What You Can Do
Vietnamese Internet Dissidents: Nguyen Dan Que, Li Chi Quang and Nguyen Khac Toan
1. Tell the government of Vietnam to immediately release these individuals.
Sample letter: use your own words
Prime Minister Phan Van Khai
Office of the Prime Minister
Hoang Hoa Tham
Hanoi
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Dear Prime Minister,
Your government’s policy of reform and openness (doi moi) has been beneficial to the Vietnamese people. However, attempts to modernize Vietnam’s legal system and attract foreign investment and trade may be seriously undermined by restrictions on basic human rights such as free expression.
I am writing to respectfully express my concern about the detention and arrest of Vietnamese citizens for using the Internet to receive and transmit information globally. Some of them have been indicted or put on trial for crimes of espionage under Article 80 of the Criminal Code, accused of using the Internet to circulate material critical of the Vietnamese government.
For example, on March 17, 2003 Dr. Nguyen Dan Que was detained outside of his home outside in Ho Chi Minh City and may be put on trial under Article 80. He has been accused of sending a statement abroad via the Internet, criticizing the lack of freedom of information in Vietnam.
In Hanoi last October, Mr. Li Chi Quang was arrested in an Internet café and later received a four year prison sentences on charges of disseminating propaganda against the state. Another Vietnamese citizen, Mr. Nguyen Khac Toan, received a twelve year prison sentence on spurious charges of espionage last December, for sending e-mail to overseas Vietnamese in France.
This disturbing trend violates Vietnam’s international human rights obligations, including its commitments under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which guarantees the right to “seek and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers...”(Article 19).
These arrests also send a discouraging signal to foreign businesspeople and others who see the Internet as a useful tool for commercial development.
I urge you to review the cases of Dr. Nguyen Dan Que, and Li Chi Quang, to facilitate their immediate and unconditional release, and to take other positive steps to protect and promote the basic human rights of all Vietnamese citizens.
Sincerely
cc: Ambassador to the U.S., Nguyen Tam Chien
1233 20th Street N.W., Suite 400
Washington, DC 20036
(Fax: 202-861-0917)
2. Write to the U.S. State Department to urge them to raise these cases.
Sample letter: use your own words
The Honorable Colin J. Powell
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
Washington, DC 20520
(Fax: 202-647-2283)
Dear Secretary of State Powell:
I am writing to express my profound concern at Vietnam’s continuing repression of free expression, and particularly its practice of imprisoning peaceful advocates of democracy who express their views over the Internet. Some of them have been indicted or put on trial for crimes of espionage under Article 80 of the Criminal Code, accused of using the Internet to circulate material critical of the Vietnamese government.
For example, on March 17, 2003 Dr. Nguyen Dan Que was detained outside of his home outside in Ho Chi Minh City and may be put on trial under Article 80. He has been accused of sending a statement abroad via the Internet, criticizing the lack of freedom of information in Vietnam.
In Hanoi last October, Mr. Li Chi Quang was arrested in an Internet café and later received a four year prison sentences on charges of disseminating propaganda against the state.Ê Another Vietnamese citizen, Mr. Nguyen Khac Toan, received a twelve year prison sentence on spurious charges of espionage last December, for sending e-mail to overseas Vietnamese in France. Also facing possible espionage charges is Mr. Pham Hong Son, arrested last March, apparently for translating and disseminating an essay he found on the U.S. Embassy website titled “What is Democracy.”
This disturbing trend violates Vietnam’s international human rights obligations, including its commitments under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which guarantees the right to “seek and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers...”(Article 19).
These arrests also send a discouraging signal to foreign businesspeople and others who see the Internet as a useful tool for commercial development.
I urge you to use your good offices to strongly advocate for the immediate release of these persons, as well as other dissidents whom Vietnam has punished in violation of the right of freedom of expression and information.
Sincerely, [Your name and address]
3. Send a copy of your letter to your Congressional representatives, asking that they follow up on these cases.
