INTERNET DISSIDENTS

VIETNAM

Dr. Nguyen Dan Que

Dr. Nguyen Dan Que, a sixty-one year-old endocrinologist who is one of Vietnam’s best-known democracy activists, was arrested on March 17, 2003, four days after he sent documents to a relative in the U.S. from an internet cafe, which called for human rights and political reform in Vietnam. Only on March 22 was the arrest made public in a small column in an official newspaper. Television and radio, the two most popular means of propaganda in Vietnam, have not mentioned the case.

The statement Dr. Que e-mailed to his brother in Virginia criticized the Vietnamese government's claim to guarantee freedom of information, pointing out there are no independent media in the country. It also endorsed proposed U.S. legislation that would fund ways to overcome broadcast and Internet jamming by Vietnam.

Police, quoted in the official party newspaper Nhan Dan, said Dr. Que, a resident of Ho Chi Minh City, was caught sending documents with content that "runs against the State" to the "High Tide Humanist Movement" organization. Authorities have charged Que under Article 80 of the Criminal Code, which imposes punishment ranging from 12 years imprisonment to the death penalty for persons found guilty of spying or performing intelligence activities for foreign countries. Vietnam is currently one of fifty-three members of the UN Commission on Human Rights. It has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which, under Article 19, protects the individual's right to “seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, or through any other media of his choice.”

The endocrinologist's history of political activism goes back many decades. According to several sources, Que, a co-founder of the Cho Ray hospital in the former Saigon, was detained without trial in 1978 after criticizing the country's political system. After he was freed, he founded the High Tide Humanist movement., issuing a manifesto that appealed for support of his moderate, non-violent struggle to establish human rights for all Vietnamese people. He demanded that the Vietnamese government invest in the welfare of its people, and reduce the size of its military. Dr. Que was arrested again in June 1990, and returned to prison without trial. He was released from prison in September 1998, but remained under virtual house arrest, with constant government surveillance, restrictions on his movement, and restrictions on any use of communication, such as phone calls and letters.

Take Action Now!
Find out what you can do.

More on Human Rights in Vietnam
More on Human Rights Defenders
More on Freedom of Expression on the Internet

Home | About Us | News Releases | Publications | About HRW | Info by Country | Global Issues | Campaigns | Free Mailing Lists | Community | Store | Film Festival | Search | Site Map | Contact Us | Press Contacts | Privacy Policy