Activists Continuously Being Harassed, Intimidated amid Covid-19 Pandemic; Vietnam Human Rights Defenders’ Weekly Report for March 16-22, 2020

Defend the Defenders | March 22, 2020 

Despite an increasing number of Covid-19 infectionnationwide, Vietnam’s security forces continue to intimidate and harass local human rights defenders for their peaceful activities.

Police in Hoa Binh province conducted a number of visits to the family of former prisoner of conscience Can Thi Theu regarding their residence, a move to revenge for their assistance given to Dong Tam villagers.

Meanwhile, Vice President of the unregistered Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam (IJAVN) Nguyen Tuong Thuy has been asked to go to police station regarding activities of IJAVN’s President Pham Chi Dung, who was arrested in late November 2019 and charged with “conducting anti-state propaganda.” The police came to his private residence in Hanoi several times during the week to request him to go for interrogation, however, he refused, saying he is not healthy and has nothing to report.

After chasing them for the last eight years, Vietnam’s security forces have arrested three leaders of the unregistered religion group Ha Mon. The three detainees may face the trumped-up allegation of “Sabotaging implementation of solidarity policies” under Article 116 of the Penal Code, like hundreds of other religious activists in the northern mountainous region and the Central Highlands who were sentenced to between six and 18 years in prison for their efforts to promote religious freedom.

On March 16, the US Department of State issued a press release calling on Vietnam’s communist regime to immediately release blogger Truong Duy Nhat, who was sentenced to ten years in prison by the People’s Court of Hanoi on the allegation of “abusing power” in mid-March, and other prisoners of conscience as well as allow all individuals in Vietnam to express their views freely and assemble peacefully without threat of retribution, in accordance with its international obligations and commitments and consistent with Vietnam’s constitution.

===== March 16 =====

Sentencing of Blogger and Radio Free Asia Contributor Truong Duy Nhat

Press statement of the US Department of State

We are dismayed by the conviction of blogger and Radio Free Asia (RFA) contributor Truong Duy Nhat, and his sentencing to 10 years imprisonment.  The conviction is under vague charges related to fraud allegations dating back nearly 20 years.  We remain troubled by Nhat’s sudden disappearance from Bangkok, Thailand on January 25, 2019, the day after he initiated a request to register as a refugee with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and his reappearance in a Vietnamese prison three months later.

The United States calls on Vietnam to immediately release Nhat and all prisoners of conscience and to allow all individuals in Vietnam to express their views freely and assemble peacefully without threat of retribution, in accordance with its international obligations and commitments and consistent with Vietnam’s constitution.

===== March 18 =====

Vietnam’s Security Forces Continuously Intimidate, Harass Local Activists

 Defend the Defenders: Vietnam’s security forces are continuously intimidating and harassing local activists regardless of Covid-19 outbreak in the capital city and other localities.

Former prisoner of conscience and land rights activist Can Thi Theu said the Hoa Binh province’s police and local authorities in Ngoc Luong area have come to her family’s farm in recent days to deliver a summon demanding the family present themselves at the police office to “clarify their place of residence.”

According to her son Trinh Ba Tu, who is also a human rights defender, said this was an “act of revenge’ against his family by the authorities, as his family has been reporting on the Dong Tam massacre.

He said his brother Trinh Ba Phuong, a rights activist, had been provoked, bashed and detained by the police previously, while he had been followed by thugs.

“Authorities want to trap then detain the activists. They can frame us in order to arrest members of our family,” said Tu, who was brutally beaten by police when he and other activists and relatives went to the Prison camp No. 5 in Thanh Hoa province to greet his parents when they completed their imprisonment. Both Mrs. Theu and her husband Trinh Ba Khiem were imprisoned for their efforts to protest land grabbing in their Duong Noi commune in the capital city of Hanoi.

Meanwhile, Mr. Nguyen Tuong Thuy, acting president of the unsanctioned Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam (IJAVN) reported that he and many other activists have also been subject to continual surveillance by the police who prevent them from leaving their homes.

In the morning of March 16, the police came to his house to deliver a summon dated Mar 13 demanding him to present himself at the police investigation bureau office in Hanoi on March 17 regarding activities of IJAVN’s Dr. Pham Chi Dung, who was arrested on November 21, 2019 and charged with “anti-state propaganda.”

Mr. Thuy wrote that he told them he would not comply with their request, as – among other reasons – he is in bad health; even if he could come to the police office, he wouldn’t be able to provide any further information about Dr. Dung.

Like many parts of the world, Vietnam is currently focusing on fighting Covid-19 pandemic. Many countries ask their citizens to stay indoors. And yet Vietnamese police continue to harass its citizens, summoning them for unnecessary reasons, this is contrary to the anti-pandemic measures.

They want to flex their power or terrorize dissidents, Mr. Thuy said.

===== March 19 =====

Three Ha Mon Religious Leaders Arrested after Being Chased by Police in 8 Years

Defend the Defenders: Vietnam’s authorities have arrested three leaders of the unregistered religious group named Ha Mon after chasing them in the past eight years, according to state-run media.

Accordingly, Mr. Kunh, 28, Lup, 48, and Jur, 56, were arrested on March 19 in the Jo Mong mountain, Hra commune, Mang Yang district, Gia Lai province.

Media reported that despite being sought by police and forced to live in the forest in the past eight years, the trio has been working to promote religious freedom in the Central Highlands.

They are facing lengthy imprisonment for the allegation of “Sabotaging implementation of solidarity policies” under Article 116 of the Penal Code, like hundreds of other religious activists in the northern mountainous region and the Central Highlands who were sentenced to between six and 18 years in prison.

Ha Mon is an unregistered Christian sect established in 1999 among ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands. It is considered as illegal by Vietnam’s communist regime which strives to control all religions and make all efforts to eradicate all the unsanctioned sects and halt activities of the registered ones.

In its report in 2011, Human Rights Watch condemned Vietnam’s persecution against many religious groups, including Ha Mon.

Source: Defend the Defenders