Under fire, Vietnamese bloggers keep up dissent

By CHRIS BRUMMITT
Associated Press –09/13/2012

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam's government has vowed to crack down on three dissident blogs, a move that appeared to backfire Thursday as record numbers of people visited the sites and the bloggers pledged to keep up their struggle for freedom of expression.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung's order for police to arrest those responsible for the websites reflects growing unease within the Communist Party over the emergence of blogs and social media accounts that publish dissenting views, independent reporting and whistleblowing. The party doesn't allow free media, and it fears criticism or discussion of its failings on the Internet could lead to social instability and — ultimately — loss of its power.

"Nobody can shut our mouth or stop our freedom of expression," said a member of the team that administers one of the targeted blogs, Danlambao. "This is our mission. We will continue at any cost." The blogger chatted over the Internet with The Associated Press on the condition that his name and exact location not be published because of the risk of arrest.

Vietnam jails second dissident blogger in a week

A Vietnamese blogger who posted online calls for democracy has been jailed for five years, official media said Saturday, the second web dissident imprisoned this week in an ongoing crackdown on activists (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post)

AFP – 08/11/2012

A Vietnamese blogger who posted online calls for democracy has been jailed for five years, official media said Saturday, the second web dissident imprisoned this week in an ongoing crackdown on activists.

Le Thanh Tung was convicted of "propaganda against the state" by a Hanoi court over Internet articles for the banned Vietnam Freedom and Democracy Movement, said the ruling Communist Party's mouthpiece, Nhan Dan newspaper.

The court, which found him guilty Friday of distorting the policies of the state and the party, also handed down a subsequent sentence of four years' house arrest.

UN concerned at shrinking space for freedom of expression in Viet Nam

3 August 2012 –The United Nations human rights office today voiced concern at reports of the ongoing persecution of bloggers and people who use the Internet and other means to freely express their opinions in Viet Nam.

“We are concerned by what appears to be increasingly limited space for freedom of expression in Viet Nam,” Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), told reporters in Geneva.

The office voiced particular concern that the upcoming trial of Nguyen Van Hai (also known as Dieu Cay), Pan Thanh Hai and Ta Phong Tan for “conducting propaganda” against the State is directly linked to their legitimate exercise of freedom of expression, including their online publications about social and human rights issues.

CCHR Open Letter to Vietnamese Ambassador Calling for Release of Dissident Bloggers

https://www.box.com/s/41e9ff3e8a2224fb04a6

US urges release of Vietnam bloggers facing trial

People visit an Internet shop in Hanoi. The United States on Wednesday called on Vietnam to free three bloggers facing trial for propaganda against the state, voicing deep concern at the self-immolation of the mother of one of the trio

AFP – 08/01/2012

The United States on Wednesday called on Vietnam to free three bloggers facing trial for propaganda against the state, voicing deep concern at the self-immolation of the mother of one of the trio.

The defendants were arrested after posting hundreds of political articles on the banned Vietnamese website "Free Journalists Club", as well as writing on their own blogs, in a case that has been raised by US President Barack Obama.

If convicted they face up to 20 years in prison, according to their lawyers.

Dang Thi Kim Lieng, the mother of one of the three, died after setting herself ablaze on Monday in front of the local authorities' offices in Bac Lieu province, according to people close to the family.

Vietnam blogger's mother 'dies in self-immolation'

Ho Chi Minh City's 7th military zone stadium is seen in 2007. The mother of a prominent Vietnamese blogger has died after setting herself on fire ahead of her daughter's trial for propaganda against the Communist state, sources close to the family said

By Cat Barton | AFP – 07/30/2012

Tan used her blog to denounce corruption and injustice in Vietnam's legal system.

The mother of a prominent Vietnamese blogger has died after setting herself on fire ahead of her daughter's trial for propaganda against the Communist state, people close to the family said Monday.

Ta Phong Tan, a 43-year-old Catholic former policewoman, was arrested in September 2011 and has been held in detention along with two other bloggers, one of whose case has been raised by US President Barack Obama.

Tan's mother Dang Thi Kim Lieng set herself ablaze early Monday, according to Catholic activists and lawyers whose accounts to AFP were corroborated by reports on dissident blogs and the BBC's Vietnamese-language service.

"Her wounds were very serious and she died on the way to the hospital," said Dinh Huu Thoai, a priest close to the family of Tan, who is due in court in Ho Chi Minh City next week alongside the two other bloggers.

The trio are accused of "distorting the truth, denigrating the party and state" by posting hundreds of political articles on the banned website "Free Journalists Club" of Vietnam, as well as writing on their own blogs.

Clinton eyes Vietnam trade, rights as US pushes exports

11 July 2012
By Mu Sochua

Sec. Clinton will continue to put her firm believe in human rights and democracy in Cambodia. I am positive.

The message she carries with her at all high level meetings is her commitment to her constituency when she addressed the thousands of women who attended the 4th World Conference in Beijing in 1995. She was then, US First Lady. Her words that brought light to the women in beijing and the world over: Women's rights are human rights.

Her message to Vietnam yesterday is very clear and one does not even have to read between the lines: human rights first. Sustainable growth needs democracy.

Her call to Vietnam to open up comes not from just pressure, it comes from the global trend and from the US having learned from past mistake: supporting dictatorship in Egypt and other parts of the world is going against the real will of the people who want first a democratically elected government.

Vietnam needs to expand his growth through exports, with solid investments from the US. Sec. Clinton has come to the ASEAN meetings with a core group of high level US investors. What is her message?

We wish for nothing more than a sustainable Cambodia and that begins with the same story: human rights and democracy. Prime Minister Hun Sen has given our people and the region a taste of development with no respect to human rights, and still the strong man wants to set the scenario for the 2013 general elections by keeping away the main contender: Sam Rainsy.

Time has come for the international community to commit itself to the core values of democracy and human rights. Another five years of aid to Cambodia with the current status quo approach would be a serious failure of aid and development.

Sec. Clinton will have the same message of hope for the people of Cambodia. Sec. Clinton will have the same warning for the government of Cambodia: respect for human rights and free and fair elections. She said it when she met with Cambodia's foreign minister at her office last month. A strong ASEAN must be ASEAN with democracy.

With change, Cambodia has a chance.

-------

Clinton eyes Vietnam trade, rights as US pushes exports

11 July 2012

By Jo Biddle | AFP

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks in a press conference with Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh at the Government Guest House in Hanoi. Clinton met with Vietnam's top communist leaders Tuesday for talks aimed at boosting trade as the US seeks to shore up its stuttering economy with an Asia-focused export drive

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (L) and Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung shake hands at the Government Office in Hanoi. Clinton made a strong push for improved human rights

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (L) is greeted by Vietnam's Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh at the Government Guest House in Hanoi. Clinton witnessed the signing of two deals between General Electric and Vietnam's biggest state-owned telecoms group Vietnamese National Power Transmission Corporation, and a private Vietnamese company

Hillary Clinton met with Vietnam's top communist leaders Tuesday for talks aimed at boosting trade as the US seeks to shore up its stuttering economy with an Asia-focused export drive.

But the Secretary of State, who arrived from a trip to Mongolia, also made a strong push for improved human rights, arguing: "Democracy and prosperity go hand-in-hand. Political reform and economic growth are linked."

Clinton held talks with Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and had a landmark meeting with communist party head Nguyen Phu Trong at which she pressed human rights concerns, US officials said.

Sacrava's Political Cartoon - Dealing with Hanoi

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Vietnam arrests US pro-democracy activist

In this undated photo, Vietnamese-American pro-democracy activist Nguyen Quoc Quan is seen in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Quan was detained on April 17, 2012 for being accused of planning to hold protests for Viet Tan, a banned U.S. exile group, during May Day festivities and the anniversary of the fall of the former U.S.-backed South Vietnamese capital, Saigon, on April 30, 1975. (AP Photo/ Vietnam News Agency)

04/29/2012
Associated Press

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — A Vietnamese-American pro-democracy activist has been arrested and accused of terrorism for allegedly trying to sabotage liberation celebrations commemorating the end of the Vietnam War, state media said Sunday.

Nguyen Quoc Quan, 58, of California, was detained April 17 after arriving at the airport in southern Ho Chi Minh City, Tuoi Tre newspaper reported. He is accused of planning to hold protests for Viet Tan, a banned U.S. exile group, during this week's May Day festivities and the April 30 anniversary of the fall of the former U.S.-backed South Vietnamese capital, Saigon, to the northern communists in 1975.

Authorities also found many documents in Quan's possession on "terrorist training," the paper said. Quan, a mathematician, was previously sentenced to six months in jail by a Ho Chi Minh City court in 2008 for terrorism.

Even the Viet commies need new blood ... only the CPP clings to old geezers of the like of Hun Xen, Heng Xamrin and Chea Xim

Vietnam's Communist Party Ponders Change

FRIDAY, 02 MARCH 2012
Written by Khanh Vu Duc
Asia Sentinel

New blood needed.

The party is living on borrowed time as it drifts aimlessly

The Communist Party of Vietnam turned 82 on Feb. 3, of which 36 years have been spent ruling Vietnam. We can only guess what the next 82 years will bring. Indeed, this past week the party’s delegates and executives met in Hanoi to discuss much needed reform.

These discussions will focus on curbing corruption and deficiencies among party members, along with supposed improvements to human rights. However, any serious suggestion about reform by senior party officials has been just that – a suggestion. As these proposed reforms are designed to benefit the party, change for the Vietnamese people will continue to remain a distant hope.

The party today has strayed far from its Marxist-Leninist roots, evolving into a semi-benevolent dictatorship whose iron-fisted tactics are reserved for those democratic and human rights activists unwilling to accept the one-party rule of the government.

Khmer Krom: UN Committee Condemns Vietnam’s Persecution Of National Minorities

February 27, 2012
Source: http://www.unpo.org/article/13942

At the UN’s review of Vietnam’s efforts to eliminate racial discrimination, international experts heavily criticized the country’s discriminatory practices towards religious and ethnic minorities.

Below is an article published by Queme:

The Vietnam Committee on Human Rights regrets that Vietnam missed a precious opportunity to engage in a meaningful dialogue with the United Nations in Geneva on 21-22 February 2012 during the examination of its 10th-14th periodic reports on implementation of the UN International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) to which it acceded in 1982. Instead of addressing real challenges, Vietnam confined itself to propaganda. “Vietnam cites the quantity of laws it has adopted as proof of the rule of law in Vietnam. It pretends to believe that everything in the garden is rosy, simply because it says so. In fact, many of Vietnam’s mass-produced laws are rarely or never enacted; the stark reality for religious and ethnic minorities is the anti-human rights policy of the regime”, said Vo Van Ai, President of the Vietnam Committee for Human Rights (VCHR).

“Vietnam’s presentation of its periodic report was surreal”, said Mr. Ai. “The delegation began by describing the resounding success of its policies on ethnic minorities, supporting its claims with Soviet-style statistics - 100% of cities have primary schools and free clinics! It then proceeded to lament the lack of access to education and health in the remote regions where ethnic communities live. In fact, the report was more like a bad exercise in propaganda than a genuine effort to address problems of racial discrimination in Vietnam”.

No one is infallible - Personne n'est infaillibl​e

Vietnam arrests 9 alleged members of ‘reactionary’ political group

"Let’s keep an eye on what may happen in the land of the self-imposed “giant”. No one is infallible." - Kith Chamroeun

February 7, 2012

By Associated Press

HANOI, Vietnam — Vietnam has arrested nine members of an alleged “reactionary political organization” seeking to overthrow the government.

State media have reported that police in central Phu Yen Province raided the group’s headquarters and confiscated detonators, electronics and the equivalent of about $21,000.

Six were arrested Sunday and three others the next day, the official Vietnam News Agency reported Tuesday.

Provincial Police Chief Pham Van Hoa says they are under investigation for “abusing democracy (sic!)," VNA said.

Ringleader Phan Van Thu founded the nonviolent group in 1975 and has previously been sent to re-education camps, it said. The organization now allegedly has more than 300 members.

Vietnam does not tolerate challenges to its single-party rule.

US envoy visits Vietnam amid human rights concerns

Kurt Campbell

Feb 1, 2012
DPA

Hanoi - Human rights were expected to top the agenda as the senior US diplomat on South-East Asia arrived in Hanoi Wednesday.

Vietnam is the second stop on a three-country tour for Kurt Campbell, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. He arrived from Seoul and is to head to Cambodia Friday.

The visit came two weeks after Campbell called on Vietnam to improve its human rights record, saying it needed to do more to win support in Washington to expand cooperation.

At least 33 dissidents, bloggers and rights activists were imprisoned in Vietnam last year while 27 others were held without trial for their political and religious beliefs, according to Human Rights Watch.

Myanmar shows Vietnam the way

Monday, 16 January 2012
Roger Mitton
The Phnom Penh Post

On Friday, the Myanmar government released 651 detainees, most of them political prisoners.

Days earlier, Vietnam dumped yet another political activist, Bui Thi Minh Hang, in a labour camp for two years, without trial.

Western countries praised Myanmar, and the United States announced that it would restore full diplomatic ties with Naypyidaw.

Little was said about Vietnam. Indeed, it is hard to know what to say.

Week after week, lawyers, academics and journalists who advocate political reform are thrown in the slammer.

Khmer Krom NGOs Request VN to Respect Rights

Khmer Krom NGOs Request VN to Respect Rights

Wednesday the 12th Waxing Moon of Māgasira B.E.2555, December 7, A.D.2011 Year of the Rabbit

ASon Yoeung
KKHRD Exec. Dir.

Nguyễn Phú Trọng
Sec. Gen. of Vietnam
Communist Party

Click the links to read the Khmer Krom NGO letters:

KKHRD to VN KH1
KKHRD to VN KH2
KKHRD to VN KH3

KKHRD to VN En1
KKHRD to VN En2

KKHRD to UN En1
KKHRD to UN En2

KKHRD to Spec. Rapp KH1
KKHRD to Spec. Rapp KH2
KKHRD to Spec. Rapp KH3

Donors urge Vietnam to speed up economic reforms

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung (L) and World Bank Country Director for Vietnam Victoria Kwakwa (AFP, Hoang Dinh Nam)

Wednesday, December 07, 2011
AFP

HANOI — International donors on Tuesday urged Vietnam to accelerate efforts to restructure its economy and warned the communist country to improve its rights record or risk jeopardising its economic success.

Vietnam, which earlier this year refocused its attention away from growth to stabilising the economy, is battling Asia's highest inflation rate of around 20 percent and urgently needs to push through economic reforms, donors said.

"It would be much easier for Vietnam to pursue its restructuring agenda now than have to restructure after it's hit by a crisis," said Victoria Kwakwa, World Bank country director for Vietnam, at the donors' meeting in Hanoi.

At least 10 held at Vietnam demo – AFP

Sunday, November 27th, 2011
Agence France-Presse

HANOI – At least 10 Vietnamese protestors were detained in Hanoi on Sunday when security agents forcibly broke up a rally in support of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s recent call for a law on demonstrations.

Around 30 people marched in silence through the center of the city, before uniformed and plain clothed security agents moved in and forced them to disperse, dragging some demonstrators away onto a bus, an AFP reporter saw.

The protest was to support Dung’s proposal for a new law on demonstrations, which he said was necessary after a series of rallies earlier this year over a territorial spat with China exposed gaps in existing legislation.

Canadian MP Obhrai visits relatives of jailed VN democracy activist; calls on VN to uphold democratic values

Vietnam Falungong jailed over China broadcasts

This picture taken by the Vietnam News Agency shows Vu Duc Trung (C, first row), and Le Van Thanh (C, second row) (AFP/Vietnam News Agency)

AFP

HANOI — Vietnam on Thursday jailed two Falungong practitioners for beaming radio broadcasts into China, their lawyer said, where the movement is banned and labelled an "evil cult".

Vu Duc Trung, 31, received a three-year sentence and his brother-in-law Le Van Thanh, 36, was sentenced to two years, said the lawyer, Tran Dinh Trien.

The hearing in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi lasted about half a day.

The pair were charged in connection with "Sound of Hope" programmes transmitted into China via shortwave radio starting in April 2009, according to the Falungong's press office, the Falun Dafa Information Center in New York.

Vietnam dissidents forced to flee after exposing Communist crackdown

A policeman, flanked by local militia members, tries to stop a foreign journalist from taking pictures outside the Ho Chi Minh City people's court, where a human rights case was taking place in August. Photograph: Ian Timberlake/AFP/Getty Images

Nguyen Thu Tram and Nguyen Ngoc Quang threatened with imprisonment after collaborating with the Guardian on a story about harassment of pro-democracy activists

Tuesday 25 October 2011

guardian.co.uk

Two Vietnamese dissidents have fled the country under the threat of imprisonment or worse after collaborating with the Guardian on an article that highlighted a mounting crackdown in the country.

In addition, the correspondent who wrote the story, freelancer Dustin Roasa, was detained as he tried to return to Vietnam recently and held overnight at Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhat airport before being put on a flight out of the country the next day. "You are not welcome in Vietnam for security reasons," Roasa was told.

The article published in January exposed how dozens of pro-democracy activists were monitored, harassed, arrested, beaten and imprisoned for challenging the authority of the Communist party. Two dissidents quoted, Nguyen Thu Tram and Nguyen Ngoc Quang, were forced to flee Vietnam under threat of arrest and now live uncertain lives as refugees, all for speaking to a foreign reporter.

Roasa set up a series of meetings during a two-day trip to Vietnam in January. His rendezvous with Nguyen Thu Tram in a cafe passed off without incident.