HomeMy WebLinkAboutCORRESPONDENCE - 85A COMBINED REPORTS OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN VIETNAM 2012Mitre - Ramirez, Norma
From: Huizar, Maria
Sent: Monday, November 19, 2012 8:44 AM
To: Mitre - Ramirez, Norma (NMitre- Ramirez @santa - ana.org)
Cc: Norma Orozco; Trujillo, Rose Ann
Subject: FW: Item # 856 on the City Council Meeting Agenda for November 19, 2012
Attachments: Ltr to VN Amb re SA Ordinance English.pdf; Ltr to VN Amb re SA Ordinance Vietnamese.pdf;
Combined Reports of Human Rights in Vietnam 2012.pdf
Please make copies for Council and add to our Agenda binder. Thanks.
From: Magallon, Becky
Sent: Monday, November 19, 2012 8:42 AM
To: Pulido, Miguel; Alvarez, Claudia; Benavides, David; Sarmiento, Vince; Martinez, Michele; Tinajero, Sal; Bustamante,
Carlos
Cc: amezcuaangie @yahoo.com; roman @romanreyna.com; 'roman_a_reyna @hotmail.com'; Walters, Paul; Huizar, Maria
Subject: FW: Item # 85C on the City Council Meeting Agenda for November 19, 2012
Forwarding email from Ken Nguyen.
From: Ken Nguyen [mailto•kennguyenl04(cbgmail comI
Sent: Sunday, November 18, 2012 9:54 PM
To: Magallon, Becky
Subject: Item # 85C on the City Council Meeting Agenda for November 19, 2012
Hi Becky,
Please forward my email and all attached documents to Mayor Pulido and all City Council
members of Santa Ana in regarding to item #85C Support of Human Rights and Against
Communism and Oppression in Vietnam in the City Council Meeting Agenda for November 19,
2012.
Thanks,
Ken Nguyen
Dear Mayor and Council Members,
CCU: 11/19/2012
85C
Attached is a written response to Ambassador Nguyen Ba Hung's complaint letter to the City of
Santa Ana by Garden Grove School Board Member Lan Nguyen for your review. In my
opinion that Lan Nguyen 's letter is very powerful, both politically and legally. It rebuts, point
by point, the falsehoods and half - truths that Amb. Hung tried to make in his letter to Mayor
Pulido. These communists still think that they can fool us with such language in these days and
age, when the facts in the country are completely contrary to what they are saying now.
I believe that Lan Nguyen's letter will give you a better understanding of why the Santa Ana
needs to stand with the Vietnamese community and it is also a powerful tool for the council
members of Santa Ana to understand that what you are doing is right and correct.
We are expecting a large participation of Vietnamese news media and Vietnamese - American
community members to the City Council meeting on this coming Monday.
Thank you for your valuable support to our community.
Best regards,
Ken Nguyen
Commissioner
Chair of Board of Recreation & Park
Ambassador to Vietnamese Community
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LAN QUOC NGUYEN, TRUSTEE
BOARD OF EDUCATION, GARDEN GROVE
UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
November 18, 12
Ambassador Nguyen Ba Hung
Consul General of Vietnam in San Francisco
1700 California St., Suite 430
San Francisco, CA 94109
Re: Santa Ana City's Ordinance Against Vietnam's Official Visits
Dear Ambassador Hung:
As a Trustee on the Board of Education of the Garden Grove Unified School District which
serves substantial part of the City of Santa Ana and its residents, I would like to respond to your
letter dated November 8, 2012 and addressed to the City of Santa Ana and its Mayor regarding
the proposed ordinance prohibiting official visits by Vietnamese Government officials. Your
letter contains numerous misrepresentation of the law as well as the standing of the Vietnamese
government in relation to its own people in Vietnam or abroad.
The proposed measure is simply an expression of the wishes of the people in the City of Santa
Ana that they don't want to allow Vietnamese government officials to travel through the city with
police protection while the Vietnamese government does not accord its own people the basic
rights for free expression, religious freedom or rights to be free from arbitrary detention. These
wishes from the City of Santa Ana residents are in sync with American people's wishes as
expressed time after time through the Vietnam Human Rights Acts, which have been passed
overwhelmingly by the U.S. House of Representatives over the years.
You mention that the proposed ordinance runs against the U.N. 1961 and 1963 Vienna
Convention on Diplomatic Relations. However, that convention is subordinate to the
International Covenant on the Civil and Political Rights in1976 and the U.S. Constitution where
implementing the diplomatic relations convention would interfere with the people's rights to free
expression. The Vietnamese diplomats' wishes for safe passage through the city must yield to the
residents' rights to express their protest to such visits. It's a customary practice in the U.S. that
government officials, especially elected officials, do not cooperate with or assist foreign tyrants
to subvert the will of the people they serve.
Your representation that the proposed ordinance is inconsistent with the interest and aspirations
of the majority of American and Vietnamese people is completely inaccurate. The American and
Vietnamese people very much want to put aside the tragedy of the Vietnam War, but the
Vietnamese government has persistently and systematically continued the hateful retaliation
policies against the Vietnamese people who have any slight connection to the South Vietnamese
Government such as abolishing religious establishments with connection to the SVG during the
war, suppressing free speech, free press or free Internet for fear of the rising of any element
connected to the SVG; or condemning people with connection to the SVG to life threatening
measures such as re- education camps, new economic zones, elimination from official
-2— November 18, 2012
recognition, or dangerous clandestine escapes by boat or through land. It's because of these
existing policies that continue to drive the Vietnamese people against their own government and
millions of Vietnamese people to escape their homeland. The Vietnamese government must stop
these policies to bring about peace, reconciliation and good will to rebuild the country from the
Vietnamese people, both inside Vietnam and abroad.
Your presumption that the proposed ordinance is wrong and contradictory with the current U.S. -
Vietnam relation is entirely misplaced. It's precisely because the constructive engagement
approach in the U.S. policy toward Vietnam has not brought about any substantive benefit to
basic rights of the Vietnamese people that the residents in the City of Santa Ana want to take up
this proposed ordinance to the bring attention to the U.S. Government that they want the U.S.
Government to take more concrete and effective actions to benefit the Vietnamese people. The
proposed ordinance may serve its purpose of reminding the U.S. Government that it should stand
with the Vietnamese people, not with the tyrants.
Your representation that the exchange of delegations between the two governments would bring
about benefits to both peoples is only half correct. As evidenced by official visits by Vietnamese
government delegations to various cities in the U.S. over the years, such visits would only bring
out the most ferocious protests from the people or communities they go through and providing
safety protection for everyone involved has cost local governments throughout the U.S. untold
amount of taxpayer money. As seen in Orange County, just a simple display of Vietnamese
communist images alone would bring out the worst of traumatizing and haunting experiences
from the residents in the area. These experiences are not imaginary; they're the direct result of
the Vietnamese government's continuing violation of human rights against their own people in
Vietnam.
Your conclusion that the proposed ordinance would obstruct cooperation between the U.S. and
Vietnamese governments is without any basis. The proposed ordinance only reminds the U.S. and
Vietnamese governments of the realities that an official visit by a Vietnamese government
delegation would create in a local community such as that in the City of Santa Ana. Both
governments must assess those consequences and address those issues before they impose such
an undue burden on the local governments. The proposed ordinance does not in any way affect
the way both the U.S. or Vietnamese governments conduct their diplomatic missions as
evidenced by the fact that such measures have been adopted in the neighboring cities of
Westminster and Garden Grove for almost ten years.
Your assessment that the proposed ordinance does not reflect the will of the majority of the
Vietnamese American people can't be further from the truth. Just comparing the act of one person
in displaying an image of Ho Chi Minh and the Vietnamese communist flag and the number of
people who appeared in anger to protest such display, you may see where the dividing line should
stand. This disparity is repeated almost every time when a Vietnamese government delegation
appears in public in the U.S., be it in Washington, D.C., in front of the White House, in front of
the City Hall in San Francisco, Houston, or a few years ago in Dana Point, Orange County, where
Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet was visiting. You expressed your concern on behalf of
a number of your Vietnamese American supporters over the proposed ordinance. We may know
the number and the identities of those people, but they can freely continue to express their views
-3— November 18, 2012
and carry on with the lives without any problem. The number of those people is too insignificant
to represent even a minority element in the Vietnamese American community.
You mention the case of Viet Khang who is imprisoned for composing a song to express his love
for his country against foreign invasion or objection to the Vietnamese government in arbitrarily
arresting people for expressing such love is a case in point where you justify such punishment as
due to differences in legal traditions or human rights views between the two countries. As
Vietnam is a signatory the International Covenant on Political and Civil Rights 1976, there is no
and there should not be any difference on the most fundamental and basic rights to free
expressions in plain language. Countries may have differences on higher level of protection
afforded to the people, but they cannot differ on the bare minimum of such rights. Any deviation
downward from such basic and minimum rights required under the Covenant is a blatant
violation of such international treaty.
The proposed ordinance is simply an expression of the will of the residents in the City of Santa
Ana and it's the function of the elected officials in this city to listen to the people and reflect on
such view even if it is inconsistent with the view of the national government. It's the beauty of
the democracy in America that we the people in the U.S. can stand up to express our view against
our own government without being punished for doing so. This is something that the Vietnamese
government should learn in governing its own people. This proposed ordinance is a shining
example for such a lesson to the Vietnamese government.
On behalf of the residents in the City of Santa Ana, I'll urge the city leaders in the strongest terms
to adopt the proposed ordinance. To assist you and the Santa Ana city leaders to understand more
about the current human rights condition in Vietnam, I'm attaching a copy of the following
reports:
1. The 2011 Human Rights Report issued by the U.S. State Department, Bureau of
Democracy, Human Rights and Labor on May 24, 2012;
2. Report on Human Rights in Vietnam 2011 issued by the Vietnam Human Rights Network;
3. County Summary in Vietnam issued by Human Rights Watch in January 2012;
4. Freedom in the World Report on Vietnam in 2011 issued by Freedom House; and
5. Annual Report 2011 on Vietnam issued by Amnesty International
Sincerely,
Zan
Lan Quoc Nguyen, Esq.
Trustee, GGUS Board of Education
Cc: Miguel Publido, Mayor
Claudia Alvarez, Mayor Pro Temp
Michele Martinez, Carlos Bustamente, David Benavides, Sal Tinajero, and Vincent Sarmiento,
Councilmembers
CONSULATE GENERAL OF VIETNAM
1700 CALIFORNIA STREET, SUITE 430
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109
TEL: 415.922.1707
FAX: 415.922.1848 415.922.0307
The Honorable Miguel Pulido
Mayor of the City of Santa Ana
20 Civic Center Plaza
P.O. Box 1988, M31
Santa Ana, CA92701
San Francisco, 08 November, 2012
Dear Mayor Pulido:
I would like to offer my congratulations on your successful reelection to a tenth term
as Mayor of the City of Santa Ana.
I am writing to you to express the Government of Vietnam's deep concern with the
move by some Santa Ana councilmen to pass an ordinance "discouraging official
visits from communist Vietnam to the City." We urge you and the city leaders not to
endorse such an ordinance because of the following reasons:
First, the nature and the implementation of such an ordinance (if passed by the
Council) run against the U.N. 1961 and 1963 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic
Relations, to which both the United States and Vietnam are parties. The Convention
includes stipulations on fundamental rights of diplomatic and consular members such
as: freedom of movement and travel in the receiving State's territory, subject to its
laws and regulations concerning zones entry into which is prohibited or regulated for
reasons of national security; the receiving State shall treat a diplomatic agent with due
respect and shall take all appropriate steps to prevent any attack on his person,
freedom or dignity; the right to free communication on the part of the mission for all
official purposes. The proposed ordinance is also in conflict with international rules
and practices regarding diplomatic and consular relations among sovereignties.
Second, this ordinance is completely inconsistent with the interest and aspirations of
the majority of American and Vietnamese people, who wish to put aside the past of a
tragic war to build a long term friendship and cooperation between the two nations.
The ordinance, indeed, would not be in sync with the political will of the U.S.
Government striving to build a strategic partnership with Vietnam in the interest of
the United States itself and for the sake of peace, security, stability and prosperity of
the entire Asian - Pacific region.
Third, reality and statistics on Vietnam — U.S. relations as described in the appendix
testify that the U.S. Government and the majority of the American people have
recognized and established an increasingly wide- ranging relationship with the State of
Vietnam under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam. In that light, the
ordinance is a wrong and contradictory act against the foreign policy of the federal
government of the United States.
Fourth, it is the mutual exchange of delegations between Vietnam and the United
States, official meetings and working sessions between the two governments on each
other's territory that has helped to bring about benefits to both peoples, including your
constituents. The ordinance, if passed, would ruin opportunities to generate economic
benefits, jobs and earnings for the very same majority of your constituents.
Fifth, the ordinance would obstruct cooperation of the Vietnamese and U.S.
governments with each other's diplomatic agents and delegations. Both governments
have entered into official agreements to facilitate each other's mission in promoting
mutual understanding, friendship and cooperation of mutual benefit. Cities and
provinces in Vietnam have consistently paid full respect to the Vietnamese
government's policy on relations with the United States. There is not a single city or
province in Vietnam that would enact a conflicting law in the nature of what you have
been urged to do by a group of radical anti - communist constituents. I wonder where
the Vietnam — U.S. relationship would head to if a city or province in Vietnam took a
reciprocal action against U.S. delegations in line with the proposed ordinance. Would
the U.S. Government tolerate with an ordinance that has an adverse effect on the U.S.
interest?
Sixth, to the majority of Vietnamese community in the U.S., such an ordinance does
not reflect aspirations and interests of the larger part of the Vietnamese - American
living and working in the U.S. nor represent their views and voices. Over the last few
days, many Americans of Vietnamese origin have shared with me their concerns
about the negative implications the oridinace may have for the Vietnam -U.S.
relationship, their business in Vietnam and the Vietmanese community. They said
they would not exercise their "human rights" in making their concerns known to the
city leaders because they fear of troubles some anti - communist extremists who are
Vietnamese - Americans would cause to their lives and businesses.
Seventh, your concerns about individuals such as Viet Khang, who was imprisoned
for violations of the Vietnamese law, should not be a motive to push for such a wrong
ordinance. You might be aware that differences in our countries' views on
democracy, human rights, religious freedom are inevitable because of our differences
in history, tradition, culture, custom, ideology, political system and development
level. American leaders such as presidents G.W. Bush, B. Clinton and B. Obama
have discussed with Vietnamese leaders on those matters and agreed that it is
dialogues and exchanges between our nations' governments and people that would
help increase mutual understanding and mutual respect and gradually reduce those
differences. Intentions to impose one's own will on the other and to interfere in each
other's internal affairs would cause only harm to their relations unnecessarily.
Against that backdrop, I urge you and your colleagues to keep in perspective and act
in accordance with the larger interest of the United States in its relationship with
Vietnam, the policies pursued by the U.S., the respect commanded by the U.S. in
compliance with international law, the status of an American politician and the
responsibility of a Santa Ana leader to look after the public's interests.
In conclusion, I wish you health, happiness and continued success. I would like to
invite you and your family to come and visit Vietnam to see with your own eyes the
reality of today's Vietnam and how robust Vietnam — U.S. relations are. In the future,
should you need any information concerning Vietnam, including human rights
situation, the Vietnamese government's policy towards overseas Vietnamese, the links
between the Vietnamese- American community in the U.S. with their homecountry,
please feel free to write to me.
Respectfully,
Ambassador Nguyen Ba Hung
Consul General of Vietnam in San Francisco
1700 California Street, Suite 430
San Francisco, CA94109
Tel. (415) 706 -3726
Email: hule94 @yahoo.com
Appendix
Vietnam and the US have been developing friendship and multifaceted co-
operations, yielding great benefits for the people of both countries. The two sides are
currently striving to forge a strategic partnership.
It took Americans almost 30 years to overcome the Vietnam war syndroms so as to
normalize its diplomatic relationship with Vietnam in 1995. The two sides have made
impressive headways since then: The US has become the most important trading
partner and investor of Vietnam; two way trade exceeded $19 billion in 2012, 2/3 of
which was through California's ports in Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland and %z
of the export from Vietnam is for Californian consumers. Vietnam is considered one of
the five emerging markets with great potentials in the US government's export
strategy. The US ranks 7`" among foreign investors in Vietnam with $12 billion. A
number of businesses in California have taken steps to prepare for investment in
Vietnam in the near future. It is estimated that more than half of the 12,000
Vietnamese students in the US are currently studying at high schools, community
colleges and universities in California. Great efforts have been made to boost co-
operations in education and training, science and technology, culture, and resolution of
existing war issues. The Vietnamese and US governments have been coordinating
actively and effectively in the humanitarian area: Vietnam has returned to the US side
over 1,000 remains of the latter's estimated 3,000 MIAs in Southeast Asia as well as
provided essential information relating to other cases and thus helped ease the pain and
sufferings of many families of the MIAs. The Vietnamese government has also been
assisting veterans and officials of the former regime in South Vietnam, who are now
residing in the US, in their efforts to relocate and bring to the US the remains of
hundreds of their buddies. On its side, the US government has taken actions to
participate in projects to help victims of Agent Orange used by the American troops in
the Vietnam war.
Today 15 of American cities and counties have established sistership /friendship and
cooperative relationship with their Vietnamese partners.
Every year hundreds of American delegations visit Vietnam for various purposes
including boosting trade and investment. Every year hundreds of thousands of
American Vietnamese return to Vietnam to visit their beloved families. Vietnam and
the US have so far conducted 15 rounds of negotiations to bridge differences on
democracy, human rights, religious freedom.
In July 2010 US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton suggested to Mr. Pham Gia Khiem,
the then Foreign Minister of Vietnam, that Viet Nam and the US should move their
relationship toward a strategic partnership. Since then officials of both sides have been
exchanging views on ways and means to put the idea into practice. Once Vietnam and
the US indeed become strategic partners, their bilateral co- operations in all fields will
have greater opportunities to reach potential depth and height.
LAN QUOC NGUYEN, TRUSTEE
BOARD OF EDUCATION, GARDEN GROVE
UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Ngay 18 thang 11 nam 2012
Dai Sir Nguyen Ba Hung
Tong Lanh Su Viet Nam tai San Francisco
1700 California St, Suite 430
San Francisco, CA 94109
Re: Du ludt ngan cam cac chuyen tham cua cac quan chdc Viet Nam
Thera Ong Dai Six:
La mot Uy Vien Giao Duc trong Hoi Dong Giao Duc cua Khu Hoc Chanh Thong Nhat Garden Grove
ma bao gom mot phan lon trongThanh Pho Santa Ana va ctr dan trong vung, toi xin tra lo'i thir cua Ong
de ngay 8 thang 11 nam 2012 giri den thanh pho Santa Ana va Thi tru'ong Miguel Pulido ve m6t dLr ludt
nham ngan cam cac chuyen tham chinh thk cua cac quan chat Viet Nam. Thar cua Ong da trinh bay
rat nhieu sai lac ve ludt phap cung nhir chinh sach cua nha cam quyen Viet Nam doi vii ngir&i dan Viet
Nam trong nLrdc cung nhu' ngoai ntr&c.
De ludt du tinh don thuan chi la mot bieu hien su mong muon cua ngu&i dan trong thanh pho Santa
Ana rang ho kh6ng muon cho phep cac quan chirc Viet Nam di qua thanh pho Oi su bao ve cua canh
sat trong khi nha cam quyen Viet Nam chang bao gio cho phep ngtr&i dan cua ho nhung quyen can ban
nhLr to do ton giao, tLr do ngon luan, hay tranh bi giam giir tuy tien. NhCmg Lr&c nguyen nay cua car dan
thanh pho Santa Ana cung twang tLr nhtr mong Uo�c cua ngu'oi dan Hoa Ky tixng dtrgc the hien nhieu lan
qua Dao Ludt Nhan Quyen Viet Nam ma da duac Ha vien Hoa Ky thong qua vdi ti le ' nh�r tuyet doi
trong nhieu nam qua.
Ong cho rang du ludt nay di ngUac lai Cong U&c Quan He Ngoai Giao cua Lien Hie
p Quoc nam 1961
va 1963. Tuy nhien, Cong Lr&c do van phai dtrdi quyen cua Cong Udc Quoc Te ve Quyen Dan Su va
Chinh Tri nam 1976 va Hien phap Hoa Ky, khi thLrc hien cac quy Lr&c quan he ngoai giao xam pham
vao quyen cua ngLrai dan dtrac tLr do phat bieu. Cac nha ngoai giao Viet Nam mong viec di lai an town
qua thanh pho phai nhu'ong bLrdc trtroc quyen dirgc len tieng phan doi nhung chuyen tham nay. Do la
m6t tdp quan tai Hoa Ky khi cac nhan vien chinh phu, ddc biet la cac dan cir, kh6ng can hop tac hoac
ho trq cac quan chk cua nhung chinh quyen doc tai ngoai quoc de di ngtrgc lai nguyen vong cua
nhung cu dan ma ho phuc vu.
Ong trinh bay rang du Ludt nay kh6ng phu hop Oi lo'i ich va nguyen vong cua da so nguai dan Hoa Ky
va Viet Nam la hoan town kh6ng chinh xac. NgLrai dan Hoa Ky va Viet Nam rat muon bo qua mot ben
nhung tham hoa bi kich trong qua khir cua chitin tranh Viet Nam, nhung nha cam quyen Viet Nam van
tiep tuc chinh sach han thu mot cach co he thong chong lai ngtrai dan Viet Nam neu ho co bat ky lien
he nao vdi chinh quyen mien Nam trtroc day, thi du nhtr ngan cam cac ca so ton giao co lien he den
chinh quyen mien Nam, din ap tLr do ngon luan, to do bao chi hoac ttx do tren lu'bi dien town vi to sa str
lon manh cua bat cir thanh phan nao co lien he vdi chinh quyen mien Nam, hoac tru dap ngtr&i dan
bang cach de doa cuoc song cua ho vai cac bi en phap hiem ngheo nhix to cai tao, duoi di khu kinh to
-2— November 18, 2012
mdi, khong cong nhan chinh thac, hay dua day ho vao con doting nguy hiem de tim cach tron thoat
bang duang bien hay duang bo. Chinh vi cac chinh sach nay van tiep tuc khien cho nguai dan Viet
Nam chong lai nha cam quyen cua ho va hang trieu nguai dan Viet Nam da tim cach bo tron que hhong
cua ho. Nha cam quyen Viet Nam can phai ngung ngay cac chinh sach nay de mang lai hoa binh, hod
giai va thien chi mong muon tai xay dung dat nudc tir nguai dan Viet Nam, ca trong va ngoai nudc.
Lap luan cua Ong cho rang du luat la sai lam va mau thuan vdi tinh hinh quan he Hoa ky vd Viet Nam
hien nay la hoan town vo can cir. Chinh vi khuynh hudng hop tac de xay dung trong chinh sach cua
Hoa ky doi vdi Viet Nam da khong mang den lai ich cu the ve cac quyen ca ban cua nguai dan Viet
Nam khien cac cu dan thdnh pho Santa Ana muon dua ra du luat nay de luu tam den Chinh phu Hoa
Ky va mong moi Chinh phu Hoa ky tien hanh nhung hanh Bong cu the va hieu qua horn de mang lai lai
ich cho nguai dan Viet Nam. Du luat nay co the mang lai muc tieu nhac nha Chinh phu Hoa Ky nen
dung ve phia nhung nguai dan Viet Nam, khong phai vdi cac nha doc tai.
Trinh bay cua Ong cho rang viec trao doi giaa hai chinh phu se mang lai lai ich cho ca hai ben chi dung
mot nira. Bang chirng la cac chuyen vieng tham chinh thk cua cac phai down cua nha cam quyen Viet
Nam den cac thanh pho d Hoa ky trong nhung nam qua chi mang lai cac cuoc bieu tinh dd doi nhat W
nguai dan hoac cong dong ma ho di qua va trach nhiem bao ve an ninh cho tat ca moi nguai lien he da
gay ra cac chi phi khong the luting duac doi vdi nguai dan dong thue. Nhu da thay d Quan Cam, chi
mot viec trong bay don gian nhung hinh tuong Cong san Viet Nam cong khc i lai nhung kinh nghiem
dau thuong va kinh hodng tir cu dan. Nh[mg kinh nghiem nay khong phai la tudng twang, do chinh la
nhung ket qua truc tiep tir nhung vi pham nhan quyen cua nha cam quyen Viet Nam lien tuc cho tai
ngay hom nay.
Ong ket luan rang du luat se gay can trd su hop tac giaa hai chinh phu Hoa ky va Viet Nam that la
khong co co• so. Du luat nay chi nhac nha chinh phu Hoa Ky va Viet Nam ve thuc to ma mot chuyen
tham chinh thdc cua mot phai down Viet Nam se tao ra nhung kho khan nhu the ndo doi vdi mot cong
dong dia phuorng nhu tai thanh pho Santa Ana. Ca hai chinh phu phai Luang dinh cac hau qua va can
nhac nhung van de nay trudc khi ho tip dat mot ganh nang qua dang doi vdi chinh quyen dia phuong.
Du luat se khong gay anh hudng den cac sa mang ngoai giao cua hai chinh phu Hoa Ky hay Viet Nam,
vi cac bien phap tuong to da duac tip dung tai cac thanh pho Lang gieng Westminster va Garden Grove
trong gan 10 nam qua.
Ong Luang dinh rang du luat nay khong phan anh udc nguyen cua da so nguai dan My goc Viet that la
khong the nao sai su that horn duac nira. Chi can so sanh hanh dong cua mot nguai khi trinh bay mot
hinh anh cua Ho Chi Minh va la ca Cong San Viet Nam vdi so luong cua nhixng nguai da ra mat trong
gian giu de phan doi su trinh bay nay la Ong co the thay duac su duang ranh phan chia nam d cho nao.
Su khac biet nay da duac lap di lap lai hau nhu moi Lan khi mot phai down nha cam quyen Viet Nam
xuat hien trudc cong chung tai Hoa Ky, cho dau la tai Hoa Thinh Don, trudc Tod Bach Oc, trudc Tod
Thi Chinh San Francisco, Houston, Texas, hay mot vdi nam trudc day tai Dana Point, Quan Cam, khi
Chu Tich Cong San Viet Nam Nguyen Minh Triet den tham. Ong da to bay su quan ngai cua Ong thay
mat cho mot so nho nhung nguai ung ho thuoc thanh phan nguai My goc Viet doi vdi du luat nay.
Chung toi co the biet so luting va danh tinh cua nhung nguai nay, nhung ho van co the trinh bay su
phan doi cua ho vdi du luat nay va tiep tuc ninh song ma khong gap trd ngai ve bat ky van de gi. So
luting nhung nguai nay co qua it de co the tao nen mot phan to cho dau la nho nhat trong cong dong
nguai My goc Viet.
-3— November 18, 2012
Ong de cap den trtrbng hop cua anh Viet Khang dang bi cam to vi da sang tac mot bai hat the hien long
yeu ntrac cua anh to chong lai cuoc xam Lang cua ngoai bang hoac phan doi nha cam quyen Viet Nam
trong viec tuy tien bat giir ngLr&i dan da the hien long yeu nLr&c do la mot truang hop dien hinh ma Ong
bien minh cho su bat b& va to day la do six khac biet ve quan diem ve phap ludt va nhan quyen giaa hai
quoc gia. Vi Viet Nam la mot thanh vien cua Cong U& Quoc Te ve Quyen Chinh Tri va Dan Su nam
1976, nhtr vdy thi kh6ng co va kh6ng nen co bat ky six khac biet nao ve cac quyen co ban t6i thieu nhat
doi v&i ngir&i dan. Cac quoc gia thanh vien co the co six khac biet ve mk do bao ve cao hon cho ngoai
dan, nhung ho kh6ng the khac nhau ve mk de toi thi eu cua cac quyen do. Bat ky sai biet nao thap hon
nh(mg quyen can ban va t6i thieu trong Cong Uac do la mot su vi pham trang tron doi vo'i hiep u &c
quoc to do.
Du ludt nay la mot bieu hien y chi cua cu dan thanh ph o^ Santa Ana va do la trach nhiem cua qui vi dan
cu tai thanh pho nay can phai Lang nghe ngLr&i dan va phan anh quan diem cua ho, ngay ca khi no
kh6ng phu hop v&i quan diem cua chinh phu quoc gia. D6 la mot diem son cua nen dan chu & Hoa ky
ma chung t6i, nhfmg ngLr&i dan Hoa, ky co the di
2011 Human Rights Report
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
2011 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
May 24, 2012
VIETNAM
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is an authoritarian state ruled by a single party,
the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) led by General Secretary Nguyen Phu
Trong, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, and President Truong Tan Sang. The
most recent National Assembly elections, held in May, were neither free nor fair,
since the CPV's Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF), an umbrella group that monitors
the country's mass organizations, vetted all candidates. Security forces reported to
civilian authorities.
The most significant human rights problems in the country were severe
government restrictions on citizens' political rights, particularly their right to
change their government; increased measures to limit citizens' civil liberties; and
corruption in the judicial system and police.
Specific human rights abuses included continued police mistreatment of suspects
during arrest and detention, including the use of lethal force, as well as austere
prison conditions, arbitrary arrest and detention for political activities, and denial
of the right to fair and expeditious trial. Political influence, endemic corruption,
and inefficiency strongly distorted the judicial system. The government
increasingly limited privacy rights and freedoms of the press, speech, assembly,
movement, and association; increasingly suppressed dissent; further restricted
Internet freedom; reportedly was involved in attacks against critical Web sites; and
spied on dissident bloggers. Freedom of religion continued to be subject to uneven
interpretation and protection, with significant problems continuing, especially at
provincial and village levels. Police corruption persisted at various levels. The
government maintained its prohibition of independent human rights organizations.
Violence and discrimination against women as well as trafficking in persons
continued, as did sexual exploitation of children and some societal discrimination
based on ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity, and HIV /AIDS status.
The government limited workers' rights to form and join independent unions and
inadequately enforced safe and healthy working conditions.
The government inconsistently took steps to prosecute and punish officials who
committed abuses, and members of the police sometimes acted with impunity.
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom from:
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a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life
There were no reports that the government or its agents committed arbitrary or
unlawful killings, but there were reports of 19 deaths of persons in custody during
the year as well as abuses of lethal force.
For example, in March Trinh Xuan Tung died in custody in Hanoi after Lieutenant
Colonel Nguyen Van Ninh beat him while in detention for a traffic violation.
Authorities suspended Ninh pending investigation, and at year's end the scheduling
of a trial was expected in early 2012.
In April in Dong Nai Province, local police officers beat Nguyen Cong Nhut to
death after detaining him for five days for allegedly stealing tires. The case was
reported to the Supreme People's Court and at year's end remained under
investigation.
In March a court convicted police officer Nguyen The Nghiep of excessive use of
force and sentenced him to seven years in prison for the death by beating of
Nguyen Van Khuong, who was arrested for a traffic violation in Bac Giang
Province in July 2010. Authorities also banned Nghiep for life from the police
force and ordered him to pay 155 million Vietnamese dong (VND) (approximately
$7,380) to the deceased's family, which his family did.
In September authorities charged four former prison guards (Hoang Dinh Nam,
Nguyen Van Tho, Le Huu Thiet, and Tran Van Phuc) in the Central Highlands
with using plastic batons to beat to death inmate Truong Thanh Tuan in September
2010. A court directed the four to pay VND 129 million (approximately $6,140) to
the victim's family.
b. Disappearance
There were no reports of politically motivated disappearances.
There continued to be no information on the whereabouts of Thich Tri Khai, a
monk from the unregistered Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam whom
authorities arrested in 2008, and Le Tri Tue, a founder of the Independent
Workers' Union whom authorities placed in custody in 2007.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment
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3
The law prohibits physical abuse, but police commonly mistreated suspects during
arrest or detention. Incidents of physical harassment, intimidation, and the
questioning of family members were reported in several locations, including but
not limited to Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Bac Giang and Dong Nai provinces.
For example, in April local police arrested and beat Tran Van Du from Soc Trang
Province while interrogating him in custody. In October the Soc Trang People's
Court sentenced the following police officers for "intentionally inflicting injury ":
Vo Van Ut Deo to two years' imprisonment; Danh Nhan, eight years; Tran Tuan
Khai, four years; and Nguyen Quoc Thang, two years.
In August Hanoi police officials opened an investigation into an alleged "deliberate
physical assault" by police Captain Minh after Internet footage showed him
stomping on a detained protester during a demonstration over Chinese sovereignty
claims in the South China Sea (East Sea) in July. Authorities placed Minh on
administrative leave but later cleared and reinstated him.
Land - rights protesters in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Danang, and several provinces
in the Mekong Delta continued to report instances of physical harassment and
intimidation by local authorities. Most incidents between local authorities and
ethnic minorities involved land, money, or domestic disputes. For example, the
People's Court of Gia Lai Province convicted nine Montagnards of "undermining
unity policy" and sentenced them to prison for what human rights groups reported
were advocacy activities related to Montagnard rights or land disputes. The
sentences handed down in April were as follows: Siu Hlom, 12 years; Siu Nheo
and Siu Brom, 10 years each; Rah Lan Mlih, Ro Mah Pro, and Rah Lan Blom, nine
years each; and Kpa Sin and Ro Man Klit, eight years each. In December the court
also sentenced Siu Thai (Ama Thuong), arrested in April, to 10 years'
imprisonment.
The government reported in September that more than 32,300 drug users - -the large
majority of whom were administratively sentenced to forced detoxification without
judicial review - -were living in the 121 drug- detention centers countrywide.
According to the government, the stated population did not exceed the intended
capacity of the centers, which had separate facilities for women. At these centers,
according to a September report from a nongovernmental organization (NGO),
authorities allegedly forced individuals to perform menial work under harsh
conditions and mistreated them (see section 7.b.). After his November visit, the
VIETNAM 4
UN special rapporteur on health criticized these centers as ineffective and
counterproductive.
Prison and Detention Center Conditions
Prison conditions were austere but generally not life threatening. Overcrowding,
insufficient diet, lack of access to potable water, and poor sanitation remained
serious problems. Prisoners generally were required to work but received no
wages. Authorities sometimes placed prisoners in solitary confinement, thus
depriving them of reading and writing materials for periods of up to several
months. Family members continued to make credible claims that prisoners
received benefits by paying bribes to prison officials or undertaking hunger strikes.
Prisoners had access to basic health care, although in many cases officials
prevented family members from providing medication to prisoners. Family
members of imprisoned activists who experienced health problems claimed
medical treatment was inadequate and resulted in greater long -term health
complications. In July and September, respectively, two long -term prisoners
convicted and jailed for attempting to overthrow the government (Nguyen Van
Trai, a member of the People's Action Party of Vietnam, and Truong Van Suong)
died in prison from liver cancer and heart disease, respectively.
The total number of prisoners and detainees was not publicly available. Pretrial
detainees were held separately from convicted prisoners. Juveniles generally were
held in prison separately from adults, but on rare occasions, they were held in
detention with adults for short periods due to the unavailability of space. Men and
women were held separately but treated equally. Political prisoners were typically
sent to specially designated prisons that also held other regular criminals, and in
most cases, political prisoners were kept separate from nonpolitical prisoners.
Authorities completely isolated some high - profile political prisoners from all
others. While prison sentences could be extremely lengthy, prisoners were not
forced to serve beyond the maximum sentence for their charged offense.
Authorities limited prisoners to one 30- minute family visit per month and generally
permitted family members to give supplemental food and bedding to prisoners.
Prisoners did not have the right to practice their religion in public, nor to have
access to religious books and scriptures, although authorities allowed Roman
Catholic priest and democracy activist Thaddeus Nguyen Van Ly (rearrested in
July) to keep a Bible, pray, and give communion. Prisoners were allowed to
VIETNAM 5
submit complaints to prison management and judicial authorities, but their
complaints were routinely ignored.
Previously, authorities had permitted the International Committee of the Red Cross
to visit prisons, but no such visits occurred during the year. Authorities allowed
foreign diplomats to make one limited prison visit and meet with a prominent
prisoner. State control of the media restricted reporting on living conditions.
There were no prison ombudsmen, and no individuals were allowed to serve on
behalf of prisoners and detainees to consider such matters as alternatives to
incarceration for nonviolent offenders.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention
The law allows the government to detain persons without charges indefinitely
under vague "national security" provisions. The government also arrested and
indefinitely detained individuals under other legal provisions and subjected several
dissidents throughout the country to administrative detention or house arrest.
Role of the Police and Security Apparatus
Internal security is the responsibility of the Ministry of Public Security, although in
some remote areas, the military is the primary government agency and performs
public safety functions, including maintaining public order in the event of civil
unrest. The ministry controls the police, a special national security investigative
agency, and other internal security units. It also maintains a system of household
registration and block wardens to monitor the population. While this system was
less intrusive than in the past, it continued to monitor individuals suspected of
engaging, or being likely to engage, in unauthorized political activities. Credible
reports suggested that local police used "contract thugs" and "citizen brigades" to
harass and beat political activists and others, including religious worshippers,
perceived as undesirable or a threat to public security.
Police organizations exist at the provincial, district, and local levels and are subject
to the authority of people's committees at each level. At the commune level, it is
common for guard forces composed of residents to assist the police. The police
were generally effective at maintaining public order, but police capabilities,
especially investigative, were generally very limited, and training and resources
were inadequate. Several foreign governments assisted in training provincial
police and prison management officials to improve their professionalism.
VIETNAM 6
Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention
The law outlines the process by which individuals are taken into custody and
treated until authorities adjudicate their cases. The Supreme People's Procuracy
(Public Prosecutor's Office) issues arrest warrants, generally at the request of
police. However, police may make an arrest without a warrant based on a
complaint filed by any person. The procuracy issues retroactive warrants in such
cases. The procuracy must issue a decision to initiate a formal criminal
investigation of a detainee within nine days; otherwise, police must release the
suspect. In practice the nine -day regulation was often circumvented.
Arbitrary Arrest: Arbitrary arrest and detention, particularly for political activists,
remained a problem. According to activist groups and diplomatic sources, the
government sentenced at least 29 arrested activists during the year to a total of 165
years in jail and 70 years of probation for exercising their rights. Authorities also
increasingly charged political dissidents with "attempting to overthrow the state"
due to their alleged membership in political parties other than the CPV. While
violators of this legal provision had the possibility of receiving the death penalty,
they typically received prison sentences of up to seven years. The government also
used decrees, ordinances, and other measures to detain activists for the peaceful
expression of opposing political views (see section 2.a.).
For example, in February police in Ho Chi Minh City detained Nguyen Dan Que
for allegedly urging individuals to take part in mass protests demanding political
reforms but released him after three days of questioning. Local police continued to
monitor him closely throughout the year.
In April police detained political dissidents Pham Hong Son and Le Quoc Quan for
"causing public disorder" in an attempt to attend the open trial of fellow political
activist Cu Huy Ha Vu but released them nine days later.
Peaceful protests during the year in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi over Chinese
sovereignty claims in the South China Sea (East Sea) resulted in the temporary
detention and surveillance of several protest organizers, and there were reports that
local security officials prevented individuals from leaving their homes to take part
in the demonstrations. Moreover, on November 27, authorities detained activist
Bui Thi Minh Hang in Ho Chi Minh City for participating in one such "illegal"
protest and previously participating in related protests in July and August in Hanoi.
In December authorities sentenced her without due process to two years at a
reeducation camp near Hanoi.
VIETNAM 7
Authorities also subjected religious and political activists to varying degrees of
informal detention in their residences. For example, Ho Chi Minh City local police
continued to monitor prominent activists Nguyen Dan Que and Do Nam Hai
closely.
Pretrial Detention: The investigative period typically lasted from three months for
less serious offenses (punishable by up to three years' imprisonment) to 16 months
for exceptionally serious offenses (punishable by more than 15 years'
imprisonment or capital punishment) or more than two years for national security
cases. However, at times investigations lasted indefinitely. By law the procuracy
may also request additional two -month periods of detention after an investigation
to consider whether to prosecute a detainee or ask police to investigate further.
Investigators sometimes used physical abuse, isolation, excessively lengthy
interrogation sessions, and sleep deprivation to compel detainees to confess.
By law detainees are permitted access to lawyers from the time of their detention;
however, authorities used bureaucratic delays to deny access to legal counsel. In
cases investigated under national security laws, authorities prohibited defense
lawyers' access to clients until after an investigation had ended and the suspect had
been formally charged with a crime, most often after approximately four months.
Under regulations, investigations may be continued and access to counsel denied
for more than two years. In addition a scarcity of trained lawyers and insufficient
protection of defendant rights made prompt detainee access to an attorney rare. In
practice only juveniles and persons formally charged with capital crimes were
assigned lawyers.
Attorneys must be informed of and allowed to attend interrogations of their clients.
However, a defendant first must request the presence of a lawyer, and it was
unclear whether authorities always informed defendants of this right. Attorneys
also must be given access to case files and be permitted to make copies of
documents. Attorneys were sometimes able to exercise these rights.
Police generally informed families of detainees' whereabouts, but family members
could visit a detainee only with the permission of the investigator, and this
permission was not regularly granted. During the investigative period, authorities
routinely denied detainees access to family members, especially in national
security cases. Before a formal indictment, detainees also have the right to notify
family members, although a number of detainees suspected of national security
violations were held incommunicado. There is no functioning bail system or
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equivalent system of conditional release. Time spent in pretrial detention counts
toward time served upon conviction and sentencing.
Courts may sentence persons to administrative detention of up to five years after
completion of a sentence. In addition police or mass organizations can propose
that one of five "administrative measures" be imposed by people's committee
chairpersons at district and provincial levels without a trial. The measures include
terms ranging from six to 24 months in either juvenile reformatories or adult
detention centers and generally were applied to repeat offenders with a record of
minor offenses, such as committing petty theft or "humiliating other persons."
Terms of 24 months were standard for drug users and prostitutes. Individuals
sentenced to detention facilities were forced to meet work quotas to pay for
services and detention costs. Chairpersons may also impose terms of
"administrative probation," which generally took the form of restriction on
movement and travel. Authorities continued to punish some individuals using
vaguely worded national security provisions of the law.
Amnesty: In honor of National Day, the government amnestied approximately
10,535 prisoners on August 29, the overwhelming majority of whom had ordinary
criminal convictions. Among those released were the following five individuals
convicted of committing national security crimes: three ethnic Montagnards from
Dak Lak Province (Y Dhiam Eban, Y Bien Nie, and Y Kim Kbuor) charged with
"undermining national unity," as well as Nguyen Van Tinh from Haiphong and
Tran Duc Thach from Nghe An Province, both charged with antistate
propagandizing.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
�3
The law provides for the independence of judges and lay assessors, but in practice
they were not independent. The CPV controlled the courts at all levels through its
effective control over judicial appointments and other mechanisms, and in many
cases it determined verdicts. As in past years, political influence, endemic
corruption, and inefficiency strongly distorted the judicial system. Most, if not all,
judges were members of the CPV and chosen at least in part for their political
views. The party's influence was particularly notable in high - profile cases and
other instances in which authorities charged a person with challenging or harming
the party or state.
There continued to be a shortage of trained lawyers and judges. The Vietnam Bar
Federation falls under the supervision of the VFF and is closely coordinated with
VIETNAM 9
the Ministry of Justice and the Vietnam Lawyers Association. The federation,
which oversees local bar association functions, continued during the year to
develop a professional code of conduct for lawyers.
Trial Procedures
The constitution provides that citizens are innocent until proven guilty, although
many lawyers complained that judges generally presumed guilt. Trials generally
were open to the public, but in sensitive cases judges closed trials or strictly limited
attendance. Juries are not used.
The public prosecutor brings charges against an accused person and serves as
prosecutor during trials. Defendants have the right to be present and have a lawyer
at trial, although not necessarily the lawyer of their choice, and this right was
generally upheld in practice. Defendants unable to afford a lawyer generally were
provided one only in cases involving a juvenile offender or with possible sentences
of life imprisonment or capital punishment. The defendant or defense lawyer has
the right to cross - examine witnesses, but there were cases in which neither
defendants nor their lawyers were allowed to have access to government evidence
in advance of the trial, cross - examine witnesses, or challenge statements. Defense
lawyers commonly had little time before trials to examine evidence against their
clients. In national security cases, judges occasionally silenced defense lawyers
who were making arguments on behalf of their clients in court because the judges
deemed the arguments reactionary. Convicted persons have the right to appeal.
District and provincial courts did not publish their proceedings, but the Supreme
People's Court continued to publish the proceedings of all cases it reviewed.
There continued to be credible reports that authorities pressured defense lawyers
not to take as clients any religious or democracy activists facing trial. Human
rights lawyers were restricted, harassed, arrested, disbarred, and in some cases
detained for representing political activists. For example, on August 12, the Dak
Lak Bar Association dismissed Huynh Van Dong for serving as a defense lawyer
in May for two defendants charged with subversive acts against the state.
Additionally, given their previous convictions, lawyers Le Tran Luat, Le Thi Cong
Nhan, and Le Quoc Quan were not permitted to practice law. During the April
trial of activist Cu Huy Ha Vu, one of his attorneys (Tran Vu Hai) accused the
Hanoi People's Court of violating criminal procedure by refusing to publicize the
documents by which the court made its accusation. When the court refused to drop
the charges and declare a mistrial, activist Vu sent his lawyers away in protest; the
court found him guilty and sentenced him to seven years in prison.
VIETNAM
Political Prisoners and Detainees
There continued to be no precise estimates of the number of political prisoners.
The government reportedly held more than 100 political detainees at year's end,
although some international observers claimed there were more (see also section
I.d., Arbitrary Arrest). Diplomatic sources reported the existence of four
reeducation centers in the country holding approximately 4,000 prisoners.
10
For example, on February 8, authorities arrested Vu Quang Thuan, democracy
activist and chairperson of the Vietnam Restoration Movement, upon arrival at Tan
Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City for propagandizing against the state. He
awaited trial at year's end.
On December 23, authorities arrested and detained Viet Khang (also known as Vo
Minh Tri) after he composed and sang two songs to express his view on the
government's handling of the dispute with China regarding sovereignty in the
South China Sea (East Sea). At year's end his detention reportedly continued in
Ho Chi Minh City.
At year's end dissident Nguyen Ba Dang, a member of the People's Democratic
Party, awaited trial. Police had arrested him in January 2010 in Hai Duong
Province for distributing antistate propaganda.
In March the Tra Vinh Province Appeals Court upheld the original sentences of
three members of the United Workers - Farmers Organization - -nine years'
imprisonment for Nguyen Hoang Quoc Hung and seven years' imprisonment for
Do Thi Minh Hanh and Doan Huy Chuong - -whose convictions were for causing
public disorder to oppose the government. Police had arrested them for
distributing pamphlets in February 2010 that called on citizens to advocate for
democracy and freedom of assembly and to fight attempted invasions from China.
In September the Dong Nai Province People's Court sentenced Pham Thi Phuong,
a member of the Vietnam Populist Party, to 11 years in prison for activities to
overthrow the government. Authorities had arrested her and her husband, Pham
Ba Huy, in Ho Chi Minh City in April 2010 for reportedly planning a campaign to
bomb statues throughout the city. At year's end Pham Ba Huy continued to await
trial.
VIETNAM 11
In January Binh Phuoc People's Court convicted Phung Lam from Binh Phuoc
Province of propagandizing against the state and sentenced him to seven years in
prison. Police had arrested him in June 2010 for alleged ties to the Democratic
Party of Vietnam (DPV) and DPV chairman Nguyen Sy Binh, claiming that Lam
posted articles opposing the government on the Internet. Lam had fled to
Cambodia in May 2010, but police arrested him when he attempted to return to
visit his family.
During a one -day closed trial in May, the Ben Tre People's Court convicted
several defendants of attempting to overthrow the government and sentenced them
as follows: Tran Thi Thuy from Dong Thap Province, eight years' imprisonment
and five years' probation; Pham Van Thong, Ben Tre Province, seven years'
imprisonment and five years' probation; Pastor Duong Kim Khai, Ho Chi Minh
City, six years' imprisonment and five years' probation; and Cao Van Tinh, Con
Tho Province, five years' imprisonment and five years' probation. The other three
(congregant Pham Ngoc Hoa, Nguyen Thanh Tam, and lay pastor Nguyen Chi
Thanh) were each sentenced to two years' imprisonment and three years'
probation. In August Thuy, Thong, Khai, and Tinh appealed; the court reduced
Khai's sentence to five years' imprisonment and Tinh's sentence to four years'
imprisonment, and denied the appeals of Thuy and Thong. Police had arrested
Thuy, Thong, Khai, and Tam in July- August 2010 for alleged ties to a banned,
foreign- based, prodemocracy group and for organizing and advocating on behalf of
land - rights claimants in Ben Tre and Dong Thap provinces. Police had also
arrested Hoa and Thanh, affiliated with Khai and the unrecognized Mennonite
Church, in November 2010 for their alleged ties to the same prodemocracy group
and their work with Khai.
On March 22, authorities deported foreign citizen Le Kin, whom they had arrested
in October 2010 in Ho Chi Minh City for attempting to overthrow the government
through his alleged involvement with overseas political organizations critical of the
government.
In August an appeals court upheld the Hanoi People's Court sentence in April of
attorney Cu Huy Ha Vu to seven years in jail for antistate propagandizing. Police
had arrested him in November 2010 for his Internet articles and interviews with
foreign media criticizing the prime minister. In November Vu's appeal of his
sentence was unsuccessful.
In February the Hanoi People's Court convicted Vu Duc Trung and Le Van Thanh,
affiliated with the Falun Gong movement, of "illegally broadcasting information
VIETNAM
12
[into China] and operating information networks without a license" and sentenced
them to three and two years' imprisonment, respectively. Police had arrested them
in Hanoi in November 2010 for broadcasting Falun Gong radio programs.
In March the People's Court of Tri Ton District, An Giang Province, sentenced
Chau Heng, a Khmer Krom land - rights activist to two years' imprisonment for
"deliberately destroying property and creating social disorder." Police had arrested
Heng in December 2010 as he reentered Vietnam after being denied political
refugee status by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) in Thailand. Heng had led protests in 2007 and 2008 against local
government land seizures.
Also in August the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court sentenced Pham Minh
Hoang, a dual national and professor at the Ho Chi Minh City University of
Technology, to three years' imprisonment followed by three years' house arrest for
alleged ties to a foreign -based prodemocracy group, posting critical comments
online against the government under a pseudonym in 2010, and activities aimed at
overthrowing the government. Hoang admitted guilt and asked to return to a
foreign country. An appeals court in Ho Chi Minh City in November reduced the
imprisonment from three years to 17 months, and Hoang continued to serve his
sentence at year's end.
In March the appellate division of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court reduced
Le Thang Long's original sentence from five years' imprisonment to three- and -a-
half years. In May the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court denied the appeal of
businessman and blogger Tran Huynh Duy Thuc and upheld his original sentence
of 16 years' imprisonment. Long and Thuc - -as well as prominent attorney Le
Cong Dinh and DPV leader and Viet Youth for Democracy cofounder Nguyen
Tien Trung- -had all been arrested in 2009 and tried jointly in Ho Chi Minh City in
January 2010 for involvement in a plot to create new political parties and
overthrow the government. Dinh and Trung had pleaded guilty to joining political
parties other than the CPV but had denied attempting to overthrow the government.
During the year there were no developments in the cases of Dinh and Trung.
On August 29, the government amnestied and released Bloc 8406 member Tran
Duc Thach (see section I .d., Amnesty). Authorities had arrested Thach plus Bloc
8406 members Vu Van Hung and Pham Van Troi in 2008, convicted them in 2009
of antistate propagandizing for displaying banners that criticized the CPV and
advocated multiparty democracy, and sentenced them to prison (Thach and Hung,
three years' imprisonment; Troi, four years). In January 2010 the Hanoi Appellate
VIETNAM 13
Court- -with foreign diplomats and journalists excluded - -had upheld the prison
sentences.
In July authorities returned Roman Catholic priest and activist Thaddeus Nguyen
Van Ly to prison to complete the remainder of his eight -year prison term for
propagandizing against the state. Authorities had arrested him in 2007 in
connection with his role in cofounding the Bloc 8406 movement and the Vietnam
Progressive Party but had granted him a one -year humanitarian release in March
2010 to seek treatment for a brain tumor following two strokes in 2009 (see also
section I.c.).
Several other political dissidents affiliated with outlawed political organizations- -
including the People's Democratic Party, People's Action Party, Free Vietnam
Organization, DPV, United Workers and Farmers Organization, Bloc 8406, and
others -- remained in prison or under house arrest in various locations.
Authorities also continued to detain and imprison other individuals who used the
Internet to publish ideas on human rights, government policies, and political
pluralism (see section 2.a., Internet Freedom).
Authorities released several persons, including political activists and religious
leaders, during the year, including the following:
In June authorities released activist and dissident author Tran Khai Thanh Thuy
from prison, and she resettled abroad. A Hanoi court had convicted Thuy and her
husband, Do Ba Tan, in February 2010 of assault and had sentenced her to three -
and- one -half years in prison and him to two years' probation following a 2009
incident in which unidentified individuals attacked them.
On July 1, authorities released democracy activist Ngo Quynh, who had been
convicted and imprisoned for antistate propagandizing in 2009.
In March activist lawyer Nguyen Van Dai completed his 2007 sentence of four
years in prison for posting appeals for a multiparty state on the Internet, and
authorities released him to begin his sentence of four years' house arrest.
In September Pham Ba Hai, leader of the Bach Dang Giang Foundation and a Bloc
8406 member, completed his 2006 sentence of five years in prison for antistate
propaganda. At year's end he was serving two years' house arrest.
VIETNAM 14
In February authorities released political activist and former police officer Tran
Van Thieng, age 75. A court in Ho Chi Minh City had convicted him in 1991 of
attempting to overthrow the government by "trying to publish a book that distorted
historical information" about Vietnam and had sentenced him to 20 years'
imprisonment.
In October 2010 the Can Tho Police Security Investigation Agency and the
People's Procuracy of Can Tho released Doan Van Chac from any wrongdoing and
declined any further investigation into his case. Police had arrested him in June
2010 after he had evaded arrest since participating as a juvenile in a 1983
campaign against the government that resulted in the deaths of three officials.
Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies
There is no clear or effective mechanism for pursuing a civil action to redress or
remedy abuses committed by authorities. Civil suits are heard by administrative,
civil, and criminal courts, all of which follow the same procedures as in criminal
cases and are adjudicated by members of the same body of judges and lay
assessors. All three levels were subject to corruption, lack of independence, and
inexperience.
By law a citizen seeking to press a complaint regarding a human rights violation by
a civil servant is required first to petition the officer accused of committing the
violation for permission to refer the complaint to the administrative courts. If a
petition is refused, the citizen may refer it to the officer's superior. If the officer or
his superior agrees to allow the complaint to be heard, the matter is taken up by the
administrative courts. If the administrative courts agree that the case should be
pursued, it is referred either to the civil courts for suits involving physical injury
seeking redress of less than 20 percent of health -care costs resulting from the
alleged abuse, or to the criminal courts for redress of more than 20 percent of such
costs. In practice this elaborate system of referral and permission ensured that
citizens had little effective recourse to civil or criminal judicial procedures to
remedy human rights abuses, and few legal experts had experience with the
system. The government continued to disallow the use of class action lawsuits
against government ministries, thus limiting land rights petitioners from sending
joint complaints to numerous government agencies.
Property Restitution
VIETNAM 15
A 2009 decree offers compensation, housing, and job training for individuals
displaced by development projects. However, there were widespread complaints,
including from the National Assembly, that compensation was inadequate or
delayed. There were also widespread reports of official corruption and a general
lack of transparency in the government's process of confiscating land and moving
citizens to make way for infrastructure projects. Some members of ethnic minority
groups in the Central and Northwest Highlands continued to complain that they
had not received proper compensation for land the government confiscated to
develop large- scale, state -owned enterprises.
For example, in February Pham Thanh Son self - immolated on the sidewalk outside
the Danang City People's Committee building to protest the confiscation of his
family's property by local officials and their refusal to hear his appeal.
On November 3, 50 to 70 police officers tried to remove an "illegal" sign, posted
weeks earlier on the roof of the Thai Ha church in Hanoi, which called on the
government to return land the church once owned. Security officials reportedly
injured one church member while attempting to crash through the front gate. On
December 2, security officials detained 30 parishioners and two clergy members,
including the head Thai Ha priest, after 150 -200 parishioners peacefully protested
for the land's return. By year's end all detainees were released.
In January, upon appeal, the Danang City People's Court commuted the sentences
of all the remaining defendants in a land - rights protest that led to police clashes
with Roman Catholic parishioners in a funeral procession in Con Dau Village in
May 2010 and set them free. Police had arrested six parishioners accused of
starting the altercation and damaging a police vehicle. The court initially tried
them in October 2010 for public disorder and denied three of them legal
representation; four individuals received nine- and 12 -month jail sentences, and the
remaining two defendants received suspended sentences.
L Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence
The law prohibits such actions, but the government did not respect these
prohibitions in practice. Household registration and block warden systems existed
for the surveillance of all citizens. Authorities focused particular attention on
persons suspected of being involved in unauthorized political or religious
activities.
VIETNAM 16
The government pursued a population and reproductive health strategy that set a
target average number of children per couple (see section 6, Women).
Forced entry into homes is not permitted without orders from the public
prosecutor, although security forces seldom followed these procedures and instead
asked permission to enter homes with an implied threat of repercussions for failure
to cooperate. During the year police forcibly entered homes of a number of
prominent dissidents - -such as Pham Hong Son, Nguyen Thanh Giang, Le Quoc
Quan, and Le Tran Luat - -and removed personal computers, cell phones, and other
material.
Government authorities continued to open and censor targeted persons' mail;
confiscate packages and letters; and monitor telephone conversations, e -mail, text
messages, and fax transmissions. The government cut the telephone lines and
interrupted the cell phone and Internet service of a number of political activists and
their family members.
CPV membership remained a prerequisite to career advancement for all
government and government- linked organizations and businesses. However,
economic diversification continued to make membership in the CPV and CPV -
controlled mass organizations less essential to financial and social advancement.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
Status of Freedom of Speech and Press
Although the constitution and law provide for freedom of speech, including for
members of the press, the government continued to use broad national security and
antidefamation provisions to restrict these freedoms. The law defines the crimes of
"sabotaging the infrastructure of socialism," "sowing divisions between religious
and nonreligious people," and "conducting propaganda against the Socialist
Republic of Vietnam" as serious offenses against national security. It also
expressly forbids "taking advantage of democratic freedoms and rights to violate
the interests of the state and social organizations."
Freedom of Speech: The government continued to restrict speech that criticized
individual government leaders; promoted political pluralism or multiparty
VIETNAM 17
democracy; or questioned policies on sensitive matters such as human rights,
religious freedom, or sovereignty disputes with China.
Freedom of Press: The CPV, government, and party- controlled mass organizations
controlled all print, broadcast, and electronic media. The government exercised
oversight through the Ministry of Information and Communication, under the
overall guidance of the CPV Propaganda and Education Commission. Private
ownership of any media outlet continued to be prohibited.
Foreign journalists must be approved by the Foreign Ministry's press center and
based in Hanoi, with the exception during the year of one correspondent reporting
solely on economic matters who lived in and worked from Ho Chi Minh City while
accredited to Hanoi. Foreign journalists are required to renew their visas every
three to six months. The allowed number of foreign media employees was limited,
and Vietnamese employees working for foreign media are required to register with
the Foreign Ministry.
The procedure for foreign media outlets to hire local reporters and photographers
and receive accreditation approval continued to be cumbersome. The press center
nominally monitored journalists' activities and approved, on a case -by -case basis,
requests for interviews, photographs, filming, or travel, which must be submitted at
least five days in advance. Reporters temporarily on assignment in the country are
typically assigned a Foreign Ministry minder - -with the cost paid by the news
organization. By law foreign journalists are required to address all questions to
government agencies through the Foreign Ministry, although this procedure often
was ignored in practice. Foreign journalists noted that they notified authorities
about their travel outside Hanoi when it involved a story that the government
would consider sensitive or where the travel was in an area considered sensitive,
such as the Northwest or Central Highlands.
Violence and Harassment: During the year security officials attacked or threatened
several journalists reportedly because of their coverage of sensitive stories. For
example, in February Ho Chi Minh City police detained freelance reporter Ta
Phong Tan, a member of the Free Journalists Club, for 24 hours and allegedly beat
him for writing articles critical of government policies.
In April police arrested publisher Bui Chat after he returned from overseas where
the NGO International Publishers Association had given him their Freedom to
Publish Award. Police held Chat for four days and later summoned him for further
questioning by security officials. Several days later police detained blogger Ngo
VIETNAM
E
Thanh Tu (also known as Thien Sau) in Ho Chi Minh City, as he tried to depart on
an international flight, and questioned him about his affiliation with Bui Chat. In
June authorities detained Chat overnight in Ho Chi Minh City and prevented his
attendance at a foreign embassy ceremony in Hanoi.
In August a court sentenced Phan Ha Binh, deputy managing editor of Tien Phong,
to seven years in prison for extortion. Authorities had arrested Binh in October
2010 and accused him of soliciting a VND 220 million (approximately $10,500)
bribe from a cement company and threatening to write negative articles.
Multiple reporters for foreign news organizations reported harassment by security
officials, including threats not to renew their visas if they continued to publish
stories on sensitive topics.
Censorship or Content Restrictions: The Ministry of Information and
Communication and the Propaganda and Education Commission frequently
intervened directly to dictate or censor a story. More often, however, the party and
government maintained control over media content through pervasive self -
censorship, backed by the threat of dismissal and possible arrest. As long as the
government did not deem their content to have been "sensitive," authorities
permitted some private investors to operate television channels and news -
aggregator Web sites and publish certain pages in newspapers.
Despite the continued growth of Internet blogs, the party and government
increased efforts to suppress press freedom, continuing a three - year -old
"rectification" campaign. In February Prime Ministerial Decree Number 2,
"Sanctions for Administrative Violations in Journalism and Publishing" went into
effect. It stipulates fines between VND one million and 42 million (approximately
$50- 2,100) for journalists, newspapers, and online media which fail to comply with
broad, vague provisions that require "providing honest domestic and international
news in accordance with the interests of the country and the people." The decree- -
which officials described as "simply an administrative act " -- authorizes branches of
the government to impose fines on journalists and newspapers at any time, based
on arbitrary determinations by ministries and officials at various levels about what
constitutes "the interests of the country and the people." Article 7 of the decree
imposes fines of VND 10.5 million to 21 million ($500- 1,000) on journalists who
fail to publish their sources of information and similar fines on journalists and
newspapers that "use documents and materials from organizations and personal
letters and materials from individuals."
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19
In January the editor in chief of the Saigon Tiep Thi Web site was forced from his
position following the publication in late 2010 of sensitive articles.
In February Nguyen Anh Tuan, the founder and editor in chief of the news Web
site VietnamNet- -whom the ministry reprimanded in December 2010 for
publishing an international NGO's annual corruption survey- -was pressured to
resign. Authorities also refused to renew the press card issued by the government
to the author of the offending article.
Libel Laws/National Security: The law requires journalists to pay monetary
damages to individuals or organizations whose reputations were harmed as a result
of reporting, even if the reports were accurate. Independent observers noted that
the law severely limited investigative reporting. There were some press reports on
topics that generally were considered sensitive, such as the prosecution on
corruption charges of high- ranking CPV and government officials, as well as
occasional criticism of officials and official associations. Nonetheless, the
freedom to criticize the CPV and its senior leadership remained restricted.
Publishing Restrictions: Under government regulations the Ministry of
Information and Communication has the authority to revoke licenses for foreign
publishers, and each foreign publisher must reapply annually to maintain its
license. Foreign- language editions of some banned books were sold openly by
street peddlers and in shops oriented to tourists. Foreign- language periodicals
were widely available in cities, although the government occasionally censored
articles.
In October the Ministry of Culture's state -owned Fine Arts Publishing House
recalled all first - edition copies of Killer with a Festering Head, a cartoon book by
Nguyen Thanh Phong, two weeks after its release. According to media reports, the
ban occurred because government censors deemed some of the book's
illustrations - -which satirized contemporary Vietnamese life and social issues - -to be
violent, politically sensitive, or broaching sensitive topics.
Nongovernmental Impact: The law limits satellite television access to senior
officials, foreigners, luxury hotels, and the press, but in practice persons
throughout the country were able to access foreign programming via home satellite
equipment or cable. Cable television, including foreign- origin channels, was
widely available to urban -area subscribers. Television providers are required to
register with the Ministry of Information and Communication, and edit and
translate foreign programming before it is broadcast. Regulations stipulate that
VIETNAM
20
movies and programming on science, education, sports, entertainment, and music
be translated in advance and that all news programs (CNN and BBC, for example)
provide brief translations in advance of broadcasting.
Internet Freedom
The government allows access to the Internet through a limited number of service
providers (ISPs), all of which were state - owned, joint -stock companies.
The government forbids direct access to the Internet through foreign ISPs, requires
domestic ISPs to store information transmitted on the Internet for at least 15 days,
and requires ISPs to provide technical assistance and workspace to public security
agents to allow them to monitor Internet activities. The government requires
cybercafes to register the personal information of their customers and store records
of Internet sites visited by customers. ISP compliance with these government
regulations was unclear. Although citizens enjoyed increasing access to the
Internet, the government monitored e -mail, searched for sensitive key words, and
regulated Internet content. In March the NGO Reporters Without Borders strongly
criticized the government for continued regulation of Internet content and
monitoring of individual use.
City and provincial authorities issue additional local regulations to control online
access. In compliance, Internet cafes continued to install and use government -
approved software to monitor customers' online activities. Location of Internet
cafes within 220 yards of a school continued to require a curfew on operations, and
ISPs were obliged to cut online access to Internet cafes between I I p.m. and 6 a.m.
to curb online gaming.
Ministry of Information and Communication regulations require Internet
companies, social networking sites, and Web sites that provide information in the
areas of "politics, economics, culture, and society" to continue to register and
obtain a government license before operation.
From May to July, the blocks on Facebook appeared to weaken, with two of the
three major ISPs allowing access to the site. Subscribers of other ISPs often used
workarounds such as virtual private networks to access the site.
Provisions of law and regulation, such as the prohibition of antistate
propagandizing, prohibit bloggers from posting material that the government
believes would undermine national security, disclose state secrets, or incite
VIETNAM 21
violence or crimes. Consequently, these provisions prohibit individuals from
downloading and disseminating documents the government deems offensive.
Regulations also require global Internet companies with blogging platforms
operating in the country to report to the government every six months and, if
requested, to provide information about individual bloggers. A number of
prominent print and online news journalists maintained their own professional
blogs, several of which were considered far more controversial than their
mainstream writing. In a few instances, the government fined or punished these
individuals for the content of their blogs.
Authorities detained and imprisoned dissidents who used the Internet to criticize
the government and publish ideas on human rights and political pluralism. Prime
Ministerial Decree Number 2 heralded an increase in the number of bloggers
arrested for online expression, totaling at least nine individuals during the year.
The majority of bloggers arrested were charged with propagandizing against the
state or attempting to overthrow the government.
For example, in July police detained Dang Xuan Dieu, Ho Duc Hoa, and Nguyen
Van Oai at Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City after they returned from
Thailand where they had attended an Internet /blogger training course organized by
a foreign NGO. Police also arrested Redemptorist follower Le Van Son, who also
attended the course, on August 3 in Hanoi. That same day, authorities arrested
three more Roman Catholic bloggers (Tran Huu Duc, Dau Van Duong, and Dang
Xuan Tuong) in Vinh City, Nghe An Province, for participating in the same
training. In September police arrested Ta Phong Tam after she posted an analysis
of the arbitrary nature of Le Van Son's arrest.
On August 18, local authorities arrested Nguyen Xuan Anh, Repemptorist member
and resident of Vinh City, and charged him with participating in a banned, foreign -
based, prodemocracy group and attempting to overthrow the government. By
year's end the Vinh Diocese reported that authorities had arrested 16 individuals
(15 Roman Catholics and one Protestant).
On April 19, authorities dropped an investigation and all charges against Le
Nguyen Huong Tra (also known as Co Gai Do Long) and stated that her behavior
"was less serious than previously thought." Security officials had accused her of
abusing democratic freedoms and had arrested her in October 2010, nine days after
she had posted commentaries critical of Vice Minister of Public Security Nguyen
Khanh Toan's son.
VIETNAM
22
On the day of his scheduled release in October 2010 from a 30 -month sentence for
alleged tax evasion, authorities rearrested Nguyen Van Hai (also known as Dieu
Cay) for antistate propagandizing, allegedly based on three- year -old blog postings.
There were unconfirmed reports during the year that he lost his arm while in
custody.
In January the People's Court of Lang Son Province convicted Vi Duc Hoi, a
former CPV official from the province, of antistate propagandizing after his online
postings in 2007 -09 of prodemocracy articles criticized the CPV. The court
sentenced him to eight years in prison followed by five years' house arrest
(reduced on appeal in April to five years' imprisonment and three years' house
arrest). Hoi, a CPV member beginning in 1980, had been removed from the CPV
in 2007 after he authored online articles disparaging corruption in the party.
Web sites critical of the government that were hosted overseas were continually
targeted throughout the year by distributed denial -of- service attacks. A majority of
the targeted Web sites were news - aggregator sites that regularly republished
postings by high - profile dissidents critical of the government. Hackers rendered
several other Web sites inoperable. In June and July the popular news portal
VietnamNet was hacked multiple times and rendered inaccessible. An
investigation into these attacks continued at year's end. In August a botnet
attacked a Web site belonging to a foreign -based prodemocracy group using an
estimated 77,000 Internet Protocol addresses located in Vietnam, which suggested
government involvement, according to Access Contested: Security, Identity, and
Resistance in Asian Cyberspace.
Political dissidents and bloggers routinely reported having their home Internet
connections disconnected on orders from the security services.
The government used firewalls to block some Web sites that it deemed politically
or culturally inappropriate, including sites operated by overseas Vietnamese
political groups. The government appeared to have lifted most of its restrictions on
access to the Voice of America Web site, although it continued to block Radio Free
Asia most of the time. BBC online in Vietnamese and English was blocked at
times during the year.
The Ministry of Information and Communication requires owners of domestic
Web sites, including those operated by foreign entities, to register their sites with
the government and submit their planned content and scope to the government for
approval. Enforcement remained selective.
VIETNAM 23
Academic Freedom and Cultural Events
The government asserted the right to restrict academic freedom, and authorities
sometimes questioned and monitored foreign field researchers. Foreign academic
professionals temporarily working at universities in the country were allowed to
discuss nonpolitical topics widely and freely in classes, but government observers
regularly attended classes taught by both foreigners and nationals. Academic
publications usually reflected the views of the CPV and government.
In May the National Assembly distributed a draft law on higher education for
public comment. Critics publicly voiced concerns that the draft included an
extensive list of administrative constraints but did not provide universities with
autonomy to make basic decisions, such as what to teach and how many students to
admit.
The government continued to restrict the ability of some international and domestic
organizations to host conferences with international sponsorship or participation by
requiring government approval at least 20 days in advance.
The government continued to prohibit independent scientific and technical
organizations from publicly criticizing party and state policy. In July Thai Nguyen
Medical University permanently dismissed Tu Anh Tu, a medical student, for
engaging in activities advocating for democracy, which included reading online
prodemocracy articles and participating in activist movements.
Although the government controlled art exhibits, music, and other cultural
activities, artists were allowed broader latitude than in past years to choose themes
for their works. The government also allowed universities more autonomy over
international exchanges and cooperation programs.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
Freedom of Assembly
The law limits freedom of assembly, and the government restricted and monitored
all forms of public protest or gathering. Law and regulation require persons
wishing to gather in a group to apply for a permit, which local authorities may
issue or deny arbitrarily. In practice only those arranging publicized gatherings to
discuss sensitive matters appeared to require permits, and persons routinely
VIETNAM
24
gathered in informal groups without government interference. The government
generally did not permit demonstrations that could be seen to have a political
purpose. The government also restricted the right of several unregistered religious
groups to gather in worship.
On June 5, approximately 300 individuals gathered in front of the Chinese embassy
in Hanoi to protest news reports that Chinese patrol ships harassed a Vietnamese
seismic survey ship and Chinese violations of Vietnamese sovereignty continued in
the disputed South China Sea (East Sea). More than 1,000 individuals joined a
similar protest in Ho Chi Minh City. Similar public demonstrations took place
once a week for 11 consecutive weeks in Hanoi but were censored shortly
thereafter in Ho Chi Minh City. During the July 10 protest in Hanoi, police
detained at least 20 individuals. One week later authorities temporarily suspended
Hanoi Police Captain Pham Hai Minh from duty when he was photographed
trampling the face of one of the protesters. On August 18, the Hanoi People's
Committee issued a decree "banning all spontaneous gatherings, demonstrations,
and parades." On August 22, police arrested 50 individuals for protesting in
violation of that decree; authorities released all 50 five days later, but protest
leaders and fellow demonstrators thereafter remained under investigation and
reported being monitored by police. On September 5, a group of 10 persons filed a
lawsuit against state - controlled media for claiming that hostile forces incited the
protesters.
On November 8, plainclothes security officials beat and detained approximately 30
Falun Gong practitioners who demonstrated outside the Chinese embassy in Hanoi
in support of Vu Duc Trung and Le Van Thanh, whom authorities had arrested in
2010 and charged with broadcasting illegally into China (see also section Le.,
Political Prisoners and Detainees).
Freedom of Association
The government severely restricted freedom of association and neither permitted
nor tolerated opposition political parties. The government prohibited the
establishment of private, independent organizations, insisting that persons work
within established, party- controlled mass organizations, usually under the aegis of
the VFF. However, some entities, including unregistered religious groups, were
able to operate outside of this framework with little or no government interference.
Authorities occasionally physically prevented political activists and family
members of political prisoners from meeting with foreign diplomats. Tactics
VIETNAM
included setting up barriers or guards outside diplomats' residences or calling
individuals into local police stations for random and repetitive questioning.
c. Freedom of Religion
See the Department of State's International Religious Freedom Report at
www.state.�4ov /i /drl /irf /mt.
d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of
Refugees, and Stateless Persons
The constitution provides for freedom of movement within the country, foreign
travel, emigration, and repatriation, but the government imposed some limits on
freedom of movement for certain individuals. The government generally
cooperated with the UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations in providing
protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, refugees, returning
refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
25
Local government authorities observed but did not hinder the UNHCR and foreign
diplomatic fact - finding and monitoring visits to the Central Highlands. The
UNHCR reported that it was able to meet with returnees in private. Foreign
diplomats experienced some resistance from lower -level officials in permitting
private interviews of returnees. As in previous years, local police officials
sometimes were present during foreign diplomat interviews with returnees but left
when asked. Provincial governments generally continued to honor their
obligations to reintegrate peacefully ethnic minority returnees from Cambodia.
In February, 55 Montagnards who fled the Central Highlands for Cambodia were
resettled in third countries. The UNHCR, which conducted several monitoring
trips during the year, reported that there was "no perceptible evidence of
mistreatment" of any of the ethnic minority individuals it monitored in the Central
Highlands.
In- country Movement: Several political dissidents, amnestied with probation or
under house arrest, were subject to official restrictions on their movements.
A government restriction regarding travel to certain areas remained in effect. It
requires citizens and resident foreigners to obtain a permit to visit border areas;
defense facilities; industrial zones involved in national defense; areas of "national
VIETNAM 26
strategic storage;" and "works of extreme importance for political, economic,
cultural, and social purposes."
Local police require citizens to register when staying overnight in any location
outside of their own homes; the government appeared to enforce these
requirements more strictly in some Central and Northern Highlands districts.
Foreign passport holders must also register to stay in private homes, although there
were no known cases of local authorities refusing to allow foreign visitors to stay
with friends and family.
The law on residence was not broadly implemented, and migration from rural areas
to cities continued unabated. However, moving without permission hampered
persons seeking legal residence permits, public education, and health -care benefits.
Foreign Travel: Officials occasionally delayed citizens' access to passports in
order to extort bribes, and prospective emigrants occasionally encountered
difficulties obtaining a passport.
For example, in July authorities stopped Father Dinh Huu Thoai, chief of office of
the Redemptorist Church of Vietnam, at the Moc Bai border gate (Tay Ninh
Province) and prevented him from leaving the country. In September security
forces prevented human rights lawyer Huynh Van Dong from leaving the country.
Although their probation ended years earlier, the government continued to prohibit
dissidents Nguyen Khac Toan, Pham Hong Son, Le Thi Kim Thu, and others from
receiving a passport and traveling overseas during the year. Authorities continued
to allow attorney Le Quoc Quan, attorney Le Tran Luat, and journalist Nguyen Vu
Binh to travel within the country but prohibited them from traveling overseas.
Emigration and Repatriation: The government generally permitted citizens who
had emigrated to return to visit, although it refused to allow certain activists or
other individuals living abroad to return. Known Vietnamese political activists
overseas were denied entry visas or were detained and deported after entering the
country. For example, on August 1, authorities denied Radio Free Asia reporter
Tuong Anh entry after he arrived at Tan Son Nhat airport, Ho Chi Minh City, from
abroad.
The government continued to honor a tripartite memorandum of understanding
signed with Cambodia and the UNHCR to facilitate the return from Cambodia of
all ethnic Vietnamese who did not qualify for third - country resettlement.
VIETNAM
27
Citizenship: By law the government considers anyone born to at least one
Vietnamese - citizen parent to be a citizen. There are also provisions for persons
who do not have a Vietnamese - citizen parent to acquire citizenship under certain
conditions. Emigrants who acquire another country's citizenship generally are
considered still to be Vietnamese citizens unless they formally renounce their
Vietnamese citizenship. However, in practice the government treated overseas
Vietnamese as citizens of their adopted country. Legislation seeks to clarify this
apparent discrepancy by allowing for dual citizenship. The government generally
encouraged visits and investment by such persons but sometimes monitored them
carefully. The government continued to liberalize travel restrictions for overseas
Vietnamese, including permitting visa -free travel and permitting individuals to
petition to receive Vietnamese passports.
Protection of Refugees
The law does not provide for the granting of refugee status, and the government
has not established a system for providing protection to refugees.
Access to Asylum: The law does not provide for the granting of asylum.
Safe Country of Origin /Transit: Government regulations and policy do not
explicitly provide protection against the expulsion or return of persons where their
lives or freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality,
membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. No such cases were
reported during the year.
Stateless Persons
The country's largest stateless group consisted of approximately 9,500 Cambodian
residents who sought refuge in Vietnam in the 1970s and were denied the right to
return by the government of Cambodia, which asserted no proof existed that these
individuals had ever possessed Cambodian citizenship. Almost all were ethnic
Chinese or Vietnamese whom authorities initially settled in four refugee camps in
and around Ho Chi Minh City. When humanitarian assistance in these camps
ceased in 1994, an estimated 7,000 refugees left the camps in search of work and
opportunities in Ho Chi Minh City and the surrounding area. An additional 2,100
remained in four villages in which the camps once operated. Many had children
and grandchildren born in Vietnam, but neither the original refugees nor their
children enjoy the same rights as Vietnamese citizens, including the right to
VIETNAM 28
property ownership, comparable access to education, and public medical care. In
July 2010 the first group of 287 individuals received Vietnamese citizenship as
part of a joint UNHCR- government effort to survey and naturalize these stateless
individuals. The naturalization applications for the approximately 1,800 remaining
were submitted to the president's office for final approval, but no action was
reported at year's end.
The Women's Union continued to work with the government of South Korea to
address international marriage brokering and premarriage counseling, including
education on immigration and citizenship regulations. Some domestic and
international NGOs provided assistance.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to Change Their
Government
The constitution does not provide for the right of citizens to change their
government peacefully, and citizens could not freely choose the officials that
govern them.
Elections and Political Participation
Recent Elections: The most recent elections, in May to select members of the
National Assembly, were neither free nor fair, since the VFF chose and vetted all
candidates. Despite the CPV's announcement that a greater number of
"independent" candidates (those not linked to a certain organization or group)
would run in the elections, the ratio of independents to other candidates was lower
than that of the 2007 election. The CPV approved 15 "self- nominated" candidates
who did not have official government backing but were allowed to run for office.
There were credible reports that party officials pressured many self - nominated
candidates to withdraw or found such candidates "ineligible" to run.
According to the government, more than 99 percent of the 62 million eligible
voters cast ballots in the May election, a figure that international observers
considered improbably high. (Voters are permitted to cast ballots by proxy, and
local authorities are charged with assuring that all eligible voters cast ballots by
organizing group voting and all voters within their jurisdiction are recorded as
having voted.) CPV candidates won 458 of the 500 seats. Only four of the 15 self -
nominated candidates won.
VIETNAM 29
The National Assembly, although subject to the control of the CPV (all of its
senior leaders and more than 90 percent of its members are party members),
continued to take incremental steps to assert itself as a legislative body. A majority
of National Assembly committees increased the number of members on the
committees in an attempt to exert more influence over budgetary matters and to
review and provide recommendations on policy matters. For example, the number
of members on the External Relations Committee increased from 30 to 36, the
Committee on Social Issues increased its membership from 40 to 50 members, and
the committees on legal affairs and defense increased the number of vice chairs. In
August the National Assembly appointed a Constitutional Amendment Drafting
Committee and adopted a statement by its Standing Committee giving guidance on
the scope and timetable of the drafting process.
Political Parties: The constitution vests all authority and political power in one
party, the CPV, and recognizes the leadership of the CPV. The CPV Politburo
functions as the supreme decision - making body in the country, although
technically it reports to the CPV Central Committee. Political opposition
movements and other political parties are illegal.
The government continued to restrict public debate and criticism severely. No
public challenge to the legitimacy of the one -party state was permitted, although
there were instances of unsanctioned letters critical of government policy from
private citizens. For example, former government officials and leading
academicians criticized the government's decision to allow substantial foreign
investment in bauxite mining and its handling of sovereignty claims in the South
China Sea (East Sea). The government continued to crack down on the small,
opposition political groups established in 2006, and group members faced arrests
and arbitrary detentions.
Members of Bloc 8406 and other political activist groups that call for the creation
of a multiparty state continued to face harassment and imprisonment.
Participation of Women and Minorities: The law provides the opportunity for
equal participation in politics by women and minority groups. There were 122
women in the National Assembly, or approximately 24 percent - -a slightly lower
percentage than in the previous assembly.
Ethnic minorities held 78 seats, or approximately 16 percent, in the National
Assembly - -a decline from the previous assembly.
VIETNAM 30
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; however, the
government did not always implement the law effectively, and officials sometimes
engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. Corruption continued to be a major
problem. The government persisted in efforts to fight corruption, including
publicizing budgets of different government levels, continuing to streamline
inspection measures, and occasionally widely publicizing cases of officials accused
of corruption.
The anticorruption law allows citizens to complain openly about inefficient
government, administrative procedures, corruption, and economic policy.
However, the government continued to consider public political criticism a crime
unless the criticism was controlled by authorities. Attempts to organize those with
complaints to facilitate action are considered proscribed political activities and
subject to arrest. Senior government and party leaders traveled to many provinces,
reportedly to try to resolve citizen complaints. Corruption related to land use was
widely publicized in the press, apparently in an officially orchestrated effort to
bring pressure on local officials to reduce abuses.
Corruption among police remained a significant problem at all levels, and
members of the police sometimes acted with impunity. Internal police oversight
structures existed but were subject to political influence.
Foreign aid donors conducted an annual anticorruption dialogue as part of
consultative group meetings with the government. Previous dialogues focused on
corruption in the education, health, and construction sectors.
According to an annual report by the government's Anticorruption Steering
Committee released in June, state agencies initiated preliminary investigations into
100 cases of corruption- related crimes, an increase of approximately 5 percent
compared with the same period during the previous year. There were 185 suspects,
an increase of 3 percent, and authorities brought 97 cases to the court of first
instance. According to the annual report of the Office of the Inspectorate General,
it investigated 220 cases of corruption /fraud involving 449 individuals during the
year, a majority of which continued under investigation at year's end.
In June authorities charged Pham Thanh Hai, an accountant in the government's
department of cinematography, with embezzling VND 42 million (approximately
$2,100) from the department's annual budget.
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In September the Supreme People's Court in Hanoi concluded its investigation into
the August 2010 allegations of misappropriation in the shipbuilding conglomerate
Vinashin and found that nearly VND 900 billion (approximately $43 million) had
been misappropriated. The court charged Chief Executive Officer Pham Thanh
Binh and eight others - -board members Tran Quang Vu and Tran Van Liem, former
subsidiary general directors Nguyen Van Tuyen and Nguyen Tuan Duong plus To
Nghiem, Trinh Thi Hau, Hoang Gia Hiep, and Do Dinh Con - -with "deliberately
acting against state regulations and economic mismanagement, causing serious
consequences." These offenses are punishable by up to 12 years in prison. At
year's end the accused awaited trial as well as additional investigation on other,
related charges.
In June a court convicted Tran Van Khanh, the former director general of Vietnam
General Corporation of Agriculture Materials, of "abusing powers while
performing official duties" and sentenced him to five years' imprisonment.
Specifically, in 2003 -04 Khanh illegally sold company fertilizer to individuals
outside of working hours and rented company vehicles to private individuals, from
which he pocketed more than VND 3 billion (approximately $140,000).
In May the former governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, Le Duc Thuy, retired
from his position after coming under investigation for allegedly taking bribes from
the Reserve Bank of Australia currency supplier ( Securency). It was claimed that,
for the exchange of an undisclosed amount of money, Thuy helped Securency win
banknote supply contracts during the period 2002 -09 and that Securency deposited
funds for Thuy into an overseas account belonging to a member of the
government's public security bureau, Colonel Luong Ngoc Anh. An investigation
continued at year's end.
By government decree various government officials must annually report by
November 30 the real estate, precious metals, and "valuable papers" they own;
money they hold in overseas and domestic bank accounts; and their taxable
income. The government must publicize these asset declarations only if a
government employee is found "unusually wealthy" and investigation or legal
proceedings are needed. In addition to senior government and party officials, the
decree applies to prosecutors, judges, and those at and above the rank of deputy
provincial party chief, deputy provincial party chairperson, deputy faculty head at
public hospitals, and deputy battalion chief. Due to a lack of transparency, it was
not known how widely the decree was enforced.
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The Ministry of Public Security is responsible for investigating corruption charges
brought forward by anticorruption offices in the Ministry of Home Affairs and the
Office of the Inspectorate General. Additionally, the Central Steering Committee
on Anticorruption reports directly to the Office of the Prime Minister and has the
responsibility to direct, coordinate, inspect, and formulate countrywide
anticorruption activities. This committee periodically provides reports on
anticorruption activities to the CPV Central Committee, National Assembly, and
Office of the State President. It is also responsible for suspending and /or
dismissing senior officials appointed by the prime minister who are convicted of
corrupt practices.
The law does not provide for public access to government information, and the
government usually did not grant such access to citizens or noncitizens, including
foreign media. In accordance with the law, the Official Gazette published most
government legal documents in its daily edition but not party documents such as
Politburo decrees. The government maintained a Web site in both Vietnamese and
English, as did the National Assembly. In addition decisions made by the Supreme
People's Court Council of Judges were accessible a majority of the time through
the court's Web site. During his March visit, the UN independent expert on
foreign debt and human rights called on the government to make information on
debt and development assistance broadly available to enhance transparency and
accountability in the management and use of public resources.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights
The government does not permit private, local human rights organizations to form
or operate, nor does it tolerate attempts by organizations or individuals to comment
publicly on its human rights practices. The government used a wide variety of
methods to suppress domestic criticism of its human rights policies, including
surveillance, limits on freedom of the press and assembly, interference with
personal communications, and detention.
UN and Other International Bodies: The government generally prohibited private
citizens from contacting international human rights organizations, although several
activists did so. The government usually did not permit visits by international
NGO human rights monitors, although it allowed representatives from the
UNHCR, press, foreign governments, and international development and relief
NGOs to visit the Central Highlands. The government criticized almost all public
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statements on human rights and religious matters by international NGOs and
foreign governments.
Government Human Rights Bodies: The government discussed human rights
matters bilaterally with several foreign governments and continued to hold official
talks concerning human rights, typically through annual human rights dialogues.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, disability, language, or
social status, but enforcement of these prohibitions was uneven.
Women
Rape and Domestic Violence: The law prohibits using or threatening violence
against women or taking advantage of a person who cannot act in self - defense. It
also criminalizes rape, including spousal rape. Rapists are subject to two to seven
years' imprisonment. In severe cases of rape, including organized rape, a repeat
offense, or extreme harm to the victim, sentences may range from seven to 15
years in prison. Authorities reportedly prosecuted rape cases to the full extent of
the law, but the government did not make arrest, prosecution, conviction, and
punishment statistics available.
Domestic violence against women was common. A 2010 UN report found that 58
percent of married women had been victims of physical, sexual, or emotional
domestic violence. Domestic violence cases were treated as civil ones, unless the
victim suffered injuries involving more than 11 percent of her body.
The law specifies acts constituting domestic violence, assigns specific portfolio
responsibilities to different government agencies and ministries, and stipulates
punishments for perpetrators ranging from warnings, through probation for up to
three years, to imprisonment for three months to three years. However, NGO and
survivor advocates considered many of the provisions to be weak, and the
government did not make arrest, prosecution, conviction, and punishment statistics
available. Officials acknowledged domestic violence as a significant social
concern, and the media discussed it more openly during the year. While the police
and legal system generally remained unequipped to deal with cases of domestic
violence, the government, with the help of international and domestic NGOs,
continued to train police, lawyers, and legal system officials in the law.
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Several domestic and international NGOs worked to address domestic violence.
Hotlines for victims operated by domestic NGOs existed in major cities. The
Center for Women and Development, supported by the Women's Union, also
operated a nationwide hotline, although it was not widely advertised in rural areas.
It conducted 2,161 consultations regarding 1,858 cases during the year. While
rural areas often lacked the financial resources to provide crisis centers and
hotlines, a law establishes "reliable residences" to allow women to turn to another
family while local authorities and community leaders attempt to confront the
abuser and resolve complaints. Many women remained in abusive marriages
rather than confront social and family stigma as well as economic uncertainty.
The government, with the help of international NGOs, supported workshops and
seminars aimed at educating women and men about domestic violence and
women's rights in general and highlighted the problem through public awareness
campaigns. Local NGOs affiliated with the Women's Union remained engaged in
women's issues, particularly violence against women and trafficking of women
and children.
Sexual Harassment: According to the government, sexual harassment of adults is
not illegal, and there is no legal requirement to prevent it. There also is no law to
protect employees from sexual harassment in the workplace. However, the law
prohibits employers from discriminating against female workers or offending their
dignity and honor, although there were no known prosecutions during the year.
Publications and training on ethical regulations for government and other public
servants do not mention the problem, although it existed.
Victims of sexual harassment may contact social associations such as the Women's
Union to request their involvement. If the victim has access to a labor union
representative, complaints can also be lodged with union officers. In serious cases
victims may sue offenders under a provision that deals with "humiliating other
persons" and specifies punishments that include a warning, noncustodial reform for
up to two years, or a prison term ranging from three months to two years.
Nevertheless, sexual harassment lawsuits continued to be unheard of, and most
victims were unwilling to denounce offenders publicly.
Reproductive Rights: The law affirms an individual's right to choose
contraceptive methods; access gynecological diagnosis, treatment, and health
check -ups during pregnancy; and obtain medical services when giving birth at
health facilities, and the government generally enforced the law. Nonetheless,
unmarried women of reproductive ages had limited or no access to subsidized
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35
contraceptives due to government policy and lack of access in rural areas. Women
and men were equally diagnosed and treated for sexually transmitted infections.
Although the Population and Reproductive Health Strategy for 2011-20- -
applicable to all citizens - -no longer specifically referred to the number of children
per couple, it set a target of maintaining the average number of children per
reproductive -age couple at 1.8. The government, primarily through media
campaigns, strongly encouraged individuals to practice family planning. There
was also anecdotal information that authorities would not promote government
officials if they had more than two children.
Discrimination: The law provides for gender equality in all aspects of life, but
women continued to face societal discrimination. Despite the large body of law
and regulation devoted to the protection of women's rights in marriage and the
workplace, as well as provisions that call for preferential treatment, women did not
always receive equal treatment. They experienced economic discrimination since
they cannot work in all the same industries as men and are not allowed to work the
same hours as men (due to pregnancy or nursing). Moreover, no laws prohibit
employers from asking about family status during job interviews.
Although the law provides for equal inheritance rights for men and women, in
practice women faced cultural discrimination: A son was more likely to inherit
property than a daughter, unless specified by a legal document. Laws prohibit
gender -based preferential hiring for jobs, and while NGOs assumed that such
discrimination occurred, allegations were hard to prove.
The CPV- affiliated Women's Union and the government's National Committee for
the Advancement of Women continued to promote women's rights, including
political, economic, and legal equality, and protection from spousal abuse. The
Women's Union also operated microcredit consumer - finance programs and other
programs to promote the advancement of women. In April the National Strategy
Plan for Gender Equality replaced the National Plan of Action for the
Advancement of Women. Key areas of the strategy were similar to plan goals but
also moved beyond advancement to recognize broader inequities in access to social
services and focus on developing indicators; placing more women in senior
ministry positions and the legislature; and increasing literacy rates, access to
education, and health care.
According to a 2010 UN Population Fund report, the national average male - female
sex ratio at birth was 111 to 100. The imbalanced ratio of newborn boys to girls
VIETNAM 36
continued to increase, particularly in some wealthier areas of Hanoi and Ho Chi
Minh City. The government acknowledged the issue and was taking steps to
address it.
Children
Birth Registration: By law the government considers anyone born to at least one
Vietnamese citizen parent to be a citizen, although persons born to non -
Vietnamese parents may also acquire citizenship under certain circumstances. Not
all births were registered immediately, sometimes due to a lack of knowledge
among the populace. A birth certificate is required for public services, such as
education and health care, and the choice by some parents, especially ethnic
minorities, not to register their children affected the ability to enroll them in school
and receive government- sponsored health care.
Education: Education is compulsory, free, and universal through the age of 14.
Nevertheless, authorities did not always enforce the requirement, especially in
rural areas, where government and family budgets for education were strained and
children's contributions as agricultural laborers were valued.
Child Abuse: The UN and the General Statistics Office found that 25 percent of
children were victims of child abuse as reported by their mothers during a study on
domestic violence. The government did not make information available on the
extent of the problem or its efforts to combat it.
Sexual Exploitation of Children: Sexual harassment of children under age 16 is
illegal. The law criminalizes all acts of sale, fraudulent exchange, or control of
children as well as all acts related to child prostitution and forced child labor.
Sentences range from three years' to life imprisonment, and fines range from VND
five million to VND 50 million (approximately $240 to $2,400). The law also
specifies prison sentences for acts related to child prostitution, including harboring
prostitution (12 to 20 years), brokering prostitution (seven to 15 years), and buying
sex with minors (three to 15 years). Similarly, the law prohibits all acts of cruel
treatment, humiliation, abduction, sale, and coercion of children into any activities
harmful to their healthy development and provides for the protection and care of
disadvantaged children.
The minimum age of consensual sex is 18. Statutory rape is illegal and may result
in life imprisonment or capital punishment. Penalties for sex with minors between
the ages of 16 and 18, depending upon the circumstances, vary from five to 10
VIETNAM 37
years in prison. The production, distribution, dissemination, or selling of child
pornography is illegal and carries a sentence of three to 10 years' imprisonment.
According to preliminary findings released in July of a 2010 survey conducted by
UNICEF and the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs (MOLISA), child
prostitution, child trafficking for sexual purposes, child sex tourism, and child
pornography occurred in Vietnam. The report showed that children as young as
age 12 worked as prostitutes, with the most commonly observed age being 14 -15.
Some minors entered into prostitution for economic reasons.
Displaced Children: Independent NGOs estimated that 23,000- 25,000 children
lived on the streets and were sometimes abused or harassed by police.
Institutionalized Children: There were no shelters designed specifically for child
victims of trafficking or abuse. Instead, authorities placed them in facilities with
survivors of domestic violence or adult trafficking. The government allocated
VND 1.25 trillion (approximately $59.5 million) for the draft National Program of
Action for Children for 2011 -20. The new program's focus is assistance for
disadvantaged children with priority for the 12 poorest provinces. The government
also promulgated the National Program on Child Protection 2011 -15, which was
approved in February.
International Child Abductions: The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague
Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.
Anti- Semitism
There were small expatriate Jewish communities in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City,
and there were no reports of anti - Semitic acts.
Trafficking in Persons
See the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at
www . s tate . � ov /� /tip .
Persons with Disabilities
The constitution provides for the protection of persons with physical disabilities.
The law prohibits discrimination against or maltreatment of persons with
disabilities; encourages their employment; and requires equality for them in
VIETNAM 38
accommodation, access to education, employment, health care, rehabilitation,
transportation, and vocational training.
The provision of services to persons with disabilities, although limited, improved
during the year. The Ministry of Transportation implemented accessibility codes
for public transportation facilities, trained transportation agency officials and
students on the use of the codes, and developed training materials for bus drivers to
assist individuals on and off buses. The government also put in place four
accessible bus routes in Ho Chi Minh City and Danang with accessible buses and
distributed free bus tickets (or reduced the fares for) 26,000 individuals in Hanoi
and Ho Chi Minh City.
Construction and major renovations of new government and large public buildings
are required to include access for persons with disabilities, but enforcement was
sporadic. New buildings and facilities in larger urban cities were built with ramps
and accessible entries. The Ministry of Construction maintained enforcement units
in the cities of Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Danang, Quang Nam, and Ninh Binh to
enforce barrier -free codes and provided training on construction codes for
inspectors and architectural companies in more than 20 provinces during the year.
Access to education for children with disabilities, including blindness, deafness,
and mobility restrictions, was extremely limited. The law provides for preferential
treatment for firms that recruit persons with disabilities and for fines on firms that
do not meet minimum quotas that reserve 2 to 3 percent of their workforce for
workers with disabilities, but the government enforced these provisions unevenly.
Firms that have 51 percent of their employees with disabilities may qualify for
special government- subsidized loans.
The government respected the political and civil rights of persons with disabilities.
For example, by law ballot boxes may be and were brought to the homes of
individuals unable to go to a polling station.
The government supported the establishment of organizations aiding persons with
disabilities. Such persons were consulted in the development or review of national
programs, such as the national poverty reduction program, vocational laws, and
various educational policies. The National Coordination Committee on
Disabilities and its ministry members worked with domestic and foreign
organizations to provide protection, support, physical access, education, and
employment. The government operated a small network of rehabilitation centers
VIETNAM 39
to provide long -term, inpatient physical therapy. Several provinces, government
agencies, and universities had specific programs for persons with disabilities.
National /Racial /Ethnic Minorities
Although the government officially prohibits discrimination against ethnic
minorities, longstanding societal discrimination against ethnic minorities persisted.
Despite the country's significant economic growth, some ethnic minority
communities benefited little from improved economic conditions. In certain areas,
including the Northwest and Central Highlands and portions of the Mekong Delta,
ethnic minority groups made up the majority of the population.
Some members of ethnic minority groups continued to leave for Cambodia and
Thailand, reportedly to seek greater economic opportunity or shortcuts to migration
to other countries. The government monitored certain highland minorities closely,
particularly several ethnic groups in the Central and Northwest Highlands, where it
continued to be concerned that the religion they practice encouraged ethnic
minority separatism.
The government imposed increased security measures in the Central and
Northwest Highlands in response to concerns over possible ethnic minority
separatist activity. There were reports that ethnic minority individuals who
telephoned ethnic minority community members abroad were a special target of
police attention. Authorities arrested and convicted several individuals connected
to overseas separatist organizations and sentenced them to lengthy prison terms in
2011. During the period around sensitive occasions and holidays, an increased
security presence was reported throughout the region. There were a few reports
that Vietnamese police operating on both sides of the border returned members of
ethnic minorities seeking to enter Cambodia and sometimes beat and detained
them.
In late April and early May, 5,000 ethnic Hmong in Dien Bien Province gathered
in Muong Nhe District as part of a millennium movement. Security personnel
dispersed the crowd and arrested 150 individuals. According to the government,
seven detainees (among them were Thao A Lao, Mu A Thang, Trang A Do, and
Giang A Xi from Dien Bien Province) remained in police custody at year's end,
charged with preventing government officials from performing official duties, and
an investigation continued.
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The government continued to address the causes of ethnic minority discontent
through special programs to improve education and health facilities and expand
road access and electrification of rural communities and villages. The government
continued to allocate land to ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands through a
special program, but there were valid complaints that implementation was uneven.
The government maintained a program to conduct classes in some local ethnic
minority languages in elementary and secondary schools. The government also
worked with local officials to develop local language curricula, but it appeared to
implement this program more comprehensively in the Central Highlands and the
Mekong Delta, and only in limited areas of the Northwest Highlands. The law
provides for universal education for children regardless of religion or ethnicity, and
ethnic minorities are not required to pay regular school fees. The government
operated special schools for ethnic minority children, and there were 223 boarding
schools for them in the Northwest and Central Highlands and the Mekong Delta,
including at middle- and high- school levels plus special admission and preparatory
programs as well as scholarships and preferential admissions at the university
level. There were also a few government- subsidized technical and vocational
schools for ethnic minorities. Nonetheless, there were some credible cases of
discrimination against ethnic minorities.
The government broadcast radio and television programs in ethnic minority
languages in some areas. The government also instructed ethnic - majority (Kink)
officials to learn the language of the locality in which they worked. Provincial
governments continued initiatives designed to increase employment, reduce the
income gap between ethnic minorities and ethnic Kinh, and make officials
sensitive and receptive to ethnic minority culture and traditions. Nonetheless, local
security officials detained Tang Thuy, an ethnic Khmer Krom minority group
member from Soc Trang Province, for two days in March for questioning about his
participation in a meeting that called for the government to respect the rights of all
ethnic minorities.
The government granted preferential treatment to domestic and foreign companies
that invested in highland areas populated predominantly by ethnic minorities. The
government also maintained infrastructure development programs that targeted
poor, largely ethnic - minority areas and established agricultural extension programs
for remote rural areas.
The National Assembly's Ethnic Minority Council, along with provincial Ethnic
Minority Steering Committees, supported infrastructure development and
VIETNAM 41
addressed some issues related to poverty reduction and an increase in literacy rates
during the year.
Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on Sexual
Orientation and Gender Identity
Consensual same -sex sexual activity is not criminalized, although by decree,
individuals may not change their gender. There was no reported official
discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, but societal
discrimination and stigma were pervasive. A lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender (LGBT) community existed but was largely underground.
A 2009 survey of more than 3,200 LGBT individuals by the Institute for Studies of
Society, Economy, and the Environment reported that 4.5 percent claimed they
were victims of assault or physical abuse by homophobic individuals and 6.5
percent claimed they lost jobs because of their sexual orientation. The institute
also reported that government officials, the Women's Union, and the Lawyers
Association participated in sensitivity training during the year. Most LGBT
persons chose not to tell family of their sexual orientation for fear of being
disowned, and a 2011 online survey, conducted by the Information Sharing and
Connecting Group with more than one thousand LGBT respondents, noted that
more than 20 percent were forced into counseling by their families.
Other Societal Violence or Discrimination
There was no evidence of official discrimination against persons with HIV /AIDS,
but societal discrimination against such persons existed. Individuals who tested
positive for HIV reported latent social stigma and discrimination, although not in
receiving medical treatment for their condition. The law states that employers
cannot fire individuals for having HIV /AIDS and doctors cannot refuse to treat
persons with HIV /AIDS. However, there were credible reports that persons with
HIV /AIDS lost jobs or suffered from discrimination in the workplace or in finding
housing, although the number of such reports decreased. The government reported
approximately 5,100 school -age children with HIV /AIDS. In several cases
HIV /AIDS - positive children or orphans were barred from schools due to pressure
from other parents. With the assistance of foreign donors, the national government
and provincial authorities took steps to treat, assist, and accommodate persons with
HIV /AIDS and thereby decrease societal stigma and discrimination, but these
measures were not consistently applied. Faith -based charities were sometimes
VIETNAM 42
permitted to provide HIV prevention and home -based care services to persons with
or affected by HIV /AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights
a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining
The law does not allow workers to organize and join independent unions of their
choice. While workers may choose whether to join a union and at which level
(local, provincial, or national) they wish to participate, every union must be
affiliated with the country's only trade union confederation, the Vietnam General
Confederation of Labor (VGCL). The VGCL, a union umbrella organization
controlled by the CPV, approves and manages a range of subsidiary labor unions
organized according to location and industry. By law the provincial or
metropolitan branch of the VGCL is responsible for organizing a union within six
months of the establishment of any new enterprise, and management is required to
cooperate with the union.
The law outlines mandatory union dues for union members and domestic and
foreign employers. While these dues were intended to support workers and union
activities, neither the VGCL nor the government, which is responsible for dues
collection, provided transparent information regarding their use. Although the law
does not allow for independent unions, it permits the negotiation of disputes to be
led and organized by "relevant entities," which may be composed of worker
representatives when the enterprise in question does not have a union, i.e., during
the first six months after an enterprise is established. The law allows for "union
activities" during this period, especially during emergencies such as a strike.
The law permits strikes under certain prescribed circumstances and stipulates an
extensive and cumbersome process of mediation and arbitration that must be
followed before a lawful strike may occur.
The law prohibits strikes in businesses that serve the public or that the government
considers essential to the national economy and defense. The law also grants the
prime minister the right to suspend a strike considered detrimental to the national
economy or public safety. The law defines "essential services" more broadly than
in International Labor Organization (ILO) criteria. A decree defines these
enterprises as ones involved in electricity production; post and
telecommunications; maritime and air transportation, navigation, and management;
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43
public works; and oil and gas. The essential services list was reduced by nearly 60
percent in April (effective June 1), from 142 firms to 58.
Strikes that do not arise from a collective labor dispute or do not adhere to the
process outlined by law are illegal. Before workers may hold a strike, they must
take their claims through a process involving a conciliation council (or a district -
level labor conciliator where no union is present). If the two parties cannot reach a
resolution, the claims must be submitted to a provincial arbitration council.
Unions (or workers' representatives where no union is present) have the right
either to appeal decisions of provincial arbitration councils to provincial people's
courts or to go on strike. Individual workers may take cases directly to the
people's court system, but in most cases they may do so only after conciliation has
been attempted and failed. The law also stipulates that workers on strike will not
be paid wages while they are not at work.
The law prohibits retribution against strikers, and there were some anecdotal
reports of employer retaliation against strike participants by limiting future
employment prospects. For example, MOLISA's Center for Industrial Relations
reported the case of a company photographing workers on strike and sending the
photographs to other companies within their business association. Local news
reported that employees at a Panasonic factory accused the company of creating a
list of striking workers. By law individuals participating in strikes declared illegal
by a people's court and found to have caused damage to their employer are liable
for damages.
The law provides VGCL- affiliated unions the right to bargain collectively on
behalf of workers. Collective labor disputes over rights must be routed through a
conciliation council and, if the council cannot resolve the matter, to the chairperson
of the district -level people's committee.
In practice VGCL leaders influenced key decisions by drafting, amending, or
commenting on labor legislation; developing social safety nets; and setting health,
safety, and minimum wage standards. Labor activists and representatives of
independent (non -VGCL) workers' organizations faced antiunion discrimination
(see section Le., Political Prisoners and Detainees).
There was little evidence that leaders or organizations active during the first six
months' window after an enterprise was established continued to be active or
recognized thereafter.
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The VGCL reported 981 strikes during the year. The main reason for the high
number of strikes - -more than double the number in 2010- -was reportedly the
negative impact of high inflation on workers' living conditions. The majority of
these strikes occurred in Ho Chi Minh City and surrounding provinces in foreign -
invested enterprises (mainly South Korean and Taiwanese companies). None of
the strikes followed the authorized conciliation and arbitration process and thus
were considered illegal, "wildcat" strikes. The government tolerated these strikes
and not only took no action against the strikers but on occasion also actively
mediated agreements in the workers' favor. In some cases the government
disciplined employers, especially with foreign -owned companies, for the illegal
practices that led to strikes.
There were credible reports that employers tended to use short -term or
probationary contracts to avoid certain legally mandated worker benefits, such as
unemployment insurance, or to inhibit workers from joining unions.
b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
The law prohibits forced and compulsory labor, except as defined by
administrative or criminal penalties. Nonetheless, according to government and
NGO reports, forced labor of adults and children occurred (see section7.c.).
There were reports from credible NGOs that the government, especially the
Ministry of Public Security, increased efforts to prevent forced labor, and the
government reported criminal prosecutions for forced labor during the reporting
period. In response to reports of forced labor on domestic coffee plantations, Lam
Dong Province authorities issued a directive in November calling for increased
inspections and stricter punishments against illegal labor brokers who offered jobs
on coffee plantations.
Prisoners convicted by courts routinely were required to work for little or no pay.
Authorities routinely required individuals, detained under administrative decree in
reeducation centers and detention centers for sex workers and drug users, to work
for little or no pay under administrative and legislative regulations. They produced
food and other goods used directly in prisons or sold on local markets, reportedly
to purchase items for their personal use. There were credible reports that private
companies hired individuals in drug detention centers.
There was also information that suggested workers in centers for social and
educational rehabilitation were engaged in agriculture (growing rice and
VIETNAM 45
vegetables; raising poultry, fish, and other livestock; and shelling cashews or other
nuts), manufacturing (producing bicycle tires, mosquito nets, false eye- lashes,
pottery, bamboo or rattan products, and shoes and apparel), and construction work.
In September an international human rights organization reported that authorities
forced individuals in the detention centers for drug users to engage in unpaid or
underpaid work as part of their treatment. In response, MOLISA officials
confirmed that "therapeutic labor" was one part of the treatment for individuals in
these centers but asserted that it was not required of all individuals and was
remunerated. The officials also reported providing orders to provincial officials to
halt construction of any new drug detention centers and cease all actions that
violated labor regulations.
Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at
www . s tate . � ov /� /tip .
c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment
The law prohibits most child labor but allows exceptions for certain types of work.
The law sets the minimum age for employment at 18 years, but enterprises may
hire children between ages 15 and 18 if the firm obtains permission from parents
and MOLISA. Enterprises hiring young labor (ages 15 -18) have to provide them
with special considerations concerning working hours, annual leave, and working
environment. Children ages 15 -18 may work a maximum of seven hours per day
and 42 hours per week and must receive special health care.
The law permits children to register at trade training centers, a form of vocational
training, from age 13. By law an employer must ensure that workers under age 18
do not undertake hazardous work or work that would harm their physical or mental
development. Prohibited occupations are specified in law and include those
requiring compressed working posture, direct contact with harmful chemicals,
contact with radioactive substances, work with various types of furnaces or hot
metal, driving motor vehicles, operating stone grinding machines, and operating
machines for starching cloth and cotton yarns, among others.
MOLISA is responsible for enforcing child labor laws and policies. Government
officials may fine and, in cases of criminal violations, prosecute employers who
violate child labor laws. Generally the government committed insufficient
resources to enforce effectively laws providing for children's safety, especially for
children working in mines and as domestic servants. However, there were several
VIETNAM
ie
reports that the government detected some cases of child exploitation, removed
children from exploitative situations, and prosecuted /fined employers during the
year. In April Lam Dong Province authorities closed and burned illegal tin mining
sites where children were employed. In September authorities rescued two dozen
children from "slave labor" in a private garment factory; at year's end the factory
owners awaited trial.
A 2011 investigation by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Labor, Invalids, and
Social Affairs showed that child labor appeared in seven of 24 districts and
approximately 90 percent of establishments using child labor did not have business
licenses. MOLISA maintained that more than 25,000 children worked in
hazardous conditions countrywide, a statistic that international observers continued
to believe was actually higher.
The government approved in February its first five -year National Program on
Child Protection and committed approximately VND 1.75 trillion ($83.3 million)
toward implementation from both central and local government budgets. The
government also continued programs to eliminate persistent child labor, with a
particular focus on needy families and orphans. A joint project with the ILO to
eliminate the worst forms of child labor continued.
In practice child labor remained a problem, particularly in rural areas, where two -
thirds of the population resided. In rural areas children worked primarily on family
farms, in other agricultural activities and household responsibilities, or in mines.
In some cases they began work as young as age six and were expected to do the
work of adults by the time they reached age 15. Especially during harvest and
planting seasons, some parents did not permit children to attend school.
Migration from rural to urban settings exacerbated the child labor problem,
because unauthorized migrants were unable to register their households in urban
areas. Consequently, their children could not attend public schools, and families
had less access to credit. Officials stated that juveniles in education and
nourishment centers, which functioned similarly to reform schools or juvenile
detention centers, were commonly assigned work for "educational purposes."
In urban areas children worked in family -owned small businesses, including small,
privately owned garment factories, or on the street shining shoes or selling articles
such as lottery tickets and newspapers. For example, in September Ministry of
Public Security officials initiated the rescue of 19 ethnic minority children from
Dien Bien Province who had been trafficked for the purpose of forced labor to
VIETNAM
47
family -owned garment workshops near Ho Chi Minh City. One shelter reported
that some children were drugged during the year to keep them awake and working
longer hours.
d. Acceptable Conditions of Work
The law requires the government to set a minimum wage and adjust it based on
consumer price index changes. New minimum wages took effect on October 1, as
follows: the monthly minimum for unskilled laborers at private enterprises was
between VND 1.78 million (approximately $85) and VND 2 million ($95) in urban
areas, and VND 1.4 million ($67) and 1.55 million ($74) in rural areas. For
employees working for the state sector, the monthly minimum was VND 830,000
($40). The government defined the poverty line for the period 2011 -15 as VND
400,000 ($19) per month for rural households and VND 500,000 ($24) for urban
households.
The government set the workweek for government employees and employees of
companies in the state sector at 40 hours and encouraged the private business
sector and foreign and international organizations that employed local workers to
reduce the number of hours in the workweek to 40 hours, but it did not make
compliance mandatory.
The law sets normal working hours at eight hours per day, with a mandatory 24-
hour break each week. Additional hours require overtime pay at one - and - one -half
times the regular wage, two times the regular wage for weekdays off, and three
times the regular wage for holidays and paid leave days. The law limits
compulsory overtime to 16 hours per week and 200 hours per year but provides for
an exception in special cases, with a maximum of 300 overtime hours worked
annually, subject to stipulation by the government after consulting with VGCL and
employer representatives. The law also prescribes annual leave with full pay for
the public and private sectors.
The law requires the government to promulgate rules and regulations that provide
for worker safety and provides that workers may remove themselves from
hazardous conditions without risking loss of employment.
By law a female employee who is engaged to be married, pregnant, on maternity
leave, or caring for a child under one year of age may not be dismissed unless the
enterprise closes. Female employees who are at least seven months' pregnant or
VIETNAM 48
are caring for a child under one year of age may not be compelled to work
overtime, at night, or in locations distant from their homes.
It was unclear how strictly the government enforced provisions for wages, hours,
and benefits or the exceptions for certain female employees. MOLISA, in
coordination with local people's committees and labor unions, is charged with
enforcing the law, but enforcement was inadequate for many reasons, including
low funding and a shortage of trained enforcement personnel. The VGCL asserted
that authorities did not always prosecute violations. MOLISA acknowledged
shortcomings in its labor inspection system, emphasizing that the country had an
insufficient number of labor inspectors. There were approximately 140 general
labor inspectors plus small numbers of additional inspectors focused on persons
with disabilities, social insurance, export recruiting companies, etc. The VGCL
stated, and MOLISA acknowledged, that low fines on firms for labor violations
failed to act as an effective deterrent against violations.
There were credible reports that factories exceeded the legal overtime thresholds
and did not meet legal requirements for rest days. A September ILO report noted
that 66 of 78 apparel factories did not comply with legal overtime limits.
On-the-job injuries due to poor health and safety conditions and inadequate
employee training in the workplace remained a problem. The mining and
construction sectors reported the greatest number of occupational injuries. In the
first six months of the year, there were 3,531 occupational accidents and 273
deaths. For example, in April a stone mining accident killed 18 workers in Nghe
An Province. The company had been fined twice in the previous year for poor
safety standards, and authorities arrested the owner after the April incident for
violating safety regulations. At year's end prosecution proceedings had begun
against the owner.
2011
Vielnem Humen Right's 1 Network
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY / p.2
L FREEDOMS OF OPINION AND SPEECH BEING CRUSHED / p.4
1. Speech Is the Vietnamese Communist State's Monopoly / p. 4
2. Suppression of Dissidents Who Express Different Opinions from the VCP Policies / p. 5
IL POLITICAL RIGHTS STAND NULLIFIED / p.7
1. The Right to Take Part in Government / p. 7
2. Freedoms of Expression, Association, and Demonstration / p. 8
3. Oppression against Dissidents / p. 9
III. THE COURTS ARE TO SERVE ONLY THE CPV / p. 11
1. Criminalization of All Activities Adverse to the CPV Interests / p. 11
2. Violations of Basic Principles of Criminal Law / p. 13
3. Oppression of Lawyers / p. 13
4. An Inhuman System of Prisons / p. 14
IV. POLICE BRUTALITY IN A POLICE STATE / p. 15
V. NO FREEDOM OF RELIGION / p.18
1. Legal Prohibition / p. 18
2. Organizational Control / p. 19
3. Violent Suppression / p. 20
VI. WORKERS IN THE TRICKY HANDS OF THE STATE AND BUSINESS BOSSES / P. 21
1. More and More Wildcat Strikes / p. 21
2. Labor Unions — A State Monopoly / p. 22
3. Forced Labor / p. 23
4. Oppression against Activists Fighting for Workers / p. 24
VII. "VICTIMS OF LAND INJUSTICE" OR THE STORY OF LAND RIGHTS PETITIONERS / P. 25
VIII. HUMAN TRAFFICKING / p. 28
1. Women and Children Tricked into Becoming Sex Slaves / p. 28
2. Selling of Vietnamese "Brides" to Foreigners / p. 29
3. Exploitation of Export Workers / p. 30
RECOMMENDATIONS / p. 32
APPENDIX: LIST OF PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE IN VIETNAM AS OF MARCH 2012 / P. 34
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011 1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Despite being a member of the U.N. since
1977 and having signed on to many core
international human rights documents, the
government of the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam has continued to crush its people's
basic and legitimate rights.
The purpose of this report is to serve as a
partial listing of outstanding violations by
Vietnam against the basic human rights in
2011 based on the standards set forth by the
Universal Declaration of Human rights, the
International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, and the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
The 11th National Congress of the
Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) in
January 2011 was an important political
event in Vietnam affecting the country's
social, economic and political conditions
including the people's human rights. To cling
to their exclusive monopoly of power, the
communist authorities do their best to restrict
the citizens' freedoms and fundamental
rights.
As far as freedom of speech is concerned, the
communist authorities continue to
monopolize information, intensify control on
media, and hunt down those who dare
express views different from their own, or
advocate for victims of abuse of power.
The parliamentary election in May, 2011 was
only a means to legalize and embellish the
dictatorship of the CPV. All political
activities outside of the CPV's control are
deemed "reactionary," and crushed.
Instead of being an independent and
impartial authority to protect the citizens
against the officials' arbitrary and illegal acts
that undermine the citizens' interests or
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011
violate their rights, Vietnam's legal system
continued to be highly exploited as an
essential means to protect the regime.
More than ever before, the violent means of
the police state apparatus have been
strengthened and directed against the
citizens, either to suppress the protests
against China's invasion, to restrain land
petitioners' gatherings, to put down
resistance to illegal forced evictions, or
simply to show up the power of the police
state's security force.
Other basic civil and social rights, especially
religious freedom, the freedom to form trade
unions, and land ownership rights continue to
be seriously violated.
As far as religion is concerned, some
ceremonial festivities intended to deceive and
mislead the world's public opinion are not
only allowed, they are even encouraged. But
in fact, restrictions of religious freedom have
been exercised in many different ways,
including obstruction by regulations, control
by organizational intervention, and
oppression by violence.
The Vietnamese communist state claims to
represent the interests of all laborers; yet
never have the Vietnamese workers and
peasants experienced such miserable
conditions as they do now under the
domination of the red capitalists. Labor
unions are so organized and used as a means
to control the workers, and independent trade
unions are absolutely forbidden.
The unjust confiscation and requisition of the
people's land for so- called development
projects brought injustice to many people,
particularly the peasants in the countryside.
The gap between the victims of land injustice
2
and the new wealthy of the state capitalism
grew wider and wider.
The problem of human trafficking was not
fixed; instead, it tended to worsen for three
types of victims: the "export workers,"
"foreign brides," and children sex slaves.
In presenting this report as a summary of the
serious violations of human rights by
Vietnamese authorities in Hanoi, the
Vietnam Human Rights Network earnestly
hopes that with the active intervention of the
international community, foreign
governments as well as international
organizations concerned with human rights
and with the plight of current victims of
oppression in Vietnam that there will be
significant improvements in this area.
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011 3
I. FREEDOMS OF OPINION AND
SPEECH BEING CRUSHED
Article 69 of Vietnam's 1992 Constitution
stipulates that "Citizens have the rights to
enjoy freedoms of speech, press,
information, association, formation of
societies, and demonstration according to the
law." Yet, such stipulations have never been
respected. The government's violations of
the freedom of press in Vietnam come under
two main categories: 1) the state's monopoly
of information; and 2) suppression of
dissidents who oppose to the Communist
Party of Vietnam (CPV) policies or dare to
voice up their defense of victims of cruel
officials.
1. Speech Is the Vietnamese Communist
State's Monopoly
There are no private press organizations in
Vietnam, where all media such as the press,
the publishing business, radio stations, TV
stations, official press, are owned by the
state. Currently, not a single independent
private newspaper or broadcasting station is
allowed to exist. Decree No. 37 /CP of 29
November 2006 signed into law by Premier
Nguyen Tan Dung and still effective in
2011, firmly stated that "no private press
under any form, or any organization or
individual, is permitted to take advantage of
the press to serve personal interests while
undermining the state's interests." Statistics
from the Information and Communications
Ministry disclosed that up to June 2011,
there were 17,000 journalists nationwide, all
paid and licensed by the state or its
subsidiaries. The number of press agencies
in 2011 increased from 706 of the previous
year to 745, while the cyber papers went
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011
from to 21 to 46, and web pages from 160 to
287.1
The CPV efforts to enlarge its propaganda
mechanism and reform the laws as well as
consolidate its press monopoly reflect its
refusal to yield to the people's expression.
In the legal field, Premier Nguyen Tan Dung
issued on 6 January 2011 Decree No.
02 /2011/ND -CP to impose administrative
punishments against the press and publishing
activities. According to many international
human rights agencies, the purpose of the
decree's vague articles is to obstruct and
eliminate those bloggers and journalists who
dare to describe the actual situation of the
society. On 18 October 2011, the four
largest press state agencies, including the
Vietnam Press, the Vietnam TV station, the
Voice of Vietnam station, and the People's
Daily, signed a `coordinating agreement' to
be effective through 2015. Worse, the
Minister of Public Security and the Director
General of the Vietnam Press signed on 21
October 2011 an inter - branch Decision on
cooperation in information and propaganda,
maintenance of security and order, and
building of the people's police forces.
Like a number of developing nations,
Vietnam is witnessing an explosion of
modern media means such as cell phones
and the Internet. According to figures
provided by Vietnam Statistical Directorate
General, the lease of websites in Vietnam
reached 4.2 million people, an increase of
19.9% from the same period in the year
before, while the number of Internet users
Vietnam Ministry of Information and
Communications, "So ket cling tac 6 thang dau nam
va trim khai cling tac 6 thang cuoi nam
2011," http: / /mic.gov.vn /tintucsukien (accessed 12
Jan. 2012)
2 Human Rights Watch, "Vietnam: New Decree
Punishes Press," 23 Feb. 2011,
http: / /www. h rw.org /news /2011 /02/23 /vietnam -new-
decree - punishes -press (accessed 12 Jan 2012)
4
reached 32,1 million in October 2011, a rise
of 24.4 %.3
The widespread use of the Internet has
offered a favorable condition for the
formation of independent personal pages or
blogs, though they are permitted to operate
by the government as long as the bloggers
stay away from such sensitive issues as the
questions of Chinese occupation of the
Spratly and Paracel Islands and territorial
waters of Vietnam, China's exploitation of
bauxite in Central Vietnam's Highlands, its
killings of Vietnamese fishermen in the
Eastern (South China) Sea, and especially
the question of CPV leadership monopoly.
Those blogs refusing to go along with its
policies will eventually be either destroyed
by the cyber police or stopped by its fire
walls. The Freedom House's report,
`Freedom on the Net 2011,' listed Vietnam
among the worst Internet suppressors, only
behind Tunisia, China, Myanmar, and Iran.4
In the eyes of `Reporters Without Borders'
Vietnam ranked as one of ten Internet
5
enemies.
As for foreign sources of information, the
Vietnamese government continues to prevent
its people from having access to independent
and objective ones, through its technique of
jamming overseas radio stations
broadcasting in Vietnamese and setting up
fire walls to obstruct so- called `reactionary'
websites. Many Vietnamese- language
websites owned by either international media
agencies or overseas Vietnamese were
repeatedly attacked in 2011 by hackers
(including the BBC Vietnamese website in
s Vietnam General Statistics Office, "Tinh hinh kinh te-
xa hoi muai thang nam 2011,"
http://www.gso.gov.vn/default.aspx?tabid=403&idmi
d= &ItemlD =12024 (accessed 14 Jan 2012)
4 Fredom House, "Freedom on the Net 201: A Global
Assessment of Internet and Digital Media"
5 Reporters without Borders, "Internet Enemies,"
http://en.rsf.org/internet-enemie-vietnam,39763.html
(accessed 12 Jan 2012)
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011
February, the Viet Tan website in August,
the `Dan Chim Viet' and the `People's
Democracy' websites in September ...)
2. Suppression of Dissidents Who Express
Different Opinions from the VCP
Policies
Journalists have often been reminded to keep
to the "right lane," meaning to respect the
one -way, truth- twisting information
provided by the state. Many resistant ones
among them have been arrested, fired, or
detained because of their different views
from those of the communist state on serious
issues related to the CPV policies as well as
to the corruption of officials at all levels. A
number of reporters, including foreigners,
who followed the anti -China demonstrations
in July 2011 were harassed and detained by
the police.
The people are not allowed to criticize the
state's policies. To silence the voices that
oppose the CPV views, the Vietnamese
authorities, in addition to employing rogues
and rascals to assault the dissidents, resort to
the maximal criminalization of the people's
right to freedom of speech through the 1999
Criminal Law's Articles 79 about "activities
aiming at overthrowing the people's
government" and 88 about "propaganda
against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam."
The most frequent measures resorted to by
the police to suppress dissidents' voices have
been harassment and assault. The following
are typical cases:
- Ta Phong Tan (a woman who uses
the blogger's nickname of Justice and
Truth) was beaten, menaced, and
humiliatingly stripped naked several
times in January, March, and May of
2011. In addition, she was arrested
by the police on 9 May 2011 and is
still being held at No. 4 Phan Dang
Luu Street in Saigon.
S
- Poet Bui Chat was temporarily held
public security agents who brutally
for 2 days, 5 and 6 June 2011,
assaulted peaceful demonstrators; the
besides being assaulted and menaced
other decries the government's lack
by rascals after he accepted the Free
of resolve to defend the country's
Publishers 2011 prize awarded by the
sovereignty.
International Publishing Association
According to the Committee to Protect
(IPA) in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Journalists (CPJ), Vietnam was one of the
- Writer Huynh Ngoc Tuan and his
countries that held the most journalists in the
two children Huynh Thuc Vy and
world .6 In 2011, through the criminalization
Huynh Trong Hieu were summoned
of the people's exercise of the freedom of
for interrogation on 11 August 2011
speech, the Vietnamese government arrested,
by the Quang Nam provincial Office
accused, and detained lots of dissidents
of Information and Communications,
critical of the state. Outstanding ones
following the ransack of their house
include:
on 12 February 2011. During the
_ On 26 January 2011, dissident Vi
search, the police beat up the women
Due Hoi was sentenced to 8 years in
present, including Huynh Thuc Vy's
prison and 5 years under house arrest
grandmother Mai Thi Yen and her
(the sentence was reduced to 5 years
aunt Huynh Thi Thu Hong, and
in prison and 3 years under house
Huynh Thi Huong. Her cousin
arrest by the court of appeal on 26
Huynh Ngoc Le was also arrested
April 2011) allegedly for his "anti -
when he tried to intervene to stop the
state propaganda."
brutalities against the old lady and
the other women.
- On 25 July 2011, Father Nguyen Van
Ly, the most famous and outspoken
- Journalist Nguyen Huu Vinh and
anti -state voice, was sent back to
Lawyer Le Quoc Quan were
prison after being exempted for one
summoned to the police station on 11
year from prison for medical
November 2011 to be interrogated on
treatment.
their articles about Thai Ha parish.
They were then detained together
- During the weeks between the end of
with bloggers Le Dung, Chinh Pham'
July and early August, seven
Nguyen Lan Thang, and La Viet
Christian media people were arrested
Dung.
and accused of alleged activities
- Teacher Vu Hung was harassed and
purporting to overthrow the
i
government, ncluding Paul Le Son,
summoned to the police station on 11
Pierre Ho Due Hoa, Francisco Xavier
October 2011 allegedly for his
Dang Xuan Dieu, John B. Nguyen
violation of the house arrest order
Van Oai, Pierre Tran Huu Due,
following his release from prison.
Antoine Dau Van Duong, Francisco
- Viet Khang (born Vo Minh Tri), a
Dang Xuan Tuong.
songwriter was arrested on 23
December 2011, and currently
detained by the public security police
s The Committee to Protect Journalists, "In Vietnam,
without charges. He is the author of
crackdown on journalists in past six months,"
the 2 famous songs put on Youtube.
http: / /www.cpj.org /2011 /10 /in- vietnam - crackdown-
One questions the conscience of the
on journalists -in -past- six - mo.php (accessed 16 Jan
2012).
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011 6
- On 10 August 2011, Professor Pham
Minh Hoang was sentenced to 3
years in prison and 3 years under
house arrest for his alleged "activities
purporting to overthrow the
government." His sentence was
subsequently reduced under intense
international pressure and released.
- On 22 August 2011, Mr. Lu Van Bay
was sentenced to 3 years in prison
and 3 years under house arrest
allegedly for the same crime.
- On 10 November 2011, two Falun
Kung disciples, Vu Due Trung and
Le Van Thanh, were sentenced three
and two years in prison respectively
for their China - directed broadcasts.
Especially in the case of blogger Dieu Cay
Nguyen Van Hai, despite the fact that his
sentence had ended on 20 October 2010 for
his alleged failure to pay taxes (a state -
fabricated crime), he was sent back to prison
actually for his protest against China and his
affirmation of the Spratly and Paracels being
part of Vietnam. Since he was a main
member of the Free Journalists Club and the
Dan Bao website, he was accused of making
"anti -state propaganda." So far, his family
has not been allowed to visit him and told of
where he is detained, whether he is still alive
or not, although it had repeatedly sent
complaints and come to the police station for
information. The authorities' negative
attitude is a serious violation of not only the
freedom of speech mentioned in Vietnam's
Constitution but also its very own legal
procedures as well.
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011
II. POLITICAL RIGHTS STAND
NULLIFIED
The 1992 Constitution, amended and
supplemented in 2001, stipulates that the
citizen has the right to participate in the
government through elections (Articles 53 &
54), and the exercise of their freedom of
speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of
association, and freedom of demonstration
(Art. 69). However, in reality, with the
continuance of the single party totalitarian
system, those provisions are just cosmetic
labels to deceive the world. Vietnamese
citizens are, in fact, deprived of all rights to
peacefully choose their government system
and their representatives. People may not
hold political views different from the policy
of the CPV. All opposition groups are
suppressed and outlawed.
1. The Right to Take Part in Government
Like most countries in the world, Vietnam
regularly organizes elections for the
government at all levels. The National
Assembly is said by the Constitution to be
the highest organ of the state power to
represent the nation's population, appoint the
government, and make laws. Currently,
however, with the existing electoral and
parliamentary processes, it is merely an
instrument of the CPV. To be elected to the
National Assembly, candidates must be
approved and nominated by the Fatherland
Front, a peripheral body of the CPV, which
also assumes the supervisory role in all
elections.
There was no political party other than the
CPV allowed to participate in the elections
held in May 2011 to seats in the National
Assembly and People's Councils at all levels
for 2011 -2016 term. All candidates were
previously vetted and selected by the
Fatherland Front through "Consultative
Conferences" and "Voters Conferences" at
the national and local levels. People who
differ in their political views from the CPV
have no right to nominate themselves.
Lawyer Nguyen Quoc Quan, the only
dissident candidate for the National
Assembly Election in May 2011, was
rejected by the primary Voters Conference
of the Yen Hoa Ward in Ha Noi.
According to the results of the National
Assembly election in May 2011, the national
voter turnout rate was 99.51 %; in some
provinces such as Lai Chau, Ha Giang, Hoa
Binh, and Lang Son, it reached even higher,
Up to 99.99 %.7 The CPV leaders obtained an
absolute vote of confidence, registering
95.38% for Premier Nguyen Tan Dung and
95.51% for Deputy Premier Nguyen Sinh
Hung, now National Assembly Chairman...
Like in any totalitarian regime, these unusual
voter participation figures and confidence
level serve nothing more than to underscore
the nature and the breadth of the communist
dictatorship in its intention to monopolize
power. As a matter of fact, the current
system of election in Vietnam is something
that no Vietnamese citizens dare to reject,
since abstaining or voting against the party
line is synonymous with being seen as
troublemakers facing harsh retaliatory
measures in their daily life, such as
difficulties when applying for civil status
documents, building permits, and real
property transactions...
The story of the Vinh University students
photographing the leaflet containing
guidelines for the election of the National
Assembly and the people's councils at all
levels for the 2011 -2016 term, then posting it
on the Internet, revealed the insignificance of
Quan 96i Nhan Dan "C6ng bo ket qua bau cix dai
bieu Quoc h6i kh6a XIII va dai bieu HOND cac cap
nhiem kj 2011 - 2016"
http: / /www.gdnd.vn /qdndsite /vi-
vn /61 /150028 /print/Default.aspx (accessed 14 Dec
2011).
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011
the Vietnamese people's right to participate
in the government. The guidelines were the
communist party's strict instructions to elect
only "totally loyal" candidates while using
others as "decorations." The leaflet also
required that 100% of students must have
voter cards, and class leaders must collect
them after the election and submit to the
superintendent for control and assessment of
the students' exercise of the voter's rights
and duties. 8
2. Freedoms of Expression, Association,
and Demonstration
Article 69 of Vietnam's Constitution states:
"The citizen shall enjoy freedom of opinion
and speech, freedom of the press, the right to
be informed, and the right to assemble, form
associations and hold demonstrations in
accordance with the provisions of the law."
In view of the importance of the freedom of
speech, freedom of the press, and the right to
be informed in today's reality of Vietnam,
this report reserves a separate section for this
issue (See Section on Freedom of Speech)
Freedom of association is completely
forbidden to all political organizations. Prior
to the opening of the 11th National Congress
of the CPV in January 2011, Mr. Dinh The
Huynh, now a Politburo member, Chair of
the Party Central Propaganda and Education
Committee, and Chair of the Central
Political Thought Council, confirmed in a
press conference that "Vietnam has no
demand (for) and is determined not to
have pluralism or a multiparty system."
A number of political groups that were
previously formed, including the 8406 Bloc,
the People's Action Party, the Vietnam
Progress Party, the Populist Party, and the
$ Tuoi Tr6 C6ng Giao Viet Nam, "Bau cix chi la 1 tr6
h6 - Moi six da duac sap x6p"
http://tuoitreconggiao.net/showthread.php?t=12744&
page =2 (accessed 14 Dec 2011)
8
Viet Tan Party, etc... continued to be tracked
down. Most recent was the arrest of 14
people belonging in the "H6i dong Cling luat
Cling an Bia Son" (translation uncertain) by
the Phu Yen provincial police in February
2012. The group is accused of "abusing
freedom and democratic rights to violate
state interests."
As for civil society groups, especially labor
unions, the CPV firmly maintains its
monopoly of leadership (See section "The
workers in the Tricky Hands of the State and
Business Bosses" in this report). To be
brief, until now absolutely no political
assemblies are allowed to operate except the
CPV and its subsidiaries such as the Ho Chi
Minh Communist Youth Union, the
Fatherland Front, and the Vietnam Women's
Union...
The year 2011 was also marked with unusual
people's political activities in the streets
triggered by China's invasions of Vietnam's
land and territorial waters causing serious
harm to Vietnamese fishermen and their
boats, and by China's defiant claim of its
sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly
Islands. In June, possibly for diplomatic
purposes, the government closed its eyes and
might even have given its secret support to
these politicized assemblies. However, when
these demonstrations were determined to get
out of hand, threatening the CPV leadership,
and perhaps accommodating the Chinese
authorities, security forces both in uniform
and plain clothes were mobilized to the
maximum to obstruct and mercilessly
suppress the demonstrators.
Besides anti -China demonstrations, other
assemblies of victims of land injustice
continued to take place all year round in
many localities from North to South, which
underwent harsh repression by the
government (See section "Victims of Land
Injustice "). Related to this question of
freedom of demonstration was the
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011
sentencing of Legal Doctor Cu Huy Ha Vu
to 7 years of imprisonment for filing a suit
against Premier Nguyen Tan Dung who in
2006 had signed Decree 136 "prohibiting
class - action petitions."
Under international pressure, Premier
Nguyen Tan Dung suggested in November
2011 to the National Assembly that a
demonstration bill be considered in its
legislative agenda. But, ironically, when a
demonstration was called on 27 November
2011 to support his proposal it was ruthlessly
suppressed by the police with many arrests.
3. Oppression against Dissidents
The 11th CPV National Congress met in
January 2011 but it was preceded by a wave
of arrests of dissidents from the mid of 2010
to the early days of 2011. This was an
indication of the communists' determination
not tolerate any challenge to their single -
party rule and its government. This round of
suppression was especially aimed at Net
bloggers, typically the following:
- In August 2010, Mr. Pham Minh
Hoang, a French - Vietnamese
national and lecturer in mathematics
at the Ho Chi Minh City Polytechnic
Institute, was arrested. He blogged
on critical issues under the pen -name
of Phan Kien Quoc, and made public
other writings on the bauxit.com web
page, managed by Messrs. Nguyen
Hue Chi, Pham Toan, and Nguyen
The Hung.
- In October 2010, blogger Dieu Cay
continued to be kept in prison even
after his fabricated tax - evasion
sentence term had expired. He was
then orally charged with spreading
"anti -state propaganda" for writing
articles for the Free Journalists Club
but was not brought to trial. For
9
sixteen months now his family has
not been allowed to see him.
- On 26 January 2011, Mr. Vi Due Hoi
was sentenced to 8 years in prison for
posting on the Internet articles
advocating multiparty democracy.
Mr Hoi is a former CPV member and
a recipient of a Human Rights Watch
2009 Hellman /Hammett prize.
- In November 2010, Lawyer Cu Huy
Ha Vu was arrested "in emergency,"
initially for allegedly soliciting a
prostitute, but then prosecuted under
Article 88 of the Criminal Law for
"propaganda against the Socialist
Republic of Vietnam" by writing
critical documents containing
"propagandistic rhetoric of a
psychological warfare nature,
demanding the overthrow of the
regime and the realization of
pluralism and a multiparty system."
The oppression of dissidents, especially
those who associate with political
organizations labeled as "reactionary" by the
communists, continued throughout 2011,
typically with the following cases being well
known to the public:
- On 02 February 2011, Mr. Vu Quang
Thuan, a leader of Vietnam
Progressive Democratic Movement
(Phong Trao Chan Hung Nudc Viet),
was arrested at Tan Son Nhat Airport
and then prosecuted for "fleeing
abroad or defecting to stay overseas
with a view to opposing the people's
administration" pursuant to Article
91 of the Criminal Code.
- On 25 February 2011, Dr. Nguyen
Dan Que, chairman of the High Tide
Humanist Movement Cao Trao Nhdn
Ban), was arrested at his residence
for his "Call on the whole population
to take to the streets and put an end to
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011
dictatorship" that he had launched the
day before.
- On 10 August 2011, Mr. Pham Minh
Hoang, a member of Vietnam
Reform Party (Dang Viet Tdn) was
sentenced to 3 years in prison and 3
years under house arrest for his
alleged "activities aiming at
overthrowing the people
government" pursuant to Article 79
of the Criminal Code. Earlier, on 30
May 2011, three other Viet Tan Party
members, Pastor Duong Kim Hai,
Mrs. Tran Thi Thuy, and Mr. Nguyen
Thanh Tam, were also sentenced
from 5 to 8 years in prison for the
same charge in Ben Tre Province.
- On 21 September 2011, Mrs. Pham
Thi Phuong, a member of the
Vietnam Populist Party (Dang Vi
Ddn), was sentenced to 11 years in
prison by the people's court of Dong
Nai Province for allegedly "carrying
out activities aimed at overthrowing
the people's administration;
organizing and /or coercing other
persons to flee abroad or to stay
abroad illegally." Earlier, in 2010,
other Vietnam Populist Party
members, including Messrs. Truong
Van Kim, Phung Quang Quyen, and
Duong Au, and Mrs. Truong Thi
Tam, were also sentenced 3 to 5
years in prison for "fleeing abroad
with a view to opposing the people's
administration."
As for the Bloc 8406, six of its members
were arrested in 2011, including pastors
Nguyen Cong Chinh and Nguyen Trung
Ton, Messrs. Nguyen Ba Dang, Le Thanh
Tung, and Nguyen Kim Nhan, and Ms. Ho
Thi Bich Khuong. Pastor Nguyen Trung
Ton and Ms. Ho Thi Bich Khuong were tried
in court but the others are still in detention
without a trial date. Up to the present, 50 of
10
the Bloc members have been arrested, 27
have completed their sentences, and 23
others still remain in prison.
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011
III. THE COURTS ARE TO
SERVE ONLY THE CPV
The Vietnamese Constitution guarantees that
"all citizens are equal before the law" (Art.
52), and "during a trial the judges and
assessors are independent and shall only
obey the law" (Art. 130). In fact, anyone can
be arbitrarily arrested, prosecuted, and
sentenced in present -day Vietnam. Since the
dependence of the courts on the CPV is an
inevitable consequence of the concept of a
Marxist- Leninist People's Democracy, the
eventual purpose of the Vietnamese court
system is to serve the governing party's
interests. This has found its obvious
confirmation in the 2002 Law on
organization of the People's Courts, "... The
Courts have the task to protect the socialist
legislation; to protect the socialist regime
and the people's mastery..." (Article 1)
Despite recent requests from international
organizations and donor countries that
Vietnam reform its legal system, critical
violations of human rights in the legal field
keep increasing, and typically shown
through the following aspects:
Criminalization of political activities,
violations of criminal prosecution
procedures, suppression of lawyers who dare
to defend justice, and an inhuman detention
system.
1. Criminalization of All Activities
Adverse to the CPV Interests
Vietnam claims that it holds no political
prisoners, because any legitimate political
expression by the people, however peaceful,
is always associated with crimes listed in the
1999 Vietnam Criminal Code, especially
Art. 79 (Carrying out activities aimed at
overthrowing the people's administration),
Art. 87 (Undermining the unity policy), and
Art. 88 (Conducting propaganda against the
11
Socialist Republic of Vietnam). According
to these articles, any expression of opinions
through such peaceful means as debate,
storage and distribution of documents
different from those issued by the CPV, is a
"crime," and the "criminal" can be sentenced
to 20 years in prison (Art. 88), or to death if
found to have "carried out activities aimed at
overthrowing the people's administration"
(Art. 79).
In 2011, at least 33 dissidents were
sentenced to imprisonment through the
abuses of this criminal law. Many others
were arrested and held pending trial. Among
those convicted, the following figures have
drawn the most attention in world public
opinion:
- Mr. Vi Due Hoi, a former official of
the CPV, was sentenced to 8 years in
prison in January 2011 for posting on
the Net his articles calling for a
multi -party democracy, the state
accusing him of doing " "anti -state
propaganda" based on Article 88 of
the Criminal Law. Nonetheless, he
was awarded a Human Rights Watch
2009 `Hellman /Hammett Human
Rights Prize' for those very same
articles.
- Dr. Cu Huy Ha Vu was sentenced in
April 2011 by a Hanoi court to 7
years in prison plus 3 years under
house arrest, for having been an
enthusiastic human rights activist in
the civilian political area, including
his legal suits against Premier
Nguyen Tan Dung for his decree
prohibiting citizens from
complaining collectively, and against
police General Vu Hai Trieu for his
suppression of freedom of speech
(through his bragging of having
crushed some 300 websites); and his
demand to remove Article 4 of the
1992 Constitution that allows for the
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011
CPV's monopoly of rule in the
country. He also actively participated
in many legal cases to protect human
rights both in civilian and religious
areas. He was a recipient of the
Hellman /Hammett prize and the 2011
Vietnam Human Rights Prize, too.
- Professor Pham Minh Hoang, of dual
nationality (French and Vietnamese),
was sentenced in August 2011 to 3
years in prison and 3 years under
house arrest allegedly for his
"activities aiming at overthrowing
the people's government" based on
Article 79 of the Vietnam Criminal
Law. He was accused by the
authorities of having posted on the
Net 33 articles intended to oppose the
CPV single -party regime under the
penname of Phan Kien Quoc, and of
his overseas relations with the Viet
Tan party. His sentence was then
reduced to 17 months by a court of
appeal on 29 November 2011 for his
"plot to overthrow the government."
He was eventually freed on 13
January 2012, but is still under house
arrest.
- Ms. Ho Thi Bich Khuong was
sentenced by a Nghe An court based
on Article 88 of the Vietnam
Criminal Law, to 5 years in prison
and 3 years under house arrest, for
having answered an interview by an
overseas anti -state radio station and
then posted it on the websites of
various human rights groups. She
was also a recipient of the 2011
Hellman /Hammett prize.
- Pastor Nguyen Trung Ton, similarly,
was sentenced to 2 years in prison
and 2 years under house arrest for the
same "crimes."
12
2. Violations of Basic Principles of
Criminal Law
Although Vietnam's 2003 Criminal
Prosecution Law guarantees all the rights
mentioned in the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, violations of the very
principles set up by the authorities are
apparent throughout the prosecution
proceedings, including arbitrary arrests,
fabrications of evidence, tortures during
interrogation, obstruction of lawyers, and
superficial judgment based on ready -made
verdicts, etc. The police, not the judges, are
the decisive element in criminal cases, as
these security agents can freely enter the
people's homes, or arrest anyone on the
streets at any time. The suspects, especially
political dissidents, are often tortured during
their interrogation or isolated from their
families and personal lawyers. Most of the
court trials are summarily done within less
than one day, sometimes during only a
couple of hours. The presence of lawyers at
the court, if any, is just as an embellishment
only, since usually, the time for deliberation
is shorter than the time for verdict reading,
meaning the verdict has already been
prepared ahead of time.
Especially in 2011, maximum arrests were
made at will against participants at
demonstrations against Chinese aggression.
Besides pursuing demonstrators on the
streets the way rascals of the black society
do, the communist police employed the
technique of "summoning to work," actually
a type of arrest without warrant from the
judges.
The neglect of criminal prosecution
principles was not only aimed at subduing
the people but also used as a protective
measure by the authorities, typically was the
Vietnamese government's excuse of lacking
evidence in prosecuting the former bank
governor Le Due Thuy for his acceptance of
Aus$20 million bribe in the polymer printing
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011
contract with Securrency company, despite
the obvious disclosure of the case by the
Australian media and the prosecution of
many Australian officials involved. It is
worth noticing that in 2011, Vietnam was
ranked by Transparency International at 122
over 182 surveyed nations, with a score of
2.9 on a total of 10.
3. Oppression of Lawyers
A few years ago, Vietnam's Minister of
Justice Ha Hung Cuong disclosed in a report
to the National Assembly that lawyers were
present at the courts in only 20% of the
cases. Vietnam's legal system has been
crippled not only by the tiny number of
lawyers and their low professionalism but
also by the government's unfriendly attitude
toward them. The police and legal courts
always try to obstruct or derail the lawyers in
their participation in legal cases. To defend
an accused, a lawyer must have the court's
permission, but the permit is almost never
legally accorded in time. In addition, even
with the permit, he must have the approval
of the investigative agency and depend on it
to meet with his client in a hurry. At the
court, his defense rarely draws the attention
of the jury, and often, he has no gut to
oppose the prosecutors, as his duty in most
cases is just to ask for clemency.
Due to the government's unfriendliness, the
lawyers usually try avoid sensitive cases,
though some of them have the courage to
voice up their defense of the victims of
injustice, for the freedom of religion, and for
other basic rights. As a result, they are never
tolerated by the state, their license is often
rescinded, their names removed from the bar
association, or more severely, they find
themselves beaten up by hooligans, or
prosecuted and imprisoned for vague
reasons.
13
Such is the case of Lawyers Nguyen Van
Dai, Le Thi Cong Nhan, Le Quoc Quan,
Tran Quoc Hien, Nguyen Bac Truyen, Le
Tran Luat, Nguyen Quoc Dat, and Le Cong
Dinh in previous years. In 2011, the
government continued its policy of
oppression against lawyers involved in
sensitive cases. In April 2011, Dr. Cu Huy
Ha Vu was sentenced to 7 years in prison
and 3 years under house arrest for his active
attempts to protect human rights by
defending victims and suing Premier Nguyen
Tan Dung. In May 2011, the police of Tu
Liem district in Hanoi conducted an
emergency search of his residence and office
and arrested Lawyer Hoang Dinh Trong
together with Notary Nguyen Quang Anh, in
charge of the Notary office My Dinh, for
alleged "slanders." Lawyer Trong was
urgently apprehended because of his daring
denunciation of CPV officials taking over
public land. In August 2011, Lawyer Huynh
Van Dong had his name removed from the
Bar Association of Lam Dong for alleged
violations of some of its regulations while in
actuality he was trying to defend a number
of peasants in Ben Tre accused of "plotting
to overthrow the government." He had
previously accepted to defend Con Dau
parishioners in Da Nang. The International
Bar Association Human Rights Institute
(IBAHRI) has sent a protest letter to
Vietnam asking that it respect Lawyer
Dong's human rights and professional right.
4. An Inhuman System of Prisons
To deceive the world public opinion, the
Vietnamese government occasionally allows
a certain diplomatic delegation to come to
observe the activities in a prison. To prepare
for the occasion, prisoners are always
coached to get ready several days in advance
about clothes, room cleanliness, and
especially about how to answer questions.
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011
Nevertheless, the reality still exposes the
egregious conditions of Vietnamese prisons
in all aspects: narrow living quarters, lack of
hygiene, insufficient food rations, hard labor,
and regular beatings and tortures. Before
being taken back to prison in 2011, Father
Nguyen Van Ly has sent a letter to the
United Nations to disclose tortures sustained
by political prisoners in communist prisons.
Based on testimonies of five prisoners of
conscience named in the letter, the purposes
of the tortures were to extort and mistreat
these prisoners, who were often kept
together with criminal ones under the control
of infamous "rogues."
Many prisoners of conscience are not
allowed to be in touch with their families.
The recipient of the 2009 Vietnam Human
Rights Award, Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh,
for instance, was arrested in April 2011 but
has since never been allowed to see his
relatives, while his family has no idea of
where he is detained, despite his bad health
condition at the time of his arrest. Dissident
Dieu Cay Nguyen Van Hai, also a recipient
of the 2008 Vietnam Human Rights Award,
is in the same situation: his family has heard
nothing from him since October 2010.
Puih H'Bat, a minority mother of four little
kids, was sentenced to 5 years in prison in
2008 for her being a Protestant follower. She
disappeared without a trace after her
sentence, even her family is ignorant of her
whereabouts, a condition sustained by
hundreds of minority prisoners in the Central
Highlands.
More inhuman has been the communist
treatment given to seriously sick prisoners.
Prisoner of conscience Nguyen Van Trai, 74,
was arrested in 1996 and sentenced to 15
years in prison. Just five months before his
sentence ended, he fell severely sick and was
transferred to a hospital where he was
rejected. His wish to die among his family
members was denied, forcing him to go back
14
to prison where he passed away in solitary
condition on 11 July 2011, one day after his
return there. Worse, his family was not
permitted to bring his corpse home for
burial.
The same fate happened to prisoner of
conscience Truong Van Suong after he had
been held for nearly 30 years in prison. He
had been temporarily allowed to stay home
one year for his medical treatment from July
2010, then in August 2011, he was ordered
to return to his prison in his terminal illness
and died 25 days later.
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011
IV. POLICE BRUTALITY IN A
POLICE STATE
At the end of September 2010, Human
Rights Watch reported that police brutality at
the hands of the Vietnamese police was
substantiated in at least 19 cases, causing 15
deaths, with many victims fatally beaten
while being held for interrogation, or dead
soon after release, or even dead in public as
a result of the police use of unnecessary
force (See Human Rights Watch report
entitled Vietnam: widespread police
brutality; death in custody, published on 22
September 2010)
In 2011, the same condition of police
brutality continued to haunt the people.
Besides daily brutalities causing injuries to
innocent people in the cities as well as in the
countryside, the following notorious cases
have been reported on quite widely on
Internet blogs:
- On 02 March 2011, police Lt. Col.
Nguyen Van Ninh of Thinh Liet
quarter, Hoang Mai district, Hanoi,
beat Mr. Trinh Xuan Tung, 54, a
resident of 252 Tran Khat Chan
Street, Hai Ba Trung district, also in
Hanoi, and broke two of his cervical
bones, causing paralysis to his limbs
and blockage to his respiratory
system. Instead of getting him help,
the police brought him to the police
station for further brutality until he
fell unconscious; learning of his
situation, his family tried to take him
to the hospital but was prevented
from doing so. It's unthinkable that a
citizen would meet his death merely
for failing to wear his safety helmet
while riding on a public motorcycle- -
the reason for which he was stopped
by the police.
15
- On 30 March 2011, police Jr. Capt.
Vo Van Ut Deo, Warrant Officer
Danh Nhan, and Sergeant Tran Tuan
Khai, together with militiaman Tran
Quoc Thang of the Nga Nam town,
Soc Trang province, used a baton to
hit Mr. Tran Van Du, 44, a resident
of hamlet 3 in the same town, and
beat him unconcious. They then
dragged him to the hedge next to the
town administrative office and let
him die there in the dark.
- On 25 April 2011, Mr. Nguyen Cong
Nhut, 30, former Head of the Product
Management office of Kumbo car
tire company, died while in
temporary custody by the police legal
assistance section of Ben Cat district,
Binh Duong province, after 5 days of
illegal detention. His family was
subsequently told by the police that
he had hanged himself, however,
they found signs of beating on his
body, a lot of blood, and electric
torture marks on his limbs.
- On 10 January 2012, Bac Giang
provincial police severely hit Mr.
Nguyen Van Hung, 50, a resident of
Quyet Tien hamlet, Tien Phong
village, Yen Dung district, and a
protester against forced land
confiscation. Due to his poverty, he
could not afford to pay for his
treatments in a hospital and died at
home on 26 January 2012. When
local authorities had mobilized both
police and civilian guards to forcibly
take away one acre of his land, he
tried to prevent their forcible seizure.
They later accused him of resisting
authorities as they tried to carry out
their duty.
The brutal resort to force by government
forces affects not only individuals but also a
wider range of victims in different
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011
environments. In June, July, and August of
2011, while thousands of demonstrators
paraded peacefully both in Hanoi and Saigon
to stir public opinion and warn the
government of the risk of losing land and sea
territories to the greedy Chinese
expansionists, the government mobilized a
large police force, especially
plainclothesmen, to pursue, arrest, and
brutally beat many of them right on the
streets. The image of a demonstrator being
carried like a pig with his face upward by 4
policemen to a bus for another policeman in
civilian clothes standing at the door of the
bus to pound on his face with his boot
several times, has been widely circulated on
the Internet to stunt the world.
To deal with the demands of the victims of
land injustice in their class- action petitions
or with the people's obstruction of forced and
unjust confiscation that is happening more
and more every day, the government, instead
of talking with the people, used riot police
and trained dogs together with vehicles to
brutally repress them, injuring them and
even causing fatalities to them. (See section
"Victims of Land Injustice" of this report)
Especially, minority people living in remote
areas hard to access by the outside world
have to suffer systematic suppression by
police resort to brutality. Most outstanding
is the case in May 2011 in Muong Nhe
district, Dien Bien province, when thousands
of police and border guards carried out a
bloody massacre against the H'Mong
demonstrators for freedom of religion and
respect for their own culture and customs.
According to a report by the US -based
Center for Public Policy Analysis, the
number of casualties reached 72 people.9
9 Vietnam Forces Kill 72 Hmong, Hundreds Arrested
and Flee, http : / /www.cppa - dc.org /id67.html
(accessed 21 Jan 2012)
16
A new kind of brutality has been applied in
recent years under the pretext that "the
people take things in their hands," a
substitute for police action. On the
afternoon of 03 November 2011, a group of
hooligans broke into the Thai Ha church to
destroy its inside, cause disorder, and harass
its members. The state media explained that
the incident was a reaction of angry people.
Even the forced land confiscation and
leveling of the house of Mr. Doan Van Vuon
early in 2012 were explained away by the
deputy chairman of the Hai Phong people's
committee as a mass reaction by people who
are upset. In reality, the term "people's self -
initiated action" is merely a disguise for
government- sponsored terrorism, organized
by the authorities themselves to spread fear
as well as to avoid responsibilities.
This trend toward anti - people brutality has
not only become second nature to the police,
it is also a clear sign that the ruling
communist party intended this brutality as a
state policy to spread fear in people. The
Vietnamese public security forces' slogan,
"either the party and me or nothing,"
confirms that the police is a suppressing tool
for the regime in maintaining the monopoly
of power for the communists. So it's no
surprise that among the 14 members of the
CPV Politburo elected at the 11th Congress
there are three persons with Public Security
background, including Prime Minister
Nguyen Tan Dung; and among the 175
members of the CPV Central Committee
there are nine holding important positions in
the police service. Police apparatus has
recently inflated in membership with 6
deputy ministers holding the rank of
lieutenant general. Despite their being held
in contempt by the people, the police have
always been praised by the state, as proven
by Premier Nguyen Tan Dung's awarding of
medals to them on 03 April 2011, with a
commendation that "the party and state
always highly value the great
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011
accomplishments, devotion, and sacrifice of
the police forces in the building and defense
of the fatherland. Their huge victories and
outstanding achievements have been a
combination of their absolute loyalty to the
party, the state, the fatherland, and the
people." 10
10 CAND "Trao tang phan thLr&ng cao quy cua Hang,
Nha nLr&c cho cac tap the, ca nh5n c6 thanh tich
xuat sac trong six nghiep bao ve ANTQ ",
http://www.cand.com.vn/News/PrintView.aspx?ID=l
47045 (accessed 19 Jan 2012)
17
V. NO FREEDOM OF RELIGION
In 2006 the U.S. State Department decided
to remove Vietnam from the list of
`Countries of Particular Concern' (CPC) but
this has not ameliorated the situation of
freedom of religion in this country. Indeed,
from the sight of crowds at religious
festivals, churches, or pagodas in Vietnam in
the last several years, one easily gets the
impression that religion is thriving in
Vietnam, and some U.S. officials are
convinced that there have been "strong
improvements"" in religious freedom. In
actuality, however, this is a misleading
impression for the Vietnamese government
keeps in place all the measures it has devised
in the past to control and oppress various
churches as well as other civil society
organizations despite the fact that religious
freedom is written in the Constitution of the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Art. 70).
Restrictions on religious activities continue
to be imposed by means of-
- Legal prohibition,
- Organizational control, and
- Violent suppression.
1. Legal Prohibition
In 2004, the "Ordinance on Beliefs and
Religions" was promulgated by the Standing
Committee of the SRV National Assembly.
Many people had thought that this was a step
forward in the respect and guarantee of
religious freedom in Vietnam; in reality, it is
used to obstruct various churches from
exercising their religious freedom by, among
many measures, outlawing some of these
11 Remarks by Ambassador Michael W. Michalak at
Human Rights Day Event,
http://vietnam.usembassy.gov/ambspeechl209lO.ht
ml (accessed 18 Dec 2011)
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011
churches through registration requirements
and guiding the churches' religious tasks
toward the state's political ends. For
instance, religious and theological education
must push the type of "patriotism" favored
by the communist party, i.e. "socialism. 1112
In April 2011, the Government Committee
for Religious Affairs held a number of
seminars on a new draft of the Government
Decree on Religious Freedom 2011 intended
to replace the Government Decree
22 /2005/ND -CP. Despite loud publicity, the
document turned out to be very much similar
to the 1991 and 2005 decrees. On 13 May
2011, representatives from dioceses in the
Ecclesiatical Province of Saigon, through a
conference, made a number of
recommendations to the government with the
comment that "Overall, the proposed decree
intended to replace the Government Decree
22/2005 is a huge retrograde step compared
to the original one, the Ordinance on Beliefs
and Religions, and the Constitution.
Essentially, the proposed amendments of the
decree reflect the desire of the government to
re- establish the mechanism of Asking and
Granting in religious activities. The Asking
and Granting process turns the legitimate
rights of citizens into privileges in the hands
of government officials who would grant or
withhold them from people through
bureaucratic procedures. The mechanism of
Asking and Granting, hence, does not only
eliminate the freedom rights of people, but
also turns a `government of people by people
and for people' in to a `Master of the
country' who holds in his hands all the
rights, and grants or withholds them to
people as his random mood swings . ,,13
12 Ordinance on Beliefs and Religions, Chapter 1,
Article 2
13 Comments of Archdiocese of Saigon on the draft
amendments for the Government Decree 22/2005
NE)-CP, http: / /vietcatholic.org /News /Html /90073.htm
(accessed 15 Dec 2011)
18
In addition to binding laws meant to restrict
religious activities, the government also
abuses the notorious articles 79, 87, 88, and
89 of the 2009 Criminal Code 14 to prosecute
religious freedom activists:
- On 13 December 2011 , Mr. Nguyen
Van Lia and Mr. Tran Hoai An of the
Hoa Hao Buddhist Church were
sentenced in An Giang to 5 and 3
years in prison, respectively,
pursuant to Art. 258 of the Criminal
Code, for the so- called "abuse of
democratic freedoms to infringe upon
the interests of the State, the
legitimate rights and interests of
organizations and /or citizens."
- On 10 November 2011, two
Vietnamese Falun Gong practitioners
Vu Due Trung and Le Van Thanh,
after 17 months in detention, were
sentenced to 2 and 3 years in prison
respectively for their alleged "illegal
use of information in computer
networks," pursuant to Art. 226 of
the Criminal Code. The pair had set
up the Sound of Hope radio station to
broadcast toward China to report on
human rights abuses, corruption, and
repression of Falun Gong
practitioners and other persecuted
groups.
- On 28 April 2011, Pastor Nguyen
Cong Chinh was arrested for
allegedly "undermining the national
unity policy" pursuant to Art. 87 of
the Criminal Code. He is still being
prevented from seeing members of
his family since his arrest more than
10 months ago.
14 Art. 79: Carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing
the people's administration; Art. 87: Undermining the
unity policy; Art. 88: Conducting propaganda against
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam; and Art. 89:
Disrupting security.
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011
Furthermore, to limit the activities and
influences of religious organizations, the
government resorts to the 2003 Land Law to
permanently take away the churches'
properties including schools, infirmaries, and
social services offices. The forceful
confiscation of the Thai Ha Redemptorists'
properties in Hanoi was the most disturbing
event in the year 2011.
2. Organizational Control
To facilitate its control of religious
organizations, the CPV has, for many years,
shown itself especially concerned about the
personnel in leading positions in various
religious organizations. In 2011, besides
elevating the Government Committee for
Religious Affairs, a disguised religious
police force, with the assignment of Mr.
Nguyen Thai Binh, a member of the CPV
Central Committee, to lead it in the capacity
of a deputy minister, 15 the communist
authorities kept requiring all religious
organizations to "register activities," and
issuing "certificates" to them. Religious
activities such as training sessions, spiritual
retreats, processions, etc., must all have
previous permission before they can
proceed.
The communist government continues its
"Divide and conquer" policy with all
religions. To each religion, there is always a
"state- imposed committee" under the
permanent supervision of the "Fatherland
Front" to coordinate activities "in
compliance with the official policy of the
regime." As for Buddhism, the government
only recognizes the state -run Buddhist
Church of Vietnam, while outlawing the
15 Update: On 08 February 2012 Mr Nguyen Thai Binh
was replaced by Police Lieutenant General Pham
Dung, head of the General Department of Security
II, as head of the Government Committee for
Religious Affairs.
19
Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam and
keeping it under permanent surveillance and
oppression. In the case of the Hoa Hao
Buddhist Church, the State disallowed the
Orthodox Hoa Hao Buddhist Church, and
installed a pro - government Hoa Hao
Buddhist Representative Board. As for
Khmer -Krom Buddhists, the government
dispersed the Khmer -Krom Theravada
Buddhist Associations, and forced Khmer -
Krom Buddhist monks to join the Patriotic
United Buddhist Association. With respect
to the Vietnamese Catholic Church, the
communists diminish the role of the Vietnam
Catholic Conference of Bishops by fostering
the Vietnam Committee for Catholic
Solidarity.
The recruitment, training, ordainment,
appointment, and transfer of religious
officials all require the sanction in advance
of the state. The training programs for
seminarians and other grassroots cadres have
to be reviewed by the state and include such
subjects as Marxist/Leninist ideology, Ho
Chi Minh thought, history of the CPV, and
the SRV legal system, taught by state
instructors.
Candidates to high - ranking positions in any
religion must be vetted and approved by the
state's central level before they can be
accepted. Worse still, police agents disguised
as "clergymen," particularly Buddhist ones,
are also formed by the authorities to secretly
work in temples and religious institutions
both at home and abroad, in order to rig the
religious rank and file.
Travel for religious purposes is also
restricted. Typical are the cases of Father
Pham Trung Thanh, the provincial superior
of the Redemptorists in Vietnam, and his
head clerk, Father Dinh Huu Thoai. They
were stopped at Tan Son Nhut Airport and
the Tay ninh frontier post in July 2011. The
blockade of Giac Minh temple in Da Nang in
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011
August 2011 was also an unmistakable case
of restriction of religious freedom.
Except for worshipping, catechism
instruction, and clergy training, all other
religious activities such as the opening of
schools and hospitals, and charities (in
response to disasters or social problems) are
still restricted. In education, for instance, the
various churches can only open
kindergartens, but not elementary or
secondary schools, colleges or universities
(as was the case in South Vietnam before
1975). Thousands of facilities devoted to
such activities before 1975 have been
confiscated by the authorities and put to
other uses for decades, with almost none of
them returned.
3. Violent Suppression
Together with sophisticated measures of
prevention, restriction, and control, the
Vietnamese communist government has
always been ready to use armed violence to
suppress religious organizations when
necessary, as a means of advanced warnings
or when an event escapes its control. In
2011, the use of violence to suppress
religious activities continued throughout the
year. Following are some typical cases that
attracted great public concerns:
- On 3 December 2011, hundreds of
"self- motivated" people broke into
the Thai Ha church in Hanoi, causing
trouble and attacking the priests
while a strong force of uniformed
police and plainclothesmen stood
outside in readiness to protect the
troublemakers inside.
- From July to December of 2011, a
round of arrests targeting catholic
youths of the Diocese of Vinh who
have supported the Thai Ha Parish
resulted in 17 victims altogether. So
far they have been held
20
incommunicado and no news has
leaked out about their condition.
- On 25 July 2011, Father Nguyen Van
Ly, a tireless human rights activist
with his well -known motto
"Religious freedom or death," was
taken back to his prison after nearly
16 months allowed out for medical
treatment. He was, however, still
kept under house arrest, despite his
fragile health due to his previous
strokes in prison.
- On 7 July 2011, police and other
security forces surrounded the Buon
Kret Krot hamlet in Mang Yang
district of Gia Lai province, and
attacked a group of Christian
Montagnards during a prayer session.
12 men and 4 women were injured;
others were detained and tortured.
- On 30 April 2011, from 5 to 8
thousand H'Mong people gathered
for a religious event and
demonstration in favor of reforms
and respect for religious freedom at
an area near Huoi Khon hamlet of
Nam Ke in the Muong Nhe district,
province of Dien Bien. On May 4
and 5, police and borders troops were
mobilised together with tanks and
helicopters to repress and disperse
them. According to the Center for
Public Policy Analysis (CPPA), there
were 72 deaths and hundreds of
injured or missing.
The typical cases detailed above clearly
show that, although they loudly claim
respect for religious freedom, the
Vietnamese communists have never ceased
to suppress religions and harass the faithful
of all denominations. The communists are
very suspicious of religions not only because
of their atheist ideology, but mainly because
of their belief that religious organizations are
a threat to the regime's survival.
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011
VI. WORKERS IN THE TRICKY
HANDS OF THE STATE AND
BUSINESS BOSSES
Following the economic opening policies in
the '90s, and thanks to the foreign firms'
investments, the number of Vietnamese
workers in the private sector increased
significantly. However, due to the absence of
effective labor protection and especially
because of the officials' greedy involvement
with business bosses to exploit the workers'
labor and squeeze them to the bones, the
society became insecure for everyone. In
2011, the workers' situation became so
unbearable that they had to resort more and
more to wildcat strikes while labor unions, a
tool of the CPV, always sided with the
business bosses; the state continued its labor
union monopoly and exerted ruthless
oppression against human rights activists
who dared to defend the workers. Besides,
the state maintained the regime of forced
labor in some institutions - -a fact known for
many years and which very much concerned
public opinion.
1. More and More Wildcat Strikes
According to statistics provided by the
Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social
Affairs, the number of wildcat strikes
doubled in 201116, up to 857 instances from
January to November 2011, from 422 cases
in the same period of 2010, mainly caused
by terribly low wages. Besides, the workers
were not only forced to work over time
without compensation and in extremely risky
conditions, they could be fired any time for
even petty reasons. According to Dr. Tran
16 VnExpress.net, "Binh cling 2011 tang gap d6i nam
trubc ", http: / /vnexpress.net/g1 /kinh-
doanh /2012/01 /di nh-cong- 2011- tang - gap- doi -nam-
truoc/ (accessed 14 Jan 2012)
21
Thi Ngoc Lan, General Deputy Director of
Vietnam Administration for Preventive.
Medicine and Environment, Ministry of
Health, each year, there are 1600 -1700
deaths due to work - related accidents. The
number of people who suffer severe
accidents and need long -term treatment is 20
times the number of deaths (approximately
34,000 people); the number of slightly
injured workers treated 1 day or more is 50
times the number of deaths (equivalent to
95,000). This figure is roughly 15 times
more than the reports from the Ministry of
Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs i'
To increase the workers' purchasing power,
the government has raised the minimum
wage four times since 2008, the last one in
October 2011. Nevertheless, a recent
research by Vietnam General Confederation
of Labor's Institute of Workers and Trade
Union disclosed that the new minimum wage
— from 1,4 to 2 million longs (VN$)
depending on localities, equaling US$ 70-
100 — could only meet 56.7% to 65.7% of
the workers' minimal needs,18 while the
social gap between the rich and the poor kept
widening. Together with the galloping
inflation and devaluation of the Vietnamese
currency, this gap becomes wider and results
in an explosion of strikes.
A remarkable point is that all strikes in
Vietnam are self initiated, mostly occurring
in orderly fashion and without violence. The
firms' labor unions generally side with the
bosses to oppose the workers' legitimate
demands, typically the largest strike of the
year took place from June 21 -29,
" Dan Viet, "Tai nan lao dong cao gap nhieu Ian bao
cao," http: / /danviet.vn /77455pl c24 /tai - nan -lao-
dong -cao- gap - nhieu- Ian - bao - cao.htm (accessed 23
Feb 2012)
'$ Vietnam Investment Review, "Workers' income far
below cost of living ",
http: / /www.vi r. com. vn /news /cove rage /workers-
income - far - below- cost- of- living.html (accessed 29
Dec 2011)
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011
participated by over sixty thousand workers
at the shoe factory Pou Yuen, owned by a
Taiwanese capitalist. During the eight days
of the strike, not a word was heard from
labor union and party officials, who had
links of interest with the firm's boss. Yet,
about 20 workers were arrested by the
police.
Theoretically, the 1994 Labor Law
authorizes "the workers to strike in
accordance with the laws," (Article 4,
Section 7). Meanwhile, the Trade Union
Law only permits strikes through the state
labor unions (Article 2, Section 11). This
means that the workers themselves cannot
strike, a consequence of the legal confusion
that attempts to rob the workers of their right
to strike or worse, to outlaw it.
Supplementary documents attached to the
Labor Law, moreover, plan to criminally
punish those who "incite, draw, or force"
workers to go on strike, creating more
restrictions for "illegal" strikes. On 4
January 2011, a Memo No. 930 /LDTBXH-
LDTL was sent by the Ministry of Labor,
Invalids and Social Affairs to Chairmen of
provincial and city people's committees
requesting them to strengthen their
preventive measures against labor conflicts.
2. Labor Unions — A State Monopoly
Although the Vietnam General
Confederation of Labor currently has more
than 7 million members in 105,000
grassroots unions, but legally and in reality,
this organization is merely a state product
controlled by the CPV leaders. The Trade
Union Law of 1990 clearly stipulates that
labor union is a workers' class organization
,'voluntarily formed under the CPV
leadership" (Article 1); yet, the organization
and activities of unions at factories are all
actually directed and controlled by
grassroots CPV officials acting as political
agents whose duty is to carry out the CPV
22
platform and policies. At the central level,
the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor
is led by Mr. Dang Ngoc Tung, a member of
the CPV Central Committee, who is
responsible for obstructing the workers from
unifying into groups beyond the CPV
control, and in training local cadres on how
to prevent and dissolve workers' strikes.
Facing multiple strikes in recent years while
attempting to maintain social stability, the
Vietnamese authorities plan to change their
1990 Labor Law. An amendment bill was set
for discussion on 22 November 2011 by the
National Assembly and is expected to be
passed in May 2012. Nevertheless, based on
what has gone through at discussion
sessions, the core issue of the labor union's
legal position and its role will remain
unchanged. The amendment still confirms
that the labor union is the only representative
of the workers class and laborers under CPV
leadership, implying that besides the General
Confederation, a CPV tool, there won't be
any other acceptable union.
3. Forced Labor
Forced labor is the result of much human
trafficking and explains much of the
hardship that Vietnamese export workers
have had to undergo in the countries of
destination. In the CPV officials' view, it is
quite normal when their victims are forced to
work in drastic conditions beyond any
expectation, especially after 1975 in South
Vietnam when hundreds of thousands of
people associated with the former Republic
of Vietnam (RVN), both civilian and
military, were tricked into filling the so-
called `re- education camps.'
In 2011, however, the forced labor regime in
Vietnam drew the concern of world public
opinion through a report by the Human
Rights Watch entitled "The Rehab
Archipelago: Forced Labor and Other
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011
Abuses in Drug Detention, " which exposed
the true face of the so- called "rehab centers,"
actually concentration camps where labor is
forced on drug addicts for profit. According
to the same agency, there were in 2000 up to
56 such centers nationwide, increasing to
123 in 2011. During this period, up to
309,000 victims were detained there.
Almost all of them went through no legal
procedures, and once in detention, they had
to work really hard to produce manual and
agricultural commodities for both the
internal and overseas markets without
receiving any reward for their labor. Instead,
they were subjected to punishments and
torture for any attempt to avoid working or
failure to achieve the production goals. In
sickness, they were totally neglected without
medical treatment, even the basic one. Some
of those with HIV were still forced to work
until death. Vietnam has been reminded by
Human Rights Watch to close these centers
and investigate wrong activities there,
including arrest at will, torture, and abuse of
labor for profit. Also, the government of
Vietnam was requested to reconsider its
financial support for these centers and order
the companies that do business with them to
stop their contracts of using forced labor.
Another aspect of the forced labor is the
mistreatment of children by forcing them to
work in risky conditions. Nevertheless, the
government, with the assistance of
international child - protection agencies,
ambitiously planned to end this vice within 4
years (2010 - 2015), while millions children
are still having to work to increase their
families' income. A number of them can
work and go to school at the same time, but
many others in the countryside have no way
to know what schooling is. They either have
to work hard as servants in rich families, or
selling lottery tickets or doing shoeshine in
public places, or laboring in handicraft
23
factories or sewing firms. Most of them were
brought in from isolated rural areas. 19
4. Oppression against Activists Fighting
for Workers
Together with the monopoly of labor unions
and obstruction of strikes, the Vietnamese
government ruthlessly oppresses all
individuals and movements fighting for
workers' rights and /or trying to form
independent labor unions. Since 2006, along
with strikes in many places in the country,
especially in the South, many individuals
have come together to demand the
government to ameliorate the workers' life,
particularly to allow the formation of free
labor unions according to the International
Human Rights Law and in compliance with
international labor legal standards. Such
pioneer labor activists as Nguyen Khac
Toan, Cao Van Nham, Le Thi Cong Nhan,
Tran Khai Thanh Thuy, Tran Quoc Hien,
Doan Van Dien, Tran Thi Le Hang, Le Ba
Triet... have one after the other been arrested
and imprisoned for their alleged crime of
"anti -state propaganda" (Article 88) or
"attempting to overthrow the government"
(Article 79), of the 1999 Criminal Law.
Among those held and since then
mysteriously disappeared is Le Tri Tue, co-
founder of the Independent Labor Union,
who was kidnapped in Cambodia's capital of
Phnom Penh in May 2007 and secretly taken
back to Vietnam.
The suppression of the workers' rights
reached its highest point in 2010 with the
harsh sentences meted out to the following
three leading activists of the United
Workers- Farmers Organization: Nguyen
19 The Australian, "Child slavery bust in Vietnam with
Australian charity's help"
http: / /www.theaustralian.com.au /news /breaking-
news /ch i Id- slavery- bust -in- vietnam- with- australian-
chritys -help /story- fn3dxity- 1226154227881
(accessed 29 Dec 2011)
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011
Hoang Quoc Hung (9 years in prison), Doan
Huy Chuong and Do Thi Minh Hanh (7
years in prison each). As with other
dissidents, they were accused of "disturbing
the security and order in an attempt to
oppose the people's government" per Article
89 of the Criminal Law.
In addition to retaining the sentences against
the three leaders of the United Workers -
Farmers Organization in the final court trial
without defendant lawyers in Tra Vinh on 18
March 2011, the government continues to
suppress and arrest those who dare to fight
for the workers' rights. Typically, there were
arrests made at two limited - liability
companies as Namyang in Bien Hoa at the
end of December 2010, and Chutex in the
Industrial Complex Song Than 2 in Di An
early in 2011. Besides, free -lance journalist
Le Thanh Tung was attacked by secret police
when he was interviewing workers on strike
at the industrial complex Quang Minh of the
Me Linh district outside of Hanoi on 15
April 2011.
24
VII. "VICTIMS OF LAND
INJUSTICE"
OR THE STORY OF LAND
RIGHTS PETITIONERS
According to the 2010 statistics released by
the Directorate General of Statistics, nearly
70% of the Vietnamese people were living in
the countryside. To the farmers, farm land,
in addition to its economic value, also carries
an important spiritual meaning, tying them to
their history, ancestors and community.
Since the communist takeover of the whole
country, land becomes "the property of the
entire people, uniformly managed by the
State." (Art.l of the Land Law of 1993).
People can only exchange or purchase land
use certificates. The abolition of private land
property has thus caused countless injustice
and unfairness to all classes of people,
especially to the farmers in the countryside.
After introducing the "socialist- oriented
market economy," and thanks to foreign
financial aid or investment, the Vietnamese
government has launched several programs
in recent years to develop infrastructures
such as roads, industrial parks, eco- tourism
zones, and other essential public works. One
of the primary factors involved in those
economic projects is land. According to a
recent report by the Embassy of Denmark,
the World Bank, and the Embassy of
Sweden, "during the period 2001 -2010,
nearly one million hectares of agricultural
land were converted to land used for non-
agricultural purposes, and more than 5
million hectares of unused land (62% of total
unused land in the year 2000) were
converted into land for various useful
purposes.
»20
20 Recognizing and Reducing Corruption Risks in Land
Management in Vietnam, National Political
Publishing House — Su That, Hanoi 2011, p. ix
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011
Besides the clearance of land for economic
proj ects, different intertwined and
contradictory reasons were advanced to
allow for the state's interference in land
management. Examples include its refusal to
return the cultivated land assigned to the
already dissolved production cooperatives,
construction land confiscated during the
industrial - commercial transformation
without proper paperwork, or church
properties taken by force or permitted to use
conditionally.
It's worthy to note that while conducting site
clearance activities, government cadres
deliberately overestimate the needs of the
intended plan to grab as much land as
possible, so they could appropriate the
surplus, and resell it to developers who are
willing to pay the highest price possible
(usually 10 times more than the
reimbursement rates or even higher) and
pocket the difference. The government's
2011 anti - corruption report ranked land -
related corruption as number one in
quantitative terms and level of severity
among the state activities in taxes, customs,
and economic policy. This often happened
to some of the most fertile land cultivated by
generations of farmers, causing great losses
to impoverished and powerless farmers who
do not know where to turn to address their
grievances. Corruption and injustice in land
management also makes a significant
contribution to the growing gap in the
society between the rich and the poor. Rich
cadres are getting richer while poor farmers
are reduced to dire poverty. In the past
several years, the number of state officials
and land speculators who collaborated with
them became billionaires at a shocking rate.
This tragic situation has persisted throughout
the years; however in recent days it has
become even worse.
In his press conference on 9 January 2012
about land complaints, the Deputy Inspector
General Nguyen Due Hanh disclosed that
25
complaints about land compensation, and
clearance made up almost 80% of the total
cases, and up to 50% of them were
legitimate .21 Thousands of landless farmers
who do not know where to get help flocked
to Hanoi, Saigon and other major
metropolises across the country to claim
compensation for land seized by authorities
for `development purposes.' They stage
long - running protests outside public
buildings, such as the National Assembly in
Hanoi or other local government offices, to
denounce corruption and injustice toward
dispossessed farmers, and ask for fair
compensation.
This tragic situation persists and gets worse
through the years. Despite their reasonable
complaints, the victims of land injustice
hardly ever received decent settlement;
instead they were subject to retaliation and
violent suppression, causing injuries and
sometimes death as in the case of Mr
Nguyen Van Hung in Bac Giang province on
26 January 2012. Several deeply resenting
victims had to commit suicide to expose
their miseries at the unjust treatment, such as
engineer Phan Thanh Son who burned
himself on 18 February 2011 in front of the
Da Nang People's Committee office to
protest the state's confiscation of his land in
exchange for an improper compensation.
Others were pushed to using violence to
defend justice as in the case of Ky Loi
village of Ky Anh district of Ha Tinh
province people who held 5 police agents as
hostages to deal with the authorities'
threatening demand to build a deep water
port, proposed by a Taiwanese company in
March 2011. Most recently, the serious case
of Mr. Doan Van Vuon's family in Tien
Lang district of Hai Phong city using
21 Tien Phong (The Vanguard), "Khieu nai, to cao
dung ve dat dai chiem tai 50W,
http://www.tienphong.vn/Thoi-Su/562637/Khieu-nai-
to-cao-d u ng- ve -dat -d a i -ch iem- toi- 50 -tpp. html
(accessed 29/12/2011).
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011
weapons to cause injuries to several police
agents on 5 January 2012 when they came to
carry out the forced confiscation of land that
they had worked very hard for nearly 20
years to build up, including the sacrifice of
an eight - year -old daughter's life.
Meanwhile human rights activists seeking to
defend the victims of land injustice have
suffered from increased threats, arrest, and
imprisonment for supposedly `inciting
people to demonstrate and creating public
unrest.' Such was the case of activists
working for the interest of victims of land
injustice like Ho Thi Bich Khuong of Nghe
An, sentenced on 29 December 2011 for 5
years in prison and 3 years under house
arrest allegedly for her "anti -state
propaganda" against the Socialist Republic
of Vietnam; Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Cuong and
his son Nguyen Ngoc Tuong Thi in Dong
Nai province, sentenced on 21 October 2011
for 7 and 5 years in prison respectively for
the same alleged crime. They were actually
working to represent the peasants involved
in land fights against local government. On
30 May 2011, the people's court of Ben Tre
province gave the following sentences to
seven activists who had tried to defend
victims of land injustice: Mrs. Tran Thi
Thuy, 8 years in prison; Mr. Pham Van
Thong, 7 years in prison; Pastor Duong Kim
Khai, 6 years in prison; Mr. Cao Van Tinh, 5
years in prison; and 2 years in prison each
for Mr. Nguyen Chi Thanh, Mr. Nguyen
Thanh Van, and Mrs. Pham Ngoc Hoa.
Totally, nearly 60 years of imprisonment
were given to seven activists for their alleged
crime of "plotting to overthrow the people's
government" while in actuality they were
only striving to help victims of land
injustice. In addition to these sentences, the
Vietnamese communist authorities also
arrested other victims of land injustice
activists, such as Mrs. Le Thi Ngoc Da in
Long An on 27 April 2011 and Mr. Le
Thanh Tung in Hanoi on 01 December 2011.
26
Here are some typical cases reflecting the
condition of the victims of land injustice in
their class - action petitions in 2011:
- Early in December 2011, many
victims of injustice in La Nga area of
Dong Nai province demonstrated to
demand that state officials be ordered
to return their land and homestead, or
to compensate them appropriately.
However, local government used
forces, including 113 police agents
and cadres in coordination with the
La Nga sugar factory, equipped with
fire hoses, weapons, batons, tear gas,
whips, special vehicles, prison trucks,
etc., to suppress, dominate, and
disperse them.
- On 27 October 2011, numerous
faithful, priests, and members of the
Thai Ha parish assembled in front of
the Dong Da district people's
committee office in Hanoi to submit
their request for the return to the
Redemptorist monastery land that has
long been unjustly occupied by the
government.
- On 10 May 2011, about 50 victims of
land injustice from Tien Giang
province continued their
demonstration outside the Ben Thanh
market in Saigon to demand the
return of their land and homes as well
as the release of Mrs. Tran Thi
Hoang, a victim of land injustice
apprehended in a previous
demonstration. The police brought in
trucks to disperse the group and
forced demonstrators to be
transported back to Tien Giang.
- On 27 April 2011, hundreds of
people from Hung Yen assembled in
front of the National Assembly in
central Hanoi to protest the
government's confiscation of their
land to build the Ecopark urban zone.
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011
Meanwhile, a group of victims of
land injustice from Bac Giang
province gathered in front of the
provincial people's committee to urge
for a solution to their land situation.
Subsequently, they were detained by
the police.
- On 21 and 28 February, and on 14
March 2011, numerous victims of
land injustice from the provinces of
Binh Thuan, Ben Tre, Dong Thap,
Can Gio, assembled in front of the
Government Inspection Office at 201
Vo Thi Sau Street in Saigon to
demonstrate and demand the return
of their land and homes taken by
force by the authorities. Security
forces were called in to suppress and
disperse them.
27
VIII. HUMAN TRAFFICKING
In March 2011, after much international
prodding and pressure, the Vietnamese
National Assembly passed the Law on
Prevention, Suppression Against Human
Trafficking. At the same time, Premier
Nguyen Tan Dung signed a decision in
August 2011 for a 5 -year anti -human
trafficking program, to be carried out from
2011 to 2015, with an estimated funding of
270 billion longs (roughly 13 million US
dollars). Nonetheless, the human trafficking
problem in Vietnam kept becoming
increasingly serious, instead of being
ameliorated.
In a related seminar held by the Hanoi
Justice Office on 23 December 2011,
Lieutenant Colonel Duong Van Giap,
Deputy Head of the Criminal Police Service
of Hanoi, admitted that human trafficking
cases kept mounting in a rather complex
fashion.22
The U.S. 2011 Annual Report on
International Human Trafficking continued
to put Vietnam on List 2 for follow -up, as in
2010. This meant that within one year,
Vietnam would, without improvement, be
placed on List 3 with a possible risk of US
sanctions.
Current human trafficking cases involve
three main types of victims: young women
and girls lured to serve as "sex slaves" in
Vietnam or in neighboring countries;
"brides" sent to foreign countries; and export
workers or workers abducted for export
abroad. Notably, many Vietnamese newborn
zz Phap luat Xa hoi, Tho bien phap luat ve phong,
chong mua ban ngLxai ",
http: / /phapl uatxahoi.vn/20111224110715269pl 002c
1022 /phai- tap - trung -vao -n hom -doi- tuong -co -ng uy-
co- cao.htm (accessed 26 Dec 2011).
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011
children have recently been sold across the
border to China, allegedly to meet the need
for boys in Chinese families against their
government's family planning policy.
1. Women and Children Tricked into
Becoming Sex Slaves
According to the statistics issued by Vietnam
Ministry of Public Security, after six years of
implementation of the anti -human trafficking
program, from 2004 to 2010, there were
nationwide some 1,950 trafficking cases
involving women and children carried out by
3,540 suspects and involving 4,800
victims.23 Actually, the number of victims
may be several times higher than that.
The main and direct cause of Vietnamese
women and children being tricked into
becoming sex slaves both in and out of
Vietnam was poverty, a consequence of the
unjust social policies created by the red
capitalists. This sad situation has expanded
significantly after Vietnam chose to follow
the open trade system which allowed for
thieves and suitable conditions for villains to
carry out their illegal activities. Their
victims, sometimes even girls under 10 years
of age, were either tricked by rogues or sold
by their own destitute parents who were
forced to do so in a desperate attempt to
relieve their poverty. They were mostly
given sweet promises of high -waged jobs
abroad. Some were issued legal exit papers
while others were discreetly led through
forests to China or Cambodia or kept in
containers crossing the borders.
In 2011, the trend of women and children
trafficking reached an increase of 70% in
zs Cong an TP Ho Chi Minh (People's Public Security
of Ho Chi Minh City online), "4.800 ngLxai la nan
nhan cua nan buon ban phu nix- tre em ".
http://www.congan.com.vn/?mod=detnews&catid=68
1 &id= 197416 (accessed 28 Dec 2011).
28
North Vietnam with China. Next was
Cambodia; while in recent years, this traffic
has spread to Malaysia, Thailand, Hong
Kong, South Korea, Russia, etc...
With the assistance of international agencies
such as ActionAid Vietnam (AAV), Alliance
Anti - Traffic (ATT), International
Organization for Migration (IOM), United
Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and
International Labor Organization (ILO),
many seminars and recommendations have
been offered in 2011 on the engagement of
women and children in sexual businesses.
However, nothing concrete has yet resulted,
mainly because the government has failed to
give its serious concern and carry out
effective prevention as well as punishment.
After six years of enforcement from 2004 to
2010, the national anti -human trafficking
program has worked only in 12 out of 63
provinces involved . 24
2. Selling of Vietnamese "Brides" to
Foreigners
This is the same problem in scope as that of
tricking women and children into becoming
sex slaves abroad. The main cause was, here
again, poverty created by the government's
policies resulting in great differences of
income and therefore injustice. This has
been a widespread issue among the
provinces in the South for many years before
it openly spread North in recent years. Most
of the victimized young girls came from the
countryside and were lured by mediators into
agreeing to "marry" certain men from
Taiwan, South Korea, China, and then
follow them overseas, without love or even
knowledge of their own background. The
24 flai A Chau Tex Do (Radio Free Asia), Th6ng chbng
bu6n ngLxai tai VN (phan 2),"
http: / /rfavietnam.wordpress.com /2010/11/ 29 /phong-
ch %E1 %BB %91 ng -buon-
ng %C6 %BO %E1 %BB %9Di -t %E1 %BA %A1 i -vn-
ph%E1 %BA %A7n -2/ (accessed 26 Dec 2011).
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011
sights of these victims standing naked in
front of the "foreign candidates" for them to
make their pick at many locations, especially
in the South, have been harshly condemned
by public opinion which considers such
treatment to be more savage than the ancient
slave markets in the West.
Statistically, from 1998 to the end of 2010,
the Vietnam Ministry of Justice has accepted
applications and issued permits for 294,280
Vietnamese women to marry citizens of over
50 nations and territories. The majority of
these hasty marriages was arranged by
profit - making intermediary organizations.
Based on a survey by the Institute of Labor
and Social Sciences, only 7% of these
foreign marriages were initiated by love.25
These unfortunate girls readily accepted to
trade their life for a chance to get rid of their
own and their family's destitution, even to
become sex slaves and hard laborers away
from their home country. Not a few
Vietnamese brides in Taiwanese and South
Korean families have been subjected to
brutality or asked to provide forced sexual
pleasure for more than one person in their
husbands' family; worse, they may even be
sold to brothels. A number have even been
killed by their "husbands" or the husband's
family members, others have had to commit
suicide in desperation.
So far, the Vietnamese government has had
no firm and effective policy to deal with
illegal marriage intermediaries. Criminally,
these lawless activities and "abuses of
marriage registration for profit, sexual
violation, and labor exploitation" are
currently punishable by law (based on
Decision No. 60 /2009/ND -CP) but they can
be fined merely from ten to twenty million
25 Phap Luat, (Law online) "Chi 7% cuoc h6n nhan v&i
ngLxai nLr&c ngoai vi yeu ",
http: / /www.baomoi.com /Home/TinhYeu /www.phaplu
atvn .vn /C h i -7- cuoc -hon- nhan- voi -ng uoi -n uoc -ngoa i-
vi- yeu /6124406.epi (accessed 29 Dec 2011).
29
Vietnamese longs (equal to US$500- 1,000)
in the most flagrant cases.
Worse yet, the government has, since 2010,
established a number of state - managed
agencies in Saigon and the province of Binh
Duong to replace those illegal marriage
intermediaries, obviously showing that it is
still considering women as nothing more
than an export commodity for sale but under
its control, instead of leaving it in the hands
of immoral private persons.
In 2011, a number of seminars were held
regionally and nationwide on consequences
of marriages with foreigners through
intermediaries. Beside the government's
vague decision made at the end of the year
on the formation of inter - branch work teams
to deal with the issue, there has absolutely
been nothing done to punish the criminals or
get this human trafficking business out from
the hands of profit - making intermediaries.
Meanwhile, the state has tried to blame the
pitiful victims for their realistic life style,
laziness in working, and desire to marry
foreigners for profit... just to deny its social
responsibilities for providing its citizens with
decent living conditions, and at the same
time, hide its dark schemes to allow
intermediaries to make profit on the back of
these unfortunate women's suffering and
debasement.
3. Exploitation of Export Workers
In addition to the trafficking in women and
children, the issue of export labor under the
label of "brides" has come to the public
attention only during the last few years.
Even the Law on Prevention, Suppression
Against Human Trafficking, effective as of
March 2011, stopped short at the general
concept of "Forced Labor" and failed to
admit that people who have been tricked into
going abroad to be exploited belong to a
form of human trafficking. There are two
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011
kinds of victims in this category: export
labor according to state programs, and those
tricked by trafficking bands to become labor
slaves overseas.
According to the Foreigners Management
Service, there are about 500,000 workers
currently working in over forty countries and
territories, mostly in Malaysia, South Korea,
Taiwan, and in the Middle East. In 2011,
although a number of them have had to be
repatriated prior to the expiration of their
contracts due to the political upheavals in the
Middle East, the export worker force keeps
growing through the intermediary
companies. Up to November 2011, there had
been 81,475 workers going abroad, at an
average of 8,000 people a month . 26
The majority of these export workers were
victims of intermediary companies that had
links with state officials. The victims had to
mortgage their properties to pay for the fees
charged by the intermediary companies;
however, most of them were neglected by
these greedy agencies when they were badly
mistreated and forced to work awfully hard
in exchange for a pittance by their
employers. In many instances, their
passports were confiscated by the employers,
which turned them into detainees living
miserably under the strictest control by their
bosses.
A research report made in 2011 showed that
100% of export workers had to make loans
or mortgage their properties to pay for
expenses while their wages were not higher
than those of their peers in Vietnam,
sometimes even lower than free helpers at
ports or construction sites', and very hard to
be rehired when they repatriate . 28
26 Cuc Quan ly lao dong ngoai nuac (Department of
Overseas Labour),
http : / /www.dolab.gov.vn /index.aspx ?mid= 1155 &nid =
1720 &sid =11 (accessed 26 Dec 2011).
Z' NgLxai Lao Hong (Laborer), "Giam dan lao dong
sang Malaysia ",
http://nld.com.vn/20110425090339480pl 010cl 011/
30
Another aspect of the human trafficking
issue that deserves attention is that many
youths have been kidnapped or tricked into
working as slaves in China's plantations and
production factories, or forced into growing
and selling heroin (in East Europe, Canada,
England...) Typical was the case of Ms.
Thuy Nguyen in England, who was accused
last November of "exploiting emigrants to
profit an organized international network of
criminals." 29
Article 75 of the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam Constitution states: "The State
protects the legitimate interests of
Vietnamese people residing abroad "; yet, the
reality is, due to the intermediary companies'
fear of losing profitable clients, Vietnam's
embassy officials abroad never offer any
positive help to the victims. A number of
organizations run by overseas Vietnamese,
such as the `Committee to Protect
Vietnamese Workers' and the `Coalition to
Abolish Modern -day Slavery in Asia'
(CAMSA), have made great efforts in
rescuing victims; however, no effective
measures have been enforced to radically
uproot this traffic as it is mainly a collusion
between state officials who provide
cooperation and protection to the rogue
operators and the lack of official supervisory
agencies for these kind of activities.
In conclusion, partly due to the victims'
eagerness to escape from their poverty and
partly due to the illicit participation and
protection by powerful officials for
giam- dan -lao -dong- sang - malaysia.htm (accessed 12
Dec 2011).
zs NgLxai Lao Hong (Laboror), "fli xuat khau lao dong:
Kho giau ",
http://nld.com.vn/20110316113255499pl 010cl 011/
di- xuat - khau -lao- dong- kho- giau.htm (accessed 26
Dec 2011).
29 The UK Border Agency, "UK head of people
smuggling gang jailed ",
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/news
articles /2011 /november /38- people - smuggle
(accessed 18 Dec 2011)
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011
villainous individuals and organizations, the
human trafficking continues to exist under
complicated forms. As a result, victims of
the "modern -day slavery" keep undergoing
humiliating miseries and drastic violations of
their dignity, as well as economic and
cultural hardships.
31
RECOMMENDATIONS
In light of the evidence of egregious and
systematic violations of human rights which
have occurred for many years and still
continue in Vietnam, The Vietnam Human
Rights Network eagerly presents the
following recommendations for:
The Government of Vietnam:
- To seriously honor its international
pledges on human rights as listed in
the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and other international
covenants on human rights, of which
it is a state member or signatory.
- To remove Article 4 of its
Constitution that allows the CPV to
monopolize the national leadership
with dishonest laws and rules in
disregard of the people's basic rights
to develop their personal and social
life.
- To immediately and unconditionally
release all prisoners of conscience
and detained "victims of land
injustice."
- To cease legal sanctions and
persecution against journalists and
citizens peacefully expressing their
opinions through the printed media,
radio and Internet.
- To immediately put an end to the
criminalization of Vietnamese
people's legitimate political
activities; to comply with the
internationally recognized standards
of criminal justice; to halt without
delay the persecution of lawyers; and
to improve the current prison
regimes.
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011
- To end immediately the use of public
security force as a tool for dominance
and oppression by the CPV.
- To respect the freedom of religion by
repealing all legislation that are
intended to restrict the people's
religious practices; not to interfere
with the internal activities of all
religions, and to stop the persecution
of clergy and faithful.
- To amend the Labor Code by
guaranteeing the right to peaceful
assembly and association and allow
the establishment of independent
trade unions.
- To restore the people's private
property rights of land; to put an
immediate end to forced evictions
carried out in contradiction with
international human rights law; and
to return government- confiscated real
properties to their legitimate owners.
- To implement specific measures to
end human trafficking under the
disguised forms of "brides" to
foreigners and export workers.
Democracy -and- Freedom - Loving
Governments:
- To strongly raise concrete violations
of human rights in their human rights
dialogues with Hanoi, forcefully
bring up specific cases of human
rights violations, and demand
concrete resolutions before
proceeding to other general matters.
- To consider Vietnam's achievements
in the realm of human rights as a
prerequisite condition for aid as well
as economic investment projects.
Especially for the U.S. Government:
32
• The U.S. Congress and
organizations unless it ceases to
Senate to enact bills
disregard cited warnings.
"Vietnam Human Rights
Sanctions Act S. 1051 ",
"Vietnam Human Rights Act
The Vietnamese Community Abroad:
HR1410 ", and "Vietnam
_ To make forceful representations in
Human Rights Sanctions Act
parliaments of their countries of
H.R.156 "compelling Vietnam
resettlement and in the court of world
to respect its citizens' basic
public opinion about Hanoi's lapses
rights.
in this area, which qualify it as
• The U.S. State Department to
among the most egregious violators
consider placing Vietnam
of human rights among civilized
back on the CPC list, as
nations on earth.
repeatedly recommended by
_ To continue to provide spiritual and
the U.S. Commission on
material support to human rights
International Religious
activists in Vietnam.
Freedom and other non-
governmental organizations
(such as Human Rights
Watch, Freedom House, and
Amnesty International), as
well as by U.S. members of
Congress.
International Human Rights
Organizations:
- To continue to monitor closely the
human rights condition in Vietnam,
and raise their voice to forcefully
condemn instances of grave human
rights abuses committed by the
Vietnamese authorities.
- To remove Vietnam from
international human rights
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011 33
APPENDIX
PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE IN VIETNAM*
(Updated by Vietnam Human Rights Network as of March 2012)
In prison: 163 persons
1. A Thien: Born: 1983. The minority ethnic group in Gia Lai, arrested 20/11/2010 in
Hochiminh City for alleged affiliation with the Vietnamese- Love - Vietnamese Party
(Nguoi Viet Yeu Nguoi Viet). Charge unknown. Prison: B20 Detention Center in Gia Lai.
2. Ama Help: Born: 1950. The minority ethnic group in Daklak, an Evangelist follower.
Arrested 2002, sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for "undermining unity policy" under
Article 87 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Prison: Ba Sao, Phu Ly, Ha Nam.
3. Bui Dang Thuy (Bui Dang Thuy): Born: 1950. Former pilot of the Republic of Vietnam
Air Force, member of The People's Action Party of Vietnam (Dang Nhan Dan Hanh
Dong), arrested in 1997, sentenced to 18 years in prison, under Article 91 of the
Vietnamese Penal code on "Fleeing abroad or defecting to stay overseas with a view to
opposing the people' administration" in 09/1999; currently imprisoned at Section K -2 of
Xuan -Loc Camp in Dong -Nai Province.
4. Bui Tan Nha (Bui Tan Nhd): Born: 1953. Former Treasurer of the Hoa -Hao Buddhist
(pre- 1975), arrest on 07/13/1997, sentenced to life imprisonment, under Article 79 of the
1999 Penal code on "activities aimed at overthrowing the people's administration" on
07/13/1997; currently imprisoned at Xuan -Loc Camp in Dong -Nai Province
5. Bui Thi Minh Hang (Bui Thi Minh Hang): Born: 1964. Anti -China
protestor /demonstrator, arrested on 11/27/2011 for 2 years of "re- education" based on
"Administrative Probation Order" dated 11/8/2011 of People's Committee Ha Noi;
currently imprisoned at Binh Xuyen, Vinh Phuc
6. Cao Van Tinh (Cao Van Tinh): Born: 1974. Accused of member and collaborating with
the Vietnam Reform Party (Dang Viet Tdn), arrested 8/2010, sentenced to 4,5 years'
imprisonment and 4 years of house arrest under Article 79 on "activities aimed at
overthrowing the people's administration" on May 30, 2011. Prison: Ben Tre provincial
jail.
7. Chu Manh Son (Chu Manh Son): Born: 1989. Member of Catholic Youth, arrested
8/3/2011 in Nghe An, accused of "activities aimed at overthrowing the people's
administration" under Article 79 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Has yet to be sentenced
publicly. Prison: Nghi Kim, Nghe An.
. This list represents only a small fraction of prisoners of conscience being held in Vietnam. A great number of
prisoners have been detained without trial, especially minority ethnic people and followers of unrecognized
churches in the Central Highlands.
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011 34
8. Cu Huy Ha Vu (Cu Huy Ha Vu): Born: 1957. Doctor of laws, a human rights lawyer has
undertaken proceedings against Vietnamese senior officers (including the two times
against Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung) for protecting human rights and civil rights in
VN. Arrested 11/05/2010, sentenced to 7 years' imprisonment and 3 years of house arrest
under Article 88 of the Vietnamese Penal Code on "Conducting propaganda against the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam" on 04/05/2011. Prison: Thanh Hoa.
9. Dang Ba Tong (Dang Ba T6ng): Born: Unknown. Member of The People's Democratic
Party of Vietnam (Dang Ddn Chu Nhdn Ddn), was arrested in Tien Giang Province in
August, 2006, accused of "Conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam" under Article 88 of the Vietnamese Penal Code, has yet to be sentenced
publicly.
10. Dang Xuan Dieu (Dang Xudn Dieu): Born: 1977. Businessman, member of Catholic
Youth, arrested 7/30/2011 in Hochiminh City, accused of "activities aimed at
overthrowing the people's administration" under Article 79 of the Vietnamese Penal Code.
Has yet to be sentenced publicly. Prison: B14 Detention Center (Ministry of Public
Security of Vietnam) - Thanh Liet, Thanh Tri, Ha Noi.
11. Danh Huong (Danh Huomg): Born: Unknown. Khmer in Cambodia, member of the
Government of Free Vietnam (Chinh phu Viet Nam Tix Do), was arrested in Saigon on
July 19, 1999, sentenced to 17 years in prison under Article 79 on "activities aimed at
overthrowing the people's administration" on May 16, 2001; currently imprisoned at camp
2 Xuan Loc, Dong Nai Province.
12. Dan Van Duong (Dau Van Duong): Born: 1986. Member of Catholic Youth, arrested
8/2/2011 in Nghe An, accused of "activities aimed at overthrowing the people's
administration" under Article 79 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Has yet to be sentenced
publicly. Prison: Nghi Kim, Nghe An.
13. Dinh Dang Dinh (Dinh Dang Dinh): Born: 1963. Teacher, arrested 10/21/2011 in Kien
Due, Daknong, accused of "Conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam" under Article 88 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Prison: Detention Center in
Daknong
14. Do Huong (Do Hu6ng aka Doan Hung): Born: Unknown. U.S. Permanent Resident,
former Captain of Republic of Vietnam's Army, member of Alliance of Vietnamese
Revolutionary Parties; arrested 1993, sentenced to LIFE imprisonment for "activities
aimed at overthrowing the people's administration" under Article 79 of the Vietnamese
Penal Code. Prison: Section B, Ba Sao, Phu Ly, Ha Nam.
15. Do Thanh Nhan (Do Thanh Nhan): Born: 1926. Member of the Government of Free
Vietnam (Chinh phu Viet Nam Ta Do), was arrested in 1999, and sentenced to 20 years in
prison under Article 79 on "activities aimed at overthrowing the people's administration"
on May 16, 2001, currently imprisoned at camp 2 Xuan Loc, Dong Nai Province
16. Do Thi Minh Hanh (Do Thi Minh Hanh aka Ngoc Anh): Born: 1985. Member of the
United Workers- Farmers Organization (UWFO), an unapproved union working on behalf
of farmers whose land has been taken by the government for development. Arrested on
02/23/2010 for distributing anti - government leaflets, was convicted under Article 89 on
"disrupting security ", sentenced to 7 years in jail on 10/27/2010 at Tra Vinh provincial
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011 35
People's Court. Prison: Tra Vinh provincial jail.
17. Do Van Thai (Do Van Thai): Born: 1960. Member of the Government of Free Vietnam
(Chinh phu Viet Nam Tix Do), arrested on 2/28/2000, sentenced to 18 years in prison
under Article 84 & 79 on "Terrorism to oppose the people's administration" and
"activities aimed at overthrowing the people's administration" on 5/29/2001; currently
imprisoned at camp 2 Xuan Loc, Dong Nai Province.
18. Doan Dinh Nam (Doan Dinh Nam): Born: 1951. Member of "H6i dong cling luat cong an
Bia Son" in Phu Yen province. Arrested 2/6/2012, accused of "Abusing democratic
freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State" under Article 258 of the Vietnamese
Penal code. Prison: Detention center in Phu Yen province.
19. Doan Huy Chuong (Doan Huy Chuang aka Nguyen Tan HOanh): Born: 1985. One of
the founding members of the United Workers- Farmers Organization (UWFO), an
unapproved union working on behalf of farmers whose land has been taken by the
government for development. Chuong was arrested in 10/2006 and sentenced to 18
months in jail in 2007. He was rearrested on 02/13/2010, convicted under Article 89 on
"disrupting security" and sentenced to 7 years in prison on 10/27/2010 by Tra Vinh
provincial court for instigating labor strikes and distributing anti - government leaflets.
Prison: Tra Vinh provincial jail.
20. Doan Van Cu (Doan Van Cu): Born: 1961. Member of "H6i dong cling luat cling an Bia
Son" in Phu Yen province. Arrested 2/10/2012, accused of "Abusing democratic freedoms
to infringe upon the interests of the State" under Article 258 of the Vietnamese Penal
code. Prison: Detention center in Phu Yen province.
21. Duong An ( Duong Au): Born: 1955. Land rights activist, member of the Vietnam Populist
Party (Dang Vi Ddn), arrested on August 26, 2009 at the Vietnam- Cambodia borders,
sentenced to 5 years in prison and 5 years of house arrest for violating Article 91 of the
1999 Penal code on "Fleeing abroad or defecting to stay overseas with a view to opposing
the people' administration ". Prison: Section K -2 of Xuan -Loc Camp in Dong -Nai
Province. Au had served two years' imprisonment prior to current term.
22. Duong Kim Khai ( Duong Kim Khai): Born: 1958 . Pastor of the Cow Shed Mennonite
home church and a land rights activist, member of the Vietnam Reform Party (Dang Viet
Tdn), was detained 8/10/2010, sentenced to 5 years' imprison and 5 years of house arrest
under Article 79 on "activities aimed at overthrowing the people's administration" on
5/30/2011. Prison: Ben Tre provincial jail.
23. Duong Thi Tron ( Duong Thi Tron): Born: 1947. A Hoa -Hao Buddhist activist, arrested
on 10/02/2006. In the same trial at Dong Thap on 05/03/2007, she was convicted with 1st
sentence of 4 years in prison for "Disrupting security" & "Resisting persons in the
performance of their official duties" under Article 245 & 257 of the Vietnamese Penal
code, and with 2nd sentence of 5 years in prison for her connection to Mrs. Nguyen Thi
Thu who set herself on fire (suicided) 2001 in Can Tho province for protesting religious
oppression of government; total 9 years' imprisonment. Prison: Z30, Xuan Loc, Dong Nai.
24. H Thuy Ya (H Thuy Ya) Born: 1962. The minority ethnic group, an Evangelist follower,
arrested 2008, sentenced to 5 years' imprisonment under Article 87 of the Vietnamese
Penal Code on "undermining the unity policy" in 2008. Prison: Ba Sao, Phu Ly, Ha Nam.
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011 36
25. Ho Duc Hoa (Ho Ddc H6a): Born: 1974. Member of Catholic Youth, arrested 7/30/2011
in Hochiminh City, accused of "activities aimed at overthrowing the people's
administration" under Article 79 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Has yet to be sentenced
publicly. Prison: B14 Detention Center (Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam) - Thanh
Liet, Thanh Tri, Ha Noi.
26. Ho Long Duc (Ho Long Ddc): Born: 1953. Member of the Government of Free Vietnam
(Chinh phu Viet Nam Tix Do), was arrested on 11/25/1999, and sentenced to 20 years in
prison under Article 84 of the Vietnamese Penal Code on "Terrorism to oppose the
people's administration" on 05/29/2001; currently imprisoned at camp 2 Xuan Loc, Dong
Nai Province.
27. Ho Thi Bich Khuong (Ho Thi Bich Khuang): Born: 1967. Land rights activist, member
of Bloc 8406, arrested 1/15/2011, sentenced on 12/29/2011 at Nghe An provincial Court
to 5 years' imprisonment and 3 years of house arrest for "Conducting propaganda against
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam" under Article 88 of the Vietnamese Penal Code.
Prison: Nghi Kim, Nghe An provincial jail
28. Ho Van Oanh (Ho Van Oanh): Born: 1985. Member of Catholic Youth, arrested
8/27/2011 in Hochiminh City, accused of "activities aimed at overthrowing the people's
administration" under Article 79 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Has yet to be sentenced
publicly. Prison: B34 Detention Center (Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam) - 237
Nguyen Van Cu, Hochiminh City.
29. Hoang Phong ( Hoang Phong): Born: 1985 . Social activist. Arrested 12/29/2011, accused
of "Conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam" under Article 88
of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Prison: Nghi Kim, Nghe An provincial jail.
30. Huynh Anh ( Huynh Anh): Born: 1975. Member of the Government of Free Vietnam
(Chinh phu Viet Nam Ta Do), arrested in 2004, sentenced to 8 years' imprisonment for
violating Article 91 of the Vietnamese Penal Code on "fleeing to a foreign country to
oppose the government ". Prison: Section K -2 of Xuan -Loc Camp in Dong -Nai Province.
31. Huynh Anh Tri ( Huynh Anh Tri): Born: 1971. Member of the Government of Free
Vietnam (Chinh phu Viet Nam Tix Do), arrested on 12/29/1999, sentenced to 14 years in
prison under Article 84 of the Vietnamese Penal Code on "Terrorism to oppose the
people's administration" on 05/29/2001; currently imprisoned at camp 2 /Z30A Xuan Loc,
Dong Nai Province.
32. Huynh Anh Tu ( Huynh Anh Tu): Born: 1968. Member of the Government of Free
Vietnam (Chinh phu Viet Nam Tix Do), arrested on Dec 29, 1999, sentenced to 14 years in
prison under Article 84 of the Vietnamese Penal Code on "Terrorism to oppose the
people's administration" on 05/29/2001; currently imprisoned at camp 2 Xuan Loc, Dong
Nai Province.
33. K Khiep: Born: unknown . Ko Ho ethnic group. Arrested 12/11/ 2010, in Tay Ninh for
alleged affiliation with the Vietnamese- Love - Vietnamese Party (Nguoi Viet Yeu Nguoi
Viet). Charge unknown. Prison: B20 Detention Center in Gia Lai.
34. K Theo: Born: unknown . Ko Ho ethic group. Arrested 12/10/2010, in Tay Ninh for
alleged affiliation with the Vietnamese- Love - Vietnamese Party (Nguoi Viet Yeu Nguoi
Viet). Charge unknown. Prison: B20 Detention Center in Gia Lai.
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011 37
35. Kpa Y Co: Born: 1980. The minority ethnic group, an Evangelist follower of the Vietnam
Good News Mission (VGNM) church in Song Hinh district of Phu Yen Province, was
arrested on 01/27/2010, and sentenced to 4 years in prison and 2 years of house arrest for
"undermining the unity policy" on Nov 15, 2010 by Phu Yen People's Court. Prison: Ba
Sao, Phu Ly, Ha Nam.
36. Kpa Thom: Born: unknown . Montagnard (Jarai) Christian. Arrested 8/25/2010, in Chu
Prong district, Gia Lai for allegedly using unauthorized religious activities to incite unrest
in rubber plantations. Charges and whereabouts unknown.
37. Kpuih Do: Born: unknown . Montagnard (Jarai) Christian. Arrested August 25, 2010, in
Chu Prong district, Gia Lai for allegedly using unauthorized religious activities to incite
unrest in rubber plantations. Prison: B20 Detention Center in Gia Lai.
38. Kpuih Theng: Born: 1965 . Montagnard (Jarai) Christian in Chu Pub, Gia Lai. Arrested
9/13/2010, by border guards in Tay Ninh province as he was trying to flee to Cambodia.
Charge unknown. Prison: B20 Detention Center in Gia Lai.
39. Ksor Y Du: Born: 1963. The minority ethnic group, an Evangelist follower of the
Vietnam Good News Mission (VGNM) church in Song Hinh district of Phu Yen Province,
was arrested on Jan 27, 2010, and sentenced to 6 years in prison and 4 years of house
arrest for "undermining the unity policy" on Nov 15, 2010 by Phu Yen People's Court.
Prison: Ba Sao, Phu Ly, Ha Nam.
40. Le Cong Dinh (Le Cong Dinh aka Nguyen Kha): Born: 1968. Former vice president of
the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association 2005 -2008, a human rights lawyers was willing to
defend many of the above political dissidents in court, until he himself was arrested on
6/13/2009, sentenced to 5 years in prison and 3 years of house arrest on 1/20/2010 in Ho
Chi Minh City, under Article 79 of the Vietnamese Penal code on "activities aimed at
overthrowing the people's administration ". Prison: K1, Z30A, Xuan Loc, Dong Nai.
41. Le Duc Dong (Le Ddc D6ng): Born: 1983. Member of "1-16i dong cling luat cling an Bia
Son" in Phu Yen province. Arrested 2/5/2012, accused of "Abusing democratic freedoms
to infringe upon the interests of the State" under Article 258 of the Vietnamese Penal
code. Prison: Detention center in Phu Yen province.
42. Le Duy Loc (Le Duy L6c): Born: 1956. Member of "1-16i dong cling luat cling an Bia
Son" in Phu Yen province. Arrested 2/5/2012, accused of "Abusing democratic freedoms
to infringe upon the interests of the State" under Article 258 of the Vietnamese Penal
code. Prison: Detention center in Phu Yen province.
43. Le Kim Hung (Le Kim Hung): Born: 1968. Member of the Government of Free Vietnam
(Chinh phu Viet Nam Tix Do), was arrested on June 18, 1999, and sentenced to 20 years in
prison under Article 84 of the Vietnamese Penal code on "Terrorism to oppose the
people's administration" on 5/29/2001; currently imprisoned at camp 2 Xuan Loc, Dong
Nai Province.
44. Le Phuc (Le Phuc): Born: 1951. Member of "1-16i dong cling luat cling an Bia Son" in Phu
Yen province. Arrested 2/5/2012, accused of "Abusing democratic freedoms to infringe
upon the interests of the State" under Article 258 of the Vietnamese Penal code. Prison:
Detention center in Phu Yen province.
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011 38
45. Le Thang Long (Le Thang Long): Born: 1967. Blogger & businessman, arrested in Ho
Chi Minh City on 6/14/2009, sentenced on 1/20/2010 to 5 years in prison and 3 years of
house arrest, under Article 79 of the Vietnamese Penal Code on "activities aimed at
overthrowing the people's administration ". Prison: Z30A, Xuan Loc, Dong Nai.
46. Le Thanh Tung (Le Thanh Tung): Born: 1968. Free journalist & pro - democracy activist,
member of Bloc 8406, arrested on 12/1/2011 at Ha Dong, accused of "Conducting
propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam" under Article 88 of the Vietnamese
Penal Code. Has been sentenced yet. Prison: B14 Detention Center (Ministry of Public
Security of Vietnam) - Thanh Liet, Thanh Tri, Ha Noi.
47. Le Trong Cu (Le Trong Cu): Born: 1966. Member of "H6i dong cling luat cling an Bia
Son" in Phu Yen province. Arrested 2/5/2012, accused of "Abusing democratic freedoms
to infringe upon the interests of the State" under Article 258 of the Vietnamese Penal
code. Prison: Detention center in Phu Yen province.
48. Le Van Soc (Le Van S6c): Born: 1956. A Hoa -Hao Buddhist activist in Vinh Long
Province, arrested on 11/04//2006 in Dong Thap Province, sentenced on 5/03/2007 to 6
years' imprisonment for "Causing public disorder" & "Resisting persons in the
performance of their official duties" under Article 245 & 257 of the Vietnamese Penal
code. Prison: Section K -2 of Xuan -Loc Camp in Dong -Nai Province.
49. Le Van Son (Le Van Son): Born: 1938. A Hoa -Hao Buddhist activist, arrested in 1982,
and sentenced to life imprisonment on charge of "Activities aimed at overthrowing the
people's administration" under Article 79 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. He is detained in
T5, Thanh Cam district, Thanh Hoa, province.
50. Le Son (Paulus Le Son): Born: 1985. Member of Catholic Youth, arrested 8/3/2011 in Ha
Noi, accused of "activities aimed at overthrowing the people's administration" under
Article 79 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Has yet to be sentenced publicly. Prison: B14
Detention Center (Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam) - Thanh Liet, Thanh Tri, Ha
Noi.
51. Le Van Thanh (Le Van Thanh): Born: 1975. Member of Falun Gong in Vietnam.
Arrested 6/11/2010 in Ha Noi, accused of installing equipment to broadcast Falun Gong's
"Sound of Hope Network" into China, sentenced on 11/10/2011 to 2 years' imprisonment
for "Illegally transmitting information on the network of telecommunication" under
Article 226 of the Vietnamese Penal code. Prison: B14 Detention Center (Ministry of
Public Security of Vietnam) - Thanh Liet, Thanh Tri, Ha Noi.
52. Le Van Tinh (Le Van Tinh): Born: 1940. Former House Representative of the Republic
of Vietnam, advisor to the Hoa -Hao Buddhist. Member of the People's Action Party, was
arrested in Siem -Riep province (Campuchia) on 01/25/1995, extradited to Vietnam with
21 other PAP on 12/5/1996, and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment by the An Giang
Provincial Court on 9/8/1999 for violating Article 91 & 79 of the Vietnamese Penal code
on "fleeing to a foreign country to oppose the government" and "attempting to overthrow
the people government ". Prison: K2, Z30A, Xuan Loc, Dong Nai.
Tinh had been held 10 years in a "re- education camp" prior to current prison term.
53. Lu Van Bay (La Van Bay): Born: 1952. Arrested 3/26/2011, sentenced to 4 years'
imprisonment and 3 years of house arrest, under Article 88 of the Vietnamese Penal Code
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011 39
on "Conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam" on 8/22/2011.
Prison: unknown.
54. Mai Thi Dung (Mai Thi Dung): Born: 1969. Leader of Hoa -Hao Buddhist women League
of Cho Moi District, An Giang Province, was arrested on August 5, 2005. In the same trial
at Dong Thap on 05/03/2007, she convicted with 1st sentence of 5 years in prison for
"Disrupting security" & "Resisting persons in the performance of their official duties"
under Article 245 & 257 of the Vietnamese Penal Code, and with 2nd sentence of 6 years
in prison for her connection to Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thu who set herself on fire (suicided)
2001 in Can Tho province for protesting religious oppression of government; total 11
years' imprisonment. Prison: Z30, Xuan Loc, Dong Nai.
55. Nguyen Ba Dang (Nguyen BA Dang): Born: 1965. Teacher, member of Bloc 8406 and of
the The People's Democratic Party of Vietnam (Dang Ddn Chu Nhdn Ddn); arrested on
1/22/2010 in Hai Duong and sentenced to 3 years in prison, under Article 88 of the
Vietnamese Penal Code on "Conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam ". Prison: Kim Chi, Hai Duong
56. Nguyen Chi Thanh (Nguyen Chi Thanh): Born: 1973. Land rights activist and member of
the Cow Shed Mennonite home church. Arrested 08/2010, accused of member and
collaborating with the Vietnam Reform Party (Dang Viet Tdn), arrested 8/2010, sentenced
to 2 years' imprisonment and 3 years of house arrest under Article 79 on "activities aimed
at overthrowing the people's administration" on 5/30/2011. Prison: Ben Tre provincial jail.
57. Nguyen Cong Chinh (Nguyen Cling Chinh): Born: 1969. Pastor in the Lutherran Church,
arrested 4/28/2011, accused of "undermining unity policy" under Article 87 of the
Vietnamese Penal Code. Has yet to be sentenced publicly. Prison: T20, Pleiku, Kon Tum
58. Nguyen Dinh Cuong (Nguyen Dinh Cuong): Born: 1981. Blogger, social activist.
Arrested 12/24/2011, accused of "activities aimed at overthrowing the people's
administration" under Article 79 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Has yet to be sentenced
publicly. Prison: B14 Detention Center (Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam) - Thanh
Liet, Thanh Tri, Ha Noi.
59. Nguyen Hoang Quoc Hung (Nguyen Hoang Quoc Hung): Born: 1981. Member of the
United Workers- Farmers Organization (UWFO), an unapproved union working on behalf
of farmers whose land has been taken by the government for development. He was
arrested on 2/24/2010, was convicted under Article 89 on "disrupting security ", sentenced
to 9 years' imprisonment on 10/27/2010 at Tra Vinh provincial People's Court. Prison:
Tra Vinh provincial jail.
60. Nguyen Hoang Son (Nguyen Hoang Son): Born: 1960. Member of the Government of
Free. Arrested on 10/7/1999. Sentenced to 13 years' imprisonment under Article 84 of the
Vietnamese Penal code on "Terrorism to oppose the people's administration" on
5/29/2001. Prison: Z30A, Xuan -Loc, Dong -Nai.
61. Nguyen Hun Can (Nguyen Hdu Cau): Born: 1947. Former Captain of Republic of
Vietnam's Army. Arrested on 10/09/1982. Sentenced to LIFE imprisonment under Article
87 of the Vietnamese Penal Code on "undermining unity policy" on 5/19/1983. Prison:
Section K2, Z30A, Xuan Loc, Dong -Nai.
Cau had been held 5 years in a "re- education camp" prior to current prison term.
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011 40
62. Nguyen Kim Nhan (Nguyen Kim Nhan): Born: 1949. Land rights activist from Bac Giang
Province, arrested on 9/25/2008, sentenced on 10/09/2009 to 2 years in prison and 2 years of
house arrest for "Conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam" under
Article 88 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Prison: B14 Detention Center (Ministry of Public
Security of Vietnam) - Thanh Liet, Thanh Tri, Ha Noi. Released in Jan 2011 after
completing his prison sentence; rearrested in urgency on 06/07/2011, accused of
"Conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam" under Article 88 of
the Vietnamese Penal Code. Has yet to be sentenced publicly. Prison: Bac Giang
63. Nguyen Ky Loc (Nguyen Ky Loc): Born: 1951. Member of "HOl dong cling luat cong an
Bia Son" in Phu Yen province. Arrested 2/6/2012, accused of "Abusing democratic
freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State" under Article 258 of the Vietnamese
Penal code. Prison: Detention center in Phu Yen province.
64. Nguyen Loc Phuoc (Nguyen L6c Phudc, aka Pe Vi Chet): Born: 1981. Arrested
20/11/2010 in Hochiminh City for alleged affiliation with the Vietnamese-Love-
Vietnamese Party (Nguoi Viet Yeu Nguoi Viet). Charge unknown. Prison: B20 Detention
Center in Gia Lai.
65. Nguyen Long Hoi (Nguyen Long H6i): Born: 1940. Arrested in 1997, convicted for
violating Article 79 of the Vietnamese Penal Code on "activities aimed at overthrowing
the people's administration ", served 13 years of a 20 -year sentence, then escaped. He was
re- captured and imprisoned for the remaining 7 years' imprisonment, Prison: Section K -2
of Xuan -Loc Camp in Dong -Nai Province.
66. Nguyen Manh Son (Nguyen Manh Son): Born: 1943. Retired cadre, arrested on 5/8/2009
in Hai Phong, sentenced on 10/9/2009 to 3 years' imprisonment and 3 years of house
arrest, under Article 88 of the Vietnamese Penal Code on "Conducting propaganda against
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam ". Prison: B 14 Detention Center (Ministry of Public
Security of Vietnam) - Thanh Liet, Thanh Tri, Ha Noi.
67. Nguyen Ngoc Cuong (Nguyen Ngoc Cu6ng): Born: 1956. Arrested 04/02/2011 in Dong
Nai for allegedly distributing anti - government leaflets . Sentenced on 10/21/2011 to 7
years' imprisonment for "Conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam" under Article 88 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Prison: Dong Nai
68. Nguyen Ngoc Phuong (Nguyen Ngoc Phuong): Born: 1977. Member of the Government
of Free Vietnam (Chinh phu Viet Nam Ta Do), arrested on 12/29/1999, sentenced on
5/29/2001 to 13 years' imprisonment, under Article 84 of the Vietnamese Penal code on
"Terrorism to oppose the people's administration ". Prison: Section K -2 of Xuan -Loc
Camp in Dong -Nai Province.
69. Nguyen Ngoc Tuong Thi (Nguyen Ngoc Ttf&ng Thi): Born: unknown. Arrested on
04/02/2011 & accused of distributing anti - government leaflets . Sentenced on 10/21/2011
to 2 years' imprisonment for "Conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam" under Article 88 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Prison: Dong Nai
70. Nguyen Phong (Nguyen Phong): Born: 1975. Leader of the Vietnam Progressive Party
(PPV), arrested on 2/17/2007 in the city of Hue, sentenced on 3/30/2007 to 6 years in
prison and 3 years of house arrest, under Article 88 of the Vietnamese Penal Code on
"Conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam" ; currently
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011 41
imprisoned in Thanh Hoa Province
71. Nguyen Thanh Tam (Nguyen Thanh Tdm): Born: 1953. Land rights activist and member
of the Cow Shed Mennonite home church, was detained on July 18, 2010 in his hometown
of Ben -Tre province, accused of a member & collaborating with the Vietnam Reform
Party (Dang Viet Tdn), on 5/30/2011 sentenced to 2 years' imprisonment and 3 years of
house arrest, under Article 79 of the Vietnamese penal code on "activities aimed at
overthrowing the people's administration ". Prison: Ben Tre Provincial jail.
72. Nguyen Tien Trung (Nguyen Tien Trung): Born: 1983. Member of the Democratic Party
of Vietnam (DPV), arrested on 7/7/2009 in Saigon, sentenced on 1/21/2010 to 7 years'
imprisonment and 3 years of house arrest, under Article 79 of the Vietnamese Penal Code
on "activities aimed at overthrowing the people's administration ". Prison: K1, Z30A, Xuan
Loc, Dong Nai.
73. Nguyen Trung Ton (Nguyen Trung T6n): Born: 1971. Religious activist, Block 8406
supporter, and Protestant pastor, who heads the Full Gospel Church in Thanh Hoa
province, arrested 1/15/2011, sentenced on 12/29/2011 to 2 years' imprisonment and 2
years of house arrest for "Conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam" under Article 88 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Prison: Nghi Kim, Nghe An
provincial jail
74. Nguyen Tuan Nam (Nguyen Tuan Nam): Born: 1936. Member of the People Action
Party. Arrested in 12/1997, sentenced to 20- years' imprisonment in 9/1999, under Article
91 of the Vietnamese Penal code on "Fleeing abroad or defecting to stay overseas with a
view to opposing the people' administration ". Prison: Section K -2 of Xuan -Loc Camp in
Dong -Nai Province.
75. Nguyen Van Canh (Nguyen Van Cdnh): Born: 1950. Member of the People Action Party.
Arrested in 1999. Sentenced to 20- years' imprisonment, under Article 79 of the
Vietnamese Penal Code on "activities aimed at overthrowing the people's administration ".
Prison: Section K -2 of Xuan -Loc Camp in Dong -Nai Province.
76. Nguyen Van Dien (Nguyen Van Dien): Born: Unknown. Deputy Chairman of the Hoa -
Hao Buddhist. Arrest on 08/05/2005. Sentenced on 09/27/2005 to 7 years' imprisonment,
under Article 89 of the Vietnamese Penal Code on "Disrupting security ". Prison: K2,
Z30A, Xuan -Loc, Dong -Nai.
77. Nguyen Van Duyet (Nguyen Van Duyet): Born: 1980. Member of Catholic Youth,
arrested 8/7/2011 in Nghe An, accused of "activities aimed at overthrowing the people's
administration" under Article 79 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Has yet to be sentenced
publicly. Prison: B14 Detention Center (Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam) - Thanh
Liet, Thanh Tri, Ha Noi.
78. Nguyen Van Hai (Nguyen Van Hai, aka Dieu Cay): Born: 1952. Blogger and free
journalist, founding member of the Free Journalists Club, arrested in Saigon on 4/20/2008,
sentenced on 9/10//2008 to 2 years and 6 months in prison. At the end of his prison term
on 10/20/2010, he wasn't released and is continuously accused of violating Article 88 of
the Vietnamese Penal Code on "Conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam ", has yet to be sentenced publicly.
79. Nguyen Van Hoa (Nguyen Van H6a): Born: 1940. Member of Anti - Communist group,
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011 42
arrested in 1992, sentenced to 20- years' imprisonment for "activities aimed at
overthrowing the people's administration" under Article 79 of the Vietnamese Penal Code.
Prison: Section K -2 of Xuan -Loc Camp in Dong -Nai Province.
80. Nguyen Van Lia (Nguyen Van Lia aka Ba Lia, aka Hoang Thuy Nhtr Lien): Born:
1940. A Hoa -Hao Buddhist activist, arrested 4/24/2011 at Cho Moi, on 12/13/2011
sentenced to 5 years' imprisonment for "Abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon
the interests of the State" under Article 258 of the Vietnamese Penal code. Prison: An
Giang provincial jail. Lia had served sentence of 3 years in 2003 prior to current term.
81. Nguyen Van Ly (Nguyen Van Ly): Born: 1946. Catholic priest, founding member of the
Vietnam Progressive Party, arrested on 2/18/2007 at his home parish in Thua Thien
Province. On 3/30/2007, sentenced to 8 years in prison and 5 years of house arrest for
"Conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam" under Article 88 of
the Vietnamese Penal Code. After two and a half years as a prisoner in Ba Sao, Phu Ly,
Ha Nam Province, Rev. Ly suffered a major stroke in November 2009, and was brought to
Hanoi for urgent care. He was conditionally released from prison on health grounds on
March 18, 2010 for 1 year, and now returned to Ba Sao, Phu Ly, Ha Nam prison.
82. Nguyen Van Oai (Nguyen Van Oai): Born: 1980. Member of Catholic Youth, arrested
7/30/2011, accused of "activities aimed at overthrowing the people's administration" under
Article 79 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Has yet to be sentenced publicly. Prison: B 14
Detention Center (Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam) - Thanh Liet, Thanh Tri, Ha
Noi.
83. Nguyen Van Phuong (Nguyen Van Phuong): Born: 1966. Member of the Government of
Free Vietnam (Chinh phu Viet Nam Ta Do), arrested in 1998, sentenced to 17 years'
imprisonment, under Article 84 of the Vietnamese Penal code on "Terrorism to oppose the
people's administration" on 5/29/2001. Prison: Section K -3 of Xuan -Loc Camp in Dong -
Nai Province.
84. Nguyen Van Thanh (Nguyen Van Thanh): Born: unknown. Arrested on 03/10/2011 &
accused of distributing anti - government leaflets for "Conducting propaganda against the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam" under Article 88 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Has yet to
be sentenced publicly. Prison: Nghe An.
85. Nguyen Van Tho (Nguyen Van Thu): Born: 1939. A Hoa -Hao Buddhist activist, arrested
on 10/02/2006 in Dong Thap Province, sentenced on 5/3/2007 to 6 years in prison, under
Article 245 & 257 of the Vietnamese Penal code on "Causing public disorder" and
"Resisting persons in the performance of their official duties ". Prison: Section K -4 of
Xuan -Loc Camp in Dong -Nai Province.
86. Nguyen Van Trung (Nguyen Van Trung): Born: 1950. Arrested in 1992, sentenced to 20
years' imprisonment for "politically reactionary" activities that was aiming to overthrow
the people's government. Prison: Section K -2 of Xuan -Loc Camp in Dong -Nai Province.
87. Nguyen Van Tuc (Nguyen Van Tuc): Born: 1964. Land rights activist from Thai Binh
Province, arrested in Hai Phong on 9/10/2008, sentenced on 10/09/2009 to 4 years in
prison and 3 years of house arrest for "Conducting propaganda against the Socialist
Republic of Vietnam" under Article 88 of the Vietnamese Penal Code, currently at prison
camp B 14 Detention Center (Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam) - Thanh Liet, Thanh
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011 43
Tri, Hanoi.
88. Nguyen Xuan Anh (Nguyen Xudn Anh): Born: 1982. Member of Catholic Youth,
arrested 8/7/2011 in Nghe An, accused of "activities aimed at overthrowing the people's
administration" under Article 79 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Has yet to be sentenced
publicly. Prison: B14 Detention Center (Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam) - Thanh
Liet, Thanh Tri, Ha Noi.
89. Nguyen Xuan Nghia (Nguyen Xudn Nghia): Born: 1949. Writer, representative of the
8406 Movement, arrested on 9/10/2008 in the city of Hai Phong, sentenced on 10/09/2009
to 6 years in prison and 3 years of house arrest for "Conducting propaganda against the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam" under Article 88 of the Vietnamese Penal Code, currently
at Thanh Liet Prison, Thanh Tri, Hanoi.
90. Nguyen Xuan No (Nguyen Xudn N6): Born: 1945. Follower of Cao Dai Church, arrested
in 2005, sentenced to an 9 years' imprisonment for "Fleeing abroad or defecting to stay
overseas with a view to opposing the people' administration" under Article 91 of the
Vietnamese Penal code on 7/27/2005. Prison: Section K -2 of Xuan -Loc Camp in Dong-
Nai Province.
Prior to this prison term, he had served two other terms for political offenses.
91. Nong Hung Anh (N6ng Hung Anh): Born: 1988. Student, member of Evangelist Youth,
arrested 8/5/2011 in Ha Noi, accused of "activities aimed at overthrowing the people's
administration" under Article 79 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Has yet to be sentenced
publicly. Prison: B14 Detention Center (Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam) - Thanh
Liet, Thanh Tri, Ha Noi.
92. Pham Ngoc Hoa (Pham Ngoc Hoa): Born: 1954. Land rights activist and a member of the
Cow Shed Mennonite home church. Accused of a member & collaborating with the
Vietnam Reform Party (Ddng Viet Tdn), arrested 8/2010, sentenced to 2 years'
imprisonment and 3 years of house arrest, under Article 79 of the Vietnamese Penal Code
on "activities aimed at overthrowing the people's administration" on 5/30/2011. Prison:
Ben Tre provincial jail.
93. Pham Thanh Nghien (Pham Thanh Nghien): Born: 1977. Member of Bloc 8406, arrested
on 9/18/2008 in Hai Phong, and in a closed trial on 01/29/2010 where she was sentenced
to 4 years in prison and 3 years of house arrest, under Article 88 of the Vietnamese Penal
Code on "Conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam ", currently at
prison camp B 14 Detention Center (Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam) - Thanh Liet,
Thanh Tri, Hanoi.
94. Pham Thi Ngoc Phuong (Pham Thi Ngoc Phucmg): Born: 1945. Former Officer of the
Republic of Vietnam's Army, member of the Vietnam Populist Party (Dang Vi Ddn), arrested
on April 18, 2010 in Hochiminh City, sentenced to 11 years' imprisonment, under Article 84
of the Vietnamese Penal code on "Terrorism to oppose the people's administration" on
9/21/2011. Currently held at B -34 Detention Center in Hochiminh.
95. Pham Van Thong (Pham Van Thong): Born: 1962. Land rights activist and a member of
the Cow Shed Mennonite home church . Accused of a member & collaborating with the
Vietnam Reform Party (Dang Viet Tdn), arrested 8/2010, sentenced to 7 years'
imprisonment and 5 years of house arrest, under Article 79 of the Vietnamese Penal Code
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011 44
on "activities aimed at overthrowing the people's administration" on 5/30/2011. Prison:
Ben Tre provincial jail.
96. Pham Van Troi (Pham Van Tr6i): Born: 1972. Engineer, member of the Vietnam Human
Right Committee, arrested in Hanoi on 9/10/2008, sentenced on 10/082009 to 4 years in
prison and 4 years of house arrest, under Article 88 of the Vietnamese Penal Code on
"Conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam ". Prison: Ba Sao, Phu
Ly, Ha Nam.
97. Pham Xuan Than (Pham Xudn Thdn): Born: 1958. Member of Alliance of Vietnamese
Revolutionary Parties, arrested 6/12/1996, sentenced to LIFE imprisonment for
"Terrorism to oppose the people's administration" under Article 84 of the Vietnamese
Penal code. Prison: K2, Z30A, Xuan -Loc, Dong -Nai.
98. Phan Thanh Hai (Phan Thanh Hai, aka anhbasg): Born: 1969. Attorney, blogger,
member of the Free Journalists Club, arrested 10/18/2010, accused of "Conducting
propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam" under Article 88 of the Vietnamese
Penal Code, has yet to be sentenced publicly. Prison: B34 Detention Center (Ministry of
Public Security of Vietnam) - 237 Nguyen Van Cu, Hochiminh City.
99. Phan Thanh Tuong (Phan Thanh Tuomg): Born: unknown. Member of "I-16i dong cling luat
cling an Bia Son" in Phu Yen province. Arrested 2/5/2012, accused of "Abusing democratic
freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State" under Article 258 of the Vietnamese
Penal code. Prison: Detention center in Phu Yen province.
100. Phan Thanh Y (Phan Thanh Y): Born: 1951. Member of "I-16i dong cling luat cling an
Bia Son" in Phu Yen province. Arrested 2/5/2012, accused of "Abusing democratic
freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State" under Article 258 of the Vietnamese
Penal code. Prison: Detention center in Phu Yen province.
101. Phan Van Ban (Phan Van Ban): Born: 1937. Arrested 1978, sentenced on 11/26/1985 to
life imprisonment for distributing anti - government leaflets. Prison: Ba Sao, Phu Ly, Ha
Nam.
102. Phan Van Thu (Phan Van Thu aka Tran Cong): Born: 1948. Founder & chairman of "I-16i
dong cling luat cling an Bia Son" in Phu Yen province. Arrested 2/5/2012, accused of
"Abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State" under Article
258 of the Vietnamese Penal code. Prison: Detention center in Phu Yen province.
103. Phung Lam (Phung Lam): Born: 1966 . Member of the Democratic Party of Vietnam.
Escaped from Vietnam into Cambodia on 05/30/2010. Arrested 06/21/2010 by border
guards in Tay Ninh province when returning for visiting the family. Charge and
whereabouts still unknown.
104. Phung Quang Quyen (Phung Quang Quyen): Born: 1956. Member of Vietnam Populist
Party, arrested on 8/30/2009, sentenced on April 18, 2010 for 4 years' imprisonment and 4
year of house arrest for violating Article 91 of the Vietnamese Penal code on "Fleeing
abroad or defecting to stay overseas with a view to opposing the people' administration ".
Prison: Section K -2 of Xuan -Loc Camp in Dong -Nai Province. Quyen had been
imprisoned for 18 months prior to current prison term.
105. Rah Lan Dang: Born: 1979. The minority ethnic group in Gia Lai, an Evangelist
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011 45
follower, arrested 2003, sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for "undermining unity
policy" under Article 87 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Prison: Ba Sao, Phu Ly, Ha Nam.
106. Rmah Hlach (aka Ama Blut): Born: 1968. The minority ethnic group in Gia Lai, an
Evangelist follower, arrested 7/23/2009, sentenced on 1/14/2010 to 12 years'
imprisonment and 3 years of house arrest for "undermining unity policy" under Article 87
of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Prison: Ba Sao, Phu Ly, Ha Nam
107. Ro Lah Klan: Born: unknown . Montagnard (Jarai) Christian. Arrested 08/25/2010 in
Chu Prong district, Gia Lai for allegedly using unauthorized religious activities to incite
unrest in rubber plantations. Charges and whereabouts unknown.
108. Ro Mah Hit: Born: unknown. Montagnard (Jarai) Christian. Arrested 08/25/2010 in Chu
Prong district, Gia Lai for allegedly using unauthorized religious activities to incite unrest
in rubber plantations. Charges and current whereabouts unknown.
109. Sin Glol: Born: 1985. Montagnard (Jarai) Christian pastor in Chu Pub, Gia Lai. Arrested
9/22/2010 in Chu Pub, Gia Lai. Charge unknown. Prison: B20 Detention Center in Gia
Lai.
110. Sin Koch (aka Ama Lien): Born: 1985. The minority ethnic group in Gia Lai, an
Evangelist follower, arrested 7/23/2009, sentenced on 1/14/2010 to 10 years'
imprisonment for "undermining unity policy" under Article 87 of the Vietnamese Penal
Code. Prison: Ba Sao, Phu Ly, Ha Nam.
111. Sin Viu: Born: 1978. The minority ethnic group in Gia Lai, an Evangelist follower,
arrested 2008, sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for "undermining unity policy" under
Article 87 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Prison: Ba Sao, Phu Ly, Ha Nam.
112. Son Nguyen Thanh Dien (San Nguyen Thanh Dien): Born: 1972. An U.S. Permanent
Resident, member of the Government of Free Vietnam (Chinh phu Viet Nam Tix Do).
Arrested 8/17/2000, sentenced to 17 years' imprisonment, under Article 84 of the
Vietnamese Penal code on "Terrorism to oppose the people's administration" on
5/29/2001. Prison: Section K -2 of Xuan -Loc Camp in Dong -Nai Province.
113. Ta Khu (Ta Khu): Born: 1947. Member of "H6i dong cling luat cling an Bia San" in Phu
Yen province. Arrested 2/6/2012, accused of "Abusing democratic freedoms to infringe
upon the interests of the State" under Article 258 of the Vietnamese Penal code. Prison:
Detention center in Phu Yen province.
114. Ta Phong Tan (Ta Phong Tan): Born: Born: 1968. Former Police officer, blogger, one of
founding members of the Free Journalists Club. Arrested on 9/5/2011, accused of still
unknown. Prison: 4 Phan Dang Luu, Hochiminh City.
115. Thai Van Dung (Thai Van Dung): Born: 1988. Member of Catholic Youth, arrested
8/19/2011 in Ha Noi, accused of "activities aimed at overthrowing the people's
administration" under Article 79 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Has yet to be sentenced
publicly. Prison: B14 Detention Center (Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam) - Thanh
Liet, Thanh Tri, Ha Noi.
116. To Van Hong (T6 Van Hong): Born: 1950. Arrested in 1999, sentenced to 13 years'
imprisonment, under Article 84 of the Vietnamese Penal code on "Terrorism to oppose the
people's administration" on 5/29/2001. Prison: Section K -2 of Xuan -Loc Camp in Dong-
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011 46
Nai Province.
117. Tran Anh Kim (Tran Anh Kim): Born: 1949. Former officer of the People's Army, member
of the DPV, arrested on 7/7/2009, and sentenced to 5 �/z years in prison and 3 years of house
arrest, under Article 79 of the Vietnamese Penal Code on "activities aimed at overthrowing
the people's administration" on 1/18/2010; currently at prison camp B14 Detention Center
(Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam) - Thanh Liet, Thanh Tri, Hanoi.
118. Tran Hoai An (Tran Hoai An): Born: 1951. A Hoa -Hao Buddhist activist, arrested
7/2/2011 in Dong Thap, on 12/13/2011 sentenced to 3 years' imprisonment for "Abusing
democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State" under Article 258 of the
Vietnamese Penal code. Prison: An Giang provincial jail.
119. Tran Hoang Giang (Tran Hoang Giang): Born: 1980. Member of the Government of
Free Vietnam (Chinh phu Viet Nam Tix Do). Arrested 2/28/2000, sentenced to 16 years'
imprisonment, under Article 84 of the Vietnamese Penal code on "Terrorism to oppose the
people's administration" on 5/29/2001. Prison: Section K -3 of Xuan -Loc Camp in Dong -
Nai Province.
120. Tran Hun Canh (Tran Hdu Canh): Born: 1952. Cao Dai Church follower, arrested 2005,
sentenced to 13 years' imprisonment for "Fleeing abroad or defecting to stay overseas with a
view to opposing the people' administration" under Article 91 of the Vietnamese Penal code
on 7/27/2005. Prison: Z30A, Xuan Loc, Dong Nai.
121. Tran Hun Duc (Tran Hdu Ddc): Born: 1988. Member of Catholic Youth, arrested
8/2/2011 in Ha Noi, accused of "activities aimed at overthrowing the people's
administration" under Article 79 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Has yet to be sentenced
publicly. Prison: Nghi Kim, Nghe An.
122. Tran Hun Khuong (Tran Hdu Khtfung, aka Tran Tur): Born: Unknown. U.S. Permanent
Resident, former Captain of Republic of Vietnam's Army, member of Alliance of
Vietnamese Revolutionary Parties; arrested 1993, sentenced to LIFE imprisonment for
"activities aimed at overthrowing the people's administration" under Article 79 of the
Vietnamese Penal Code. Prison: Section B, Ba Sao, Phu Ly, Ha Nam.
123. Tran Huynh Duy Thuc (Tran Huynh Duy Thdc): Born: 1966. Engineer, intereet
entrepreneur and blogger, arrested in Ho Chi Minh City on 5/24/2009, sentenced on
1/20/2010 to 16 years in prison and 5 years of house arrest for "Activities aimed at
overthrowing the people's administration" under Article 79 of the Vietnamese Penal Code.
Prison: K1, Z30A, Xuan Loc, Dong Nai.
124. Tran Minh Nhat (Tran Minh Nhat): Born: 1988. Student, member of Catholic Youth,
arrested 8/27/2011 in Hochiminh City, accused of "activities aimed at overthrowing the
people's administration" under Article 79 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Has yet to be
sentenced publicly. Prison: B34 Detention Center (Ministry of Public Security of
Vietnam) - 237 Nguyen Van Cu, Hochiminh City.
125. Tran Phi Dung (Tran Phi Dung): Born: 1966. Member of "I-16i dong cling luat cling an
Bia Son" in Phu Yen province. Arrested 2/10/2012, accused of "Abusing democratic
freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State" under Article 258 of the Vietnamese
Penal code. Prison: Detention center in Phu Yen province.
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011 47
126. Tran Quan (Tran Qudn): Born: 1984. Member of "I-16i dong cling luat cling an Bia Son"
in Phu Yen province. Arrested 2/10/2012, accused of "Abusing democratic freedoms to
infringe upon the interests of the State" under Article 258 of the Vietnamese Penal code.
Prison: Detention center in Phu Yen province.
127. Tran Thi Thuy (Tran Thi Thuy:) Born: 1971. Land rights activist and a follower of Hoa
Hao Buddhist Church, arrested 8/10/2010, accused of a member & collaborating with the
Vietnam Reform Party (Ddng Viet Tdn), sentenced 8 years' imprisonment and 5 years of
house arrest for "activities aimed at overthrowing the people's administration" under
Article 79 of the Vietnamese Penal Code on 5/30/2011. Prison: Ben Tre provincial jail.
128. Tran Van Thiep (Tran Van Thiep): Born: 1963. A Hoa -Hao Buddhist activist. Arrested
8/4/2007, sentenced 6 years' imprisonment for "Causing public disorder" under Article
245 of the Vietnamese Penal code. Prison: Lang Bien, Dong Thap.
129. Tran Vu Anh Binh (Tran Vu Anh Binh, aka Hoang Nhat Th6ng): Born: 1974.
Musician, member of Catholic Youth, arrested 9/19/2011 in Hochiminh City, accused of
"activities aimed at overthrowing the people's administration" under Article 79 of the
Vietnamese Penal Code. Has yet to be sentenced publicly. Prison: 4 Phan Dang Luu,
Hochiminh City.
130. Truong Minh Duc ( Truang Minh Ddc): Born: 1960. Free journalist, member of the
Vietnam Populist Party (Dang Vi Ddn), arrested on 5/05/2007 in Kien Giang, sentenced
on 7/18/2008 to 5 years in prison and 3 years of house arrest for "Abusing democratic
freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State" under Article 258 of the Vietnamese
Penal code. Prison: Z30A, Xuan Loc, Dong Nai.
131. Truong Quoc Huy ( Truang Quoc Huy): Born: 1980. Member of Bloc 8406, arrested in
Saigon on 8/18/2006, sentenced on 1/29/2008 to 6 years in prison for "Conducting
propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam" under Article 88 of the Vietnamese
Penal Code, currently at prison camp Z30A, Xuan Truong Village, Xuan Loc District,
Dong Nai Province.
132. Truong Thi Tam ( Truang Thi Tam): Born: 1966. Member of the Vietnam Populist Party
(Dang Vi Ddn). Arrested on 08/30/2009, sentenced on 4/20/2010 to 3 years' imprisonment
and 3 years of house arrest for "Fleeing abroad or defecting to stay overseas with a view to
opposing the people' administration" under Article 91 of the Vietnamese Penal code.
Prison: Section K -4 of Xuan -Loc Camp in Dong -Nai Province.
133. Truong Van Duy ( Truang Van Duy): Born: 1964. Member of Alliance of Vietnamese
Revolutionary Parties, arrested 6/12/1996, sentenced to LIFE imprisonment for
"Terrorism to oppose the people's administration" under Article 84 of the Vietnamese
Penal code. Prison: K2, Xuan -Loc, Dong -Nai.
134. Truong Van Kim ( Truang Van Kim): Born: 1954. Member of the Vietnam Populist Party
(Dang Vi Ddn), arrested on 08/26/2009, sentenced on April 18, 2010 to 3 years'
imprisonment and 3 years of house arrest for "Fleeing abroad or defecting to stay overseas
with a view to opposing the people' administration" under Article 91 of the Vietnamese
Penal code. Prison: Section K -2 of Xuan -Loc Camp in Dong -Nai Province.
135. Van Ngoc Hieu (Van Ngoc Hieu): Born: 1963. Member of the Government of Free
Vietnam (Chinh phu Viet Nam Ta Do), arrested on 02/28/2000, sentenced on 5/29/2001 to
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011 48
20 years' imprisonment for "Terrorism to oppose the people's administration" under
Article 84 of the Vietnamese Penal code. Prison: K2, Xuan -Loc, Dong -Nai.
136. Vi Duc Hoi (Vi Ddc HOl): Born: 1956. The minority ethnic group, former Director of
Vietnamese Communist Party college in Huu Lung, Lang Son, arrest 10/27/2010,
sentenced on 01/26/2011 to 8 years' imprisonment and 5 years of house arrest for
"Conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam" under Article 88 of
the Vietnamese Penal Code. At Appeal Court on 26/04/2011 reduced to 5 years'
imprisonment and 3 years of house arrest. Prison: Yen Trach, Lang Son.
137. Vo Minh Tri (V6 Minh Tri, aka Viet Khang): Born: 1978. Musician well -known with
some patriotic and anti -China songs, member of group "Patriotic Youth Movement ".
Arrested on 12/23/2011 at My Tho, accused of still unknown. Prison: 4 Phan Dang Luu,
Hochiminh City.
138. Vo Ngoc Cu (V6 Ngoc Cu): Born: 1951. Member of "H6i dong cling luat cling an Bia
Son" in Phu Yen province. Arrested 2/6/2012, accused of "Abusing democratic freedoms
to infringe upon the interests of the State" under Article 258 of the Vietnamese Penal
code. Prison: Detention center in Phu Yen province.
139. Vo Van Bun (V6 Van Bdu): Born: 1970. A Hoa -Hao Buddhist activist, self - immolation
8/5/2005 but was saved, sentenced to 7 years' imprisonment on 9/27/2005, under Article
245 & 257 of the Vietnamese Penal code on "Causing public disorder" and "Resisting
persons in the performance of their official duties ", jailed in Xuan Loc, Dong Nai. His
wife, Mai Thi Dung, also sentenced for 6 years by the same court.
140. Vo Thanh Le (V6 Thanh Le): Born: 1955. Member of "H6i dong cling luat cling an Bia
Son" in Phu Yen province. Arrested 2/5/2012, accused of "Abusing democratic freedoms
to infringe upon the interests of the State" under Article 258 of the Vietnamese Penal
code. Prison: Detention center in Phu Yen province.
141. Vo Thi Hanh (V6 Thi Hanh): Born: unknown. Member of "H6i dong cling luat cling an
Bia Son" in Phu Yen province. Arrested 2/10/2012, accused of "Abusing democratic
freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State" under Article 258 of the Vietnamese
Penal code. Prison: Detention center in Phu Yen province.
142. Vo Thi Thu Thuy (V6 Thi Thu Thuy): Born: 1962. Arrested on 03/10/2011 & accused of
distributing anti - government leaflets for "Conducting propaganda against the Socialist
Republic of Vietnam" under Article 88 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Has yet to be
sentenced publicly. Prison: Dong Hoi, Quang Binh.
143. Vu Duc Trung (Vu Ddc Trung): Born: 1980 . Director of Nhan Hoa software company,
member of Falun Gong in Vietnam. Arrested 6/11/2010 in Ha Noi, accused of installing
equipment to broadcast Falun Gong's "Sound of Hope Network" into China, sentenced on
11/10/2011 to 3 years' imprisonment for "Illegally transmitting information on the network
of telecommunication" under Article 226 of the Vietnamese Penal code. Prison: B14
Detention Center (Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam) - Thanh Liet, Thanh Tri, Ha Noi.
144. Vu Quang Thuan (Vu Quang Thuan): Born: 1966. Leader of Vietnam Progressive
Democratic Movement (Chan Hung Nuoc Viet). 5/31/2009 escaped from Vietnam into
Malaisya on 9/8/2009 for seeking political refuge, but was deported back to Vietnam &
arrested 2/2/2011, upon arrival at Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City, charged with
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011 49
"Fleeing abroad or defecting to stay overseas with a view to opposing the people'
administration" under Article 91 of the Vietnamese Penal code. Currently still in
interrogation process at B34 Detention Center (Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam) -
237 Nguyen Van Cu, Hochiminh City, has yet to be sentenced publicly.
145. Vuong Tan Son ( Vuong Tan Son): Born: 1953. Member of "1-16i dong cling luat cling an
Bia Son" in Phu Yen province. Arrested 2/10/2012, accused of "Abusing democratic
freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State" under Article 258 of the Vietnamese
Penal code. Prison: Detention center in Phu Yen province.
146. Y Bri E -Nuol (aka Ama Joan): Born: 1958. The minority ethnic group in Daklak, an
Evangelist follower. Arrested 2003, sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for
"undermining unity policy" under Article 87 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Prison: Ba
Sao, Phu Ly, Ha Nam.
147. Y Dhiam: Born: 1966. The minority ethnic group in Daklak, an Evangelist follower.
Arrested 2004, sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for "undermining unity policy" under
Article 87 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Prison: Ba Sao, Phu Ly, Ha Nam.
148. Y Don B.Ya: Born: 1971. The minority ethnic group in Daklak, an Evangelist follower.
Arrested 2003, sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for "undermining unity policy" under
Article 87 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Prison: Ba Sao, Phu Ly, Ha Nam.
149. Y Het Kdam: Born: 1962. The minority ethnic group in Daklak, an Evangelist follower.
Arrested 2002, sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for "undermining unity policy" under
Article 87 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Prison: Ba Sao, Phu Ly, Ha Nam.
150. Y Hoang B. K -Rong: Born: 1974. The minority ethnic group in Daklak, an Evangelist
follower. Arrested 2002, sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for "undermining unity
policy" under Article 87 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Prison: Ba Sao, Phu Ly, Ha Nam.
151. Y Jon E -Nuoi: Born: 1974. The minority ethnic group in Daklak, an Evangelist follower.
Arrested 2002, sentenced to 11 years' imprisonment for "undermining unity policy" under
Article 87 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Prison: Ba Sao, Phu Ly, Ha Nam.
152. Y Jut B.Ya: Born: 1962. The minority ethnic group in Daklak, an Evangelist follower.
Arrested 2002, sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for "undermining unity policy" under
Article 87 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Prison: Ba Sao, Phu Ly, Ha Nam.
153. Y Jut E -Ban: Born: 1970. The minority ethnic group in Daklak, an Evangelist follower.
Arrested 2004, sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for "undermining unity policy" under
Article 87 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Prison: Ba Sao, Phu Ly, Ha Nam.
154. Y Kuo B.Ya: Born: 1956. The minority ethnic group in Daklak, an Evangelist follower.
Arrested 2003, sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment for "undermining unity policy" under
Article 87 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Prison: Ba Sao, Phu Ly, Ha Nam.
155. Y Kur B. Dap: Born: 1971. The minority ethnic group in Daklak, an Evangelist follower.
Arrested 2004, sentenced to 17 years' imprisonment for "undermining unity policy" under
Article 87 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Prison: Ba Sao, Phu Ly, Ha Nam.
156. Y Mi Nie: Born: 1962. The minority ethnic group in Daklak, an Evangelist follower.
Arrested 2002, sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for "undermining unity policy" under
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011 50
Article 87 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Prison: Ba Sao, Phu Ly, Ha Nam.
157. Y Nging Nie: Born: 1974. The minority ethnic group in Daklak, an Evangelist follower.
Arrested 2004, sentenced to 9 years' imprisonment for "undermining unity policy" under
Article 87 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Prison: Ba Sao, Phu Ly, Ha Nam.
158. Y Ngun Knul: Born: 1968. The minority ethnic group in Daklak, an Evangelist follower.
Arrested 2004, sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment for "undermining unity policy" under
Article 87 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Prison: Ba Sao, Phu Ly, Ha Nam.
159. Y Phu Ksor: Born: 1980. The minority ethnic group in Daklak, an Evangelist follower.
Arrested 2004, sentenced to 8 years' imprisonment for "undermining unity policy" under
Article 87 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Prison: Ba Sao, Phu Ly, Ha Nam.
160. Y Rit Nie Kdam: Born: 1972. The minority ethnic group in Daklak, an Evangelist
follower. Arrested 2004, sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for "undermining unity
policy" under Article 87 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Prison: Ba Sao, Phu Ly, Ha Nam.
161. Y Thot: Born: 1962. The minority ethnic group in Daklak, an Evangelist follower.
Arrested 2004, sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for "undermining unity policy" under
Article 87 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Prison: Ba Sao, Phu Ly, Ha Nam.
162. Y Tim B. Ya: Born: 1968. The minority ethnic group in Daklak, an Evangelist follower.
Arrested 2002, sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for "undermining unity policy" under
Article 87 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Prison: Ba Sao, Phu Ly, Ha Nam.
163. Y Tlup Adrong: Born: 1954. The minority ethnic group in Daklak, an Evangelist
follower. Arrested 2003, sentenced to 11 years' imprisonment for "undermining unity
policy" under Article 87 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Prison: Ba Sao, Phu Ly, Ha Nam.
Under House Arrest: 24 persons
1. Doan Van Dien (Doan Van Dien): Born: 1954. Member of the Alliance of Workers and
Farmers (AWF), arrested on 11/05/2006, sentenced on 12/10/2007 to 4 years and 6
months in prison for "Abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the
State" under Article 258 of the Vietnamese Penal code. Released and is currently under
house arrest.
2. Hang Tan Phat (Hang Tan Phat): Born: 1984. Member of Bloc 8406, arrested on
9/23/2005, sentenced on 1/29/2008 to 6 years in prison under Article 88 of the Vietnamese
Penal Code on "Conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam ",
released and is currently under house arrest.
3. Huynh Nguyen Dao ( Huynh Nguyen Dao, aka Huynh Viet Lang): Born: 1968. Free
journalist, member of The People's Democratic Party of Vietnam (Ddng Ddn Chu Nhan
Ddn), arrested in Saigon on August 14, 2006, sentenced to 2,5 years in prison and 2 years
of house arrest on August 17, 2007 for "conducting propaganda against the Socialist
Republic of Vietnam ". He was released on 17 February 2009; is currently under house
arrest.
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011 51
4. Le Nguyen Sang (Le Nguyen Sang): Born: 1959. Medical doctor, leader of The People's
Democratic Party of Vietnam (Ddng Ddn Chu Nhdn Ddn), arrested on 8/14/2006 in
Saigon, sentenced on 8/17/2007 to 4 years in prison, under Article 88 of the Vietnamese
Penal Code on "Conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam ", was
released on August 17, 2010, and is currently under house arrest.
5. Le Thi Cong Nhan (Le Thi Cling Nhdn): Born: 1979. Attorney and spokewoman of the
Vietnam Progressive Party (VNPP), member of Vietnamese Human Rights Committee,
arrested on 3/6/2007 in Hanoi, sentenced on 11/27/2007 to 3 years in prison and 3 years of
house arrest, under Article 88 of the Vietnamese Penal Code on "Conducting propaganda
against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam ", released on 3/06/2010, is currently under
house arrest.
6. Ngo Quynh (Ng6 Quynh): Born: 1984. Student activist, member of Bloc 8406, arrested in
Hai Phong on 10/01/2008, sentenced on 10/09/2009 to 3 years in prison and 3 years of
house arrest for "Conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam" under
Article 88 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Released and is currently under house arrest.
7. Nguyen Bac Truyen (Nguyen Bac Truyen): Born: 1968. Attorney, member of the The
People's Democratic Party of Vietnam (Dang Ddn Chu Nhdn Ddn); arrested on 8/14/2006 in
Saigon and sentenced on 8/17/2007 to 3 years and 6 months in prison and 3 years of house
arrest, under Article 88 of the Vietnamese Penal Code on "Conducting propaganda against the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam "; released and is currently under house arrest.
8. Nguyen Binh Thanh (Nguyen Binh Thdnh): Born: 1955. Electrician, member of the
Vietnam Progressive Party (Dang Thdng Tien), arrested on 2/17/2007 in Hue, sentenced
on 3/30/2007 to 5 years in prison and 2 years of house arrest, under Article 88 of the
Vietnamese Penal Code on "Conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam ". Has just been released, currently under house arrest.
9. Nguyen Thanh Long (Nguyen Thdnh Long): Born: Unknown. A Hoa -Hao Buddhist
activist, was arrested on August 5, 2005, on 9/26/2006 sentenced to 5 years'
imprisonment, under Article 89 of the Vietnamese Penal Code on "Disrupting security" by
the people court Long Xuyen, An Giang Province; released and is currently under house
arrest.
10. Nguyen Thanh Phong (Nguyen Thanh Phong): Born: 1979. A leader of Hoa -Hao
Buddhist Youth League; detained Aug. 5, 2005 along with his wife Nguyen Thi Ha,
sentenced Sept. 27, 2005 for 6 years' imprisonment, under Article 89 of the Vietnamese
Penal Code on "Disrupting security" and "against the government officials "; released, is
currently under house arrest.
11. Nguyen Van Dai (Nguyen Van Wi): Born: 1969. Attorney, human rights advocate and
founder of the Vietnam Human Rights Committee, arrested on 3/6/2007 in Hanoi,
sentenced on 11/27/2007 to 4 years' imprisonment and 4 years of house arrest, under
Article 88 of the Vietnamese Penal Code on "Conducting propaganda against the Socialist
Republic of Vietnam ", released and is currently under house arrest.
12. Nguyen Van Ngoc (Nguyen Van Ngoc): Born: 1959. Engineer & businessman, member
of the Vietnamese Patriots Organization; arrested in Saigon on 2/28/2007, sentenced on
12/11/2007 to 4 years in prison and 3 years of house arrest, under Article 258 of the
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011 S2
Vietnamese Penal code on "Abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of
the State ", released and is currently under house arrest.
13. Nguyen Van Thuy (Nguyen Van Thuy): Born: 1981. A Hoa -Hao Buddhist activist,
arrested on 4/22/2006 in Dong Thap Province, sentenced on 5/03/2007 to 5 years in prison
for "Causing public disorder" & "Resisting persons in the performance of their official
duties" under Article 245 & 257 of the Vietnamese Penal code. Released and is currently
under house arrest.
14. Nguyen Van Tinh (Nguyen Van Tinh): Born: 1942. Staff writer for the dissident
newsletter To Quoc (Motherland), arrested in Hai Phong on 9/24/2008, sentenced on
10/09/2009 to 3 years in prison and 3 years of house arrest for "Conducting propaganda
against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam" under Article 88 of the Vietnamese Penal
Code. Released and is currently under house arrest.
15. Pham Ba Hai (Pham BA Hai): Born: 1968. Leader of Bach Dang Giang Organization,
arrested in Saigon on 9/072006, sentenced on 8/8/2008 to 5 years in prison and 2 years of
house arrest for "Conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam" under
Article 88 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Released and is currently under house arrest.
16. Pham Minh Hoang (Pham Minh Hoang, aka Phan Kien Quoc): Born: 1955. French
citizen, a math lecturer at the Saigon Polytechnic University, accused of a member &
collaborating with the Vietnam Reform Party (Dang Viet Tdn), detained on August 13,
2010, sentenced on 8/10/201 Ito 3 years' imprisonment and 3 years of house arrest, under
Article 79 of the Vietnamese Penal Code on "activities aimed at overthrowing the people's
administration ". At appeal court on 11/29/2011 sentence was reduced to 17 months'
imprisonment and 3 years of house arrest. Released and is currently under house arrest.
17. Phan Van Loi (Phan Van Lai): Born: 1951. Catholic priest, one of leaders of Bloc 8406,
director & editor in chief of "Freedom of expression" magazine. Arrested 10/29/1981 in
Hue, sentenced on 11/20/1982 to 4 years' imprisonment + 3 year of "Re- educated"
detainment. Released in 1988, since then is under house arrest until now.
18. Thich Quang Do ( Thich Quang D6, aka Dang Phuc Tue): Born: 1928. Buddhist leader,
Patriarch of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, arrested in Ho Chi Minh City in April
1977, tried on 12/08//1978 and released, rearrested on 02/25/1982 and exiled to home village
of Vu Doai, returned on his own in March 1992 to Saigon, arrested for the third time on
01/04/1995 for writing a 44 -page document detailing the persecution of the UBCV at the
hands of the communist government, tried on 8/15/1995 to 5 years in prison, released on
8/30/1998, formally placed under house (i.e. temple) arrest since June 2001 at Thanh Minh
Zen Monastery.
19. Tran Duc Thach (Tran Ddc Thach): Born: 1952. Poet, member of Bloc 8406, arrested on
9/10/2008, sentenced on 10/06/2009 to 3 years in prison and 3 years of house arrest for
"Conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam" under Article 88 of
the Vietnamese Penal Code. Released and is currently under house arrest.
20. Tran Quoc Hien (Tran Quoc Hien): Born: 1965. Attorney, spokeman for the United
Workers- Farmers Organization of Viet Nam (Hiep h6i down ket cling n6ng Viet Nam),
arrested in Saigon on 1/12/2007, sentenced on 5/15/2007 to 5 years' imprisonment and 2
years of house arrest, under Article 88 of the Vietnamese Penal Code on "Conducting
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011 53
propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam ". Released, currently is under house
arrest.
21. Tran Van Thieng (Tran Van Thieng): Born: 1935. Former Lieutenant of Republic of
Vietnam's Special Police. Arrested 2/14/1991, sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment and 5
years of house arrest for "activities aimed at overthrowing the people's administration"
under Article 79 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Just released and is currently under house
arrest.
22. Truong Minh Nguyet (Truong Minh Nguyet): Born: 1946. Engineer, member of the
Association of Political and Religious Prisoners (H6i Ai Hdu Tu Nhdn Chinh Tri & T6n
Giao), member of Vietnamese Patriots Organization.
First prison term: arrest in 1981, sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment for "activities aimed
at overthrowing the people's administration" under Article 79 of the Vietnamese Penal
Code.
Second prison term: arrested on 6/4/2007 in Saigon, sentenced on 12/11/2007 to 4 years in
prison and 3 years of house arrest for "Abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the
interests of the State" under Article 258 of the Vietnamese Penal code. Released and is
currently under house arrest
23. Vo Van Thanh Liem (V6 Van Thanh Liem, aka NAm Liem): Born: 1940. Monk of Hoa-
Hao Buddhist, detained 8/5/2005 (along with nephew Nguyen Thanh Long), sentenced on
9/18/2005 to 7 years' imprisonment and 3 years of house arrest for "Causing public
disorder" & "Resisting persons in the performance of their official duties" under Article
245 & 257 of the Vietnamese Penal code. Prison: K2, Z30, Xuan Loc, Dong Nai. Released
& is now under 3 years of house arrest.
24. Vu Hung (Vu Hung): Born: 1966. Teacher, arrested on 9/18/2008, sentenced in Hanoi on
10/07/2009 to 3 years imprisonment and 3 years of house arrest for "Conducting
propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam" under Article 88 of the Vietnamese
Penal Code, just released and is currently under house arrest.
Vietnam Human Rights Network * Annual Report 2011 S4
JANUARY 2012
Vietnam
COUNTRY SUMMARY
The Vietnamese government systematically suppresses freedom of expression,
association, and peaceful assembly. Independent writers, bloggers, and rights activists
who question government policies, expose official corruption, or call for democratic
alternatives to one -party rule are routinely subject to police harassment and intrusive
surveillance, detained incommunicado for long periods of time without access to legal
counsel, and sentenced to increasingly long terms in prison for violating vague national
security laws.
Police frequently torture suspects to elicit confessions and, in several cases, have
responded to public protests over evictions, confiscation of land, and police brutality with
excessive use of force. Anti -China protests in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in 2011 were
dispersed and protesters were intimidated, harassed, and in some cases detained for
several days.
The 11t" Vietnam Communist Party Congress in January 2011 and the stage- managed
National Assembly election in May determined the leadership of the party and government
for the next five years. During both, there was no sign of any serious commitment to
improve Vietnam's abysmal human rights record. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung began
his second term in July, enjoying strong support from the Ministry of Public Security and
other hard - liners.
Repression of Dissent
2011 saw a steady stream of political trials and arrests, likely spurred in part by Vietnamese
government concerns that pro- democracy Arab Spring movement might reach Asia.
During the first 10 months of 2011, the authorities sent at least 24 rights activists to prison.
All but one were convicted of "conducting propaganda against the state" (penal code
article 88), "undermining national unity" (article 87), or "subversion of the administration"
(article 79). These three vaguely defined articles have been employed to imprison
hundreds of peaceful activists in the last decade. In addition, the police arrested at least
27 political and religious advocates in 2011. Blogger Nguyen Van Hai, known by his pen
name Dieu Cay, has been held incommunicado since October 2010. Two other pro -
democracy internet writers, Nguyen Ba Dang and Phan Thanh Hai, have been detained
since 2010 without trial.
In a majortrial in April 2011, prominent legal activist Dr. Cu Huy Ha Vu was convicted of
conducting propaganda against the state and sentenced to seven years in prison. The
sentence was upheld on appeal.
In May the People's Court of Ben Tre convicted seven peaceful land rights activists,
including Mennonite pastor Duong Kim Khai and Hoa Hao Buddhist member Tran Thi Thuy,
for subversion and sentenced them to long prison terms.
Authorities continue to harass, interrogate, and in some cases detain and imprison online
critics. In January 2011 police arrested human rights blogger Ho Thi Bich I<huong. In May
democracy advocate Nguyen Kim Nhan was arrested for allegedly conducting propaganda
against the state, five months after he was released from prison on the same charge. In
August blogger Lu Van Bay was sentenced to four years for his pro- democracy articles
published on the Internet. Also in August blogger Pham Minh Hoang was sentenced to
three years for subversion.
Ethnic minority activists also face arrest and imprisonment. In January the Lang Son
provincial court sentenced blogger Vi Duc Hoi, an ethnic Tay, on charges of conducting
propaganda against the state to eight years in prison, reduced to five years on appeal in
April. In March land rights activist Chau Heng, a member of the Khmer Krom minority group,
was sentenced to two years in prison in An Giang on charges of "destruction of property"
and "causing public disorder." The People's Court of Gia Lai imprisoned eight Montagnard
Protestants in April to sentences between eight to twelve years for violating article 87 of
the penal code, which outlaws "undermining unity policy."
Freedom of Expression, Assembly, and Information
The government does not allow independent or privately -owned domestic media to operate
and exerts strict control overthe press and internet. Criminal penalties apply to authors,
publications, websites, and internet users who disseminate materials deemed to oppose
the government, threaten national security, reveal state secrets, or promote "reactionary"
ideas. The government blocks access to politically sensitive websites, requires internet cafe
owners to monitor and store information about users' online activities, and subjects
independent bloggers and online critics to harassment and pressure.
In August anti -China protests in Hanoi were dispersed with force. Protesters were
intimidated, harassed, and detained for peacefully marching near the Embassy of China
and around Hoan Kiem lake. Government media, including newspapers and television
stations, continually cast negative images of protesters and labeled them "reactionary."
Freedom of Religion
The government restricts religious practices through legislation, registration requirements,
and harassment and surveillance. Religious groups are required to registerwith the
government and operate under government- controlled management boards. Despite
allowing many government- affiliated churches and pagodas to hold worship services, the
government bans any religious activity that it arbitrarily deems to oppose "national
interests," harm national unity, cause public disorder, or "sow divisions."
Local police continue to prohibit unsanctioned Buddhist Hoa Hao groups from
commemorating the anniversary of the death of Hoa Hao founder Huynh Phu So. During
Buddhist festivals in May and August, Da Nang police blocked access to Giac Minh and An
Cu pagodas and intimidated Buddhist followers. Both pagodas are affiliated with the un-
sanctioned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam.
Protestant pastor Nguyen Trung Ton was arrested in January on unknown charges. Three
Catholic Ha Mon Montagnard activists —Blei, Phoi, and Dinh Pset —were arrested in March.
Two Cao Dai activists, Nguyen Van Lia and Tran Hoai An, were arrested in April and July.
Also in April Protestant pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh was arrested and charged with
"undermining national unity." At least 15 Catholics affiliated with Redemptorist churches
in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, including bloggers Le Van Son and Ta Phong Tan, were
arrested in July, August, and September.
In July prominent religious and democracy campaigner Father Nguyen Van Ly was sent
back to prison after approximately 16 months of medical parole /house arrest. Father Ly
suffers from partial paralysis resulting from strokes previously suffered in prison and there
continue to be serious concerns for his health.
Criminal Justice System
Police brutality, including torture and fatal beatings, continues to be reported in all regions
of the country. At least 13 people died in police custody within the first 10 months of 2011.
Political and religious detainees and others whose cases are considered sensitive are
frequently tortured during interrogation, held incommunicado priorto trial, and denied
family visits and access to lawyers. Vietnamese courts remain underthe firm control of the
government and the Vietnam Communist party, and lack independence and impartiality.
Political and religious dissidents are often tried without the assistance of legal counsel in
proceedings that fail to meet international fair trial standards. Defense lawyers who take
on politically sensitive cases are intimidated, harassed, debarred, and imprisoned.
Vietnamese law continues to authorize arbitrary "administrative detention" without trial.
Under Ordinance 44 (2002) and Decree 76 (2003), peaceful dissidents and others deemed
threats to national security or public order can be involuntarily committed to mental
institutions, placed under house arrest, or detained in state -run "rehabilitation" or "re-
education" centers.
People dependent on illegal drugs can be held in government detention centers where
they are subjected to "labor therapy," the mainstay of Vietnam's approach to drug
treatment. In early 2011 there were 123 centers across the country holding some 40,000
people, including children as young as 12. Their detention is not subject to any form of due
process or judicial oversight and routinely lasts for as long as four years. Infringement of
center rules — including the work requirement —is punished by beatings with truncheons,
shocks with electrical batons, and being locked in disciplinary rooms where detainees are
deprived of food and water. Former detainees report being forced to work in cashew
processing and other forms of agricultural production, including potato or coffee farming;
construction work; and garment manufacturing and other forms of manufacturing, such as
making bamboo and rattan products. Under Vietnamese law, companies who source
products from these centres are eligible for tax exemptions. Some products produced as a
result of this forced labor made their way into the supply chain of companies who sell
goods abroad, including to the United States and Europe.
Key International Actors
Vietnam's complicated relationship with China plays a key role in both domestic and
foreign affairs. Domestically, the government has been increasingly criticized on
nationalist grounds by many activists and some retired military officials for weak
responses to what is widely seen in Vietnam as China's aggressive behavior in the
disputed Spratly and Paracel Islands. The government in 2011 worked to silence this
increasingly public and audible anti -China chorus.
Internationally, the government has attempted to increase cooperation with the US, India,
Japan, and neighboring Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries as a regional
counter - balance China's influence.
Despite Japan's considerable leverage as Vietnam's largest bilateral donor, it has
repeatedly failed to publicly comment on Vietnam's deteriorating rights record.
The relationship between Vietnam and the US continues to grow closer. In September
Vietnam opened a new consulate in New York, and the US Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City
expanded with the opening of an American Center. The US and Vietnam are also among
those currently negotiating to join the Trans - Pacific Partnership, a multilateral free trade
agreement.
In January and May United Nations independent experts who had visited Vietnam in 2010
published their findings. The UN special rapporteur on human rights and extreme poverty
issued a broadly positive report but urged the government to ratify and implement major
human rights treaties, including the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman
or Degrading Treatment. The UN special rapporteur on minority issues issued a more
critical report, acknowledging some progress but raising concerns about the potential
denial of religious freedom and "other serious violations of civil rights." The rapporteur
also pointedly noted that obstacles during her visit "impeded her ability to obtain
perspectives other than those in consonance with official Government positions."
Overview:
The government in 2010 continued a serious crackdown on dissent
that carried over from previous years, but showed much more
hostility toward criticism on the internet. Despite concerns about its
human rights record, Vietnam dramatically upgraded its relationship
with the United States during the year, launching joint naval
exercises amid an ongoing maritime territorial dispute with China.
Vietnam won full independence from France in 1954, but it was divided into
a Western- backed state in the south and a Communist -ruled state in the
north. Open warfare between the two sides erupted in the mid- 1960s. A
1973 peace treaty officially ended the war, but fighting did not cease until
1975, when the north completed its conquest of the south. Vietnam was
formally united in 1976.
War and poor economic policies mired Vietnam in deep poverty, but
economic reforms that began in 1986 drastically transformed the country
over the next two decades. Tourism became a major source of revenue, as
did the export of foodstuffs and manufactured products. However, the ruling
Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) rejected any parallel political reforms
that would threaten the one -party system. Criticism of the government
continued to be harshly suppressed, and official corruption remained
1
widespread. To protect the regime's legitimacy, the government began to
openly call for an end to corruption, and acknowledged that some reforms
were needed. The leadership also focused on closing the widening income
gap between rural and urban populations.
At the 10th party congress in April 2006, Nong Duc Manh was reelected as
CPV general secretary, and the delegates approved a proposal to allow CPV
members to engage in business, partly to attract young entrepreneurs into
the party. Nguyen Minh Triet was elected state president by the National
Assembly in June, and Nguyen Tan Dung was chosen as prime minister.
National Assembly elections were held in May 2007; only 50 of the 500
deputies chosen did not belong to the CPV, and all were preapproved by the
party.
Vietnam secured entry into the World Trade Organization in 2007, and the
government subsequently embarked on a serious and extended crackdown
on peaceful dissent, displaying a sharply reduced tolerance for open criticism
and prodemocracy activism. Dozens of dissidents were arrested, and many
were sentenced to lengthy prison terms. This process continued unabated in
2010. Among other cases during the year, the authorities arrested at least
seven independent bloggers, sentenced three prodemocracy activists to long
terms in jail for allegedly "attempting to overthrow the government," and
sentenced two other prominent dissidents to jail for disseminating
antigovernment propaganda. Also during the year, the government
expanded its attempts to censor and block critical media content, particularly
on the internet. Many observers attributed the latest wave of repression to
preparations for the CPV's 11th party congress, scheduled to take place in
January 2011.
Despite concerns about Vietnam's human rights record, the United States
dramatically deepened its relationship with the country in 2010, responding
in part to growing regional tensions over China's territorial claims in the
2
South China Sea. In addition to holding joint naval exercises and launching
other bilateral programs, the United States negotiated a controversial
agreement on nuclear energy that would allow it to provide Vietnam with
nuclear fuel and technology without the normal nonproliferation constraints.
Political Rights and Civil Liberties:
Vietnam is not an electoral democracy.The CPV, the sole legal political party,
controls politics and the government, and its Central Committee is the top
decision - making body. The National Assembly, whose 500 members are
elected to five -year terms, generally follows CPV dictates. The Vietnam
Fatherland Front, an arm of the CPV, vets all candidates. The president,
elected by the National Assembly for a five -year term, appoints the prime
minister, who is confirmed by the legislature.
Corruption and abuse of office are serious problems. Although senior CPV
and government officials have acknowledged growing public discontent, they
have mainly responded with a few high - profile prosecutions of corrupt
officials and private individuals rather than comprehensive reforms. Major
government decisions are made with little transparency, and revelations of
contracts with Chinese state -owned companies have generated considerable
controversy. In 2009 and 2010, 98- year -old Vo Nguyen Giap, the famed
commander of Vietnamese forces during the wars of independence and
unification, led public criticism of a government deal to allow a Chinese
company to open a huge bauxite - mining operation in the Central Highlands,
which opponents said would displace indigenous residents, cause
environmental damage, and threaten national security.
The government tightly controls the media, silencing critics through the
courts and other means of harassment. A 1999 law requires journalists to
pay damages to groups or individuals found to have been harmed by press
articles, even if the reports are accurate. A 2006 decree imposes fines on
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journalists for denying revolutionary achievements, spreading "harmful"
information, or exhibiting "reactionary ideology." Foreign media
representatives in theory cannot travel outside Hanoi without government
approval, though they often do in practice. The CPV or state entities control
all broadcast media. Although satellite television is officially restricted to
senior officials, international hotels, and foreign businesses, many homes
and businesses have satellite dishes. All print media outlets are owned by or
are under the effective control of the CPV, government organs, or the army.
The government restricts internet use through legal and technical means,
and this effort was stepped up significantly in 2010. A 2003 law bans the
receipt and distribution of antigovernment e-mail messages, websites
considered "reactionary" are blocked, and owners of domestic websites must
submit their content for official approval. Internet cafes must register the
personal information of and record the sites visited by users. Internet -
service providers face fines and closure for violating censorship rules. The
government detained numerous bloggers and online writers throughout
2010, and cyberattacks disabled websites and blogs that were critical of the
authorities or provided independent information about sensitive topics,
including Roman Catholicism and human rights.
Religious freedom remains restricted. All religious groups and most
individual clergy members must join a party - controlled supervisory body and
obtain permission for most activities. The Roman Catholic Church can now
select its own bishops and priests, but they must be approved by the
government. Many restrictions on charitable activities have been lifted, and
clergy enjoy greater freedom to travel domestically and internationally.
However, several religious leaders and adherents remain in prison. In
January 2010, Vietnamese Catholic groups reported that priests and
believers in the area of Dong Chiem had been attacked on their way to pray;
similar sporadic attacks were reported throughout the year.
F
Academic freedom is limited. University professors must refrain from
criticizing government policies and adhere to party views when teaching or
writing on political topics. Although citizens enjoy more freedom in private
discussions than in the past, the authorities continue to suppress open
criticism of the state.
Freedoms of association and assembly are restricted. Organizations must
apply for official permission to obtain legal status and are closely regulated
and monitored by the government. A small but active community of
nongovernmental groups promotes environmental conservation, women's
development, and public health. Human rights organizations and other
private groups with rights- oriented agendas are banned.
The Vietnam General Conference of Labor (VGCL), closely tied to the CPV, is
the only legal labor federation. All trade unions are required to join the
VGCL. In recent years, the government has permitted hundreds of
independent "labor associations" to represent workers at individual firms and
in some service industries. Farmer and worker protests against local
government abuses, including land confiscations and unfair or harsh working
conditions, have become more common. The central leadership uses such
demonstrations to pressure local governments and businesses to comply
with tax laws, environmental regulations, and wage agreements.
Enforcement of labor laws covering child labor, workplace safety, and other
issues remains poor. Critics also allege that the government has intentionally
kept minimum wages low to attract foreign investment, although wages
have been rising as companies migrate to Vietnam due to labor unrest in
China. In June 2010, farmers and other Vietnamese protested power cuts
and blackouts, and sporadic labor protests were reported throughout the
year.
Vietnam's judiciary is subservient to the CPV, which controls courts at all
levels. Defendants have a constitutional right to counsel, but lawyers are
5
scarce, and many are reluctant to take on human rights and other sensitive
cases for fear of harassment and retribution — including arrest —by the state.
Defense attorneys cannot call or question witnesses and are rarely permitted
to request leniency for their clients. Police can hold individuals in
administrative detention for up to two years on suspicion of threatening
national security. The police are known to abuse suspects and prisoners, and
prison conditions are poor. Many political prisoners remain behind bars, and
political detainees are often held incommunicado. Human rights groups have
expressed concern that the bloggers and other online activists arrested in
2010 have been beaten and tortured.
Ethnic and religious minorities face discrimination in mainstream society,
and some local officials restrict their access to schooling and jobs. Minorities
generally have little input on development projects that affect their
livelihoods and communities.
Land disputes have become more frequent as the government seizes
property to lease to domestic and foreign investors. Affected residents and
farmers rarely find the courts helpful, and their street protests have resulted
in harassment and arrests by the state.
Although economic opportunities have grown for women, they continue to
face discrimination in wages and promotion. Many women are victims of
domestic violence, and thousands of women each year are trafficked
internally and externally and forced into prostitution. A number of cases of
international adoption fraud have been exposed in recent years.
R
AMNESTY
w
INTERNATIONAL J
;«[ UF
Head of state
Nguyen Minh Triet
Head of government
Nguyen Tan Dung
Death penalty
retentionist
Population
89 million
Life expectancy
74.9 years
Under -5 mortality (m /f)
27/20 per 1,000
Adult literacy
92.5 per cent
Freedom of expression, association and assembly remained severely restricted. New
regulations on internet monitoring were introduced. Harsh repression of peaceful
dissidents and human rights activists continued. The authorities increasingly used the
charge of attempting to "overthrow" the state against peaceful dissidents. Prisoners of
conscience were sentenced to long prison terms after unfair trials. Dissidents were arrested
and held in lengthy pre -trial detention, and others under house arrest. Members of some
religious groups were harassed and ill- treated. At least 34 people were sentenced to death,
but secrecy was maintained over the application of the death penalty.
Background
Viet Nam took over as Chair of ASEAN and hosted a series of regional and international
meetings during the year.
More than 17,000 prisoners were released under a large -scale prisoner amnesty to mark National
Day. No prisoners of conscience were among those released.
The UN independent experts on minority issues and on the question of human rights and extreme
poverty visited the country in July and August respectively at the invitation of the authorities.
Freedom of expression
Severe restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly of those
critical of or opposed to government policies continued. Provisions of the national security
section of the 1999 Penal Code, including Article 79 ( "Carrying out activities aimed at
overthrowing the people's administration ") were used to criminalize peaceful political and social
dissent. In April, new internet monitoring regulations affecting retail locations in the capital, Ha
Noi, were introduced, placing further restrictions on freedom of expression and access to
information. Vietnamese language dissident blogs and websites suffered widespread hacking
which internet companies Google and McAfee alleged may have been politically motivated.
At least 30 prisoners of conscience remained behind bars, including members and supporters of
banned political groups, independent trade unionists, bloggers, business people, journalists and
writers. A further eight activists were arrested and held in pre -trial detention. Other dissidents
were held under house arrest following their release from prison, including prisoner of
conscience Le Thi Cong Nhan.
Five members of Viet Tan, a Vietnamese group calling for democracy and political
reform which is based overseas but has a network in Viet Nam, were arrested. Three were
reportedly campaigning on land rights for farmers. Maths lecturer Pham Minh Hoang had
protested against bauxite mining in the Central Highlands; and Hong Vo, an Australian
national, took part in a peaceful protest against China. Hong Vo was charged with
"terrorism" and deported 10 days after arrest.
In October, independent labour activists Do Thi Minh Hanh, Nguyen Hoang Quoc Hung,
and Doan Huy Chuong were charged and tried under Penal Code Article 89 (Disrupting
security), for distributing anti - government leaflets and advocating strike action at a
factory. They received seven- to nine -year prison sentences.
Unfair trials
By the end of the year courts had convicted at least 22 pro - democracy and human rights activists
in a series of dissident trials that began in October 2009. They were all prisoners of conscience.
Trials fell far short of international standards of fairness, disregarding basic rights such as the
presumption of innocence and the right to defence. As in previous years, court proceedings were
short, and permission for family members, journalists and diplomats to observe was either not
given or arbitrarily restricted.
2
• In January, Ho Chi Minh City People's Court sentenced four dissidents — lawyer Le Cong
Dinh, businessman Le Thang Long, computer engineer and blogger Nguyen Tien Trung
and businessman Tran Huynh Duy Thuc — to between five and 16 years' imprisonment
after a trial lasting one day. They were convicted of "activities aimed at overthrowing the
people's administration ". The judges deliberated for 15 minutes before returning with a
judgement which took 45 minutes to read out, suggesting it had been prepared in
advance. Some family members and journalists observed the trial through a video link in
an adjacent room; others were refused entry. Sentences of three of the accused were
upheld on appeal in May; Le Thanh Long's prison sentence was reduced from five to
three and a half years.
• Novelist and journalist Tran Khai Thanh Thuy was tried by Dong Da District People's
Court in February. She was arrested after being beaten by thugs several hours after police
had stopped her from travelling to another town to attend a dissidents' trial in October
2009. In an apparently deliberate distortion of the incident, she was charged with assault
and sentenced to three and a half years in prison after a trial that lasted less than a day.
Discrimination — religious minorities
Members of the Unified Buddhist Church of Viet Nam (UBCV) continued to face harassment
and restrictions on their freedom of movement in some provinces. Supreme Patriarch Thich
Quang Do remained under de facto house arrest. Local authorities and police harassed and used
unnecessary force against UBCV members at Giac Minh Pagoda in Quang Nam -Da Nang
province in May and August as they attempted to hold special prayers.
Disputes over land ownership between local authorities and the Catholic church continued. In
May hundreds of police used batons and electric prods against Catholics of Con Dau parish who
were attempting to bury a woman in a cemetery on land designated by the authorities for
development. Dozens of people were injured, and around 60 briefly detained. Two were
sentenced in October to nine and 12 months' imprisonment, and five received non - custodial
sentences after being charged with public order offences. Some 40 parishioners fled Viet Nam to
seek asylum in Thailand.
Death penalty
The National Assembly voted in May to change the method of execution from firing squad to
lethal injection, claiming that it causes less pain, costs less and reduces psychological pressure on
executioners. The change was due to come into effect in July 2011. According to media reports,
at least 34 people were sentenced to death. No executions were reported in the media. Official
statistics on the death penalty were not made public.
3