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Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Independence - Freedom - Happiness
Hanoi, October 14, 1999
Respectfully sent to:
-Leaders of the Party, State, National Assembly, and Government
-Judicial offices
-Media offices
I, Nguyen Thanh Giang, living at Unit A13-P9 TTPK Hoa Muc, Trung Hoa ward, Cau Giay district, urgently alert you to the severe threat on the lives of my family and myself.
Around 6:30 am on October 11, 1999, about ten Public Securities cadres, without reasons, burst into our house, searched, and took away our computer.
They ordered me to the Hanoi Public Securities Office for four days of interrogation. They asked me all kinds of ambiguous questions. It took a long time before I figured out they were looking for the author of the obituary to [the late] Mr. Hoang Huu Nhan.
Even though they did not find that article in my house or in the hard drive of my computer after a meticulous search, they refused to give back the computer.
In this computer, besides the data relating to my son's contracted works for various offices, and a valuable article by the revolutionist writer Thoi Huu (my father-in-law) that was found recently - fifty years after it was written - there was my article "Twelve Days of Hunger Strike in Prison Camp B14." Other than that, there is nothing that can be considered "roguish."
I desperately explained that the computer was the main means of living for my son. He, the first U.S.-trained geophysicist from Vietnam, was cut from the Petroleum Science Institute because of [the government's] suspicions about me. His twelve years of general education and the technical knowledge accumulated from the nine long years in Vietnamese and American universities are now wasted. Currently, he has to make his living out of his auxiliary knowledge of English and computer.
So, after taking away his ability to contribute to the country, by illegally confiscating the computer, they are also taking away his means to earn a living. How blatant, barbaric, and heartless!
On March 4 of this year, they abruptly detained me for two months on the suspicion that I was the author of the article "Constructive Suggestions to the Party." Now, they use the pretext of searching for the author of the article "Missing Hoang Huu Nhan - a True Communist, Most Dedicated to the Country, Most Faithful to the People" [to harass me].
In fact, after the interrogation at the Hanoi Public Security Office I had the chance to read that article at the house of an acquaintance. Afterwards, I felt both alarmed and tired. I do not know if blaming this article on me was the result of poor education or irresponsibility.
Any ordinary person who reads [this article] with some care can recognize it is not my writing style. Moreover, being a scientist, I could never afford to write loose and ambiguous sentences that could be totally misunderstood [like thosein the article]. For example, the sentence "A person who defended Tran Do and protected Thanh Giang ... is now still buried at the Mai Dich [National Cemetery]" would imply Tran Do and Thanh Giang are bad persons!
Other people believe that [the Government] did not misunderstand anything. They just intentionally set a trap to catch Thanh Giang. They had arrested him but had to let him go [for lack of justification]. Now they continue to try their best to bring Thanh Giang to court to save their faces!
Under that threat, fear remains constantly in my family, particularly for my father, who is almost ninety years old, and our little helping girl. Quite possible indeed. Yesterday, there was an article signed by Nguyen Trung Truc; today, another article signed by "Your Dear Friends;" Some day there will be an article signed by Nguyen Thanh Giang with the content full of illegal information. [They could even frame US with] packages of heroin thrown into our back yard!
If they can just arbitrarily take and hold our computer without even the need to provide a reason, what else can stop them from resorting to other unjust and immoral ways! I urgently request the leaders of the National Assembly, the Party, the State, the Government, the judicial authorities to timely put an end to the horrible process being used to severely harass my family and myself.
I demand:
1. The immediate cancellation of the "Order of Prohibition to Going Outside the Residential Area" imposed on me;
2. An end to the harassment of our children. Why did the Public Securities of the Thanh Xuan Bac Ward refuse to notarize my daughter's personal history, with good or bad remarks, so she can submit it to her file at work?
3. The immediate return of my computer, photocopier, and documents taken from my house in the last two searches;
4. An end to the pranks played on our family's phone, intermittently during the day and frequently between 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. Living with US is a man almost ninety years of age, and a child two years old. My uncle living next door also suffers high blood pressure. Who will be responsible if we have a medical emergency but cannot use the phone to call the ambulance?
5. The immediate restoration of my full freedom;
6. A definite end to the arbitrary house searches and the unreasonable torment on me with those prolonged meaningless interrogations. Remember that, comparing to those currently holding offices, I have worked longer and made more worthy contributions to the Revolution.
If this brutality, for some reason, is beyond the control of the [Vietnamese] government, I strongly call on all conscientious Vietnamese and the international community to support our family in our fight to the end to uphold the principles of Human Rights and Justice.
Respectfully,
Nguyen Thanh Giang, Ph.D.
Unit A13P9 TTPK Hoa Muc,
Trung Hoa Ward -Cau Giay District
Hanoi, Vietnam
Tel: 858 60 12
Human Rights Watch
Asia Division
Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world.
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Its Asia division was established in 1985 to monitor and promote the observance of internationally recognized human rights in Asia. Sidney Jones is the executive director; Mike Jendrzejczyk is the Washington director; Joe Saunders is the deputy director; Jeannine Guthrie is NGO liaison; Smita Narula is senior researcher; Sara Colm, Gary Risser are researchers; Mickey Spiegel is a consultant; Liz Weiss and Adam Bassine are associates. Andrew J. Nathan is chair of the advisory committee and Orville Schell is vice chairs.
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