ỦY
BAN NHÂN QUYỀN VIỆT NAM
THE COMMITTEE
FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN VIETNAM
Address: P.O BOX 648 BƯU
ĐIỆN BỜ HỒ, HÀ NỘI, VIỆT NAM
Email: humanrightsvn@gmail.com
www.humanrightsvn.blogspot.com
DECLARATION
Whereas,
in recent days the Vietnamese communist government has intensified its campaign
to crack down on political dissidents and democracy and human rights advocates
by blatantly raiding on Father Thaddeus Nguyen Van Ly’s quarters in the Hue
City Rectory during the traditional celebration of the Lunar New Year of the
Boar (2007).
Whereas,
the Vietnamese communist government has continued to redouble its efforts,
resorting to proletarian dictatorship violence against young democracy and
human rights activists in Vietnam, witness:
For
over a month now, the communist government has frenziedly employed various
tactics to repress democracy activists in Vietnam, beginning with its illegal
raid on the Thien An law
office on February 3, 2007, while attorney Le Thi Cong-Nhan was providing a group of college students
with information on human rights. On the evening of the same day, security
police conducted a search of the office and took away personal items and
documents belonging to attorney Nguyen Van Dai. On the afternoon of February 4,
the police proceeded with searching the homes of both attorneys Nguyen Van Dai
and Le Thi Cong-Nhan, and
confiscated more of their personal items and materials. In the following days,
they continued to interrogate the attorneys. On February 10, under pressure
from the police the Discipline and Commendation Board of the Hanoi Lawyers
Association asked attorney Dai to report for a hearing, but Mr. Dai declined
because of a previously arranged doctor’s appointment. The police also
pressured the Office of Business Registrar of Hanoi’s Planning and Investment
Bureau to issue a notice to cancel its license to the Translation and Legal
Consultation, LLP on February 28, 2007, of which Mr. Nguyen Van Dai is a
co-founder and the executive director. On March 1st, the Discipline
and Commendation Board of the Hanoi Lawyers Association sent another notice
requesting Mr. Dai to report for a hearing on March
12.
Father
Nguyen Van Ly, 60, a co-founder of Bloc 8406 and mentor of the Vietnam
Progression Party, was arrested in Hue by a 60-policemen-strong force at 3 p.m.
on February 24, 2007 after they had confined him to a tiny room inside the Hue
Archdiocese Rectory at 69 Phan Dinh Phung Street. On February 18, as the police stormed
into his room, ransacked his furniture and belongings, and confiscated his
personal computers and mobile phones, Father Ly went on a hunger strike until
today (March 6, 2007) in order to protest peacefully the violent and barbaric
tactics the communist government has employed to muzzle political dissent. His
health has deteriorated as his blood pressure is dropping and his speech is
weak. Father Ly protested vigorously when five to six muscular policemen locked
his arms and forcibly escorted him
away.
On
March 6, at 10 a.m. (Hanoi time) a group of 15 police stormed into the home of
attorney Le Thi Cong-Nhan in a communal housing compound for government employees at 316, A7, Alley 4,
Phuong Mai, Dong Da precinct, Hanoi. Mr. Ngo Quang Du, the police team leader
of Hanoi’s Police Headquarters, read to Ms. Cong-Nhan a warrant ordering her to be detained for at least four months pending
investigation, as stipulated by Article 88 of the Criminal Code. A few moments
later, the news came that secret service agents tailing attorney Nguyen Van Dai
on the way to his office had turned him back, forcing him to join their search
of his home (Apartment 302-Z8, Back Khoa Communal
House, Back Khoa ward, Hai Ba Trung precinct, Hanoi) and the Thien An law office (10 Doan Tran Nghiep,
Bui Thi Xuan ward, Hai Ba Trung precinct, Hanoi). The police took away from the law office a total of five desk
computers costing eight million Vietnamese dongs apiece. On the second ransack,
communist police did greater damage to the law office than on the first time on
February 3. At Mr. Dai’s home, after having confiscated his mobile phone,
police read to him the same warrant as they did to Ms. Cong-Nhan.
They flatly refused the plea of his wife, Vu Minh Khanh, for a receipt of confiscated items. Both arrests
were videotaped by police, who then fed footage directly to the evening news
broadcast on the same day on VTV1, a State-owned television station, which
contained libelous charges against both
attorneys.
In
view of the above incidents, we strongly believe that the current campaign is
aimed at violently repressing political dissidents and persons of conscience in
Vietnam. The government’s acts are in serious violation of the Vietnamese
Constitution with regard to Articles 68 (freedom of movement,) 71
(inviolability of the citizen’s body,) and 73 (inviolability of the citizen’s
domicile). Furthermore, the communist government has violated Articles 6,
7 and 8 of the Criminal Code, and in particular Article 145 that concerns
receipts of confiscated items. They are also in serious violation of Articles
9, 12 and 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
ratified by the UN to which Vietnam became a signatory member on September 24,
1982.
The
Committee for Human Rights in Vietnam hereby declares:
1/
That it condemns the Vietnamese communist government for having employed
repressive tactics from arrest to seizure of personal properties when raiding
the Thien An law office, as well as the headquarters
of Bloc 8406 and the Vietnam Progression Party.
2/ That it vigorously denounces the Vietnamese communist
government for having detained attorneys Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong-Nhan.
3/
That it urges the communist government to immediately and unconditionally
release Father Nguyen Van Ly, and attorneys Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong-Nhan, at once stop all
measures of harassment and repression against the democracy movement, namely
the Thien An law office, the Vietnam Progression
Party, and Bloc 8406.
4/ That it calls upon the international community of
civilized, progressive, peace-loving people around the world to voice their
unanimous support of the two attorneys, as well as other people of conscience
in Vietnam.
5/ That it calls upon all governments, international
human rights advocacy organizations, as well as the people, including overseas
Vietnamese, all over the world, to strongly condemn the Vietnamese communist
government for having arrested attorneys Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong-Nhan.
Made
in Hanoi on this 7th day of March, 2007
On behalf of the
Committee for Human Rights in Vietnam
Nguyen
Cong Ly and Bui Minh Thanh
