THE
COMMITTEE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN VIETNAM
P.O BOX 648 BƯU DIỆN BỜ HỒ, HÀ NỘI, VIỆT NAM
Email: humanrightsvn@gmail.com
www.humanrightsvn.blogspot.com
http://uybannhanquyenvietnam.blogspot.com
REPORT ON CONTINUOUS VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN
RIGHTS IN
January 2008:
§
Jan. 6: The Vietnamese
communist authorities mobilized a massive police force to round up the
followers of the Catholic Diocese of Thai Ha, Dong Da district, Hanoi while they
were rallying to pray for the return of a land property which was the historic
site of the Vietnamese Catholic Church's Office of the Apostolic Nuncio that
the communist government unlawfully took over years ago.
§
Jan. 9: Uniformed and
plainclothes police were called up to quell a demonstration staged by youths
and college students in
§
Jan. 10: Victim of
injustice Luong Van Sinh, a resident of Binh Thuan province, was imprisoned on
charges of joining Bloc 8406 Bloc and communicating with 'reactionaries'.
§
Jan. 15: The People's
Democratic Party (PDP) denounced the communist government's intentional use of
harsh treatment and forced labor against such political prisoners as Le Nguyen
Sang, MD, lawyers Nguyen Bac Truyen, Tran Quoc Hien and Nguyn Van Dai, and
journalist Huynh Nguyen Dao.
§
Jan. 16: The For the People
Party (FPP) denounced the communist government's inhumane treatment of journalist
Truong Minh Duc, Kien Giang province, who has been detained since May 5, 2007.
Having denied medical care for his broken arm due to an accidental fall, his
health has been seriously deteriorating.
§
Jan. 19: The Vietnamese
communist authorities continued to employ various measures of repression
against youths and college students in Hanoi and Saigon who staged peaceful
demonstrations protesting communist China, mainly the interrogations and
arrests of a number of bloggers, including film director Song Chi, war veteran
Hoang Hai, lawyer Phan Thanh Hai, poet Bui Chat, Quoc Dung, Uyen Vu, Anh Bang,
Le Hao, as well as other college and high school students. A police checkpoint
was installed in front of writer Nguyen Xuan Nghia's residence in Hai Phong to
prevent him from joining the demonstrations in
§
Jan. 21: Former police
officer Ta Phong Tan submitted a letter denouncing illegal arrests made by the
Cau Ong Lanh precinct police in District 1,
§
Jan. 25: Lawyer Le Quoc
Quan, a H'Mong ethnic woman and other Catholic faithful were severely injured
during a police roundup of praying protesters in front of the defunct Office of
the Apostolic Nuncio in
§
Jan. 29: Citizens Truong
Quoc Huy and Hang Tan Phat were each sentenced to 6 years of imprisonment and 3
years of house arrest for having allegedly distributed anti-State leaflets.
§
Jan. 30: The communist
government issued two unconstitutional, undemocratic and anti-human rights
decrees (No. 11/2008 and 12/2008), aimed at prohibiting worker strikes.
§
Jan. 31: The authorities
was forced to free writer Tran Khai Thanh Thuy due to her poor health
conditions after she had been unjustly held for 9 months and 10 days and
subjected to constant slandering and harsh treatment, which led to her quickly
deteriorating health.
§
Jan 31: Democracy activist
student Nguyen Tien
February
2008:
§ Feb. 3: Journalist
Hoang Hai (blogger Dieu Cay) in
§
Feb. 5: Hoang Hai was taken
back for another interrogation from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the police station of
Precinct 8, District 3.
§
Feb. 8: Police arrived at
the residence of journalist Nguyen Xuan Nghia in Hai Phong, threatening to beat
him up if he attempted to attend Prof. Hoang Minh Chinh's funeral in
§ Feb. 11: Venerable
Thich Nhat Ban, Dong Nai province, a member of the Unified Buddhist Church of
Vietnam (UCBV), was harassed at his Ba La Mat temple by the police of Long
Thanh district, Dong Nai province. Meanwhile Mr. Tran Khue in Saigon was
prevented from boarding a plane to attend Prof. Hoang Minh Chinh's funeral in
§
Feb. 12: Mr. Do Nam Hai in
Saigon was prohibited from leaving Saigon for the funeral while Venerable Thich
Khong Tanh was harassed on his way to
§
Feb. 12 & 13: The
police of Tuy Phuoc district, Binh Dinh province, subjected Monk Thich Dong Tho
and Venerable Thich Minh Tuan, head of the UBCV Nguyen Thieu Monastery, to
unlawful interrogations.
§ Feb. 14: A large
police force installed a checkpoint in front of journalist Nguyen Khac Toan's
home in
§
Feb. 15: Dr. An Nhan, an
American of Vietnamese descent, was expelled from
§
Feb. 16: The communist
authorities violated civil rights and current laws by blocking public access to
Prof. Chinh's funeral in
§
Feb. 16 & 18:
Journalist Hoang Hai (blogger Dieu Cay) was again forced to report to another
illegal interrogation by the police of Precinct 8, District 3,
§
Feb. 17 –20: Mr. Vo Van
Nghe, a member of the Democratic Party, Century XXI, was interrogated by the
police in Thanh Hoa province, who accused him of anti-Party activities and
forced him to leave his own party.
§
Feb. 22: The FPP denounced
the illegal 262-day detention of student Dang Hung before he was released on
February 1, 2008 and placed under unlimited house arrest in the
§
Feb. 24: Mrs. Ngo Thi Mai
Huong, in an interview with the RFA radio network, charged the communist
government of inhumanity by not allowing her to enter
§
Feb. 25: Assemblyman Peter
Gitmark of
§ Feb. 25: Members of
the United Workers and Farmers Organization of Vietnam were finally sentenced
by the Court of Appeal to prison terms, respectively Mr. Doan Van Dien to 4
years and 6 months of imprisonment (without probation); Mrs. Tran Thi Le Hong
(Le Hang), 3 years of imprisonment; Mr. Doan Huy Chuong (aka Nguyen Tan Hoanh),
Mrs. Nguyen Thi Tuyết, and Mr. Phung Quang Huyen, each 1 year and 6 months of imprisonment.
§
Feb. 25: The FPP denounced
the government's mistreatment of political prisoner Truong Minh Duc, currently
held in a prison in Kien Giang province.
§
Feb. 29: Mr. Do Nam Hai's
freedom of movement continued to be violated when he tried to board a plane
leaving Saigon for
March 2008:
§
Mar. 2: Many residents of the
9th district of Saigon were detained in connection with a
demonstration for the return of their land properties on November 22, 2007 in
front of the district office of the People's Committee. They included Kieu Van
Hoa, Nguyen Van Tuan, Nguyen Van Nang, Luu Quoc Luan, Nguyen Nam Dien, Nguyen
Thi Tho, Nguyen Thi Dung, Do Thi Mai, Duong Thanh Truc, Nguyen Thi My Van.
§
Mar. 4: Lawyer Bui Kim Thanh
was again arrested and held against her will in the Bien Hoa mental hospital.
§ Mar. 6: Mr. Kpa Kloh,
41, died, according to the Protestant BosNews news agency, on February 20,
2008, as a result of being brutally tortured at a prison in Phu Yen province,
surviving his wife and 6 children. He had been reportedly arrested and
ruthlessly tortured since February 9, 2008, not mentioning previous police
assaults and arrests.
§ Mar. 6: Mrs. Ngo
Mai Huong, in a letter requesting the release of her husband, Dr. Nguyen Quoc
Quan, denounced the communist consular office in
§
Mar. 7: In an interview
with RFA, Pastor Nguyen Van Dien of the Protestant Church of Vietnam, Tra Vinh
branch, denounced the provincial authorities who had forced various houses of
worship to close and severely beaten their followers, including Pastor Nguyen
Van Dien, and Mr. Thach Sanh of the Tra Cu branch. Another Khmer faithful named
Kim Hone and many others were also assaulted.
§
Mar. 9: Lawyer Phan Thanh
Hai, member of the Free Journalists Club, denounced the
§
Mar.10: Venerable Thich
Thien Hanh denounced the police who had sent 200 policemen to blockade and
harass the Nguyen Thieu Monastery at the beginning of the (Lunar) New Year of
the Rat. They have threatened to expel from the monastery Monk Thich Dong Tho,
a close disciple of the Most Venerable Thich Huyen Quang, head of the UBCV Institute for the
Propagation of the Dharma.
§ Mar. 12: The
communist authorities circulated a draft that would constitutionally violate
the people's human rights by attempting to muzzle the freedom of information.
Its title was "Decree to Regulate and Punish Administrative Violations in
the Management, Provision and Use of Internet services and Electronic
Communication on the Internet."
§
Mar. 24: Mr. Le Thanh Tung
denounced the officials of Chuong My district, Ha Tay province, who had
illegally handcuffed victim of injustice Tran Van Loc for a full year,
violating his human rights.
§
Mar. 27: Mr. Do Nam Hai was
forced by the Phu Nhuan district police in
§
Mar. 27: Mrs. Ho Thi
Thuong, wife of Mr. Doan Van Dien (recently sentenced to prison) denounced in
an interview with RFA that local authorities had threatened her verbally and
obstructed her interview.
§
Mar. 28: Journalist Truong
Minh Duc was sentenced to 5 years of imprisonment by an illegal trial court in
Vinh Thuan district, Kien Giang province during which he was not accompanied by
a defense lawyer or allowed to defend for himself despite the fact that he had
been mistreated in prison.
April 2008:
§
April 2: The UBCV's
International Buddhist Information Bureau (IBIB) denounced Vietnamese communist
police who had raided several UBCV temples, namely Giac Hai in Lam Dong
province and Phuoc Hue in Quang Tri province, in
preparation for the upcoming government-hosted International Vesak Day.
§
April 3: Venerable Thich
Thien Minh, in Urgent Notice, No. 2 of the Former Political and Religious
Prisoners Association, denounced Bac Lieu provincial officials who had used
dirty tricks to harass, slander, blemish, and "publicly denounce" him
in the mass media.
§
April 4: The Viet Tan Party
condemned, in its Press Release No. 15, the communist authorities for having
illegally arrested its members Nguyen Tan Anh, Mai Huu Bao and Nguyen Thi Xuan
Trang on March 4, 2008, when they arrived from the US for a visit to their
party comrades, Dr. Nguyen Quoc Quan and Mr Somsak Khunmi, and collaborators
Nguyen The Vu and Nguyen Viet Trung, who all are currently held at the B34
prison at 237 Nguyen Van Cu Street in the 1st district of Saigon.
§
April 4: Mr. Do Nam Hai was
again forced to have another interrogation concerning documents promoting
democracy, stored in his computer that the police illegally confiscated on
March 27, 2008.
§
April 5: Viet Tan party
members Nguyen Tan Anh, Mai Huu Bao, and Nguyen Thi Xuan Trang, released under
international pressure, were immediately expelled from
§
April 8: The UBCV's IBIB
denounced the attempt of the [State-sanctioned] Buddhist Church of Vietnam to
take over
§
April 9: A massive force of
armed personnel and riot police forces was mobilized to ruthlessly quell a
demonstration of the Khmer Krom people in An Giang province demanding the
return of confiscated land.
§
April 10: The Catholics of
Thai Ha were threatened and harassed while they were peacefully praying for the
return of the Church's properties, in the wake of the government's false
accusations and propaganda concerning their peaceful demonstrations.
§
April 11: Relatives of
dissidents Nguyen Ngoc Quang, Pham Ba Hai, and Vu Hoang Hai denounced, in a RFA
interview, the communist government which had illegally held these detainees
for over 2 years without trial.
§
April 13: A large
contingent of police was sent to disrupt a meeting of democracy activists in
§
April 14: Over 300 people
of Ja-Rai ethnicity rallied at a demonstration in Lgia to village, Cho Se
district, Gia Lai province, displaying the 3-red-stripes-on-a-yellow-field flag
(of the former Republic of Vietnam) and demanding for the return of their land.
Many were brutally crushed; others had to flee.
The CHRV strongly condemns the
Vietnamese communist government for having repeatedly
violated human rights in the first 3 months of 2008. The CHRV hereby calls upon
all concerned Vietnamese and people throughout the world to exert adequate
pressure in order to improve the situation of serious human rights violations
in
THE COMMITTEE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ỦY BAN NHÂN QUYỀN VIỆT
THE COMMITTEE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN
P.O BOX 648 BƯU ĐIỆN BỜ HỒ, HÀ NỘI, VIỆT
Email: humanrightsvn@gmail.com
www.humanrightsvn.blogspot.com
http://uybannhanquyenvietnam.blogspot.com
