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Tag: Media Freedom

  • Pham Doan Trang in United Nations Press briefing notes on Viet Nam

    The UN calls on the Vietnamese Government to repeal all legal provisions that violate fundamental freedoms and to immediately release all these individuals (human and land rights defenders) as well as the many others arbitrarily detained for exercising their rights to freedom of opinion and expression.

    Title: United Nations Press briefing notes on Viet Nam
    Publish Date: December 17, 2021
    Publisher: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

    Full Statement:

    Press briefing notes on Viet Nam

    Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: Ravina Shamdasani

    Location: Geneva

    Date: 17 December 2021

    We are deeply troubled by the harsh sentencing of human rights and land rights defenders convicted of spreading anti-State propaganda in Viet Nam.

    In the span of three days this week, four prominent human rights defenders – Trinh Ba Phuong, Nguyen Thi Tam, Do Nam Trung and independent author Pham Doan Trang were sentenced to up to 10 years in jail and 5 years on probation under articles 88 and 117 of Viet Nam’s Criminal Code, all following prolonged pre-trial detention. Trinh was sentenced to 10 years in prison and five on probation; Nguyen to six in prison and three on probation; Do to 10 years in jail and four on probation; and Pham to nine years’ imprisonment.

    Journalist Le Trong Hung, who had announced his intention to run for political office as an independent, is facing trial on 31 December on similar charges. He has been held since March 2021, without access to a lawyer and without being allowed to meet his family.

    The charges against these five people, who were reporting on human rights and land rights and who were arrested in 2020 and 2021, appear to be part of a campaign to silence and intimidate those who raise their voices in defence of human rights. All the cases follow similar worrying patterns that raise serious issues concerning the presumption of innocence, the legality of their detention, and the fairness of their trial. There is prolonged incommunicado pre-trial detention, prosecution under the vaguely worded offence of “spreading anti-State propaganda”, denial of access to legal counsel and closed trials that do not respect international fair trial standards.

    We urge the authorities in Viet Nam to immediately release all these individuals as well as the many others arbitrarily detained for exercising their rights to freedom of opinion and expression.

    We also call on the Government to repeal all legal provisions that violate fundamental freedoms. The articles of the criminal code under which these charges were brought are vague and overly broad and thereby inconsistent with international human rights norms.

    Cases of this kind contribute to a climate of self-censorship in the country and have a chilling effect on media freedom. They also prevent people from exercising their fundamental rights and engaging in public debate on issues of importance.

    ENDS

  • Luat Khoa and Pham Doan Trang in Southeast Asian Press Alliance VIETNAM: The Net as the New ‘Battlefield’

    It would be almost impossible to discuss media freedom in Vietnam without first reviewing the country’s political situation over the past year. The authoritarian state created a narrow window of opportunity for non-state and independent media to grow over the years, despite state censorship.

    Title: VIETNAM: The Net as the New ‘Battlefield’
    Publish Date: May 6, 2019
    Publisher: Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA)

    Excerpt:

    What frustrates Vietnamese Facebook users the most about this phenomenon is that Facebook has refused to explain its decisions, which it considers to be final. Affected users have been unable to find out the specific “community standard” they were accused of violating, even after they had appealed their cases.

    The standards that Facebook has been using, however, appeared even more arbitrary when coupled with the operation of its unknown, undisclosed third party’s fact-checkers. For example, in March 2019, Facebook deleted four articles from the fan page of Luat Khoa online magazine for violating its “community standards”. It has yet to give further explanation for its action. The titles of these four pieces are: “US-China’s trade negotiations: America wants China to scale down its cybersecurity law” ; “Vietnam owes Cambodia an apology”; “A look at different ‘isms’”; “Donald Trump’s life story: Crisis and a father’s safety net”.

    Over 17,000 people signed an online petition initiated by Luat Khoa in July 2018, asking Facebook to provide its position on the new cybersecurity law. A summary of the signatures was gathered and sent to Mark Zuckerberg by FedEx delivery in October 2018. Yet, the company to this day remains unresponsive. Mai Khoi, a Vietnamese dissident singer, wrote on her Facebook page in January 2019 that although she had met with several people at Facebook to discuss these issues, it did not lead to any substantial progress.

    Intimidation offline continues

    Journalist Pham Doan Trang can barely claim even cold comfort, however, for facing “only” increased intimidation and threats from the government during this past year. The actions of the government against her seem to be connected to her publication of her books. To date, Trang has written and published three books on the topics of politics, policymaking, and criminal procedures.

    Download:

    VIETNAM The Net as the New Battlefield
    VIETNAM_ The Net as the New ‘Battlefield’.pdf
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