedom of assembly and freedom of association in the country,” the
EU delegation said, adding, “The European Union will continue to monitor and
work with the Vietnamese authorities and all relevant stakeholders to improve
the human rights situation in Vietnam.”
According to the rights group Defend the Defenders, Hanoi is currently detaining
at least 238 prisoners of conscience.
Reported by RFA’s Vietnamese Service. Translated by Huy Le. Written in English
by Richard Finney.
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