Tag: Homo Homini Prize

  • Pham Doan Trang in People In Need: PIN Asks For Immediate Release Of Journalist And Homo Homini Award Laureate Pham Doan Trang

    People In Need joins several international humanitarian organizations in the call for the immediate release of prominent journalist and Homo Homini Prize recipient Pham Doan Trang.

    Title: PIN Asks For Immediate Release Of Journalist And Homo Homini Award Laureate Pham Doan Trang
    Publish Date: October 27, 2021
    Publisher: People In Need


    Excerpt:

    Ahead of her upcoming trial on 4 November, People in Need joins other international and local human rights organizations to condemn the ongoing arbitrary detention of independent journalist and 2017 Homo Homini laureate Pham Doan Trang. We call on the Vietnamese authorities to immediately and unconditionally release and drop all charges against her.

    Pham Doan Trang was arrested more than a year ago in Ho Chi Minh City, on 7 October 2020, and charged with “making, storing, distributing or disseminating information, documents and items against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” (also known as “anti-state propaganda”) under Article 88 of the 1999 Penal Code.

    Since her arrest, Doan Trang has been held incommunicado, until 19 October 2021, when she was finally allowed to meet with one of her lawyers after having been denied access to her family and legal representation for over a year. According to her lawyer, Doan Trang is suffering serious medical concerns. Doan Trang’s legs, which were broken by the police in 2015, have been in greater pain as a result of the denial of adequate medical care during her detention.

    It is clear that Doan Trang is being persecuted for her long-standing work as an independent journalist, book publisher, and human rights defender, known for writing about topics ranging from environmental rights to police violence, as well as for her advocacy for press freedom. The published indictment of Doan Trang calls attention to three specific pieces of writing, including a book-length report about the 2016 Formosa disaster; a 2017 report on the freedom of religion in Vietnam; and an undated article titled ‘General assessment of the human rights situation in Vietnam.’ The indictment also accuses her of speaking with two foreign media, Radio Free Asia and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

    Background

    Doan Trang is among the leading voices and best-known independent writers in Vietnamese civil society and recognized internationally for her human rights advocacy. She is the author of thousands of articles, blog entries, Facebook posts, and numerous books about politics, social justice, and human rights.

    Doan Trang is no stranger to harassment and intimidation for her writing and human rights advocacy. In 2015, she was beaten so badly by security forces that she was left disabled and has since often needed crutches to aid her mobility. In 2018, she was hospitalized after being subjected to torture in police custody. For three years preceding her arrest, she was forced to move constantly and lived in fear of intimidation and harassment by police and other state authorities.

    To recognize her courageous activism to defend human rights in Vietnam, People in Need presented Doan Trang with the 2017 Homo Homini Award. In 2019, she was presented the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Award Prize for Impact. In 2020, the International Publishers Association awarded her organization, the Liberal Publishing House, with their Prix Voltaire Award.


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  • Pham Doan Trang in People In Need: The Homo Homini Prize For 2017 Will Be Awarded To A Persecuted Vietnamese Blogger

    People in Need annually hands out the Homo Homini Prize to individuals who have made significant contributions promoting human rights and democracy in a peaceful way.  

    Pham Doan Trang, a famous critic of the Vietnamese government is this year’s prize winner.  Known to use the might of the pen, this Vietnamese blogger has written articles and books that bring to light the repression and injustices in her homeland.  

    Homo Homini is the first international award presented to Pham Doan Trang.


    Excerpt:

    “You cannot be afraid,” says Pham Doan Trang, who will be awarded the Homo Homini prize for the courage she employs while tirelessly pursuing a democratic change within her country, despite harassment and persecution. On her blog, Trang highlights the injustices committed by the communist regime and tries to explain to her fellow Vietnamese citizens that they too have the right to stand up against repressions. Despite being constantly intimidated for her actions by the state apparatus, she will not be discouraged. She has to hide, but she will not stop writing. Her recently published book, the 9th she has written, discusses democracy, and its circulation is strictly prohibited in Vietnam.

    Pham Doan Trang is one of the leading figures of the contemporary Vietnamese dissent. She uses plain words to fight the lack of freedom, corruption and the despotism of the communist regime. Independent media do not exist in Vietnam, and so her articles, which comment on the situation in the country and are critical to the current regime, are published through two different channels: on her Facebook page, which has 40 thousand followers, and on her blog, which is visited by approximately 20 thousand people a day. Her recently published samizdat book – Politics for All – presents and explains basic political concepts. Despite its distribution being prohibited in Vietnam, Trang hopes for the internet to help her spread its contents to as many as possible.

    “It would be better if we were to live in a world where such awards would not have to exist,” says Pham Doan Trang about the Homo Homini award, which People in Need annually bestows on personalities who have significantly contributed to the promotion of human rights and democracy and nonviolent solutions to political conflicts. “In a world where we would not have to talk about the abuse of human rights, because such things would not happen. This is not the world we live in, though. And that is why I need your international support. Only then can the pressure on the Vietnamese regime become meaningful and bring about a change for the better.”

    Homo Homini is the first international award presented to Pham Doan Trang.

    Vietnamese regime suppresses freedom of speech

    According to the highly regarded international organization Freedom House, Vietnam occupies the bottom fifth of the least free nations of the world. The French non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders ranks Vietnam 175th in its Press Freedom Index. And according to the Human Rights Watch, the human rights situation in the country is “worsening significantly”.


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