Viet Nam
01.02.05
Urgent Interventions
Vietnam: Release of four human rights defenders
PRESS RELEASE
VIETNAM: Release of four human rights defenders
Paris – Geneva, February 1, 2005
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), welcomes the announcement of the early release of several human rights defenders in Vietnam. According to the Vietnam Committee for Human Rights, more than 8,000 detainees will benefit from an amnesty on the occasion of the Lunar New Year, on February 9, 2005. Among them are four human rights defenders, whose cases have been repeatedly denounced by the Observatory.
These human rights defenders are:
- Dr. Nguyen Dan Que, 62, arrested in March 2003, after publishing a written statement denouncing infringements of the freedom of expression and of the press in Vietnam. He was sentenced in July 2004 to two-and-a-half years’ imprisonment for “abusing democratic rights to jeopardise the interest of the State, and the legitimate rights and interest of social organisations and citizens”. Dr. Que did not have access to legal representation and the trial lasted only three hours. His health greatly deteriorated while in jail. Dr. Nguyen Dan Que was due to be released in September 2005. He has just been released.
- Mr. Nguyen Dinh Huy, 73, founder of the Movement to Unite the People and Build Democracy, sentenced to 15 years in prison in 1993 for planning to organise a conference in Ho Chi Minh City on development and democracy. He has just been released.
- Father Nguyen Van Ly, 58, a catholic priest condemned to 15 years in prison (later reduced to 5 years) and 5 years probationary detention for protesting against religious freedom abuses and sending written testimony to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Arrested in May 2001, he was due for release in May 2006. He has just been released.
- Monk Thich Thien Minh, 51, secular name Huynh Van Ba, condemned to a double life sentence (in 1979 and again in 1986) for supporting the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) and attempting to escape from a re-education camp. His sentence was later commuted to 20 years. He was due for release in 2006; he is now expected to be released in the next days.
The Observatory calls upon the Vietnamese authorities to guarantee that once set free, all charges against these human rights defenders will be definitively dropped and their rights will be fully respected including the non-infringement of their freedom of expression, opinion and conscience.
In addition, the Observatory recalls that many prisoners of opinion and of conscience remain in detention in Vietnam, among which human rights defenders:
The Observatory calls upon the Vietnamese authorities to confirm this first positive step by liberating all remaining prisoners of conscience and opinion, immediately and unconditionally. By doing so, they would definitely demonstrate that they are moving towards a greater respect for human rights.
More generally, the Observatory urges the Vietnamese authorities to conform with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted on December 9, 2004, in particular 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”, as well as with international human rights instruments ratified by Vietnam.
VIETNAM: Release of four human rights defenders
Paris – Geneva, February 1, 2005
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), welcomes the announcement of the early release of several human rights defenders in Vietnam. According to the Vietnam Committee for Human Rights, more than 8,000 detainees will benefit from an amnesty on the occasion of the Lunar New Year, on February 9, 2005. Among them are four human rights defenders, whose cases have been repeatedly denounced by the Observatory.
These human rights defenders are:
- Dr. Nguyen Dan Que, 62, arrested in March 2003, after publishing a written statement denouncing infringements of the freedom of expression and of the press in Vietnam. He was sentenced in July 2004 to two-and-a-half years’ imprisonment for “abusing democratic rights to jeopardise the interest of the State, and the legitimate rights and interest of social organisations and citizens”. Dr. Que did not have access to legal representation and the trial lasted only three hours. His health greatly deteriorated while in jail. Dr. Nguyen Dan Que was due to be released in September 2005. He has just been released.
- Mr. Nguyen Dinh Huy, 73, founder of the Movement to Unite the People and Build Democracy, sentenced to 15 years in prison in 1993 for planning to organise a conference in Ho Chi Minh City on development and democracy. He has just been released.
- Father Nguyen Van Ly, 58, a catholic priest condemned to 15 years in prison (later reduced to 5 years) and 5 years probationary detention for protesting against religious freedom abuses and sending written testimony to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Arrested in May 2001, he was due for release in May 2006. He has just been released.
- Monk Thich Thien Minh, 51, secular name Huynh Van Ba, condemned to a double life sentence (in 1979 and again in 1986) for supporting the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) and attempting to escape from a re-education camp. His sentence was later commuted to 20 years. He was due for release in 2006; he is now expected to be released in the next days.
The Observatory calls upon the Vietnamese authorities to guarantee that once set free, all charges against these human rights defenders will be definitively dropped and their rights will be fully respected including the non-infringement of their freedom of expression, opinion and conscience.
In addition, the Observatory recalls that many prisoners of opinion and of conscience remain in detention in Vietnam, among which human rights defenders:
- Mr. Nguyen Vu Binh, a journalist sentenced to seven years imprisonment in 2003;
- Dr. Pham Hong Son, a doctor arrested in March 2002, sentenced in June 2003 to 13 years in prison for «spying» because he had translated articles on democracy downloaded from the U.S. Embassy website. His sentence was subsequently reduced to 5 years imprisonment.
- Mr. Nguyen Khac Toan, a businessman sentenced to twelve years and three months in prison in December 2002; he had been helping farmers to file complaints before the National Assembly on cases of State corruption and confiscation of land, and had sent copies of these complaints overseas;
- Colonel Pham Que Duong, a respected Communist Party veteran and military historian who had filed an application to set up an independent anti-corruption association and called for democratic reforms, and Scholar Tran Khue, both arrested in December 2002 in Ho Chi Minh City and sentenced to prison terms in 2004;
- Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang and his deputy Thich Quang Do, members of the UBCV, who remain under house arrest.
The Observatory calls upon the Vietnamese authorities to confirm this first positive step by liberating all remaining prisoners of conscience and opinion, immediately and unconditionally. By doing so, they would definitely demonstrate that they are moving towards a greater respect for human rights.
More generally, the Observatory urges the Vietnamese authorities to conform with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted on December 9, 2004, in particular 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”, as well as with international human rights instruments ratified by Vietnam.