Jakarta Globe, December 19, 2012
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Hanoi. A
Vietnamese blogger said on Wednesday that authorities had banned him from
traveling to the United States to collect a rights award on behalf of his
father and sister, a move criticized by Human Rights Watch and the US Embassy.
Huynh Trong
Hieu, 24, said he was attempting to check in at Ho Chi Minh City airport on
Sunday when immigration officials confiscated his passport and ticket.
“The
authorities want to show everyone that if you try to fight for democracy [in
Vietnam], you will be kept under pressure,” Hieu, a second-year law student who
runs a pro-democracy blog, told AFP on Wednesday.
Hieu was on
his way to the United States to accept the Hellman-Hammett prize from HRW on
behalf of his father Huynh Ngoc Tuan and sister Huynh Thuc Vy, both prominent
pro-democracy bloggers in Vietnam.
Tuan and Vy
are not officially under arrest but Hieu told AFP they were routinely harassed
by police.
“The
Vietnam government’s banning of Hieu from traveling just compounds the rights
violations they have already visited on the Huynh family for exercising their
right to free speech,” said Phil Robertson, HRW’s Asia deputy director.
“It shows
the depth of intolerance the Vietnamese authorities have for anyone brave
enough to challenge the official line.”
The US
Embassy said on Tuesday it was “troubled” by the ban on Hieu traveling to the
United States. It urged the government to “allow his family and all Vietnamese
to peacefully express their views without fear of retribution.”
Vietnam
routinely arrests and imprisons pro-democracy activists, with dozens of
bloggers, lawyers and other activists currently serving lengthy jail terms for
their writing or for involvement in peaceful protest.
HRW says
Vietnam, where the Communist Party forbids political debate, has jailed at
least 10 activists this year while at least seven other bloggers and activists
are awaiting trial.
On Monday,
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung urged police to fight against “hostile forces”
whom he said could be planning to incite violence against the state.
The police
must crack down on “opposition political organizations that run counter to the
benefits of the country and the people,” Dung said, according to a statement on
the government website.
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