Vietnam Free Expression Newsletter No. 50/2019 – Week of December 9-15
Greetings from The 88 Project! We are bringing you news, analysis, and actions regarding human rights and civil society in Vietnam during the week of December 9-15. Retired teacher and pro-democracy activist Dao Quang Thuc died in prison this week of a brain hemorrhage and lung infection — he was only two years into a 13-year prison sentence for “subversion.” The authorities are refusing to let Thuc’s family bury his body in his hometown. In Loc Hung, where tensions have been growing since the January 2019 forced evictions, authorities this week destroyed the local nativity scene. And Vietnam has been listed again as one of the worst jailers of journalists. In some good news this week, activist Nguyen Thuy Hanh is the recipient of a human rights award for her work supporting political prisoners and their families with the 50k Fund. In the news, read about Vietnam’s Internet control, Vietnam’s role in the US-China trade war, and the Vietnamese regime’s warnings against “self-evolution,” as well as CIVICUS’s report on the alarming number of activists imprisoned for “anti-state” Facebook posts over the last few months in the country. In case you missed it, check out the video highlights from our interview series with female activists — which we released in honor of Human Rights Day this week. And please take action in support of independent publishing in Vietnam by sharing Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch’s joint statement on the harassment of the Liberal Publishing House.
HUMAN RIGHTS & CIVIL SOCIETY

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



Le Dinh Luong, Ho Dinh Cuong, and Le Thanh Tung
- Le Dinh Luong, birthday December 10, environmental and democracy activist sentenced to 20 years in prison
- Ho Dinh Cuong, birthday December 13, jailed member of the Hien Phap constitutional rights group; he will be tried on December 25
- Le Thanh Tung, pro-democracy activist arrested December 15, 2015, and sentenced to 12 years in prison
- Y Drim Nie, Montagnard Christian activist, arrested December 2012 and sentenced to eight years in prison

NEWS & ANALYSIS
Vietnam struggles to stay a trade war winner, David Hutt, Asia Times, December 10, 2019: “While Trump is keen to trim the surplus, the State Department and Pentagon are apparently more focused on security matters, particularly vis-à-vis China. In recent years, Vietnam has grown into one of America’s closest allies in Southeast Asia, with both sides sharing a common interest in checking China’s expansionism in the South China Sea. US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper made his first visit to Vietnam in mid-November, just after Ross left the country, to reaffirm America’s security ties with Hanoi. Esper announced that the US will transfer next year to Vietnam’s navy a second Hamilton-class High Endurance Cutter, one of the largest in the US Coast Guard’s fleet, a vessel that will bolster Hanoi’s ability to patrol the South China Sea.”
Alarming Number of Activists Being Jailed in Vietnam For “Anti-State” Facebook Posts, CIVICUS, December 13, 2019: “Over the last few months, activists, journalists and academics have been either arrested or jailed for their postings on Facebook critical of the regime. Many have faced politically motivated charges under Article 117 of the 2015 Penal Code for ‘making, storing, spreading or propagating information, materials or items for the purpose of opposing the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.’ There is also concern about intimidation and harassment of a publishing house, the removal of anti-government postings by Facebook and the use of terrorism charges against political activists.”
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT








Top row, from left: Pham Doan Trang, Ha Thuy Nguyen, Nguyen Thi Khiem Nhu
Second row: Nguyen Nguyen Binh, Chieu Anh Nguyen, Can Thi Theu
Bottom row: Dao Thu Hue, Cao Vinh Thinh