HRW Demands
Vietnam Free Maverick Legal Activist
Cu Huy Ha Vu’s Sentencing Opens Landmark Struggle
(Bangkok, May 26, 2011) –
The imprisonment of Dr. Cu Huy Ha Vu on anti-government propaganda charges has
only raised the fervor of a remarkable outpouring of popular support for his
release, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
Vu, 53, who was sentenced to seven years in prison in April 2011, has
extraordinarily broad support among diverse sectors of Vietnamese society. He
has become a cause célèbre through the power of the internet, creating an
unprecedented human rights challenge to the Vietnamese government, Human Rights
Watch said.
The 59-page report, “Vietnam: The Party vs. Legal Activist Cu Huy Ha Vu,”
describes the unique elements that have made this Vietnam’s most high-profile
political trial in decades. They include Vu’s legal challenges to promote human
rights, official accountability, and environmental protection against the
country’s political elite, including Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. Vu’s
family’s revolutionary credentials and his own elite background make him one of
the most prominent people to have publicly questioned the rule of the Communist
Party of Vietnam (CPV).
“Dr. Vu’s conviction is yet another black mark on Vietnam’s dismal human
rights record and shows that the government will go to whatever lengths
necessary to silence a prominent critic,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia
director at Human Rights Watch. “But in their appetite for retribution, the
Vietnamese authorities may have bitten off more than they can chew.”
After Vu’s arrest in November 2010, his family initiated a tenacious public
advocacy campaign for his release that led to an unprecedented expression of
popular support for Vu from religious groups, influential bloggers, prominent
retired army officials, and ordinary citizens.
Domestic outcry over Vu’s trial has saturated Vietnamese-language blogs,
webpages, and online publications. Within days after the trial, the popular
website Bauxite Vietnam initiated an online petition calling for the
nullification of the trial and the immediate release of Vu. In only three weeks,
the “Petition
to Free Citizen Cu Huy Ha Vu” was signed by nearly 2,000 people, many of
them in Vietnam. They include senior communist party members, retired
high-ranking army officers, government officials, white-collar professionals,
artists, journalists, academics, members of religious congregations, and
ordinary workers and farmers. At least a dozen people report that they have been
harassed by the police for signing the petition.
The US State Department expressed “deep concern” over the trial’s
proceedings and its outcome, and added that the case “raises serious questions
about Vietnam’s commitment to rule of law and reform. No individual should be
imprisoned for exercising the right to free speech.” The European Union said,
“This conviction is not consistent with the fundamental right of all persons to
hold opinions and freely and peacefully express them.”
Human Rights Watch found clear procedural violations during the trial on
April 4, which lasted less than six hours. The Hanoi People’s Court refused the
defense team’s request for access to the documents on which the prosecution’s
case was based. Judge Nguyen Huu Chinh expelled a defense lawyer from court for
continuing to request the documents. The remaining defense lawyers persisted in
seeking the documents and when their efforts were in vain, they ultimately
walked out in protest.
“While Dr. Vu carried out his activism entirely through legal channels, the
authorities suppressed his efforts to advance Vietnam’s justice system in a
trial that lacked due process safeguards,” Robertson said. “Vietnam’s leaders
should heed calls by the international community to reverse this travesty of
justice and free Dr. Vu immediately.”
Following his conviction, Vu wrote to Vietnamese authorities, refusing to
accept his sentence and filing an appeal. His request is still being considered
by the government.
Human Rights Watch recommends the immediate release of Vu because his arrest,
detention, indictment, and conviction are based on his peaceful exercise of his
right to information, and his right to freedom of opinion, expression, and
association. These rights are enshrined in the Universal Declaration on Human
Rights, as well as in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
an international treaty that Vietnam joined in 1982.
“Vietnam should listen to its citizens who are petitioning for Dr. Vu’s
release rather than harassing them and treating them like criminals,” Robertson
said. “The authorities’ actions do real damage to Vietnam’s already failing
reputation as a country that respects rule of law and its international human
rights obligations.”
“Vietnam: The Party vs. Legal Activist Cu Huy Ha Vu” is available at:
https://www.hrw.org/node/99167
For more information, please
contact:
In London, Brad
Adams (English): +44-7908-728-333 (mobile); or adamsb@hrw.org
In Washington, DC, Sophie Richardson (English, Mandarin): +1-202-612-4341; or
+1-917-721-7473 (mobile); or
richars@hrw.org
In Bangkok, Phil Robertson (English, Thai): +66-85-060-8406 (mobile); or
robertp@hrw.org