ACAT calls French Ministry of Foreign Affairs to intervene in favor of Professor Pham Minh Hoang

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Mr. Bernard Kouchner
Ministry of Foreign Affairs

37 quai d’Orsay
75351 Paris

Paris, September 15, 2010

Re: Vietnam – Detention of French national Professor Pham Minh Hoang Dear Mr. Kouchner,

ACAT France was informed that the French-Vietnamese national, Professor Pham Minh Hoang, was arrested and is actually detained in Vietnam. We are deeply concerned regarding his arbitrary detention and regarding the risks of torture he may face while in detention. We please urge you to intervene to ensure that his well-being is guaranteed and that his fundamental rights are respected at all times.

Facts

  • Arrest and detention
  • A member of Viet Tan (Vietnam Reform Party), this lecturer in mathematics at the Ho Chi Minh City Polytechnic Institute, was arrested on 13 August 2010 in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). He is detained in Nguyen Van Cu prison. Mr. Pham Minh Hoang supported protests against bauxite mining in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam. He attended a conference in Saigon, on the issue of Vietnamese sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly Islands. According to his wife, the police are also investigating on the leadership training courses he offered to his students. He also blogged on critical issues under the penname Phan Kien Quoc. ACAT France fears that his detention is the only result of his peaceful exercise of freedom of expression and opinion and of his activities in favour of human rights.
    His family was not informed of where he is being detained or the reason for his arrest until September 6, 2010, when Pham Minh Hoang’s wife received notification from the State Security stating that her husband was detained under Article 79 of the Vietnamese criminal code (“activities intended to overthrow the People’s Government”), which is punishable by death penalty. He still has not been presented before any court.

  • Intervention of the French consulate
  • On 31 August, a representative of the French Consulate was able to visit him in Nguyen Van Cu prison, in Ho Chi Minh City. However, itt seems that the meeting was conducted in the presence of prison officials and with the obligation to speak Vietnamese only and not French, preventing any freedom of speech for the prisoner. Prison officials did not disclose the motive of his arrest to the consular representative.

    ACAT France’s Recommendations

    We please urge you to intervene under consular protection in favour of Mr. Pham Minh Hoang, in particular:

    • to request the Vietnamese authorities to drop all charges against him as it seems that his detention is arbitrary and only intended to penalize his peaceful exercise of freedom of expression and of opinion in favour of human rights;
    • to visit Mr. Pham Minh Hoang on a regular basis during his detention to ensure his well-being;
    • to closely monitor the judicial proceedings and to ensure that his rights are respected, including that he receives assistance of a lawyer and be allowed to receive visits from his family; and
    • in the event of a trial, to attend the hearing and to ensure him a fair trial in compliance with international laws.

    Yours sincerely,

    Jean-Étienne de Linares
    Delegate General
    ACAT-France

    PDF - 95.6 kb

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