Arrest of Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh
On 17 October 2018, human rights defender Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh (popularly known as Me Nam or Mother Mushroom) was released from prison after two years, on the condition of exile, and sent to the USA.
Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh is a blogger and Coordinator of the Vietnamese Bloggers Network. Since 2006, she has been blogging under the pseudonym of Me Nam (Mother Mushroom). She is known for her criticism of the government, including revealing corruption cases and human rights violations committed by the authorities. As a result, she has repeatedly been targeted, including being arrested and physically attacked. In 2014, she received a Human Rights Defender award from the Stockholm-based NGO Civil Rights Defenders.
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- About
- 18 October 2018 : Me Nam released from prison, arrives in USA
- 3 July 2018 : Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh subject to inhumane treatment in remote detention centre
- 12 February 2018 : Mother Mushroom transferred to remote prison
- 1 December 2017 : 10 year sentence upheld for Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh
- 2 August 2017 : Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh’s health deteriorating in detention
- 29 June 2017 : Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh sentenced to 10 years in jail
- 21 June 2017 : Trial scheduled for 29 June
- 16 June 2017 : Authorities formally charge and extend detention of Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh
- 24 May 2017 : Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh’s mother and children harassed and confined to her home
- 11 October 2016 : Arrest of blogger Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh
- 29 July 2015 : Human rights defender severely beaten while temporarily detained
On 17 October 2018, human rights defender Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh (popularly known as Me Nam or Mother Mushroom) was released from prison after two years, on the condition of exile, and sent to the USA.
Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh was unjustly arrested on 10 October 2016 under Article 88 of the Penal Code for “conducting anti-state propaganda”. On 29 June 2017, the People’s Court in Khanh Hoa province in Nha Trang sentenced Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh to 10 years imprisonment, almost a year after she was arrested. On 30 November 2017, the Superior People’s Court of Danang upheld her 10 year sentence. The human rights defender was subject to inhumane treatment in a remote prison, far away from her family. She also suffered continuous health problems in prison.
While Front Line Defenders welcomes Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh’s release from prison, it reiterates its belief that she should never have been convicted or imprisoned in the first place, and regrets that the cost of her freedom is exile. Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh was unjustly imprisoned for two years and faced judicial harassment solely for her legitimate and peaceful human rights work in Vietnam.
On 26 June 2018, human rights defender Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh’s mother visited the human rights defender in Prison Camp No. 5 in Northern Thanh Hoa Province. During this visit, Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh reported that she has been subjected to long periods of solitary confinement, frequently in complete darkness, and verbal abuse by fellow inmates. According to the defender’s description, prison guards take no action to prevent her abuse by fellow inmates and instead may be directly encouraging this behavior. Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh has been incarcerated since her arrest on 20 May 2017.
Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, also known by her online pen-name Me Nam (“Mother Mushroom”), is a blogger and human rights defender. Beginning in 2016, she led advocacy efforts on behalf of the victims of the Formosa Ha Tinh steel company’s release of pollutants into the sea off the coast of Vietnam’s Ha Tinh province in April of that year. She was arrested for these activities on 20 May 2017 and kept in detention until her trial on 29 June 2017, when the court sentenced her to 10 years imprisonment for “conducting anti-state propaganda”. The defender was also the victim of a media smear campaign in the days leading up to her trial.
On 12 February 2018, Me Nam was transferred to a prison in Northern Thanh Hoa Province, over 900 kilometres from her family home in South Central Vietnam, making it extremely difficult for her mother to visit and deliver medicines and food to her. Vietnamese authorities provided no notice of the transfer to the defender’s mother or family prior to the relocation. The family learned of her transfer only after visiting Me Nam’s former prison to bring her food and medicines prior to the Vietnamese New Year. It is particularly challenging for Me Nam’s mother to travel the great distance to Thanh Hoa and the prison is known for its isolated location and harsh conditions; in October 2017, 700 prisoners were trapped when the prison was flooded after a typhoon.
After her visit on 26 June 2018, Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh’s mother reported the defender to be exhausted, frail, and extremely anxious. The defender is allowed no contact with family except for these monthly visits, which require significant time and financial resources for the defender’s mother, the sole caregiver to Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh’s two young children.
Front Line Defenders insists that Vietnamese authorities take proper steps to cease all inhumane treatment against Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh in detention and guarantee the defender’s access to sufficient food, medicine, and safe and suitable living conditions. Front Line Defenders also reiterates its call to release Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh as it believes that she is detained solely on the basis of her legitimate and peaceful work in the defence of human rights.
On 12 February 2018, co-founder of the Vietnamese Bloggers’ Network, Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh (popularly known as Mother Mushroom) was transferred to a remote prison in Northern Vietnam, over 900 kilometres from her home town.
Nhu Quynh was moved to a prison in Northern Thanh Hoa, far removed from her family in the South Central Coast, making it extremely difficult for her mother to visit and deliver necessary medicines and food to Nhu Quynh. Moreover, Vietnamese authorities provided no notice of the transfer to the defender’s mother or family. They learned of the transfer only after a visit to Nhu Quynh’s former prison to bring her food and medicines prior to the New Year.
Nhu Quynh’s mother has previously raised concerns over the deteriorating health of Nhu Quynh, reporting that Nhu Quynh was suffering from low blood pressure. However, medicine provided by the prison doctor for this condition caused severe swelling in Nhu Quynh’s face, legs and hands. She was also suffering from dizzy spells and fainted often. Prison authorities have regularly denied Nhu Quynh the medicine and food supplies brought by the defender’s mother.
It is particularly challenging for Nhu Quynh’s mother to travel the great distance to Thanh Hoa and the prison is known for its isolated location and harsh conditions; in October 2017, 700 prisoners were trapped when the prison was flooded after a typhoon.
On 30 November 2017, the Superior People’s Court of Danang upheld human rights defender, Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh’s 10 year sentence for “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the Penal Code.
Front Line Defenders expresses its concern for Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh’s health and wellbeing and encourages Vietnamese officials to return her to safe, suitable detention conditions in closer proximity to her family. Front Line Defenders further calls on Vietnamese authorities to drop the charges against Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, as these charges solely intend to interfere with the defender’s peaceful work promoting human rights.
On 30 November 2017, the Superior People’s Court of Danang upheld human rights defender Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh’s 10 year sentence for “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the Penal Code.
Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh is a blogger and Coordinator of the Vietnamese Bloggers Network. Since 2006, she has been blogging under the pseudonym of Me Nam (Mother Mushroom). Through her work she has exposed corruption and human rights violations committed by Vietnamese authorities and, as a result, she has been targeted and subjected to arrest and physical attacks. She is the recipient of the 2014 Human Rights Defender award from the Stockholm-based NGO Civil Rights Defenders and was awarded the 2017 International Women of Courage Award from the US Department of State.
On 30 November 2017, the Superior People’s Court of Danang rejected Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh’s appeal and upheld the sentence given to her by the People’s Court in Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa Province. Her mother was not permitted entry to the courtroom to observe the hearing.
On 29 June 2017, Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh was given a 10 year jail sentence after a one day trial in the People’s Court in Nha Trang. She was convicted of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Parts a, b and c of Article 88 of the 1999 Penal Code. This article is widely used against human rights defenders who have highlighted abuses in Vietnam. On 27 November 2017, human rights defender Nguyen Van Hoa was sentenced to seven years in prison under the same article.
Front Line Defenders strongly condemns the conviction of human rights defender Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, which it believes is solely motivated by her peaceful and legitimate work for human rights in Vietnam, and calls on the Vietnamese authorities to quash her conviction and immediately release the human rights defender.
On 31 July 2017, Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh’s mother was permitted to see her daughter in detention. During her visit, which only lasted 10 minutes and was closely monitored, Nguyen Thi Tuyet Lan noted that her daughter appeared frail due to a lack of adequate food and vitamins. Food supplies which had been sent to her in prison were severely depleted by the time the defender received them. Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh has also been prevented from receiving vitamins in prison.
Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh is a blogger and Coordinator of the Vietnamese Bloggers Network. Since 2006, she has been blogging under the pseudonym of Me Nam (Mother Mushroom). She has exposed cases of corruption and human rights violations committed by the authorities, and as a result, has been targeted and subjected to arrest and physical attacks. She is the recipient of the 2014 Human Rights Defender award from the Stockholm-based NGO Civil Rights Defenders and was recently awarded the 2017 International Women of Courage Award from the US Department of State.
On the morning of 31 July 2017, Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh’s mother, Nguyen Thi Tuyet Lan, visited her daughter in Khanh Hoa Detention Center. This was only the second time the defender’s mother has been permitted to visit her, in almost 300 days of detention. During the 10 minute visit, the pair remained under constant surveillance by two guards from the detention center as well as a public security officer, who were listening in on their conversation. The defender started to tell her mother that she had only received a fraction of the supplies her mother had sent her but the guards immediately cut her off and told her that she was not allowed to discuss her conditions in prison. According to Nguyen Thi Tuyet Lan, her daughter is currently suffering from a calcium and vitamin D deficiency and she is growing weaker. She has lost weight and reports feeling dizzy most of the time. The prison rules do not allow Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh to receive the vitamins sent by her family.
On 29 June 2017, the People’s Court in Khanh Hoa province in Nha Trang sentenced Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh to 10 years’ imprisonment for “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the Penal Code. She has been detained since 10 October 2016.
Front Line Defenders is deeply concerned by the deterioration in human rights defender Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh’s health and urges the Vietnamese authorities to immediately allow her to receive the food and vitamins that she needs in prison.
On 29 June 2017, the People’s Court in Khanh Hoa province in Nha Trang sentenced human rights defender Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh to 10 years’ imprisonment for “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the Penal Code.
On 29 June 2017, Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh was given a 10 year jail sentence after a one day trial in the People’s Court in Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa province. She was convicted under counts a, b and c of Article 88 of the 1999 Penal Code, related to "conducting anti-state propaganda". This article is widely used against human rights defenders who have highlighted abuses in Vietnam.
The court used evidence collected during a police raid on her house on 10 October 2016, the day she was arrested. The evidence consisted mainly of signs and banners related to the Formosa spill disaster, calling for more transparency and accountability from the Taiwanese plant and the Vietnamese government. The court also presented articles written on her blog under the pen name Me Nam that were deemed anti-state and anti-police by the court. The articles presented information collected by the human rights defender about cases of deaths in police custody. Her interviews to foreign and independent media were also used as evidence against her.
Before the trial, the security police and the anti-protest unit deployed a large number of officers in the surroundings of the People’s Court in Nha Trang as well as around the house of Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh. On the day of the trial, the defender’s mother, Nguyen Thi Tuyet Lan, had trouble reaching the court because of the police presence. When she finally did, she was not allowed to attend the trial in the main room and was led to an adjacent room where she watched her daughter’s trial on a television screen. No foreign delegations or diplomats were permitted in the courtroom, which was filled with plainclothes officers. Seven activists who came to Nha Trang to support Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh were detained while many others were barred from approaching the courtroom or kept under de facto house arrest in Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City.
In the days prior to her trial, state media conducted a smear campaign against her and broadcast old clips linked to previous charges on Vietnamese television, in which she admitted guilt.
Front Line Defenders strongly condemns the conviction of human rights defender Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, which it believes is solely motivated by her peaceful and legitimate work for human rights in Vietnam, and calls on the Vietnamese authorities to quash her conviction and immediately release the human rights defender.
On 17 June 2017, human rights defender Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh’s legal team was notified that her trial was scheduled for 29 June 2017, more than 8 months after she was arrested for “conducting anti-state propaganda” on 10 October 2016. Her family was never formally notified and, on 19 June 2017, her mother Nguyen Thi Tuyet Lan was denied by the People’s Court in Vietnam’s central province of Khanh Hoa her request to attend her daughter’s open trial.
Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh is a blogger and Coordinator of the Vietnamese Bloggers Network. Since 2006, she has been blogging under the pseudonym of Me Nam (Mother Mushroom). She is known for her criticism of the government, including revealing corruption cases and human rights violations committed by the authorities. As a result, she has repeatedly been targeted, including being arrested and physically attacked. In 2014, she received a Human Rights Defender award from the Stockholm-based NGO Civil Rights Defenders.
On 20 June 2017, Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh was allowed to meet with one of her lawyers, Nguyen Kha Thanh. During his visit, he learned that since her arrest, the human rights defender had been imprisoned in Cam Ranh, about 70 kilometers from Nha Trang, where her mother and children currently live. The authorities never informed her family of the place she was being detained. It is only recently, on 7 May 2017, that Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh was transferred back to Nha Trang ahead of her trial.
On 14 June 2017, it emerged that Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh had been formally charged with three criminal counts under article 88 (1) of the Vietnamese Penal Code, which carry a penalty of between 3 and 12 years imprisonment. Her detention period was also extended by two and a half months.
Front Line Defenders urges the Vietnamese authorities to drop all charges against human rights defender Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh as it is believed that they are solely motivated by her legitimate and peaceful work for human rights in Vietnam.
On 14 June 2017, it emerged that human rights defender Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh had been formally charged with three criminal counts under article 88 (1) of the Vietnamese Penal Code, which carry a penalty of between 3 and 12 years imprisonment. Until the 14 June 2017, the authorities had said that she was being detained on charges of ‘propaganda against the state’ without specifying which counts. On 4 June 2017, Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh’s mother was notified by the court that her daughter’s detention would be extended by two and a half months. She has been detained since 10 October 2016.
Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh is a blogger and Coordinator of the Vietnamese Bloggers Network. Since 2006, she has been blogging under the pseudonym of Me Nam (Mother Mushroom). She has exposed corruption cases and human rights violations committed by the authorities, and as a result, has been targeted and subjected to arrest and physical attacks. She is the recipient of the 2014 Human Rights Defender award from the Stockholm-based NGO Civil Rights Defenders and was recently awarded the 2017 International Women of Courage Award from the US Department of State.
On 14 June 2017, it emerged that the Vietnamese authorities had formally charged Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh with counts a, b and c of Article 88 of the Penal Code, related to ‘conducting anti-state propaganda’. If found guilty, she faces up to 12 years in prison. She is charged with ‘Propagating against, distorting and/or defaming the people’s administration’, ‘Propagating psychological warfare and spreading fabricated news in order to foment confusion among people’ and ‘Making, storing and/or circulating documents and/or cultural products with contents against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam’.
Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh was arrested on 10 October 2016 and has been held in a detention centre in Nha Trang city, Khanh Hoa province ever since, without being permitted visits from her family or her lawyers. On 20 May 2017, the human rights defender’s mother, Nguyen Thi Tuyet Lan, as well as her two children were placed under de facto house arrest for a number of days while the Vietnam-US Human Rights Dialogue took place in Hanoi. They remain under police surveillance.
Front Line Defenders condemns the charges against Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, which it believes are directly related to her peaceful and legitimate work in the defence of human rights. Front Line Defenders sees this as part of a pattern of ongoing judicial harassment using Article 88 of the Penal Code against human rights defenders who have highlighted abuses in Vietnam.
On 20 May 2017, more than fifty police officers in both plainclothes and uniforms surrounded Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh’s home in Nha Trang, on the South Central Coast of Vietnam, placing the human rights defender’s mother, Nguyen Thi Tuyet Lan, as well as her two children under de facto house arrest. A smaller number of police officers returned on 22 and 23 May to prevent the defender’s mother and children from exiting the house. On 24 May, Nguyen Thi Tuyet Lan was finally allowed to go to the market but remains under police surveillance. Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh has been in police custody since 10 October 2016, having been charged with ‘conducting anti-state propaganda’ for peacefully exercising her right to free expression.
Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh is a blogger and Coordinator of the Vietnamese Bloggers Network. Since 2006, she has been blogging under the pseudonym of Me Nam (Mother Mushroom). She has exposed corruption cases and human rights violations committed by the authorities, and as a result, has been targeted and subjected to arrest and physical attacks. She is the recipient of the 2014 Human Rights Defender award from the Stockholm-based NGO Civil Rights Defenders and was recently awarded the 2017 International Women of Courage Award from the US Department of State.
On 20 May 2017, the human rights defender’s home in Nha Trang was surrounded by over fifty policemen in both plainclothes and uniforms. The entire alley leading to her home was blocked and the building was kept under siege by the police. Officers returned the following days, placing Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh’s mother, Nguyen Thi Tuyet Lan, as well as her two children, under de facto house arrest. The police officers, who are reportedly composed of both security police and civil defence units, permitted the defender’s mother to leave her home on 24 May to go to a nearby market but kept her under surveillance.
Front Line Defenders believes that this act of intimidation and harassment is related to the Vietnam-US Human Rights Dialogue 2017, which was scheduled for 23 May 2017 in Hanoi city. The confinement of Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh’s relatives seems to have been a way to intimidate them ahead of the dialogue, during which the arbitrary detention of the blogger was anticipated to be one of the topics raised by the US side during the discussion.
Blogger and human rights defender, Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, was arrested on 10 October 2016 by authorities in Khanh Hoa province. She was charged under Article 88 of the Penal Code with ‘conducting anti-state propaganda’ and is being held in a detention centre in Nha Trang city.
Front Line Defenders expresses concern at this recent act of intimidation against the family of Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh and urges the Vietnamese authorities to immediately cease all further harassment of her relatives.
On 10 October 2016, blogger and human rights defender Ms Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh was arrested by authorities in Khanh Hoa province. She was charged under Article 88 of the Penal Code with ‘conducting anti-state propaganda’ and is being held in a detention centre in Nha Trang city.
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At around 10am on 10 October, Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh was arrested as she accompanied the mother of a jailed man to the detention centre in which her son is being held. Following her arrest, Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh was brought to her residence where police carried out a search.
After the search, police officials reportedly stated that they had found in her possession two sets of ‘anti-government material’. The first was a cardboard sign calling for the prosecution of the Formosa Ha Tinh Steel company, a Taiwanese-owned steel plant in Ha Tinh province which illegally discharged toxic waste into the sea off the Vietnamese coast in April 2016. This discharge of chemical waste resulted in large-scale water pollution and the deaths of millions of fish and other sea-life, seriously impacting the livelihoods of thousands of Vietnamese fishermen.
Since the environmental disaster, large numbers of Vietnamese citizens have protested on a regular basis demanding that Formosa Ha Tinh Steel be held accountable. A number of online campaigns have also been initiated. The second piece of ‘evidence’ pointing to ‘anti-government propaganda’ was Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh’s possession of an open letter, issued in the name of the Vietnamese Blogger Network, which also demanded accountability for the incident.
Police have reportedly announced that they will detain the human rights defender for four months as they carry out an investigation into her activities. If found guilty of ‘conducting anti-state propaganda’, Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh could face a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison.
Front Line Defenders is concerned with the arrest and detention of the blogger Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, which it believes is directly related to her peaceful and legitimate work in the defence of human rights. Front Line Defenders sees this as part of a pattern of ongoing judicial harassment using Article 88 of the Penal Code against human rights defenders who have highlighted abuses in Vietnam.
Front Line Defenders urges the authorities in Vietnam to:
1. Immediately and unconditionally release Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, and drop all charges against her, as Front Line Defenders believes that she is being held solely as a result of her legitimate and peaceful work in the defence of human rights;
2. Ensure that the treatment of Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, while in detention, adheres to all those conditions set out in the ‘Basic Principles for Treatment of Prisoners, adopted by General Assembly resolution 45/111 of 14 December 1990’;
3. Take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological security and integrity of Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh;
4. Guarantee in all circumstances that human rights defenders in Vietnam are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals, and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment;
On 25 July 2015, police temporarily detained and beat human rights defender Ms Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh at the Loc Tho ward police station in Nha Trang. She suffered injuries and, upon leaving the police station, she was bleeding from cuts on her face.
Prior to being detained, questioned, and abused on 25 July 2015, the prominent blogger was arrested in a park in Nha Trang where she and other human rights defenders and activists planned to hold a public gathering. When the group began to meditate, plainclothes police officers arrested several participants and brought them to the police station. During the arrest, Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh was hit and then dragged into a taxi.
The planned gathering was part of a countrywide one-day hunger strike to draw attention to the human rights violations committed by the government and to request the release of detained human rights defenders. Hundreds of Vietnamese human rights defenders and activists gathered in public areas in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang, Haiphong and other cities and provinces. Many of the participants reported acts of harassment by the police, including arrests and physical violence.
Front Line Defenders expresses its grave concern at the temporary detention and physical violence suffered by human rights defender Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, as it is believed to be another attempt to silence human rights defenders in Vietnam and to impede their legitimate work for the promotion of human rights.
