New information
VNM
001 / 0117 / OBS 011.1
Sentencing /
Arbitrary detention /
Judicial harassment
Viet
Nam
July 27, 2017
The
Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDH
and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), has received new information
and requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Viet Nam.
New
information:
The Observatory has been informed by the Vietnam
Committee on Human Rights (VCHR) about the conviction and sentencing of labour
and land rights defender Ms. Tran
Thi Nga.
According to the information received, on July 25,
2017, the People’s Court in Ha Nam Province sentenced Ms. Tran Thi Nga to nine
years’ imprisonment followed by an additional five years of house arrest under
Article 88 of the Vietnamese Penal Code for “spreading propaganda against the Socialist
Republic of Viet Nam”. Her sentence is related to articles and videos she
posted online in which she condemned human rights violations committed by
Vietnamese authorities.
Her
trial, which was held from 8:30am to 5pm, was closed to independent journalists
and foreign diplomats. Ms. Tran Thi Nga’s partner and young children were not
allowed to attend the trial, nor were the activists who came to the court in
her support. Police officers and plainclothes agents were deployed around the
court premises and supporters reported being physically accosted when they
tried to approach the building.
Ms.
Tran Thi Nga’s health condition has deteriorated over the past few months as a
result of a mucosal injury sustained in May 2014, after authorities beat her in
reprisal for her work documenting rights violations (see background
information). According to her lawyer, she was refused
proper medical treatment while detained in Ha Nam Police Detention Centre.
The Observatory strongly condemns the sentencing of
Ms. Tran Thi Nga, which only aims at punishing her for her legitimate and
peaceful human rights activities and urges Vietnamese authorities to overturn her sentence,
immediately and unconditionally release her, and put an end to any form of
harassment against her.
Background
information[1]:
On January 21, 2017 Ms.
Tran Thi Nga was arrested at her home in Phu Ly, Ha Nam Province, after the
police searched her house and confiscated several of her personal belongings.
On the same day, Ms. Tran Thi Nga’s partner Luong Dan Ly, a pro-democracy activist and blogger, was also
arrested. He was released the following day. The police subsequently accused
Ms. Tran Thi Nga of using the Internet “to spread some propaganda videos and
writings that are against the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam”.
Ms. Tran Thi Nga has
suffered repeated intimidation, harassment, detention, interrogation, and
physical assaults by security agents because of her human rights activities. In
May 2014, a group of five men assaulted her with iron rods, breaking her arm
and leg. In the days prior to her arrest in January 2017, Ms. Tran Thi Nga was
subjected to increased police intimidation and harassment, including
surveillance of her home and the use of physical force to keep her from leaving
her house. Police also refused to allow a neighbour to take her two young sons
to the city to buy them food.
Actions
requested:
Please write to the authorities in Viet Nam urging them to:
i. Guarantee in all circumstances Ms. Tran Thi Nga’s
physical and psychological integrity as well as that of all human rights
defenders in Viet Nam;
ii. Immediately
and unconditionally release Ms. Tran Thi Nga, as her detention is
arbitrary since it only aims at punishing her for her human rights activities,
and in the meantime ensure her
full and unhindered access to proper medical treatment in adequate medical
facilities;
iii. Put an end to all acts harassment, including at
the judicial level, against Ms. Tran Thi Nga, as well as against all human rights defenders in Viet Nam;
iv. Amend Article 88 of the Criminal Code, to bring it
in conformity with international human rights standards;
v. Comply
with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9,
1998, in particular its Articles 1 and 12.2;
vi.
More generally, ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and
fundamental freedoms in accordance with international and regional human rights
instruments ratified by Viet Nam.
Addresses:
·
Mr. Pham Binh Minh, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Viet Nam, Fax:
84-4-38231872 – 84-4-37992682, Email: bc.mfa@mofa.gov.vn
· Mr. Le Vinh
Tan, Minister of the Interior of Viet Nam, Fax: 84-4-39781005
· Mr. Le Thanh Long, Minister of Justice of Viet Nam,
Fax: 84-4-38431431
· Mr. To Lam, Minister of Public Security of Viet Nam,
Fax: 84-4-9420223
· Mr. Mai Tien Dung, Minister, Office of the Government
(OOG), Viet Nam, Fax: 84-4-80 44130
·
Mr. Chi Dung Duong,
Ambassador, Permanent Mission of Viet Nam to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +41 (0) 22-798 07 24, Email: info@vnmission-ge.gov.vn
·
Mr. Vuong Thua Phong,
Ambassador, Embassy of Viet Nam in Brussels, Belgium. Fax:
+32 (0) 2 374 93 76, Email: vnemb.brussels@skynet.be - unescochau@yahoo.com
Please
also write to the embassy of Viet Nam in your respective country.
***
Paris-Geneva,
July 27, 2017
Kindly
inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your
reply.
The Observatory for
the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997
by FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). The objective of
this programme is to intervene to prevent or remedy situations of repression
against human rights defenders. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu , the European Union
Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented by international civil society.
To
contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
· E-mail:
Appeals[at]fidh-omct.org
· Tel and fax FIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 1 43 55 18 80
· Tel and fax OMCT + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29
[1]
See also Observatory-VCHR Joint Press Release, July 21, 2017.
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