Press Release

November 18, 2024

 

Vietnam Human Rights Network Announced The 2024 Vietnam Human Rights Award Results.

 

Little Saigon, California – The Vietnam Human Rights Network (VNHRN) announced the 2024 Vietnam Human Rights Award (VNHRA) results through a press conference on Facebook and YouTube at 5:00 PM. (California time, 2:00 AM. in Western Europe, and 08:00 AM. in Vietnam) on Monday, November 18, 2024.

The event was moderated by Ms. Tam An, Secretary General of the VNHRN. After Dr. Nguyen Ba Tung, VNHRN’s Executive Director, summarized the establishment, purpose, the annual organizing process, and the 2024 VNHRA result, three members of the Selection Committee, Ms. Quan My Lan, Mr. Vu Hoang Hai, and Dr. Truong Minh Tri, took turn presenting the achievements of the three winners of 2024 VNHRA.

Ms. Pham Thanh Nghien, the 2012 VNHRA winner, took this opportunity to share her thoughts as a VNHRA winner shortly after completing a 4-year sentence for “propaganda against the State.”

Finally, Dr. Chu Van Cuong, President of the Vietnamese Community of Houston and Vicinities and Head of the Organizing Committee of the 2024 VNHRA Ceremony, briefly presented the organization of the 2024 VNHRA Ceremony on December 15 in Houston, Texas.

Established in 2002, the VNHRA is awarded annually to individuals and organizations in Vietnam who have made their mark in the inexorable march toward the human rights, freedom, and democracy of the Vietnamese people. The VNHRA is also a bridge connecting overseas Vietnamese with organizations and individuals who are engaged in the relentless fight for fundamental rights for the Vietnamese people. Over the past 22 years, 58 individuals and six organizations have been recognized and awarded the VNHRA.

The following are the three 2024 award recipients' profiles:

 

 

Prisoner of Conscience Bui Van Thuan

 

Human rights activist Bui Van Thuan, born in 1981 in Hoa Binh province, is of the Muong ethnic group.

He studied at Hanoi College of Commerce and then at Hanoi Pedagogical University. He always kept his eyes open to the country’s situation during his student years and participated in several social activities. After graduating, he taught at several private high schools in Hanoi. During this time, he participated in several patriotic protests against China’s expansionist ambitions over Vietnam’s territory and territorial waters and against the environmental disaster caused by Formosa Steel Company in Ha Tinh in 2016.

Through social networks, he regularly supported human rights activists and political prisoners such as Pastor Nguyen Trung Ton, the family of Can Thi Theu, and Pham Doan Trang. He defended the victims of injustice in Dong Tam village.

He publicly criticized the infighting within the Communist Party of Vietnam’s leadership and the government’s shortcomings in handling the COVID-19 pandemic. He called for a boycott of undemocratic nationwide elections in 2016 and 2021.

In addition, Bui Van Thuan also participated in the Brotherhood for Democracy and the “Institutional Research” group with some other activists, including Nguyen Vu Binh, Ha Huy Toan, and Le Anh Hung, intending to study and transform Vietnam’s regime from totalitarian dictatorship to democratic rule of law.

Because of his human rights and democracy activism, the police frequently harassed him and his family. In 2016 and 2017, the police pressured landlords to evict him and his family from their rented homes three times. Faced with continued harassment, Bui Van Thuan gave up his teaching job in Hanoi and moved to Thanh Hoa province, where he made a living selling food on Facebook.

Mr. Thuan’s Facebook was frequently reported for regulation violations and locked up for 3 to 30 days, even banned from being displayed in Vietnam for nearly a year, and had posts criticizing the government deleted.

Finally, on August 30, 2021, Mr. Thuan was arrested on charges of “Making, storing, disseminating or propagating information, documents, and items against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” under Article 117 of the Penal Code.

On November 18, 2022, the Thanh Hoa Provincial Court sentenced Mr. Bui Van Thuan to 8 years in prison and 5 years of probation in the first instance trial. During the prosecution process, Mr. Thuan declared his innocence and denied all the accusations in the indictment. In his final words before the court, he stated: “Regardless of the trial’s outcome, I still thank the lawyers who helped defend me. I am a victim of those messy laws. I gave up the right to appeal because I do not trust the trial system.”

Mr. Thuan is currently held at Prison Camp No. 6 in Thanh Chuong District, Nghe An Province, one of the camps known for its harshness. Moreover, he is also being mistreated with brutal punishments such as “tiger cages.”

In October of this year, Mr. Thuan and two other prisoners of conscience, Trinh Ba Tu and Dang Dinh Bach went on a hunger strike for three weeks to demand improvements in the detention regime for political prisoners.

 

Prisoner of Conscience DANG DANG PHUOC

Human rights activist Dang Dang Phuoc was born in Thua Thien Hue province on August 22, 1963. He graduated from the Hue Academy of Music and then became a music lecturer at Dak Lak Pedagogical College. He served in the Vietnam People’s Army and stationed in Laos for 4 years. After leaving the army, he returned to teaching music.

During this time, he began to engage in human rights and democracy activities. His primary communication means was the Internet. He had two Facebook accounts, through which he spoke out for land rights for ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands and denounced corruption. He demanded that the government guarantee people’s civil and political rights, including freedom of speech, expression, association, assembly, and religion. He publicly opposed the 2018 Cybersecurity Law and the coastal pollution disaster caused by the Formosa company in the central provinces.

Mr. Phuoc participated in several pro-democracy petitions, such as Petition 72 in January 2013, calling for constitutional changes to allow multi-party elections, and the Free Citizens’ Manifesto in February 2013, aiming to abolish Article 4 of the Constitution that establishes the monopoly leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

He also regularly participated in social media groups and forums to support the activities of dissident groups such as “No U Group” and “The Constitution Group,” and spoke out in defense of imprisoned activists such as Nguyen Lan Thang, Pham Chi Dung, and Bui Tuan Lam…

In addition to his two Facebook accounts, Mr. Dang Dang Phuoc has a valuable Music Library blog with 3.5 million views, including articles on music, education, and politics. Mr. Phuoc also performed patriotic songs composed by activists on his Facebook, such as “Vietnam Road” by singer-songwriter Viet Khang and “Big Circus in Small Homeland” by musician Tuan Khanh.

Because of his human rights and democracy activities, Mr. Phuoc repeatedly faced pressure from his school administration, the provincial education department, and state security agencies. On September 8, 2022, Dak Lak police arrested him for “Making, storing, disseminating or propagating information, documents or items aimed at opposing the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” according to Article 117 of the 2015 Penal Code.

On June 6, 2023, the Dak Lak Provincial People’s Court held a first-instance trial and sentenced Dang Dang Phuoc to 8 years in prison and 4 years of probation for the “crime” mentioned above. Mr. Phuoc appealed the sentence. On September 26, 2023, the High People’s Court in Da Nang upheld the sentence in an appeal hearing that lasted just two hours. In both hearings, Mr. Phuoc protested the sentence and declared his innocence.

Mr. Dang Dang Phuoc is currently being held at Xuan Phuoc Prison in Phu Yen Province. In May 2024, Mr. Phuoc was detained in a disciplinary cell for 10 days for allegedly “violating the regulations of the detention facility.” He was only allowed to meet his relatives once every two months instead of once a month until he was “recognized for improvement progress.” Many international human rights organizations, such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have called on Vietnam to drop the charges and release prisoner of conscience Dang Dang Phuoc.

 

Prisoner of conscience DO NAM TRUNG

Born in 1981 in Nam Dinh province, human rights activist Do Nam Trung could not attend university after finishing high school due to financial difficulties in his family. He then worked as a Hoang Long passenger transport company driver specializing in the North-South route.

In early 2011, Trung was imprisoned for 9 months for a traffic accident that he was not at fault for. In prison, he thought deeply about that wrongful conviction as well as the injustices in Vietnamese society.

After being released from prison, he embarked on a journey to fight against social injustice. He participated in many movements, including “fighting BOT,” a form of peaceful protest against toll stations on traffic routes that were placed in the wrong locations or charged excessive fees, and other peaceful demonstrations against the authorities destroying trees without justifiable reasons.

Mr. Do Nam Trung started using Facebook in 2012 and often expressed his personal views on current social and political situations on this platform.

As a member of the Brotherhood for Democracy, he participated in reporting on protests against China’s violation of Vietnam’s territorial waters in May 2014. He and two other activists were arrested by Dong Nai provincial police on May 15, 2014, while recording images of the anti-China protest in Dong Nai. All three were sentenced to more than one year in prison for “Abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State and the legitimate interests of organizations and citizens” under Article 258 of the 1999 Penal Code on February 12, 2015.

After completing his prison sentence, Trung returned to his activism activities. He enthusiastically participated in a series of actions to advocate for human rights and civil rights, such as the protest against Formosa in 2016, the protest against the Cyber ​​Security Bill, and the Special Economic Zone Bill in 2018.

Not only did he criticize the government and participate in protests, but Mr. Do Nam Trung also joined humanitarian groups to support victims of natural disasters and support human rights activists.

In October 2019, Do Nam Trung attended the Human Rights Conference in Ireland at the invitation of Frontline Defenders. At this forum, he presented on the human rights violations of the Vietnamese government and advocated for two prisoners of conscience, Ha Van Nam and Tran Thi Nga.

Do Nam Trung’s activities angered the authorities, and they sought to eliminate him. On July 6, 2021, Do Nam Trung was arrested in Hanoi and extradited to Nam Dinh province. On December 16, 2021, the People’s Court of Nam Dinh province sentenced Do Nam Trung to 10 years in prison and 4 years of probation on charges of “Making, storing, disseminating or propagating information, documents, and items against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” under Article 117 of the Penal Code. On March 24, 2022, the Hanoi High Court heard the appeal and upheld the first instance verdict.

According to defense attorney Dang Dinh Manh, during the trial, Mr. Trung always maintained that he had exercised his right to freedom of speech as stipulated by the Constitution when posting his clips and articles. Therefore, he believed the conviction was a miscarriage of justice.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said that the arrest and conviction of Mr. Do Nam Trung were arbitrary, violating many fundamental human rights stipulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, of which Vietnam is a member. Many international human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have defended Mr. Trung, saying that “he did nothing wrong” and calling on the Vietnamese government to release him immediately.

Do Nam Trung is currently being held at Prison No. 5, Thanh Hoa province.