February 14, 2014
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung
c/o Embassy of Vietnam
1233 20th Street NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20036
Dear Prime Minister Dung:
We write to express our concerns regarding the February 18 appeals trial of Le Quoc Quan, an imprisoned attorney who has been on a hunger strike since February 2nd.
We understand that Mr. Quan, a well-known human rights advocate and blogger, was arrested in December 2012 on what are widely regarded as politically motivated charges of tax evasion. He was reportedly held incommunicado for the first two months of his detention, and family visitation requests were denied. In October 2013, Mr. Quan was sentenced to 30 months in prison. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found in November that Mr. Quan’s imprisonment violates international legal standards, including articles 9 and 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Vietnam is a party.
We are concerned that Mr. Quan has been imprisoned for peacefully exercising his rights. When President Sang visited the White House last July, the two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The UDHR provides not only that no one should be subject to arbitrary detention, but that all people have the right to freedom of opinion and expression. As such, we urge the immediate and unconditional release of Mr. Quan, who we believe held arbitrarily for the peaceful expression of his views.
Sincerely,
Zoe Lofgren
Member of Congress
Loretta Sanchez
Member of Congress
Frank R. Wolf
Member of Congress
Alan Lowenthal
Member of Congress
