Joint Letter Requesting the Immediate Release of 17 Vietnamese Social Activists
and Bloggers
August 27, 2012
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Office of the State
1 Bach Thao
Hanoi, Vietnam
Re: Request for the immediate release
of 17 Vietnamese social activists and bloggers and the withdrawal of all charges
Dear Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung,
As you receive this letter, seventeen Vietnamese social activists, including
bloggers and citizen journalists have been in jail for up to a year. Most have
not even been brought to trial. These seventeen individuals have been
arbitrarily detained because of their work as citizen journalists, environmental
advocates, anti-corruption crusaders and human rights defenders.
Over the last year, the international human rights community has gotten to know
their names: Dang Xuan Dieu, Ho Duc Hoa, Paulus Le Van Son, Nguyen Van Duyet,
Nong Hung Anh, Nguyen Van Oai, Chu Manh Son, Dau Van Duong, Tran Huu Duc, Nguyen
Xuan Anh, Ho Van Oanh, Thai Van Dung, Tran Minh Nhat, Ta Phong Tan, Tran Vu Anh
Binh, Nguyen Dinh Cuong, and Hoang Phong.
These individuals have simply sought to exercise their rights to freedom of
expression, freedom of assembly and association guaranteed under international
law. What they have in common is a passion for social justice, religious
freedom, and involvement in the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer.
Unfortunately, they have been detained pursuant to vague, ill-defined statutes
under the Vietnamese penal code: Article 79, which effectively restricts freedom
of association and Article 88, which essentially limits freedom of speech. The
recent petition filed by Stanford Law School’s Allen Weiner to the UN Working
Group on Arbitrary Detention argued very well that their continued detention
violates international law.
On March 12, 2012 nine international NGOs (ACAT France, Access, ARTICLE 19,
Electronic Frontier Foundation, Front Line Defenders, Index On Censorship, Media
Defence South East Asia, Media Legal Defence Initiative, Southeast Asian Press
Alliance) sent you a letter which called for their immediate release and access
to legal counsel. Since then, their situation has not improved but rather
worsened: Four of these activists have been unjustly sentenced to prison terms
and the remainder are being held without access to a lawyer. Blogger Paulus Le
Son was transferred to Hoa Lo jail in Hanoi which is known for its harsh prison
conditions. Another citizen journalist, Dang Xuan Dieu, has not been allowed a
single family visitation over the last year.
We respectfully remind you of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam’s obligations
under international law to protect the rights of its citizens when it ratified
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
These rights are also protected under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
which is a matter customary international law. Therefore, freedom of
association, freedom of speech and the right to a fair trial are basic rights
which should be protected under Vietnam’s legal system and not unjustifiably
curtailed.
We believe Vietnam as a country would benefit from greater respect for the civil
liberties of its citizens and Vietnamese society would be richer with the
contributions of all its citizens. We urgently call on your government to
withdraw all the charges against those who are held pending trial and for those
who have been sentenced to be unconditionally exonerated.
Sincerely,
Christine Laroque, Asia
Programs Manager, ACAT France
Brett Solomon, Executive
Director, Access Now
Nguyen Ngoc, Associated
Vietnamese Writers in Exile Centre
Jillian York, Director
for International Freedom of Expression, Electronic Frontier Foundation
Kamila Shamsie, Writers
at Risk Committee Co-Chair, English PEN
Mary Lawlor, Director,
Front Line Defenders
Phil Robertson, Deputy
Director, Asia Division, Human Rights Watch
Rohan Jayasekera, Deputy
CEO, Index on Censorship
H.R. Dipendra, Executive
Director, Media Defence – Southeast Asia
Peter Noorlander,
Executive Director, Media Legal Defence Initiative
Gayathry Venkiteswaran,
Executive Director, Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA)
Nguyen Le Nhan Quyen,
Vietnamese League for Human Rights
CC:
ASEAN Chair, the Kingdom
of Cambodia
Attn.: H.E. Samdech Hun
Sen
Australian Embassy, Hanoi
Attn.: HE Mr. Hugh
Borrowman
British Embassy, Hanoi
Attn.: Dr Antony Stokes
Embassy of Canada, Hanoi
Attn.: Her Excellency
Deborah Chatsis
Embassy of France, Hanoi
Attn.: H.E
Jean-François Girault
Royal Norwegian Embassy,
Hanoi
Attn.: H.E. Ståle
Torstein Risa
Embassy of Switzerland,
Hanoi
Attn.: H.E Andrej Motyl
Embassy of the United
States, Hanoi
Attn.: Ambassador David
Shear
General Secretariat of
the Council of the European Union
Attn.: High Representative
of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton
United States Department
of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
Attn.:
Assistant Secretary Michael Posner