Menschenrechte / Human Rights (2013/3)

Vietnam's bloggers test govt's limits

10.07.2013 Nirmal Ghosh (Asia News Network) - A fellow blogger calls the Anh Ba Sam blog the "pavement news agency", in a satirical reference to the official state-owned Vietnam News Agency.

Anh Ba Sam, which means "The Gossiper", was started in 2007 by former policeman Nguyen Huu Vinh, 57, and soon became a meeting point for people to discuss politics. It has been used to post videos and photographs of protests against land grabs, and also against China.

It is now one of the most popular blogs in Vietnam, drawing around 100,000 page hits daily. Some of the writers describe themselves as dissidents. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Vietnam: Regime verfolgt Kritiker

11.07.2013 (kath.net/jg) Die Verhaftung des Rechtsanwaltes und Bloggers Le Quoc Quan ist ein Beispiel für das harte Vorgehen der Regierung in Hanoi gegen Regimekritiker. Der Prozess gegen den katholischen Rechtsanwalt und Blogger Le Quoc Quan (Foto) zeigt das harte Vorgehen des kommunistischen Regimes in Vietnam gegen Kritiker. Der 41-jährige Quan ist einer der bekanntesten und meist respektierten Regimekritiker Vietnams. [Weiterlesen]

Fresh Appeal for Long-Serving Vietnamese Political Prisoner’s Release

16.07.2013 (RFA) - The son of one of Vietnam’s longest-serving political prisoners, Nguyen Huu Cau, who is in weak health, has warned that his father could die in prison as a new petition was sent to President Truong San seeking his freedom.

“He will not be able to live much longer in prison,” Tran Ngoc Bich told RFA’s Vietnamese Service as the medical condition of Cau, 67, who is serving a life sentence for “sabotage” over his writings, deteriorated.

Cau, who is at the ZA30 Xuan Loc prison in southern Vietnam’s Dong Nai province, has lost most of his vision and hearing, has heart trouble, has lost all but one of his teeth, suffers from gastritis, and faints frequently, according to relatives who have visited him at the facility. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Vietnam's government cracks down on critics

16/07/2013 Reporter: Zoe Daniels (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) - The Vietnamese government is routinely jailing political dissidents and internet bloggers who question the Communist Party's policies. [text & video] - [tiếng Việt]

Freedom of the Press, Vietnam Style

16.07.2013 By Pham Doan Trang (Asia Sentinel) - Every week in Hanoi, the Central Propaganda Commission of the Vietnamese Communist Party, and in Ho Chi Minh City, the commission’s southern regional office, convene “guidance meetings” with the managing editors of the country’s important national newspapers.

Not incidentally, the editors are all party members. Officials of the Ministry of Information and the Ministry of Public Security are also present. Similar meetings take place in every province, a process emblematic of just how complete the control of the press is in Vietnam. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Jailed Vietnamese Blogger in Fourth Week of Hunger Strike

17.07.2013 (RFA) - One of Vietnam’s most prominent jailed dissidents, blogger Nguyen Van Hai, has gone on a hunger strike amid concerns over his prison treatment,  his ex-wife said Wednesday, highlighting a trend of fasting protests by political prisoners in the one-party Communist state.

Hai, popularly known by his pen name Dieu Cay, has gone on the hunger protest for 25 days and has been “disciplined” by the prison authorities for “disturbing” order, Duong Thi Tan told RFA’s Vietnamese Service. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

STATEMENT FROM A NETWORK OF VIETNAMESE BLOGGERS

VIETNAM SHOULD AMEND LAW TO DEMONSTRATE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL CANDIDACY COMMITMENT

   The United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) is responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe and for addressing situations of human rights violations and making recommendations on them.

   As a candidate for the HRC for the 2014-2016 tenure, Vietnam must demonstrate its commitment to cooperating with the HRC and upholding “the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights”. 

   These obligations and responsibilities do not only apply on the international arena, but also inside Vietnam.  The Vietnamese government also needs to review the human rights situation in their own country and the Vietnamese people also have a right to freedom of opinion and expression, including on these matters.

   In order to improve the protection of human rights in Vietnam, we will take HRC's principles as guidelines for our actions, which also comply with Vietnam’s obligations under international human rights law.

We will:

- Continue to promote and inform the Vietnamese people about their rights by publicly distributing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), organizing public forums to discuss human rights in Vietnam and advocating for necessary improvements of the respect and protection of human rights. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Internet Censorship Is Taking Root in Southeast Asia

18.07.2013 By Charlie Campbell (Time) - Every time Le Anh Hung starts to write he thinks of his three young children. The 38-year-old has already been imprisoned twice for blogging about human rights and corruption from his home in Hanoi and lives half-expecting another fateful knock at the door. And yet “I’m not scared,” he says, “I know what I choose to do is risky but I accept the fight.” Forty-six bloggers and democracy activists have been imprisoned so far this year in Vietnam — more than the whole of 2012 — amid a vicious crackdown. [read more]

VIET NAM: Pro-democracy blogger Dieu Cay is on hunger strike

19.07.2013 (FIDH) - Paris-Geneva, July 19, 2013. The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), together with the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR), express deep concern for the health of human rights defender Mr. Nguyen Van Hai (aka Dieu Cay) who has reportedly been on hunger strike in prison for at least 25 days.

Mr. Dieu Cay, prominent blogger and founder of the “Club of Free Journalists of Vietnam”, well known for his online writings calling for greater respect for human rights and democratic reforms, is currently detained in Prison Camp No. 6 in Thanh Chuong District, Nghe An Province in Central Viet Nam. On July 16, 2013, Ms. Duong Thi Tan, the former wife of Mr. Dieu Cay, went to visit him in prison, but was refused the right to see him. A senior prison official (Lt.-Colonel of Security Police) told her that Mr. Dieu Cay was currently being punished for “disturbing order”. Mrs. Nguyen Thi Nga, the wife of political prisoner Mr. Nguyen Xuan Nghia, who is detained in the same prison camp, visited her husband the same day and asked for news of Mr. Dieu Cay. Prison wardens immediately intervened and ordered her not to discuss this “sensitive question”. As she was about to leave, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Nghia shouted out “Did you know that Dieu Cay has been on hunger strike for the past 25 days?”. Wardens swiftly gagged him and dragged him away. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Vietnam’s Decree Silent On Local Offices for Foreign Internet Companies

19.07.2013 (RFA) - A new decree spelling out legal requirements for foreign Internet companies operating in Vietnam does not contain a clause from an earlier draft version compelling them to open offices inside the one-party Communist state.

A copy of Decree No. 72, which was signed by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on July 15 and will go into effect on Sept. 1, omits the clause found in a draft version of the document as recently as April, according to a copy of the law seen by RFA's Vietnamese Service.

Rights groups have complained that by forcing foreign companies to maintain offices or data centers in Vietnam, which media watchdog Reporters Without Borders has listed as an “Enemy of the Internet,” authorities would be able to make them obey domestic rules. [read more]

Vietnamese bloggers released a Statement, calling on the Vietnamese Communist Government to make changes to its laws, regarding freedom of opinion and expression

20.07.2013 Diệu Quyên (Dân Làm Báo) - A network of Vietnamese bloggers released a Statement demanding that the Vietnamese communist government make major and realistic changes to its laws concerning freedom of opinion and expression, if it wishes to be a candidate for the United Nations Human Rights Council for the term 2014-2016.

Their demands is loud and clear: Abolish Article 258...

This movement, the first of its kind, is their response to the communist government's latest violation of the freedom of expression of its citizens, by arresting three more bloggers: Truong Duy Nhat, Pham Viet Dao and Dinh Nhat Uy. 

Over the last twelves months, the Vietnamese government attempted to silence the voices of its political dissidents with a series of arrests accompanied by heavy jail terms. Facebookers Nguyen Phuong Uyen and Dinh Nguyen Kha were arrested and sentenced to 6 and 8 years in prison respectively, for the distribution of the Yellow Flag and leaflets protesting against the Chinese invasion of Paracel and Spratly islands. Many others were arrested, beaten up savagely or put under constant supervision just for attending outdoor picnics where flyers bearing the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights were given out as topic for discussions. [read more] - [statement]

Abusing laws

20/07/2013 Đoan Trang (Blog Đoan Trang) - At 8 p.m. Thursday, July 18, 69 Vietnamese bloggers and facebookers (referred to as “bloggers”) released a statement, calling the government to “amend law todemonstrate Human Rights Council candidacy commitment.”

This is the first collective action by political bloggers in Vietnam who voice their opinions about Vietnam’s running for its membership in the United Nations Human Rights Council for the 2014-2016 tenure and, during the process, ignoring the role of its people. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Cómo controla Vietnam a la prensa

22.07.2013 (Global Voices Español) - Asia Sentinel publica un artículo escrito por Pham Doan Trang sobre la situación de los periodistas [en] en Vietnam: El sistema de tarjeta de prensa es un método sofisticado de controlar a los reporteros. Sin tarjeta no hay acceso. Sin una tarjeta de prensa, los reporteros no tiene la esperanza de reunirse con funcionarios de alto rango, visitar contactos en oficinas públicas ni cubrir conferencias oficiales. [seguir leyendo]

Banco Mundial: Elude problemas de derechos humanos

Aunque se destinan miles de millones para el desarrollo, la falta de salvaguardias menoscaba los beneficios

22.07.2013 (Human Rights Watch) - (Washington, DC) – El Banco Mundial no toma en cuenta los riesgos en materia de derechos humanos que afectan a las personas a quienes pretende ayudar, señaló Human Rights Watch en un informe difundido hoy. El banco carece de controles adecuados para prevenir que se financien violaciones de derechos humanos. El 23 de julio de 2013, la Junta del Banco se reunirá en Washington en el marco de su revisión de políticas, y este evento podría ser una ocasión para subsanar esa falencia. [seguir leyendo] - [tiếng Việt]

Banque mondiale : Faux-fuyants sur les questions relatives aux droits humains

Des milliards de dollars sont accordés au développement, mais l’absence de garanties mine les efforts déployés

22.07.2013 (Human Rights Watch) - (Washington, le 22 juillet 2013) – La Banque mondiale a fermé les yeux sur les risques que son travail peut poser pour les droits humains des personnes qu’elle cherche au contraire à aider, a déclaré Human Rights Watch dans un rapport paru aujourd’hui. Cette institution manque de mesures adéquates pour se prémunir contre le risque de financer des violations des droits humains. La réunion du conseil d’administration de la Banque mondiale à Washington le 23 juillet 2013, prévue dans le cadre de l’examen récurrent de sa politique actuelle, fournira une occasion pour la banque de tâcher de remédier à cette lacune. [en savoir plus...]  - [tiếng Việt]

Weltbank geht Menschenrechtsfragen aus dem Weg

Fehlende Schutzmechanismen untergraben Erfolge milliardenschwerer Entwicklungsprojekte

22.07.2013 (Human Rights Watch) - (Washington, DC) – Die Weltbank verschließt die Augen vor Gefahren für die Menschenrechte eben derjenigen Menschen, die sie unterstützen soll, so Human Rights Watch in einem heute veröffentlichten Bericht. Der Bank fehlt ein angemessenes Kontrollsystem, um nicht Menschenrechtsverletzungen zu finanzieren. Der Vorstand der Weltbank trifft sich am 23. Juli 2013 in Washington. Bei dem Treffen geht es um die derzeit laufende Überprüfung grundlegender Richtlinien, welche der Bank die Gelegenheit bietet, diese Lücke zu schließen. [Weiterlesen] - [tiếng Việt]

World Bank: Ducking Human Rights Issues

Billions for Development, but Lack of Safeguards Undermines Benefits

22.07.2013 (Human Rights Watch) - (Washington, DC) – The World Bank has closed its eyes to risks to the human rights of the very people it seeks to benefit, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The bank lacks adequate checks to guard against funding human rights abuse. The bank’s board will meet as part of its ongoing policy review, which provides an opportunity to remedy this policy gap, in Washington on July 23, 2013. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Vietnam: un blogueur très affaibli par sa grève de la faim

22.07.2013 (Romandie) - HANOI (Hanoï (province)) - L'un des plus célèbres blogueurs vietnamiens, condamné pour propagande contre l'Etat, est très affaibli par la grève de la faim qu'il observe depuis un mois, a annoncé sa famille lundi.

Nguyen Van Hai, alias Dieu Cay, ne s'alimente plus depuis 30 jours pour protester contre ses conditions de détention, selon son ex-femme, Duong Thi Tan.

Il est très faible (...). Il parlait avec un filet de voix et ne pouvait se lever sans aide, a-t-elle précisé à l'AFP après que le fils du couple l'eut rencontré samedi dans une prison de la province de Nghe An (centre). [en savoir plus...]

Imprisoned Vietnamese blogger said to be weak after 30-day hunger strike

22.07.2013 (The Washington Post) - HANOI, Vietnam — One of Vietnam’s most prominent dissidents is on the 30th day of a hunger strike in protest against being held under solitary confinement, family members said Monday, casting fresh attention on Vietnam’s human rights record ahead of trip by the country’s president this week to the White House.

Nguyen Van Hai, also known as Dieu Cay, is serving a 12-year prison term for conducting “propaganda against the state” in relation to his blogging and citizen media activities. His case has been mentioned by President Barack Obama, whose administration is appealing for the release of political prisoners. [read more]

Decree targets online freedoms in Vietnam

22.07.2013 (CPJ) Bangkok - A new decree aimed at regulating Internet-related information and services in Vietnam represents a significant new danger to online journalists and bloggers, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The decree was signed into law on July 15 and will be implemented on September 1, according to news reports.

"The restrictions outlined in this new decree aim to make global Internet companies like Google, Facebook, and others complicit in Vietnam's escalating crackdown on Internet freedoms," said Shawn Crispin, CPJ's senior Southeast Asia representative. "We call on Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung's government to scrap this outrageous law and to immediately halt its campaign against online journalists and bloggers." [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Vietnam: President’s Visit to Washington Puts Rights in Spotlight

Obama Needs to Address Worsening Crackdown on Dissidents

22.07.2013 (Human Rights Watch) - (Washington, DC) – Vietnam’s intensifying crackdown on free expression should be a top agenda item during Vietnam President Truong Tan Sang’s summit with President Barack Obama this week, Human Rights Watch said today. Sang will be in the United States from July 24 to 26 and Obama will host him at the White House on Thursday, July 25, 2013. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

ERKLÄRUNG der vietnamesischen Organisationen

26/07/2013 (Forum Vietnam 21) - Anlässlich des Treffens zwischen dem US-Präsident Barack Obama und dem vietnamesischen Staatspräsident Truong Tan Sang im Weißen Haus geben wir als Vertreter der unten zeichnenden Volksorganisationen folgende Stellungnahme ab:

In der vergangenen Jahren wurde die Sozialistische Republik Vietnam (SRV) von zahlreichen bekannten internationalen Menschenrechtsorganisationen wie Amnesty International (AI), Human Rights Watch (HRW), Freedom House, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) mehrmals als ein Land mit den schlimmsten Menschenrechtverletzungen in der Welt bezeichnet und insbesondere als Feind des freien Internets ( CPJ und RSF) angeprangert. Dies macht die Erklärung des vietnamesischen Blogger-Networks, am 18.07.2013 von 69 Bloggerm in Vietnam unterzeichnet, deutlich.

Die Sozialistische Republik Vietnam (SRV) hat die Grundfreiheiten des vietnamesischen Bürgers, die in den von Vietnam unterschriebenen internationalen Menschenrechtsabkommen verankert sind, total missachtet. Damit macht sich Vietnam unwürdig für die Bewerbung eines Sitzes im UN-Menschenrechtsrat.  [Weiterlesen] - [tiếng Việt]

Bekannter Blogger in kritischem Zustand

23.07.2013 (taz) - HANOI Ein prominenter Blogger in Vietnam ist nach 29 Tagen Hungerstreik nach Angaben von Menschenrechtlern "in kritischem Zustand". Die Menschenrechtsorganisation Human Rights Watch (HRW) verlangte seine sofortige Freilassung. Nguyen Van Hai (60), bekannt als Dieu Cay, verweigert laut seinen Angehörigen seit Mitte Juni die Nahrungsaufnahme. Er protestiere damit gegen Misshandlungen im Gefängnis Nummer 6 in der Provinz Nghe An. HRW forderte die Regierung auf, die Vorwürfe zu untersuchen. (dpa)  [Weiterlesen] - [tiếng Việt]

Vietnam: Dissident Continues Hunger Strike in Prison

22.07.2013 (The New York Times) - AP. One of Vietnam’s most prominent dissidents is on the 30th day of a hunger strike to protest against being held in solitary confinement, family members said Monday, casting attention on Vietnam’s human rights record ahead of trip by the country’s president this week to the White House. The dissident, Nguyen Van Hai, also known as Dieu Cay, is serving a 12-year prison term for conducting “propaganda against the state” through his blogging and citizen media activities. His case has been mentioned by President Obama, whose administration is appealing for the release of political prisoners. It is unclear whether human rights will be discussed in talks scheduled for Thursday between Mr. Obama and President Truong Tan Sang of Vietnam. Administration officials have said in the past that closer ties between Vietnam would be difficult unless it releases dissidents and loosens its grip on freedom of expression. So far this year, 46 people have been convicted and sentenced for dissident activities, many of them bloggers. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

DECLARATION OF VIETNAMESE MASS ORGANIZATIONS

22/07/2013 (Forum Vietnam 21) - On the occasion of the meeting between US President Barack Obama and SRV President Truong Tan Sang in the White House, we, the undersigned Vietnamese mass organizations, issue to the public this declaration.

   In recent years the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) has been identified by Amnesty International (AI), Human Rights Watch (HRW), Freedom House, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), etc., as one of the worst perpetrators of human rights violations in the world and especially as an enemy of the Internet (CPJ and RSF, among others)–a finding supported by the latest “Statement from a Network of Vietnamese Bloggers” signed by 69 bloggers inside Vietnam (as of July 18, 2013).

   The SRV’s total disregard of the most basic human rights for its citizens as guaranteed in international covenants to which Vietnam is a signatory made a farce of its international commitments and makes it unworthy of a place in the UN Human Rights Council which it is coveting. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Bloggers Demand Vietnam Comply with Human Rights Rules

23.07.2013 (Asia Sentinel) - Hanoi under consideration for UN Human Rights Council seat. A network of 65 Vietnamese bloggers are demanding that the country amend its laws to demonstrate a commitment to cooperate with the United Nations Human Rights Council on human rights before it can qualify to become a member of the UN organization. The group sent its petition to 17 major human rights and governmental organizations this week. The country is a candidate for the US Human Rights Commission for 2014-2016 despite the fact that it maintains one of Southeast Asia's strictest policies against dissent. On July 19, US State Department officials told a Congressional subcommittee that closer ties with Vietnam, in particular weapons sales, are on hold until there is "continued, demonstrable, sustained improvement in the human rights situation." [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Vietnamese president’s White House visit alarms human rights advocates

23.07.2013 By Ashish Kumar Sen (The Washington Times) - President Obama is under pressure from members of Congress, human rights groups and union leaders to demand an end to the suppression of human rights in Vietnam when he meets with the leader of the Southeast Asian nation at the White House on Thursday. One of Mr. Obama’s biggest supporters, Teamsters union President James P. Hoffa, says the U.S. must stop negotiating a trade agreement with Vietnam because of human rights abuses. Mr. Hoffa plans to release a report Wednesday that details “major human rights and worker rights problems, such as forced labor” in Vietnam. [read more]

Dieu Cay en danger de mort : RSF et le blogueur Nguoi Buon Gio (Le marchand de vent) appellent à la mobilisation

23.07.2013 (Reporters Sans Frontières) - Emprisonné depuis le 19 avril 2008, le blogueur Dieu Cay (de son vrai nom Nguyen Van Hai) observe depuis 31 jours une grève de la faim, pour protester contre ses conditions de détention dans une prison de la province de Nghe An (centre). Son état de santé laisse aujourd’hui craindre le pire.

Dans une interview exclusive accordée à Reporters sans frontières, le blogueur Bui Thanh Hieu, également connu sous son pseudonyme, Nguoi Buon Gio (Marchand de vent), exprime son inquiétude pour l’état de santé de Dieu Cay et décrit notamment les conditions dans lesquelles la famille du blogueur a appris qu’il avait entrepris une grève de la faim, il y a un mois.

“L’état de santé de Dieu Cay appelle à une réaction urgente de la communauté internationale, qui doit condamner le traitement inhumain réservé par les autorités vietnamiennes à Dieu Cay et à sa famille et faire tout son possible pour obtenir la libération du blogueur. Nous demandons aux ambassades de soutenir, dans l’intervalle, les proches de Dieu Cay dans leur démarche pour obtenir l’autorisation de visites régulières”, a déclaré Reporters sans frontières. [en savoir plus] - [tiếng Việt]

Appeal for support for blogger on hunger strike who could die

23.07.2013 (Reporter Without Borders) - Nguyen Van Hai, a blogger known by the pen-name of Dieu Cay who has been jailed since April 2008, has been on hunger strike for the past 31 days in protest against his prison conditions in the central province of Nghe An. His current state of health is grave and we fear the worst.

Bui Thanh Hieu, a blogger also known as Nguoi Buon Gio (Windtrader), has given Reporters Without Borders an interview in which he voices concern about Dieu Cay’s health and describes how Dieu Cay’s family recently learned that he was on hunger strike.

“Dieu Cay’s state of health calls for an urgent reaction from the international community, which must condemn the inhuman treatment he and his family are receiving from the Vietnamese authorities, and must do everything possible to obtain his release,” Reporters Without Borders said. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Nguyen Van Hai: Vietnamese Hunger Striker “Very Weak”

24.07.2013 By Luke Hunt (The Diplomat) - Nguyen Van Hai – a Vietnamese blogger and a founding member of the Free Journalists Club – is reportedly in a very weak state after his hunger strike entered its 30th day. Nguyen is serving a 12-year jail term for anti-state propaganda. His condition is winning headlines around the world as Vietnamese President Truon Tan Sang prepares for talks in Washington this week with U.S. President Barack Obama, who has previously raised the dissident’s case. Forty-six political activists have been jailed in Vietnam so far this year. [read more]

Vietnam leader faces rights pressure on rare US visit

24.07.2013 (Yahoo! New Zealand) - WASHINGTON, District of Columbia (AFP) - Vietnam's president on Wednesday starts a rare visit to Washington to boost trade and security ties between the former war foes, but activists urged the United States to press him on human rights. President Truong Tan Sang will on Thursday become only the second Vietnamese head of state to visit the White House since the countries normalized ties. He will meet Wednesday with business leaders and Secretary of State John Kerry... "A free trade agreement - specifically the Trans-Pacific Partnership -- must be met with benchmarks and we call upon President Obama to carry this message on Thursday," said Representative Loretta Sanchez, a member of Obama's Democratic Party. Representative Ed Royce, a Republican who heads the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called Sang's visit "a unique opportunity to inspire the Vietnamese people who are yearning for freedom." [read more]

USCIRF Urges President Obama to Raise Concerns About Religious Freedom in Vietnam

22.07.2013 Press Release by USCIRF (Defend the Defenders) - WASHINGTON, D.C. — USCIRF urges President Obama to raise concerns about religious freedom violations in Vietnam when he meets at the White House with Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang on July 25. Raising these concerns as the U.S.-Vietnamese bilateral relationship is improving will underscore America’s support for this fundamental right. 

“Because religious freedom conditions remain very poor in Vietnam, we respectfully urge President Obama to raise concerns about religious freedom and related human rights when he meets with President Truong Tan Sang,” said USCIRF Chair Katrina Lantos Swett. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Obama Must Address Detention of Rights Defender with Vietnam's President

23.07.2013 (HRW) - Dear Mr President, The signatory organisations respectfully request that you raise with the Vietnamese Government the arrest and arbitrary detention of Mr Le Quoc Quan, prominent lawyer, blogger and human rights defender. We understand that President Truong Tan Sang of Vietnam will meet with you on 25 July 2013 and we sincerely hope that you will take this opportunity to discuss Mr Quan’s case with him.

Mr Quan is a qualified lawyer and active blogger who is currently detained for exercising his rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, and for his activities as a human rights defender. Prior to his arrest, Mr Quan exposed human rights abuses commonly ignored by Vietnamese state media on his popular blog.  He defended human rights cases in the Vietnamese courts until he was disbarred in 2007, when he was arrested and detained for 100 days upon his return from the United States where he had been a Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington, D.C.  In April 2011, Mr Quan was arrested again and ultimately released without charges. In August 2012, he was severely injured in a violent attack committed by what he believes were State agents. [read more]

Petición para reformar leyes de Vietnam que restringen libertad de medios

24.07.2013 (Global Voices Español) - Más de 60 blogueros vietnamitas han firmado una declaración de unidad [vi] instando al gobierno vietnamita a mejorar su registro y compromiso con los derechos humanos, mientras busca ser  miembro del Consejo de Derechos Humanos de las Naciones Unidas: [seguir leyendo]

Call to Put Human Rights at Front and Center of US-Vietnam Summit

24.07.2013 (RFA) - U.S. President Barack Obama has received a deluge of requests from lawmakers, families of detained dissidents, and nongovernmental organizations to put human rights at the front and center of his talks with Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang on Thursday. "With almost 50 human rights defenders jailed this year alone and the government of Vietnam cracking down on freedoms of expression, assembly and association, we hope that you will take this meeting as an opportunity to stand up for the people of Vietnam," the families of 35 key political prisoners said in a letter  to Obama this week. [read more]

Vietnam: Religiöse Minderheiten werden unterdrückt

24.07.2013 (ead) - Washington (idea) – US-Präsident Barack Obama soll den vietnamesischen Staatspräsidenten Truong Tan Sang auf die mangelnde Religionsfreiheit in seinem Land ansprechen. Das empfiehlt die US-Kommission für Internationale Religionsfreiheit (Washington). Der Präsident des sozialistisch regierten Landes kommt am 25. Juli zu einem Staatsbesuch nach Washington. Nach Angaben der unabhängigen Kommission, die die US-Regierung über die Religionsfreiheit in einzelnen Ländern informiert, lässt die Lage in Vietnam sehr zu wünschen übrig. Der Staat weite seine Kontrolle über jegliche Religionsausübung aus und unterdrücke nicht-sanktionierte Aktivitäten. Dabei gingen die Behörden sowohl gegen Einzelpersonen wie auch gegen Gruppen unter anderem mit Hilfe der Religionspolizei vor. „Vage“ Sicherheitsgesetze dienten dazu, unerwünschte buddhistische und christliche Aktivitäten zu unterdrücken. [Weiterlesen]

Human rights in Vietnam on spotlight with imprisoned striking dissident and president visiting the USA

24.07.2013 by Dita Chovancová (New Europe) - The Vietnamese well-known dissident and co-founder of the Club for Free Journalists is on the 30th day of a hunger strike, in protest against being held under solitary confinement. Together with the visit of the country’s president to the White House this week, Nguyen Van Hai attracts attention to the alarming situation of human rights in Vietnam... Critics say that the Vietnam government systematically suppresses freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, and persecutes those who question government policies, expose official corruption, or call for democratic alternatives to one-party rule. The government does not allow independent or privately owned media outlets to operate, and exerts strict control over radio and TV stations, and publications. This is just an example of a long enumeration of Vietnamese human rights state from World Report 2013 made by Human Rights Watch. [read more]

Appeal to Obama: 'Ask the Vietnamese President for greater freedom for the people'

24.07.2013 by Nguyen Hung (AsiaNews) - Hanoi (AsiaNews) - An open letter, signed by 10 thousand Vietnamese, asking President Barack Obama to "intervene with Hanoi President Trương Tấn Sang, to release all prisoners of conscience and respect the democratic aspirations of the Vietnamese people." The letter was sent to the White House the day before the arrival of the Vietnamese leader in the United States where - at Obama's own invitation - he will stay for 3 days. [read more]

What You Need to Know About Vietnam’s Human Rights Record

25.07.2013 By Frank Jannuzi (Amnesty International) - President Truong Tan Sang of Vietnam visited the United States this week to meet with President Obama. At lunch Wednesday with Secretary of State John Kerry, he expressed his desire that Hanoi and Washington deepen their economic and security ties. I was pleased to visit Vietnam last spring on behalf of Amnesty International to launch a human rights dialogue – the first visit by a representative of AI since 1988. I saw first-hand a Vietnam that is engaged in a great national discussion of human rights. And I had the opportunity to exchange views with people in and out of government on many sensitive topics, from minority rights to land grabs to policing the blogosphere. [read more]

Obama must press Vietnam over rights abuses

25.07.2013 By Scott Flipse and Nguyen Dinh Thang, Special to CNN (CNN World) - Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang visits the White House on Thursday, and when he does, President Barack Obama should take the opportunity to deliver a clear message: If Vietnam wants expanded trade and security cooperation, then Hanoi will have to demonstrate concrete and substantial improvements in human rights. Prioritizing these rights may prompt some grumbling, but will be overwhelmingly welcomed by the Vietnamese people, the large majority of whom are pro-American and want more freedom. There is a recent precedent for this approach. In Burma, the administration prioritized human rights improvements as a condition for improved relations. Indeed, given Burma’s recent openness to reform, Vietnam has now been left with the worst human rights record in the Association of Southeast Asian Nation region.

By setting clear human rights benchmarks for Vietnam in exchange for new trade and security benefits from the administration, the U.S. can achieve similar results in Vietnam. In fact, such an approach worked for Vietnam nearly a decade ago, particularly in the arena of freedom of religion. [read more]

PEN - Vietnam: Journalist and blogger Dieu Cay ill-treated; fears for safety

25.07.2013 by Writers in Prison (PEN Deutschland) PEN International is gravely concerned for the health of blogger Nguyen Van Hai (aka Dieu Cay), who has been on hunger strike since 23 June 2013 in protest at his detention conditions. He is held in solitary confinement without access to family visits. Nguyen Van Hai who wrote articles and blogs critical of the authorities is serving a 12-year sentence for “conducting propaganda against the state’.  PEN calls for his immediate and unconditional release, as he is held solely for peacefully expressing his opinions and on humanitarian grounds.

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PEN - Vietnam: Sorgen um die Gesundheit von Journalist und Blogger Dieu Cay

25.07.2013 von Writers in Prison (PEN Deutschland) 24. Juli 2013 – RAN 27/13

Der internationale PEN ist in ernster Sorge um die Gesundheit des Bloggers Nguyen Van Hai (auch bekannt als Dieu Cay), der sich seit dem 23. Juni 2013 im Hungerstreik befindet, um gegen seine Haftbedingungen zu protestieren. Er sitzt in Isolationshaft und darf keine Familien-Besuche empfangen. Nguyen Van Hai hat regierungskritische Blogs und Artikel geschrieben und verbüßt eine zwölfjährige Haftstrafe wegen der Ausübung von “Propaganda gegen den Staat”. Der PEN fordert seine unverzügliche und bedingungslose Freilassung, zum einen da er lediglich wegen der friedlichen Äußerung seiner Meinung festgehalten wird, zum anderen aus humanitären Gründen.

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Police of Vinh City caused troubles to those who support family of blogger Dieu Cay

30.07.2013 CTV Danlambao (Dân Làm Báo) - Today, July 30, 2013, police in Vinh City summoned Ms. Pham Thi Kim Chi, a Good Samaritan who has been helping relatives of blogger Dieu Cay during their stay in Nghe An Province for visiting the blogger in Prison No. 6 in Thanh Chuong and filing complaints with the People's Procuracy of Nghe An Province. 

Since family members of Mrs. Duong Thi Tan arrived in Nghe An, Ms. Pham has been providing them with room accommodation, catering and transportation in Vinh City. As a result, Ms. Pham received a notice from Vinh police, summoning her to police headquarters in Vinh on July 31, 2013, to "work on issues related to security and order." [read more]