PRESS RELEASE 73 Members of Parliament on four continents call for the release of Vietnamese lawyer Nguyễn Văn Đài HANOI, 25 October 2016— Yesterday Members of parliament from around the world sent an open letter (*) to Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc, calling on the government in Hanoi to immediately and unconditionally release Vietnamese lawyer Nguyễn Văn Đài and his assistant Lê Thu Hà. “We are pleased to note that Vietnam is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibits arbitrary detention, guarantees the right to a fair trial, and stipulates that detainees be treated with humanity and respect for their dignity. In... Read more »
Call of Mrs Marie-Luise Dött, Member of the German Bundestag September 19, 2016 A human rights defender needs your support The Vietnamese human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai has been detained in Hanoi, Viet Nam, since 16 December 2015. He stands accused of “propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam”. If convicted, he faces between three and 20 years in prison. Dai has been detained incommunicado since his arrest. I have agreed to act as the parliamentary sponsor for Nguyen Van Dai and am working closely with the human rights organisation “VETO! Human Rights Defenders’ Network” to press for his release. I met Nguyen Van Dai while visiting Viet Nam... Read more »
MP Dött, Mrs. Minh Khanh, MP Lengsfeld on May 24, 2016 in Berlin Mrs. Vu Minh Khanh travelled to many countries to campaign for the release of her husband, the lawyer and human rights defender Nguyen Van Dai, who is held incommunicado since December 2015 in Hanoi. Mrs. Khanh visited Mrs. Marie-Luise Dött, Member of the German Bundestag, on May 24, 2016 in her Bundestag’s office in Berlin. She reported her and Dr. Philipp Lengsfeld, Member of the German Bundestag, that her husband is held incommunicado since his arrest. Neither his family nor his lawyer could visit him in prison. MP Dött and MP Lengsfeld shared her concerns and promised... Read more »
19 February 2016 – Viet Nam must end the ongoing incommunicado detention of human rights defenders Nguyễn Văn Đài and Lê Thu Hà which is in violation of their human rights, including the right to freedom from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. All charges against Nguyễn Văn Đài and Lê Thu Hà, who Amnesty International has designated prisoners of conscience, should be withdrawn and they should be immediately and unconditionally released. An incommunicado detention is one in which a detainee is held without access to the outside world, particularly to family, lawyers, courts and independent doctors. The practice of incommunicado detention violates key rights of... Read more »
Lawyer Nguyen Van Dai (2011) Lawyer NGUYEN Van Dai was arrested [i] in Hanoi on Dec. 16, 2015 on the charge of „conducting propaganda against the Socialist State Vietnam“ (Art. 88 of the Penal Code of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam) when he was on his way to meet with members of the European Union delegation who were in Hanoi for the annual human rights dialogue with Vietnam.[ii] Officers of the Ministry of Public Security searched his home afterwards and confiscated many computers, laptops, cell phones, hard disks, USB sticks and documents. On the same day Ms. LE Thu Ha, his assistant, was also arrested in his office in Hanoi.... Read more »
Buddhist Monks blocked the raid of public security agents during the visit of the EU-Delegation at Phuoc Hue Pagoda, Lam Dong Province, on 9 Dec 2009 Joint Statement of Concern on Vietnam’s Draft Law on Religion We, the undersigned civil society organizations are concerned that Vietnam’s draft Law on Belief and Religion[i] is inconsistent with the right to freedom of religion or belief. We call upon the Government to comprehensively revise the draft Law to conform with Vietnam’s obligations under international human rights law in the course of an inclusive consultation process with recognized and independent religion or belief communities within Vietnam and human rights law experts, including the UN... Read more »
Update for reporting period from May 2014 to May 2015 (Prepared by VETO! Human Rights Defenders’ Network on May 30, 2015) SSFO-Shed in Lè Hamlet, Tuyen Quang Province, Vietnam before and after the destruction on May 26, 2015 The Duong Van Minh belief is a new variant of Christian religion for Hmong ethnics in the four Northeastern provinces of Vietnam: Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Tuyen Quang and Thai Nguyen since 1989. The most known characteristic of this belief is the simplified funeral ceremony. The believers use symbolic items made of wood such as a crucifix, a swallow, a toad and a cicada during the funeral ceremony. The villagers share... Read more »
Mrs. Le Thi Minh Ha, wife of the Vietnamese human rights defender Nguyen Huu Vinh, went to Berlin/Germany to meet with members of the German Government and Parliament to advocate for the freedom of her husband. Mr. Nguyen Huu Vinh, born in 1956, initiated in 2007 the blog anhbasam (“The Gossiper”) which daily provides a compilation of information on political issues from several sources: state media, foreign press agencies, but also from political activists, journalists, private blogs and websites, which are stamped by the Vietnamese government as “reactionary” and “subversive”. He is one of the most prominent civil rights activists in Vietnam. Mr. Vinh and his colleague, Mrs. Nguyen Thi... Read more »
Mr. Nguyen Huu Vinh, born in 1956, known as blogger anhbasam (“The Gossiper”), is one of the most prominent civil rights activists in Vietnam. He and his colleague, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy, were arrested in Hanoi on May 5, 2014 and since then they are in detention. The police accuse them of “abusing democratic freedom to infringe the interests of the State” according to Art. 258, Criminal Code of Vietnam. His arrest happened three days after China had installed an oil platform off the coast from Vietnam and hence put the Vietnamese population in excitement. At that time the website anhbasam, which was named after him, tried to provide... Read more »
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Prof. Dr. Heiner Bielefeldt, was invited by the Government of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam to a country visit from 21 to 31 July 2014. After visiting some religious groups in Hanoi, Tuyen Quang Province, Ho Chi Minh City and Vinh Long the Special Rapporteur interrupted his travel on July 28, 2014, due to reason “that some individuals whom I wanted to meet with had been either under heavy surveillance, warned, intimidated, harassed or prevented from travelling by the police. Even those who successfully met with me were not free from a certain degree of police surveillance or... Read more »
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