Defend the Defenders | January 12, 2019
In the early morning of January 9, the Ministry of Public Security and the Hanoi Police Department deployed thousands of policemen, including riot police, blocked Dong Tam commune, My Duc district and attacked Hoanh village, killing elderly leader Le Dinh Kinh and detaining his family as well as other villagers who bravely resist to the regime’s plan to seize their 59-hectare Senh agricultural field.
Mr. Kinh’s wife said he was shot four times by police officers at around 4AM on Thursday: twice at his head, once in his heart and once in his left leg while laying in his bed. It is unclear about the deaths of his son and grandson.
According to the ministry, three police officers were also killed by a petrol bomb and other hand-made weapons. However, it is unclear about their deaths as the ministry has not provided further details while reporters of the state-controlled media were not permitted to go to the site but use only the information provided by the ministry.
The ministry is trying to persuading the domestic and the international community that all the deaths were a result of Dong Tam people’s violent resistance against law enforcement during land reclamation. However, the disputed land- Senh agricultural land- is about three kilometers from Hoanh village and the police attack at the early morning was carried out at Mr. Kinh’s house with aims to persecute him and his family. According to Vietnam’s law, all land reclamation should be carried out in day times, not during nights.
Two years ago, in mid-April, 2017, Dong Tam villagers kept hostage more than 40 policemen and My Duc district’s officials for a week and released them on April 22 after Hanoi People’s Committee’s Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung promised to settle the land dispute. The hostage was well treated so it is unlikely Dong Tam’s people were the side to open fire against the armed police forces as the ministry said in its press release on January 9.
Vietnam’s regime is treating Dong Tam farmers as “hostile forces” and vows to impose heavy disciplines on the arrested ones.
Meanwhile, Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), has called on Vietnam to hold accountable those who used violence and permit access to Dong Tam by journalists, diplomats, U.N. agency officials, and other impartial observers.
“Vietnam’s national authorities must launch an impartial and transparent investigation of these events that get to the bottom of what happened, who is responsible for the violence, and whether police used excessive force,” he said in a statement released on January 10.
Along with the violent attack in Dong Tam, authorities in other localities continue persecution against local dissidents, using controversial allegations in the National Security provisions of the Criminal Code to silence bloggers.
Mr. Dinh Quang Phu from the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong has become the first Facebooker being arrested this year on allegation of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 for his postings and sharings on his Facebook accounts. He will be held incommunicado for at least three months for investigation and will face imprisonment of between seven and 12 years if is convicted.
Two days later, on January 11, police in Ninh Kieu district, Can Tho City, detained Mr. Chung Hoang Chuong, accusing him of “abusing democratic freedom” for his writing on his Facebook account Chương May Mắn. He is temporarily held in the district police and may be kept for investigation of the accusation.
Prisoner of conscience Tran Thi Nga who is serving her 9-year imprisonment on the charge of “conducting anti-state propaganda,” was freed but forced to live in exile in the US. She arrived in Georgia with her family on January 11.
The appeal hearing of human rights lawyer Tran Vu Hai and his wife scheduled on January 9 was postponed due to her health problem. The new schedule is set on January 16 and the People’s Court of Khanh Hoa province will be on charge. On December 11 last year, the couple was sentenced to one year of non-custodial reform and imposed an administrative fine of VND20 million ($850) each in a trumped-up tax evasion case.
===== January 6 =====
Vietnam’s PM Urges Police to Clamp Down on National Security Crimes
RFA: On the heels of a report that the Vietnamese government arrested and charged 39 prisoners of conscience in 2019 on charges of violating national security, the country’s prime minister urged the police to step up its efforts against “hostile forces and reactionaries.”
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc made his plea to the police, emphasizing the seriousness of national security crime at an annual police ministry conference Sunday.
The report, a weekly update published Jan. 5 on the Defend the Defenders website, says that Vietnam is holding 239 prisoners of conscience on charges ranging from subversion and conducting anti-state propaganda, to abusing democratic freedom and disrupting public orders, among other charges.
The 39 arrested and charged last year using the National Security clauses in Vietnam’s penal code include several journalists, among them “Pham Chi Dung, president of the unregistered Independent Journalist Association of Vietnam for his writing for the organization as well as the Voice of America (VOA) …and other foreign outlets,” the report said.
In September 2019, the Supreme People’s Procuracy of Vietnam reported at a Justice Committee meeting saying that crimes related to national security were on the rise, increasing 58.8%.
Deputy Minister of police Le Quy Vuong at that time also stated that hostile forces and reactionaries were increasing their action to fight against the Vietnamese government, and getting g more numerous and stronger than in their activities. Trans-national crimes were also on the rise.
New Year Arrest
Meanwhile, Vietnamese Authorities arrested a reader of materials produced by the Freedom Publishing House (FPH), an independent publisher formed in February 2018.
Without a warrant, police entered and searched the Hanoi home of Quyet Sy Ho, then brought him to the police station for interrogation, according to RFA sources.
Trang Doan Pham, a blogger, told RFA’s Vietnamese Service that the incident was not the first time that readers of FPH books have had their houses unduly searched and were taken in by authorities.
An FPH member in charge of the northern parts of the country who requested anonymity for security reasons told RFA that he has been on the run from the government for the past two months.
“I joined the FPH with a desire to help Vietnamese readers have access to information from many different angles than just the censored news,” the source said.
The source said he wanted to provide access to “more applicable knowledge” and fair coverage of political issues.
“Security agents came to my workplace to investigate and I felt unsafe, so I went into hiding,” the source said.
“They searched my house, confiscating all my documents and my computer and many other things,” he added.
“They also took documents pertaining to my relatives, such as education degrees, a personal computer, and asked my younger brother to go to the station for interrogation,” said the source.
An FPH reader identified as Mr. H told RFA that there is great difficulty in distributing books published by the organization.
“The shipper can be arrested at any time. If the government finds a list of people who order these books, they can be found and arrested,” said H, adding that he only buys FPH books from his friends.
H also said that the government wants to put a stop to FPH activities that impact the common people of Vietnam.
“The government sees that the FPH as a resistance force that is dangerous to them,” said H, adding that FPH materials are popular with Vietnamese activist groups.
===== January 9 =====
Three Policemen, Civilian Killed in Clash Over Land Near Vietnam’s Capital
RFA: Three policemen and a civilian were killed Thursday as farmers threw grenades and petrol bombs at police in the latest flare-up of a long-running dispute over a military airport construction site near Vietnam’s capital Hanoi, state media said.
“On Thursday morning, some people resisted, using hand-grenades, petrol bombs and knives to attack police forces, fighting officers on duty and disrupting public order,” the online VN Express quoted the Ministry of Public Security as saying.
“As a result, three policemen and a civilian died, and another person was injured,” it said, adding that “authorities have launched an investigation into the case and have arrested the lawbreakers,” the ministry said.
VN Express quoted To An Xo, a spokesman for the ministry, as saying Dong Tam commune was under control and police forces remain at the scene to maintain stability.
A woman who had just escaped from Dong Tam told RFA’s Vietnamese Service police were destroying the house of an elderly farmer who had been at the center of the land dispute and arresting his relatives.
“They [police] threw explosive charges, pepper spray and everything,” she told RFA. “Now they are breaking down Mr. Kinh’s house and arresting people inside.”
Kinh, in his mid-80s, was among the farmers taken into custody in the initial arrests in April 2017 that sparked a hostage showdown.
“There are about 20 people at Mr. Kinh’s house, but his grandchildren and his two sons and daughter-in law have also been arrested,” she added. “Le Dinh Quang, Mr. Kinh’s son, was trying to run away, but he was arrested and kicked by police with sniffer dogs.”
Lawyer Ngo Anh Tuan, who has worked to protect the interests and rights of Dong Tam residents, told RFA Thursday that he has repeatedly cautioned villagers against engaging in a violent confrontation with the government.
“For years, I have advised them not to engage in extremist acts and instead to maintain dialogue with the government with the aim of resolving the land dispute over the long term,” he said.
“I’ve told them not to use violence because there is no way they could deal with a government response without weapons.”
Tensions over the Mieu Mon military airport in Dong Tam village, 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Hanoi had simmered for nearly three years.
Farmers in Dong Tam say the government is seizing 47 hectares (116 acres) of their farmland for the military-run Viettel Group—the country’s largest mobile phone operator—without adequately compensating them. The farmers say their families had tilled the land for generations and paid taxes and fees to the government.
Scene of 2017 hostage standoff
In April 2017, police arrested several farmers for allegedly causing “social unrest” during a clash between authorities and commune residents over the 47 hectares of Dong Tam land.
Other farmers responded to the arrests by detaining 38 police officers and local officials, threatening to kill them if police moved against them again.
The standoff lasted a week and ended after police freed jailed farmers and the farmers freed the officers and officials, following a pledge by the Mayor of Hanoi, Nguyen Duc Chung, to investigate their complaints and not prosecute the villagers.
In July 2017, government inspectors in Hanoi ruled that the disputed land should be administered by the military and, in October, police ordered the farmers involved in the incident to turn themselves in.
In August, a Hanoi court sentenced 14 officials to between one and a half and six and a half years in prison for abusing their authority to manage land deals in Dong Tam commune.
VN Express quoted the security ministry as saying Thursday’s violence came a week after the Ministry of Defense and local authorities began building a fence for the Mieu Mon military airport.
“While land disputes are not uncommon in Vietnam, it is the first time in years that policemen have been killed in one,” the state news website said.
Call for accountability
Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), urged Vietnam to hold accountable those who used violence and permit access to Dong Tam by journalists, diplomats, U.N. agency officials and other impartial observers.
“Vietnam’s national authorities must launch an impartial and transparent investigation of these events that gets to the bottom of what happened, who is responsible for the violence, and whether police used excessive force,” he said in a statement.
In the Dong Tam dispute, the authorities maintain that the farmers have illegally occupied land earmarked for the military nearly 40 years ago, which was allocated to Viettel in 2015 to build a defense-related project.
While all land in Vietnam is ultimately held by the state, land confiscations have become a flashpoint as residents accuse the government of pushing small landholders aside in favor of lucrative real estate projects, and of paying too little in compensation to those whose land is taken.
“Unfair and arbitrary land confiscation for economic projects, displacing local people, has been a major problem in the country for the past two decades,” said Robertson of HRW.
“Vietnam government officials need to recognize the importance of carrying out dialogues and negotiations with farmers to solve land disputes like Dong Tam in a peaceful manner rather than using violence,” he added.
The U.S. State Department detailed numerous reports of clashes between local residents and authorities at land expropriation sites in Vietnam during 2018 in the latest edition of its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, noting that “disputes regarding land expropriation for development projects remained a significant source of public grievance.”
Related article: Long-simmering Land Dispute in Hanoi Suburb Explodes in Violence, Killing 4
===== January 10 =====
Vietnam Continues Crackdown on Facebookers, Arresting First on Allegation of “Conducting Anti-state Propaganda”
Defend the Defenders: Vietnam’s authorities continue its crackdown on Facebookers for the second year after implementation of the Cyber Security law, arresting the first activist on the allegation of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of the Criminal Code.
State media has reported that on January 9, police in the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong arrested local resident Dinh Van Phu for his online activities and will keep him for at least three months for investigation. He will likely be held incommunicado during the pre-trial detention similar to other political cases.
According to the police, Mr. Phu, 47, was used several Facebook accounts such as “Jimy Nguyễn,” “Vinh Nguyễn Jimy,” and “Nguyễn Vinh” to disseminate articles and conduct live streams with content to distort policies of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam and its government as well as defaming its leaders.
He is accused of triggering social dissatisfaction and calling for street demonstrations to protest the communist government regarding human rights violations, environmental pollution, systemic corruption as well as a weak response to China’s violations of the country’s sovereignty in the East Sea (South China Sea).
Police also mentioned that Mr. Phu participated in the peaceful demonstration in Ho Chi Minh City on June 10, 2018 to protest two bills on Special Economic Zones and Cyber Security. The first was considered to provide privileges for Chinese investors amid Beijing’s increasing aggressiveness in the East Sea while the second aims to silence the local dissent. He was reportedly arrested, beaten and fined with VND750,000 for “causing public disorders.”
Along with targeting groups in order to prevent the formation of political parties and civil society organizations, Vietnam’s communist regime is striving to crack down on online activists. Last year, it arrested 21 Facebookers, 14 of them were charged with “conducting anti-state propaganda” and five of them with “abusing democratic freedom” in the National Security provisions of the Criminal Code. As many as 12 Facebookers were sentenced to between five and 11 years in prison on allegation of “conducting anti-state propaganda,” significant lengthier sentences compared to the same allegation in other cases in the previous decade.
The ruling communist party is preparing its 13th National Congress scheduled in early 2021 and it will tighten social life. It is expected more arrest and harassment against local dissent in the coming months.
——————–
Civilian Killed in Violent Land Clash in Vietnam Identified as Elderly Community Leader
RFA: A civilian killed during a violent clash over a land dispute that also left three policemen dead has been identified as the elderly leader of a group of villagers protesting a military airport construction site near Vietnam’s capital Hanoi, state media said Friday.
Le Dinh Kinh, 84, was killed Thursday as farmers from Dong Tam commune threw grenades and petrol bombs at police in the latest flare-up of the long-running dispute, which also saw a fifth unidentified person sustain injuries.
According to media reports, the Dong Tam Commune People’s Committee handed Kinh’s body over to his family on Friday, although sources told RFA’s Vietnamese Service that relatives had yet to receive it because they refused to sign documents related to the land dispute, without providing details of what the papers said.
RFA was unable to contact Kinh’s family members or residents of Dong Tam commune to confirm the state media report on Friday.
Kinh was among the farmers taken into custody in the initial arrests in April 2017 that sparked a hostage showdown and had been identified by Vietnam’s official media as the head of the group after signing a letter of complaint that was sent to local government officials over the dispute.
On Thursday, a woman who had just escaped from Dong Tam told RFA’s Vietnamese Service that police had destroyed Kinh’s house after deploying explosive charges and pepper spray, and arrested several of the 20 or so people inside.
She said that Kinh’s grandchildren, his two sons, and daughter-in-law had been arrested, and that Kinh’s son Le Dinh Quang had tried to run away but was detained “and kicked by police with sniffer dogs.”
Police said Friday that they had released four residents, including two men and two women, who were arrested during the clash, but did not provide their names.
The official VN Express cited the Ministry of Public Security spokesman To An Xo Friday as saying that “30 protesters” had been arrested on Thursday, and that “eight grenades, dozens of knives and 20 unused petrol bombs, among other weapons, were recovered at the scene.”
An investigation has been launched into the clash that will cover charges of “murder, storing and using illegal weapons, and resisting law enforcement,” he said, adding that at least three people will be prosecuted under the charges, without revealing their names.
According to Xo, the situation in Dong Tam has been “stabilized” on Friday, and barricades have been erected on the main road leading to the commune, while those wishing to enter or leave the area are required to show identification to authorities.
Tensions over the Mieu Mon military airport in Dong Tam village, 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Hanoi, had simmered for nearly three years.
Farmers in Dong Tam say the government is seizing 47 hectares (116 acres) of their farmland for the military-run Viettel Group—the country’s largest mobile phone operator—without adequately compensating them. The farmers say their families had tilled the land for generations and paid taxes and fees to the government.
——————–
Prisoner of Conscience Tran Thi Nga Released but Forced to Live in Exile in US
Defend the Defenders: Vietnam’s authorities have freed prisoner of conscience Tran Thi Nga but forced her to live in exile in the US.
Ms. Nga, who was arrested in February 2017 and sentenced to nine years in prison and five years of probation on charge of “conducting anti-state propaganda,” was taken from Gia Trung prison camp in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai to Noi Bai International Airport during the midnight of January 10 where she and her two sons and husband were taking a flight to Atlanta (Georgia, the US). The United States had granted her asylum.
She has always refused to recognize her guilt so she was being subjected to psychological torture, death threats and physical violence by fellow inmates and prison guards.
===== January 11 =====
Vietnam Detains Second Facebooker in 2020, Accusing Him of “Abusing Democratic Freedom”
Defend the Defenders: Vietnam’s communist regime has detained the second Facebooker so far this year, accusing him of “abusing democratic freedom” under Article 331 of the country’s Criminal Code.
On January 11, authorities in the Mekong Delta’s economic hub of Can Tho detained a local resident named Chung Hoang Chuong, 43, for his online activities. He will be held incommunicado in the next three days for preliminary investigation and the pre-trial detention would be kept longer for months.
According to a notice of Ninh Kieu district’s police, Mr. Chuong has conducted online activities which “Abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, lawful rights and interests of organizations and/or citizens.”
His family told Defend the Defenders that he was detained at his cell phone shop in Ninh Kieu commune. Police also came to his private residence to confiscate his wife’s laptop and camera set.
Chuong’s detention came after he wrote and shared a number of articles on his Facebook account Chương May Mắnregarding numerous issues of Vietnam, including human rights abuse, serious nationwide environmental pollution, systemic corruption and the government’s weak response to China’s violations of the country’s sovereignty in the East Sea (South China Sea). His latest statuses on his Facebook page were about the military attack in Dong Tam commune carried out by the Ministry of Public Security and the Hanoi Police Department in the early morning of January 9 in which police killed at least two civilians.
Mr. Chuong has been the second Facebooker being detained for their online activities amid increasing crackdown on the local dissent.
On January 9, authorities in the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong arrested Mr. Dinh Van Phu on allegation of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of the country’s Criminal Code. Mr. Phu, 47, will be held incommunicado in the next three months and face imprisonment of between seven and 12 years if is convicted.
Meanwhile, Vietnam’s government reportedly has pressured Facebook to remove articles criticizing the communist regime.
Since the Cyber Security Law become effective in early 2019, Vietnam has arrested nearly two dozens of Facebookers on allegations of “conducting anti-state propaganda” and “abusing democratic freedom” in the National Security provisions of the Criminal Code, and sentenced 17 of them to between one and 11 years in prison, according to Defend the Defenders’ statistics.
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January 13, 2020
Vietnam Human Rights’ Weekly Report for January 6-12, 2019: Dong Tam Elderly Leader Killed during Police Attack
by Nhan Quyen • DEFENDER’S WEEKLY
Defend the Defenders | January 12, 2019
In the early morning of January 9, the Ministry of Public Security and the Hanoi Police Department deployed thousands of policemen, including riot police, blocked Dong Tam commune, My Duc district and attacked Hoanh village, killing elderly leader Le Dinh Kinh and detaining his family as well as other villagers who bravely resist to the regime’s plan to seize their 59-hectare Senh agricultural field.
Mr. Kinh’s wife said he was shot four times by police officers at around 4AM on Thursday: twice at his head, once in his heart and once in his left leg while laying in his bed. It is unclear about the deaths of his son and grandson.
According to the ministry, three police officers were also killed by a petrol bomb and other hand-made weapons. However, it is unclear about their deaths as the ministry has not provided further details while reporters of the state-controlled media were not permitted to go to the site but use only the information provided by the ministry.
The ministry is trying to persuading the domestic and the international community that all the deaths were a result of Dong Tam people’s violent resistance against law enforcement during land reclamation. However, the disputed land- Senh agricultural land- is about three kilometers from Hoanh village and the police attack at the early morning was carried out at Mr. Kinh’s house with aims to persecute him and his family. According to Vietnam’s law, all land reclamation should be carried out in day times, not during nights.
Two years ago, in mid-April, 2017, Dong Tam villagers kept hostage more than 40 policemen and My Duc district’s officials for a week and released them on April 22 after Hanoi People’s Committee’s Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung promised to settle the land dispute. The hostage was well treated so it is unlikely Dong Tam’s people were the side to open fire against the armed police forces as the ministry said in its press release on January 9.
Vietnam’s regime is treating Dong Tam farmers as “hostile forces” and vows to impose heavy disciplines on the arrested ones.
Meanwhile, Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), has called on Vietnam to hold accountable those who used violence and permit access to Dong Tam by journalists, diplomats, U.N. agency officials, and other impartial observers.
“Vietnam’s national authorities must launch an impartial and transparent investigation of these events that get to the bottom of what happened, who is responsible for the violence, and whether police used excessive force,” he said in a statement released on January 10.
Along with the violent attack in Dong Tam, authorities in other localities continue persecution against local dissidents, using controversial allegations in the National Security provisions of the Criminal Code to silence bloggers.
Mr. Dinh Quang Phu from the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong has become the first Facebooker being arrested this year on allegation of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 for his postings and sharings on his Facebook accounts. He will be held incommunicado for at least three months for investigation and will face imprisonment of between seven and 12 years if is convicted.
Two days later, on January 11, police in Ninh Kieu district, Can Tho City, detained Mr. Chung Hoang Chuong, accusing him of “abusing democratic freedom” for his writing on his Facebook account Chương May Mắn. He is temporarily held in the district police and may be kept for investigation of the accusation.
Prisoner of conscience Tran Thi Nga who is serving her 9-year imprisonment on the charge of “conducting anti-state propaganda,” was freed but forced to live in exile in the US. She arrived in Georgia with her family on January 11.
The appeal hearing of human rights lawyer Tran Vu Hai and his wife scheduled on January 9 was postponed due to her health problem. The new schedule is set on January 16 and the People’s Court of Khanh Hoa province will be on charge. On December 11 last year, the couple was sentenced to one year of non-custodial reform and imposed an administrative fine of VND20 million ($850) each in a trumped-up tax evasion case.
===== January 6 =====
Vietnam’s PM Urges Police to Clamp Down on National Security Crimes
RFA: On the heels of a report that the Vietnamese government arrested and charged 39 prisoners of conscience in 2019 on charges of violating national security, the country’s prime minister urged the police to step up its efforts against “hostile forces and reactionaries.”
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc made his plea to the police, emphasizing the seriousness of national security crime at an annual police ministry conference Sunday.
The report, a weekly update published Jan. 5 on the Defend the Defenders website, says that Vietnam is holding 239 prisoners of conscience on charges ranging from subversion and conducting anti-state propaganda, to abusing democratic freedom and disrupting public orders, among other charges.
The 39 arrested and charged last year using the National Security clauses in Vietnam’s penal code include several journalists, among them “Pham Chi Dung, president of the unregistered Independent Journalist Association of Vietnam for his writing for the organization as well as the Voice of America (VOA) …and other foreign outlets,” the report said.
In September 2019, the Supreme People’s Procuracy of Vietnam reported at a Justice Committee meeting saying that crimes related to national security were on the rise, increasing 58.8%.
Deputy Minister of police Le Quy Vuong at that time also stated that hostile forces and reactionaries were increasing their action to fight against the Vietnamese government, and getting g more numerous and stronger than in their activities. Trans-national crimes were also on the rise.
New Year Arrest
Meanwhile, Vietnamese Authorities arrested a reader of materials produced by the Freedom Publishing House (FPH), an independent publisher formed in February 2018.
Without a warrant, police entered and searched the Hanoi home of Quyet Sy Ho, then brought him to the police station for interrogation, according to RFA sources.
Trang Doan Pham, a blogger, told RFA’s Vietnamese Service that the incident was not the first time that readers of FPH books have had their houses unduly searched and were taken in by authorities.
An FPH member in charge of the northern parts of the country who requested anonymity for security reasons told RFA that he has been on the run from the government for the past two months.
“I joined the FPH with a desire to help Vietnamese readers have access to information from many different angles than just the censored news,” the source said.
The source said he wanted to provide access to “more applicable knowledge” and fair coverage of political issues.
“Security agents came to my workplace to investigate and I felt unsafe, so I went into hiding,” the source said.
“They searched my house, confiscating all my documents and my computer and many other things,” he added.
“They also took documents pertaining to my relatives, such as education degrees, a personal computer, and asked my younger brother to go to the station for interrogation,” said the source.
An FPH reader identified as Mr. H told RFA that there is great difficulty in distributing books published by the organization.
“The shipper can be arrested at any time. If the government finds a list of people who order these books, they can be found and arrested,” said H, adding that he only buys FPH books from his friends.
H also said that the government wants to put a stop to FPH activities that impact the common people of Vietnam.
“The government sees that the FPH as a resistance force that is dangerous to them,” said H, adding that FPH materials are popular with Vietnamese activist groups.
===== January 9 =====
Three Policemen, Civilian Killed in Clash Over Land Near Vietnam’s Capital
RFA: Three policemen and a civilian were killed Thursday as farmers threw grenades and petrol bombs at police in the latest flare-up of a long-running dispute over a military airport construction site near Vietnam’s capital Hanoi, state media said.
“On Thursday morning, some people resisted, using hand-grenades, petrol bombs and knives to attack police forces, fighting officers on duty and disrupting public order,” the online VN Express quoted the Ministry of Public Security as saying.
“As a result, three policemen and a civilian died, and another person was injured,” it said, adding that “authorities have launched an investigation into the case and have arrested the lawbreakers,” the ministry said.
VN Express quoted To An Xo, a spokesman for the ministry, as saying Dong Tam commune was under control and police forces remain at the scene to maintain stability.
A woman who had just escaped from Dong Tam told RFA’s Vietnamese Service police were destroying the house of an elderly farmer who had been at the center of the land dispute and arresting his relatives.
“They [police] threw explosive charges, pepper spray and everything,” she told RFA. “Now they are breaking down Mr. Kinh’s house and arresting people inside.”
Kinh, in his mid-80s, was among the farmers taken into custody in the initial arrests in April 2017 that sparked a hostage showdown.
“There are about 20 people at Mr. Kinh’s house, but his grandchildren and his two sons and daughter-in law have also been arrested,” she added. “Le Dinh Quang, Mr. Kinh’s son, was trying to run away, but he was arrested and kicked by police with sniffer dogs.”
Lawyer Ngo Anh Tuan, who has worked to protect the interests and rights of Dong Tam residents, told RFA Thursday that he has repeatedly cautioned villagers against engaging in a violent confrontation with the government.
“For years, I have advised them not to engage in extremist acts and instead to maintain dialogue with the government with the aim of resolving the land dispute over the long term,” he said.
“I’ve told them not to use violence because there is no way they could deal with a government response without weapons.”
Tensions over the Mieu Mon military airport in Dong Tam village, 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Hanoi had simmered for nearly three years.
Farmers in Dong Tam say the government is seizing 47 hectares (116 acres) of their farmland for the military-run Viettel Group—the country’s largest mobile phone operator—without adequately compensating them. The farmers say their families had tilled the land for generations and paid taxes and fees to the government.
Scene of 2017 hostage standoff
In April 2017, police arrested several farmers for allegedly causing “social unrest” during a clash between authorities and commune residents over the 47 hectares of Dong Tam land.
Other farmers responded to the arrests by detaining 38 police officers and local officials, threatening to kill them if police moved against them again.
The standoff lasted a week and ended after police freed jailed farmers and the farmers freed the officers and officials, following a pledge by the Mayor of Hanoi, Nguyen Duc Chung, to investigate their complaints and not prosecute the villagers.
In July 2017, government inspectors in Hanoi ruled that the disputed land should be administered by the military and, in October, police ordered the farmers involved in the incident to turn themselves in.
In August, a Hanoi court sentenced 14 officials to between one and a half and six and a half years in prison for abusing their authority to manage land deals in Dong Tam commune.
VN Express quoted the security ministry as saying Thursday’s violence came a week after the Ministry of Defense and local authorities began building a fence for the Mieu Mon military airport.
“While land disputes are not uncommon in Vietnam, it is the first time in years that policemen have been killed in one,” the state news website said.
Call for accountability
Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), urged Vietnam to hold accountable those who used violence and permit access to Dong Tam by journalists, diplomats, U.N. agency officials and other impartial observers.
“Vietnam’s national authorities must launch an impartial and transparent investigation of these events that gets to the bottom of what happened, who is responsible for the violence, and whether police used excessive force,” he said in a statement.
In the Dong Tam dispute, the authorities maintain that the farmers have illegally occupied land earmarked for the military nearly 40 years ago, which was allocated to Viettel in 2015 to build a defense-related project.
While all land in Vietnam is ultimately held by the state, land confiscations have become a flashpoint as residents accuse the government of pushing small landholders aside in favor of lucrative real estate projects, and of paying too little in compensation to those whose land is taken.
“Unfair and arbitrary land confiscation for economic projects, displacing local people, has been a major problem in the country for the past two decades,” said Robertson of HRW.
“Vietnam government officials need to recognize the importance of carrying out dialogues and negotiations with farmers to solve land disputes like Dong Tam in a peaceful manner rather than using violence,” he added.
The U.S. State Department detailed numerous reports of clashes between local residents and authorities at land expropriation sites in Vietnam during 2018 in the latest edition of its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, noting that “disputes regarding land expropriation for development projects remained a significant source of public grievance.”
Related article: Long-simmering Land Dispute in Hanoi Suburb Explodes in Violence, Killing 4
===== January 10 =====
Vietnam Continues Crackdown on Facebookers, Arresting First on Allegation of “Conducting Anti-state Propaganda”
Defend the Defenders: Vietnam’s authorities continue its crackdown on Facebookers for the second year after implementation of the Cyber Security law, arresting the first activist on the allegation of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of the Criminal Code.
State media has reported that on January 9, police in the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong arrested local resident Dinh Van Phu for his online activities and will keep him for at least three months for investigation. He will likely be held incommunicado during the pre-trial detention similar to other political cases.
According to the police, Mr. Phu, 47, was used several Facebook accounts such as “Jimy Nguyễn,” “Vinh Nguyễn Jimy,” and “Nguyễn Vinh” to disseminate articles and conduct live streams with content to distort policies of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam and its government as well as defaming its leaders.
He is accused of triggering social dissatisfaction and calling for street demonstrations to protest the communist government regarding human rights violations, environmental pollution, systemic corruption as well as a weak response to China’s violations of the country’s sovereignty in the East Sea (South China Sea).
Police also mentioned that Mr. Phu participated in the peaceful demonstration in Ho Chi Minh City on June 10, 2018 to protest two bills on Special Economic Zones and Cyber Security. The first was considered to provide privileges for Chinese investors amid Beijing’s increasing aggressiveness in the East Sea while the second aims to silence the local dissent. He was reportedly arrested, beaten and fined with VND750,000 for “causing public disorders.”
Along with targeting groups in order to prevent the formation of political parties and civil society organizations, Vietnam’s communist regime is striving to crack down on online activists. Last year, it arrested 21 Facebookers, 14 of them were charged with “conducting anti-state propaganda” and five of them with “abusing democratic freedom” in the National Security provisions of the Criminal Code. As many as 12 Facebookers were sentenced to between five and 11 years in prison on allegation of “conducting anti-state propaganda,” significant lengthier sentences compared to the same allegation in other cases in the previous decade.
The ruling communist party is preparing its 13th National Congress scheduled in early 2021 and it will tighten social life. It is expected more arrest and harassment against local dissent in the coming months.
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Civilian Killed in Violent Land Clash in Vietnam Identified as Elderly Community Leader
RFA: A civilian killed during a violent clash over a land dispute that also left three policemen dead has been identified as the elderly leader of a group of villagers protesting a military airport construction site near Vietnam’s capital Hanoi, state media said Friday.
Le Dinh Kinh, 84, was killed Thursday as farmers from Dong Tam commune threw grenades and petrol bombs at police in the latest flare-up of the long-running dispute, which also saw a fifth unidentified person sustain injuries.
According to media reports, the Dong Tam Commune People’s Committee handed Kinh’s body over to his family on Friday, although sources told RFA’s Vietnamese Service that relatives had yet to receive it because they refused to sign documents related to the land dispute, without providing details of what the papers said.
RFA was unable to contact Kinh’s family members or residents of Dong Tam commune to confirm the state media report on Friday.
Kinh was among the farmers taken into custody in the initial arrests in April 2017 that sparked a hostage showdown and had been identified by Vietnam’s official media as the head of the group after signing a letter of complaint that was sent to local government officials over the dispute.
On Thursday, a woman who had just escaped from Dong Tam told RFA’s Vietnamese Service that police had destroyed Kinh’s house after deploying explosive charges and pepper spray, and arrested several of the 20 or so people inside.
She said that Kinh’s grandchildren, his two sons, and daughter-in-law had been arrested, and that Kinh’s son Le Dinh Quang had tried to run away but was detained “and kicked by police with sniffer dogs.”
Police said Friday that they had released four residents, including two men and two women, who were arrested during the clash, but did not provide their names.
The official VN Express cited the Ministry of Public Security spokesman To An Xo Friday as saying that “30 protesters” had been arrested on Thursday, and that “eight grenades, dozens of knives and 20 unused petrol bombs, among other weapons, were recovered at the scene.”
An investigation has been launched into the clash that will cover charges of “murder, storing and using illegal weapons, and resisting law enforcement,” he said, adding that at least three people will be prosecuted under the charges, without revealing their names.
According to Xo, the situation in Dong Tam has been “stabilized” on Friday, and barricades have been erected on the main road leading to the commune, while those wishing to enter or leave the area are required to show identification to authorities.
Tensions over the Mieu Mon military airport in Dong Tam village, 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Hanoi, had simmered for nearly three years.
Farmers in Dong Tam say the government is seizing 47 hectares (116 acres) of their farmland for the military-run Viettel Group—the country’s largest mobile phone operator—without adequately compensating them. The farmers say their families had tilled the land for generations and paid taxes and fees to the government.
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Prisoner of Conscience Tran Thi Nga Released but Forced to Live in Exile in US
Defend the Defenders: Vietnam’s authorities have freed prisoner of conscience Tran Thi Nga but forced her to live in exile in the US.
Ms. Nga, who was arrested in February 2017 and sentenced to nine years in prison and five years of probation on charge of “conducting anti-state propaganda,” was taken from Gia Trung prison camp in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai to Noi Bai International Airport during the midnight of January 10 where she and her two sons and husband were taking a flight to Atlanta (Georgia, the US). The United States had granted her asylum.
She has always refused to recognize her guilt so she was being subjected to psychological torture, death threats and physical violence by fellow inmates and prison guards.
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Vietnam Detains Second Facebooker in 2020, Accusing Him of “Abusing Democratic Freedom”
Defend the Defenders: Vietnam’s communist regime has detained the second Facebooker so far this year, accusing him of “abusing democratic freedom” under Article 331 of the country’s Criminal Code.
On January 11, authorities in the Mekong Delta’s economic hub of Can Tho detained a local resident named Chung Hoang Chuong, 43, for his online activities. He will be held incommunicado in the next three days for preliminary investigation and the pre-trial detention would be kept longer for months.
According to a notice of Ninh Kieu district’s police, Mr. Chuong has conducted online activities which “Abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, lawful rights and interests of organizations and/or citizens.”
His family told Defend the Defenders that he was detained at his cell phone shop in Ninh Kieu commune. Police also came to his private residence to confiscate his wife’s laptop and camera set.
Chuong’s detention came after he wrote and shared a number of articles on his Facebook account Chương May Mắnregarding numerous issues of Vietnam, including human rights abuse, serious nationwide environmental pollution, systemic corruption and the government’s weak response to China’s violations of the country’s sovereignty in the East Sea (South China Sea). His latest statuses on his Facebook page were about the military attack in Dong Tam commune carried out by the Ministry of Public Security and the Hanoi Police Department in the early morning of January 9 in which police killed at least two civilians.
Mr. Chuong has been the second Facebooker being detained for their online activities amid increasing crackdown on the local dissent.
On January 9, authorities in the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong arrested Mr. Dinh Van Phu on allegation of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of the country’s Criminal Code. Mr. Phu, 47, will be held incommunicado in the next three months and face imprisonment of between seven and 12 years if is convicted.
Meanwhile, Vietnam’s government reportedly has pressured Facebook to remove articles criticizing the communist regime.
Since the Cyber Security Law become effective in early 2019, Vietnam has arrested nearly two dozens of Facebookers on allegations of “conducting anti-state propaganda” and “abusing democratic freedom” in the National Security provisions of the Criminal Code, and sentenced 17 of them to between one and 11 years in prison, according to Defend the Defenders’ statistics.
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