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The Observatory has been informed about renewed acts of torture and ill-treatment perpetrated against Mr Trinh Ba Phuong
in detention. Mr Ba Phuong is a land rights defender who has been vocal
about land grabbing and its impact on small-scale farmers across the
country, along with his mother Can Thi Theu and brother Trinh Ba Tu. All three of them have been arbitrarily detained since June 24, 2020.
On October 12, 2023, during a family
visit in An Diem Prison, in Quang Nam Province, where he is arbitrarily
detained, Trinh Ba Phuong informed his relatives about the punishment
inflicted upon him and two fellow inmates by the prison authorities
between September 9 and 19, 2023.
According to Trinh Ba Phuong, on
September 9, 2023, he and two other prisoners peacefully protested
against the Vietnamese government’s human rights record by holding
banners made with pieces of paper in Division 34 of An Diem Prison.
After more than 10 minutes, 10 prison guards confiscated the banners and
brutally beat them in the presence of the prison ward. Trinh Ba Phuong
was grabbed by the neck and pushed against the wall, causing him bruises
on his chest. He was subsequently handcuffed and taken to a
disciplinary cell, where he remained detained in solitary confinement
with his feet shackled until September 19, 2023. The shackles were
removed for only 20 minutes every morning to allow him to wash his body.
After the 10-day punishment period, he was transferred back to his
cell. To date, he has neither been treated nor examined by any medical
personnel.
The Observatory condemns in its
strongest terms the disciplinary punishment perpetrated against Trinh Ba
Phuong and his two fellow inmates while in prison, and recalls that
this is not the first time the human rights defender has been subjected
to ill-treatment and acts of torture. His brother Trinh Ba Tu has been subjected to disciplinary punishment
on multiple occasions in Thanh Hoa Prison No. 6, in Nghe An province,
including solitary confinement, beatings, foot shackling, and hard
labour.
The Observatory recalls
that Trinh Ba Phuong was arbitrarily arrested in Hanoi on June 24,
2020, on charge of “making, storing, distributing or disseminating
information, documents and items against the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam” under Article 117 of the Criminal Code. On the same day, in Hoa
Binh Province, his mother and brother, Ms Can Thi Theu
and Trinh Ba Tu, were arbitrarily arrested on the same
charge. Their arrest and detention are connected to their work
denouncing on social media the excessive use of force against farmers of
the Dong Tam Village, about 25 km Southwest of Hanoi, during a deadly
police raid conducted in January 2020, in which a farmer and three
policemen died.
On December 15, 2021, Trinh Ba Phuong was sentenced to 10 years in prison and five years of probation. On August 17, 2022, his conviction and prison sentence were upheld
by the Hanoi High People’s Court and the sentence is final. During the
investigation, he was subjected to acts of torture and ill-treatment,
and was confined to a psychiatric hospital for one month in March 2021.
Can Thi Theu and Trinh Ba Tu were sentenced
by the Hanoi People’s Court to eight years of imprisonment each under
Article 117 of the Criminal Code on May 5, 2021. Their convictions and
prison sentences were upheld on appeal on December 24, 2021 and are
final. At the time of publication of this Urgent Appeal, they remained
detained in Thanh Hoa Prison No. 5 and Thanh Hoa Prison No. 6,
respectively, and their detention conditions remained unknown.
The Observatory expresses its grave
concern over the high risk of torture and ill-treatment Trinh Ba Phuong,
Can Thi Theu, and Trinh Ba Tu face while in detention.
The Observatory expresses further
concern about the physical integrity and psychological well-being of the
three human rights defenders’ families, who have been subjected to threats and short periods of arrest to intimidate them and prevent them from attending the trials of their relatives.
The Observatory further notes that
Trinh Ba Phuong remains detained 850 km away from his home; while Trinh
Ba Tu and Can Thi Theu are detained at a distance of 300 km and 120 km
from their homes, respectively. The continued detention of the
above-mentioned human rights defenders in remote prisons has a punitive
effect on them and their families, as each prison visit requires high
traveling costs and onerous journeys, and consequently cannot take place
regularly.
The Observatory urges the Vietnamese
authorities to protect and respect Trinh Ba Phuong, Trinh Ba Tu, and
Can Thi Theu’s right to be free from torture and other ill-treatment,
and to carry out an immediate, thorough, and impartial investigation
into the above-mentioned allegations of torture and ill treatment and
hold those responsible accountable.
The Observatory further condemns
their ongoing arbitrary detention and calls on the authorities to quash
their prison sentences and to immediately and unconditionally release
them.
The Observatory urges the Vietnamese
authorities to stop misusing Article 117 of the Criminal Code to
prosecute human rights defenders and silence dissent in Vietnam, and
recalls that several United Nations Special Procedures declared
that this article is “overly broad and appears to be aimed at silencing
those who seek to exercise their human rights to freely express their
views and share information with others”.
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