Vietnam Free Expression Newsletter No. 33/2024 – August 23-31

Greetings from Project88. We bring you news, analysis, and actions regarding human rights and civil society in Vietnam from August 23-31.

Y Quynh Bdap’s extradition hearing continues in Bangkok. A Facebook user is sentenced to six years in prison in Vietnam. Journalist Nguyen Vu Binh and blogger Phan Van Bach are both expected to be tried soon — the latter is reported to be in dire health. Ahead of the one-year anniversary of their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership upgrade, the U.S. and Vietnam schedule more meetings. Google considers investing in a massive data center in Vietnam. Meanwhile, Norway has canceled state-run wind power investments.

The newsletter will be on a break next week and will return on September 13.

HUMAN RIGHTS & CIVIL SOCIETY

Political Persecution

Phan Dinh Sang

A court in Ha Tinh Province has sentenced Phan Dinh Sang, 57, to six years in prison and two years of probation for allegedly posting “anti-state propaganda” on his Facebook page. According to state media, prosecutors accuse Sang of using five different Facebook accounts to “engage with reactionary groups and forums online between 2016 and 2023.” They also alleged that while living in Laos, Sang “posted, shared and disseminated numerous articles, images and videos that distorted historical facts and defamed the administration.” State media did not provide any evidentiary details, however.

Nguyen Vu Binh

According to his sister, journalist Nguyen Vu Binh will be tried on September 10 under Article 117 and faces up to 12 years in prison.  On February 29, 2024, Binh was summoned to the police headquarters in Hanoi to discuss the YouTube channel TNT Media Live, which he and lawyer Nguyen Van Dai (a former political prisoner currently in exile) had worked on together. After the meeting, he was formally arrested and his residence searched. Binh is a former state journalist who helped form and served in several civil society groups and even attempted to form an independent political party, the Freedom-Democracy Party, in 2000. In 2002, Binh was sentenced to seven years in prison for espionage under Article 80 of the 1999 Criminal Code for allegedly slandering the Vietnamese state in a written testimony he provided to the U.S. Congress in July 2002 regarding human rights abuses in Vietnam. Under international pressure, he was released early. He has been awarded the Hellman-Hammett Prize by Human Rights Watch twice.

Y Quynh Bdap

According to the Cross Cultural Foundation, hearings in Y Quynh Bdap’s case were held on August 30, 2024, and now expected on September 2, 2024 at 9.00 a.m. Y Quynh Bdap, an activist for ethnic and religious minority rights and a co-founder of Montagnards Stand for Justice (MSFJ), was arrested by Thai police on June 11, 2024 in Bangkok in response to a request by the foreign affairs office of the Thai public prosecutor. The arrest warrant cited his conviction on terrorism charges in Vietnam. Bdap is facing extradition to Vietnam.

The UN Special Rapporteur on counterterrorism has submitted an amicus curiae brief in Y Quynh’s case. The Special Rapporteur reminded Thailand of its obligation under international law to not extradite a person to a state where there are substantial grounds for believing that they would face a real risk of torture, other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment or other irreparable harm. The International Commission of Jurists also submitted an amicus curiae brief.

Likewise, this week a group of UN human rights experts expressed alarm about the discriminatory misuse of the counter-terrorism law by the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam against Montagnard indigenous peoples and Christian religious minorities in the country’s Central Highlands, including the targeting of MSFJ, the organization founded by Y Quynh Bdap.

Bdap was convicted of terrorism in connection with the June 11, 2023 attack on government buildings in Dak Lak Province. In January 2024, he was sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison. After the trial, the Vietnamese government announced that it would seek to extradite Bdap to Vietnam. Bdap was in Thailand at the time of the attack and has asserted that he was not involved in in any way. Despite charging him with terrorism, Vietnam has not made public any evidence against Bdap to substantiate the charge.

Phan Van Bach

Phan Van Bach‘s health is in imminent danger and requires immediate attention. On August 12, Bach’s lawyer, Le Van Luan, was finally able to see him at Detention Center No.1 in Hanoi. Luan reported that Bach’s health has “seriously deteriorated” while he has been in detention. After Bach’s meeting with the Luan, Bach’s wife, Nguyen Thi Yeu (also known as Nguyen Thi Lieu), also revealed that she was secretly allowed to see Bach recently, and she could hardly recognize her husband because he had lost so much weight. Bach told her he started suffering from alternating diarrhea and constipation just a few days after he was detained, and the condition persisted for months. Since he was detained in late December 2023, Bach’s weight has dropped from 65 kg (143 lbs) to 40 kg (88 lbs). Bach said he had bowel movements on average 30-40 times a day; Bach also believes he has some kind of skin disease. His lawyer has asked prison officials to let him be examined by a doctor but has not received any response.

Bach told his wife that he can’t take it anymore and has asked Lieu to notify the international community to firstly help him secure hospital treatment and also campaign for his release ahead of his impending trial. While no trial date has yet been set, it is expected to be held soon, as authorities completed their investigation of Bach on July 2, 2024; however, the family and lawyer were not notified until early August.

Phan Van Bach was arrested on December 29, 2023, and charged under Article 117; he faces up to 12 years in prison if convicted. Bach is a former Chấn hưng Việt Nam TV (CHTV) journalist and has also participated in public protests over environmental issues and maritime sovereignty and expressed his political opinions on Facebook.

Dang Dang Phuoc

Dang Dang Phuoc told his wife, Le Thi Ha, in a call that after she filed a petition about a punishment he received recently, officials from the Procuracy of Phu Yen Province finally visited Phuoc at Xuan Phuoc Prison. Phuoc told them he completely disagreed with the severity of the punishment they meted out to him for handing a fellow inmate’s family phone number to Ha at the end of a spring visit in order to help the prisoner get in touch with his family. Phuoc was put in isolation and had his legs shackled for 10 days. The office of the Procuracy said they would send Ha their response to her petition, but so far she has not received anything from them. Phuoc’s health has recovered since the isolation; he now weighs 55Kg (121 lbs), but he said that the scars on his ankles will be there for life.

Nguyen Tuong Thuy

Nguyen Tuong Thuy‘s wife, Pham Thi Lan, visited him on August 21. She reported that her own health has been deteriorating, but she tried not to show it to him. Thuy himself is reportedly in stable condition. An official named Bien visited Thuy on August 13 and tried to convince him to plead guilty. Thuy said he just wanted to be retried properly according to the law so that he could argue his case against his accusers. Thuy maintained that his investigators violated Vietnamese laws and that the charges against him were not about him but someone else. He said that his case was based on totally fabricated evidence. Lan also revealed that at one point, she herself was prohibited from traveling outside the country, a clear violation of her freedom of movement, and for which she has filed a complaint. Thuong, a journalist and democracy activist, was sentenced in 2021 to 11 years in prison.

Nguyen Nang Tinh

Nguyen Nang Tinh told his wife, Nguyen Thi Tinh, that the conditions at Prison No. 5 in Thanh Hoa province have not improved, particularly regarding food. Tinh, who is serving an 11-year sentence, is suffering from joint pain, and his eyesight is getting worse, she told Project88.

VIETNAM IN THE WORLD

US Under Secretary of State to visit Vietnam. Voice of Vietnam; 2024-08-25. US Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights Uzra Zeya is scheduled to visit Vietnam and Malaysia from August 25 to 31, according to an announcement released on Saturday by the US Department of State.

US diplomat urged to press for release of Vietnamese political prisoners. RFA; 2024-08-28. Freedom of expression campaigners PEN America are calling on a senior U.S. diplomat to push for the release of political prisoners during her visit to Vietnam. Undersecretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights Uzra Zeya is due in Hanoi this week “to engage partners on human rights, humanitarian cooperation, and human-centered civilian security,” according to the State Department.

Vietnam’s defense minister to visit US next month. Voice of America; 2024-08-29. The minister is expected to visit Washington from September 7-9 to strengthen defense cooperation between the two countries, according to a Vietnamese defense ministry official and a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the trip has not been officially announced. During the talks, the sides are expected to discuss a range of defense-related topics, including training initiatives and the lingering legacies of the Vietnam War. Giang is also expected to sign an agreement to purchase military equipment from the U.S., though Vietnamese officials said the details of the deal are still being work out.

Google considering large data centre in Vietnam, source says, in nation’s first by US big tech. Reuters; 2024-08-29. Google is weighing setting up a “hyperscale” data centre close to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s southern economic hub, the source said, declining to be named because the information was not public. The investment, the size of which the source did not specify, would be a shot in the arm for Vietnam, which has so far failed to attract major overseas capital in data centres due to its patchy infrastructure, with large tech companies preferring to house their centres in rival nations in the region. It was not clear how quickly Google would reach a decision on an investment, but the source said internal talks were taking place and the data centre could be ready in 2027.

ADDITIONAL NEWS AND ANALYSIS

Exclusive: Equinor halts Vietnam offshore wind plans, to close Hanoi office. Reuters; 2024-08-23. Norway’s state-controlled energy giant Equinor has cancelled plans to invest in Vietnam’s offshore wind sector, a company spokesperson told Reuters, in a setback for the Southeast Asian country’s green power ambitions. Vietnam has attracted international interest in its renewables plans because of its strong winds in shallow waters near coastal, densely populated areas, according to the World Bank Group, but delays in regulatory reforms have recently pushed some would-be investors to reconsider their plans.

Explainer: How has Communist-run Vietnam’s graft campaign shaken up its politics? Reuters; 2024-08-26. Vietnam’s parliament appointed three new deputy prime ministers, as well as new ministers of environment and justice in a government reshuffle that follows months of political turbulence amid a sweeping anti-graft campaign. Monday’s appointments follow the sudden exits of leading figures, many after accusations of wrongdoing as the Communist-run country stepped up its anti-graft drive over the last two years, but which dented its reputation for political stability.

Vietnam to elect new president in October, assembly official says. Nikkei Asia. 2024-08-26. Vietnam’s parliament will elect a new state president in October, a senior official of the National Assembly said on Monday after parliament held an extraordinary meeting. The current state president To Lam was appointed earlier in August as chief of the ruling Communist Party, the country’s most powerful job, two weeks after the death of long-serving general secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

Vietnam becoming a chip-making powerhouse. Asia Times; 2024-08-26. Vietnam is becoming an important new player in the global semiconductor industry, a decoupling beneficiary of the US-led chip wars against China. This will no doubt please the Biden administration, which has been promoting Vietnam as an alternative to China under the US-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, though the trend would probably be happening anyway.

Southeast Asia’s highly anticipated environmental rights declaration ‘watered down’, say critics. Dialogue Earth; 2024-08-27. A draft environmental rights declaration, developed since 2022 by the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) and its working group, aims to promote “the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment”. Yet, civil society organizations, during April consultations in Jakarta, pointed out that the draft is weak on key environmental protections, including transboundary environmental impact assessments and private-sector accountability. More importantly, while the draft acknowledges and protects “those who promote and defend environmental rights”, it has drawn criticism from legal experts for not adopting the UN-defined term “environmental human rights defenders (EHRDs)”.

Vietnam party boss To Lam surrounds himself with police allies. Nikkei Asia; 2024-08-28. Vietnam’s flurry of new appointments has stacked the government with Communist Party loyalists and alumni of the security apparatus that defined the career of party chief To Lam. Monday’s selection of Nguyen Hoa Binh, Bui Thanh Son and Ho Duc Phoc means Vietnam now has five deputy prime ministers. Parliament also approved new ministers of justice and the environment and a chief justice in an extraordinary session, though these sessions are becoming more “ordinary” as officials ousted in a years-long corruption crackdown constantly must be replaced.

© 2024 The 88 Project