The Right Honourable Nguyen Tan Dung
Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Office of the Prime Minister
Hoang Van Thu, Hanoi
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
26 November 2007
Dear Prime Minister
I am writing to express my deep concern about the most recent violation of human rights in Vietnam.
On 17 November 2007, Vietnamese security police detained the following members and supporters of Viet Tan in Ho Chi Minh City:
Dr Nguyen, Quoc Quan, American citizen;
Ms Nguyen, Thi Thanh Van, French citizen;
Mr Truong, Leon (Van Ba), American citizen;
Mr Nguyen, The Vu, Vietnamese citizen;
Mr Nguyen, The Khiem, Vietnamese citizen;
Mr Khunmi, Somsak, Thai citizen.
Prior to their arrest these individuals participated in discussion with other democracy activists on promoting peaceful democratic change. In particular they planned to initiate a non-violent information campaign with the aim of informing and empowering the Vietnamese people.
It is disappointing to see that Vietnam as a United Nation member state persistenly restricts its citizen from practicing their human rights conventions and as such should exercise their obligations under these international legal frameworks.
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to which Vietnam is a signatory guarantees freedom of opinion and express. This right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to sees receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
I would like to urge the Prime Minister to immediately release all those individuals who have been detained while exercising their basic human rights.
Yours sincerely,
Erna Solberg
Leader of the Conservative Party