Press release May 26, 2010
Joint statement of Vietnam Human Rights Network and Defend The Defenders on the arrests of the Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam's members
In recent
years, Vietnam’s communist regime has intensified persecution
against the unsanctioned Independent Journalists Association of
Vietnam (IJAVN), a civil professional organization of independent
writers working for freedom of press in Vietnam.
Since the Association was founded in 2014, the Vietnamese communist
authorities have constantly harassed the Association and its members
due to numerous articles posted on its website (vietnamthoibao.org)
frankly criticizing the regime and its leaders for blatant violation
of human rights and serious mistakes in the governance of the
country.
The crackdown culminated in the arrests of the Association's senior
executives: Chairman Pham Chi Dung in November 2019, Vice Chairman
Nguyen Tuong Thuy on May 23, 2020, and Mr. Pham Chi Thanh (Pham
Thanh) two days earlier, all with charges of "conducting propaganda
against the state" under Article 117 of the Criminal Code.
Vietnam Human Rights Network and Defend the Defenders recognize
that IJAVN and its members' activities are fully consistent with
Article 25 of Vietnam's 2013 Constitution, Article 20 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Article 19 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, two of many
international treaties on human rights that Vietnam has ratified.
Therefore, Vietnam Human Rights Network and Defend the Defenders
request the Vietnamese communist authorities to immediately drop the
charges and unconditionally release Messrs. Pham Chi Dung, Nguyen Tuong Thuy and Pham Chi Thanh as well as hundreds of prisoners of
conscience imprisoned for peacefully exercising their basic rights.
We call on Vietnamese compatriots in Vietnam and abroad to stand
with and fully support the peaceful and righteous struggle of the
prisoners of conscience. We also call on the international community
to put pressure on Vietnamese authorities to abide by the
international human rights laws they have signed.
May 26, 2020
Defend the Defenders
Vietnam Human Rights Network Ngu Q Vu Tung B Nguyen President President
Vietnam Human Rights Network |