In an open letter to Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Ian M Britza, MLA, requested the release of the three Prisoners of Conscience Ho Duc Hoa, Dang Xuan Dieu and Nguyen Dang Minh Man.
29 July 2015
H.E. Mr Nguyen Tan Dung
Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
01 Hoang Ha Tham Street, Ba Dinh District
Ha Noi
Vietnam
Dear Prime Minister
I write to you to bring to your attention the plight of three human rights defenders who remain detained by the Vietnamese government.
Ho Duc Hoa, Dang Xuan Dieu and Nguyen Dang Minh Man have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms for allegedly “Carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the People’s Government” under Article 79 of the Penal Code.
Their detention has been deemed arbitrary by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and their prison terms reflect the human rights violations occuring in Vietnam. I am also concerned about their health and state of being. The detainees have held several hunger strikes during their incarceration to protest the ill-treatment they have received while in detention.
I respectfully request you to release Ho Duc Hoa, Dang Xuan Dieu and Nguyen Dang Minh Man and honour your commitments to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, of which Vietnam is a signatory.
I lool forward to your response.
Yours sincerely
Ian M Britza MLA
State Member for Morley
