VIETNAM: Crackdown persists

15 September 2009

RAN 49/09

The Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of International PEN is alarmed about another wave of arrests in Vietnam, in which a number of writers and activists have been arrested in recent weeks for their dissenting views and activities. They include internet writers Nguyen Tien Trung and Tran Anh Kim, who were arrested on 7 July 2009 and remain detained. International PEN reiterates its call for the immediate and unconditional release of all those detained in Vietnam for the peaceful exercise of their right to free expression, in accordance with Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Vietnam is a signatory.

According to PEN's information, at least six internet writers have been arrested since July 2009 for allegedly ‘threatening national security' in their writings as part of an ongoing crackdown on political dissent. Those to have been briefly detained include Pham Doan Trang (f), reporter for the Internet news site VietnamNet, arrested on 28 August 2009 and released on 12 September 2009; internet writer Bui Thanh Hieu (aka Nguoi Buon Gio), arrested on 27 August 2009 and released on 5 September 2009; internet writer and journalist  Sphinx, summoned by the security police on 31 August 2009 and released on 3 September 2009; internet writer Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh (aka Me Nam) (f), arrested on 2 September 2009 and reported on 14 September to have been freed. Those to remain detained are:

• Nguyen Tien Trung: internet writer and pro-democracy activist, reportedly arrested by the security police in Ho Chi Minh City on 7 July 2009. Aged 26, he is known for his online writings on the issues of freedom of opinion, religion and media, and alleged official corruption. He is also a poet.

• Tran Anh Kim: Internet writer, and author of many articles and essays focusing in human rights and social injustice. Reports say that he has been arrested on charge of ‘spreading anti-government propaganda' in Thai Binh province on 7 July 2009. Aged 60, he is a former political commissioner and lieutenant colonel in the People's Army, He is secretary of the Vietnamese Democratic Party and member of Block 8406.

According to Human Rights Watch, three of the writers and activists arrested in the September 2008 crackdown in Vietnam were charged on 3 July 2009 with ‘conducting anti-government propaganda', under Article 88 of the Vietnamese Criminal Code. If found guilty they could face up to twelve years imprisonment. These writers are: Nguyen Xuan Nghia, novelist, poet and journalist; Nguyen Van Tuc, farmer, poet and human rights defender; Ngo Quynh, student and dissident online writer. Other writers arrested in the same crackdown, but not yet indicted, are: Pham Thanh Nghien, Internet writer and independent journalist; Tran Duc Thach, poet; and Pham Van Troi, dissident writer and activist.

For the full Human Rights Watch report ‘Call for release of peaceful democracy advocates', see:
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/08/19/vietnam-release-peaceful-democracy-advocates

For the WiPC alert on Vietnam regarding the September 2008 crackdown, see:
http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/index.cfm?objectid=9F429696-E0C4-ED84-0F97547E047B2BF0