Vietnam:
Systematic Crackdown on Human Rights
No Country for Rights Defenders and Activists
Human Rights
Watch
(New York,
January 22, 2012) – The Vietnam government intensified its repression of
activists and dissidents during 2011, and cracked down harshly on freedom of
expression, association, and assembly,
Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2012.
Bloggers, writers, human rights defenders, land rights activists,
anti-corruption campaigners, and religious and democracy advocates faced
harassment, intimidation, arrest, torture, and imprisonment.
In 2011, the government prosecuted at least 31 peaceful activists and
sentenced them to a total of 172 years in prison, to be followed by a total of
75 years on probation. Among those convicted for their peaceful advocacy are
Dr. Cu Huy Ha Vu,
a prominent legal activist; and Phung Lam,
Vi Duc Hoi,
Pham Minh Hoang,
Lu Van Bay, and
Ho Thi Bich Khuong,
all prominent pro-democracy advocates and human rights bloggers. The authorities
arrested at least 27 other rights activists pending investigation and/or trial.
At least three bloggers –
Nguyen Van Hai
(a.k.a. Dieu Cay),
Phan Thanh Hai
(a.k.a. Anhbasg), and Nguyen Ba Dang – have been held without trial since 2010.
“The human rights situation in Vietnam is poor and worsening, with a steady
stream of people being locked up for nothing more than exercising their rights,”
said
Phil Robertson,
deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Vietnam's development donors should
publicly express unstinting support for Vietnam's courageous activists and
demand the immediate release of everyone who has been arbitrarily detained and
imprisoned.”
In its World Report 2012, Human Rights Watch assessed progress on human
rights during the past year in more than 90 countries, including popular
uprisings in the Arab world that few would have imagined. Given the violent
forces resisting the “Arab Spring,” the international community has an important
role to play in assisting the formation of rights-respecting democracies in the
region, Human Rights Watch said in the report.
In Vietnam, most political detainees and prisoners have been charged with
vaguely-worded articles in Vietnam’s penal code that
criminalize peaceful dissent. These crimes include “subversion of the people’s
administration” (article 79); “undermining the unity policy” (article 87);
“conducting propaganda against the state” (penal code article 88); and “abusing
democratic freedoms” to “infringe upon the interests of the State” (article
258).
“Vietnam denies imprisoning people for simply expressing divergent political
views, but it doesn’t hesitate to use these draconian laws to hammer political
dissidents,” Robertson said. “If the government wants to be seen as respecting
rule of law, it should meet its international human rights commitments by
abolishing these laws and ending its criminalization of these peaceful
activists.”
Freedom of religion fared little better as police subjected members of
independent religious groups to repeated harassment, intimidation, and arrest.
The government targeted unsanctioned branches of the Cao Dai church, the Hoa Hao
Buddhist church, Protestant and Mennonite house congregations, and the Unified
Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV). Police prevented public celebration of
religious events, intimidated and detained participants, and placed prominent
leaders of these groups under house arrest. Even registered religious
organizations such as the Redemptorist churches in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City
were
harassed repeatedly, including a mob attack against the Thai Ha Catholic
church in Hanoi.
In April, eight Montagnard Protestant activists were
sentenced to prison terms ranging from 8 to 12 years, for allegedly
undermining national unity policy. In July, over the protests of diplomats and
activists alike, a gravely ill Catholic priest, Nguyen Van Ly, was
sent back to prison after 16 months of confinement at a church-owned
residence while on medical parole.
In November, the Falun Gong activists Vu Duc Trung and Le Van Thanh were
sentenced to three years and two years in prison, respectively, for broadcasting
news about Falun Gong to China. In December, the People’s Court of An Giang
sentenced the religious activists Nguyen Van Lia and Tran Hoai An to five
years and three years, respectively, for their peaceful advocacy for Hoa Hao
Buddhism. Also in December, the Protestant pastor Nguyen Trung Ton was sentenced
to two years in prison for his writings about the authorities’ repression of
religion. The police have also detained at least another nineteen Catholic and
two Protestant activists in 2011.
“The government wants to divorce religion from activism of any type, but
freedom of religion includes freedom to speak, write and protest on issues of
religious belief, ethics, and rights,” Robertson said. “The United States should
re-designate Vietnam a ‘country of particular concern’ for its continuous
violations of religious freedom, and rally other governments to press these
issues with the leaders in Hanoi.”
Vietnamese law authorizes arbitrary “administrative detention” without
trial. Under Ordinance 44 (2002) and Decree 76 (2003), peaceful dissidents and
others deemed to threaten national security or public order may be involuntarily
committed to mental institutions, placed under house arrest, or detained in
state-run “rehabilitation” or “education” centers. Drug users can be held up to
four years in government-run rehabilitation centers where they receive very
little treatment but are subjected abuse including beatings, torture, forced
labor (in the guise of so-called “labor
therapy”), and solitary confinement.
Former detainees in drug-detention centers reported being forced to work in
cashew processing and other forms of agricultural production, and garment
manufacturing and other forms of manufacturing, such as making bamboo and rattan
products. Under Vietnamese law, companies that handle products from these
centers are eligible for tax exemptions. Some products produced as a result of
this forced labor made their way into the supply chain of companies that sell
goods abroad, including to the United States and Europe.
An assessment in early 2011 found that 123 drug detention centers across the
country held 40,000 people, including children as young as 12. In November, the
Hanoi Municipal People’s Committee ordered police to send a land rights
activist, Bui Thi Minh Hang, to detention for 24 months in an education center.
“No one should be subject to forced labor and denigration under any
circumstances, much less in the name of ‘treatment’ or ‘education,’” Robertson
said. “Vietnam should immediately release these detainees, close these abusive
centers, and repeal ordinances and decrees authorizing administrative
detention.”
To
read Human Rights Watch’s World Report 2012 chapter on Vietnam, please
visit:
https://www.hrw.org/world-report-2012/vietnam
For more Human Rights Watch reporting on Vietnam, please visit:
https://www.hrw.org/asia/vietnam
For more information, please contact:
In Bangkok, Phil Robertson (English, Thai): +66-85-060-8406; or
robertp@hrw.org
In London, Brad Adams (English): +44-7908-728-333 (mobile); or adamsb@hrw.org
In Washington, DC, John Sifton (English): +1-646-479-2499 (mobile); or
siftonj@hrw.org