DECLARATION
OF THE VIETNAMESE PHYSICIANS, DENTISTS,
PHARMACISTS ASSOCIATIONS OF THE FREE WORLD
Considering that:
1. On the 27th of March 2002 in Hanoi Vietnam, the
Vietnamese Communist Government forcefully detained Dr Pham Hong Son for his
only “crime” of translating and disseminating the document “What is democracy?”
which is freely available from the website of the American Embassy. Prior to
that fateful date, he was harassed
by the police, who ransacked his house and confiscated his personal computer.
2. More than a year later, on the 18th of June 2003, the Vietnamese
Communist Government prosecuted him under the fabricated charge of “spying”. He
was sentenced, in a closed court session that lasted
less than a day with no independent observers allowed, to a 13
(thirteen) years jail term and 3 (three) years house-arrest to be served
consecutively.
3. In posting his translation
on democracy on the Internet, Dr Pham Hong Son is merely exercising his right
under the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
which the Vietnamese Communist Government ratified. Article 19 of
the Covenant protects everybody’s
right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds,
regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or printing, or through any
other media of his choice.
4. Dr Pham Hong Son’s action is thus totally legal and has the backing of
the free world. On the day of his trial, the ambassadors of the United States,
Italy, Norway, Sweden, Canada, Australia, all gathered at the courthouse and
demanded to observe the court proceedings. Their requests were denied. After
the sentence was passed, the human right organisations around the world, in unison, protested
of the harsh and inhumane jail term, calling it a travesty of justice. The
government of the United States joined them in condemning the Vietnamese
Government in the strongest of terms.
We the undersigned, solemnly declare that:
1. By accusing, in a premeditated court
session devoid of observers,
Dr Pham Hong Son of the fabricated espionage charge, and by sentencing him with
a pre-determined and inhumanly harsh sentence, the Vietnamese Communist
Government has denied a fair trial to Dr Pham Hong Son. This government has
contravened the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights and the constitutional laws of its own making, with blatant disregard
for natural justice and international community's judgements.
2. We call on the Vietnamese government to
release Dr Pham Hong Son, and other dissidents like him, immediately and
unconditionally as they have only exercised
their right - guaranteed by the United Nations International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights - to freedom of speech in a peaceful manner.
3. We call on the United Nation and all
freedom-loving people around the world to pressure the Vietnamese Communist Government to respect and
apply all the articles of the United Nations International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights, to which it is a signatory, and stop
terrorising all the
pro-democracy and for-human rights voices.
4. For as long as human rights in
Prof.
Dinh Xuan Anh Tuan, M.D.
President,
Board of Representatives
Vietnamese Medical Association Of
The Free World
Tran
Dinh Thuy, M.D.
President,
Executive Committee
Vietnamese
Medical Association Of The Free World
Tran Duy Ton, M.D.
President,
Executive Committee
Vietnamese
Medical Association Of The
Tran
Dinh Thang, M.D.
President,
Executive Committee
Vietnamese
Medical Association Of
Ta Thanh Minh, M.D.
President
Association
Des Professions De Santé Du Vietnam Libre
Tran Thanh Nhon, M.D.
President
Australian
Vietnamese Health Professionals Association