Follow-up of case VNM 241209_Sentencing of Mr. Nguyen Tien Trung, Mr. Tran Huynh Duy Thuc and Mr.Le Than Long

The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) has received new information about the following situation in Viet Nam.

New Information

The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by a reliable source and Antenna International, a member organisation of OMCT SOS-Torture Network, about the sentencing, on 20 January 2010, of 26-year-old IT engineer and blogger, Mr. Nguyen Tien Trung, 43-year-old Director of One Connection Internet (OCI) and blogger, Mr. Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, and 42-year-old businessman, Mr. Le Than Long, for “carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s administration” under Article 79 of the Criminal Code[1] by the People’s Supreme Court in Ho Chi Minh City.

According to the information received, Mr. Tran Huynh Duy Thuc was sentenced to 16 years in prison, Mr. Nguyen Tien Trung to seven years and Mr. Le Thang Long to five years. They will also serve three to five years of “probationary detention” after their release. Mr. Nguyen Tien Trung reportedly acknowledged engaging in activities for democratisation and a multiparty political system in Vietnam. Mr. Tran Huynh Duy Thuc and Mr. Le Thang Long reportedly fought the charges, Mr. Le Thang Long saying in addition that the police had coerced him into writing a confession.

The trial, which was expected to last two days but eventually only lasted one day, was carried out under tight security, with more than a dozen police outside the gate and around the courthouse. Neither relatives of the accused nor foreign journalists were allowed into the courtroom. Only a few foreign diplomats and journalists were allowed to watch the trial via closed-circuit television in an adjacent room of the court. In addition, reporters were barred from using recording devices, cameras or mobile phones.

Another member of the group, 60-year-old former army officer and pro-democracy activist, Mr. Tran Anh Kim, was sentenced to five and a half years in prison and three years probationary house arrest under the same charge, on 28 December 2009, by the People’s court in Thai Binh Province (see urgent appeal VNM 241209.1). Mr. Tran Anh Kim was represented by a court-appointed lawyer who reportedly failed to defend him adequately during the court hearing, and he was not given any opportunity to speak in his own defence during the hearing.

According to the information received, Mr. Tran Anh Kim, Mr. Nguyen Tien Trung and Mr. Tran Huynh Duy Thuc were compelled to make a public “confession” in August 2009, following their arrest. It is noteworthy that the “confession” concerned “conducting propaganda” against the State (Article 88 of the Criminal Code), a charge that was subsquentely changed to “attempting to overthrow the State” (Article 79 of the Criminal Code) (see below). OMCT has already expressed its concern that the abovementioned individuals were subjected to torture and other forms of ill-treatment in order to force them to confess. It is known that Mr. Nguyen Tien Trung was held incommunicado for at least three weeks after his arrest in July 2009. OMCT recalls that incommunicado detention facilitates torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment which is strictly prohibited under international law.

OMCT expresses its deep concern about the violations of the right to a fair trial reported in this case. The aforementioned individuals appear to have been convicted solely on account of their call for political reform in Viet Nam. It seems that the authorities are increasingly using Article 79, which allows for the death penalty, to prosecute political opponents.

Brief reminder of the situation

OMCT had earlier been informed about the risk of death sentences being imposed on Mr. Nguyen Tien Trung, Mr. Tran Anh Kim, Mr. Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, and Mr. Le Than Long.

According to the information received, all four abovementioned individuals were arrested around the same period[2]. All four were reportedly first charged with “conducting propaganda” against the State, before the authorites modified the charge held against them to “attempting to overthrow the State”. This charge is more serious and allows for the death penalty. It is not known whether any of them has been given unconditional and regular access to a lawyer of his choice or his family since their respective arrest.

They are said to be affiliated to the Democractic Party of Viet Nam[3] and had reportedly publicly criticised either border issues relating to China, including a territorial agreement over the Spratly and Paracel archipelagos in the South China Sea, business deals and/or had called for political reform in Viet Nam.

Action requested

Please write to the authorities in Viet Nam urging them to:

1. Guarantee, in all circumstances, the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Nguyen Tien Trung, Mr. Tran Anh Kim, Mr. Tran Huynh Duy Thuc and Mr. Le Than Long;
2. Guarantee unconditional access to a lawyer of their choice and their families, as well as guarantee that they are examined by independent medical doctors and receive adequate medical care in accordance with, inter alia, the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners;
3. Repeal the decision of the People’s Supreme Court in Ho Chi Minh City because the trial of Mr. Nguyen Tien Trung, Mr. Tran Huynh Duy Thuc and Mr. Le Than Long has been marked with violations of fair trial guarantees;
4. Order their immediate release in the absence of valid legal charges that are consistent with international legal standards, or, if such charges exist, bring them before an impartial, independent and competent tribunal and guarantee their procedural rights at all times;
5. Guarantee that no evidence obtained under torture and other forms of ill-treatment, or threats thereof, be used in court proceedings against them;
6. Carry out a prompt, effective, thorough, independent and impartial investigation into the allegations of ill-treatment, the result of which must be made public, in order to bring those responsible before a competent, independent and impartial tribunal and apply penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law.

Addresses

• Prime Minister, Nguyen Tan Dung, Government Office, 1 Hoang Hoa Tham St. Ba Dinh district, Ha Noi, Viet Nam, Fax: + 843 804 41 30, Email: vpvp@chinhphu.vn
• Minister of Foreign Affairs, Pham Gia Khiem, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1 Ton That Dam St. Ba Dinh district, Ha Noi, Viet Nam, Fax: + 8443 823 1872, Email: bc.mfa@mofa.gov.vn
• Permanent Mission of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to the United Nations in Geneva, Chemin des Corbillettes 30, 1218 Grand-Saconnex, Switzerland, Fax: + 41 22 798 07 24 / 24 69, Email: mission.vietnam@ties.itu.int / info@vnmission-ge.org

Please also write to the diplomatic representations of Viet Nam in your respective country.
Geneva, 21 January 2010.

[1] As early as 1995, following an in-situ visit to Vietnam, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention called for the abrogation of Article 79 (then Article 73), since it “draws no distinction on the grounds of the use or non-use of violence”, and its wording “is so vague that it could result in penalties being imposed not only on persons using violence for political ends, but also on persons who have merely exercised their legitimate right to freedom of opinion or expression”).

[2] Mr. Tran Huynh Duy Thuc was arrested on 24 May 2009. Mr. Nguyen Tien Trung and Mr. Tran Anh Kim were arrested on 7 July 2009. The exact date of the arrest of Mr. Le Thang Long is not known.

[3] An exile political group which speaks out for multi-party democracy.