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TechnoratiIII. Trade Unionists Arbitrarily Arrested, Detained, or Imprisoned Since 2006
At least eight trade unionists have been arrested since 2006 and sentenced to prison on national security charges. Of those, three remain in prison and at least two under administrative probation or house arrest imposed on political prisoners upon release from prison. The other three, while released from prison, are subject to regular detention and interrogation by police, intrusive surveillance, and harassment by vigilantes. In addition, other prominent advocates of democratic reforms, labor rights, and religious freedom—such as veteran dissident Thich Quang Do, leader of the banned Unified Church of Vietnam—have been under house arrest for many years. None of these activists should ever have been arrested, detained, or imprisoned.
All have been held under laws that violate fundamental freedoms; those who have been tried have not been afforded internationally recognized due process rights. Some of those arrested were proponents not only of independent trade unions, but democratic reforms in general, with several playing key roles in launching opposition parties. The authorities have charged them with “national security offenses” under the penal code, specifically: “conducting propaganda” against the state (article 88), “abusing democratic freedoms” to infringe upon the interests of the state (article 258), “disturbing social order” (article 245), and “espionage” (article 80).
In one case, Vietnamese agents may have abducted a labor activist who fled to Cambodia to escape persecution in Vietnam. Below we describe the cases of some of the activists who have been arrested, detained, placed under house arrest, imprisoned, or gone missing since 2006 in violation of international law.
Huynh Viet Lang
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Huynh Viet Lang (also known as Huynh Nguyen Dao), 41, a
member of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), issued a paper harshly
critical of labor rights violations in Vietnam in February 2006 entitled
“Stand Up for Democracy in Vietnam.” He was arrested in August
2006 in Ho Chi Minh City for distributing and posting online political
documents, along with PDP members Do Thanh Cong, Le Nguyen Sang, and Nguyen
Bac Truyen. In May 2007, he was sentenced to three years in prison on charges
of conducting “anti-government propaganda.” Huynh’s
sentence was reduced upon appeal to 30 months’ imprisonment. He was
released in February 2009.
Doan Huy Chuong (aka Nguyen Tan Hoanh)
Chuong reportedly suffered physical and psychological mistreatment during his imprisonment, including placement in solitary confinement for 48 days. Since his release from prison, Chuong has continued to suffer from numbness, migraines, and respiratory problems. His father, Doan Van Dien, who was arrested in November 2006, remains in prison (see below). |
Tran Thi Le Hong (aka Tran Thi Le Hang; Nguyen Thi Le Hong)
In December 2007 Hong was sentenced to three years in prison by the Dong Nai People’s Court for “abusing democratic freedoms.” In February 2008, her sentence was upheld upon appeal. She was reportedly released from B-5 Prison in Dong Nai Province in February 2009. |
One of the founders
of UWFO, Doan Huy Chuong, 24, worked in a seafood company in Quang Nam
Province before moving to Ho Chi Minh City, where he led several labor
strikes.He was arrested right before the APEC meetings in Hanoi
on November 14, 2006, along his two younger brothers, who were subsequently
released. Chuong was accused of “distorting the facts” in
interviews with international media, including Radio Free Asia, by charging
that the Vietnamese government committed labor rights violations and arrested
peaceful protesters. In December 2007 the Dong Nai People’s Court sentenced
him to 18 months in prison for “abusing democratic freedoms.” In February 2008, his sentence was upheld upon appeal. He
was released on May 13, 2008 after serving his sentence.
One of the founders and representatives of the UWFO, Tran
Thi Li Hong, 49, was arrested in Ho Chi Minh City in November 2006, after she
issued a public appeal on November 14 protesting the arrest of UWFO
co-founder Doan Huy Chuong and his two younger brothers. A farmer and a
worker, Hong had participated in several labor strikes in Dong Nai Province.
She was also a member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which was
founded in Vietnam in January 2005 to advocate for democracy and a
multi-party political system.
Doan Van Dien
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A UWFO member from
Dong Nai Province, Doan Van Dien, 54, was arrested on November 15, 2006,
after voicing concerns about the arrests of his sons the previous day. Dien
was accused of distributing anti-government leaflets and collecting
farmers’ complaints about government confiscation of their land, and
passing the information to international news sources before the November 2006
APEC summit in Hanoi. In December 2007, Dien was sentenced to four-and-a-half
years in prison by the Dong Nai People’s Court on charges of
“abusing democratic freedoms.” In February 2008,
a Vietnamese court upheld his sentence upon appeal. A member of the
Mennonite Church, Dien had previously been arrested in 2006 for his religious
activities. He is currently imprisoned at B-5 Prison in Dong Nai Province.
Nguyen Thi Tuyet
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A worker and member of UWFO, Nguyen Thi Tuyet was arrested
on November 15, 2006 after participating in several labor strikes in Dong Nai
Province. In December 2007 she was sentenced to 18 months’
imprisonment,upheld upon appeal in February 2008. While it is
likely that she has been released for time served, her current whereabouts
are unknown.
Ly Van SyA farmer and member of UWFO, Ly Van Sy was arrested in Ho Chi Minh City in November 2006. There are no details about whether he was tried and on what charges. He was reportedly released from prison in March 2007, but his current whereabouts are unknown. |
Nguyen TuanA UWFO member from Ho Chi Minh City, Nguyen Tuan was arrested on November 18, 2006 and detained at 4 Phan Dang Luu in Ho Chi Minh City. Details about his trial and sentencing are unknown. As of April 2009, his status was unknown. |
Le Ba TrietA UWFO member from Ho Chi Minh City, Le Ba Triet was arrested on November 18, 2006 and detained in 4 Phan Dang Luu in Ho Chi Minh City. Details about his trial and sentencing are unknown. As of April 2009, his status was unknown. |
Tran Quoc Hien
in Ho Chi Minh City, Hien was known for defending farmers whose land was confiscated by the government and for publishing articles online, such as “The Tail,” in which he described life under government surveillance. Tran Quoc Hien was sentenced on May 15, 2007 by the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court to five years’ imprisonment and two years’ house arrest on release for “spreading anti-government propaganda” and “endangering state security.” Authorities accused him of having “joined reactionary organizations” including Bloc 8406, inciting demonstrations, and posting “distorted” articles on the internet.He is currently imprisoned at Camp Z-30A in Xuan Loc District in Dong Nai Province, one of the main prisons in Vietnam for political prisoners. In February 2009, he joined a three-day hunger strike with other political prisoners to protest harsh conditions. |
A lawyer
from Ho Chi Minh City, Tran Quoc Hien, 44, was arrested on January 12, 2007,
just two days after he publicly emerged as spokesperson for UWFO. As director
of a law firm
Le Thi Cong Nhan
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A human rights lawyer and democracy
activist, Le Thi Cong Nhan, 31, was arrested in Hanoi on March 6, 2007. She
was a founding member of the Committee for Human Rights in Vietnam and
spokesperson for the Vietnam Progressive Party, one of several opposition
parties that surfaced during 2006. She was also a vocal advocate for
establishment of independent unions in Vietnam and in 2006 wrote a
comprehensive essay on the need for protection of labor rights entitled
“Legislative Aspects of Industrial Actions and the Need for Independent
Unions in Vietnam.” In October 2006, she was denied a passport in order
to attend a conference in Warsaw, Poland on workers’ rights in Vietnam.
Crimes listed in her indictment include “misinterpreting the
state’s policies regarding labor unions and workers in Vietnam,”
joining the Block 8406 democracy movement and the Vietnam Progressive Party,
conducting human rights seminars, and possessing and distributing documents
promoting human rights and democracy. On May 11, 2007, the Hanoi
People’s Court sentenced her to four years in prison, later reduced
upon appeal in November 2007 to three years, on charges of
“disseminating propaganda against the government.”
Tran Khai Thanh Thuy
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A well-known
author, poet, and journalist, Tran Khai Thanh Thuy was one of the founders of
the Independent Worker’s Union in October 2006. In December 2006, she
started an association for victims of land confiscation in Vietnam (Hoi
Dan Oan Viet Nam) and she also served on the editorial board of To
Quoc (Fatherland) Review, a pro-democracy bulletin printed
clandestinely in Vietnam and circulated on the internet. Prior to her
arrest in April 2007, Thuy was frequently detained, interrogated, and
harassed by authorities. In November 2006, she was dismissed from her job as
a journalist. During the APEC meetings that month, she was locked in her
house by authorities and remained under effective house arrest afterwards. On
March 10, 2007, police searched her home and confiscated her computer, cell
phone, and hundreds of complaint letters filed by farmers protesting loss of
their land. Thuy was arrested at a bus station in Hanoi in April 2007 and
charged with conducting “anti-government propaganda” and
“disturbing social order”. During her more than nine months of
detention at Thanh Liet Detention Center (known as B14 Camp) in Hanoi,
authorities prohibited Thuy from receiving visits or letters from her family.
Only the second charge, disturbing social order, was maintained at her trial
in January 2008, where she was sentenced to nine months and ten days, or time
served, and released. Upon her release, police informed her that she must
undergo two-years’ administrative surveillance although this was not
included in her court sentencing and prison release documents. As of April
2009 she continued to face intense harassment, with police refusing to
intervene when local thugs threw feces and garbage at her house on numerous
occasions.
Nguyen Khac Toan
In April 2006 he joined 118 other signatories of the Bloc 8406 democracy petition. In August 2006 as he was preparing to launch a democracy publication (Freedom and Democracy) with other activists, police raided his home, confiscating his computer, books and documents. In October 2006 he announced the formation of the IWUV, along with 13 other activists, in a letter to the president of Vietnam and the Vietnam Confederation of Labor that was posted on the internet. During the November 2006 APEC meeting in Hanoi, police prohibited Nguyen Khac Toan from leaving his house or receiving visitors, placing an English-language sign on his door stating “Security area. No foreigner allowed.” In February 2008 police prevented him from leaving his home to attend the funeral of another prominent dissident. He remains under surveillance, with police regularly summoning him for interrogation and searching his house, and confiscating his computer and personal papers on more than one occasion. |
One of the founders of the IWUV, Nguyen Khac Toan,
53, is a democracy activist and former political prisoner. A former soldier
in the North Vietnamese army, Toan has drawn the government’s ire since
2000 for launching underground pro-democracy publications, writing about
farmer protests against land confiscation and corruption, and attempting to
form an anti-corruption association. He was arrested in 2002 at an internet
cafe and sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment on espionage charges. In
January 2006, he was released after four years in prison, but placed under
two years’ house arrest. Shortly after his release he issued public
statements calling for greater freedom of expression, multi-party democracy,
and the release of political prisoners.
Le Tri Tue
After serving in the navy for five years, Le Tri Tue worked as a businessman. Le Tri Tue left his business in 2004 to engage in social activism on behalf of people whose land and property had been confiscated by the Vietnamese government. In October 2006 he founded IWUVN together with other Vietnamese activists, serving on a three-person interim executive committee. Le Tri Tue was also one of the 118 founding members of the Bloc 8406 democracy movement. Vietnamese police arrested and interrogated Tue numerous times in 2006 and 2007 and placed him under surveillance
Le Tri Tue was beaten in the street by police and unidentified agents at least two times during 2006 and 2007. In March 2007, police interrogated Tue on two occasions. They threatened to imprison him unless he revealed the names of other Bloc 8406 activists, condemned the democracy movement, and declared publicly and in writing that he would withdraw from Bloc 8406 and IWUV. Tue fled to Cambodia on April 11, 2007, where he registered with the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Phnom Penh as an asylum seeker. On May 6, 2007, Le Tri Tue went missing from the guesthouse where he was staying in Phnom Penh, and has not been seen or heard from since. Chronology of events preceding the “disappearance” of Le Tri Tue
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One of the founders of the IWUVN,
Le Tri Tue, 30, went missing in May 2007 after fleeing to Cambodia to seek
political asylum. Human Rights Watch is deeply concerned that he may have
been abducted by Vietnamese government security agents—who have
unlawfully snatched Vietnamese in Cambodia in the past—and imprisoned
in Vietnam or killed. In March 2008 the US State Department report on human
rights in Vietnam noted grimly that “Le Tri Tue was still missing...
amid rumors that Vietnamese government security agents had killed him.”