Vietnam Free Expression Newsletter No. 35/2024 – September 14-23
Greetings from Project88. We bring you news, analysis, and actions regarding human rights and civil society in Vietnam from Sept. 14-23.
After a concerted advocacy campaign by Project88 and others, climate leader Hoang Thi Minh Hong is free. So is democracy activist and entrepreneur Tran Huynh Duy Thuc. Both were released on September 20, synchronized with Secretary To Lam’s U.S. visit, where he is attending the UN Summit this week. Read more about the releases and Project88’s advocacy efforts below.
The releases were secured during Undersecretary Zeya’s trip to Vietnam last month. Both releases are significant in that the two luminaries have been allowed to remain in country, contrary to most recent releases of high profile prisoners. Project88 welcomes the releases but also notes that Vietnam still holds nearly 200 political prisoners, of whom 56 are serving 10 years or longer behind bars.
On Monday, To Lam spoke at Columbia University, which is where Hoang Thi Minh Hong studied as an Obama Foundation scholar. In a letter to the university’s president, U.S. Representative Michelle Steel had called for the event to be cancelled, saying that “Columbia cannot claim to foster a campus environment of free speech and expression while hosting one of the most prominent leaders of authoritarianism.”
To Lam is also expected to meet this week with representatives from Google and Meta (which has a history of bowing to Vietnam’s censorship demands) and also visit with President Biden. To Lam has said he soon expects the U.S. will lift its non-market designation of Vietnam’s economy; Reuters reported Vietnam has just signed several MOUs with U.S. companies. However, the long-term ramifications of Hong’s and Thuc’s releases, as well as To Lam’s U.S. trip, are yet to be revealed.
In other news, blogger Phan Van Bach was sentenced to five years in prison. Neither he, nor journalist Nguyen Vu Binh– who was convicted earlier in the month– will appeal their sentences. And Y Quynh Bdap’s verdict in his immigration hearing is expected on Sept. 30.
Lastly, it’s been one year since Vietnam executed Le Van Manh in case that brought renewed attention to Vietnam’s frequent and secretive use of the death penalty and the procedural irregularities that have marred many recent death penalty cases. Vietnam not only retains the death penalty for violent crimes, but also some economic and national security crimes. Billionaire Truong My Lan is currently on death row and facing a second trial, and former government accountant Nguyen Hoang was also sentenced to death this week.
HUMAN RIGHTS & CIVIL SOCIETY
On the Releases of Tran Huynh Duy Thuc and Hoang Thi Minh Hong
Tran Huynh Duy Thuc (third from left) and Le Cong Dinh (right) the morning after Thuc’s release from prison
Tran Huynh Duy Thuc was released from prison on Sept. 20, one daybefore General Secretary To Lam left for his U.S. trip. Thuc was eight months away from completing a 16-year prison sentence. Thuc’s brother told RFA they were informed by police that Thuc was put on a plane in Nghe An on Sept. 20 and would arrive in HCMC at midnight.
Early the next day, on the Facebook page “Tran Huynh Duy Thuc.” which has been administered by his family throughout his imprisonment, a freed Thuc thanked all the individuals, as well as international organizations and state representatives, who have supported him all these years. On the day of his sudden release, prison officials asked Thuc to sign a “request for pardon,” which he refused to do. They nonetheless read him Order 940, signed by the president on Sept. 20, to pardon him. They then carried him out of prison against his will amidst protest from other political prisoners. Thuc calls his unrequested release a “forced special pardon.”
Tran Huynh Duy Thuc was arrested in 2009 for his political organizing with fellow activists and blogging covering a wide range of political, social, and economic topics. Prior to his release, he was one of Vietnam’s longest-serving contemporary political prisoners and was well-known for steadfastly maintaining his innocence, as well as protesting mistreatment behind bars– often via hunger strikes. Project88 has long updated English audiences on Thuc’s case and advocated for his release from prison without forced exile.
Throughout his over 15 years in prison, Thuc wrote many letters home to his family about prison life and his thoughts on the activist movement in Vietnam. In a 2019 letter, he wrote: “The Path to Justice will not only lead me home, it will also bring a brighter future for everyone. Otherwise, why would I even choose imprisonment? Why would we, out of personal concerns, choose to spend a few years less in jail at the expense of justice?”
Hoang Thi Minh Hong (right) after her release
Also released on the same day as Thuc was environmentalist and NGO leader Hoang Thi Minh Hong, who was arrested in 2023 and charged with “tax evasion.” She returned home to HCMC after a 12-hour bus ride. Hong was sentenced to three years in prison, and her expected release date was May 2026.
Hong was motivated to become an environmental advocate after a 1997 trip to Antarctica; she was the first Vietnamese national to achieve the feat. In 2013, she founded the Center of Hands-on Action and Networking for Growth and Environment (CHANGE), an organization that advocates for action on climate change, the environment, and wildlife protection. CHANGE took an activist approach to its work on climate change, educating the public about the harmful effects of coal and mobilizing communities to stop the construction and financing of new coal-fired power plants. Hong was also part of the inaugural Obama Foundation Scholars cohort in 2018 at Columbia University in New York City.
She was the fifth climate activist to be jailed on false charges of tax evasion since 2021 in Vietnam. A report published by Project 88 in April 2023 documents clear evidence that these prosecutions are politically-driven and designed to criminalize climate activism. Project88 made the arrests of these five climate activists, as well as think tank director Ngo Thi To Nhien, a central part of advocacy efforts over the past two years. We led a campaign that resulted in 65 international human rights, free expression, and environmental organizations in issuing an open letter calling on former U.S. President Barack Obama to pressure Vietnam to release Hong. Our work also resulted in governments releasing statements on her behalf and in widespread media coverage of her arrest and trial in both English and Vietnamese.
Additional Political Prisoner Updates
Phan Van Bach
On September 16, former Chấn Hưng Việt Nam TV (CHTV) journalist Phan Van Bach was sentenced to five years in prison under Article 117 in a trial lasting only one hour. Bach’s wife and lawyer have both raised alarms about Bach’s serious weight loss from GI issues. He now only weighs 88 lbs, down from 143 lbs since his December 2023 arrest. At CHTV, Bach covered hot topic issues, such as land rights. He also attempted to self-nominate for the 2016 National Assembly election. He reportedly will not appeal the sentence. Human Rights Watch and Freedom House have called for his release.
Nguyen Vu Binh
Journalist Nguyen Vu Binh has chosen not to appeal his seven-year sentence for allegedly engaging in “anti-state propaganda.” Former political prisoner Le Anh Hung, released recently, told Project88 that the most probable reasons are: 1. Binh doesn’t believe it would make any difference to appeal with the judicial system of Vietnam being what it is; 2. It would be better for Binh to get out of Hoa Lo Detention Center and be in a real prison where conditions are relatively better; an appeal would only lengthen Binh’s suffering in Hoa Lo Detention Center by several more months.
Hung says a typical cell at Hoa Lo, although designed to hold only about 20 people, usually has more than 40, and sometimes up to 50 detainees. Due to the crowded and unsanitary conditions, many detainees develop skin diseases and other physical ailments. Binh is known to have high blood pressure and lately has been diagnosed with diabetes. A former editor for The Communist Magazine, Nguyen Vu Binh was imprisoned for the first time in 2002 for alleged “espionage” and sentenced to seven years in prison. However, he was granted early release in 2007, just a few days before then-President Nguyen Minh Triet’s visit to the U.S.
Nguyen Phuong Hang, former CEO of the Dai Nam conglomerate, was released from prison on Sept. 19, three months early. In 2022, Hang and four co-defendants were convicted of “abusing democratic freedoms” for conducting a series of 57 live streams on YouTube which allegedly attacked the reputation of numerous celebrities, singers, actors, journalists and others. Hang did not appeal her sentence. In court, she apologized for her actions and paid restitutions to the victims. Hang was sentenced to three years in prison. She was released early due to “good behavior,” according to state media.
A court in HCMC has denied the appeal of attorney Tran Van Sy, 67, who was sentenced to two years in prison for “abusing democratic freedoms” based on Article 331. Sy is accused of posting eight video clips that allegedly contain false and libelous information against several people and entities, among them Nguyen Phuong Hang and the Dai Nam conglomerate of which Hang was CEO. At trial, Sy’s lawyers asked the court for a lighter sentence due to their client’s chronic heart problems. However, the judges dismissed their argument, saying that Sy’s fragile health “does not lessen the danger to society posed by his criminal activities.”
Le Trong Hung‘s wife, Do Le Na, told Project88 that her husband’s call from Nghe An Prison No. 6 on Sept. 14 did not go through, possibly due to problems with the telecommunications network in the aftermath of typhoon Yagi. However, Hung was able to contact his older sister instead to tell her that he had ended his 10-day hunger strike and lost about 5 kg. Hung’s sister was able to relay to him that Na and the children were doing fine even though Hanoi was hit hard by the deadly storm.
International Advocacy
Pham Doan Trang
Statement by RFA, PEN International, PEN America and VNAPC on Nguyen Vu Binh’s guilty verdict: RFA, PEN International, the VNAPC, and PEN America strongly condemn today’s guilty verdict of Vietnamese blogger Nguyen Vu Binh and his sentencing to seven years in prison. The ruling is yet another example of Vietnam’s unjust crackdown on free speech and brazen intimidation of journalists and writers.
Statement by Ambassador Lotte Knudsen, Permanent Representative of the European Union. EEAS; 2024-09-10. The EU is deeply concerned over the shrinking space for civil society in Vietnam and the continued arrests of human rights defenders and labour rights and environmental experts. The EU calls on Vietnam to ensure that fundamental freedoms of expression and association are protected so that civil society can participate freely in all aspects of development. The EU calls on Vietnam to release all those imprisoned for having peacefully expressed their views and to guarantee the right to a fair trial for all. The EU reiterates its call on Vietnam to introduce a moratorium on the death penalty with a view to its abolition. The EU welcomes Vietnam’s ratification of ILO Conventions, and urges it to ratify the remaining Convention No 87 on The Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise.
Reports on rights violations in Vietnam decline due to fear of reprisal: UN. RFA; 2024-09-17. Reports on human rights violations in Vietnam have decreased due to a general fear of reprisals, the United Nations says. Last week, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, or OHCHR, released a report which found that Vietnam was retaliating against organizations and individuals who had cooperated with the U.N. in the field of human rights from May 2023 to April 2024.
Vietnam’s New Leader is Same Old Rights Violator. HRW; 2024-09-23. Biden and the Meta and Google executives who meet Lam this week should not assume that freeing two critics is evidence of reform. They should raise concerns about all those wrongfully prosecuted for their online posts, publicly call for their release, and seek action that demonstrates that freedom of expression online in Vietnam will be protected.
ADDITIONAL NEWS AND ANALYSIS
Vietnam weighs resuming nuclear power development plans. Reuters; 2024-09-13. Vietnam is considering resuming plans to develop nuclear power to ensure national energy security and to support economic growth, according to a government document reviewed by Reuters. The Southeast Asian country, a regional industrial hub heavily reliant on coal for power generation, is also seeking to boost its cleaner energy production to meet its net zero target by 2050. “The Ministry of Industry and Trade is to conduct research on the nuclear power development experience of other countries and make a proposal to develop nuclear power in Vietnam,” according to the document, which was dated Thursday.
Indonesia’s Prabowo in Hanoi says agreed to elevate ties with Vietnam. Reuters; 2024-09-13. Indonesia’s President-elect Prabowo Subianto said on Friday Vietnam and Indonesia had agreed to elevate their ties to a “comprehensive strategic partnership”. Prabowo was speaking in Hanoi during a two-day visit to Vietnam. He is expected to meet Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Saturday.
One Year Later: Why We Must Remember the Execution of Le Van Manh. The Vietnamese; 2024-09-15. Le Van Manh’s case raises larger, uncomfortable questions about Vietnam’s use of the death penalty. According to data collected by our magazine in 2023, more than 1,000 people in Vietnam were sentenced to death that year. How many of those cases, like Manh’s, were based solely on forced confessions?
See also: One year after inmate’s execution, Vietnam continues sentencing people to death. RFA; 2024-09-19.
Analysts say Vietnam official’s US trip could set path to C-130 deal. VOA News; 2024-09-17. Analysts say this week’s visit to Washington by Vietnamese Defense Minister Phan Van Giang shows advances in cooperation between the two countries, despite rising Vietnamese nationalism that may indicate rising anti-American sentiment in Vietnam. A U.S.-based analyst told VOA on September 12 that Giang’s trip set the groundwork for Hanoi to potentially purchase military cargo planes from the United States this year.
Vietnam commitment to green economy undermined by targeting of activists. RFA; 2024-09-17. The Vietnamese government recently reaffirmed its goal of transition to a green economy, but activists have questioned the commitment as the one-party communist nation continues imprisoning and detaining climate advocates. In a letter released by the U.N. Human Rights Office on Tuesday, Ambassador Mai Phan Dung, the head of Vietnam’s Permanent Mission at the United Nations, said Vietnam was among the countries most affected by climate change and that the Vietnamese government “recognizes the connection between climate change and human rights.” But since 2021, Vietnam has arrested and imprisoned at least six prominent climate activists on charges of “tax evasion” or “document appropriation,” which many international organizations regard as “fabricated” and “politically motivated.”
© 2024 The 88 Project
