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October 12, 2006
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VIETNAM: Serious concerns for the health of writer Nguyen Vu Binh.
The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN is seriously concerned for the health of writer Nguyen Vu Binh, who is said to require urgent medical treatment for undiagnosed chronic gastrointestinal disease and high pressure. Nguyen Vu Binh has served four of a seven-year prison sentence on espionage charges, and is held in a labour camp with common-law prisoners in very poor conditions and without access to adequate medical care or nutrition. International PEN urges that he be allowed to see a specialist doctor so that his condition can be diagnosed and effectively treated in hospital, where his family can care for him. PEN calls for the immediate and unconditional release of writer Nguyen Vu Binh in accordance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which Vietnam is a signatory, and on humanitarian grounds.
According to PEN’s information, Nguyen Vu Binh, writer and leading member of the Democracy Club for Vietnam, has been held incommunicado since 25 September 2002. He was sentenced to seven years imprisonment followed by three years’ house arrest on 31 December 2003 by Hanoi People’s Court on charges of espionage in a three-hour trial. Following the proceedings, the official Vietnam News Agency reported that Nguyen Vu Binh had been convicted for having “written and exchanged, with various opportunist elements in the country, information and materials that distorted the party and state policies”. He is also said to have been accused of communicating with “reactionary” organisations abroad. His sentence was upheld on appeal on 5 May 2004. Nguyen Vu Binh is currently held at Ba Sao forced labour camp, Nam Hà province, where he is said to be held amongst common-law prisoners in cramped conditions and without access to the specialist medical treatment he requires.
Nguyen Vu Binh, aged 39, is thought to have been targeted for the online publication of one of his critical essays, ‘Some Thoughts on the China-Vietnam Border Agreement.’ Binh is a former journalist who worked for 10 years for Tap Chi Cong (Journal of Communism), the official publication of the Communist Party of Vietnam. In January 2001 he left his post to form the independent Liberal Democratic Party. He has since written several articles calling for political reform and criticising government policy, and has been under close surveillance since April 2002. He was briefly detained in July 2002.
Please send appeals:
- Expressing serious concern for Nguyen Vu Binh’s health, and demanding that he be given the specialist medical treatment he requires as a matter of urgency.
- Protesting the detention of writer Nguyen Vu Binh, and calling for his immediate and unconditional release on humanitarian grounds and in accordance with Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which Vietnam is a signatory;
Appeals to be sent to:
His Excellency Nguyên Minh Triêt
President, Socialist Republic of Vietnam
C/o Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Hanoi
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Prime Minister Nguyên Tân Dung
1 Hoang Hoa Tham Street
Hanoi
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Lê Doan Hop, Minister of Culture and Information
1 Hoang Hoa Tham Street
Hanoi
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Please note that there are no fax numbers available for the Vietnamese authorities, so you may wish to ask the diplomatic representative for Vietnam in your country to forward your appeals. It would also be advantageous to ask your country’s diplomatic representatives in Vietnam to intervene in the case.
His Excellency Nguyên Minh Triêt October 12, 2006
President, Socialist Republic of Vietnam
C/o Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Hanoi
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Prime Minister Nguyên Tân Dung
1 Hoang Hoa Tham Street
Hanoi
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Lê Doan Hop, Minister of Culture and Information
1 Hoang Hoa Tham Street
Hanoi
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Your Excellencies,
I am writing as a member of PEN USA, a writers’ group with a long history of defending human rights through the written word.
I am seriously concerned for my colleague, writer Nguyen Vu Binh, currently serving a 7-year sentence at Ba Sao labor camp on espionage charges. He is believed to be suffering from undiagnosed chronic gastrointestinal disease.
Nguyen Vu Binh has been under close surveillance since April of 2002, and is thought to have been targeted for the online publication of one of his critical essays ‘Some Thoughts on the China-Vietnam Border Agreement.’
I would like to urge that Nguyen Vu Binh be allowed access to proper medical care, including a specialist doctor that could treat his ailments. Additionally, I believe that on humanitarian grounds, Nguyen Vu Binh should be released in accordance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which Vietnam is a signatory.
Thank you.