Vietnam
Activists Want Association to Address Public Complaints
RFA-01/03/2014
A group
of activists in Vietnam are moving to launch a nationwide association to help
address public complaints against government land grabs, police brutality, and
corruption among officials in the one-party Communist state.
The activists expressed their intention to form the Association for Victims of
Injustice in an open letter to Interior Minister Nguyen Thai Binh and National
Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung on Dec. 31, asking for guidance and
permission to operate.
They said if the minister did not respond to their request by March 2, they will
go ahead and form the organization without official sanction.
The association will be aimed at helping victims of land disputes, people
mistreated by police, relatives of those who died in custody, or others to file
complaints against official government organs and seek redress for their
grievances, they said.
Le Hien Duc, a prominent 84-year-old anti-corruption campaigner nominated to
head the association, said Friday the group has received no response so far and
was not optimistic about getting one.
“We are waiting for their acceptance of what we recommended but we don’t have
much belief that will happen,” she told RFA’s Vietnamese Service.
“But we’re acting in accordance with the law, since we sent a letter to the
National Assembly and legal agencies, letting them know our recommendations,”
she said.
Growing complaints
Duc, the recipient of an award from the global advocacy group Transparency
International for her activism, has worked for years help the public file
complaints with government offices on behalf of land grab victims and other
petitioners.
A gray-haired retired schoolteacher, she has received requests from residents in
all 63 of Vietnam’s provinces and municipalities to help fight official
injustice.
Duc said there was a great need for the organization because of the increasing
number of people finding themselves in the position of having to fight official
injustice.
She said that with a growing volume of requests for her help, she was running
out of room in her house to keep all the files she received from people asking
for assistance in their cases.
“It means that there are more victims of injustice,” she said, “This is because
the [problem of] corruption is getting worse,” she said.
“Their complaints are only kicked from one level to another and in the end get
nowhere. They are like balls kicked around, from one court to another,” she
said.
Fighting injustices
Since announcing their plans for launching the association, the organization has
received a flood of interest from people wanting to join it, activists said.
Trinh Kim Tien, who has campaigned for redress for the death of her father in a
police station in Hanoi in 2011, said petitioners like her needed such an
association to help avoid official intimidation they face when fighting for
their grievances.
“Many victims don’t fight for their justice. Many families can’t afford it or
don’t know the law,” she said.
“Others were intimidated and so they just accept what happened to them. So we
need to have an association for them.”
Nguyen Thi Thanh Tuyen, who has campaigned for compensation for her husband’s
death after she was told he committed suicide while in police custody, said it
would be helpful for victims of injustice to work together and share their
experiences.
“If our society had justice and the rule of law, then we wouldn’t need this
association,” she said.
“But obviously there is increasing frustration among the people and nobody is
addressing these problems,” she said.
Reported by An Nguyen and Mac Lam for RFA’s Vietnamese Service. Translated by
Viet Ha. Written in English by Rachel Vandenbrink.