Lê Thị Công Nhân

The Vietnamese government is one of those regimes whose repression is so narrowly concentrated that casual visitors - and even its own citizens, for some of the time at least - are quite unaware of it. Singapore, a very different country in most ways, has a broadly similar approach. Leave people alone as long as they are making money, creating silk paintings, winning Olympic medals and the like. But as soon as they assert themselves politically, as soon as they question the authority of the Party - then crush them.

Singapore uses the courts to do this. Vietnam - franker and less developed in its authoritarianism - uses the secret police.

A week ago, I visited two veteran dissidents in Ho Chi Minh City - Dr Nguyen Dan Que and the Venerable Thich Quang Do (and wrote about them here). They are men of the pre-war generation, who lived through most of Vietnam's 20th century tragedy - the Second World War, the French Indo-China War and the Vietnam War. Despite the continuing monopoly of the Vietnam Communist Party, the country has become prosperous beyond recognition in the past 20 years. For young people, there are opportunities which their parents could not have imagined. But even among those with the most to lose, there are young Vietnamese prepared to take on the authorities, and pay the price.

Last week I encountered one of them - the courageous and stubborn young woman pictured above, Lê Thị Công Nhân.

I say "encountered" because, despite a good deal of communication over the past few days, we have not exactly met. Since 13th November, Công Nhân has been subject to harassment, intimidation and house arrest by "A42", the appropriately Orwellian code word for the Political Security Department of Vietnam's Ministry of Security. For a week these plain clothes goons picketed her apartment in Hanoi, preventing her from leaving her home at all, even to shop. On Wednesday, she was allowed out - to be interrogated at the Ministry of Security There she was informed that she free to move around Hanoi (in the company of surveilling goons), but that she could under no circumstances leave the city.

Why is the mighty Vietnamese Communist Party scared of Lê Thị Công Nhân? There are two reasons. The first is that she is a dissident, a founder member and spokeswoman for the newly founded Vietnam Progression Party (click here to read the Vietnam Progression Party manifesto, including application forms, if you're interested). As a movement, its platform is the bare democratic minimum - a multi-party system, free elections and a free press. But this is quite enough - for espousing similar goals, Dr Que and Thich Quang Do have spent decades between them in prison. The week before last, the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) forum was held in Hanoi which is why Công Nhân and several other Vietnamese dissidents were confined to their homes - to prevent the possibility that George Bush or Shinzo Abe might find themselves confronted by them, and forced to explain what they were doing, cosying up to a regime that denies their basic human rights.

In Công Nhân 's case there's something else too, connected to the trial for drug smuggling which concluded yesterday in the town of Dong Hoi. Two British citizens of Vietnamese origins were convicted of heroin trafficking. In October 2005, Công Nhân was named as the state-appointed defender for one of them, a 47-year old woman named Tran Thi Hien. Whether or not Ms Hien is guilty (and last week she admitted a part in the purchase and sale of huge quantities of heroin), she needs a good lawyer. Yesterday she was sentenced to lifetime imprisonment, but the maximum penalty for heroin smuggling is death by firing squad.

Why the Vietnamese authorities made the mistake of appointing a dissident as a defence lawyer in a high-profile case, I don't know - but Công Nhân had the job and spent a year preparing to defend her client whom, she is convinced, played a minor role in the smuggling operation. "I wish to perform and finish my job and my duty serving my client," she wrote, "[however] this stupid communist dictator regime will deal with me!"

Công Nhân would have given the sleepy Quang Binh provincial court a run for its money - so even after the Apec circus had come to an end, she was not allowed to leave her home. The court replaced her with a tame defence lawyer who had a total of four days to prepare his case.

She has had her land line and four cell phones cut off in the space of a few days. Only her mother and her sister were allowed to her apartment, to bring her food and supplies. Nonetheless she found ingenious ways of communicating with the outside world which I will not detail here, for fear that one of her few links with the outside world will be jeopardised.

On Wednesday, the goons of A42 took her in for questioning. They have provided no authority for their blockading of Công Nhân and her home - no warrant, or court order, or documentation from a higher authority. The secret police do not even identify themselves, and in her presence use false names for one another. But Công Nhân overheard one of them addressing the superior officer by his real name: Lieutenant-Colonel Thang of A42, Dong Da district and Phuong Mai precinct, Hanoi.

It's a sweet fantasy to imagine that one day, Colonel Thang will be held to account for his actions.

"I feel, and understand deeply [the reality of] freedom and democracy [under a] communist dictator," Công Nhân told me.

I am being treated like a  very dangerous criminal! Even our land line was cut suddenly without any reason by Hanoi Post on 1st November. when I called them to ask for the reason, the Hanoi Post said, 'We did it at the command of the Ministry of Security. You need not to lodge a complaint as we just can reconnect it by another command of them.' I said,  'Give me that command even a copy one.' They said 'It was just a verbal command.'

On 10th November, I bought another land line for my family. The police found out the number and cut our phone again just two days later. At the questioning on Wednesday, I told them, 'You are too inhumane cutting my family's land line.' The colonel, Thang, said, 'We have power to do that as you are [jeopardising] national security. There is only one party in Vietnam - remember that.'

On Tuesday 's Morning when I was still under house arrest (not city arrest like this moment) Doan Anh Thuy, a female lieutenant of A42 said to me, 'You should be happy that you are just being treated like this.' I said, 'Because I am still alive? Is that what you mean?'. She said nothing.

I had the impression that Công Nhân was a veteran lawyer and fighter. The other day I found out that she is just 27 years old.

Here's an email address where you can write to Lê Thị Công Nhân: congnhan@movemail.com.

Here's a link to the website of Amnesty International with suggestions for action you can take if you feel moved by the situation of dissidents in Vietnam.

Comments

[anonymous]

In a country where corruption is rampant as high as at the ministerial level, education is infested with as many as 30% of fake PhD degrees, and the supposedly state-protected workers and farmers are the most exploited and land-confiscated, the voice of people like Cong Nhan should be welcomed and supported. Ironically, the dictatorial communist government via their secret police and goons (or the Hong-Kong-movie-influenced term used by the Vietnamese – members of black society/triads) has introduced various means to silence the dissidents.

It was informed that Cong Nhan was stopped steps away from getting on to her flight to deliver an invited speech at an international conference on labour in Poland. The airport police carried out another verbal command. No explanation made and no money (for unused ticket) returned.

Lately, Cong Nhan’s employer – The Thien An group – was told to fire her, a cheap and dirty trick by the goverment to keep her quiet by squeezing her stomach.

The same trick was done with Bach Ngoc Duong, an engineer of Ha Noi. He had been fired at work because he voiced “the other reality of Vietnam”. His landlord was told not to rent him a place to live. He has been living on and off at the office of another dissident, Attorney Nguyen Van Dai also of Hanoi. Bach Ngoc Duong, Cong Nhan and many other political activists have been called to report and “work” with the police for hours for many days.

As female lieutenant of Doan Anh Thuy told Cong Nhan, 'You should be happy that you are just being treated like this.' This is in fact frightening true. As a matter of fact, the female spoke-person of the lately founded Democratic Party of Vietnam (DPV) (XXI), Lawyer Bui Kim Thanh was sent to Bien Hoa Mental hospital. Amnesty International has sent out an urgent call for action because:

[quote]
Police detained Bui Thi Kim Thanh at her home in Ho Chi Minh City in the early hours of 2 November, and took her to a nearby hospital, where they tried to have her committed. However, two psychiatric doctors reportedly assessed her and concluded that she was not suffering from mental illness. After this the police took her to Bien Hoa Mental Hospital, where she was admitted and remains confined to a room in area 4 of the hospital. She has been described as being unable to talk as an apparent consequence of the injections (of unknown drugs).
[/quote]

http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA410112006?open&of=ENG-VNM

The Vietnamese one-party communist government out-smarts their Singapore counterpart by silencing their attorney, lawyers, and intellectuals using “members of black society”. The sad thing is after 40 years of independence (1965), Singapore has risen to first world country, being selected as one of the best countries to live in Asia, while after 30 years of independence (1975), Vietnam is one of the poorest and most corrupt countries in the 21 century, and needs 197 years to catch up with Singapore as reported by an IMF-authority 6 months ago.

[do le thuong]

thank you for shedding the light behind the scene. The Vietnamese dissidents have chosen the non violent way of fighting the mafia-like dictatorship. They are paying the highest price, they deserve our support.

DO Le Thuong
Rally for Democracy and Pluralism
(Tap Hop Dan Chu Da Nguyen)

[Sid]

Thank you for this article. This is just another indication of how backward the 'rulers' of Vietnam are. The only law in Vietnam is the primordial law of the jungle.

[Anonymous]

Today, March 6, Hanoi police detained attorney Le Thi Cong Nhan for reportedly 4 months.

After getting its ticket to WTO, Hanoi has turned its back to the free world, firmed up its grip to prevent patriots from voicing their concerns for the 83-million-people country being controlled by a 2-million-member Communist party . The Communist party has placed itself in Article 4 of the country's constitution and above all laws, dictated what the National Assembly should do, how many of them should be non-party members, used the country's limited resources for their party activities, corrupted the whole country from grade schools to ministerial levels. Everywhere you go, every business you do, you have to prepare an envelope...

After 31 years of communism in the south and more than 60 years of communism in the north, the communists are the most wealthy clan of the society.

For more info, please visit
http://www.doi-thoai.com/

The Vietnamese deserve a transparent and competent government. People of the free world should be aware of the coward actions of Hanoi.

[Tuan Nguyen]

I happened to read this article quite late - 3 monthe before her arrest in Hanoi. However it is not too late. The news about the brutality of Vietnamese Communist Police commited on such a defenseless woman has woken up many of us (men). I will try to spread this news about this oppressive regime to each and every of my contact so thet Vietnamese Communist has to face the truth of their 'criminal like' actions and the world will judge them as such.

Tuan Nguye

[anomymous]

On March 21, Mdm. Tran Thi Le, mother of attorney Le Thi Cong Nhan wrote a letter to local and overseas Vietnamese. She also addressed the Prime Minister, President and a number of involved ministries of Vietnam. As a law graduate herself, she
strongly defended her daugther on the following incidents.

On March 12, the president of Hanoi Law Society, A/Professor Pham Hong Hai, has written
i) to summon attorneys Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan, while the attorneys had been detained by police since March 6.
ii) to convict and dismiss both attorneys from the society when there had been no trials and no sentences.

A few days after, shamelessly adding to the flame, reporter Bao Son of communist government's mouth piece An Ninh The Gioi (World Security) further played down on Le Thi Cong Nhan as having acted against the interests of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and being incompetent.

Mdm. Le argued that her daughter was selected after a competition, by Mr. Nguyen Chien, V/P of Hanoi Law Society, to become secretary, responsible for the society's external affairs. On the career side, as Mr. Richard Parry mentioned, Cong Nhan, the
designated lawyer for a case involving Vietnamese trafficking drugs in England, could not work as a lawyer because she was blocked by police from defending for her clients.

Mdm. Le defended her daughter that according to article #9 of Vietnam's Criminal Law, "No one is considered guilty until convicted by the court",
Le Thi Cong Nhan is not guilty. Her daughter is a simple girl who loves mankind and upholds fairness. When she was young, she used to cry for the less fortunate and less priviledge. She is a patriot and follows the role model of Professor Nguyen Hoang Phuong. She joined the Vietnamese Progression Party for a better Vietnam. The facts that the Vietnamese Communist Party has nurtured unfairness,
and been powerless on ramping corruption, degrading education, and has been acting both soccer player and referee, further fuel her cause for a multi-party country.

Shame on Pham Hong Hai for being a president of a law society but practicing little on the rule of "presume innocent until proven guilty".
Shame on Bao Son on being unfair and using the power of government controlled media against patriots and peace-loving people like
Le Thi Cong Nhan and Nguyen Van Dai.

In the free world, Le Thi Cong Nhan would be a successful and wealthy lawyer.

In Vietnam after WTO, Le Thi Cong Nhan is in jail and her health is degrading due to continuous hunger strike.

---
More lawyers arrested: Lawyer Le Quoc Quan was arrested by police on March 8, 4 days after he returned from his 6-month involvement with the National Endowment of Democracy in the US. His friend and associate in HCM city's law firm - Trang - was also reportedly
arrested.

[Lan]

Recent crackdown by communist government in Vietnam has lead to the sentencing of Father Nguyen Van Ly to 8 years in prison (he has spent 14 of the last 24 years in communist prisons already) and Nguyen Phong to 6 years in prison because of their work to bring democratic reform to Vietnam. Attorney Le Thi Cong Nhan(subject of this article) and Attorney Nguyen Van Dai have been disbarred, arrested, and awaiting trial. Please help them.

[Ted Neilsen]

I congratulate her for being courageous, for sacrificing her career to fight an important cause: freedom of speech.
She could make a lot of money practicing her law career. However, she put her country, people, belief before her own well-being.
The world should support and encourage her.

Thank you Mr. Richard Lloyd Parry for covering her story or fight for freedom of speech.

You can watch her response to authority.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-sz4TlTbIY

[Cason]

God! Bunch of dickheads ruining the country. Is there anything I can do to help her or help the country?

[Long_us]

No question asked !!! the story tell its all!!!

[Anh]

Thank you for keeping me informed.

[Minh]

Lê Thị Công Nhân fighting for the basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled. We support and encourage her