Vietnam

The following is a Human Rights Watch report on the state of human rights and freedom of expression in Vietnam: HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH WORLD REPORT 2001 VIETNAM CHAPTER The twenty-fifth anniversary of Vietnam’s reunification saw the government maintaining tight control over freedom of expression and other basic rights. Highly publicized steps to liberalize the economy, […]

(HRW/IFEX) – The following is a Human Rights Watch press release: PRESIDENT CLINTON’S TRIP TO VIETNAM (New York, November 10, 2000) – As President Clinton prepares for his historic trip to Vietnam, Human Rights Watch urged that he give high priority to human rights issues during his discussions with Vietnamese officials in mid-November. Human Rights […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 29 June 2000 letter to Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong, CPJ strongly protested the house arrest of writer Dr. Nguyen Xuan Tu, better known by his pen name Dr. Ha Sy Phu. The organisation called on the Vietnamese government to restore Dr. Ha’s liberty and abandon legal actions currently pending against […]

(HRW/IFEX) – The following is a 31 May 2000 Human Rights Watch press release: VIETNAM: RELEASE PRO-DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST (New York, May 31, 2000) – Human Rights Watch today called for the immediate release of Vietnamese dissident Ha Sy Phu. Police in Lam Dong province put Mr. Ha under house arrest on May 12, 2000, and […]

(RSF/IFEX) – The following is an RSF press release: For immediate release Wednesday 10 May 2000 Pham Thai is free The Vietnamese journalist and dissident, 80, has left prison On 30 April 2000, after five years in detention – and six years before the end of his sentence – Vietnamese journalist and dissident Nguyen Ngoc […]

(HRW/IFEX) – The following is a Human Rights Watch press release: VIETNAM: SILENCING OF DISSENT (New York, May 3, 2000) – Human Rights Watch said today that Vietnam’s human rights performance continues to fall far short of international standards, despite economic and social changes since the late 1980’s. In a new 34-page report, “Vietnam: Silencing […]

In a 14 April 2000 letter to the general secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP), Le Kha Phieu, RSF protested against the arrest and expulsion of Sylvaine Pasquier, a journalist working for the French weekly “L’Express”. She was forced to leave the country. According to Robert Ménard, the organisation’s secretary-general, “this arrest shows that […]

In a 28 December 1999 letter to the secretary-general of the Vietnamese Communist Party, Le Kha Phieu, RSF protested against the pressure on Hung Pham The, a reporter with Radio France Internationale (RFI). The journalist has been ordered to leave the country. According to RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard, this “expulsion that dares not speak its […]

(RSF/IFEX) – In a 15 July 1999 letter to the general secretary of the Vietnamese communist party, Le Kha Phieu, RSF protested the refusal to allow a leading dissident, retired General Tran Do, to publish a newspaper. RSF urged the Vietnamese leader to ensure that “independent newspapers may be published without any restraint and that […]

(WAN/IFEX) – The following is a WAN press release: **Updates IFEX alerts of 14 April, 17 March, 16 March, 12 March and 11 March 1999** Paris, 25 May 1999 For immediate release World Newspaper Group Protests New Vietnam Press Law The World Association of Newspapers has welcomed Vietnam’s release of dissident writer and scientist Nguyen […]

(WiPC/IFEX) – Amnesty International has reported the official confirmation that geologist and writer Nguyen Thanh Giang has been charged with violating Article 205A of the Penal Code, which provides for imprisonment for up to three years for abusing “freedom of speech, of the press or of religion… or other democratic rights to encroach upon the […]

(WiPC/IFEX) – WiPC is greatly alarmed by the arrest and detention of geologist and dissident writer Nguyen Thanh Giang, reportedly for possessing documents critical of the government. According to news reports, Giang was arrested in Hanoi on 4 March 1999. Communist Party sources have been quoted as saying that he is likely to be sentenced […]

(WAN/IFEX) – The following is a WAN press release: **Updates IFEX alerts of 12 March and 11 March 1999** Paris, 16 March 1999 For immediate release Arrest of Vietnamese Dissident Draws Fire The World Association of Newspapers has called on Vietnam to release dissident writer and scientist Nguyen Thanh Giang, whose criticism of the Communist […]

(HRW/IFEX) – The following is an 11 March 1999 Human Rights Watch press release: **Updates IFEX alert of 11 March 1999** HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH DENOUNCES ARREST OF VIETNAMESE DISSIDENT (New York, March 11, 1999) — Human Rights Watch denounced the arrest of geologist and writer Nguyen Thanh Giang on March 4, 1999 on the streets […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is greatly alarmed by the arrest and detention of dissident writer Nguyen Thanh Giang, reportedly for possessing documents critical of the Communist Party. Giang, a prominent geologist whose articles on corruption within the Communist Party have frequently been published on the Internet and in newspapers published by Vietnamese living in exile, was […]

(RSF/IFEX) – According to RSF, the trial of Vietnamese journalist Nguyen Hoang Linh for “damaging the interests of the state, social organisations and citizens” is due to begin in a Hanoi court on 21 October 1998. He had exposed corruption among top Vietnamese customs officials in 1997. RSF said: “Nguyen Hoang Linh was only doing […]