CCS wrote a follow-up letter to Prime Minister Nguen Tan Dung of Viet Nam joining other human rights organizations in urging the government to release Professor Pham Minh Hoang.
Read the letter:
Our Previous Activity
August 2, 2011
Nguyen Tan Dung
Prime Minister
Office of the Prime Minister
Hoang Hoa Tham
Ha Noi, Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Your Excellency:
We are an independent organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars devoted to the protection and advancement of human rights and scientific freedom for colleagues all over the world. We write now again in concern for Professor Pham Minh Hoang.
Pham Minh Hoang, a lecturer in mathematics at Ho Chi Minh City Polytechnic Institute, wrote articles on environmental as well as other national issues under the pen name Phan Kien Quoc. He was arrested on August 13, 2010 on charges of participating in a banned opposition political group, the Viet Tan, allegations that he denies. Hoang was formally charged on 20 September 20, 2010, with “activities aimed at overthrowing the government” (article 79 of the criminal code) and membership in a “terrorist organization” (the banned Viet Tan party). The maximum sentence for violating article 79 is the death penalty. He will face trial on August 10, 2011, just three days before the one-year anniversary of his imprisonment.
His detention and trial suggest retaliation against a scholar for the peaceful exercise of fundamental rights of free expression and association that are guaranteed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Vietnam is party. Hoang has dual Vietnamese-French citizen and the French government has expressed its grave concern on his behalf.
We therefore join with national and international academic associations, human rights organizations, and individual scholars in respectfully urging you to examine the circumstances of Professor Hoang’s detention, to ensure his well-being including immediate and regular access to legal counsel of his choosing and to any necessary medical treatment. We further urge you to arrange for his earliest release pending his trial.
Sincerely yours,
Eugene Chudnovsky
Alexander Greer
Joel Lebowitz
Walter Reich
Paul Plotz
Co-chairs, Committee of Concerned Scientists
Copies to:
Truong Vinh Trong
Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Amnesty Advisory Council
Prime Minister’s Office Hoang Hoa Tham
Ha Noi, Socialist Republic of Viet Nam
Le Hong Anh
Minister of Public Security
Ministry of Public Security
44 Yiet Kieu
Hoan Kiem
Ha Noi, Socialist Republic of Viet Nam
Minister Alain Juppé
Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs
37 Quai d’Orsay
75351 Paris, France
Mme. Ludovine Olive
Chef de Cabinet du Ministre D’Etat
Ministère des Affaires Etrangères
37 Quai d’Orsay
Paris, France
Fabrice Mauriès
Consul General
French Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City
27 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Q.1
Ho Chi Minh City
Socialist Republic of Viet Nam
Fax: +84-8-3520-6819 & +84-8-3520-6829
His Excellency Le Cong Phung
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam
Embassy of Vietnam
1233 20th St NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20036 USA
Email: info@vietnamembassy.us
The Honorable Michael W. Michalak
U.S. Ambassador to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
U.S. Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City
4 Le Duan Blvd., District 1
Ho Chi Minh City, Socialist Republic of Viet Nam
Ambassador Ron Kirk
Office of the United States Trade Representative
600 17th Street NW
Washington, DC 20508.
Fax: 202-395-9515