Vietnam: Update – Ill-treatment of imprisoned human rights defenders Vi Duc Hoi, Paulus Le Son and Nguyen Van Oai

Vi Duc Hoi

Front Line Defenders
August 30, 2013

Based on information provided to Front Line Defenders on 24 August 2013, human rights defenders Messrs Vi Duc Hoi and Nguyen Van Oai have been ordered to be placed in solitary confinement for 6 months from 20 July 2013 in retaliation to their protest against the ill-treatment of fellow human rights defender Mr Paulus Le Son. The human rights defenders are currently imprisoned at the Nam Ha prison.

Mr Vi Duc Hoi is a democracy activist and member of Bloc 8406, a pro-democracy network of human rights defenders and organisations. He is also a 2009 recipient of the Human Rights Watch Hellman/Hammett Award. In 2011, he was sentenced to 8 years imprisonment. On 26 April 2011, the Appeal Court reduced the sentence to 5 years and 3 years of house arrest.

Mr Paulus Le Son, a blogger, HIV activist, and journalist who writes on social justice issues in Vietnam, was arrested on 3 August 2011. He was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment and five years house arrest. On 23 May 2013, the sentence was reduced by the Appeal Court to 4 years imprisonment and 4 years house arrest.

Mr Nguyen Van Oai is a member of the Catholic organisation Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Dong Chua Cuu The) and was actively involved in the promotion and protection of economic, social and cultural rights in Vietnam. The two men were sentenced under Article 79 of the Vietnamese Penal Code which refers to “carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s administration.”

Paulus Le Son

On 18 July 2013 Paulus Le Son was severely beaten up by prison guards because he did not greet them. Despite the fact that his leg was broken and that he needed medical attention, he was put into solitary confinement. His family, who visited him on 21 August 2013, noticed that Paulus Le Son was still in pain and had difficulty to walk.

To challenge this mistreatment by the guards, Vi Duc Hoi, Nguyen Van Oai and lands rights activist, Do Van Hoa filed a complaint against the prison guards and, as a sign of protest, they also refused to work. In addition, Vi Duc Hoi sent a petition to the President of Vietnam asking him to look into the conditions of detention in Nam Ha prison. As a retaliation for these actions, all three men were placed in solitary confinement for 6 months. Although they are allowed family visits once a month, they do not have access to legal counsel or a doctor.

For more information on the cases of Paulus Le Son and Nguyen Van Oai, please see the urgent appeals issued by Front Line Defenders on 14 November 2011 and 16 May 2013, and an update issued on 24 May 2013.

* Source: Front Line Defenders