Internet Sender: owner-huridocs-tech@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: huridocs-tech@hrea.org Journalists jailed in Vietnam by John DeSio, Digital Freedom Network (March 25, 2002) Recently, two activists groups, Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), called for the release of two dissident journalists in Vietnam, Le Chi Quang and Tran Khue. The two were recently arrested by Vietnamese police after publishing statements critical of the country's government on the Internet. According to information gathered by Reporters Without Borders, Quang, a computer teacher who also holds a law degree, was arrested on February 21 in an Internet café in Hanoi. Quang was arrested after he published an essay on the Internet about Vietnam's secret agreements with China. Quang's arrest followed the publication of "Beware the Northern Empire" on the Internet, a detailed discussion of the conditions under which the Vietnamese government signed border agreements with Beijing officials. Quang was charged with sending "dangerous information" overseas, had computer equipment and documents seized from his home, and was later placed in a detention camp in Ha Dong. Literature professor also arrested On March 8, the home of Khue, a professor of literature and civic activists, was searched, and government officials seized a computer and documents belonging to Khue, along with other varied hardware. Two days later, Khue was placed under house arrest, following the publication on the Internet of a letter from the activist to Chinese president Jiang Zemin. In the letter, Khue asked Jiang to reevaluate some parts of the Sino-Vietnamese accords. Two other dissident writers, Ha Sy Phu and Bui Minh Quoc, are also currently being held by the Vietnamese government. In a letter to Vietnam president Tran Due Luong, the Committee to Protect Journalists expresses its concerns regarding the arrests, and calls for the release of Khue, Quang, and Quoc. While Khue's letter to Jiang was technically not journalism, as it was simply a letter between two parties, the group notes that since the Vietnam government holds a tight control over news in the region, CPJ thus classifies open letter, pamphlets and other forms of political speech in Vietnam as journalism. Anger at government's secret actions "In recent years, China and Vietnam have signed land and sea border agreements as a part of a rapprochement following a 1979 war between the two countries," explains CPJ. "Several dissidents have criticized the government for agreeing to border concessions without consulting the Vietnamese people." Based on this explanation, CPJ calls for the release of the three dissidents, and asks that future journalists in the country be provided greater protections. "As a nonpartisan organization of journalists dedicated to the defense of our colleagues worldwide, CPJ condemns your administration's efforts to silence individuals who criticize official policies," states CPJ's letter. CPJ also notes to Luong that Vietnam has signed the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees such a freedom of expression. "We call for the immediate and unconditional release of Tran Khue, Bui Minh Quoc, and Le Chi Quang," states the letter. "In addition, we respectfully urge Your Excellency to ensure that all journalists in Vietnam are permitted to write and publish without fear of reprisal." Copyright (c) 2002 Digital Freedom Network (http://dfn.org). All rights reserved. This article may be reproduced or redistributed for online not-for-profit use without prior written consent as long as DFN is recognized with this credit. For information about DFN's permissions policy, see <http://dfn.org/about/permissions.htm>. ========== HURIDOCS-Tech listserv ========== Send mail intended for the list to <huridocs-tech@hrea.org>. Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/huridocs-tech/markup/maillist.php To subscribe to the list, send a message to <majordomo@hrea.org>, with the following text in the message: subscribe huridocs-tech To unsubscribe from the list, send a message to <majordomo@hrea.org>, with the following text in the message: unsubscribe huridocs-tech If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact <owner-huridocs-tech@hrea.org>.
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