Global Voices Advocacy » Vietnam

Advocacy Recap

Bhumika Ghimire — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 18:56:58 +0000

After blogging about free speech issues and dangers faced by bloggers and reporters in various parts of the world, I think it would be nice to look back and check on them.

On October 20, 2009; I discussed about how the city of Pittsburg-hosting G20 summit, harassed protesting activists and even tried to clamp down on their Twitter activity.

Activist Elliot Madison who works with People's Law Collective, his home was raided by authorities, he and another man were accused of

” using Twitter to direct the movements of G20 protesters and update them about movements of police in Pittsburgh.”

Indie culture website Death +Taxes has an interesting analysis of how the US government is championing internet freedom in rest of the world but is cautious about the web's influence at home. Elliot Madison case is mentioned as a cautionary tale.

“Activist Elliot Madison used Twitter to help crowds of protesters disperse from advancing police. The government didn’t take kindly to Madison using the very same tactics they had encouraged Iranians to use in 2009, and so they raided Madison’s hotel room. A week later the FBI raided Madison’s home ‘Tortuga House’ in Queens, NY, on a search warrant related to Madison’s Pittsburgh tweets.

The message was profound: Twitter activism used abroad in unfriendly regimes like Iran is okay, but used here at home and it becomes a felony.”

Here is Madison speaking about the whole incident at Let Them Talk.

Threats against Vietnam's growing democracy movement was also a frequent topic in my posts. On July 20,2009's post I discussed about bloggers being randomly detained and sent to prison without fair trail.

“Vietnam's growing democracy movement is under attack from the state once again.Pro-democracy blogger Nguyen Tien Trung was arrested earlier this month.”

Unfortunately, Nguyen Tien Trung is now serving a seven year prison sentence.

Nguyễn Tiến Trung has been sentenced to 7 years of jail, and 3 years of probation, this Thursday, January 20th 2010.

Trung is a pacifist, and he only expressed his wish for more freedom of speech in his country. He was accused of trying to overthrow the current regime. That is the reason why he has been in jail in Hô-Chi-Minh-City in Viêt Nam since the 7th of July 2009.

His supporters have set up a blog to unite supporters and demand for Trung's release.

In the next post we will look back at online free speech controversy at Purdue University and Turkey's YouTube ban.

Free Blogger Dieu Cay

Guest Contributor — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 11:24:13 +0000

This is a guest blog entry from Duy Hoang of Viet Tan. Viet Tan aims to bring about democratic changes in Vietnam through nonviolent means and civic engagement.

Two and a half years ago, in April 2008, police in Vietnam arrested Nguyen Van Hai and detained him secretly for several weeks. Mr. Hai, now 58-years old, blogged under the nickname Dieu Cay which means “the peasant’s water pipe.”
At the time, authorities denied targeting Dieu Cay for his writings even though he was then one of the country’s best known bloggers and government critics. Through his Yahoo 360 blog, Dieu Cay exposed government corruption, called for freedom of expression and was among the first Vietnamese to criticize a Chinese government decision to incorporate the Paracel and Spratly Islands—which are claimed by Vietnam and several other Asian countries— into an administrative unit under China’s Hainan island.

Dieu Cay was one of Vietnam’s pioneering citizen journalists. Blogging effectively took off in the country in 2007 as internet penetration reached a critical mass; the Yahoo platform became widely popular thanks to free Yahoo email accounts, Yahoo messenger and the 360 blog service; and a series of developments sparked independent reporting. Dieu Cay and his blogger friends formed the Free Journalists Club (Câu Lạc Bộ Nhà Báo Tự Do) which published an unsanctioned website.

Members of the Free Journalists Club joined the protests outside the Chinese embassy in Hanoi and consulate in Saigon on two consecutive Sundays in December 2007. The protests, which were eventually banned by the Hanoi government, attracted hundreds of youths and were largely coordinated online. During one of the rallies outside the Chinese consulate, a witness photographed Dieu Cay being dragged away by police. This iconic picture quickly spread through the internet.

Despite frequent police intimidation, Dieu Cay continued blogging and on January 19, 2008, appeared with other bloggers on the steps of the Opera House in the central quarter of Saigon. Wearing matching tshirts with the logo of the Olympic rings as handcuffs, the demonstrators called attention to China’s invasion and occupation of the Paracel Islands exactly 34 years before. Calling for civil disobedience, Dieu Cay proposed a boycott of the Beijing Torch Relay which was to parade through Vietnam on April 29, 2008.

Police summoned Dieu Cay for questioning and even threatened his personal safety by suggesting that they would not be responsible if Chinese agents chose to harm him. Before the Beijing Torch got to Vietnam, police officially arrested Dieu Cay on April 19, 2008. Authorities charged him with tax evasion and he was sentenced to 30 months in prison. Leading international human rights groups accused the Vietnamese authorities of applying trumped up charges to silence political speech. The Vietnamese government, on the other hand, insisted that Dieu Cay was a common criminal and there was no political connection to his conviction.

Last week, Dieu Cay’s friends eagerly anticipated his release from prison. They even initiated a campaign online referring to October 19, 2010 (the conclusion of Dieu Cay’s 30 month prison sentence) as “Vietnam Blogger Day.” But the 19th of October went by and Dieu Cay was not freed. According to Dieu Cay’s former wife, police recently raided his old home and have indicated that he would be kept in jail further under the new charge of “propaganda against the socialist state,” which is forbidden under Article 88 of the Vietnamese Criminal Code.

This is an ironic twist. The Vietnamese authorities originally insisted that blogger Dieu Cay was not arrested for his political activities but now they appear to confirm that Dieu Cay is being punished for his writings. Moreover, since he has been in jail for the last two and a half years one wonders what type of “propaganda” did Dieu Cay undertake?

The case of Dieu Cay is a worrisome example of “rule by law” in Vietnam where authorities use the legal system to justify their political control. Free speech advocates and everyone with a stake in the honesty of Vietnam’s legal system ought to join the movement to FREE DIEU CAY.

Hanoi arrested blogger Pham Minh Hoang for peacefully expressing his political view

Guest Contributor — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 14:17:54 +0000

This is a guest blog entry from Trinh Nguyen, Viet Tan Fellow. Viet Tan is a pro-democracy group with members inside Vietnam and around the world. Viet Tan aims to bring about democratic changes in Vietnam through nonviolent means and civic engagement.

Pham Minh Hoang, a blogger and lecturer at the Ho Chi Minh City Polytechnic Institute, was arrested on August 13, 2010 for blogging about democracy and social justice in Vietnam.

Initially, the Vietnamese government detained him quietly but later acknowledged his arrest. This was only after the detention was brought to international attention by Viet Tan.

Authorities continue to remain silent on the detentions of three other Viet Tan members: Pastor Duong Kim Khai, Ms Tran Thi Thuy and Mr Nguyen Thanh Tam.

Believing in the potential of young leaders in Vietnam, Professor Hoang refused to let a stalled education system fail his students and sought innovative ways to empower and encourage civic participation among his pupils through workshops on leadership skills. Known by his pen-name Phan Kien Quoc, Hoang is a politically committed blogger whose articles on corruption, the environment, and the defence of Vietnam's sovereignty have been widely circulated online.

Currently detained at the Ministry of Public Security Detainment Center at 238 Nguyen Van Cu, District 1, Saigon, Hoang was officially charged on September 29, 2010 under Article 79 of the penal code, which bans “carrying out activities with intent to overthrow the socialist government.” This charge of subversion carries a maximum penalty of capital punishment.

The Vietnamese authorities violated their own Criminal Procedure Code by holding Pham Minh Hoang beyond the time limit permitted without an official detention order and notification to his family. By covertly arresting and denying him his right to legal representation, the authorities’ possess unchecked power to commit physical abuses and force confessions.

Freedom of expression is one of the many basic human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to which Vietnam is a signatory.

You can help Pham Minh Hoang by signing a petition calling for his and other activists’ release. You can also contact your embassy/consulate in Vietnam asking them to intervene and demand the release of these peaceful activists. For more information, you can visit the Free Pham Minh Hoàng campaign blog or Free Them Now.

Southeast Asia: Sex and web censorship

Mong Palatino — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:55:40 +0000

Regulating internet content today is viewed as an anti-democratic practice but Southeast Asian governments seem able to justify it by invoking the need to save the young from the scourge of indecent sexual behavior.

Indonesia’s plan to filter web of “bad” content through its Multimedia Content Screening team was shelved last February after it was opposed by the public. Today, the proposal is being revived in the wake of a celebrity sex tape scandal which continues to shock both the young and old in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation. After enacting an anti-pornography law two years ago, Indonesia now wants to enforce an internet blacklist in response to the demand of conservative voices to protect the morals of the young.

A similar celebrity sex scandal hounded the Philippines last year which paved the way for the passage of an anti-voyeurism law. The internet was also blamed for the instant dissemination of the sex tapes which prodded lawmakers to craft a cybercrime bill.

In Cambodia, the government is proposing to establish a state-run exchange point to control all local internet service providers which is intended to strengthen internet security against pornography, theft and other cybercrimes. The draft regulation is not yet final but it is expected that the government will seriously pursue this measure especially after it recently became almost helpless in stopping the cell phone and internet uploading of an illegally taped video of nude ladies bathing in a monastery.

Southeast Asian governments do no always need sex scandals to censor the web since they can always cite other reasons, like national security, to filter and monitor internet content. For example, Thailand became the first country in the world to shut down 100,000 websites for containing “dangerous” material. It punishes bloggers, writers and website administrators for violating the lese majeste law. Vietnam was accused by Google and McAfee of launching cyber attacks against some websites, specifically websites that advocate opposition to bauxite mining, a controversial issue in the country.

But politically-driven internet regulation often encounters strong opposition from internet users and it always elicits condemnation around the world, especially from media groups and human rights organizations. Governments can always ignore the noisy critics but they will also lose credibility. Governments with democratic trappings cannot afford to censor the online media for an extended period. But regulating the web to stop pornography and other immoral acts somehow generates only a whisper of protest. It has become the safest ruse to block “harmful” websites. Myanmar’s internet regulation policy has been identified as one of the draconian measures imposed by the ruling junta but its decision to ban two weekly journals for posting photos of female models in short pants didn’t draw the normal level of opposition from democracy groups.

The aggressive drive to eliminate sex and sexual imageries in the online domain may be a symptom of the rising tide of conservatism in many Southeast Asian nations. The morality card is being played to produce desirable attitudes, sentiments and behavior among the population even if this strategy disrespects the diverse cultures in the region. When Indonesia passed the anti-porn law, the Bali governor protested since the law is contrary to the local tradition where making historic nude statues and erotic dances are sometimes still popular. When Cambodia blocked websites showing pornography or sexy images, it included reahu.net for containing artistic illustrations of ancient bare-breasted Apsara dancers and a Khmer Rouge soldier.

Another problem is the vague definition of what constitutes images and actions that are pornographic, indecent, immoral, and obscene. Filipino activists are worried that the cybercrime bill would now make it unlawful to publish or upload materials that contradict the official state interpretation of what is decent, moral, and proper.

Governments have mastered the tools and techniques of censorship in the traditional media. They are now testing the limits of online regulation. Indonesia’s plan to enforce an internet blacklist should be monitored because of its impact in the region. Indonesia has more than 40 million internet users and it is acknowledged as the Twitter capital of Asia. If Indonesia succeeds in filtering web content, other countries in the region are expected to follow this model.

Web censorship does not only cut access to information; it also weakens the power of internet users to form online solidarities. To really protect the young and innocent, the best solution is to give them, their parents, and the community in general, the proper education and relevant information about the potential and risks of surfing the web.

2009 a bad year for bloggers and freelance journalists

Bhumika Ghimire — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:51:57 +0000

Freelance journalists and bloggers did not have a good year in 2009. According to Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)

” At least 60 freelance journalists are behind bars worldwide, nearly double the number from just three years ago. CPJ research shows the number of jailed freelancers has grown along with two trends: The Internet has enabled individual journalists to publish on their own, and some news organizations, watchful of costs, rely increasingly on freelancers rather than staffers for international coverage. Freelance journalists are especially vulnerable to imprisonment because they often do not have the legal and monetary support that news organizations can provide to staffers.”

Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen is among the journalists being held for his work. He is a freelancer whose 25-minute long documentary Leaving Fear Behind prompted Chinese authorities to arrest him and subsequently charge him for subversion. According to the New York Times

“Out of 40 hours of footage and 108 interviews came “Leaving Fear Behind,” a 25-minute documentary that is an unadorned indictment of the Chinese government. Although given the choice to conceal their identities, most of his subjects spoke uncloaked and freely expressed their disdain for the Han Chinese migrants who are flooding the region and their love for the Dalai Lama, who has lived in exile since 1959.”

Meanwhile,Vietnamese blogger Nguyen Tien Trung is now facing death penalty. We covered Trung previous arrest in July of this year. According to Reporters Without Borders

“Nguyen Tien Trung, now facing a possible death penalty under article 89 of the criminal code after the charges against him were changed to “trying to overthrow the people’s government.” Arrested more than five months ago, he is due to be tried at the end of the month.

“We call for Nguyen Tien Trung’s immediate and unconditional release as the charges against him are entirely fabricated,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Trung is a pacifist who has never endangered the Vietnamese state. He just exercised his right to free expression, a right he learned to use in France.”

We can only hope that 2010 better than this year, with more freedom for journalists and bloggers worldwide.

Vietnam: Blogger and democracy activist Tran Khai Thanh Thuy beaten and arrested

Sami Ben Gharbia — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 09:25:53 +0000

Arrests of Vietnamese bloggers continue: Blogger and democracy activist Tran Khai Thanh Thuy beaten and arrested *

October 23, 2009 - Vietnamese authorities have arrested another blogger after sending nine internet activists to prison on two to six years terms for expressing their views on the internet.

Tran Khai Thanh Thuy was arrested on the evening of October 8, 2009 after the police sent plain-clothes officers to her house to harass her, her husband, and their 13-year-old daughter. The officers hit Thuy with bricks, causing her a head injury. Thuy and her husband were then taken away by the police, leaving their daughter at home alone.

Tran Khai Thanh Thuy suffered an injury to her head and her mother (right). [Source: Free Tran Khai Thanh Thuy Blog]

Thuy traveled to Hai Phong earlier that day to support six fellow activists who were held on trial. She was stopped by the police and taken away without cause. After several hours of being held incommunicado, she was released, then arrested again the same evening.

This is not the first time Tran Khai Thanh Thuy has been arrested for her blogging and activism. She was jailed for nine months in 2007 for speaking up and helping aggrieved farmers seek justice for expropriated farm lands. During her imprisonment, she suffered from diabetes and severe tuberculosis but was denied medical care.

Since her release in February 2008, she and her family have been under constant police surveillance and harassment. Her home has been vandalized with human feces.

Tran Khai Thanh Thuy was charged with assault. Vietnamese state-controlled media reported that she and her husband beat and injured another man, hence her assault charge.
A picture of a man bleeding was posted on the state media's website, Dan Tri.

The doctored photograph of Nguyen Manh Diep’s injuries [Source: Free Tran Khai Thanh Thuy Blog]

Vietnamese bloggers studied the picture and stated that digital data encoded in the picture showed that it was taken on February 28, 2005. However, the picture on the website beared a time-stamp that read October 9, 2009. Many Vietnamese bloggers believe the picture was orchestrated by the police to frame Thuy.

Tran Khai Thanh Thuy is an Honorary Member of English PEN, an NGO working to promote literature and human rights, and the 2007 recipient of Human Rights Watch’s Hellman/Hammett Award.

Thuy's blog can be found at http://trankhaithanhthuy.blogspot.com. We are urging bloggers to raise Tran Khai Thanh Thuy's case by supporting her blog as well as writing to your diplomatic representative in Hanoi to intervene in this case. You can also visit the campaign blog http://freetrankhaithanhthuy.wordpress.com.

* This article has been written with the collaboration of Viet Tan - a Vietnamese pro-democracy group.

Vietnamese Government Cracks Down On Bloggers

Sami Ben Gharbia — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:02:33 +0000

In response to the fast growing citizen journalist movement, the Vietnamese government launched a new entity (Administration Agency for Radio, Television and Electronics Information) and decree to restrict Internet freedom, censor private blogs, and compel information technology companies to cooperate with authorities.

Since the end of last year, authorities in Vietnam have taken further steps to restrict freedom of expression by unleashing a systematic campaign against bloggers and internet activists. At least 15 bloggers have been arrested and harassed since September 2008.

Nguyen Xuan Nghia, Nguyen Van Tuc, Ngo Quynh, Nguyen Van Tinh, Nguyen Kim Nhan, Nguyen Manh Son, Pham Thanh Nghien and Vu Hung were all arrested in September 2008 for posting writings online regarding sovereignty disputes with China. Also in September 2008, Blogger Nguyen Van Hai, writing under the pen-name Dieu Cay, was sentenced to jail for “tax evasion” after he had planned a peaceful rally against the Beijing Olympic torch relay.

In May 2009, Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, known by his blogging name ChangeWeNeed, was arrested for posting online critiques of the government.

Three months after, Bui Thanh Hieu (alias blogger Nguoi Buon Gio) was arrested for criticizing government policies on China. Journalist Huy Duc was dismissed from his newspaper job under pressure from authorities after writing about the Berlin Wall on his personal blog, Osin.

Journalist Pham Doan Trang, who has a blog and writes for the online newspaper VietnamNet, was detained after criticizing the harassment of Vietnamese journalists by Chinese embassy officials.

Blogger Sphinx was detained for posting on his blog a picture of himself wearing a T-shirt saying “Paracel and Spratly islands belong to Vietnam. ”

Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, alias blogger Me Nam (Mother Mushroom), was also arrested. She posted pictures wearing a “stop bauxite mining in Vietnam” t-shirt.

Global Voices Advocacy welcomes the recent release of Bui Thanh Hieu, Pham Doan Trang and Sphinx and calls on the Vietnamese government to release all bloggers and internet activists remaining in prison.
The Committee to Protect Journalists calls Vietnam one of the “10 worst countries to be a blogger. ”

Reporters Without Borders lists the Vietnamese government as an “enemy of the internet. ”

Despite the restrictions posed by authorites, Global Voices Advocacy encourges all Vietnamese citizen journalists to continue to exercise their freedom of expression online.

Bloggers can always use our Anonymous Blogging with WordPress and Tor guide to protect their identity, avoid retaliation and considerably reduce the risks that their identity will be linked to their online writings through technical means.

The web has become a critical tool for over 20 million Vietnamese internet users to access and share information beyond the censorship of state-run media.

All information in this post has been provided by Viet Tan , a Vietnamese pro-democracy group.

Vietnam: Bloggers arrested for criticizing China

Bhumika Ghimire — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 02:55:52 +0000

Vietnam is continuing its crackdown against bloggers.Early morning on September 3rd blogger Nguyen Nhu Quynh, asleep with her young child was arrested by armed security personnel.In July blogger Nguyen Tien Trung was arrested for his free speech activism.

According to Reporters Sans Frontières

“The Vietnamese authorities have arrested another blogger, Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, who follows Bui Thanh Hieu (a blogger arrested on 27 August), Pham Doan Trang (28 August), Nguyen Tien Trung (July) and Dien Cay (April 2008). She was arrested at around midnight on 1 September on charges of violating national security laws and “interfering in state interests.””

Quynh, who blogs under the name “Me Nam” had posted entires criticizing China in her blog. She called her government to shut down a bauxite mine project which is largely being conducted by a Chinese company and also commented on Vietnam and China's dispute over South China Sea islands-Spratly and Paracel.Quynh rejects China's cliam over the territory.

Reuters reports that along with bloggign against China Quynh was also a meber of “t-shirt campaign” against China.

“They promoted a campaign to print and give away T-shirts that said “SOS, keep green and keep Vietnam's security” and “Stop bauxite. No China. The Spratlys and Paracels belong to Vietnam.”"

Blogger Bui Thanh Hieu who was involved in the “t-shirt campaign” was also arrested but later released.

Meanwhile Quynh's mother has appealed for her release.

“”Help us to get her free!” Nguyen Thi Tuyet Lan told AFP in a tearful telephone conversation from the southern coastal city of Nha Trang, where her daughter Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, 30, has been held since Wednesday.”

Democracy movement under attack in Vietnam

Bhumika Ghimire — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:34:03 +0000

Vietnam's growing democracy movement is under attack from the state once again.Pro-democracy blogger Nguyen Tien Trung was arrested earlier this month. According to Reporters Without Borders

“Nguyen Tien Trung’s arrest brings the number of journalists and bloggers held in Vietnam to at least 11.
Nguyen Tien Trung, an active member of the Vietnam Democratic Party, was arrested on 7 July, just a few hours after being discharged from the army for refusing to take an oath. The Vietnam Democratic Party was revived in 2006, after being disbanded for 20 years. The policemen who took him away from his home in Ho Chi Minh City were led by the same officer who arrested dissident lawyer Le Cong Dinh last month.

Aged 25, Nguyen Tien Trung could be charged under article 88 of the criminal code although relatives and friends insisted to Reporters Without Borders that he has never been involved in any anti-Vietnamese activity.”

Trung is not the only member of the Democratic Party arrested, Tran Anh Kim, 60, was arrested after being accused of

“….setting up the Movement of Democratic Youth that aimed to collude with anti-government forces at home and overseas to bring about a ‘change of political regime' in Vietnam. He was discharged from the army fir subordination a day before he was arrested, the newspaper reported.

Police said Trung wrote blogs, distributed several documents, ran the ‘Democracy Youth Forum' on the internet and made speeches at meetings to incite people to oppose the government.”

Nguyen's arrest is not the first time he has been victimized for his activism.Vietnam's government's crackdown on Trung's activism lead to IBM rescinding its job offer. A 2007 post by Committee to Protect Bloggers indicates that the technology giant developed cold feet after learning about Trun's free speech activism in his home country.

Despite severe government action, pro-democracy and free speech movement is thriving online. Matt Steinglass at Boston Globe says

“But the recent activism of the dissident movement is fueled by a younger generation, exposed to new political ideas through study abroad and, especially, the Internet.

Blogs have proliferated in Vietnam over the past year, though most are carefully apolitical. Bloc 8406 would be paralyzed without Internet chat and voice-over-Internet programs, which members use to communicate beyond the reach of police telephone taps.

……..Vietnamese law prohibits the use of the Internet to attack the government or undermine public security. A national firewall attempts to block political websites, but many get through anyway.”

At YouTube, bloggers have posted number of videos on Vietnam's pro-democracy movement, majority of which are in Vietnamese. Here is a video, on dissidents arrested by the government for advocating free speech.

Facebook has number of groups dedicated to promoting Vietnam's freedom movement.Democracy for Vietnam is one of the largest with about 3,400 members.

Vietnam: Blogger Dieu Cay arrested

John Kennedy — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 03:50:04 +0000

If you go to YouTube right now you can easily find footage from most of the stops along the ongoing Beijing Olympic Sacred Flame torch relay.

On the San Francisco leg, protesters went viral, covering the event through Twitter, video and even audio live updates.

Come next Tuesday, however, what you might not be seeing on YouTube is any cellphone-shot footage of human rights protests uploaded by Vietnamese bloggers as the Olympic torch makes its way through Ho Chi Minh City; Nguyen Van Hai, a prominent citizen reporter there who blogs under the name Dieu Cay, was arrested this past week as he led efforts to organize local bloggers to follow the torch's passing.

One world, one voice?

Some are saying that Nguyen's arrest comes as Chinese authorities have been putting pressure on their Vietnamese counterparts to keep Beijing's sacred flame procession as harmonious as possible, a goal which apparently now requires everything from death threats to readiness to shoot to kill.

RSF made a call upon the Vietnamese government this week to release all prisoners of conscience, many of whom once blogged, before the Olympic torch arrives on April 29:

Bloc 8406 members Huynh Nguyen Dao, Le Nguyen Sang and Nguyen Bac Truyen have been sentenced to jail terms of three, four and two years respectively on charges of “propaganda hostile to the government” in what they posted online.

In one video of Dieu currently found on YouTube, he looks to be hearing out a group of women's grievances; in another, part of a set uploaded late last winter, someone can be seen being confronted and then ushered away by police while Dieu and friends film the scene from nearby: