Urgent appeal to release Pham Minh Hoang

October 4, 2011

Nguyen Tan Dung
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Office of the State
1 Bach Thao
Hanoi, Vietnam

CC:
French Foreign Ministry
Alain Juppé
Ministere des Affaires etrangeres
37, Quai d’Orsay
75351 Paris
France

Dear Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung,

We, international digital freedom and human rights organizations, call on the Government of Vietnam to release blogger, human rights defender, and lecturer Pham Minh Hoang.

Mr Hoang, a dual French-Vietnamese citizen sentenced on August 10 to three years in prison and an additional three years house arrest, is a well-known blogger whose articles on education, the environment, and Vietnamese sovereignty in respect to China have been widely read. He is also a lecturer in applied mathematics at the Ho Chi Minh City Polytechnic Institute, an activist campaigning against bauxite mining by Chinese firms, and has participated in conferences on Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly Islands. Mr Hoang has worked tirelessly to promote human rights and to empower and encourage civic participation among his pupils and peers.

At Mr Hoang’s trial, Judge Vu Phi Long ruled that his writings had “blackened the image of the country” and were “aimed at overthrowing the people’s government.” Mr. Hoang, on the contrary, has claimed that he was exercising his free speech and was unaware that he had committed any crimes.

We would like to remind the Government of Vietnam that Mr Hoang’s blogging activities, as well as his activism, are guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Vietnam is a party to, as well as by Articles 35, 50, 53, and 69 of the Vietnamese Constitution.

We call on Vietnamese authorities to recognize Mr. Hoang’s right to expression, and to lift any charges or convictions related to his protected expressive activities, and — with these charges lifted — to ensure his release.
Signed,

Action des chrétiens pour l’abolition de la torture
ARTICLE 19
Committee of Concerned Scientists
Committee to Protect Journalists
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Front Line Defenders
Index on Censorship
PEN International
Reporters Without Borders
Scholars at Risk

World Press Freedom Committee

The World Press Freedom Committee provides leadership in the fight against licensing of journalists, mandatory codes of conduct, mandatory tasks for journalists and other news controls. It was originally created to wage a global struggle in and around intergovernmental organisations to beat back authoritarian proposals for a restrictive “new world information and communication order”.

World Association of Newspapers

The World Association of Newspapers groups 76 national newspaper associations, individual newspaper executives in 102 nations, 10 news agencies, and 10 regional press organisations. The organisation represents more than 18,000 publications on the five continents.

World Association of Community Broadcasters (AMARC)

The World Association of Community Broadcasters is an organisation serving the community radio movement, with almost 3,000 members and associates in 110 countries. Its goal is to support and contribute to the development of community and participatory radio along the principals of solidarity and international cooperation.

WikiLeaks

Wikileaks seeks to develop an uncensorable Wikipedia for untraceable mass document leaking and analysis. It aims to expose oppressive regimes in Asia, the former Soviet bloc, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, but also offers assistance to all people of nations exhibiting unethical behaviour in their governments and corporations.

West African Journalists Association (WAJA)

The West African Journalists Association is an umbrella association for all journalist organisations within the region. It aims to work towards the consolidation of freedom of expression and human rights as well as promote bonds of solidarity between journalists in West Africa and the international community of journalists.

UTNE

Utne offers digests of independent ideas and alternative culture. Utne functions as a guide to the alternative and independent press.

Tor

Tor is free software and an open network that helps defend against a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security known as traffic analysis.