Arbitrary detention of Mr. Le Quoc Quan

VNM 001 / 0113 / OBS 001

Incommunicado detention /

Judicial harassment

Viet Nam

January 4, 2013

TheObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme ofthe International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World OrganisationAgainst Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the followingsituation in Viet Nam.

Brief description of the situation:

The Observatory has been informed by the VietnamCommittee on Human Rights (VCHR) about the arbitrary detention of Mr. LeQuoc Quan, a human rights lawyer and blogger.

According to the information received, on December 27,2012, Mr. Le Quoc Quan was arrested by the police in Hanoi while dropping offhis daughter at school. The police also searched his office and home andconfiscated some documents. They apparently read out a warrant,but did not give it to Mr. Le Quoc Quan’s family. Thepolice told his family that he would be charged under Article 161 of theCriminal Code, which relates to tax evasion. If condemned, he risks three yearsin prison and a heavy fine.

Mr. Le Quoc Quan, who began a hunger strike onDecember 28, is currently detained incommunicado in Hoa Lo Prison No. 1.Neither his lawyer nor his family have been able to visit him to date.

In addition, Mr. Le Quoc Quan’s arrest follows a recent order by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung that authoritiesrenew the fight against anyone using the Internet to “defame and spreadpropaganda against the State”.

Mr. Le Quoc Quan has been harassed constantly since2007 by the Vietnamese authorities because of his human rights activities[1].On October 3, 2012, some 50 security police and plain-clothed militia forcedentry into the head office of VietNam Credit in Hanoi and its branch office inSaigon. The firm belongs to Mr. Le Quoc Quan and his two brothers Messrs. LeDinh Quan and Le Quoc Quyet. Police seized files and documents belonging to thefirm, assaulted the staff and detained the brothers for interrogation. OnOctober 30, they returned and arrested Le Dinh Quan, also for alleged “taxevasion”. He is currently detained in Hoa Lo Prison No. 3. In addition, onAugust 18, 2012, Mr. Le Quoc Quan was brutally beaten by two unidentified menwith iron bars outside his home in Hanoi.

The Observatory stronglycondemns Mr. Le Quoc Quan's detention, as it seems to merely aim at sanctioninghis legitimate human rights activities, and recallsthat allegations of tax evasion have previously been levelled against humanrights defenders. Blogger Nguyen Van Hai, alias Dieu Cay,founding member of the Club of Free Journalists, was initially jailed for taxevasion but then sentenced in September 2012 to 12 years in jail for spreadinganti-State propaganda under Article 88 of the Criminal Code, along with twoother bloggers andmembers of the Club of Free Journalists, Ms. Ta Phong Tan and Mr.Phan Thanh Hai[2]. On December 28, 2012, an appeals court upheld the 12-year prisonsentence for Dieu Cay, the 10-year sentence for Ms. Ta Phong Tan and reduced tothree-year that against Mr. Phan Thanh Hai.

Actions requested:

Please write to the authorities in Viet Nam urging them to:

i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical andpsychological integrity of Messrs. Le Quoc Quan, Dieu Cay, Phan Thanh Hai and Ms.Ta Phong Tan, as well as of allhuman rights defenders in Viet Nam;

ii. Release Messrs.Le Quoc Quan, Dieu Cay, Phan Thanh Hai andMs. Ta Phong Tan immediately andunconditionally as their detention seems to merely sanction their human rightsactivities and is contrary to national and international law;

iii. Putan end to all acts harassment, including at the judicial level, against Messrs.Le Quoc Quan, Dieu Cay, Phan Thanh Hai andMs. Ta Phong Tan, as well as against all human rights defenders in Viet Nam;

iv. Comply with the provisions of the UN Declarationon Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the UNGeneral Assembly on December 9, 1998, in particular:

- its Article 1, which states that “everyone has theright, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strivefor the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms atthe national and international levels”,

- as well as Article 12.2, which provides that “theState shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by thecompetent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others,against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adversediscrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of hisor her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the presentDeclaration”;

v. More generally, ensure in all circumstancesrespect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance withinternational and regional human rights instruments ratified by Viet Nam.

Addresses:

· H.E. Mr. PhamBinh Minh, Minister of Foreign Affairs, 1 Ton That Dam St., Ba Dinh District,Hanoi, Vietnam; Tel: 84-4-37992000; 080 48235; Fax: 84-4-38231872 –84-4-37992682, Email: bc.mfa@mofa.gov.vn

· H.E. Mr. Nguyen Thai Binh, Minister of Interior, 37A Nguyen Binh KhiemSt., Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi, Vietnam; Tel: 84-4-39764116 – 84-4-39764278;Fax: 84-4-39781005

· H.E. Mr. Ha Hung Cuong, Minister of Justice, 56-60 Tran Phu St., Ba DinhDistrict, Hanoi, Vietnam; Tel: 84-4-37336213 – 84-4-37338068; Fax:84-4-38431431

· H.E. Mr. Tran Dai Quang,Minister of Public Security, 44 Yet Kieu St., Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi,Vietnam; Tel: 84-4-069 42545 - 84-4-048 226602; Fax: 84-4-9420223

· H.E. Mr. Vu Duc Dam, Minister, Office of theGovernment (OOG), 1 Hoang Hoa Tham St. Ba Dinh District, Hanoi, Vietnam; Tel:84-4-80 43100; 84-4-80 43569; Fax: 84-4-80 44130

· H.E. Mr Vũ Dũng, Ambassador Extraordinary andPlenipotential, Permanent Representative, 30 chemin des Corbillettes, 1218Grand-Saconnex, Geneva, Switzerland; Tel (Assistant): +41 022-791 85 40; Phone:+41 (0) 22 791 85 40; Fax: +41 (0) 22-798 07 24; Email : info@vnmission-ge.gov.vn

• HE Mr. PHAM Sanh Chau, Ambassador, Boulevard Général Jacques 1, 1050 Brussels, Belgium. Tel: +32 (0)2 379 27 37; Fax : +32 (0)2 374 93 76; Email: vnemb.brussels@skynet.be / unescochau@yahoo.com

Please also write to the embassies of Viet Nam in yourrespective country.

***

Paris-Geneva, January 4, 2013

Kindly inform us of anyaction undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.

To contact the Observatory,call the emergency line:

· E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org

· Tel and fax FIDH + 33(0) 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 1 43 55 18 80

· Tel and fax OMCT + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22809 49 29

[1] In 2007, Mr.Le Quoc Quan returned to Viet Nam, after a five-month study in the US on aReagan-Fascell scholarship, funded by the National Endowment for Democracy(NED). After his study he published a report titled Democracy in Vietnam:the role of society. Only four days after his return, he was arrested onsuspicion of engaging in “activities to overthrow the regime”. He was finallyreleased after 100 days in prison, but no longer permitted to leave Viet Nam.Subsequently, Mr. Le Quoc Quan was arrested three more times. He was alsodisbarred and placed under constant surveillance. Despite this, he continued toblog on issues of human rights, democracy and social justice and took part indemonstrations in Hanoi denouncing Chinese encroachments on Vietnameseterritories.

[2] See Observatory Urgent Appeal VNM 001/ 0212 /OBS 018.2, issued on September 27, 2012.