Vietnam:
Crackdown on Critics Escalates
Retrograde Policies, Persecuting
Activists Holds Back Development
Human Rights Watch
Feb 01, 2013
The Vietnamese government is systematically suppressing freedom of
expression, association, and peaceful assembly, and persecuting those who
question government policies, expose official corruption, or call for democratic
alternatives to one-party rule, Human Rights Watch said today in its
World Report 2013.
In its 665-page report, Human Rights Watch assessed progress on human rights
during the past year in more than 90 countries, including an analysis of the
aftermath of the Arab Spring.
In 2012, authorities arbitrarily arrested activists, held them incommunicado for
long periods without access to legal counsel or family visits, subjected them to
torture, and prosecuted them in politically controlled courts that meted out
long prison sentences for violating vaguely worded national security laws or
other criminal provisions.
“The human rights situation in
Vietnam took a another step backwards in 2012, with the authorities
pursuing harsh policies in defiance of growing domestic expressions of
political, social, and economic dissatisfaction,” said
Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “At a time when its ASEAN
colleague Burma is undergoing significant change, the Vietnamese government
stands out for its retrograde policies, persecuting activists, and holding back
the country’s development.”
Last year saw an unprecedented surge in criticisms of the ruling Communist
Party. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung came under sustained attacks from within
the ruling and the National Assembly, culminating in a public call by assembly
member Duong Trung Quoc in November for Dung’s resignation. The criticism came
amidst arrests of well-connected tycoons and managers of state-owned enterprises
for alleged corruption and other economic crimes, a fall in Vietnam’s growth
rate to the lowest point in 13 years, and infighting between Dung and other
senior officials, including the Party Secretary General and Vietnam’s President,
Truong Tan Sang.
Bloggers and others joined in the criticism of officials and policies. This was
met with a large number of arrests and prison sentences. By the end of 2012, at
least 40 activists were convicted and sentenced to many years in prison under
articles 79 (subversion), 87 (undermining unity), 88 (propaganda against the
state), 89 (disrupting security), and 258 (infringing state interests) of the
penal code, a substantial increase on the figures for 2011. At least 31 others
were arrested and kept in detention pending trial by the end of 2012.
The government attempted to crackdown on internet freedom through its draft
Decree on the Management, Provision, and Use of Internet Services and
Information on the Network, which threatened to outlaw posting internet content
deemed to oppose the government or be contrary to national security, reveal
state secrets, or promote “reactionary” ideas. The government continued blocking
access to politically sensitive websites and required internet café owners to
monitor and store information about users’ online activities. In September,
Dung ordered a further clampdown, calling on the Ministry of Public Security to
target blogs and websites not approved by the authorities, and to punish those
who created them.
“Vietnam’s donors and those interested in the country’s development have for far
too long been doling out huge sums of aid and making large investments without
using their leverage to insist on an end to repression,” said Adams. “For every
critical public statement about the rights situation made by a foreign
government, there are dozens of visiting delegations that provide photo-ops and
legitimacy to a government that has a deplorable human rights record.”
Rising repression
Indicative of the rising repression to deal with the increasing dissent were a
series of trials throughout 2012 that jailed people for exercise of their basic
rights, as described in the Human Rights Watch World Report. For example,
in March, dissident Protestant Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh was sentenced to 11
years in prison on a charge of “undermining national unity.” Rights activists Ho
Thi Hue and Nguyen Bich Thuy received two years each for participating in
protests against land confiscation in Tay Ninh province.
In other illustrative cases, in March, May, and September, five Catholic
activists – Vo Thi Thu Thuy, Nguyen Van Thanh, Dau Van Duong, Tran Huu Duc, and
Chu Manh Son – were sentenced to between two and a half and four year prison
terms each for distributing pro-democracy leaflets. In a summary trial on
September 24, a court convicted Vietnam’s three most prominent dissident
bloggers, Nguyen Van Hai (known as Dieu Cay), Ta Phong Tan, and Phan Thanh Hai
(known as Anhbasg), for violating article 88 of the penal code and sentenced
them to 12, 10, and 4 years in prison, respectively (Phan Thanh Hai’s sentence
was later reduced to three years). The authorities also used article 88 to
silence other bloggers and rights activists. In October, musicians Tran Vu Anh
Binh and Vo Minh Tri (known as Viet Khang) were sentenced to six and four years’
imprisonment, respectively, for writing songs critical of the regime.
The year ended with another major blow to human rights: the December 27 arrest
of Hanoi-based human rights defending lawyer Le Quoc Quan on what appeared to be
politically motivated charges of tax evasion, shortly after he wrote an article
criticizing the leading role given to the Communist Party in the Vietnamese
political system.
Land was a flashpoint issue, with local farmers and villagers facing arbitrary
confiscation of their land by government officials and private sector project
operators.
“Land disputes have repeatedly led to violent confrontations between villagers
and security forces, and unless the authorities deal constructively with popular
grievances, further social explosions are inevitable,” Adams said.
Human Rights Watch also expressed concern about torture and other mistreatment
by police. At least 15 people died in police custody during the first nine
months of 2012, including some who were beaten to death, according to accounts
in state-controlled media. Police used excessive force in response to public
protests. For example, on August 5, the authorities forcibly dispersed peaceful
marchers in Hanoi protesting the Chinese government position on sovereignty over
the Paracels and Spratly islands, also claimed by Vietnam.
Government decree 92, issued on November 8, strengthened its regulation of
religious freedom by laying down new requirements for official legal recognition
of religious groups, such as demonstrating they have not previously infringed on
national security. The government generally restricts religious freedom through
legislation, registration requirements, and by harassing and intimidating
unsanctioned and politically suspect religious groups, including Buddhists,
Protestants, Catholics, and other faith communities.
“The past year should serve as a wake-up call for those, such as the Japanese
government, who conduct business as usual while Vietnamese citizens are
routinely sentenced to long terms in prison for simply expressing their
opinions,” Adams said.
To
read Human Rights Watch’s World Report 2013 chapter on Vietnam, please
visit:
www.hrw.org/world-report/2013/country-chapters/world-report-2013-vietnam
For more Human Rights Watch reporting on Vietnam,
please visit:
https://www.hrw.org/asia/vietnam
For more information, please contact:
In San Francisco, Brad Adams (English):
+1-510-926-8443 (mobile); or adamsb@hrw.org
In Bangkok, Phil Robertson (English, Thai): +66-85-060-8406; or
robertp@hrw.org
In Washington, DC, John Sifton (English):
+1-917-838-9736; or
siftonj@hrw.org