International Pen expresses serious concerns for the health of Internet writer and dissident Pham Hong Son

 

RAPID ACTION NETWORK 27 July 2005

The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN is seriously concerned for the health of internet publisher and dissident Pham Hong Son, who is reporteldy in need of urgent medical attention. PEN urges that he receive a medical examination and any necessary medical treatment immediately. PEN calls for his immediate and unconditional release on humanitarian grounds and in accordance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which Vietnam is a signatory.

According to reports, the health of imprisoned writer Pham Hong Son is deteriorating. He has reportedly been coughing up blood, and his family members have requested a medical examination to determine the cause. In August 2004, Pham's wife reported that her husband was in very poor health and in urgent need of an operation for a hernia.

Internet publisher Pham Hong Son was arrested on 27 March 2002 and sentenced to thirteen years in prison and three years' house arrest by the Ha Noi People's Court on 18 June 2003. He was convicted on espionage charges for his pro-democracy activities, including using email to "translate and send anti-Party documents and anti-government documents" to colleagues abroad. In an appeal hearing on 26 August 2003, the Hanoi Supreme Court upheld the conviction against Pham Hong Son, but reduced his sentence from thirteen to five years imprisonment. Pham will still be required to serve three years of administrative detention (house arrest) upon his release from prison.

Pham Hong Son, aged thirty-seven, is a medical doctor by training, but since 2001 has dedicated himself to writing and translating pro-democracy articles and posting them on various overseas websites. He is married with two sons aged seven and five, and has been forbidden from receiving family visits in detention. He is a recipient of the 2003 Hellman/Hammett awards for persecuted writers.

International PEN protests the detention of dissident writer Pham Hong Son solely for expressing his views, and is seriously concerned for his health. It reminds the Vietnamese government of its commitment to freedom of expression as guaranteed by the Vietnamese Constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and calls for the release of all writers held solely for the exercise of their right to freedom of expression.

 

Please send appeals:

-       Expressing serious concern for the health of dissident writer Pham Hong Son, and urging his release on humanitarian grounds so that he can receive urgent medical treatment;

-       protesting reports that he is held in harsh prison conditions and has been denied family visits;

-       Calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Pham Hong Son and all other writers held solely for the exercise of their right to freedom of expression, in accordance with Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which Vietnam is a signatory.

 

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