CSW calls for release of journalist as trial is postponed

CSW joins UN experts and activists in calling for the release from pre-trial detention of Vietnamese journalist and human rights activist Pham Doan Trang.

Pham Doan Trang was arrested on 7 October 2020. According to the indictment made public on 18 October 2021, over a year after her arrest, she is being charged with disseminating anti-State propaganda under Article 88 of the 1999 Penal Code.

On 19 October 2021 authorities finally allowed her lawyer to meet with her for the first time since her arrest. After a second visit, lawyer Mr Le Van Luan posted on his Facebook page that Trang had been examined for health problems following appeals made to authorities by her defence team; an ultrasound revealed she had a small tumour. The lawyer also said that the trial had been postponed from 4 November because prosecutors in the case have contracted COVID-19. No new date for the trial has been announced.

Pham Doan Trang has a long history of peacefully advocating for freedom and human rights in Vietnam as an independent journalist, and the founder of the environmental rights group Green Trees and several independent media outlets.

The indictment made public on 18 October specifically mentions a 2017 report on the right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) in Vietnam by Trang and other writers. The report concludes that “no religions (Buddhism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Hoa Hao Buddhism, Caodaism, Muslim, etc.) or beliefs can fully enjoy the right” to FoRB. Furthermore, “the government uses a variety of measures to control religious affairs […] such as: using legal and administrative regulations; using the propaganda apparatus; dividing to rule; and using physical violence”. The indictment also refers to two other reports on human rights and environmental issues, and accuses her of speaking to foreign media to allegedly “defame” the government of Vietnam and fabricate news.

Last month the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention rendered the opinion that Trang’s detention is arbitrary, concluding that “Ms. Trang’s detention resulted from the peaceful exercise of her rights to freedom of opinion, expression and association, as well as the right to take part in the conduct of public affairs, and was contrary to article 7 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 26 of the Covenant” (paragraph 80). The Working Group considers that “the appropriate remedy would be to release Ms. Trang immediately”.

Additionally, a joint statement by 28 human rights organisations condemned the ongoing arbitrary detention of Pham Doan Trang and called for her release and the release of all other human rights defenders currently imprisoned solely for the peaceful exercise of their human rights and fundamental freedoms.

CSW’s CEO Scot Bower said: “Ms Trang’s treatment by the Vietnamese authorities, simply for standing up for her rights and those of others, is appalling. CSW welcomes the findings of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and joins them and other human rights organisations in calling for Ms Trang’s immediate and unconditional release. Her health is a pressing concern and we urge the Vietnamese authorities to facilitate her release at the earliest opportunity so that she can seek the appropriate medical treatment.”