Sentencing of Mr. Nguyen Hoang Hai to two and a half year jail

December 9, 2008

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your intervention in the following situation in Viet Nam.

Description of the situation:

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the sentencing of the prominent blogger and human rights defender, Mr. Nguyen Hoang Hai, known under his pen name Dieu Cay, also founding member of the “Free Vietnamese Journalists Club”.

According to the information received, on December 4, 2008, the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court upheld the first instance two and a half year jail sentence pronounced on September 10, 2008 against Mr. Dieu Cay’s for “tax fraud”.

Mr. Dieu Cay had been arrested on April 19, 2008 and was charged with tax fraud five days later. According to his family, he had been under close police surveillance since taking part in demonstrations in Ho Chi Minh City to protest against Chinese policy in the Spratly and Paracel islands at the start of the year. The police has been harassing his family, his property has been seized and close colleagues have been threatened or arrested.

Mr. Dieu Cay, who is known for articles calling for human rights and democratic reforms posted on the Internet, and had been awarded on October 29, 2008 a prize by the US-based Vietnam Human Rights Network (VNHRN) for his commitment to freedom of expression, had been unjustly accused of having failed for ten years to pay taxes on premises. Said taxes should have been paid by the owner of the premises not Mr. Dieu Cay, who was only renting them.

As of issuing this urgent appeal, no further information could be gathered on Mr. Dieu Cai’s place of detention.

Furthermore, on December 2, 2008, Mr. Do Quy Doan, Vice Minister of Information, announced that new rules would be issued to regulate blogging. Le Doan Hop, Minister of Information and Communications, asserted that the intent of the new regulation was “limiting blackening the ruling apparatus, particularly State officials, and annulling and restricting anti-government propagandas that undermine the great unity in the nation”.

The Observatory expresses its deepest concern with Mr. Dieu Cay’s sentencing, which seems to sanction his human rights activities and is a further attempt from the Vietnamese authorities to punish human rights defenders for exercising their right to freedom of expression and which aims at silencing them.

Moreover, the Observatory expresses its deepest concern over the announcement that new regulations on blogging would be adopted and fears that freedom of expression might be further restricted.

Action requested:

Please write to the authorities in Vietnam urging them to:

1. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Dieu Cai;
2. Release Mr. Dieu Cai immediately and unconditionally as his deprivation of liberty is arbitrary since it only seems to sanction his human rights activities;
3. Put an end to all acts of harassment, including at the judicial level, against all Vietnamese human rights defenders;
4. Conform with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, especially its Article 1, which states that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”, and Article 12.2, which provides that “the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration”;
5. More generally, ensure in all circumstances the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and with international and regional human rights instruments ratified by Viet Nam.

Addresses:

• President Nguyen Minh Triet, Office of the State, 1 Bach Thao, Hanoi, Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Fax: +84 4 823 1872 (c/o Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
• Nong Duc Manh, General Secretary, Communist Party of Vietnam, Central Committee Headquaters, Nguyen Canh Chan, 1A Hung Vuong, Hanoi, Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Fax: +84 4 845 9205
• PrimeMinister Nguyen Tan Dung, Office of the Prime Minister, Hoang Hoa Tham, Hanoi, Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Fax: + 84 4 823 1872 (c/o Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
• Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Gia Khiem, Fax: +84 4 823 1872
• Minister of Justice Ha Hung Cuong, 56-58-60 Tran Phu, Hanoi, Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Fax: +84 4 843 1431
• Minister of Public Security Le Hong Anh, Ministry of Public Security, 15 Tran Binh Trong Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi, Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Fax: +84 4 825 2733
• Ambassador Mr. Quoc Tru Pham, 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
• Embassy of Vietnam in Brussels, 1 bd. General Jacques, 1050 Ixelles, Belgium, Fax: + 32 2 374 93 76.

Paris-Geneva, December 9, 2008

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.

The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need. The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.

To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org
Tel and fax FIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / +33 1 43 55 18 80

Tel and fax OMCT + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29