{"id":1938,"date":"2012-11-02T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-11-02T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/queme.org\/en\/imprisonment-of-musicians-a-new-low-for-freedom-of-expression\/"},"modified":"2020-03-30T17:28:29","modified_gmt":"2020-03-30T17:28:29","slug":"imprisonment-of-musicians-a-new-low-for-freedom-of-expression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/imprisonment-of-musicians-a-new-low-for-freedom-of-expression\/","title":{"rendered":"Imprisonment of musicians a new low for freedom of expression"},"content":{"rendered":"\n


PARIS-BANGKOK, 2 November 2012 (FIDH & VCHR) – The trial and harsh sentencing of two musicians on charges of \u201canti-State propaganda\u201d<\/em> under Article 88 of the Penal Code is the latest example of Vietnam\u2019s escalating assault on freedom of expression and its blatant violation of international human rights law, said the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and its member organisation, the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a trial that lasted less than half a day on 30 October, the People\u2019s Court of Ho Chi Minh City, heavily guarded by security forces, sentenced singer and composer Mr. Vo Minh Tri (known as Viet Khang), 34, and songwriter Mr. Tran Vu Anh Binh (known as Hoang Nhat Thong), 37, to four and six years respectively in prison followed by two years probationary detention. Binh and Viet Khang had been in continuous pre-trial detention since September 2011 and December 2011, respectively, much longer than is normally allowed under Article 120 of the Criminal Procedures Code, which limits such detention to four months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Binh has written songs critical of the persecution of government critics, including a song called \u201cCourage in the Dark Prison\u201d (Nguc Toi Hien Ngang) in support of dissident blogger Mr. Nguyen Van Hai (aka Dieu Cay), who was sentenced only a month ago to 12 years in prison<\/span><\/a>, along with fellow bloggers Mr. Phan Thanh Hai and Ms. Ta Phong Tan, who were also sentenced to harsh jail terms. Viet Khang has penned songs that criticise the glaring income inequality in Vietnam, and the government\u2019s crackdowns on peaceful protests against Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea. The court accused both Binh and Viet Khang of posting songs on a website run by an overseas Vietnamese opposition group called Patriotic Youth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs a State party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Vietnam has a legal obligation under Article 19 of the Covenant to protect freedom of expression or opinion, regardless of frontiers, including through art,\u201d<\/strong> said Souhayr Belhassen, FIDH President.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vietnam in recent years has jailed dozens of dissidents for the peaceful exercise of their freedom of expression, often by invoking draconian provisions under the national security section of the Penal Code. As an ASEAN Member State, Vietnam is actively involved in the drafting of an ASEAN Human Rights Declaration, the current draft of which includes regressive provisions that mirror the draconian provisions under Vietnamese laws. These deeply flawed provisions of the Declaration would grant States sweeping discretionary power to restrict internationally recognised human rights on ill-defined grounds such as \u2018national security.\u2019 The Declaration is expected to be adopted at the upcoming ASEAN Summit from 18-20 November in Phnom Penh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe convictions should be overturned, and the Vietnamese authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Viet Khang, Tran Vu Anh Binh, and all other individuals imprisoned solely for the peaceful exercise of their freedom of expression,\u201d<\/strong> said Vo Van Ai, VCHR President.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below are excerpts of two songs written by Viet Khang and posted online in August 2011, shortly before his first arrest and brief detention at a police office in Ho Chi Minh City in September 2011. The lyrics are translated from Vietnamese by the VCHR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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