Case History: Tran Minh Nhat
On 30 September 2017, it emerged that Vietnamese authorities issued an arrest warrant against human rights defender Tran Minh Nhat for breaching the terms of his probation.
Tran Minh Nhat has been working for the Vietnam Redemptorist News and involved in the promotion and protection of economic, social and cultural rights in Vietnam. He was released on 28 August 2015, following four years in prison for “carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the people's administration”.
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- 6 October 2017 : Arrest warrant issued against Tran Minh Nhat
- 24 February 2016 : Continuous harassment of human rights defender Tran Minh Nhat
- 7 January 2016 : Intimidation and harassment of human rights defender and his family
- 11 November 2015 : Human rights defenders temporarily detained and beaten
On 30 September 2017, it emerged that Vietnamese authorities issued an arrest warrant against human rights defender Tran Minh Nhat for breaching the terms of his probation.
The human rights defender has been under house arrest since August 2015. Prior to his house arrest he had been serving a four-year prison sentence for “carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the people's administration”, a crime under Article 79 of the Vietnamese Penal Code.
In an order dated 4 August 2017, the Investigation Agency in Lam Ha district, Lam Dong province, declared that Tran Minh Nhat had “failed to execute judgments” under Article 304 of the Vietnamese Penal Code by breaching the terms of his probation. The warrant is effective nationwide, and the defender is currently in hiding.
After his release from prison on 26 August 2015, Tran Minh Nhat was required to serve three years under house arrest. Since then, he has been harassed on several occasions by local police who have also beaten him in while detention and attacked him in his house.
Front Line Defenders condemns the arrest warrant issued against human rights defender Tran Minh Nhat, which it believes is solely motivated by his peaceful and legitimate work for human rights in Vietnam, and calls on the authorities to end all judicial harassment against him.
On 22 February 2016, human rights defender Mr Tran Minh Nhat was attacked by a police officer at his house in Lam Ha district, Lam Dong Province, and subsequently prevented by police from travelling to hospital to receive medical assistance.
On 28 August 2015, Tran Minh Nhat was released having served four years' imprisonment for “carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the people's administration”, a crime under Article 79 of the Vietnamese Penal Code.
On 22 February 2016, a police officer from the Lam Ha district came to the house of Tran Minh Nhat. He called the human rights defender to come outside and then suddenly threw a rock at him, causing a severe head injury. While travelling to hospital thereafter, Tran Minh Nhat's motorcycle was stopped by five police officers, who began to threaten the human rights defender and refused to let him continue onwards to receive medical help at the hospital. The incident marks the seventh instance of harassment of Tran Minh Nhat by police officers from the Lam Ha district in just over a month.
On 13 February 2016, stones were thrown into Tran Minh Nhat's house by several masked men. On the same day, the human rights defender's elder brother was stopped by five Lam Ha police officers who threatened to attack him and promised to burn down his house.
On 12 February 2016, chemicals were sprayed around Tran Minh Nhat's house and the house of his neighbour, causing headaches, nausea and vomiting for the inhabitants, and resulting in the death of poultry raised by the human rights defender.
On 10 February 2016, in the middle of the night, fire was set to dry coffee plants adjacent to Tran Minh Nhat's house. The fire was of such a size that it required eight people and over four hours to contain it.
Following the release of Tran Minh Nhat from prison on 28 August 2015, the human rights defender, his family and friends have been continuously threatened and harassed by Lam Ha police officers. They have suffered the destruction of their crops, break-ins at their properties, deliberate damage to their irrigation equipment, and the stoning of their homes. During this period, the house of Tran Minh Nhat has been kept under surveillance. Human rights defenders who have visited Tran Minh Nhat after his release have occasionally been beaten by police officers.
Between 24 December 2015 and 2 January 2016, the human rights defender Mr Tran Minh Nhat and his family members were subjected to several acts of harassment.
They suffered the destruction of their crops, break-ins at their properties, deliberate damage to their irrigation equipment, and the stoning of their homes.
On 2 January 2016, at approximately 10.30pm, the family home of Tran Minh Nhat was stoned by unknown individuals. On 1 January 2016, an older brother of the human rights defender discovered that a large number of pepper vines on his property in Lam Ha had been chemically poisoned. On 26 December 2015, the property of Tran Minh Nhat himself was broken into, and a large number of pepper vines were chemically poisoned. On 24 December 2016, a second brother of Tran Minh Nhat informed him that a large number of coffee plants and avocado trees had been chopped down on his property in Lam Ha, and that irrigation pipes on the property had been destroyed.
These acts of intimidation and harassment of Tran Minh Nhat and his family, which are alleged to have been perpetrated by individuals hired by the Vietnamese police, may signify the employment of a new tactic in the attempt to dissuade the human rights defender from the continuance of his legitimate human rights work. Previously, on 8 November 2015, the human rights defender was arrested alongside fellow human rights defender Mr Chu Manh Son, and detained by police. During their detention, Tran Minh Nhat was accused of acts of subversion, and both human rights defenders were physically assaulted.
On 8 November 2015, human rights defenders Mr Tran Minh Nhat and Mr Chu Manh Son were arrested by the police in Dinh Van.
While being detained at the police station, they were beaten and assaulted.
At approximately 6am on 8 November 2015, ten police officers stopped the car in which the human rights defenders were travelling in, in Dinh Van, as they were on the way to their homes in the Central Highlands province. Both men were then taken to the local police station.
While being detained at the police station, Tran Minh Nhat was accused of having violated his probation, however the human rights defender argued that he had reported to authorities that he would travel to Ho Chi Minh City to receive medical treatment. They accused him of communicating with a priest from the Catholic Redemptorist church, who, according to the police officers, is "a man against the state," and furthermore of receiving money to carry out subversive activities. During the interrogation, Tran Minh Nhat was subjected to punches in his abdomen by one police officer. Chu Manh Son was physically assaulted by the police officers before he was released.
Subsequently, they took Tran Minh Nhat to a People’s Committee Office in Da Don village, where the authorities gathered members of the communist National Front and Youth Union from the village. The gathered crowd criticized the actions of Tran Minh Nhat and tried to force him to write a letter admitting his wrongdoings, but the human rights defender refused. Later, at approximately 6pm, he was released.
Previously, in August 2015, Chu Manh Son was among those physically attacked by policemen and a number of unidentified individuals in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, in Vietnam, following a celebration to mark the release of Tran Minh Nhat.
