Amnesty International Report 1997 - Viet Nam

At least 54 prisoners of conscience and possible prisoners of conscience remained in detention throughout the year. Two prisoners of conscience were sentenced to prison terms after an unfair trial and two others were released. Twenty-two political prisoners, including possible prisoners of conscience, were arrested during the year. Death sentences were passed on 113 people. Five people were known to have been executed but the actual number was believed to be much higher. The Communist Party of Viet Nam held its Eighth Congress in June, at which the country's senior leaders were confirmed in their positions, with President Le Duc Anh retaining his post as Head of State. Strict state control of the media, continuing restrictions on freedom of expression and lack of official information made it difficult to obtain details of human rights violations. Restrictions on visiting foreigners were imposed prior to the Party Congress, but a number of high-level delegations visited Viet Nam afterwards, including delegations from the Vatican and from Norway. At least 54 prisoners of conscience and possible prisoners of conscience arrested in previous years were known to be detained throughout the year, although the true figures may have been higher. There was serious concern for the health of a number of prisoners of conscience serving long prison sentences. Doan Viet Hoat, a writer and academic arrested in 1990 and serving a 15-year sentence for his involvement with the Freedom Forum newsletter (see Amnesty International Reports 1993 to 1995), was held in solitary confinement in Thanh Cam prison in north Viet Nam. He was believed to be suffering from severe mental distress caused by total isolation. Pham Duc Kham, co-author of the Freedom Forum and serving a 12-year sentence, suffered from high blood pressure and a chronic ulcer. Nguyen Van Thuan, a writer, poet and former teacher involved in the High Tide of Humanism movement and with the Freedom Forum, serving an 18-year sentence, remained in poor health (see Amnesty International Report 1996). He had been hospitalized in 1994 following a stroke. In February, he was returned to z30b prison camp where there were no medical facilities. Dong Tuy, who had been arrested in 1995 and sentenced to 11 years' imprisonment for his involvement in the Movement to Unite the People and Build Democracy (see Amnesty International Report 1996), was in very poor health and continued to be detained in a prison camp with minimal access to appropriate medical attention. Prisoners of conscience detained for their religious beliefs continued to be held throughout the year. Thich Huyen Quang, the 77-year-old Supreme Patriarch of the unofficial Unified Buddhist Church of Viet Nam (see previous Amnesty International Reports), was detained without charge or trial in isolation in a remote part of the country. Brother Nguyen Chau Dat, a member of the Catholic Congregation of the Mother Co-Redemptrix, serving a 20-year sentence in K3 "re-education" camp (see Amnesty International Report 1995), suffered from poor health caused by hard labour, an inadequate diet and lack of medical treatment. Two prisoners of conscience were sentenced to prison terms following an unfair trial in August; a third person received a suspended sentence. Le Hong Ha and Ha Si Phu had been detained without trial since their arrest in late 1995 (see Amnesty International Report 1996). Le Hong Ha, a former Interior Ministry official, had been a senior member of the Communist Party of Viet Nam until he was expelled in June 1995. He was reportedly charged with divulging national secrets under Article 92 of Viet Nam's Criminal Code, and sentenced to two years' imprisonment. Ha Si Phu, a scientist and well-known writer, received a one-year sentence, also for alleged offences under Article 92. He had been officially criticized in 1993 for the content of some of his essays which were frequently published in official Communist Party publications. It was believed that the men had been in possession of a letter written by Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet which called for greater political and economic reform. A third man, Nguyen Kien Giang, received a suspended sentence. The trial took place in camera and lasted less than one day. Two prisoners of conscience were released. Doan Thanh Liem, a lawyer who was arrested in 1990 and sentenced after an unfair trial to 12 years' imprisonment in 1992 for allegedly "spreading antisocialist propaganda" (see Amnesty International Report 1993), was unexpectedly released from a prison camp in February and immediately deported to the USA with his family. He had been suffering from serious health problems in detention, including tuberculosis. Tran Thanh Thuc, a medical doctor working in Ho Chi Minh City, who was arrested in 1987 and sentenced after an unfair trial the following year to 16 years' imprisonment on charges of espionage and working for the US Central Intelligence Agency, was released in August. Three people, believed to have links with the Free Viet Nam Movement, were arrested in March when they were handed over by Cambodian officials at the Vietnamese border (see Cambodia entry). One of them, Ly Thara, remained in detention without charge or trial at the end of the year. He was a possible prisoner of conscience. In December, 19 people, including possible prisoners of conscience, were arrested when they were deported to Viet Nam by the Cambodian authorities (see Cambodia entry). The 19, all believed to be members of a group called the People's Action Party, were detained by the Vietnamese authorities on arrival. There was no information as to their fate or whereabouts at the end of the year. In April, Nguyen Ha Phan, Vice-President of the National Assembly and member of the Politburo was expelled from the Communist Party and later stripped of his posts for "having committed serious mistakes in the past". No further details were available on his case and reports that he may have been placed under house arrest remained unconfirmed. One hundred and thirteen people were sentenced to death. In April, Duong The Tung was sentenced to death after having been convicted by the Ha Noi People's Court of the murder of a policeman. Duong The Tung, who had pleaded guilty to the charge and begged for clemency, was reportedly tortured by police officers armed with electric batons in an ante-room while awaiting the verdict of his trial. Also in April, Phung Thi Tho was sentenced to death after being found guilty of fraud by a court in Binh Dinh province. An official report stated that this was the first death sentence imposed in Viet Nam for fraud. Five executions were reported. However, this was believed to be only a small fraction of the number of people actually executed. Executions in Viet Nam are carried out by firing-squad. In August, Le Hong Bich was executed in An Giang province; he had been convicted of the rape and murder of a child. Three more people were executed in October. Increased publicity around death sentences and executions was believed to be part of an official crack-down on "social evils", including drug-related crime. During the year Amnesty International continued to appeal for the release of all prisoners of conscience. In February, the organization published a report, Socialist Republic of Viet Nam: The death penalty, explaining its concerns about the increasing number of executions, and noting the 34 articles of the Criminal Code which carry the death penalty as an optional punishment. The organization urged the Vietnamese Government to commute all existing death sentences and to sign and ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty. In February, Amnesty International welcomed the release of Doan Thanh Liem. In August, the organization protested about the trial and sentencing of prisoners of conscience Le Hong Ha and Ha Si Phu, and in December it published a report, Socialist Republic of Viet Nam: The case of Le Hong Ha and Ha Si Phu, containing information about their trial. In October, a memorandum of Amnesty International's human rights concerns in Viet Nam was passed to Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet by Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland during her visit to the country. He reportedly accepted the memorandum and agreed to consider the contents. There was no official response to Amnesty International's appeals for the release of prisoners of conscience.