***NEWS FROM THE COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS***
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
VIETNAM: Writer held incommunicado
New York, July 22, 2002-The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the detention of writer Nguyen Vu Binh, who is currently being held incommunicado.
At around 9 a.m. on July 20, police officers picked up Binh from his home in Vietnam's capital, Hanoi, and brought him to the local precinct. Officers also searched his computer, read his e-mails, and printed out personal documents, according to the Democracy Club for Vietnam, an organization based in both California and Hanoi.
After interrogating Binh, authorities allowed him to return home that evening. However, on the morning of July 21, police detained him again. His current whereabouts is unknown.
The Vietnamese government has not offered any public explanation for Binh's
arrest, although it comes amid escalating harassment of dissidents and
writers in the country. [Click here:
On July 6, 2002, Binh and 16 other writers, retired government officials,
and relatives of detained journalists wrote an open letter addressed to the
country's top leaders. The letter supported political reforms and called for
the release of several political prisoners, including Pham Hong Son and Le
Chi Quang, who were both detained earlier this year because of writings they
published on the Internet.
(Because of the Vietnamese government's extraordinarily tight control over
news and information circulated within the country, CPJ classifies open
letters, pamphlets, and other forms of political speech in Vietnam as
journalism.)
Meanwhile on July 23, the U.S. Congressional Human Rights Caucus will host a
briefing on freedom of expression in Vietnam, during which written testimony
from Binh will be presented.
"Nguyen Vu Binh's arrest violates both Vietnam's own constitution and
international law," said CPJ executive director Ann Cooper. "We demand his
immediate and unconditional release."
Binh is a former journalist who worked for almost 10 years at Tap Chi Cong
San (Journal of Communism), an official publication of the Communist Party
of Vietnam. In January 2001, he left his position there after applying to
form an independent opposition party called the Liberal Democratic Party.
Since then, Binh has written several articles calling for political reforms
and criticizing current government policy. In response, authorities have
repeatedly harassed and interrogated him. His home phone line has been cut
since September 2001, when authorities briefly detained him for helping to
create an independent anti-corruption organization.
In April 2002, overseas Vietnamese democracy activists reported that Binh
was in danger of arrest after authorities increased surveillance over him.
For more information on press conditions in Vietnam, visit the CPJ Web site
at
________________________
For more information:
Kavita Menon or Sophie Beach
tel: 212-465-1004; asia@cpj.org
*************************
Committee to Protect Journalists
330 Seventh Avenue, 12th floor
New York, NY 10001
Tel: 212-465-1004
Fax: 212-465-9568
E-mail: asia@cpj.org
Web: www.cpj.org