{"id":46704,"date":"2022-08-18T11:25:38","date_gmt":"2022-08-18T11:25:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/queme.org\/?p=46704"},"modified":"2022-08-18T13:36:34","modified_gmt":"2022-08-18T13:36:34","slug":"observatory-on-hrd-launches-urgent-appeal-on-the-arbitrary-sentencing-of-environmental-rights-activists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/observatory-on-hrd-launches-urgent-appeal-on-the-arbitrary-sentencing-of-environmental-rights-activists\/","title":{"rendered":"Observatory on Human Rights Defenders launches Urgent Appeal on the arbitrary sentencing of environmental rights activists \u0110\u0103ng \u0110\u00ecnh B\u00e1ch, Mai Phan L\u1ee3i and B\u1ea1ch H\u00f9ng D\u01b0\u01a1ng"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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PARIS, 18 August 2022 (VCHR) \u2013 The Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR) is deeply shocked by the appeal trials of environmental rights defenders \u0110\u0103ng \u0110\u00ecnh B\u00e1ch<\/a><\/strong>, <\/a>Mai Phan L\u1ee3i <\/a><\/strong>and <\/a>B\u1ea1ch H\u00f9ng D\u01b0\u01a1ng<\/a> <\/strong>in Hanoi on 11 August 2022. <\/strong>The High People\u2019s Court upheld the five-year prison sentence against \u0110\u0103ng \u0110\u00ecnh B\u00e1ch, <\/strong>and slightly reduced thesentences against Mai Phan L\u1ee3i and B\u1ea1ch H\u00f9ng D\u01b0\u01a1ng, who pleaded guity, by three months each. <\/strong>Diplomatic observers and the prisoners\u2019 famies were not allowed to attend the trial. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs Vietnam ceremoniously launches its \u201cNational Strategy on Climate Change\u201d, the government is cracking down on the very people who aspire and work for this change. Clearly, in the choice between ecology and repression, Hanoi always chooses repression\u201d<\/em><\/strong>, said VCHR President Vo Van Ai. \u201cUnder the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) both parties are obliged to protect the environment and enable the participation of independent civil society. The activists condemned in last week\u2019s trials believed this commitment was true. Now they are betrayed by their government and by the EU, who soft-pedaled this crack-down at the EU-Vietnam Human Rights Dialogue<\/a>… It is high time the EU faced up to its responsibilities !\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

VCHR worked with the FIDH<\/a> and the OMCT<\/a> (World Organization against Torture), partners of the Observatory for the Protection on Human Rights Defenders, to issue the following Urgent Appeal:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

URGENT APPEAL \u2013 THE OBSERVATORY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

New information
VNM 002 \/ 0622 \/ OBS 054.1
<\/strong>Arbitrary detention \/
Judicial harassment
Vietnam
<\/strong>August 17, 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Observatory for the Protection\nof Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of the International Federation for\nHuman Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), has\nreceived new information and requests your urgent intervention in the following\nsituation in Vietnam.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

New information<\/strong>: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nObservatory has been informed about the rejection of the appeal against the\nconviction and prison sentence against Mr. Dang Dinh Bach<\/strong>, lawyer and\ndirector of the Law and Policy of Sustainability Development Research Center\n(LPSD), and the reduction of the prison sentences against Mr. Mai Phan Loi<\/strong>,\nfounder and leader of the Center for Media in Educating Community (MEC), and\nMr. Bach H\u00f9ng Duong<\/strong>,\nformer director of the MEC, as well as their ongoing arbitrary detention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On August 11, 2022, the Hanoi High People\u2019s Court\u2019s upheld the five-year prison sentence against Dang Dinh Bach on charge of \u201ctax evasion\u201d (Article 200 of Vietnam\u2019s 2015 Criminal Code), accusation he has consistently denied since his arrest in June 2021. Mr. Bach was sentenced to five years in prison in first instance on January 24, 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the day of\nthe appeal trial, security forces stationed outside the court barred Dang Dinh\nBach\u2019s wife, Tran Phuong Thao, from attending her husband\u2019s trial, despite the\nfact that she had been permitted to attend the trial by the court. Ms. Thao\nreported that diplomatic representatives from the United States, Germany, and\nthe European Union were also refused entry by the court, which claimed there\nwere \u201cnot enough seats in the courtroom.\u201d Ms. Thao believes her husband\u2019s\nprison sentence was upheld because he refused to plead guilty to the charges\nagainst him and to pay the tax money demanded by the authorities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the same day, at a separate appeal hearing, the Hanoi High People\u2019s Court reduced\u00a0 the prison sentences imposed in first instance on January 11, 2022, on Mai Phan Loi and Bach H\u00f9ng Duong from four years to three years and nine months and from two and half years to two years and three months, respectively, under the same charge of \u201ctax evasion.\u201d Mai Phan Loi\u00a0 and and Bach H\u00f9ng Duong have been arbitrarily detained since\u00a0 June 24, 2021 and July 2, 2021, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Observatory recalls that the three environmental rights defenders were accused of corporate tax evasion, although non-profit organisations are exempt from corporate tax in Vietnam. Tax laws regarding NGOs receiving funds from international donors are particularly vague and restrictive. The organisations of the three defenders, along with the human rights NGO Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR), believed that their arrests were prompted by their work  to  promote civil society engagement in monitoring the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA)<\/a> which came into force in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Observatory further recalls that, on June 17, 2022, Ms. Nguy Thi Khanh<\/strong>, a prominent environmental activist, winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2018 and a symbol of the campaign against Vietnam’s reliance on coal power, was sentenced<\/a> to two years of imprisonment for the same charge of \u201ctax evasion\u201d, after being prosecuted and convicted for failing to pay a 10% tax on her Goldman Prize money, which is equivalent to an amount of VND 456 million (around 18,252 Euros). Ms. Khanh\u2019s appeal trial has not yet taken place and, at the time of publication of this Urgent Appeal, she remained detained at Police Detention Center No 1 in Hanoi where she has been arbitrarily detained since her arrest on January 11, 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nObservatory expresses its deepest concern about the Vietnamese authorities\u2019 use\nof legal harassment, especially the use of tax-related charges against\nenvironmental activists, as a tool to criminalise them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nObservatory strongly condemns the unfair convictions, ongoing arbitrary\ndetention and judicial harassment of Dang Dinh Bach, Mai Phan Loi, Bach Hung\nDuong and Nguy Thi Khanh,as it seems to be only aimed at punishing them\nfor their legitimate environmental and human rights activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nObservatory urges the Vietnamese authorities to put an end to all acts of\nharassment against the above-mentioned human rights defenders and immediately\nand unconditionally release them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Actions requested: <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please write to the authorities of Vietnam, urging them to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical integrity and\npsychological well-being of Dang Dinh Bach, Mai\nPhan Loi, Bach Hung Duong, Nguy Thi Khanh, and all other human rights\ndefenders in Vietnam;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ii. Immediately and unconditionally release Dang Dinh Bach, Mai Phan Loi, Bach Hung Duong, and\nNguy Thi Khanh as their detention is arbitrary and\nmerely aimed at punishing them for their legitimate human rights activities;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

iii. Put an end to all acts of harassment – including at the judicial\nlevel – against Dang Dinh Bach, Mai Phan Loi,\nBach Hung Duong, Nguy Thi Khanh, and all other human rights defenders in\nVietnam, and ensure in all circumstances that they are able to carry out their\nlegitimate activities and exercise their rights without any hindrance and fear\nof reprisals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Addresses: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n