October 21, 2016

Mother Mushroom

editor:	Ama Lorenz

Ever heard about a blogger scene in Viet Nam? It is there and it is for sure under threat. "Mother Mushroom" aka Nguyễn Ngọc Như Quỳnh is one of the best known female bloggers and human rights defenders in Viet Nam.

Last week, Quỳnh was arrested in the central province of Khanh Hoa under Article 88 of the Penal Code, which prohibits “conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam.” The crime is deemed a national security offence and carries a sentence of up to 20 years in jail. Under the Vietnamese criminal procedural code dealing with the investigation of so-called national security offences, Quỳnh can be detained incommunicado for at least four months.

“Article 88 effectively makes it a crime for any Vietnamese citizen to enjoy the fundamental freedom to express an opinion, to discuss or to question the Government and its policies,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein. “The overly broad, ill-defined scope of this law makes it all too easy to quash any kind of dissenting views and to arbitrarily detain individuals who dare to criticize Government policies.”

Zeid said incommunicado detention for such an extended period of time – particularly without access to family members and to legal counsel – is conducive to torture and may amount to torture itself, in violation of the Convention against torture (CAT), which Viet Nam ratified in February 2015.

Other similar cases over the past year include the continued incommunicado detention of lawyer and human rights activist Mr. Nguyen Van Dai and his assistant Ms. Le Thu Ha, who were arrested in December 2015 under Article 88; the sentencing after almost two years of incommunicado detention of Mr. Nguyen Huu Vinh, also known as Anh Ba Sam and his assistant Ms Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy, in March 2016 to five years and three years in prison for “abusing democratic freedoms” under article 258 of the Penal Code,; and the sentencing of Mr. Nguyen Huu Quoc Duy and Nguyen Huu Thien An to three years and two years in prison respectively under Article 88 in August 2016.

So, government in Viet Nam - Look out! We are watching you! We spread the word and expext the immediate release of all individuals detained in connection with these provisions.