Political Prisoners

On October 6, 2020, the US and Vietnam held their 24th annual Human Rights Dialogue via virtual sessions. According to the State Department’s website, “The three-hour Dialogue addressed a wide range of human rights issues, including the importance of continued progress and bilateral cooperation on the rule of law, freedom of expression and association, religious freedom, and labor rights.… The promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms remains a critical pillar of U.S. foreign policy and is key to further building upon the U.S.-Vietnam Comprehensive Partnership.”

However, no sooner had the meeting concluded than Vietnam demonstrated how far those important objectives were from being achieved. Around 11:30pm that evening Ho Chi Minh City Police, in coordination with Hanoi Police and the Ministry of Public Security, arrested prominent journalist Pham Thi Doan Trang in Ho Chi Minh City and charged her with anti-state propaganda under Article 88 of the 1999 Criminal Code.

Doan Trang has long written on the issues of democracy and free elections, is a co-founder of the Liberal Publishing House, and has recently reported on the recent Dong Tam raid and trial. She is being held in pre-trial incommunicado detention in Hoa Lo Prison in Hanoi. Read our updates on her background and arrest here.

Also read “They Will Be Here In 5 Minutes,” a reflection by Trang (also translated into English),  which she wrote ahead of her March 2018 detention on International Women’s Day. And follow this account for regular updates on her case.

Nguyen Van Hoa’s sister went to An Diem Prison to see Hoa and give him some items. She was told that she couldn’t see him or give him anything because Hoa had been refusing to wear prison clothes. He also recently wrote a petition asking to be transferred to a prison camp that is closer to his home. Hoa is a blogger serving seven years in prison; while imprisoned, he has faced a myriad of mistreatment, including solitary confinement and physical abuse.

This week, we remember the birthdays and arrest and trial anniversaries of the following political prisoners:

• Writer Pham Van Troi, birthday October 10, sentenced to seven years in prison

• Catholic activist, Tran Thi Xuan, birthday October 10, sentenced to nine years in prison

• Hien Phap group member Doan Thi Hong, birthday October 10, sentenced to two years and six months in prison
• Catholic leader A Tach, arrested October 11, 2012, and sentenced to 11 years in prison
• Democracy activist Luu Van Vinh and co-defendants, Nguyen Quoc Hoan, Nguyen Van Duc Do, Tu Cong Nghia, and Thich Nhat Hue, tried on October 5, 2018, and sentenced to between eight and 15 years in prison
• Four June 2018 protesters — Truong Ngoc Hien (sentenced to two years), Bui Van T. (on probation), Nguyen Huynh D. (on probation), and Nguyen Van Tuan (three years)– tried on October 8, 2018

Numerous organizations released statements condemning Pham Doan Trang’s arrest this week:

• The Vietnamese

• RSF

• Front Line Defenders 

• PEN America 

• Amnesty International

• The Committee to Protect Journalists 

• Vietnam Human Rights Network and Defend the Defenders 

The Czech Foreign Minister also called for the immediate release of Pham Doan Trang, a recipient of the Czech Republic’s 2017 Homo Homini Award. See what actions you can take to support her in the “Take Action” section below.

Twenty Israeli educators also wrote a letter calling for the release of music teacher Nguyen Nang Tinh, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison in May 2019. “We, the undersigned educators in music and musicology studies throughout the State of Israel, ask you to use the close ties between the Israeli Ministry of Defense and the communist regime in Vietnam and request the immediate release of our colleague, political detainee Nguyen Nang Tinh. Music and freedom are inextricably linked, as illustrated by Leonard Bernstein on December 25, 1989, when he conducted Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony as part of the celebrations of the fall of the Berlin Wall.”

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