WRITTEN QUESTION E-0002/03

by Olivier Dupuis (NI) to the Commission

(16 January 2003)

Subject: Condemnation of Mr Nguyen Khac Toan

Mr Nguyen Khac Toan, 47, was sentenced on December 20, 2002 to 12 years in prison and three years' probationary detention by the People's Court in Hanoi in a trial which lasted less than one day. He was charged with espionage (Art. 80 of the Criminal Code). The Communist Party's official mouthpiece Nhan Dan (The People) stated that he had slandered and denigrated the executives of the Party and State by providing information to exiled reactionaries overseas. The trial was closed to the public. His lawyer was only able to meet his client twice before the trial (on 16 and 19 December), and was not allowed to speak to him in private. Born in Hanoi in 1955, he was formerly a soldier in the North Vietnamese Army and he is presently a businessman. Over the past two years, following demonstrations in Hanoi staged by farmers protesting against state confiscation of land, he had helped farmers' representatives to draft petitions to the National Assembly. He had also imparted information on these demonstrations via the Internet. He was arrested on 8 January. Police searched his home and confiscated several documents. He was detained in the notorious B 14 (Thanh Liet) prison. This extremely harsh sentence against Nguyen Khac Toan is one more episode in a new crackdown against dissenting voices in Vietnam. Le Chi Quang was sentenced to four years in prison on 8 November 2002. Dr Pham Hong Son, journalist Nguyen Vu Binh and professor Vu Ngoc Binh are also currently detained for using the Internet to call for peaceful political reforms. Vietnam has recently stepped up restrictions on freedom of expression and the use of the Internet. The UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva recently criticized these legal restrictions in their review of Vietnam's implementation of the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in July 2002. The UN Committee also criticised Vietnam's loosely-worded national security legislation, including offences such as espionage, which criminalises activities that are perfectly legal under international law.

Is the Commission informed about the condemnation of Mr Nguyen Khac Toan? Has the Commission formally asked to be allowed to attend the trial? What is the Commission's evaluation of this intensified repression against democracy activists in Vietnam and does the Commission consider that this is compatible with the strengthening of its cooperation policy with this country?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(31 January 2003)

The Commission is aware of the trial and condemnation of Mr Nguen Khac Toan. The Commission's Delegation in Vietnam, together with the Diplomatic Missions of the Member States, follows closely the human rights situation in Vietnam, including the cases of Mr Toan as well as of the other persons of concern mentioned by the Honourable Member.

The Commission did not request to be present at the trial of Mr Toan, nor was it informed in advance of its date and place. The trial of Mr Toan, as correctly mentioned by the Honourable Member, like other trials of the same kind against dissidents, has been closed to the public as well as to diplomatic representatives.

The situation of freedom of expression of opinion in Vietnam has not improved during 2002. On several occasions, most recently in the joint Union declaration for the Consultative Group meeting in Hanoi in December 2002, the Commission and the Member States have encouraged the government of Vietnam to create a legal framework for a supportive environment to allow the development of a strengthened civil society, from which Vietnam would greatly benefit.

The Commission's policy towards Vietnam is to encourage and support continued progress on human rights and democratisation, and to raise concerns where abuses occur or where a deterioration in the situation becomes evident. This happens through monthly meetings of the Union's Politics and Human Rights Group, monthly Troika meetings with the Vietnamese government as well as ad-hoc missions (i.e. to the Central Highlands) and through joint Union statements at, for example, the Consultative Group meeting.