Ha Van Thanh

After being deported by the US once his petition for asylum was denied, Ha Van Thanh went through the customs control of Noi Bai international airport, possibly at the end of October 2019, and was quickly detained by public security forces before being escorted back to Nghe An. Thanh, however, was not accused of committing a national security-related crime, but the crime of organising and operating a human smuggling system.

Two months after his arrest, An Ninh Television (literally translated as Security Television), a mouthpiece of the Ministry of Public Security, broadcasted a program where Thanh appeared before the public to “confess” to this smuggling crime. In the program, Thanh admitted that he has helped 41 persons (including children) to illegally migrate to New Zealand in exchange for US$1,000 per person. He also mentioned that all of them were arrested in Indonesia and deported back to Vietnam. Many, however, believe that this is an opportunistic move of Nghe An public security to use the death of 39 Vietnamese in the lorry in Essex, UK-- which has attracted international attention-- to justify their crackdown. 

According to Mr Le Thanh Tung, a contact point in Vietnam for Thanh while he was abroad, Thanh’s family was repeatedly harassed and watched to gain more information about Thanh. Priest JB Nguyen Dinh Thuc also told to Voice of America and other international media outlets that Thanh was beaten and tortured in prison. Moreover, the interrogation and detention process happened without any attorney present to protect Thanh’s legitimate rights and interests. His family has also reported that Thanh was detained and possibly subjected to physical violence in prison in Nghe Anh province. 

Thanh's family was not immediately notified of his re-arrival Vietnam and only later found out that he had been arrested. According to Radio Free Asia, Thanh’s wife was threatened not to share any documents regarding her husband’s case and not to communicate with priest Nguyen Dinh Thuc about the case either. His wife also reported that she saw Thanh's alleged video confession, but that the video seemed off. Forced, filmed confessions are not an abnormal occurrence in the one-party state, raising questions about the credibility of the alleged taped confession.