Incommunicado detention and sentencing of Mr. Abbot Tim Sa Khorn

November 29, 2007

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Vietnam.

Brief description of the situation:

The Observatory has been informed by the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights about the incommunicado detention and sentencing of Mr. Abbot Tim Sa Khorn, a Khmer Krom religious figure in Vietnam and a member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples’ Organization (UNPO)[1].

According to the information received, on November 8, 2007, Mr. Tim Sa Khorn was brought before the People’s Court of Justice of the An Giang Province, Southern Vietnam, to be tried for “sabotaging the unification policy” under Article 87 of Vietnam’s Penal Code. His trial, which started without preliminary notification, took place after four months of incommunicado detention. During his trial, Mr. Tim Sa Khorn was denied the right to be represented by a lawyer and to present his defence. Instead, he was forced to repeat a text read by the judge. He was then sentenced to one year imprisonment and denied the right to appeal.

The Observatory points out that the Vietnamese authorities often see the activities of the Khmer Krom monks as a threat to national integrity, as the latter regularly raise international awareness on the violations of freedom of religion by the Vietnamese regime.

In 1979, due to the acts of harassment he was subjected to, Mr. Abbot Tim Sa Khorn had to flee the Kampuchea-Krom region in Vietnam for the city of Phnom Den in Southern Cambodia, where he acquired Cambodian citizenship and subsequently settled.

On June 30, 2007, Mr. Tim Sa Khorn had been summoned to the office of the religious head of the Takeo Province in Cambodia (neighbouring Vietnam). On arrival, witnesses saw men in uniforms force him to enter a car.

On July 3, 2007, a spokesperson of the Cambodian Minister of Foreign Affairs declared that Mr. Tim Sa Khorn “had returned to Vietnam”.

On August 2, 2007, the Vietnamese authorities announced that Mr. Tim Sa Khorn had been arrested for having illegally entered the country, without giving further information neither on his place of detention nor on the date of his trial. His location and whereabouts remained unknown until November 8, 2007, when the Vietnamese authorities finally announced that his trial was going to be held within a few hours. As of issuing this urgent appeal, no information was given as to his place of detention.

The Observatory deplores that Mr. Tim Sa Khorn’s trial was marred by blatant violations of his right to a fair trial, as guaranteed by Article 9 of the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The Observatory strongly condemns Mr. Tim Sa Khorn’s incommunicado detention and sentencing, which it considers as arbitrary, since it seems to be solely aimed at sanctioning his activities in favour of human rights in Vietnam, and calls upon the Vietnamese authorities to release him immediately and unconditionally.

Action requested:

Please write to the authorities of Vietnam urging them to:

1. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Tim Sa Khorn;
2. Release him immediately and unconditionally since his detention is arbitrary;
3. Put an end to all acts of harassment against all human rights defenders in Vietnam;
4. Comply with the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, especially article 1, which states that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”, article 6(b), which states that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others (...) to publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms”, and article 12.2, which provides that “the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration”;
5. More generally, ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards and international human rights instruments ratified by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Addresses:

• President Nguyen Minh Triet, Office of the State, 1 Bach Thao, Hanoi, Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Fax : +84 4 823 1872 (c/o Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
• Nong Duc Manh, General Secretary, Communist Party of Vietnam, Central Committee Headquaters, Nguyen Canh Chan, 1A Hung Vuong, Hanoi, Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Fax : +84 4 845 9205
• Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Office of the Prime Minister, Hoang Hoa Tham, Hanoi, Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Fax: + 84 4 823 1872 (c/o Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
• Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Gia Khiem, Fax : +84 4 823 1872 Minister of Justice Uong Chu Luu, 56-58-60 Tran Phu, Hanoi, Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Fax: +84 4 843 1431
  
• Minister of Public Security Le Hong Anh, Ministry of Public Security, 15 Tran Binh Trong Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi, Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Fax : +84 4 825 2733
  
• Ambassador Mr. Quang Xuan Ngo, Permanent Mission of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to the United Nations in Geneva, Chemin des Corbillettes 30, 1218 Grand-Saconnex, Switzerland, Fax: + 41 22 798 07 24 / 24 69, Email: mission.vietnam@ties.itu.int
• Embassy of Vietnam in Brussels, 1 bd. General Jacques, 1050 Ixelles, Belgium, Fax: + 32 2 374 93 76.

Please also write to the embassies of Vietnam in your respective country.

***

Paris-Geneva, November 29, 2007

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

The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need. The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.

To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org
Tel and fax FIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / +33 1 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29

[1] The UNPO is an international organisation of which members are indigenous peoples, minorities, and unrecognised or occupied territories who have joined together to protect and promote their human and cultural rights, to preserve their environments, and to find non-violent solutions to conflicts affecting them.