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   Journalists, Human Rights Advocates Welcome Release of Vietnamese Blogger

   by Doug Bernard, Trung Nguyen

   Activists are welcoming the release of a prominent Vietnamese blogger
   who has been released from prison and is now in the United States.

   Ta Phong Tan, author of the blog "Cong Ly v Su That" - Vietnamese for
   `Justice and Truth' - was convicted on September 24, 2012 of writing
   propaganda against the state and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

   Tan, who previously had served in Vietnam's armed police services,
   started her blog in 2006 and frequently targeted the government for
   what she saw as abuses and incompetence. Later, Tan joined fellow
   dissident bloggers Nguyen Van Hai and Phan Thanh Hai to form the "Free
   Vietnamese Journalists Club."

   All three subsequently were arrested on different charges but were
   found guilty in the same trial on allegations they "... distorted the
   truth about State and Party, created anxiety among citizens and
   supported schemes to overthrow the government."

   While in detention, Tan's mother immolated herself in protest and died
   from her injuries.

   In 2014, Nguyen Van Hai was released from prison and came to the U.S.,
   and was one of the first to greet Tan on her arrival. Phan Thanh Hai
   remains jailed in Vietnam.

   Arrival at LAX

   Speaking to the Vietnamese American press at LAX, Ta Phong Tan said her
   arrival in the United States was not a deportation.

   "The US pressured them [Vietnamese authorities] to release me, so they
   issued a so-called decision to temporarily to suspend prison serving
   time," she said.

   She added amid cheers that she would keep fighting for freedoms of
   human rights in Vietnam where she said people live in fear and are
   robbed of basic rights.

   While welcoming Tan's early release, journalist and human rights groups
   continue to criticize the government in Hanoi for violating
   individuals' rights of free speech.

   "While we welcome Ta Phong Tan's release from a Vietnam prison, no one
   should forget that she should have never been detained in the first
   place for exercising her right to express her views," said Phil
   Robertson, deputy director of the Asia division at Human Rights Watch,
   an non-profit civil rights advocacy organization.

   "Ta Phong Tan's so-called 'crime' was simply blogging about human
   rights, corruption, governance and other issues that Vietnamese
   criticize their government about every day - but she had a growing
   group of followers online, and that influence made Hanoi nervous enough
   to throw her in prison," he said.

   Many journalists still detained

   The Committee to Protect Journalists' Bob Dietz called the news
   "gratifying," though he added that there are more than a dozen
   journalists still being held in Vietnamese prisons. In 2015, the CPJ
   ranked Vietnam as the sixth-most censored country in the world, and in
   2014 said Vietnam rated fifth-worst for jailing journalists.

   "This release continues Vietnam's cynical practice of releasing
   high-profile dissidents from prison directly into forced exile, with
   immediate departure from the country being the price of their freedom,"
   HRW's Phil Robertson told VOA.
   "By acting to diminish the numbers of its critics one overseas flight a
   time instead of ensuring that activists like Ta Phong Tan are released
   unconditionally, Hanoi is providing an aura of human rights progress
   while actually tightening political control," he said.

   In 2013, Ta Phong Tan was named a winner of the U.S. State Department's
   "International Women of Courage" award. Secretary of State John Kerry
   said Tan was "an inspiration" to women in Vietnam. She also was one of
   the women profiled in the State Department's #FreeThe20 campaign that
   draws attention to the plight of women political prisoners and other
   prisoners of concern.

   Earlier this week, the chairman of Vietnam's legislature surprised many
   by saying his country should clarify its so-called anti-state laws in
   order to prevent arbitrary arrests that violate human and civil rights.

   International rights groups have criticized Vietnam for using vaguely
   worded national security laws to silence and imprison critics of the
   government.

   Hundreds of Vietnamese bloggers have launched a campaign, calling for
   reform of some articles of the penal code, which rights advocates say
   often are used to punish freedom of speech.

   In response, Hanoi said it only jails those who violate the laws.
   Vietnam released more than 10,000 convicts in a mass amnesty to mark
   National Day early this month, though no political prisoners were
   pardoned.

   Despite improved ties between Hanoi and Washington, U.S. officials say
   they continue to raise the issue of human rights with Vietnamese
   officials.

   In June, the State Department released its annual human rights report.
   It cited Vietnam for problems including "severe restrictions on
   citizens' political rights," as well as police attacks and arbitrary
   arrests and detentions.

   "Progress on human rights and the rule of law will provide the
   foundation for a deeper and more sustainable partnership between the
   United States and Vietnam," said Kerry during a visit to Vietnam in
   August.

   This report was produced in collaboration with the VOA Vietnamese
   service.

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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/journalists-human-rights-activists-welcome-/2972528.html