Mr. Nguyen Tan Dung
Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
62-66 rue Boileau
75016 Paris
Our refs: CV / GC
Paris, September 28, 2010
Dear Prime Minister Dung:
I would like to hereby express my deepest concern about the recent detention of four pro-democracy activists who are members of the Viet Tan Party.
Vietnam has made much economic and social progress these last ten years and I really want to congratulate you on this. But I think that along with economic development, respect for human rights should also be a priority of your government.
To my knowledge there are numerous political prisoners currently being detained in Vietnam. Among these, I would like to draw your attention on the following cases
- Mr. Pham Minh Hoang, 55 years old, a lecturer in Applied Mathematics at the Ho Chi Minh City Polytechnic Institute, arrested on August 13, 2010 in Saigon
- Pastor Duong Kim Khai, 52 years old, a member of the Mennonite Church of Vietnam, arrested on August 10, 2010 in Saigon
- Ms. Tran Thi Thuy, 39 years old, a merchant, arrested on August 10, 2010 in Dong Thap
- Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tam, 57 years old, a farmer, arrested on July 18, 2010 in Ben Tre
and to request that you reconsider their cases in favor of a rapid release.
The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Thus Vietnam is required to respect and defend even the most basic of the civil and political rights of individuals. Yours sincerely,
Christian VANNESTE
Representative from the Nord Region
