Vietnam: blogger harassed
Event- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jun 30, 2012
- Final Date
- Mar 15, 2013
- Event Description
During the crackdown on the anti-China protestors across the country in June and July 2012, Mr. Le Cong Cau was prohibited from joining the demonstrations. It is reported that, on 30 June 2012, he was subjected to police interrogation for seven hours from 3:30pm to 10:30pm in Thua Thien- Hue. Throughout the night, his house was surrounded by the police. The next morning of 1 July 2012, as he was leaving his house, he was forcibly escorted home and forbidden from participating in the demonstrations.2 Sources further inform that on 12 March 2013, Mr. Le Cong Cau was summoned by the Security Police for another interrogation at the Truong An district police station. From 8.00am on 13 March 2013, he was subjected to intensive interrogations for the next two and a half days. Contrary to usual practice, the police interrogation was conducted by officials from the Provincial and Municipal-level Security Police, not by local police. During the interrogation, they presented Mr. Le Cong Cau with several articles from the Internet and accused him of "slandering the regime and spreading propaganda about an illegal organization named the UBCV". Before releasing him on 15 March 2013, the police declared that they had obtained "sufficient evidence" to prosecute him under Articles 87 and 88 of the Criminal Code, allegedly after forcing him to write a statement admitting the illegal nature of his online articles. It is further reported that while Mr. Le Cong Cau wrote the statement, he denied that writing his opinions online was a criminal act. He tried to add to the statement: "I stand by my convictions and ideals. Everything I have done is in line with the rights enshrined in the Vietnamese Constitution. All those who try to prevent me are violating our Constitution. I refuse to collaborate with those who trample on the Vietnamese Constitution". However, the Security Police deleted these lines from his statement. On 12 April 2013, a Joint Allegation Letter was sent to Vietnam by the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders. On 2 July 2014, Vietnam provided a substantive response to the Joint Allegation Letter, claiming that Mr. Le Cong Cau has a history of inciting inter-communal and inter-religious violence and that he was a threat to public order, national security and social stability. UPDATE 1/1/2014: Mr. Le Cong Cau was arrested at Phu Bai Airport near Hue, subjected to a 13-hour investigation, and prevented from leaving his house for one night. Police seized two laptops, two flash drives and two mobile phones. No reasons for his detention were given and no charges were laid, in contravention of international law. His arrest is likely related to his planned visit to an elderly monk under house arrest in Ho Chi Minh City.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly
- Freedom of movement
- Freedom of Religion and Belief
- Internet freedom
- Right to Protest
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Event Location
Latitude: 16.449799999999993
Longitude: 107.5623501
- Event Location
- Summary for Publications
In June and July 2012, Mr. Le Cong Cau, the head of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam's Buddhist Youth Movement Commission, was prevented from participating in anti-China demonstrations. On 30 June 2012, he was subject to a 7 hour investigation and on 1 July 2012 he was prevented from leaving his house by police. On 13-15 March 2013 he was interrogated by police for two and a half days over the publication of articles on the Communist Party's policies on China and Buddhism. On 12 April 2013, a Joint Allegation Letter was sent to Vietnam by the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders. On 2 July 2014, Vietnam provided a substantive response to the Joint Allegation Letter, claiming that Mr. Le Cong Cau has a history of inciting inter-communal and inter-religious violence and that he was a threat to public order, national security and social stability. UPDATE 1/1/2014: Mr. Le Cong Cau was arrested at Phu Bai Airport near Hue, subjected to a 13-hour investigation, and prevented from leaving his house for one night. Police seized two laptops, two flash drives and two mobile phones. No reasons for his detention were given and no charges were laid, in contravention of international law. His arrest is likely related to his planned visit to an elderly monk under house arrest in Ho Chi Minh City.