Freitag, 28. September 2012

Letter to German Foreign Minister


Forum Vietnam 21 

September 27th 2012

To 
Dr. Guido Westerwelle
Federal Foreign Minister
Federal Congressman

The Federal Foreign Office
11013 Berlin

Dear Mister Minister,

In his recent state visit to VN, Mr Rösler, the Federal Economy Minister, has made official suggestions and requests for democratization as well as voiced his intervention  for the release of political prisoners, something that got a very warm approval by all Vietnamese in VN and abroad. But as soon as he left VN, on Sep. 24, 2012, the Hanoi Regime proceeded to convict three Bloggers with extremely harsh sentences from 4 to 12 years of jail imprisonment, followed by house arrest, for the so-called crime of "anti-government propaganda".

The three convicted Bloggers Nguyen Van Hai (Dieu Cay), Ta Phong Tan and Phan Thanh Hai (Anh Ba Saigon), were accused of acts of anti-regime propaganda by posting their opinions on the website of "club of free journalists".

The convicted Bloggers actually have done nothing else than exerting their right of Freedom of Expression within the legal framework of Vietnam's Law. Blogger Dieu Cay, whose named was mentioned, back in May, in President Obama's statement concerning freedom of press in VN, has made it clear that he was not at all against the regime, but rather, sought only to voice his discontent at injustice, corruption and dictatorship. Another Blogger, Mrs. Ta Phong Tan, an ex-police Officer, revealed warning signs of corruption within forces of state police.

The harsh sentencing of the Bloggers only indicated the Hanoi Regime elected to expressly show a disrespect for the Federal Deputy Prime Minister by simply disregarding all warnings and requests by Mr. Rösler. It's an on-purpose challenge to the whole world. With that move, Vietnam showed itself to be nothing else than a totalitarian, inhuman, police state !

Beside HR-related organizations like the Human Right Watch and Amnesty International, either through their Embassy in Hanoi or the representative office, the US as well as the EU, have vehemently called for an immediate release of all Bloggers. Dear Dr. Westerwelle, we highly recommend, and appreciate it, if  you and the federal government of Germany speak up to demand an immediate release of the Bloggers, and at the same time, urge the Socialist Repubic Vietnam government to show respect for  the international Declaration on Human Right, as well as to comply to Art. 19 in the Intenational Convention concerning civic and political Right-Of-Expression, of which Vietnam has also its joining signature.

Thank you very much for your attention.

With kind regards
Dr. Hong-An Duong
Forum Vietnam 21




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