Menschenrechte / Human Rights (2019)

Thủ Thiêm parish is safe: regime estate agents will not be able to demolish it

31.12.2019 (AsiaNews) - The structure that houses Sisters of the Congregation of the Holy Cross Lovers and the church built on the ground of Thủ Thiêm (photo), in Ho Chi Minh City, are safe: the authorities have given them the  status of "buildings of historical value", thus prohibiting any type of construction or construction intervention in the two new monuments.

This was announced this week by Lê Thanh Liêm, one of the four vice-presidents of the popular committee of the southern city. The measure represents the final chapter of a long-standing controversy between the regime and local Catholics over an urban development plan in District 2. [read more]

Assessing Vietnam's Law on Belief and Religion

31.12.2019 (VOA) - Das US-amerikanische Komitee für internationale Religionsfreiheit (USCIRF), eine unabhängige Kommission, die die US-Regierung in Fragen der Religionsfreiheit berät, veröffentlichte kürzlich ein Update zur Umsetzung des vietnamesischen Gesetzes über Glauben und Religion von 2018.

Laut Dominic Nardi, Politologe bei USCIRF, müssen sich alle religiösen Gruppen in Vietnam bei der Regierung registrieren lassen und über ihre religiösen Aktivitäten Bericht erstatten.

"In einigen Fällen muss sogar eine religiöse Gruppe die Genehmigung der Regierung einholen, um beispielsweise Bischöfe zu fördern oder neue Geistliche zu ernennen." [read more]

Seis años de cárcel en Vietnam por compartir material «antiestatal» en Facebook

30.12.2019 Por Álvaro Geneiro (Viruji) - A pesar de una creciente apertura al cambio social, el gobernante Partido Comunista de Vietnam mantiene una fuerte censura.

Una corte de Vietnam ha sentenciado a un usuario de Facebook a seis años de prisión, más dos de arresto domiciliario, por una serie de publicaciones en la red social consideradas «antiestatales», según el Gobierno del país del sureste asiático.

Nguyen Chi Vung, de 38 años, fue acusado de «fabricar y difundir información y materiales antiestatales», además de «compartir información distorsionada» y «alentar a las personas a participar en protestas durante los días festivos». [seguir leyendo]

Vietnamese Activists Are Now Charged as ‘Criminals’ in a Government Bid to Destroy Support

27.12.2019 (RFA) - Authorities in Vietnam are changing the charges filed against democracy advocates and rights supporters being hunted by police, saying the activists are not wanted for political offenses but for common crimes, sources in the country say.

The move comes in an apparent bid to reduce public and foreign sympathy for those in hiding, and to facilitate their quick arrest and removal from countries to which they may have fled, rights group Defend the Defenders said in a statement. [read more]

Once cumpleaños en prisión: Entrevista con hija del disidente vietnamita Tran Huynh Duy Thuc

23.12.2019 Escrito por The 88 Project, Traducido por Andrea González (GlobalVoices) - El señor Tran Huynh Duy Thuc es uno de los disidentes políticos más destacados en Vietnam y tiene una visión de reforma política exhaustiva para el país. Es un ingeniero y empresario originario de la ciudad Ho Chi Minh.

Unter dem Pseudonym Tran Dong Chan schrieb er einen Blog über soziale, politische und wirtschaftliche Themen in Vietnam.

El 29 de noviembre de 2019, fue el undécimo cumpleaños que Thuc pasó tras las rejas. [seguir leyendo]

Two Vietnamese Activists Now in Failing Health in Prison

20.12.2019 (RFA) - Two activists held in Vietnam on political charges are in poor health in prison, with authorities failing over the last several months to address medical concerns previously brought to their attention, family members say.

Nguyen Trung Truc, a member of the online advocacy group Brotherhood for Democracy, was already in declining health in July at Prison No. 5 in Thanh Hoa province, and now suffers from inflammation of his eyes, his son told RFA’s Vietnamese Service on Friday.

Meanwhile, jailed activist Ho Duc Hoa, now serving a 13-year prison term for “activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s administration,” is suffering from liver disease, his brother Ho Van Luc told RFA on Friday following a Dec. 7 visit to the prison. [read more]

11 anniversaires en prison : interview avec la fille du dissident vietnamien Tran Huynh Duy Thuc

19.12.2019 Ecri par The 88 Project, Traduit par Rémy Vuong (GlobalVoices) - M. Tran Huynh Duy Thuc est l'un des principaux dissidents politiques au Viêt-Nam, et il a une vision globale de réforme pour son pays.

Cet ingénieur et entrepreneur originaire d'Ho Chi Minh Ville a fondé EIS, une entreprise de téléphonie mobile florissante avec deux filliales à Singapour et aux USA.

Il tenait un blog traitant des problèmes sociaux, politiques, et économiques au Viêt-Nam, sous le nom de plume Tran Dong Chan. [en savoir plus]

Vietnamese Dissident Who Died Behind Bars is Buried at Prison

12.12.2019 (RFA) - A retired teacher who died in prison this week while serving a 13-year term for ‘subversion’ because of Facebook postings was buried in a prison cemetery on Tuesday, the day he died, with only a few family members present, sources said.

Dao Quang Thuc, 58, who was serving his sentence at Prison No. 6 in Nghe An province, showed signs of illness in prison and was taken to the Nghe An Friendship General Hospital for treatment on Dec. 3, sources told RFA in an earlier report.

He died on Dec. 10 of what prison authorities called a stroke, and his body was held for autopsy and not returned to his family for burial, sources said. [read more]

La détention de Nguyen Van Hoa est arbitraire, continuons à réclamer sa libération !

11.12.2019 (ACAT) - Le jeune défenseur des droits humains Nguyen Van Hoa purge actuellement une peine de sept ans de prison. Bien que sa détention ait été reconnue comme « arbitraire » par des experts onusiens, il continue de subir menaces et mauvais traitements derrière les barreaux.

Au lendemain de la journée internationale des droits humains du 10 décembre, l’ACAT attire l’attention sur la situation de Nguyen Van Hoa, qui demeure emprisonné à la prison d’An Diêm pour avoir publié des vidéos de manifestations liées au scandale de Formosa.

Le 15 août dernier, le groupe de travail des Nations unies sur la détention arbitraire adoptait l’avis n°44/2019 concernant Nguyen Van Hoa. [en savoir plus]

2019 Franco-German Human Rights and the Rule of Law Prize (10 December 2019)

10.12.2019 (France Diplomatie) - The Franco-German Human Rights and the Rule of Law Prize, created in 2016, is awarded every year to human rights defenders around the world, but also to lawyers who represent the human rights defenders and journalists who work to make the truth known. Through this prize, France and Germany wish to show their support for the work of these individuals.

The winners of the 2019 Franco-German Human Rights and the Rule of Law Prize are fighting battles in key fields such as the fight against torture and inhuman or degrading treatment, against forced disappearances, against violence on women, against discrimination of LGBT people and the promotion of gender equality. [read more]

Prix franco-allemand des droits de l’Homme et de l’État de droit 2019 (10 décembre 2019)

10.12.2019 (France Diplomatie) - Le prix franco-allemand des droits de l’Homme et de l’État de droit, institué en 2016, honore chaque année des défenseurs des droits de l’Homme à travers le monde, mais aussi des avocats qui les défendent et des journalistes qui se battent pour faire connaître la vérité. La France et l’Allemagne souhaitent, par ce prix, marquer leur soutien à leur action.

Les lauréats de l’édition 2019 du prix franco-allemand des droits de l’Homme mènent un combat dans des domaines essentiels comme la lutte contre la torture et les traitements inhumains ou dégradants, contre les disparitions forcées, contre les violences faites aux femmes, contre les discriminations à l’égard des personnes LGBT ou encore la promotion de l’égalité entre les femmes et les hommes. [en savoir plus]

„Ihr Mut macht auch anderen Mut!“

10.12.2019 (Auswärtiges Amt) - Anlässlich des Internationalen Tages der Menschenrechte am 10. Dezember vergeben Deutschland und Frankreich seit 2016 jährlich gemeinsam den Deutsch-Französischen Preis für Menschenrechte und Rechtsstaatlichkeit an 15 Menschenrechtsverteidiger und Menschenrechtsverteidigerinnen.

Mit dem Preis setzen Deutschland und Frankeich ein deutliches Signal für ihr Engagement und ihre gemeinsame Zusammenarbeit auf dem Gebiet der Menschenrechte.

Außenminister Heiko Maas und der französische Botschafter für Menschrechte François Croquette überreichten Preisträgerin Luz Mely Reyes aus Venezuela den Preis heute im Auswärtigen Amt.

Heiko Maas sagte während der Preisverleihung: Ihr Mut macht auch anderen Mut!...

Hier stellen wir einige der diesjährigen Preisträger vor: Vu Quoc Ngu, Vietnam [Weiterlesen]

Deutsch-Französischer Preis für Menschenrechte und Rechtsstaatlichkeit 2019 (10. Dezember 2019)

10.12.2019 (France Diplomatie) - Ausgezeichnet mit dem 2016 zum ersten Mal verliehenen Deutsch-Französischen Preis für Menschenrechte und Rechtsstaatlichkeit werden jedes Jahr sowohl Persönlichkeiten, die sich weltweit für die Verteidigung der Menschenrechte einsetzen, als auch Anwältinnen und Anwälte, die diese verteidigen, und Journalistinnen und Journalisten, die dafür kämpfen, die Wahrheit ans Licht zu bringen. Frankreich und Deutschland möchten mit diesem Preis ihre Unterstützung dafür zum Ausdruck bringen. [Weiterlesen]

“Your courage inspires others with courage!”

10.12.2019 (Federal Foreign Office) - To mark the Human Rights Day, every 10 December since 2016 Germany and France have jointly presented the Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law to 15 human rights defenders.

By awarding this prize, France and Germany are sending a clear signal of their commitment to human rights and their collaboration in this field. [read more]

11 birthdays in a prison: Interview with the daughter of Vietnamese dissident Tran Huynh Duy Thuc

10.12.2019 (Global Voices) - Mr. Tran Huynh Duy Thuc is one of the most prominent political dissenters in Vietnam and has a comprehensive political reform vision for the country.

He is an engineer and entrepreneur from Ho Chi Minh City. He founded EIS, a successful Internet phone service company in Vietnam with two branches in Singapore and the U.S. It was the first Vietnamese company to invest in high technologies abroad. Thuc founded the Chan research group to study the economy, politics, and society of Vietnam and some other countries. He blogged about social, political, and economic issues in Vietnam under the pen name Tran Dong Chan. [read more]

Local Authorities Destroy Christmas Nativity Scene in Ho Chi Minh City’s Loc Hung

09.12.2019 (RFA) - Authorities in Vietnam Sunday clashed with citizens over a Christmas nativity scene display in a part of Ho Chi Minh City that has been embroiled in a land dispute.

A group of Catholic residents of the Loc Hung Vegetable Garden settlement in Ward 6, the city’s Tan Binh district, were attempting to set up the nativity scene over the weekend, but police, plainclothes security agents and militia were dispatched to the area to prevent the display. [read more]

Une nouvelle chance pour Ho Duy Hai, dans les couloirs de la mort depuis 11 ans

06.12.2019 (ACAT France) - Le 30 novembre 2019, le Parquet populaire suprême vietnamien a reconnu que le cas de Ho Duy Hai, condamné à mort en 2008 pour un double meurtre qu’il n’a pas commis, avait souffert d’importants vices de procédures et a par conséquent requis l’annulation de sa condamnation. [en savoir plus]

‘I feel grateful’: Vietnamese human rights advocate and his family set to enjoy first Christmas in Canada

04.12.2019 By Sahar Fatima (Toronto Star) - Quyen Bach missed the birth of his first child. Instead the Vietnamese human-rights advocate was in jail, imprisoned for daring to speak out against his government.

When finally he was released seven years ago, Bach’s daughter was three months old, and his resolve to fight for a better country was far from diminished — neither were his woes. Soon there was another arrest warrant out for him, and Bach knew he had to escape. [read more]

Police and thugs stop Catholics helping South Vietnam veterans in Tiền Giang

04.12.2019 (AsiaNews) - Hanoi – Policemen and thugs in the southern province of Tiền Giang prevented the Catholic Church from helping former soldiers of the US-backed Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). The latter was defeated by Communist North Vietnam after 20 years of war reuniting the country in 1975.

Fr Lê Ngọc Thanh, pastor at the Sáu Bọng Redemptorist Church, Cần Thơ City, reported the incident. The clergyman, who runs a welfare programme for veterans, spoke to the Vietnamese service of Radio Free Asia yesterday, saying that plainclothes police officers along with a group of hooligans prevented veterans from receiving donations on Monday. [read more]

Civil society calls on European Parliament not to ratify EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement without firm guarantees on human rights

03.12.2019 (Quê Mẹ) - BRUSSEL (VCHR) – At a Conference on “Human Rights and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA)”, hosted by MEP Julie Ward (S&D Group) and organized by Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR) and Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), civil society organizations urged Euro-MPs not to ratify EVFTA until Vietnam has taken concrete steps to improve human rights.

At the conference, VCHR revealed a video message prepared especially for the event by Phạm Chí Dũng, an independent journalist and prominent dissident in Vietnam. On 21st November, just two days after he sent it to VCHR, Phạm Chí Dũng was arrested in Vietnam. [read more]

La société civile appelle le Parlement Européen à ne pas ratifier l’Accord de Libre-échange UE-Vietnam sans garantie sérieuse pour les droits de l’Homme

03.12.2019 (Quê Mẹ) - BRUXELLES (VCHR) – Lors de la conférence sur “les droits de l’Homme et l’Accord de Libre-échange (EVFTA)”, présidée par la députée européenne Julie Ward (Groupe S&D) et organisée par le Comité Vietnam pour la Défense des Droits de l’Homme (VCHR) et Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), les organisations et personnalités de la société civile ont pressé les députés européens de ne pas ratifier l’EVFTA tant que le Vietnam n’aura pas garanti réellement et concrètement les droits de l’Homme.

Lors de cette conférence, le VCHR a dévoilé un message vidéo préparé spécialement pour l’occasion par Phạm Chí Dũng, journaliste indépendant et célèbre dissident vietnamien. Le 21 novembre 2019, deux jours après avoir envoyé au VCHR cette vidéo, Phạm Chí Dũng a été arrêté au Vietnam. [en savoir plus]

Vietnamese authorities stop priest from attending mass led by Pope

29.11.2019 By Tola Mbakwe (Premier Christian Radio) - A Vietnamese priest was prevented from travelling to Japan to attend a mass celebrated by the Pope last weekend.

Fr Nguyen Dinh Thuc, believes he was prevented from travelling as a punishment for his activism on behalf of fishermen who lost their livelihood after the Formosa Company steel plant disaster in 2016. A notice signed by the immigration authorities states that Fr Thuc was prevented from travelling for reasons of "national security and social order".

Christian Solidarity Worlwide's (CSW) chief executive Mervyn Thomas has condemned Vietnamese authorities for their actions.

"We call on Vietnam to allow the priest to travel freely, and to cease all harassment." [read more]

Vietnam jails three more activists in crackdown on Facebook posts

28.11.2019 (Reuters) - HANOI - Vietnam has jailed three more people for anti-government posts on social media platform Facebook deemed to defame the ruling Communist Party and the government, state media and police said on Thursday, bringing the total imprisoned this month to five.

Pham Van Diep, a 54-year-old activist from the northern province of Thanh Hoa, was jailed for nine years for spreading “distorted information defaming the Communist Party and the Vietnamese government”, the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) said.

A spokesman for rights group Amnesty International said previously that at least 16 people had been arrested, detained or convicted this year for anti-government posts on Facebook. That figure does not include the three latest cases.

Another 12 political prisoners remain behind bars on similar charges, the spokesman said. [read more]

Vietnam: Stop Intimidation and Harrassment of Independent Publishing House

27.11.2019 (Human Rights Watch) - Vietnamese authorities must immediately end the escalating crackdown on an independent publishing house, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today. As part of the crackdown, dozens of people have been harassed and intimidated by police across the country, and at least one person has reported torture and other ill-treatment in detention. The crackdown sends a disturbing message to people who want to freely exercise their right to freedom of expression and access information and ideas and is yet another sign of the authorities’ intolerance of peaceful dissent.

Since early October, police have harassed and intimidated dozens of people connected to the Liberal Publishing House – a local independent publisher that has produced books on public policy and political thought in Viet Nam – in what appears to be a targeted campaign. [read more]

Vietnam jails another Facebook user as dissent crackdown intensifies

26.11.2019 (Vancouver Sun) - REUTERS - HANOI — A court in Vietnam sentenced a Facebook user to six years in prison on Tuesday for a series of posts he made on the social media platform that the Southeast Asian country’s government said were “anti-state.”

Despite sweeping economic reform and increasing openness to social change, Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party retains tight media censorship and does not tolerate criticism, and its dissent crackdown has shown signs of intensifying recently. Nguyen Chi Vung, 38, was accused of “making and spreading anti-state information and materials” at the one-day trial at the People’s Court of Bac Lieu province, in the Mekong Delta, the Ministry of Public Security said in a statement. [read more]

Vietnam Jails Six on Anti-state, Security Charges in Various Trials Across Country

26.11.2019 (News18 India) - AFP - Hanoi: Vietnam on Tuesday jailed six people on various security and anti-state charges in three separate cases, in one of the harshest days of sentencing in the communist country where dissidence is routinely quashed.

The one-party state has long jailed its critics, though a hardline leadership in charge since 2016 has ushered in an uptick in arrests and convictions of activists, dissidents and bloggers. [read more]

Vietnam: Blogger Faces Jail For Publishing Anti-Government Articles

23.11.2019 UCAN (EurasiaReview) - Human Rights Watch has called for the release of a human rights activist and blogger facing a possible lengthy prison term in Vietnam for allegedly publishing and distributing anti-government material.

Pham Van Diep, 51, is set to face trial on Nov. 26, in northern Thanh Hoa Province on charges of violating Article 117 of Vietnam’s penal code by posting, liking, and sharing information on Facebook that seeks to undermine the communist government, the New York-based rights group said. [read more]

Au Vietnam, ils ont tout perdu en devenant chrétien

23.11.2019 (Portes Ouvertes) - Thuan et son épouse Hien sont devenus chrétiens. Ils vivent au Nord du Vietnam où croire en Christ est considéré comme une trahison.

Les autorités locales ont tout fait pour diffamer et déshonorer la famille de Thuan et Hien (pseudonymes). Le 30 septembre 2019, des villageois et des parents de Thuan, ainsi que les autorités locales, ont attaqué leur maison, détruisant leurs biens et leurs arbres fruitiers et tuant ou volant leur bétail. [en savoir plus]

Vietnam’s assault on a journalist

22.11.2019 By David Hutt (Asia Times) - The Vietnamese Communist Party’s desire to suppress the bravest and noblest voices knows no ends. Human Rights Watch puts the number of political prisoners at more than 130. The 88Project – so named after the dreaded Article 88 of the previous Criminal Code – puts the number of imprisoned activists at 269, and another 143 at risk.

Now to be added to that growing inventory is Pham Chi Dung, a fearless and enlightening independent journalist. This Thursday, he was arrested by the Ho Chi Minh City police for disseminating articles and information against the state. He “seriously violated the law” and was “very dangerous” to public order, the police said in a statement. [read more]

Vietnamese Facebook User Arrested on ‘Anti-State’ Charges After Six Months on the Run

22.11.2019 (RFA) - Authorities in Vietnam’s coastal Ha Tinh province arrested a Facebook user this week for “spreading information against the state” amid a continuing crackdown on freedom of expression online in the one-party communist country, according to Vietnamese sources.

Phan Cong Hai, born in 1996, was taken into custody by provincial police on Nov. 17, Hai’s father Phan Cong Binh told RFA by phone from his home in neighboring Nghe An province. [read more]

Ein unabhängiger vietnamesischer Journalist, Dr. Pham, Chi Dung, wurde in Saigon festgenommen

22.11.2019 (Forum Vietnam 21) - Nachdem andere prominente Oppositionelle wie der Blogger Dieu Cay, der Menschenrechtsanwalt Nguyen Van Dai u.a.m. verhaftet, verurteilt und anschließend in die USA bzw. nach Deutschland abgeschoben wurden, ist nun auch Pham, Chi Dung, einer der letzten im Lande verbliebenen prominenten Dissidenten festgenommen worden. Der Ökonom Dr. Pham, Chi Dung, Präsident des unabhängigen Journalistenverbands  IJAVN (Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam), wurde am 21.11.2019 von Polizeibeamten in seinem Haus in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh-Stadt) verhaftet. Pham wurde der „Verbreitung von Propaganda gegen den Staat“ gemäß Artikel 117 des vietnamesischen Strafgesetzbuchs beschuldigt. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnamese Authorities Arrest Journalist Pham Chi Dung for Writings Critical of the State

21.11.2019 Eugene Whong (RFA) - Authorities in Vietnam arrested a prominent independent journalist Thursday for his criticism of the communist government.

State media reported that Pham Chi Dung was detained by security officers at his home in Ho Chi Minh City and charged with “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of Vietnam’s Criminal Code.

According to police, Pham wrote anti-state articles and cooperated with foreign media, to deliver “distorted information.” [read more]

Vietnam 'bans' activist priest from attending Pope's Japan mass

21.11.2019 (The Straits Times) -  HANOI (AFP) - Vietnam blocked a Catholic priest from travelling to Japan to attend a mass by the Pope, he said on Thursday (Nov 21), accusing the government of targeting him because of his environmental activism.

Communist Vietnam has long been uneasy about organised religion, and has a touchy relationship with the country's Catholic churches, which yield significant influence in some areas.

Priest Nguyen Dinh Thuc was among those helping fishermen after the environmental disaster, and on Wednesday was barred from travelling to Tokyo to attend a mass led by the Pope. [read more]

Vietnam: Longtime Critic Facing Trial - Persecuted for Criticizing the Government on Facebook

20.11.2019 (HRW) - (Bangkok) – Vietnamese authorities should drop all charges against the blogger Pham Van Diep and immediately release him, Human Rights Watch said today.

Pham Van Diep will face trial on November 26, 2019 in Thanh Hoa Province on charges of posting, liking, and sharing information on Facebook in violation of article 117 of Vietnam’s penal code, which criminalizes publication or distribution of information “that aims to oppose the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.” [read more]

Viêt-Nam. Une militante arrêtée à son retour dans le pays

18.11.2019 (Amnesty International) - Réagissant aux informations signalant que la militante de premier plan Dinh Thao a été arrêtée et placée en détention à son arrivée à l’aéroport d’Hanoi Noi Bai ce matin, Joanne Mariner, responsable de la recherche sur l’Asie du Sud-Est et le Pacifique à Amnesty International, a déclaré :

« Le gouvernement répressif du Viêt-Nam fait une nouvelle fois la démonstration de sa flagrante hostilité à l’égard des personnes qui souhaitent un avenir meilleur pour le pays, y compris en ce qui concerne le respect des droits humains. [en savoir plus]

Viet Nam: Activist detained on her return to country

15.11.2019 (Amnesty International) - Responding to reports that prominent activist Dinh Thao was taken into custody upon her arrival at Hanoi Noi Bai airport this morning, Joanne Mariner, Amnesty International’s Research Director for Southeast Asia & the Pacific, said:

“Viet Nam’s repressive government is again showing its brazen hostility to those who want a better future for the country – including respect for human rights. [read more]

Vietnam Court Convicts Music Teacher of Anti-State Actions

15.11.2019 By The Associated Press (The New York Times) - HANOI, Vietnam — A Vietnamese court sentenced a music teacher on Friday to 11 years in jail for “anti-state” Facebook posts, state media reported.

The official Nghe An newspaper said Nguyen Nang Tinh was found guilty of publishing photos, videos and comments on his personal Facebook page with messages to instigate demonstrations and oppose the government.

The New York-based group Human Rights Watch said the half-day trial ended with a predetermined sentence. [read more]

Lehrer in Vietnam muss wegen Facebook-Posts für elf Jahre in Haft

15.11.2019 (Börse-Online) - HANOI (dpa-AFX) - Im kommunistischen Vietnam sind erneut Aktivisten verurteilt worden. Ein 43 Jahre alter Musiklehrer aus der Provinz Nghe An muss für elf Jahre in Gefängnis, weil er auf Facebook staatsfeindliche Kommentare gepostet haben soll, wie die Zeitung "Cong An Nhan Dan" am Freitag berichtete.

Zudem endete der Prozess gegen den wegen Steuerhinterziehung angeklagten Menschenrechtsanwalt Tran Vu Hai mit einer Verurteilung. Demnach darf Hai für ein Jahr lang seinen Beruf als Anwalt nicht ausüben, sagte sein Verteidiger Dang Dinh Manh der Deutschen Presse-Agentur.

Der 57-Jährige hat als Anwalt wiederholt politisch sensible Fälle in dem Einparteienstaat übernommen und Blogger sowie Aktivisten verteidigt. [Weiterlesen]

Un profesor de música condenado a 11 años de prisión por "atentar" contra el régimen comunista

15.11.2019 (RFI) - Un profesor de música fue condenado el viernes a 11 años de prisión tras un juicio sumario en Vietnam, acusado de "atentar" contra el régimen comunista, que no cesa de endurecer la represión contra los opositores.

Nguyen Nang Tinh, de 42 años, profesor en un colegio, fue detenido en mayo en la provincia de Nghe An (centro). Fue condenado a 11 años de prisión por difundir "pensamientos hostiles" hacia el estado en su página Facebook, según se informó a su abogado, Nguyen Van Mieng. [seguir leyendo]

Vietnam: un professeur de musique condamné à onze ans de prison pour avoir porté «atteinte» au régime

15.11.2019 (Journal de Montreal) - Hanoï - Un professeur de musique a été condamné vendredi à onze ans de prison au terme d’un procès expéditif au Vietnam, accusé d’avoir «porté atteinte» au régime communiste qui ne cesse de durcir sa répression contre les opposants.

Nguyen Nang Tinh, 42 ans, enseignant dans un collège, a été arrêté en mai dans la province de Nghe An (centre).

Une autre dissidente, arrivée de Thaïlande, a été retenue huit heures vendredi à l’aéroport d’Hanoï. Dinh Thao, virulente critique du régime, vit à l’étranger depuis plusieurs années et travaille pour une organisation vietnamienne de défense des droits humains. [en savoir plus]

Attorney Ejected From Trial of Vietnam Lawyer Who Offered to Defend Blogger

14.11.2019 (RFA) - A trial judge in Vietnam’s Nha Trang City on Thursday ejected from her courtroom a defense attorney representing a lawyer who was charged with tax evasion after offering to represent a former blogger for Radio Free Asia.

Nguyen Duy Binh was dragged from the courtroom by police after attempting to raise points of order with Le Thi Hang, senior jurist on a panel of judges trying the case, Binh told RFA’s Vietnamese Service in an interview. [read more]

Australian response to Chau Van Kham sentence condemned as 'pitifully weak'

12.11.2019 By James Massola (The Sydney Morning Herald) - Canberra's reluctance to criticise a Vietnamese court decision to sentence Australian citizen Chau Van Kham to 12 years jail over links to a peaceful pro-democracy organisation has been labelled "pitifully weak" by a leading human rights advocate.

Chau, a 70-year-old Vietnamese-Australian man who is a member of the US-based human rights group Viet Tan, was convicted on terrorism charges. He was accused of giving $400 to a man to help fund the activities of Viet Tan.

Following his conviction, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said: "as Mr Chau is able to appeal the sentence under Vietnamese law, it would be inappropriate, and not in Mr Chau’s best interests, to comment while legal processes remain available". [read more]

Australian Van Kham Chau sentenced to 12 years in Vietnamese prison for 'terrorism'

11.11.2019 by Maani Truu (SBS) - A Vietnamese court has sentenced Australian citizen Van Kham Chau to 12 years in prison for "terrorism" as a result of his affiliation with a US-based human rights group.

Mr Chau, 70, is a member of Viet Tan, a group dedicated to pushing for democracy throughout Vietnam which the country's government considers a "terrorist" organisation.

Elaine Pearson, Australia director at Human Rights Watch, said the arrests were proof the Vietnamese government will not tolerate any political opposition. [read more]

Australian man to face Vietnamese court on terrorism charges

10.11.2019 By James Massola (The Sydney Morning Herald) - Chau Van Kham, a retired baker from Sydney who once fought for south Vietnam's republican army during the country's long civil war, is one of three men charged with terrorism because of alleged links with an overseas-based political party, Viet Tan.

Kham, who is now an Australian citizen after fleeing Vietnam in 1983, will stand trial alongside Nguyen Van Vien and Tran Van Quyen.

The Australian director for Human Rights Watch, Elaine Pearson, said Vietnamese authorities did not tolerate any political opposition [read more]

Trial Date Set in Vietnam for Lawyer Who Offered to Defend RFA Blogger

08.11.2019 (RFA) - Nearly 60 lawyers in Vietnam have now applied to represent a lawyer charged with tax evasion after he agreed to defend a dissident blogger and RFA contributor who was abducted in Thailand in January and brought back to Vietnam by force.

Attorney Tran Vu Hai, who offered to defend blogger Truong Duy Nhat, and whose office was raided in July by police who seized key documents in the case, is now scheduled to stand trial on Nov. 13 in Khanh Hoa province’s Nha Trang city. [read more]

Vietnam: Drop Terrorism Charges Against Political Campaigners, Stop Repression of Political Opposition

07.11.2019 (HRW) - (Sydney) – Vietnam should drop terrorism charges against three men accused of affiliation with an overseas political group that presently advocates for democracy, human rights, and political reform, Human Rights Watch said today. The People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City is scheduled to hear their case on November 11, 2019.

The three, Chau Van Kham, Nguyen Van Vien, and Tran Van Quyen, are accused of “terrorism that aims to oppose the people’s administration” under article 113 of the penal code. [read more]

Vietnam: Intolerance, injustice become state law

26.10.2019 By Nguyen Hoang Bao Viet (Asia Times) - Initially, this text was to be read at an international conference to be held in the capital of a country in Asia. Finally, it was decided not to participate in that conference because of ethical and moral issues. Here is the text of Nguyên Hoàng Bao Viêt, in its entirety:

At the opening of the 42nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, on September 9, 2019, UN Secretary-General António Guterres published his annual report mentioning acts of intimidation or reprisals committed by governments and non-state actors in 38 states around the world.

The Socialist Republic of Viet Nam (SRV) is among those first incriminated regimes in terms of numbers of individual cases mentioned in official documents (Ref. Reports 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2019). The UN Secretary-General stressed that “such acts are contrary to the very principles of the UN. [read more]

Vietnam - Kritik an Festnahme von Künstler Thinh Nguyen

25.10.2019 (Deutschlandfunk) - Human Rights Watch kritisiert die Festnahme des vietnamesischen Künstlers und Umweltaktivisten Thinh Nguyen in seiner Heimat.

Vize-Asiendirektor Robertson erklärte, der Fotograf und Filmemacher setze sich mit friedlichen Mitteln für Umweltschutz und Menschenrechte ein. Dass Polizeieinheiten in Hanoi entsandt worden seien, um den Aktivisten aus seinem Haus zu holen, zeige die unglaubliche Intoleranz der Behörden gegenüber Kritik. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnamese Environmental Activist Detained in Hanoi For Films Critical of Government

25.10.2019 (RFA) - Vietnamese environmental activist and filmmaker Thinh Nguyen, a member of the independent civil group Green Trees, was detained on Friday in Hanoi in what was thought to be the government’s response to a film on other environmental activists who were detained for their advocacy.

Cao Vinh Thinh, a fellow member of Green Trees group, told RFA’s Vietnamese Service that Nguyen, who was later released, had been outspoken about the government’s rights abuses. [read more]

Vietnamese Rights Group: Government Campaign to Limit the Scale of Funerals Unfairly Targets Hmong Minority

17.10.2019 (RFA) - Authorities in Vietnam have initiated a campaign that would limit the length and scale of traditional funerals, but ethnic minority rights advocates say that the plan unfairly targets the country’s Hmong minority, known for holding wakes that last several days to a week.

The campaign, loosely translated as “Improving the Civilized Funeral” was announced in local media on October 9.

According to a report published in the local Ha Giang newspaper, authorities in Ha Giang province’s Meo Vac district said that under the campaign, Hmong funerals would be limited in several ways and long-running funerary feasts would be scaled back. [read more]

Vietnamese Hoa Hao Follower Goes on Hunger Strike in Prison

16.10.2019 (RFA) - A jailed member of a dissident Vietnamese religious group has gone on hunger strike to protest being moved to a cell occupied by a prisoner convicted on drug charges, family members said on Wednesday.

Nguyen Hoang Nam, a follower of Hoa Hao Buddhism now held at the Xuan Loc prison in southeast Vietnam’s Dong Nai province, began his strike on Oct. 11 and has not eaten for six days, his wife Lam Thi Yen Trinh told RFA’s Vietnamese Service. [read more]

Vietnam: Katholischem Musiklehrer drohen zwölf Jahre Haft

15.10.2019 (Vatican News) - Die katholische Kirche in Vietnam zeigt sich solidarisch mit einem katholischen Musiklehrer und Aktivisten, der am Donnerstag vor Gericht steht. Dem 43-Jährigen Nguyen Nang Tinh wird „Propaganda gegen den Staat“ vorgeworfen.

Tinh setzt sich laut Angaben von Asianews in verschiedenen kirchlichen und nichtkirchlichen Gruppierungen für die Förderung von Demokratie und Menschenrechten in Vietnam ein. [Weiterlesen]

Catholics praying for music teacher who could get 12 years in prison

14.10.2019 by Viet Hung (AsiaNews) - Hanoi- Nguyễn Năng Tĩnh, 43, actively participated in social outreach and charity work in various parishes in the Diocese of Vinh. According to the authorities, he is a member of “opposition groups”. For his wife, “My husband does not do wrong things. He also does not violate the laws of Vietnam.

”The Vietnamese Church is praying, rallying around the family of a music teacher and Catholic activist who is set to go on trial on Thursday before a People's Court in Nghệ An province on charges of "propaganda against the state".

Nguyễn Năng Tĩnh, 43, is accused of “Making, storing, spreading information, materials, items for the purpose of opposing the State of Socialist Republic of Vietnam” (Article 117 of the Criminal Code). If convicted, he could get up to 12 years in prison. [read more]

Vietnam’s ongoing crackdown on online commentators

11.10.2019 (ifex) - During the first nine months of 2019, Vietnam convicted at least 11 people and sentenced them to between two and nine years in prison for criticising the government.

Vietnamese police arrested a pro-democracy activist on September 23, 2019 based on his Facebook postings, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should immediately release the activist, Nguyen Quoc Duc Vuong, and drop the charges against him.

In other posts or livestreams, he has shared news about protests in Hong Kong and voiced support for a change of government in Venezuela. He has also shared stories about land confiscation issues in Vietnam and raised cases of various Vietnamese political prisoners including Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, Nguyen Viet Dung, and Phan Kim Khanh. [read more]

Jailed Vietnamese Environmental Activist in Solitary After Cellmate Beat Him Unconscious

11.10.2019 (RFA) - Detained Vietnamese environmental activist Nguyen Ngoc Anh has been placed in solitary confinement after being beaten unconscious at the hands of his cellmate and refused treatment for his injuries, his wife said Friday, adding that he “fears for his life” in jail.

After visiting Anh at the Binh Phu Detention Center in Ben Tre’s Thanh Phu district on Friday morning, his wife, Nguyen Thi Chau, told RFA’s Vietnamese Service that her husband was left with a limp following the attack. [read more]

Vietnamese activist arrested for criticising Communist government on Facebook

08.10.2019 Kate Lamb (The Guardian) - Nguyen Quoc Duc Vuong is being held in conditions ‘conducive to mistreatment or torture’, says Human Rights Watch.

Human rights groups have called for the immediate release of a Vietnamese activist arrested for criticising one-party Communist rule on his Facebook page.

Nguyen Quoc Duc Vuong, 28, from Ho Chi Minh city was arrested in late September and now faces charges of “making, storing, disseminating or propagandising information” intended “to oppose the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam”, said Human Rights Watch (HRW). [read more]

Vietnamese reporter beaten unconscious for investigating illegal logging

02.10.2019 (RSF) - Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the Vietnamese authorities to identify and punish the clandestine loggers who gave a journalist a severe beating after he discovered a large hoard of illegally-felled precious woods near Pleiku, the capital of Gia Lai province, in Vietnam’s central highlands, on 26 September.

A reporter for the official legal affairs magazine Tapchi Luatsu Vietnam (“Vietnam Lawyers’ Gazette”), Kieu Dinh Lieu was hospitalized with cerebral haemorrhaging and concussion after being beaten unconscious by his three assailants. [read more]

Defend the Defenders’ Latest Statistics: Vietnam Holds 234 Prisoners of Conscience

01.10.2019 (Defend the Defenders) - According to Defend the Defenders’ statistics, Vietnam’s communist regime is holding at least 233 prisoners of conscience in prisons or similar forms of detention and female activist Huynh Thuc Vy under house arrest as of September 30 compared to 248 in late September last year. Vietnam still remains the second largest jailer of dissidents in the Southeast Asia, only behind Myanmar.

The above number includes 206 who have been convicted – typically of political crimes such as subversion, “propaganda against the state,” “abusing democratic freedom” and “undermining the national unity” –  and 28 others held in pre-trial detention. [read more]

Hundreds of Government Critics Held under House Arrest When China Marks 70th Anniversary of Independence

01.10.2019 (Defend the Defenders) - On October 1, security forces in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and other localities placed hundreds of local dissidents under de facto house arrest on the day when Beijing marked the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, Defend the Defenders has learned.

Activists said local authorities sent plainclothes agents and militia to follow them in late September and station near their private residencies from early morning of Tuesday until late afternoon in a bid to prevent them from gathering to protest China’s violations of the country in the East Sea (South China Sea). [read more]

Vietnam : le reporter Kieu Dinh Lieu violemment battu pour une enquête sur le trafic de bois

01.10.2019 (RSF) - Expert en questions juridiques, le journaliste venait de découvrir un important stock de bois précieux abattu illégalement. Reporters sans frontières (RSF) appelle les autorités vietnamiennes à identifier et traduire en justice les trafiquants responsables de son passage à tabac.

Il a été laissé inconscient. Kieu Dinh Lieu, reporter pour le magazine juridique officiel Tapchi Luatsư Vietnam (“La Gazette des juristes”), a été roué de coups par trois individus qui l’ont attaqué le 26 septembre dernier, aux alentours de la ville de Pleiku, sur les hauts-plateaux du centre du Vietnam. Transféré aux urgences, il souffre d’une hémorragie cérébrale et de traumatismes crâniens. [en savoir plus]

Vietnam Arrests Young Businessman For Critical Facebook Comments

30.09.2019 (RFA) - Authorities in Vietnam’s Lam Dong province have arrested businessman Nguyen Duc Quoc Vuong for posting information about political and social issues on Facebook, his brother told RFA’s Vietnamese Service on Momday.

Vuong, who posted on Facebook as Vuong Nguyen, was arrested on Sept. 23 on charges of “making, storing, distributing or disseminating information, documents and items against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” under Article 117 of the Criminal Code of 2015 and 2017. [read more]

Vietnam Political Prisoner Nguyen Van Dien on Second Hunger Strike of 2019

27.09.2019 (RFA) - Vietnamese political prisoner Nguyen Van Dien has launched his second hunger strike of this year to protest the mistreatment of prisoners of conscience, his father told RFA’s Vietnamese Service on Friday after his recent monthly visit to see his son.

Nguyen Van Dien, 34 and often referred to as Dien “Ai Quoc,” is serving a six-year, six-month sentence for conducting propaganda against the state after distributing videos critical of Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party.

Word of the hunger strike came as 45 human rights and other advocacy groups urged the European Parliament to delay passage of a free trade agreement with Vietnam until Hanoi meets basic rights standards. [read more]

Vietnam Court Rejects Bloggers’ Appeals, Sends Them Back to Prison

23.09.2019 (RFA) - A court in southern Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City threw out the appeals of two jailed dissident bloggers on Monday, returning the women to prison to serve their full terms, according to reports in state media.

Vu Thi Dung, 54, had been sentenced by a court in Dong Nai province in April 2018 to six years in prison, with Nguyen Thi Ngoc Suong, 51, handed a five-year term in the same trial, on charges of “making, storing, distributing or disseminating information, documents and items against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” under Article 117 of the Criminal Code of 2015 and 2017. [read more]

Facebooker Nguyen Van Cong Em Convicted of Anti-state Posts, Second Blogger Sentenced within Two Weeks amid Increasing Online Crackdown

19.09.2019 (Defend the Defenders) - Vietnam’s communist regime convicted Facebooker Nguyen Van Cong Em of “conducting anti-state propaganda,” imprisoning the second blogger within the last two weeks for their online posts which are critical for the regime.

State media has reported that on September 17, the People’s Court of Ben Tre sentenced local 48-year-old Facebooker Nguyen Van Cong Em to five years in prison and five years of probation for his posting in the period between October 27, 2017 until late February 2019. [read more]

Vietnam Criticized at UN Meeting in Geneva Over Rights Violations

19.09.2019 (RFA) - Human rights groups hit out at Vietnam this week over the country’s suppression of religious freedoms and civil society, accusing the one-party communist state of multiple violations and continuing refusals to engage in sincere dialogue with foreign governments and NGOs.

Addressing a meeting of the 42nd session of the U.N. Human Rights Council on Wednesday in Geneva, Switzerland, Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR) president Vo Van Ai said that Vietnam under communist rule has never cared about human rights. [read more]

Jailed Pro-democracy Activist Le Dinh Luong Not Permitted to Meet with Family

18.09.2019 (Defend the Defenders) - Police officers in Ba Sao Prison camp have blocked jailed pro-democracy activist Le Dinh Luong from meeting with his family during regular prison visits on September 17 without giving specific reasons, his daughter-in-law has informed Defend the Defenders.

Mrs. Nguyen Xoan said that she and other family’s members passed hundreds of kilometers from the central province of Nghe An to visit her father-in-law who is serving his 20-year imprisonment in the camp, however, police officers did not allow him to meet them. [read more]

RFA Blogger Formally Indicted in Vietnam for ‘Abuse of Power’

17.09.2019 (RFA) - An RFA blogger held in Vietnam since the beginning of the year has been formally indicted on a charge of taking advantage of his position and powers during the performance of his official duties, state media reported on Tuesday.

Truong Duy Nhat, a weekly contributor to RFA’s Vietnamese Service, was indicted by Vietnam’s Supreme People’s Procuracy in a case involving the sale of public land at an eventual  loss to the state of over VND $13 billion, the Lao Dong newspaper reported on Sept. 17.

Nhat, who had earlier been jailed in Vietnam from 2013 to 2015 for his writings criticizing Vietnam’s government, disappeared in Bangkok in late January amid fears he had been seized by Vietnamese agents, and two months later was revealed to be under arrest in Hanoi. [read more]

Detained Vietnamese Activist Comes out of Solitary Confinement after Four Months

16.09.2019 (RFA) - A Vietnamese activist and RFA blogger serving a seven-year prison term for his role in protesting a chemical waste spill on Vietnam’s coast three years ago is no longer in solitary confinement, according to a fellow prisoner.

RFA reported in May that Nguyen Van Hoa, now held at An Diem Prison in south-central Vietnam’s Quang Nam province, had been placed in solitary after suffering abuse at the hands of a prison guard.

Nguyen Van Hoa, 24, was jailed by the People’s Court of Ha Tinh in Nghe An province on Nov.  27, 2017 after filming protests outside the Taiwan-owned Formosa Plastics Group steel plant, whose spill in 2016 killed an estimated 115 tons of fish and left fishermen and tourism industry workers jobless in four central provinces. [read more]

Vietnamese Human Rights Activists Voice Safety Concerns

14.09.2019 Daniela Lazarová (Radio Prague) - The kidnapping of a former Vietnamese Communist party official from Berlin via the Czech Republic and Slovakia to Vietnam, which took place two years ago, has raised security concerns among the Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic.

Human rights activists are particularly concerned about their safety, the report says. [read more]

"Reporter ohne Grenzen" zeichnet bedrohte Journalisten aus

12.09.2019 Ben Knight (DW) - Sie stammen aus Malta, Saudi Arabien und aus Vietnam: Drei Journalistinnen sind in diesem Jahr mit dem "Press Freedom Award" ausgezeichnet worden. Nur einer von ihnen war es möglich, den Preis entgegenzunehmen.

Der Kampf für Pressefreiheit weltweit kann mitunter zu einer verzweifelten Angelegenheit werden. Journalisten werden zu Aktivisten. "Ich hatte kürzlich ein Interview mit der BBC. Und die sagten zu mir: Sie sind keine Journalistin, Sie sind eine Aktivistin", erzählt Caroline Muscat aus Malta. "Es tut mir leid, aber wir haben keine Wahl mehr. Wenn wir die Pressefreiheit nicht verteidigen, wer dann? Wenn es die Journalisten nicht machen, wer wird es dann noch tun?"

Einzig Muscat konnte persönlich erscheinen, um - in einer der drei Kategorien - ihren "Preis für Unabhängigkeit" entgegenzunehmen. Die Bloggerin Pham Doan Trang aus Vietnam, ausgezeichnet mit dem "Preis für Wirkung" (Impact), und die Frauenrechtlerin Eman al-Nafjan aus Saudi Arabien wurden daran gehindert, zur Ehrung nach Deutschland auszureisen. Ihre Webseiten wurden blockiert und sie stehen ständig in Gefahr, drangsaliert oder inhaftiert zu werden. [Weiterlesen]

Press Freedom Awards: Gewinner aus Saudi-Arabien, Malta und Vietnam

12.09.2019 (Reporter ohne Grenzen) - In Berlin sind am Abend die 27. internationalen Press Freedom Awards von Reporter ohne Grenzen verliehen worden. Für ihren Mut wurde die saudi-arabische Bloggerin und Journalistin Eman al-Nafjan geehrt. Den Preis für unabhängigen Journalismus erhielt die Malteserin Caroline Muscat. Die Vietnamesin Pham Doan Trang wurde mit dem Press Freedom Award für besonders wirkungsvollen Journalismus ausgezeichnet.

„Jedes Jahr gibt es Preisträgerinnen und Preisträger, die nicht kommen können, weil sie von der politischen Führung ihrer Länder daran gehindert werden. Auch in diesem Jahr sind zwei der drei Ausgezeichneten abwesend“, sagte Christophe Deloire, Generalsekretär der internationalen Organisation von Reporter ohne Grenzen. [Weiterlesen]

Journalists from Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and Malta honoured at RSF’s 2019 Press Freedom Awards

12.09.2019 (Reporters sans frontières) - Reporters Without Borders (RSF) awarded its 2019 Press Freedom Prize today (12 September) to Saudi journalist Eman al Nafjan, Vietnamese journalist Pham Doan Trang and Maltese journalist Caroline Muscat, at a ceremony held for the first time in Berlin. To mark the 25th anniversary of its German section, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) held its annual Press Freedom Awards at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin today (12 September). Hosted by TV presenter and journalist Pinar Atalay, the ceremony was attended by many distinguished guests including Berlin governing mayor Michael Müller, former Editor in Chief of The Guardian Alan Rusbridger, Der Spiegel journalist Susanne Koelbl, TV5Monde journalist Nidhya Paliakara, former RSF Press Freedom Prize laureates Swati Chaturvedi, Can Dündar and Grigory Pasko… [read more]

La saoudienne Eman al Nafjan, la vietnamienne Pham Doan Trang, et la maltaise Caroline Muscat, lauréates du Prix RSF 2019 pour la liberté de la presse

12.09.2019 (Reporters sans frontières) - Ce 12 septembre, Reporters sans frontières (RSF) a remis le Prix pour la liberté de la presse 2019 à la journaliste saoudienne Eman al Nafjan, à la vietnamienne Pham Doan Trang ainsi qu’à la journaliste maltaise Caroline Muscat, lors d’une cérémonie organisée pour la première fois à Berlin.

A l’occasion des 25 ans de la section allemande de l’organisation, Reporters sans frontières (RSF) a remis le Prix pour la liberté de la presse 2019 ce jeudi 12 septembre en Allemagne, au Deutsches Theater de Berlin. La cérémonie, présentée par Pinar Atalay, journaliste et présentatrice de télévision, a réuni de nombreux invités prestigieux, parmi lesquels Michael Müller, bourgmestre-gouverneur de Berlin, Alan Rusbridger, ancien rédacteur en chef du journal The Guardian, Susanne Koelbl, journaliste à Der Spiegel, Nidhya Paliakara, journaliste à TV5Monde, d’anciens lauréats du Prix RSF (Swati Chaturvedi, Can Dündar, Grigory Pasko)… [en savoir plus]

Las periodistas Eman al Nafjan (saudí), Pham Doan Trang (vietnamita) y Caroline Muscat (maltesa) reciben el Premio RSF por la Libertad de Prensa 2019

12.09.2019 (Reporteros sin Fronteras) - El 12 de septiembre Reporteros sin Fronteras (RSF) entregó el Premio por la Libertad de Prensa 2019 a la periodista saudí Eman al Nafjan, la vietnamita Pham Doan Trang y la maltesa Caroline Muscat. Por primera vez la ceremonia de premiación se realizó en Berlín.

Con ocasión del 25 aniversario de la creación de la sección alemana de Reporteros sin Fronteras (RSF), nuestra organización entregó el Premio por la Libertad de Prensa 2019 en Alemania, en el Kammerspiele del Deutches Theater de Berlín. A la ceremonia, que se llevó a cabo el 12 de septiembre y fue conducida por Pinar Atalay, periodista y presentadora de televisión, asistieron numerosas personalidades, entre ellas el alcalde de Berlín, Michael Müller; Alan Rusbridger, ex editor en jefe del diario The Guardian; Susanne Koelbl, periodista de Der Spiegel; Nidhya Paliakara, periodista de TV5Monde; otros ganadores del Premio RSF, como Swati Chaturvedi, Can Dündar y Grigory Pasko, entre otros. [seguir leyendo]

Detained RFA Blogger in Vietnam Has First Meeting With Lawyer

29.08.2019 (RFA) - An RFA blogger held in Vietnam on charges of corruption has been allowed to meet with a lawyer for the first time since he was abducted in Thailand earlier this year and forced back to Vietnam, his attorney told RFA on Thursday.

Truong Duy Nhat, a weekly contributor to RFA’s Vietnamese Service, disappeared in Bangkok in late January amid fears he had been seized by Vietnamese agents, and two months later was revealed to be under arrest in Hanoi. [read more]

Vietnamese family ‘brutally attacked’ for converting to Christianity

29.08.2019 by Ruth Sax (Premier Christian Radio) - A Vietnamese family have been “brutally attacked” because of their Christian faith, according to Open Doors charity who serve persecuted Christians around the world.

The family of three, were forcibly removed from their home in a village in Northern Vietnam.

They were then beaten, and the six-year-old daughter was beaten so badly she fell into a coma for a month. She has now regained consciousness but does not recognise her parents or remember the incident. [read more]

ROG gibt Nominierte bekannt

29.08.2019 (ROG) - Anlässlich des 25-jährigen Bestehens der deutschen Sektion von Reporter ohne Reporter ohne Grenzen werden die renommierten Press Freedom Awards am 12. September erstmals in Berlin verliehen. Die Auszeichnungen ehren besonders mutige und unabhängige Journalistinnen und Journalisten, deren Arbeit große Wirkung erzielt hat. Die diesjährigen Nominierten stammen aus 12 verschiedenen Ländern. [Weiterlesen]

Submission by Human Rights Watch to Australia-Vietnam Human Rights Dialogue

27.08.2019 (HRW) - Human Rights Watch appreciates the opportunity to contribute to the ongoing preparations for the forthcoming 16th Australia-Vietnam Human Rights Dialogue, scheduled to be held in Canberra in August 2019.

Australia’s bilateral relationship with Vietnam has deepened significantly in recent years since the signing of the Comprehensive Partnership Agreement in 2009, and upgrading to a Strategic Partnership in 2018. At the same time, Vietnam’s human rights record worsened since 2017 as the authorities imprison more dissidents for longer prison terms and passed new draconian laws. [read more]

Vietnamese Facebook User Gets Six-Year Prison Term For ‘Negative’ Posts

23.08.2019 (RFA) - Vietnamese democracy advocate Huyn Dac Tuy was sentenced on Wednesday by a court in southern Vietnam’s Quang Ngai province to a six-year prison term, followed by three years’ probation, for criticizing the country’s communist government in a series of online posts, according to state media reports.

Director of the Tuy Nguyet Construction Company in Quang Ngai, Tuy was arrested by the provincial Investigation Security Agency on February 22 and was charged with “making, storing, and distributing information and documents opposing the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.” [read more]

Vietnamesischer Oppositioneller: Eine Abschiebung und ihre zynischen Folgen

23.08.2019 Professor Volker Blumenthaler, Nürnberg; Professor Jeremias Schwarzer, Nürnberg (SZ) - "Vietnamesin darf fertig studieren" vom 7. August: In Ihrem Artikel wird über die Situation der jungen Pianistin Nguyen Hong An und die Abschiebung ihrer Eltern, des Menschenrechtsaktivisten Nguyen Quang Hong Nhan und dessen Frau, berichtet. Den Abgeschobenen drohe angeblich keine strafrechtliche Verfolgung, so die Information des Bundesverbandes der vietnamesischen Flüchtlinge in der BRD. Das ist eine aus unserer Sicht unverantwortliche Verharmlosung der Situation, in der die Eltern in Vietnam sich befinden.

Zahlreiche Fakten belegen vielmehr, dass die Situation des Paares in Vietnam gefährlich und lebensbedrohlich ist: In Veröffentlichungen offizieller vietnamesischer Organe zum Beispiel auf Facebook wird Nguyen Quang Hong Nhan weiter als gefährlicher Oppositioneller, dem der Staat den Prozess machen solle, angegriffen. Der öffentliche Druck ist so massiv, dass private Hilfe vor Ort in Vietnam auch für Familienangehörige aus Angst vor Repressalien praktisch unmöglich ist. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnam’s Security Forces Detain Environmentalist Dang Vu Luong, Beating Pro-democracy Campaigner Nguyen Van Phuong

23.08.2019 (Defend the Defenders) - On August 22, Vietnam’s security forces detained environmentalist Dang Vu Luong for more than ten hours, and beat pro-democracy campaigner Nguyen Van Phuong when he and others came to question about the detention, Defend the Defenders has learned.

According to the unregistered independent civil organization Cây Xanh (Green Trees) in which Mr. Luong is a member, police officers from the Hanoi Police Department and the Security Investigation Agency of the Ministry of Public Security kidnapped him at a private residence in Tay Ho district at around 9.30 AM. Police took him to the Quang An ward police station for shortly and later to the agency’s Office in Nguyen Gia Thieu district. [read more]

L’Église vietnamienne célèbre la journée de commémoration des victimes de persécutions religieuses

22.08.2019 (Missions Etrangères de Paris) - À l’occasion du 22 août, désigné par l’Assemblée générale de l’ONU comme la Journée internationale de commémoration des victimes de violences basées sur la religion ou les convictions, l’Église catholique au Vietnam a organisé de nombreuses activités pastorales pour les victimes de violences religieuses.

Le père Anthony Nguyen Van Dinh, responsable du Comité diocésain pour la Justice et la Paix du diocèse de Vinh, affirme que la situation s’est détériorée dans plusieurs régions du pays. Même si 43 organisations religieuses sont officiellement reconnues au Vietnam, le prêtre estime que la liberté religieuse n’est pas encore considérée comme un droit fondamental. [en savoir plus]

Morrison urged to address human rights on Vietnam visit after calling nation 'free'

22.08.2019 Sarah Martin (The Guardian) - Human Rights Watch raises concerns of ‘dire’ human rights record, including at least 133 political prisoners

Scott Morrison has been urged to raise human rights concerns with the Vietnamese government when he makes his first official visit there this week, including the case of Australian citizen Chau Van Kham who has been detained since January.

Morrison said on Wednesday that Vietnam was one of a number of “free, independent sovereign nations” in the Indo-Pacific region that Australia was prioritising.

But the Human Rights Watch Australia director, Elaine Pearson, said most Vietnamese were not “free”, and urged Morrison to use the official visit – the first standalone prime ministerial visit since 1994 – to raise Vietnam’s “dire” human rights record. [read more]

Free Hồ Đức Hòa: Hanoi denies medical care to jailed Catholic activist

14.08.2019 (AsiaNews) - Arrested in 2011, Hòa was an active member of the Diocese of Vinh and worked with a news agency run by Redemptorist fathers. For the regime, he is part of a group of young Catholics and Protestants engaged in activities “aimed at overthrowing the people’s government”. The prisoner of conscience still has five years to serve in prison followed by as many under house arrest.

The prisoner of conscience suffers from many health problems but, in the last three months, prison authorities have denied him medical assistance, this according to his sister, Hồ Thi Luy. [read more]

Vietnam: Funeral Of Catholic Lawyer Disrupted By Police

05.08.2019 (UCA News) - Victims of alleged land-grabbing in southern Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City have accused local authorities of seriously disrupting a relative's funeral.

Cao Ha Truc’s family was among some 100 Catholic households who were in January evicted from five hectares of land that they say was originally acquired by the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris in 1954.

Truc’s sister-in-law, local lawyer Therese Tran Thi Ly Hoa, died from stomach cancer on July 29 and was buried on Aug. 1. [read more]

Vietnam jails toll road opponents

01.08.2019 (UCAnews) - A court in northern Vietnam has convicted an anti-corruption activist and six others opposing a toll road for creating 'public disorder' and sentenced them to imprisonment.

The state-run Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper reported on July 30 proceedings of the People's Court of Que Vo District in Bac Ninh Province, which is located near the communist nation's capital, Hanoi.

The newspaper said that activist Ha Van Nam, 38, was handed a term of two and a half years imprisonment after the court found that in December he incited others to repeatedly block traffic at the then newly constructed Pha Lai tollbooth. [read more]

Vietnamese Activist Gets 30 Months in Toll-Booth Protest

30.07.2019 (RFA) - A court in northern Vietnam’s Bac Ninh province sentenced a local activist to 30 months in jail on Tuesday for “causing public disorder” at a toll-booth set up under Vietnam’s controversial Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) scheme, which has drawn protests around the country, sources said.

Ha Van Nam had gone to the Pha Lai toll station on Vietnam's Hwy. 18 with a large crowd on Dec. 29 to block traffic, causing losses of revenue to the station when station managers let vehicles pass through free of charge to relieve congestion, the court said. [read more]

Vietnam Political Prisoners End Hunger Strike Over Poor Conditions, But Demand Monthly Phone Calls

29.07.2019 (RFA) - At least three political prisoners at a detention center in north-central Vietnam’s Nghe An province have ended their hunger strike over poor conditions after they were given fans, but warned they will resume the protest if they are not provided monthly calls home, family members said Monday.

Truong Minh Duc, Dao Quang Thuc, and Nguyen Van Tuc began a hunger strike at Nghe An’s Camp No. 6 on June 10 to protest poor conditions, including the removal of electric fans from cells in the soaring summer heat, which regularly reaches temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). [read more]

Viet Nam: Activist faces trial for statements on Facebook

29.07.2019 (Amnesty International) - Ahead of peaceful activist Ha Van Nam’s trial in a court in Viet Nam tomorrow, Joanne Mariner, Amnesty International’s Senior Crisis Adviser, said: "Yet another Vietnamese activist is being unfairly punished for speaking out on Facebook. Ha Van Nam’s alleged crime was simply to criticize rampant corruption in hugely popular live streams. The authorities must immediately and unconditionally release him and drop all charges against him ". [read more]

Vietnam : Une liberté religieuse ambigüe

26.07.2019 (Info Chrétienne) - Le Vietnam est une république officiellement athée. Sa Constitution reconnaît le droit à quiconque de suivre ou non une religion. Cependant, le dernier rapport américain sur la liberté religieuse internationale évoque l’article 14. Ce dernier  » autorise toutefois le gouvernement à passer outre aux droits de l’homme, y compris la liberté de religion, pour des raisons de ‘sécurité nationale, d’ordre et de sécurité sociaux, de moralité sociale et de bien-être social’ « . ...

Au Vietnam, il est également question de violence de la part des forces de police. On rapporte que des individus seraient « invités » par la police à des interrogatoires au cours desquels ils sont interrogés sur leurs croyances ou leur association à certaines organisations religieuses. [en savoir plus]

Concern for Australian citizen jailed without charge in Vietnam

23.07.2019 Hannah Ellis-Petersen (The Guardian) - Human rights groups and relatives have expressed concern for the wellbeing of a 70-year-old Australian citizen who has been imprisoned in Vietnam for six months without charge.

Van Kham Chau, who fled to Sydney from Vietnam in the 1980s, was arrested in Ho Chi Minh City in January for allegedly trying to overthrow the state and for entering the country on false documents.

He has been denied a lawyer during the investigation, his family and Amnesty International confirmed, meaning information on his case has been limited. [read more]

Vietnamese Lawyers Petition Government Leaders in Case of Abducted RFA Blogger

19.07.2019 (RFA) - More than 50 lawyers in Vietnam signed a petition this week calling on authorities to protect the legal rights of a lawyer accused of tax evasion after agreeing to defend a dissident blogger abducted in Thailand in January and brought back to Vietnam by force.

Key documents in the case of the blogger, RFA contributor Truong Duy Nhat, were seized earlier this month when police raided the office of his attorney Tran Vu Hai, who has defended clients in politically sensitive cases in Vietnam. 

Soon after the raid, the Police Investigation Department of the Ministry of Public Security issued a notice barring Hai from representing Nhat, though he had registered as Nhat’s attorney more than three months before. [read more]

Freedom House Applauds White House Meeting with Religious Persecution Survivors

18.07.2019 (Freedom House) - “We commend President Trump for providing strong public support to victims of religious persecution around the world,” said Michael J. Abramowitz, president of Freedom House. “Freedom House has urged successive administrations to meet with survivors and send a clear signal that human rights concerns are critical to US strategic and economic interests. We commend the survivors for their bravery in sharing their stories and advocating for their fellow victims, and we urge the White House to follow this meeting with strong, decisive action in support of human rights and religiously persecuted groups around the world.”

On July 17, 2019, on the sidelines of the International Religious Freedom Ministerial, President Donald J. Trump met with 27 victims of religious persecution. Attendees included: [read more]

Trump Meets Victims of Religious Persecution at White House

17.07.2019 (VOA) - WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump, who has made religious freedom a centerpiece of his foreign policy, met Wednesday with victims of religious persecution from countries like China, Turkey, North Korea, Iran and Myanmar.

Among the other victims who met with Trump were Christians from Myanmar, Vietnam, North Korea, Iran, Turkey, Cuba, Eritrea, Nigeria and Sudan; Muslims from Afghanistan, Sudan, Pakistan and New Zealand; Jews from Yemen and Germany; a practitioner of Cao Dai from Vietnam; and a Yezidi from Iraq. [read more]

Die Kämpfe der Aktivistinnen in Vietnam

14.07.2019 (Forum Vietnam 21) - Eine neue Serie von Videointerviews beleuchtet die Perspektiven und Kämpfe von Frauen, die sich in Vietnam für Menschenrechte einsetzen.

Das 88 Project ist eine Organisation, die die freie Meinungsäußerung in Vietnam unterstützt und fördert, indem es die Geschichte vietnamesischer Aktivisten, die wegen ihres friedlichen Dissenses verfolgt werden, veröffentlicht und sich für sie einsetzt. In dem ersten von 88 Project geführten Videointerview (in Vietnamesisch mit engl. Untertitel) spricht Pham Doan Trang, Jahrgang 1978, eine dissidente Journalistin und politische Aktivistin, über Herausforderungen, mit denen die Frauen als Bloggerinnen und Menschenrechtsaktivistinnen in Vietnam konfrontiert sind. Pham Doan Trang steht seit Langem wie auch andere Dissidentent permanent im Fokus der Behörden. [Weiterlesen]

Family Members, Activists Beaten by ‘Thugs’ During Vietnam Prison Visit

12.07.2019 (RFA) - More than 20 social activists and relatives of political prisoners were attacked by assailants wearing civilian clothes when they attempted to visit a detention center in north-central Vietnam’s Nghe An province on Friday, members of the group said.

The attackers used helmets and clubs to beat the group, which included women and elderly family members, with at least one of those assaulted recognizing those attacking them as plainclothes policemen and ordinary criminals, one member of the group said. [read more]

Menschenrechtsanwalt unter Verdacht der Steuerhinterziehung

02.07.2019 (Der Farang) - HANOI (dpa) - Dem bekannten Menschenrechtsanwalt Tran Vu Hai ist in Vietnam Steuerhinterziehung zur Last gelegt worden.

Wie die Polizei in dem kommunistischen Einparteienstaat am Dienstag weiter mitteilte, wurden die Wohnung und das Büro des 57-Jährigen in der Hauptstadt Hanoi durchsucht. Hintergrund der Anklage gegen Hai und seine Frau seien Immobiliengeschäfte in der Küstenstadt Nha Trang im Süden des Landes.

Menschenrechtsorganisationen werfen Vietnams Führung regelmäßig vor, Juristen zu schikanieren, die sich in dem 95 Millionen Einwohner zählenden Land für Bürgerrechte einsetzen oder Dissidenten verteidigen. [Weiterlesen]

New documentary series highlights the struggles of women activists in Vietnam

01.07.2019 Written by Don Le (Global Voices) - The 88 Project, an organisation supporting freedom of expression in Vietnam, released the first video of an ongoing interview series with female activists in Vietnam. In the first interview with Pham Doan Trang, a dissident journalist and political activist, she discusses the challenges women face as bloggers and human rights activists:

She also recounts an incident of police brutality which led to permanent injury to both of her legs.

"During a demonstration to protect trees and the environment in Ha Noi, they attacked me and broke both of my legs." [read more]

Une série de documentaires met en lumière les difficultés rencontrées par les femmes activistes au Vietnam

01.07.2019 Ecrit par Don Le, Traduit par Jade Dussart (Global Voices) - The 88 Project, une organisation de défense de la liberté d'expression au Vietnam, a mis en ligne la première vidéo d'une série d'interviews à venir avec des femmes activistes au Vietnam. Dans ce premier entretien, Pham Doan Trang, une journaliste dissidente et activiste politique, expose les défis auxquels sont confrontées les blogueuses et les défenseures des droits humains.

Elle relate également un incident lors duquel des violences policières ont causé des lésions irréversibles à ses deux jambes.

"Lors d'une manifestation appelant à protéger les arbres et l'environnement à Hanoï, ils m'ont attaquée et m'ont cassé les deux jambes." [en savoir plus]

Interview: ‘We Are Worried About The Degenerated Situation For Human Rights in The Area’

01.07.2019 (RFA) - On Sunday, the European Union and Vietnam signed a landmark free trade agreement (FTA) that will eventually phase out almost all tariffs on goods that flow between the trading bloc and the Southeast Asian nation, after it the deal is ratified by lawmakers on both sides.

In a recent interview with RFA’s Roseanne Gerin at European Commission headquarters in Brussels prior to the signing of the EU-Vietnam FTA, Malmström discussed the intersection between trade and human rights issues in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Myanmar. [read more]

Family Plans Visit Amid Concerns for Vietnam Political Prisoner’s Health

01.07.2019 (RFA) - Nguyen Trung Truc, a jailed member of the online advocacy group Brotherhood for Democracy, is in “very weak” health and his family plans to visit him in Thanh Hoa province, his son told RFA’s Vienamese Service on Monday.

Truc, now serving a 12-year prison term on a charge of subversion, had called his family on Sunday to report his poor health. “In about 20 seconds, my father informed the family that his current situation is very weak,” said his son, Nguyen Quang Trung. [read more]

'Unholy alliance'? Southeast Asian authorities accused of trading exiled activists

21.06.2019 Kay Johnson, Panu Wongcha-um (Reuters) - BANGKOK - Three Thai policemen approached Vietnamese refugee Nguyen Van Chung at his home in Bangkok in January and asked him whether he was in touch with another Vietnamese man, Truong Duy Nhat, who had fled to Thailand.

Chung said no, he had never met Nhat, a writer and critic of Vietnam’s communist government who previously had spent two years in prison for “abusing democratic freedoms”. He only knew of Nhat from his Facebook posts.

But during a subsequent interrogation, Chung was surprised to notice a man who seemed to be a Vietnamese official, and Thai police then confirmed he was indeed from Vietnam. [read more]

Thai Police Helped Vietnam Abduct RFA Blogger: Rights Group

21.06.2019 By Richard Finney (RFA) - Thai police helped Vietnamese police abduct a dissident blogger seeking asylum in Thailand and return him to custody in Hanoi, revealing a pattern of cooperation between security services in the neighboring Southeast Asian countries, rights group Amnesty International said on Friday.

Documents and other information obtained by Amnesty International now point to the involvement of Thai police officers in the abduction, with security services in both countries seen to be trading political dissidents wanted by the other side, the rights group said on Friday. [read more]

Vietnamese Activists Say Authorities Ally With Gangsters to Suppress People

20.06.2019 (RFA) - In the first half of 2019, Vietnamese media have reported at least three separate incidents of gang violence against the police. In each incident it was reported that groups of thugs armed with weapons, ranging from knives and swords to metal pipes, confronted police officers and sometimes attacked them.

But activists and human rights groups in Vietnam say that this fairly new development appears to be a consequence of the common practice for authorities, including police, to hire thugs to bend people to their will through violence. RFA’s Vietnamese Service has reported on many cases where plainclothes thugs have harassed or beaten activists, bloggers, clergymen, reporters and environmentalists. [read more]

Vietnam Blogger Le Anh Hung’s Mother Appeals For His Release From Mental Hospital

12.06.2019 (RFA) - The mother of Vietnamese blogger Le Anh Hung has called on authorities in the communist state to release him from an involuntary stay in a mental hospital, where she said he was forced to take medicine and is suffering “both mentally and physically.”

Hung’s mother, Tran Thi Niem, wrote letters asking the police, procuracy and Central Psychiatric Hospital No. 1. to release him to the care of his family, she told RFA’s Vietnamese Service on Wednesday.

Hung was arrested in July 2018 on a charge of “abusing democratic freedoms” under Article 331 of Vietnam’s criminal code. [read more]

Vietnam asks brands to stop spending ad dollars on YouTube, calling it a 'propaganda machine'

12.06.2019 By Shawn Lim (The Drum) - Vietnam has urged brands to stop spending advertising dollars on YouTube, accusing the Google-owned platform of willingly carrying ‘anti-state propaganda’.

The country’s Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) called out brands like Samsung Electronics, Huawei Technologies, Yamaha Motors and Grab, for buying ads in videos containing "illegal and malicious content’. [read more]

Vietnam Augmente La Pression Sur Les Annonceurs De Google Sur YouTube

12.06.2019 By Sameh (news-24) - HANOI (Reuters) – Le Vietnam a demandé aux entreprises de ne pas faire de publicité pour les vidéos hébergées sur YouTube qui contiennent "une propagande anti-étatique", a déclaré mercredi un média sud-asiatique alors que des pays du Sud-Est asiatique faisaient pression sur les géants de la technologie augmenté.

Malgré les réformes économiques et l'ouverture croissante au changement social, le parti communiste au pouvoir maintient sa censure stricte sur les médias au Vietnam et ne tolère pas la dissidence. [en savoir plus]

Vietnam ramps up pressure on Google's YouTube advertisers

12.06.2019 James Pearson (Reuters) - HANOI - Vietnam has asked companies not to advertise on videos hosted by Google’s YouTube that contain “anti-state propaganda,” state media said on Wednesday, as the Southeast Asian country ramps up pressure on global tech giants.

“Google was found to loosely manage its content, allowing users to buy ads directly from YouTube and Google without the involvement of domestic ad agents,” the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) said, referring to a June 7 announcement by the Ministry of Information and Communication. [read more]

EU fordert Freilassung vietnamesischen Fischers

06.06.2019 (DW) - Ein Gericht in Vietnam hat den Umweltaktivisten Anh wegen Kritik an der Regierung zu langjähriger Haft verurteilt. Der Richterspruch wurde mit kritischen Einträgen des Garnelenfischers in sozialen Netzwerken begründet.

Der 39-jährige Ngyen Ngoc Anh, Garnelenfischer, Umwelt- und Menschenrechtsaktivist, wurde von einem Provinzgericht im Süden des Landes wegen seiner Facebook-Posts zu sechs Jahren Gefängnis verurteilt. Wie die staatliche vietnamesische Nachrichtenagentur VNA berichtete, wurde Anh für schuldig befunden, "Informationen und Dokumente gegen den Staat erstellt, aufbewahrt, veröffentlicht und verbreitet zu haben". Laut Klageschrift hat der Fischer die staatliche Ordnung untergraben.

Die Europäische Union forderte die sofortige Freilassung Anhs und aller anderen Blogger und Menschenrechtler, die in Vietnam inhaftiert sind und deren einziges Vergehen darin besteht, friedlich ihre freie Meinung geäußert zu haben. Eine Sprecherin der EU-Außenbeauftragten Federica Mogherini sprach von einer besorgniserregenden Entwicklung. [Weiterlesen]

Posten von Regierungskritik auf Facebook ist ein Verbrechen in Vietnam, Nutzer eingesperrt

06.06.2019 (Forum Vietnam 21) - Ein Volksgericht von Ben Tre Provinz im Süden Vietnams verurteilte heute einen Facebook-Nutzer und Umweltaktivist zu sechs Jahren Haft mit anschließendem Hausarrest von fünf Jahren, weil er "Informationen und Dokumente gegen den Staat erstellt und verbreitet" hatte.

Nguyen Ngoc Anh, 38, wurde beim eintägigen Prozess beschuldigt, gemäß Artikel 117 des Strafgesetzbuchs von 2015 "staatsfeindliche Informationen und Materialien hergestellt, veröffentlicht und verbreitet zu haben". Dem Angeklagten wurde vorgeworfen, mehrere E-Mails und soziale Netzwerke für die Live-Übertragung bzw. zum Austausch von Informationen verwendet zu haben. Ferner wurde ihm ein Verbrechen zur Last gelegt, "verleumderische Informationen mit verzerrtem Inhalt verbreitet, die Regierung diffamiert, im Juni 2018 und während des Nationalfeiertags am 2. September 2018 zu Protesten aufgerufen" zu haben. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnamesischer Regierungskritiker zu sechs Jahren Haft verurteilt

06.06.2019 (Spiegel-Online) - Der kommunistische Ein-Parteien-Staat Vietnam geht immer wieder gegen Regierungsgegner vor. Das jüngste Beispiel: ein Garnelenfarmer, der nun sechs Jahre ins Gefängnis muss.

Er verbreitete Videos und Dokumente mit regierungskritischem Inhalt in sozialen Netzwerken: Dafür muss der 39-jährige Nguyen Ngoc Anh für sechs Jahre ins Gefängnis. Der Garnelenfarmer habe "staatsgefährdende Informationen und Dokumente erstellt, gespeichert, veröffentlicht und verbreitet", erklärte das Gericht der Provinz Ben Tre. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnam jails activist for six years after Facebook posts

06.06.2019 (Daily Mail) - Vietnam sentenced an environmental activist to six years in prison for "undermining" the government in Facebook posts, state media reported, the latest harsh sentence in a crackdown on online dissent.

At least 128 prisoners of conscience are now behind bars in the communist country, according to Amnesty International, with 10 percent jailed for social media posts.

A southern provincial court on Thursday sentenced Nguyen Ngoc Anh, 39, to six years in prison for "producing, disseminating or spreading information and documents aimed at undermining" the country, state-controlled Vietnam News Agency reported. [read more]

Viet Nam: Sham trial shows authorities ‘abusing Facebook’ to silence criticism

05.06.2019 (Amnesty International) - Ahead of the court hearing in the case of Nguyen Ngoc Anh tomorrow, Nicholas Bequelin, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southeast Asia, said: “The authorities in Hanoi are now extending, online, the chokehold they have put on civic and political rights in the country for decades, using Facebook as a tool to further their repression of dissenting voices. “The court should drop these politically-motivated charges and release him immediately and unconditionally.” [read more]

Vietnam: Authorities crack down on Facebook users in bid to silence critics

05.06.2019 (Amnesty International UK) - The Vietnamese authorities are cracking down on social media users, Amnesty International warned, ahead of the controversial trial of government critic Nguyen Ngoc Anh tomorrow.

Nguyen Ngoc Anh is an aquatic engineer from Ben Tre province in southern Vietnam. He is active in political debates on social media, and used Facebook to express opinions and share content from other users.

In June last year, the Vietnamese National Assembly tabled a draft law to establish new special economic zones raising the prospect of significant amounts of land coming under foreign ownership for up to 99 years. The law sparked a nationwide outcry and led to mass demonstrations. The authorities responded by cracking down on peaceful protesters in Ho Chi Minh City and other provinces in southern Vietnam. [read more]

Viêt-Nam. Un simulacre de procès montre que les autorités «utilisent abusivement facebook» pour étouffer les critiques

05.06.2019 (Amnesty International France) - En amont de l’audience qui va se tenir demain dans l’affaire mettant en cause Nguyen Ngoc Anh, Nicholas Bequelin, directeur régional pour l’Asie de l’Est et du Sud-Est à Amnesty International, a déclaré :

« Les fausses accusations dont fait l’objet Nguyen Ngoc Anh montrent que plus personne n’est en sécurité sur Facebook au Viêt-Nam. Il s’agit de la dernière affaire en date concernant une liste croissante de cybercitoyens poursuivis en justice, arrêtés ou incarcérés uniquement parce qu’ils ont pacifiquement discuté des affaires publiques ou critiqué le gouvernement. [en savoir plus]

Vietnam: Dissident Targeted for Facebook Posts - Environmental Activist Faces Show Trial

04.06.2019 (HRW) - (New York) – An environmental activist faces a show trial for his Facebook posts, as part of Vietnam’s continuing attack on freedom of expression, Human Rights Watch said today. The Vietnamese government should immediately release the activist, Nguyen Ngoc Anh, and drop all charges against him.

Nguyen Ngoc Anh is charged with “making, storing, disseminating, or propagandizing information, materials, and products that aim to oppose the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” under article 117 of the 2015 penal code. The People’s Court of Ben Tre province is scheduled to hear his case on June 6, 2019. [read more]

Vietnam Steps Up Punishment of Journalists, Bloggers

04.06.2019 (VOA) - Twenty-five members of Congress wrote to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week to urge greater freedom of expression in Vietnam, where the one-party communist state has aggressively jailed bloggers and activists.

The letter comes two months after the U.N. Human Rights Committee released a report criticizing the Vietnamese government for repression against activists and journalists and executing high numbers of people guilty of minor crimes after unfair trials. [read more]

Vietnam: Evangelischer Pastor in einem Straflager eingesperrt

01.06.2019 (idea) - Frankfurt am Main/Wetzlar – Als „Gefangenen des Monats Juni“ haben die Internationale Gesellschaft für Menschenrechte (IGFM) und die Evangelische Nachrichtenagentur idea den vietnamesischen Pastor Nguyen Trung Ton benannt. Sie rufen dazu auf, für ihn einzutreten und zu beten. Der evangelische Christ setzt sich seit vielen Jahren unter persönlichen Opfern für umfassende Religionsfreiheit in seinem Heimatland ein. Seit dem 30. Juli 2017 sitzt er zum zweiten Mal hinter Gittern. Bereits im Jahr 2011 war er zu einer zweijährigen Gefängnisstrafe wegen angeblicher „Propaganda gegen den Staat“ verurteilt worden. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnam: Lehrer wegen Facebook-Posts verhaftet

01.06.2019 (Forum Vietnam 21) - Aktivisten, Rechtsanwälte und Blogger sind seit langem in dem Einparteienstaat im Visier, in dem unabhängige Medien und öffentliche Proteste verboten sind. Kritiker greifen zunehmend auf soziale Medien zurück, um ihre Unzufriedenheit auszudrücken.

Jetzt wurde ein Lehrer, am 29. Mai 2019 verhaftet, weil er Material veröffentlicht hatte, das den Staat untergraben soll, teilten die offiziellen Medien und seine Familie mit.

Nguyen Nang Tinh, Jahrgang 1976, wurde nach Angaben der offiziellen Polizeizeitung in der Provinz Nghe An, in der er festgenommen ist, nach Artikel 117 Absatz 01 des vietnamesischen Strafgesetzbuchs verhaftet, weil er "Informationen und Dokumente produziert und verbreitete, um Vietnam zu untergraben". [Weiterlesen]

US ‘Very Concerned’ Over Growing Crackdown in Vietnam: Diplomat

30.05.2019 (RFA) - The U.S. voiced strong concern in May at a growing crackdown over the last two years on dissent in Vietnam, and has urged the one-party communist state to free all political prisoners now held in the country’s jails, a senior U.S. diplomat said on Wednesday.

Speaking in an interview with RFA’s Vietnamese Service, Scott Busby —deputy assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights, and labor—pointed to what he called a “rising number of prosecutions of people who have been freely expressing their opinions in Vietnam.” [read more]

Catholic activist arrested, accused of 'undermining' Vietnamese government

30.05.2019 (The Catholic Register) - HANOI, Vietnam -- Police in Vietnam have been accused of abducting a Catholic advocate for social and charitable activities.

Nguyen Thi Tinh said her husband Nguyen Nang Tinh was seized and pushed into a truck by police officers while he and their two sons were on their way to breakfast May 29, ucanews.com reported.

The official police newspaper in the province said Nang Tinh was arrested for "producing, disseminating or spreading information and documents aimed at undermining" Vietnam. [read more]

Vietnam: un professeur de musique arrêté pour « atteinte à l’autorité de l’Etat »

30.05.2019 (Epoch Times) - Un professeur de musique a été arrêté mercredi pour « atteinte à l’autorité de l’État » au Vietnam qui ne cesse de durcir sa répression contre les opposants, a-t-on appris jeudi auprès de sa famille.

Nguyen Nang Tinh, âgé de 42 ans, est poursuivi pour avoir publié sur sa page Facebook des « éléments profondément hostiles au gouvernement » et accusé d’être en lien avec « des activistes réactionnaires à l’intérieur et à l’extérieur du pays », selon la revue de la police Nghe An. Il lui est notamment reproché d’avoir publié sur les réseaux sociaux un article sur Viettan, un groupe de militants en exil basé aux États-Unis et placé sur la liste des organisations terroristes par le Vietnam. [en savoir plus]

Catholic activist 'beaten' in Vietnam prison

30.05.2019 By Ruth Sax (Premier Christian Radio) - Prisoners of conscience are suffering beatings and poor health in prison in Vietnam, according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).

The human rights organisation said it is concerned for the safety and wellbeing of activists Nguyen Bac Truyen and Nguyen Van Hoa, who are both serving sentences relating to their peaceful defence of human rights in Vietnam. [read more]

US Lawmakers Urge Greater Push For Vietnam Press Freedoms

29.05.2019 (RFA) - U.S. lawmakers called in a letter on Tuesday for a stronger push by the United States to demand that Vietnam uphold the right to freedom of expression in the wake of the jailing of bloggers and activists in the one-party communist state.

Writing to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, 25 members of Congress led by Senator Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Representative Alan Lowenthal (CA-47), pointed to what they called  “troubling cases of arrests and detentions of independent journalists” in Vietnam. [read more]

Vietnamese Student Blogger Jailed

28.05.2019 (VOA) - HANOI, VIETNAM - A court in northern Vietnam on Wednesday sentenced a student activist to six years in prison for using social media to promote a multiparty system and press freedom amid a heightened crackdown on dissent.

Phan Kim Khanh was also given four year of probation after being convicted of spreading propaganda against the state at the trial that lasted half a day in Thai Nguyen province, his lawyer Ha Huy Son said. [read more]

Amnesty International Condemns ‘Torture’ of Jailed RFA Blogger in Vietnam

24.05.2019 (RFA) - Rights group Amnesty International on Friday described Vietnamese prison authorities’ treatment of jailed blogger Nguyen Van Hoa as “torture,” calling him a prisoner of conscience and urging his immediate release.

Hoa, who had blogged for RFA’s Vietnamese Service and is now serving a seven-year sentence in Vietnam’s An Diem Prison, is currently being held in solitary confinement after being beaten and choked by prison guards earlier this month. [read more]

Prisoners of Conscience Hoang Duc Binh, Nguyen Bac Truyen in Hunger Strike to Protest Placing Jailed Blogger Nguyen Van Hoa in Isolation

23.05.2019 (Defend The Defenders) - Prisoners of conscience Hoang Duc Binh and Nguyen Bac Truyen and others are conducting hunger strike in An Diem Prison camp to protest the prison’s placing their co-inmate Nguyen Van Hoa in isolation, Defend the Defenders has learned from Binh’s younger brother.

Speaking on the telephone, Mr. Hoang Van Hao (Facebooker Hoang Nguyen) told Defend the Defenders that the two jailed human rights activists are in their 11th day of fasting. [read more]

Vietnam – Country Updates on Human Rights and Democracy 2018

22.05.2019 (European External Action Service) - While overall conditions in the daily life of Vietnamese citizens have been improving, 2018 was not a positive year in the promotion and protection of human rights. Vietnam has been expanding its body of law and striving for international integration, however the space for civil society has been shrinking.

With the introduction of new legislation, such as the cybersecurity law approved in June 2018, freedom of expression online could be suppressed even further. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnamese Authorities Sentence 17 For Involvement in 2018 Protests

22.05.2019 (RFA) - Authorities in Vietnam Tuesday tried and sentenced a group of 15 protesters who demonstrated against a solid waste treatment plant last year in Quang Ngai province.

The protest erupted in September 2018 after residents of La Van village in the province’s Duc Pho district got wind that the Duc Pho domestic solid waste treatment plant was reopening. A group of up to 200 protesters stood in front of local government offices pleading for help. [read more]

'Fear and paranoia': How Vietnam controls its media

20.05.2019 by Faras Ghani (Al Jazeera) - 'Level of terror rises sharply' as Vietnam ranks 176th out of 180 countries in the 2019 Press Freedom Index.

Nguyen Hang* remembers her first day as a "news assistant" in 2008 for an international publication in Vietnam.

She was asked to attend a meeting with the police who asked her to sign on a paper affirming that her new job was to protect the country.

"I never thought that piece of paper would follow me around," Hang told Al Jazeera.

The 2019 World Press Freedom Index ranked Vietnam 176th out of 180 countries, down one place from the previous year. [read more]

Female Anti-Corruption Activist Beaten, Five Others Detained for Protesting Arbitrarily-placed Toll Booth

20.05.2019 (Defend The Defenders) - On May 20, police in Soc Son district, Hanoi, brutally beat Mrs. Dang Thi Hue and arrested her and five other drivers who came to Bac Thang Long-Noi Bai toll booth to protest its illegal collection of transport fee, Defend the Defenders has learned.

According to Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy (Facebooker Nguyễn Trần Công) who was in the scene and detained for short time, other detainees are Mr. Pham Nam Hai, Mr. Phan DucThang, Ms. Pham Thi Tiep, Mr. Manh Hung and a driver whose name is unknown. [read more]

US Says Vietnam Blocks Dissidents From Contact With Rights Delegation

15.05.2019 (RFA) - The U.S. State Department voiced strong concern Tuesday over reports that Vietnamese democracy advocates have been prevented from meeting with members of a U.S. delegation ahead of a human rights dialogue later this week.

“These very issues—greater respect for fundamental freedoms and human rights—are at the core of our dialogue with the Government of Vietnam,” a State Department spokesman told RFA’s Vietnamese Service in an email.

“We call on the Government of Vietnam to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the freedoms of association and expression,” the State Department said. [read more]

Le Vietnam dénoncé pour ses atteintes aux droits de l’homme

13.05.2019 Par Ilona Métais (Le Figaro) - Un rapport d’Amnesty International, publié ce lundi 13 mai, souligne que les incarcérations pour délits d’opinion au Vietnam ont augmenté de 30% en un an, 97 personnes ayant été privées de leur liberté pour ce motif en 2018 alors que l’ONG en dénombre déjà 128 en 2019.

Amnesty International cite l’exemple de Tran Hoang Phuc, un militant pacifique pour la démocratie et l’écologie, qui a été arrêté en juin 2017 pour «propagande contre l’État». [en savoir plus]

Vietnam intensifies crackdown on online dissent: Amnesty report

13.05.2019 (Reuters) - HANOI - Vietnam has stepped up its imprisonment of political activists, Amnesty International said in a report on Monday, intensifying a crackdown that has seen the number of prisoners of conscience increase by almost a third since last year.

Nearly 10% of the 128 prisoners held in the Southeast Asian country for expressing dissenting views were jailed for posting anti-state comments on social media platforms such as Facebook, the report said. [read more]

At least 128 prisoners of conscience in Vietnam: Amnesty

13.05.2019 (Al Jazeera) - The number of prisoners of conscience in Vietnam has risen by a third over the past year amid a continuing crackdown on freedom of expression in the Southeast Asian nation, Amnesty International has said.

The London-based human rights group said on Monday it had counted at least 128 people in jail for expressing their views, a 10th of them for online activity, by the end of March 2019. There were 97 people in detention the previous year, it said. [read more]

Viet Nam: Surge in number of prisoners of conscience, new research shows

13.05.2019 (AI) - The number of prisoners of conscience unjustly jailed across Viet Nam has surged by one third to 128 in signs of a growing crackdown on peaceful activism, new research by Amnesty International reveals today.

The Vietnamese government holds at least 128 prisoners of conscience in prisons across the country, a sharp rise from the 97 identified last year. Detention conditions remain appalling, with evidence of prisoners being tortured and otherwise ill-treated, routinely held incommunicado and in solitary confinement, kept in squalid conditions, and denied medical care, clean water, and fresh air. [read more]

Viêt-Nam. Le nombre de prisonniers d’opinion a fortement augmenté, selon une nouvelle étude

13.05.2019 (AI) - Le nombre de personnes injustement emprisonnées pour leurs opinions au Viêt-Nam a augmenté d'un tiers, passant à 128, signe d'une répression grandissante contre le militantisme pacifique, a révélé ce lundi 13 mai une nouvelle étude d’Amnesty International.

Les autorités vietnamiennes détiennent au moins 128 personnes pour leurs opinions dans des prisons un peu partout dans le pays, soit une forte augmentation par rapport aux 97 personnes recensées l'année dernière. Les conditions de détention restent déplorables, des éléments prouvant que des personnes emprisonnées sont torturées et soumises à d'autres formes de mauvais traitements, régulièrement détenues au secret et à l’isolement, incarcérées dans des conditions sordides et privées de soins médicaux, d'eau potable et de sortie à l'air libre. [en savoir plus]

Vietnam sperrt zwei Aktivistinnen wegen "Verbreitung von Propaganda" auf Facebook ein

13.05.2019 Thach Duong (Forum Vietnam 21) - Zwei Aktivistinnen wurden im Oktober 2018 verhaftet und beschuldigt, nach Artikel 117 des Strafgesetzbuches schädliche Propaganda gegen den Staat auf Facebook verbreitet zu haben. Nun hat das Volksgericht in Provinz Ðồng Nai die Aktivistinnen Vũ Thị Dung, 54, und Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Sương, 51, am vergangenen Freitag zu sechs bzw. fünf Jahren Haft verurteilt, nachdem es sie für schuldig befunden hatte, Videos und Artikel auf Facebook gegen geplante Sonderwirtschaftszonen und ein verschärftes Cybersicherheitsgesetz veröffentlicht hatten [Weiterlesen]

Vietnam jails two activists for 'spreading propaganda' on Facebook

11.05.2019 (Daily Mail) - A Vietnamese court has jailed two activists on charges of publishing damaging anti-state propaganda about the communist-run country, state media reported Saturday, the latest convictions under a hardline leadership intolerant of dissent.

The women, Vu Thi Dung and Nguyen Thi Ngoc Suong, were sentenced Friday to six and five years respectively for posting videos and articles on Facebook against proposed special economic zones and a beefed up cybersecurity law, the People's Police newspaper reported. [read more]

Prisión para dos activistas de Vietnam por difundir propaganda contra el Estado

11.05.2109 (14ymedio) - (EFE)- Al menos 244 personas se encuentran en prisión de forma provisional o con condena firme por razones políticas en Vietnam.

Un Tribunal de Vietnam condenó con penas de prisión a dos activistas acusadas de difundir propaganda contra el estado por publicar en Facebook artículos críticos con el régimen comunista, informa este sábado la prensa oficialista.

Las mujeres, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Soung y Vu Thi Dung, recibieron este viernes sentencias de cinco y seis años, respectivamente, por publicar en la red social vídeos y artículos contrarios a proyectos en zonas económicas especiales y críticos con una ley de ciberseguridad, recoge el portal Vietnam Net. [seguir leyendo]

Jailed Vietnam Blogger is Returned to Mental Hospital, Forcibly Medicated

10.05.2019 (RFA) - Prison authorities in Vietnam took jailed Vietnamese blogger Le Anh Hung back to a mental hospital this week after a brief return to the prison where he is awaiting trial on a charge of “abusing democratic freedoms,” a friend and fellow blogger said on Friday.

Speaking to RFA’s Vietnamese Service, Nguyen Vu Binh said that Hung has now been returned to Central Mental Hospital No. 1 in Hanoi, where he appears tired and weak and is being forced to take medication by injection. [read more]

Vietnamese Dissident Blogger Released After Serving Five-Year Term

06.05.2019 (RFA) - Authorities in Vietnam released dissident blogger Nguyen Huu Vinh this week at the end of a five-year term served for posting politically sensitive writings online, sources said on Monday.

Vinh, who had been held in pre-trial detention for almost two years before being sentenced on March 23, 2016, for “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the state,” a vaguely worded provision in Vietnamese law frequently used to silence dissident voices.

He was released from Detention Center No. 5 in north-central Vietnam’s Thanh Hoa province on May 5. [read more]

Vietnamese Human Rights Campaigner Leaves Thailand for Canada

02.05.2019 (RFA) - Human rights activist Bach Hong Quyen left Thailand for Canada on Thursday, ending fears he could be extradited to Vietnam for his role in helping a dissident Vietnamese blogger apply for asylum in Bangkok before he was abducted by Vietnamese agents.

Truong Duy Nhat, an RFA contributor, disappeared in Bangkok in late January, and two months later was revealed to be in a Hanoi jail, in what legal experts said was a violation by Vietnam's police of the country's criminal procedure laws. [read more]

"Ich war immer sehr leise, aber ich möchte nicht mehr so sein"

01.05.2019 Von Dietrich Mittler, Nürnberg (SZ) - Kürzlich wurde ein vietnamesischer Regime-Kritiker abgeschoben, ihm soll in der Heimat soziale Isolation drohen. Seine Tochter, eine Pianistin, will kämpfen, doch auch ihr Aufenthalt ist nicht sicher.

Schon wieder ist er da, dieser Sog, den die 19-jährige Pianistin Hong An Nguyen kennt. Meist überkommt er sie dann, wenn das Publikum zu Beginn eines Konzerts applaudiert und sich danach bleierne Stille über den Saal legt. Viele Künstler berichten von extremer Anspannung, ausgelöst durch diesen Sog der an sie gestellten Erwartungen. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnam: une grand-mère et son fils expulsés par leur famille

27.04.2019 (Portes Ouvertes) - Au Vietnam, un homme et sa mère de 90 ans ont été chassés de leur village par leur famille parce qu'ils se sont convertis au christianisme.

En 2018, Vinh (pseudonyme), qui vit au Nord du Vietnam, est devenu chrétien. Plusieurs semaines plus tard, sa mère, Ngoc (pseudonyme), prend la même décision. À l’annonce de leur conversion, la femme et les enfants de Vinh (57 ans) les ont violemment rejetés.

Au Vietnam, la persécution la plus importante contre les chrétiens est celle imposée par le gouvernement communiste qui persécute la minorité chrétienne par des lois (la plus récente loi sur la religion étant entrée en vigueur le 1er janvier 2018). [en savoir plus]

Nur die Partei hat Recht

24.04.2019 Von Michael Leh (Die Tagespost) - Wie in kommunistischen Regimen ein religiöses Bekenntnis gefährlich werden kann, zeigte eine Veranstaltung in der Gedenkstätte Hohenschönhausen – Der Blick ging nach Vietnam und in die DDR.

Als ehemaliger Ort politischer Haft und Verfolgung beleuchtet die Stasi-Gedenkstätte Berlin-Hohenschönhausen dieses Jahr in sechs Veranstaltungen grundlegende Menschenrechte. Die erste galt der Religionsfreiheit: „Wenn Bekenntnisse gefährlich werden – Über die Freiheit der Religionsausübung“. Heiner Bielefeldt, Inhaber des Lehrstuhls für Menschenrechte und Menschenrechtspolitik an der Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg betonte: „Die Religionsfreiheit ist ein zentrales Menschenrecht.“ Einparteien-Regime seien geprägt von einer „unersättlichen Kontrollobsession“. In solchen Regimen gebe es für die Religionsfreiheit besonders viele Probleme mit der Gemeindepraxis – wenn die Menschen ihren Glauben gemeinsam ausüben wollen. Bielefeldt war von 2010 bis 2016 UN-Sonderberichterstatter für Religions- und Weltanschauungsfreiheit. Sehr plastisch schilderte er seine Erlebnisse bei einer Ermittlungskommission im Auftrag der Vereinten Nationen im kommunistisch regierten Vietnam. [Weiterlesen]

La libertad de prensa retrocede en más países

19.04.2019 (Noticias de Gipuzkoa) - Las declaraciones de líderes contra los medios desembocan en un aumento de la violencia.

Por tercer año consecutivo, Noruega aparece como el país más favorable al desarrollo de la libertad de prensa,

En el otro extremo, Turkmenistán, cuyo régimen no ha dejado de endurecer el control de la prensa y proseguir la persecución de los últimos corresponsales clandestinos de medios en el exilio, arrebata la última posición a Corea del Norte, por debajo de Eritrea, China, Vietnam y Sudán. [seguir leyendo]

China, Vietnam Fall Further in Already Low Rankings for Press Freedoms: Report

18.04.2019 By Richard Finney (RFA) - Tightened political controls in China and Vietnam caused both countries to see further declines in press freedoms during the last year, with each dropping another point to 177 and 178 respectively in a 180-country ranking released by media watchdog Reporters Without Borders on Thursday.

“In each country, the ruling elite suppresses all debate in the state-owned media while cracking down relentlessly on citizen-journalists who try to make a dissenting voice heard,” the Paris-based monitoring group said in its 2019 annual report.

Around 30 professional and citizen journalists are now held in custody in Vietnam, with nearly twice that number jailed in China, Reporters Without Borders said, calling the two Asian communist states “black holes” for the free and uncensored reporting of news. [read more]

Liberté de la presse 2019: la haine grandit contre les journalistes

18.04.2019 (La Liberté) - Le nombre de pays où les journalistes peuvent exercer leur métier en toute sécurité continue à se réduire. L’édition 2019 du Classement mondial de la liberté de la presse de Reporters sans frontières (RSF) révèle une hostilité grandissante face aux médias.

Plusieurs régimes autoritaires perdent des places au classement comme le Venezuela (148e, -5), où les journalistes ont été confrontés aux arrestations et violences infligées par les forces de l’ordre.

Le Vietnam (176e), talonné par la Chine (177e, -1), perd également une place. [en savoir plus]

Rights Groups Urge EU To Press For Freedom of Vietnam Political Prisoner

16.04.2019 By Paul Eckert (RFA) - A group of 21 international and Vietnamese human rights groups have written top European Union officials to ask for help during trade negotiations between Hanoi and Brussels in winning the freedom of political prisoner Nguyen Bac Truyen, who is serving am 11-year jail term for legal and pro-democracy advocacy.

Signatories included Amnesty International, the Association for the Advancement of Freedom of Religion or Belief in Vietnam, Campaign to Abolish Torture in Vietnam, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Front Line Defenders and Human Rights Watch. [read more]

Die Tochter des Dissidenten

12.04.2019 Marina Mai (taz) - Ende März wurden ein vietnamesischer Oppositioneller und seine Frau abgeschoben. Jetzt hofft ihr Kind auf eine Aufenthaltsgenehmigung.

Hong An steht im zitronengelben Festkleid auf der Bühne des Heilig-Geist-Saals. Sie verbeugt sich mit ernstem Gesicht. Erst als der Beifall des Publikums nicht abreißt, kommt ein Lächeln auf ihr Gesicht.

Hong An studiert Klavier an der Hochschule für Musik in Nürnberg. Ihre Professoren sprechen von ihr als einer musikalisch begabten, hochintelligenten Studentin mit herausragender Disziplin. Eine Musterstudentin. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnamese Boy Refuses to Support Government Propaganda Justifying His Forced Eviction

10.04.2019 (RFA) - A boy who lost his home in the January demolitions in Ho Chi Minh City’s Loc Hung Vegetable Garden settlement refused Monday to stand in front of his school and read government propaganda justifying the forced eviction of his and other families in the community.

In a two-day operation at the beginning of January, authorities demolished at least 112 houses in the settlement in Tanh Binh district claimed by the Catholic Church, where sources say political dissidents and veterans of the former Army of South Vietnam had made their homes. [read more]

Consternation en Allemagne après l'expulsion d'un écrivain vietnamien

05.04.2019 (RFI) - L'expulsion vers Hanoï de l'écrivain et critique du régime vietnamien Nguyen Quang Hong Nhan a suscité, jeudi 4 avril, indignation et incompréhension en Allemagne.

L'écrivain, âgé de 65 ans et qui a besoin d'un traitement médical depuis un accident vasculaire cérébral, a été expulsé de Nuremberg la semaine dernière. Il a été placé de force dans un avion avec son épouse, alors qu'ils avaient formulé une demande d'asile au Canada. [read more]

Bundesregierung lässt Abschiebung von vietnamesischen Dissidenten überprüfen

05.04.2019 (Welt) - Die Bundesregierung lässt die umstrittene Abschiebung eines vietnamesischen Dissidenten in seine Heimat überprüfen. Das zuständige Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge (Bamf) werde sich "das Verfahren nochmal anschauen", sagte ein Sprecher des Bundesinnenministeriums am Freitag in Berlin. Details wollte er mit Verweis auf den Datenschutz nicht nennen. Das Auswärtige Amt kündigte an, "den Fall weiter sehr genau zu beobachten". [Weiterlesen]

Protest gegen die Abschiebung eines Schriftstellers nach Vietnam

05.04.2019 Rosalia Romaniec (DW) - Die Abschiebung des vietnamesischen Dissidenten Nguyen Quang Hong Nhan und seiner Frau aus Deutschland nach Vietnam stößt auf heftige Kritik. Die Bundesregierung will den umstrittenen Fall jetzt überprüfen.

Gleich nach seiner Ankunft war der Regimekritiker nach Angaben von Alexander Thal vom Bayerischen Flüchtlingsrat 14 Stunden lang von der Polizei verhört wurde. "Der Mann muss jetzt schleunigst wieder nach Deutschland", forderte Thal.

Bei Politikern und Verbänden stößt die Abschiebung des Schriftstellers auf Kritik. "Dass bayerische Behörden einmal mehr fragwürdig abschieben, zeugt von Behördenversagen“, sagte Gyde Jensen, Vorsitzende des Ausschusses für Menschenrechte und humanitäre Hilfe im Bundestag, der DW. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnamese Blogger Awaiting Trial Moved from Prison to Mental Institution

04.04.2019 (RFA) - A jailed Vietnamese blogger currently awaiting trial for “abusing democratic freedoms” was transferred from prison to a mental hospital, his mother said on Thursday.

Le Anh Hung, a member of the online Brotherhood of Democracy advocacy group, was arrested in July 2018 for violating article 331 of Vietnam’s criminal code. If convicted he could serve up to seven years. [read more]

Ausgewiesen in Verfolgung und Bedrohung

04.04.2019 (Verdi) - Das Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge (BAMF) hat entschieden, dass der regimekritische Autor Nguyen Quang Hong Nhan und seine Frau nach Vietnam abgeschoben werden. Nguyen Quang Hong Nhan hat bereits jahrelang in vietnamesischer Haft gesessen. Die Ausweisung ist eine Ausweisung in Verfolgung und Bedrohung. Bereits nach der Landung in Vietnam wurde der Autor über Stunden verhört und nur vorläufig auf freien Fuß gesetzt.

Der Verband deutscher Schriftstellerinnen und Schriftsteller fordert das Bundesinnenministerium auf, alles dafür zu tun, dass Nguyen Quang Hong Nhan sofort nach Deutschland zurückgeholt wird.

Der VS unterstützt dabei ausdrücklich die schon laufenden Bemühungen des Deutschen PEN-Zentrums zugunsten des vietnamesischen Schriftstellers und seiner Frau.

Pech für den braven Herrn Nhan

04.04.2019 Von Boris Reitschuster (Publico) - Bayerns Behörden schoben einen kranken vietnamesischen Regimekritiker ab – weil es so leicht war. Viele Abschiebe-Kandidaten aus Afrika dürfen dagegen bleiben. Es genügt, dass sie sich wehren.

Besonders langsam handeln Behörden allem Anschein nach bei Gefährdern beziehungsweise notorischen Straftätern. Dafür wurde jetzt in Bayern ein Exempel statuiert: An einem hochqualifizierten, kranken Vietnamesen, der in seiner Heimat wegen „Propaganda gegen den sozialistischen Staat“ fast zwanzig Jahre im Gefängnis saß, und weiter verfolgt wird: Nguyen Quang Hong Nhan. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnamesischer Autor in Eilverfahren abgeschoben - Halb Afrika bleibt

04.04.2019 (unzensuriert.at) - Das Motto „wir schaffen das“ besteht bis in die Gegenwart. Allerdings gilt das nur für halb Afrika und jegliche Menschen, die sich ohne ihr Zutun eine bessere Zukunft in Deutschland erwarten. Nicht allerdings für einen angesehenen Schriftsteller, der in seinem Heimatland Vietnam als „Volksfeind“ geführt wird und darum schlimme Konsequenzen bei einer Rückkehr zu befürchten hat. [Weiterlesen]

Offener Brief an Bayerischen Innenminister Herrmann und Präsident des Bundesamtes für Migration und Flüchtlinge Sommer

04.04.2019 (PEN-Zentrum) - Sehr geehrter Innenminister Herrmann, sehr geehrter Präsident des Bundesamtes für Migration und Flüchtlinge Sommer,

als Vizepräsident und Writers-in-Prison-Beauftragter des deutschen PEN-Zentrums bin ich entsetzt über die Abschiebung des vietnamesischen Schriftstellers und Menschenrechtsaktivisten Nguyen Quang Hong Nhan und seiner Frau aus Nürnberg...

Das deutsche PEN-Zentrum fordert das Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge auf, seine Entscheidung zu revidieren. [Weiterlesen]

Opposition kritisiert Abschiebung

04.04.2019 Marina Mai (taz) - Bayern hat einen Regierungskritiker und dessen Frau nach Hanoi abgeschoben. Es schalten sich Flüchtlingsrat, Grüne und FDP ein

Die Abschiebung des vietnamesischen Schriftstellers, Nobelpreiskandidaten und Menschenrechtsverteidigers Nguyen Quang Hong Nhan und seiner Frau aus Nürnberg nach Hanoi hat erste Reaktionen ausgelöst. Nachdem die taz über den Fall berichtete, fordert der Bayerische Flüchtlingsrat jetzt die Wiedereinreise des Ehepaares. „Wenn Nürnberg seinen Namen ,Stadt der Menschenrechte' ernst nimmt, muss es doch einen Menschenrechtsverteidiger schützen. Mit gutem Willen hätte die Stadt gemeinsam mit dem Freistaat Bayern eine andere Lösung als die Abschiebung finden können“, sagt Flüchtlingsratssprecher Alexander Thal. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnamesischen Autor abgeschoben - Nicht genau genug hingeschaut?

03.04.2019 Paul Kreiner (Stuttgarter Nachrichten) - Stuttgart - Abgeholt haben sie ihn, sagt sein Anwalt, ohne Vorwarnung. Und kurze Zeit später fand sich Nguyen Quang Hong Nhan zusammen mit seiner Frau im Abschiebeflugzeug nach Vietnam wieder – und das, obwohl die Regierung in Hanoi ihn den „Volksfeinden“ und zu den „antivietnamesischen Kräften“ zählt. Für die deutschen Asylrichter wiederum zählte das nichts.

Nguyen Quang Hong Nhan ist Schriftsteller, Blogger und Verteidiger der Menschenrechte. Mehr als zwanzig Bücher hat Nguyen geschrieben. Fast ebenso viele Jahre habe er, so meldet die „taz“ weiter, wegen „Propaganda gegen den sozialistischen Staat“ im Gefängnis gesessen. [Weiterlesen]

Proteste - Menschenrechtler nach Vietnam abgeschoben

03.04.2019 (Süddeutsche Zeitung) - Die Abschiebung des renommierten vietnamesischen Schriftstellers und Menschenrechtlers Nguyen Quang Hong Nhan und dessen Frau hat am Mittwoch Proteste bis hinein in den Landtag ausgelöst. Wie der Nürnberger Anwalt Manfred Hörner auf Nachfrage mitteilte, wurde der 65-jährige Autor vergangene Woche nach seiner Ankunft in der vietnamesischen Hauptstadt Hanoi stundenlang verhört. Er werde in seiner Heimat "als mutmaßlicher Volksfeind" angesehen.

Wegen "Propaganda gegen den sozialistischen Staat" sei er in der Folge zu einer 20-jährigen Haftstrafe verurteilt worden, die er nahezu vollständig habe absitzen müssen. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnamesischer Regimekritiker aus Nürnberg abgeschoben

02.04.2019 Lisa Weiß (Bayerischer Rundfunk) - Nguyen Quang Hong Nhan ist ein bekannter vietnamesischer Autor, Blogger und Regimekritiker. In den vergangenen Jahren lebte er in Nürnberg und wurde kürzlich abgeschoben. Jetzt will das BAMF seinen Fall nochmals prüfen.

Stundenlang sei Nguyen Quang Hong Nhan nach seiner Abschiebung in Vietnam verhört worden, sagt sein Anwalt Manfred Hörner.

Das BAMF antwortete auf BR-Anfrage, man habe die aktuelle Medienberichterstattung zum Anlass genommen, sich den Fall noch einmal näher anzuschauen. [Weiterlesen]

Abschiebung nach Vietnam - One-Way nach Hanoi

01.04.2019 Marina Mai (taz) - BERLIN - Bayern hat am Dienstag einen vietnamesischen Schriftsteller und Menschenrechtler abgeschoben, der 2017 und 2019 für den Literaturnobelpreis nominiert war. Aktuell ist er zudem für den Robert-Kennedy-Preis of Human Rights sowie für den Václav-Havel-Menschenrechtspreis vorgeschlagen. In Vietnam ist der bekannte Autor massiv bedroht. Ein Sprecher der Stadt Nürnberg bestätigt der taz die Abschiebung. Grund war ihm zufolge der abgelehnte Asylantrag.

Nguyen Quang Hong Nhan ist einer der wichtigsten vietnamesischen Autoren und auch politisch als Menschenrechtsverteidiger aktiv. Wegen „Propaganda gegen den sozialistischen Staat“ wurde er 1979 zu einer zwanzigjährigen Haftstrafe verurteilt, die er fast vollständig absitzen musste. [Weiterlesen]

UN Watchdog Blasts Vietnam Over Repression, Abuses

30.03.2019 Lisa Schlein (VOA) - The U.N. Human Rights Committee, which monitors the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, has examined the records of six countries, including Vietnam during its latest session.

The committee had fulsome praise for the country’s economic achievements, but many criticisms regarding what it sees as an abusive system of governance. Also, it is worried by an apparent dramatic increase in crackdowns against human rights defenders [read more]

U.N. Committee Slams Vietnam for Suppression of Activists and Journalists

29.03.2019 Eugene Whong (RFA) - A U.N. committee has issued a report highly critical of the Vietnamese government, demanding Hanoi stop jailing activists and journalists for speaking out against state policies, while also condemning Vietnam for executing high numbers of people guilty of minor crimes after unfair trials.

These criticisms came as the U.N. Human Rights Committee issued its concluding observations on Thursday of the most recent of three periodic reports on Vietnam, in which the committee reviewed civil and political freedoms. [read more]

Concern as Vietnamese Dissident, Wife Expelled by Germany And Returned to Vietnam

29.03.2019 (RFA) - Veteran Vietnamese human rights activist and political prisoner Nguyen Quang Hong Nhan and his wife are back in Vietnam after being expelled from Germany this week following an unsuccessful effort to apply for political asylum in Canada, his daughter told RFA’s Vietnamese service.

Nhan and his wife were expelled from Germany on March 26 after a raid on their residence by German police, who took them to the airport, daughter Nguyen Quang Hong An, told RFA on March 27. [read more]

Ein vietnamesischer Menschenrechtsverteidiger in Nürnberg wurde nach Vietnam abgeschoben

28.03.2019  Marina Mai (Thời báo) - Am Dienstag, 26. März um 8 Uhr morgens wurde der vietnamesische Menschenrechtsverteidiger Nguyen Quang Hong Nhan und seine Ehefrau in ihrem Asylheim in Nürnberg von der Polizei abgeholt, um abgeschoben zu werden. Sie wurden noch am selben Tag vom Flughafen München aus über Thailand nach Vietnam abgeschoben. Dort sind sie bereits angekommen. Näheres ist aber nicht bekannt.

Leider hat die Familie in Deutschland keine Menschenrechtsorganisation wie Veto!, Reporter ohne Grenzen oder Amnesty International auf ihre Situation aufmerksam gemacht. Das muss die Tochter jetzt dringend tun, um sich selbst zu schützen. [Weiterlesen]

Grüne fordern: Altmaier muss bei Vietnam-Reise Menschenrechte ansprechen

23.03.2019 (Epoch Times) - Die Grünen im Bundestag fordern Bundeswirtschaftsminister Peter Altmaier (CDU) auf, bei seiner bevorstehenden Reise nach Vietnam die Menschenrechtslage in dem Land anzusprechen. „Stellen Sie bitte bei ihrer Reise sicher, dass Sie vietnamesische Menschenrechtsverteidigerinnen und Menschenrechtsverteidiger treffen können, und machen Sie sich zu deren Anwalt“, heißt es in einem Brief an Altmaier, der am Samstag der Nachrichtenagentur AFP vorlag.

In dem Schreiben verweisen die menschenrechtspolitische Sprecherin der Grünen-Fraktion, Margarete Bause, und die wirtschaftspolitische Sprecherin Kerstin Andreae darauf, dass Nichtregierungsorganisationen die Menschenrechtslage in Vietnam „übereinstimmend als ausgesprochen besorgniserregend bezeichnen“. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnam Broke Its Own Laws in Arrest of Blogger Spirited from Thailand-Experts

22.03.2019 (RFA) - Vietnamese authorities violated criminal procedure laws when they detained a local blogger for Radio Free Asia, Truong Duy Nhat, who disappeared in Bangkok in late January amid suspicions he was abducted by Vietnamese agents and was revealed this week to be in a Hanoi jail, experts said on Friday.

Canada-based Thuc Doan Truong, the blogger's daughter, told RFA's Vietnamese service that her mother was informed by prison authorities that Nhat was arrested on Jan. 28 and thrown into a jail in central Hanoi district on the same day. [read more]

Vietnamese and Thai authorities must come clean about journalist’s disappearance

21.03.2019 (Amnesty International) - Reliable reports that independent journalist and former prisoner of conscience Truong Duy Nhat is being detained in Viet Nam raise major questions about his safety and the circumstances of his disappearance in Thailand in late January, Amnesty International said today.

“It has been nearly two months since Truong Duy Nhat disappeared from a Bangkok shopping centre, shortly after submitting an asylum claim and following growing harassment by Vietnamese police. Reports that Nhat is now in a Hanoi prison are extremely worrying, and we are calling on the Vietnamese authorities to confirm whether he is in their custody and disclose his whereabouts at once,” said Joanne Mariner, Amnesty International’s Senior Crisis Adviser. [read more]

Le blogueur vietnamien Truong Duy Nhat emprisonné à Hanoi

21.03.2019 (RFS) - Vu pour la dernière fois à Bangkok le 26 janvier dernier pour y demander le statut de réfugié, la femme du journaliste-citoyen a annoncée mercredi qu’il est actuellement détenu à Hanoi et ce depuis le 28 janvier. Reporters sans frontières (RSF) appelle les autorités à éclaircir les raisons de son emprisonnement.

Cela faisait presque deux mois qu’il avait disparu après avoir fait une demande d’asile auprès du Haut-Commissariat des Nations unies pour les réfugiés (HCR) à Bangkok. Le mercredi 20 mars, la fille et la femme du journaliste-citoyen Truong Duy Nhat ont confirmé qu’il était détenu dans une prison à Hanoi, au Vietnam, depuis sa disparition. [en savoir plus]

Denuncian detención de periodista crítico del gobierno en Vietnam

21.03.2019 Por Luis Alberto Laborda (Radio Canadá Internacional) - Un bloguero vietnamita de Radio Free Asia (Radio Asia Libre), que había desaparecido mientras se encontraba en Tailandia, fue detenido en Vietnam, según confirmó su esposa.

Truong Duy Nhat había huido hacia Tailandia en enero último, con la intención de pedir el estatus de refugiado.

Responsables de la emisora radial en la que trabaja el hombre habían perdido contacto con él desde hacía ya tiempo.

La hija del bloguero de 55 años, Truong Thuc Doan, que vive en Canadá, había dicho que estaba segura que su padre había sido detenido en Tailandia y que no había vuelto a su país por propia voluntad. [seguir leyendo]

Vietnamese blogger turns up in Hanoi jail after going missing in Bangkok

21.03.2019 (RFS) - Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the Vietnamese authorities to clarify why they are holding Truong Duy Nhat, a well-known citizen-journalist and blogger who was last seen on 26 January in Bangkok, where he had requested refugee status. He is now in a prison in Hanoi, family members and a friend confirmed yesterday.

Nhat’s wife and daughter said he was taken into formal custody in Vietnam on 28 January. His wife, who like all his other relatives and colleagues had not heard from him since he went missing in Bangkok on 26 January, was notified on 15 March that he is being held in Hanoi’s T16 prison. [read more]

Vietnamese blogger who vanished in Thailand jailed in Hanoi

21.03.2019 (Daily Mail) - A Vietnamese blogger who vanished in Thailand earlier this year is being held in a Hanoi prison, his friend and wife confirmed Thursday.

Nhat, 55, fled to Thailand in January and applied for refugee status with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, according to RFA. His daughter Truong Thuc Doan, who lives in Canada, said she believes he was taken from Thailand against his will. "It's clear that my father did not voluntarily go back to Vietnam," she told RFA. [read more]

Vietnam Court Jails Activist For 2 Years Over Facebook Posts

20.03.2019 (RFA) - A court in the southern Vietnamese district of Binh Thuy  sentenced activist and Facebook commentator Le Minh The to two years in prison for  “dividing the people from the (Communist) Party, his sister told RFA’s Vietnamese Service, calling the sentence “too harsh.”

Police in Binh Thuy arrested The, 56, a member of pro-democracy group Hien Phap, in October 2018 for his posts on Facebook. They held him incommunicado and charged him with “abusing the rights to freedom and democracy to infringe upon the interests of the state, the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and individuals” under article 331 of the penal code. [read more]

Thailand urged to respect Vietnamese blogger’s refugee status

15.03.2019 (RSF) - Following a Thai police raid two weeks ago on the home of Bach Hong Quyen, a Vietnamese blogger who fled his country and currently lives in Bangkok, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) fears that the Thai authorities could allow Vietnamese agents to abduct Quyen and urges them to respect his UN-guaranteed status as a political refugee.

Bach Hong Quyen, who has lived in Bangkok since May 2017, has been in hiding ever since the police came and questioned him at his home on 1 March. He fears that he could be arrested at any moment and deported back to Vietnam although his refugee status is guaranteed by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). [read more]

Vietnam: 6 Activists Headed to Prison

14.03.2019 (HRW) - (Bangkok) – Six Vietnamese activists and bloggers are facing long prison sentences for their peaceful opposition, Human Rights Watch said today. Vietnam’s government should immediately release the six, who are being prosecuted for peaceful political activities such as forming an association, expressing views on social media, and participating in public assemblies.

Five of them were tried in October 2018, for participating in a pro-democracy group, and sentenced to prison terms between 8 and 15 years. [read more]

RSF demande à la Thaïlande de respecter le statut de réfugié du blogueur vietnamien Bach Hong Quyen

14.03.2019 (RSF) - La police thaïlandaise a récemment perquisitionné le domicile du blogueur vietnamien Bach Hong Quyen, actuellement exilé à Bangkok. Craignant qu’elles ne se rendent complices de son enlèvement par des agents vietnamiens, Reporters sans frontière (RSF) appelle les autorités du royaume à respecter son statut de réfugié politique garanti par les Nations unies.

Il vit désormais comme un clandestin. Après avoir reçu la visite de la police thaïlandaise, venue l’interroger à son domicile le 1er mars dernier, le blogueur vietnamien Bach Hong Quyen, exilé à Bangkok depuis mai 2017, craint désormais chaque jour d’être arrêté et expulsé vers son pays. [en savoir plus]

#CollateralFreedom: RSF unblocks 22 sites censored in their own country

12.03.2019 (RSF) - To mark World Day Against Cyber-Censorship, celebrated on 12 March, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) announces that it is now providing alternative online access to a total of 22 media outlets that are blocked in their own country, in an operation launched in 2015 that has enabled millions of people to access freely reported news and information.

The 22 news sites now being unblocked by #CollateralFreedom cover a total of 12 countries – including China, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Vietnam – where the media are completely gagged by the authorities. This operation helps to inform citizens whose governments allow no press freedom. [read more]

Reporter ohne Grenzen entsperrt zensierte Medienwebsites

12.03.2019 (derStandard) - Die internationale Journalistenorganisation Reporter ohne Grenzen (ROG) hat anlässlich des Welttags gegen Cyber-Zensur am 12. März bekanntgegeben, dieses Jahr drei weitere staatlich zensierte Webseiten von Medienunternehmen entsperrt zu haben. Die "Operation Collateral Freedom" genannte Aktion habe bereits Millionen von Menschen den Zugang zu freien Nachrichten ermöglicht, hieß es am Dienstag.

Die insgesamt 22 entsperrten Nachrichtenseiten decken demnach insgesamt 12 Länder ab, darunter China, Saudi-Arabien, Iran und Vietnam. [Weiterlesen]

NGO Hits Back at Vietnam’s Denials of Rights Abuses

12.03.2019 (RFA) - Assertions by Vietnam that it protects civil freedoms and human rights in the one-party communist state were sharply rebutted on Monday by a monitoring group at a U.N. review of the country’s rights record held this week in Geneva, Switzerland.

Speaking on March 11 at a hearing of the U.N. Human Rights Committee, a Paris-based rights group said that a Vietnamese government report to the Committee this year obscures “glaring evidence” of state abuses.

“Much of the information in the report is obsolete,” Vo Van Ai--president of the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR)--told the U.N. Human Rights Committee, a body created to check U.N. member states’ compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. [read more]

Viet Nam: Prisoner of conscience suffers behind bars: Huỳnh Trương Ca

08.03.2019 (Amnesty International) - Prisoner of conscience Huỳnh Trương Ca is being held in conditions of detention that further violates his rights. He shares a small, unlit cell with four other prisoners and cannot leave the cell, not even for meal times. The only time he leaves the cell is once a month for family visits. He also suffers several illnesses, yet the prison authorities refuse to provide him with the medical treatment he requires. The Ministry of Public Security plans to move him to another facility far away from his hometown. We call on the Vietnamese government and its Ministry of Public Security to release Huỳnh Trương Ca immediately and unconditionally. [read more] - [View report in English]

RSF decries increase in Vietnam’s mistreatment of imprisoned journalists

07.03.2019 (Reporters Without Borders) - As the detained Vietnamese blogger and video reporter Nguyen Van Hoa continues a two-week-old hunger strike in protest against the beatings he has received in prison, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) announces that it is referring the increase in mistreatment of Vietnam’s imprisoned journalists to the United Nations special rapporteur on torture.

“It is absolutely unacceptable that a journalist who is in prison just for trying to inform his fellow citizens has been reduced to depriving himself of food in order to ensure respect for his most basic rights, including the right to physical integrity,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk. [read more]

On International Women's Day, CPJ highlights jailed female journalists

07.03.2019 By Sarah Guinee/CPJ Patti Birch Fellow for Gender and Media Freedom (CPJ) - On International Women's Day, CPJ has highlighted the cases of female journalists jailed around the world in retaliation for their work. At least 33 of the 251 journalists in jail at the time of CPJ's prison census are women.

At least one of those--Turkish reporter and artist Zehra Dogan--was released in February after serving a sentence on anti-state charges. The four female journalists jailed in Saudi Arabia were detained over their criticism of the kingdom's ban on women driving. [read more]

Vietnam : RSF dénonce l’intolérable traitement réservé aux journalistes emprisonnés

06.03.2019 (Reporters sans frontières) - Incarcéré depuis plus de deux ans, le journaliste et vidéaste Nguyen Van Hoa a récemment entamé une grève de la faim pour protester contre les violences qui lui sont infligées. Face à la recrudescence des cas d’abus contre les journalistes emprisonnés, Reporters sans frontières (RSF) annonce qu’elle saisit le Rapporteur spécial des Nations unies sur la torture pour que cesse cette situation.

Il est absolument inacceptable qu’un journaliste, jeté en prison pour avoir simplement tenté d’informer ses concitoyens, en soit en plus réduit à se priver de nourriture pour faire respecter ses droits les plus élémentaires, à commencer par son intégrité physique, déplore Daniel Bastard, responsable du bureau Asie-Pacifique de RSF. [en savoir plus]

#FREE THEM ALL - Nguyen Van Hoa

01.03.2019 (Welt) - Im Jahr 2016 erschütterte eine der bis dato schwersten Umweltkatastrophen Vietnam: In der Ha-Tinh-Provinz hatte die Formosa-Stahlfabrik giftige Abwässer ins Meer geleitet. Etwa 200 Kilometer Küste wurden verschmutzt, mehrere Hundert Tonnen Fisch verendeten, die Gesundheit und Lebensgrundlage vieler Küstenbewohner waren bedroht. Der Bürgerjournalist Nguyen Van Hoa filmte die Umweltschäden – und die Proteste der Anwohner gegen das Verhalten der Regierung.

Die Staatsanwaltschaft machte ihm den Prozess wegen Verbreitung antistaatlicher Propaganda. Am 27. November 2017 wurde Hoa zu sieben Jahren Haft verurteilt, die Höchststrafe für das ihm zur Last gelegte Vergehen. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnamese bloggers under close watch during Trump-Kim meet in Hanoi

01.03.2019 (Reporters Without Borders) - Several Vietnamese bloggers were arrested or placed under close surveillance during this week’s talks in Hanoi between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns this latest harassment of Vietnam’s few remaining dissident voices.

“There is no justification for the arrests or surveillance of these bloggers aside from the Vietnamese regime’s obvious desire for total news control,” RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk said. [read more]

Sommet US-Corée du Nord à Hanoi: les blogueurs vietnamiens sous haute surveillance

01.03.2019 (Reporters sans frontières) - Plusieurs blogueurs vietnamiens ont été arrêtés ou mis sous surveillance durant le sommet diplomatique entre les Etats-Unis et la Corée du Nord à Hanoi. Reporters sans frontières (RSF) condamne fermement ces nouvelles pressions contre les dernières voix discordantes du pays.

“Rien ne justifie l’arrestation et la mise sous surveillance de ces blogueurs, si ce n’est une volonté manifeste des autorités vietnamiennes de verrouiller totalement l’information, déplore le bureau Asie-Pacifique de RSF. [en savoir plus]

Jailed Vietnamese Activist Goes on Hunger Strike Over Beatings by Police

28.02.2019 (RFA) - A Vietnamese activist serving a seven-year prison term for his role in protesting a chemical waste spill three years ago on Vietnam’s coast has entered the seventh day of a hunger strike calling for police officers and prison guards who assaulted him to be punished.

No action has been taken on petitions written by Nguyen Van Hoa denouncing his treatment, Hoa’s sister Nguyen Thi Hue told RFA’s Vietnamese Service on Thursday, two days after visiting Hoa at An Diem prison in south-central Vietnam’s Quang Nam province. [read more]

Hanoi summit cannot gloss over human rights atrocities in North Korea

25.02.2019 (Amnesty International USA) - As US President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong-un at a two-day summit on February 27 – 28 to be held in Hanoi, Vietnam, Francisco Bencosme, advocacy manager for Asia Pacific at Amnesty International USA, issued the following statement:

“Over a year ago, President Trump stood in front of Congress and pledged to challenge North Korea’s human rights record. Since then, President Trump has repeatedly disregarded the human rights of the North Korean people to gain favor with Kim Jung-un. His silence in the face of relentless and grave human rights violations has been deafening. [read more]

US Lawmakers Urge Trump to Push Vietnam on Rights Record During North Korea Summit

22.02.2019 (RFA) - Three U.S. lawmakers have called on U.S. President Donald Trump to raise human rights issues with officials in Vietnam when he travels to the one-party Communist Southeast Asian nation next week for a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

In a letter dated Feb. 19, U.S. House of Representatives members Zoe Lofgren, Chris Smith, and Alan Lowenthal—co-chairs of the Congressional Caucus on Vietnam—expressed concerns that Hanoi is hosting the second U.S.-North Korea summit scheduled for Feb. 27-28, given Vietnam’s poor rights record. [read more]

Detained Female Activist Duong Thi Lanh Charged with “Anti-state Propaganda,” Facing Lengthy Imprisonment

21.02.2019 (Defend the Defenders) - Authorities in Vietnam’s Central Highlands province of Dak Nong have officially charged local female activist Duong Thi Lanh with “conducting anti-state propaganda,” around two weeks after detaining her without arrest warrant, Defend the Defenders has learned.

According to a notice of the province’s Police Department to her family, she will be held in the next three months for investigation on the allegation of “Making, storing, spreading information, materials, items for the purpose of opposing the State of Socialist Republic of Vietnam” under Article 117 of the 2015 Penal Code. [read more]

Vietnam to Try Democracy Activist Le Minh The on Allegation of Abusing Democracy Freedom on March 6

20.02.2019 (Defend the Defenders) - Authorities in the Mekong Delta hub of Can Tho will soon try democracy advocate Le Minh The on charge of “Abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, lawful rights and interests of organizations and/or s” under Article 331 of the country’s Penal Code.

According to a notice of the People’s Court of Binh Thuy District sent to his family, the court will hold the first-instance hearing on March 6 in its headquarters in the district. The notice has not mentioned who will be his lawyer and it is likely he will be tried without having his own lawyer.

Mr. The, 56, was arrested on October 10 last year due to his participation in peaceful protest and posts on his Facebook account Lê Minh Thể. He has been held incommunicado since then in a temporary detention facility under the authorities of the district Police Division. [read more]

Jailed Vietnamese Activist Deemed by Authorities to be Serving Sentence 'Badly'

19.02.2019 (RFA) - Jailed Vietnamese activist Hoang Duc Binh has been declared by prison authorities to be serving his prison term “badly” by refusing to confess his guilt or accept his sentence, his brother told RFA’s Vietnamese Service on Tuesday.

The judgment, delivered in an official notice signed by Col. Tran Ngoc of the An Diem Prison in Quang Nam province, and received by Binh’s relatives on Feb. 14, has resulted in harsher treatment for Binh, who is already suffering from rashes and failing eyesight from being held in a dark cell, Hoang Duc Nguyen said. [read more]

Jailed Vietnamese Democracy Advocate to Submit Complaint to Court Over Appeal Filing

11.02.2019 (RFA) - Vietnamese democracy advocate and blogger Phan Kim Khanh, who is serving a six-year jail sentence for “spreading propaganda against the state” will submit a complaint to his local court after officials there failed to respond to an appeal he previously filed, his mother said Sunday.

The 25-year-old student was arrested in March 2017 for “abusing rights to freedom and democracy to do harm to the state’s interests and those of organizations and individuals” and was sentenced to six years in jail and four years of probation. [read more]

Investigation ordered into disappeared Vietnamese blogger in Bangkok

08.02.2019 (Bangkok Post) - BANGKOK: The Immigration Bureau promised on Thursday to investigate the disappearance of a dissident Vietnamese journalist believed to have been abducted at the northern Bangkok Future Park mall two weeks ago.

Truong Duy Nhat, an anti-regime activist and contributor to Washington-based Radio Free Asia disappeared the day after he was granted refugee status by the Bangkok office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

According to Amnesty International, witnesses have stated that Nhat was abducted from Future Park on Jan 26, the day after he had registered at the UNHCR office. [read more]

Thailand: Vietnamese journalist 'seized at a shopping centre'

06.02.2019 (Amnesty International UK) - Responding to the announcement by Radio Free Asia that one of their contributors, Truong Duy Nhat, was reportedly abducted in the city of Bangkok in Thailand, Amnesty’s Senior Director for Global Operations, Minar Pimple, said:

“Truong Duy Nhat’s disappearance is deeply alarming. He is a former prisoner of conscience who was repeatedly targeted by the Vietnamese authorities. We know from several sources that he travelled to Bangkok to claim asylum. No-one has seen or heard from him since 26 January. [read more]

Well-known Vietnamese blogger missing in Bangkok

06.02.2019 (RSF) - Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the Thai authorities to shed all possible light on the disappearance of Truong Duy Nhat, a famous Vietnamese blogger who went missing in Bangkok on 26 January, one day after going to the local office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to apply for refugee status.

Nhat’s disappearance is all the more disturbing because he is widely respected as a blogger, even within certain circles of the ruling Communist Party in Hanoi. Bui Thanh Hieu, a blogger who has found asylum in Germany, wrote on Facebook that he suspected that Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc may have ordered Nhat’s abduction. [read more]

Vietnam: vers une nouvelle année de répression?

05.02.2019 (Libération) - L'Action des chrétiens pour l'abolition de la torture appelle Emmanuel Macron, lors de son prochain voyage en 2019, à améliorer l'état de droit au Vietnam où toute opposition est actuellement terrassée par les autorités vietnamiennes.

Il est fort à craindre que 2019 soit placée sous le signe d’une répression accrue par les autorités, qui s’acharnent à terrasser toute opposition dans le pays.

Depuis 2016, l’étau se resserre sur les défenseurs des droits humains vietnamiens, avec une accélération des arrestations et des condamnations lourdes. [en savoir plus]

Vietnamese Democracy Advocate Moved to New Prison Far From Home

29.01.2019 (RFA) - Prison authorities in central Vietnam’s Quang Binh province have moved a jailed member of the online advocacy group Brotherhood for Democracy to a new prison in Thanh Hoa province seven hours’ drive to the north, sources said.

Nguyen Trung Truc, now serving a 12-year prison term on a charge of subversion, was transferred last week without his family’s knowledge, Truc’s son Nguyen Quang Trung told RFA’s Vietnamese Service on Monday. [read more]

Verlieren die Vietnamesen das Internet? (Video)

28.01.2019 (ARTE TV) - Vietnam ist ein bisschen wie China: Die Liberalisierung der Wirtschaft brachte dem Land große Dynamik, doch das politische System bleibt autoritär und zentralistisch. Die Kommunistische Partei Vietnams entscheidet allein über das Schicksal des Landes und lässt keinen Platz für Kritiker. Allein 2018 wurden mindestens 55 Internetnutzer verhaftet. Im selben Jahr forderten Aktivisten in einem offenen Brief Mark Zuckerberg auf, sich nicht der Zensur der Partei zu unterwerfen. Doch sie stießen beim Facebook-Chef auf taube Ohren. [Weiterlesen]

Les Vietnamiens vont-ils perdre Internet ? (Video)

28.01.2019 (ARTE TV) - Le Vietnam, c’est un peu comme la Chine : la libéralisation de son économie en a fait un pays dynamique, mais le système politique demeure autoritaire et centralisé. Le Parti communiste vietnamien, qui n’apprécie guère les critiques, surveille étroitement les réseaux sociaux. En 2018, 55 internautes au moins ont été arrêtés. La même année, une trentaine d’activistes écrivent à Mark Zuckerberg pour lui demander de ne pas céder devant la censure du Parti. Mais Facebook fait plutôt la sourde oreille. [en savoir plus]

Vietnam Arrests Two More Democracy Advocates

25.01.2019 (RFA) - Vietnamese police have arrested two democracy activists, one an ethnic Vietnamese citizen of Australia, in an ongoing round-up of advocates for political reform in the one-party communist state, a Vietnamese dissident group said on Friday.

Nguyen Van Vien, a member of the banned Brotherhood for Democracy, and Chau Van Kham, a member of Viet Tan--an unsanctioned pro-democracy party with members inside Vietnam and abroad--were taken into custody on Jan. 13 in Ho Chi Minh City, according to a Brotherhood for Democracy statement on Jan. 25. [read more]

Japan must stand with Vietnamese human rights activists

24.01.2019 Teppei Kasai (HRW) - As Vietnam’s largest bilateral donor, Japan is in a unique position to raise human rights issues

For Vietnamese activist Nguyen Chi Tuyen, it was supposed to be just another day in Hanoi. In the morning, he dropped off his son at elementary school and was driving his motorbike home when a group of masked men surrounded his car. Nguyen, known as Anh Chi, was beaten and left unconscious at the scene. The 2015 attack left his face swollen, and his dark grey shirt covered in even darker blood stains. His experience is hardly unusual.

For people who see Vietnam as a peaceful Southeast Asian destination filled with affordable delicacies and lively markets, this may be surprising. But less visible to the average visitor is a far more inconvenient reality: an abyss where nearly 100 million Vietnamese people are regularly robbed of their basic freedoms of expression, association, assembly, and religion. This is primarily because for decades the Communist Party has run an unchecked one-party state. [read more]

Chau Van Kham, Australian citizen and pro-democracy activist, detained in Vietnam

24.01.2019 By Erin Handley and Emilia Terzon (ABC News) - Australian authorities have confirmed Australian citizen and pro-democracy activist Chau Van Kham has been detained in Vietnam.

A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) released a statement confirming the department had sought consular access to an Australian man detained in Vietnam, but for privacy reasons were unable to provide further details.

The family of Mr Chau feared the 70-year-old retired small businessman from Sydney had been arrested after they lost contact with him almost two weeks ago. [read more]

Vietnam jails man for 14 years for attempting to overthrow state

23.01.2019 (Reuters) - HANOI - A court in Vietnam has jailed a man for 14 years for attempting to overthrow the state, in cahoots with a group based in the United States, the Ministry of Public Security said on Wednesday.

Phan Van Binh, 47, was accused by the court of working for a California-based group called the Provisional National Government of Vietnam, which opposes the ruling Communist Party, the ministry said in a statement on its official news website. [read more]

Vietnam artists seek 'liberation' from cybersecurity law

18.01.2019 Author Sonia Sarkar (DW) - Vietnamese authorities have recently passed a law requiring social media censorship of "anti-state" content. Dissident artists and activists fear that their space for expression and protest will soon vanish.

Mai Khoi (pictured above) is not afraid to push boundaries in her native Vietnam. The 35-year-old musician is known for criticizing the country's communist government and has built a large following on social media. Her latest album "Dissent" features titles like "Cuffed In Freedom" and "Re-education Camp."

"Re-Education Camp highlights how the communist government forcibly puts people into jails and controls free speech. It also suggests that the people who created these camps should be in jail," she said. [read more]

Vietnam: Intensifying Rights Crackdown

18.01.2019 (HRW) - (New York) – Vietnam intensified its systemic suppression of basic civil and political rights during 2018, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2019.

“Vietnam’s escalating crackdown and increasingly harsh prison sentences reveal an effort to try to break the will of those campaigning for reform, but the strategy is backfiring as more people demand their rights,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director. “International donors and trade partners should publicly support these brave rights defenders.” [read more]

Vietnam's 'Cybersecurity' Law Says Little on Security - Law Focuses More on Fighting Anti-Government Speech

10.01.2019 Suparna Goswami (DataBreachToday) - The so-called cybersecurity law actually speaks little about IT security measures and instead focuses on various prohibited acts, such as spreading information that opposes the government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

It appears to cover all enterprises that provide services on telecommunication networks and the internet in Vietnam. It requires these companies to authenticate users upon registration and keep their information confidential, according to a report by Baker Mckenzie, a multinational law firm.

Cleary, Vietnam's new law compromises privacy and free speech in the name of national security. [read more]

EU: Postpone Vote on Vietnam Free Trade Agreement - Rights Demands Not Met; Intensifying Crackdown

10.01.2019 (HRW) - (Brussels) – The European Parliament and the European Council should postpone the ratification of the proposed EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement until the Vietnamese government takes concrete steps to improve its increasingly abusive human rights record, Human Rights Watch said today. In Vietnam’s latest move to restrict rights, a new draconian cybersecurity law went into effect on January 1, 2019.

“Rushing through approval of the free trade agreement with Vietnam would be a grave mistake,” said John Sifton, Asia advocacy director. “It would reward Vietnam for doing nothing, and send a terrible message that past European Union pledges to use trade as a tool to promote human rights around the globe have no credibility.” [read more]

Jailed Vietnamese Environmental Activist in Declining Health - Brother

09.01.2019 (RFA) - Jailed Vietnamese activist Hoang Duc Binh is suffering back pain, rashes from poor hygiene and failing eyesight from being in a dark cell in a prison in Quang Nam province, his brother told RFA’s Vietnamese service on Wednesday.

“About two days ago, I received a letter in the mail from Binh telling me that he has his rash again and his back pain has come back and the conditions are getting worse while all medication sent from the family seems not to work,” said his brother Hoang Nguyen. [read more]

Latest Count: Vietnam Holds 244 Prisoners of Conscience

03.01.2019 (NOW! Campaign) - According to the NOW! Campaign, an initiative involving 14 international and Vietnamese civil society organizations, the government of Vietnam is holding at least 244 in prisons or similar forms of detention compared to 165 cases in November 2017, when the campaign was launched. This makes the country the second largest jailer of dissidents in Southeast Asia, only behind Myanmar.

The above number includes 224 who have been convicted, typically of political crimes such as “propaganda against the state” and “injuring the national unity,” and 20 others who are held in pre-trial detention. In addition, eight persons who participated in peaceful protests in mid-June of 2018 were given between five months and two years of suspended prison terms. [read more]