News Alert – November 18, 2006
Dr. Pham Hong Son Beaten at Public Security Station
The isolation and surveillance of democracy activists in the capital city of Hanoi continues. Plainclothes and uniformed Public Security (Cong An) agents surround the homes of well-known activists and operate equipment to jam mobile phone reception.
At 3:00 pm on Friday November 17th, a courageous friend of Dr. Pham Hong Son came to visit and was stopped by police. When Dr. Son protested, Colonel Nguyen Minh Cuong of the A42 Division of Public Security ordered agents to physically assault Dr. Son, who was then thrown into a police car and taken back to the station.
Upon arriving at the public security station, a score of police ganged up on Dr. Son and beat him as commanding officers ordered them on and shouted insults. This abuse continued until 11:30 pm when Dr. Son was released by the public security, apparently worried that the news of the arrest would affect the APEC summit hours before its commencement.
In Saigon, two other democracy activists, Do Nam Hai and Nguyen Chinh Ket, received written summons to appear at the public security station on Monday November 20th, after the APEC summit when most of the international media have departed Vietnam.
We call on the media to report on these developments and make this story known to the international community, especially the government leaders attending the APEC Summit.
Tran Ngoc Ha
Editor of Canh Tan E-Magazine
Reporting from Vietnam