Human Rights Watch condemns Vietnam "crackdown" on dissent

A US-based human rights group on Friday accused Vietnam of launching "one of the worst crackdowns on peaceful dissidents in 20 years" following the detentions of two lawyers and a Catholic priest.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) charged that Vietnam "felt emboldened by international recognition" after joining the World Trade Organization in January and hosting an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November.

The rights group condemned the recent arrest of two Hanoi-based human rights lawyers, Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan, and of a dissident Catholic priest, Father Nguyen Van Ly from the central city of Hue.

They have been accused of breaching article 88 of the criminal code, which bans "defaming" the government and carries a maximum 20-year jail term.

Activists say all three have started hunger strikes.

HRW also pointed to recent police moves against other free speech activists, members of the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, independent Protestant churches and the United Workers-Farmers Organization of Vietnam.

"Vietnam has now taken its place on the world economic stage, but its human rights record lags far behind," Sophie Richardson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

"The government's ongoing criminalization of peaceful political dissent and violations of basic human rights threatens to undermine its economic achievements."

Police on Tuesday arrested the two Hanoi lawyers -- Dai, who last year founded the Committee for Human Rights in Vietnam, and Nhan, a spokeswoman for the illegal Dang Thang Tien Vietnam Party (Vietnam Progression Party).

On February 18, police raided the parish home of Father Ly -- who has spent over 14 years in jail for his political activities -- seized computers, mobile phone cards and documents and moved him to another location, where he is under house arrest.

Ly is set to face trial later this month, according to the state-controlled Gia Dinh va Xa Hoi (Family and Society) newspaper in a report which could not be immediately confirmed with judicial or government officials.

"These are all peaceful dissidents," said Richardson. "They have simply advocated for rights guaranteed both by Vietnam's constitution and its international obligations under human rights treaties."

The US State Department in its annual human rights report this week rated Vietnam's record as "unsatisfactory," a charge the communist country denied.

"In Vietnam, no arrest has been made on a political viewpoint or for religious reasons," said foreign ministry spokesman Le Dung. "Only law violators have been arrested and treated in compliance with the law."