Socialist Republic of Viet Nam. After the crackdown: attacks and intimidation

Di Amnesty International - 5 ottobre 2008

October 2008

AI Index: ASA 41/004/2008

INTERNATIONAL SECRETARIAT, 1 EASTON STREET, LONDON WC1X 0DW, UNITED KINGDOM

After a violent crackdown in September 2008 on peaceful mass protests in Ha Noi, the capital, the Vietnamese authorities continue to threaten and otherwise intimidate Catholics who have supported for the church’s claims in a land dispute. The authorities have also launched a public campaign through the media – which is under strict state control – to discredit the Archbishop of Ha Noi, other church leaders and the protesters. Counterprotesters have subsequently gathered daily at the two sites in dispute, intimidating and hurling insults at parishioners, priests and observers, including calls such as “kill the archbishop” and “kill the priests”. Statesponsored gangs have attacked at least one Catholic church outside Ha Noi, and discrimination against Catholics is growing. The peaceful protests and the ubsequent crackdown take place amid severe restrictions on freedom of expression and ssembly, and long-standing discrimination against religious groups, including the Catholic Church. Catholics started protest ng in December 2007 over a long-running dispute over ownership of two pieces of land in Ha Noi that belonged to the Catholic Church1 until the 1950s when it was confiscated by the state. Negotiations between the church and the government stalled in February 2008, and in August and September thousands of people, some from other parts of the country, joined in the peaceful protest. By the end of September, the police had dispersed protesters with electric batons, dogs and the support of state-sponsored gangs, sealed off the two areas and effectively put an end to the mass vigils. Police injured several people with their batons, and 20 people were hospitalised after police used teargas against protesters.2 At least eight people were arrested in the last wave of protests which began in mid-August; two of them remain in detention. Amnesty International believes others are at risk of arrest: in recent days, police have stepped up efforts to intimidate protesters and are calling in for questioning both parish oners and church leaders who took part in mass demonstrations and prayer vigils.