Global lawyers group slams Vietnam on arrests

 

 

HANOI (AFP) — A global association of lawyers says Vietnam's "arbitrary" arrest of a human rights lawyer contravenes international legal standards and the country's own constitution.

The International Bar Association's (IBA's) Human Rights Institute made the comments in a letter to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, dated Wednesday and received by AFP late Thursday.

It expressed concern that the arrest last Saturday of Le Cong Dinh, 40, "is directly linked to his work as a lawyer who has defended pro-democracy activists" and who was recently involved in a complaint over controversial bauxite mining.

"Furthermore, we are concerned that the arrest could be linked to the fact that Mr Le Cong Dinh has expressed critical views on the Vietnamese government," said the letter signed by the rights institute's co-chairmen, South African Justice Richard Goldstone, and Martin Solc of the Czech Republic.

The rights institute is a division of the London-based IBA which represents 30,000 lawyers around the world.

The IBA letter noted that Vietnam's constitution guarantees freedom of speech, as does the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Vietnam is a signatory to the Covenant, which also provides protection from arbitrary arrest, the IBA said.

"Therefore, we are concerned that this arrest is in contravention of the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, as well as international legal standards," the letter said.

State media said Dinh was arrested under Article 88 of the penal code, which bans "propaganda" against the state.

The government alleges that over the past four years Dinh "drafted tens of documents published on overseas radio, newspapers and websites" with hostile content and calling for the replacement of the communist regime.

Responding to criticism of Dinh's arrest, Vietnam said it guarantees freedom of speech and opinion.

Global human rights watchdogs, press freedom groups, and the United States government have also expressed concern over the lawyer's case.

 

 

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