Laserfiche WebLink
More than 17,000 prisoners were released under a large -scale prisoner amnesty to mark National <br />Day. No prisoners of conscience were among those released. <br />The UN independent experts on minority issues and on the question of human rights and extreme <br />poverty visited the country in July and August respectively at the invitation of the authorities. <br />Freedom of expression <br />Severe restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly of those <br />critical of or opposed to government policies continued. Provisions of the national security <br />section of the 1999 Penal Code, including Article 79 ( "Carrying out activities aimed at <br />overthrowing the people's administration ") were used to criminalize peaceful political and social <br />dissent. In April, new internet monitoring regulations affecting retail locations in the capital, Ha <br />Noi, were introduced, placing further restrictions on freedom of expression and access to <br />information. Vietnamese language dissident blogs and websites suffered widespread hacking <br />which internet companies Google and McAfee alleged may have been politically motivated. <br />At least 30 prisoners of conscience remained behind bars, including members and supporters of <br />banned political groups, independent trade unionists, bloggers, business people, journalists and <br />writers. A further eight activists were arrested and held in pre -trial detention. Other dissidents <br />were held under house arrest following their release from prison, including prisoner of <br />conscience Le Thi Cong Nhan. <br />Five members of Viet Tan, a Vietnamese group calling for democracy and political <br />reform which is based overseas but has a network in Viet Nam, were arrested. Three were <br />reportedly campaigning on land rights for farmers. Maths lecturer Pham Minh Hoang had <br />protested against bauxite mining in the Central Highlands; and Hong Vo, an Australian <br />national, took part in a peaceful protest against China. Hong Vo was charged with <br />"terrorism" and deported 10 days after arrest. <br />In October, independent labour activists Do Thi Minh Hanh, Nguyen Hoang Quoc Hung, <br />and Doan Huy Chuong were charged and tried under Penal Code Article 89 (Disrupting <br />security), for distributing anti - government leaflets and advocating strike action at a <br />factory. They received seven- to nine -year prison sentences. <br />Unfair trials <br />By the end of the year courts had convicted at least 22 pro - democracy and human rights activists <br />in a series of dissident trials that began in October 2009. They were all prisoners of conscience. <br />Trials fell far short of international standards of fairness, disregarding basic rights such as the <br />presumption of innocence and the right to defence. As in previous years, court proceedings were <br />short, and permission for family members, journalists and diplomats to observe was either not <br />given or arbitrarily restricted. <br />2 <br />