Engnews October 2013

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RFA BREAKING NEWS: Vietnamese Blogger Released After Night of Questioning

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Vietnamese Blogger Released After Night of Questioning OCT. 31, 2013— An outspoken Vietnamese blogger said he was released Thursday after being held by police on his return home following a six-month trip abroad and questioned about his activities aimed at challenging his country’s strict media controls. Nguyen Lan Thang, who began blogging for RFA’s Vietnamese Service last month, was detained at Hanoi’s Noi Bai airport Wednesday night after returning from trips to Thailand, the Philippines, and Europe, where he met with U.N. human rights officials and with media and advocacy groups. Police freed the blogger on Thursday afternoon after interrogating him overnight, friends said. “I’m fine now, though I had a very tiring night last night,” Thang told RFA’s Vietnamese Service Thursday by phone. He said the Vietnamese authorities were particularly interested in his campaign for the abolition of Article 258, a provision in Vietnam’s penal code that has been used to jail dissidents, and about his training stint in the Philippines. “[The police] wanted to know about my activities related to Declaration 258 and the civil society class operated by Asian Bridge,” a Manila-based human rights and civil society organization, Thang said. Police on his trail Thang said that police have frequently followed him in the past. In an apparent rebuke to state authorities later posted to his Facebook page, Thang “apologized” for the resources taken up by his detention and questioning. “I have used too much of our people’s tax money since yesterday,” he said. Thang, who lives in Hanoi with his wife, was among a group of Vietnamese bloggers who met with U.N. human rights officials in Bangkok in July to report on rights violations in their home country. The group presented officials with a petition, titled Declaration 258, which calls for the removal from Vietnam’s penal code of Article 258, which prohibits “abusing democratic freedoms” and has been used to jail dissidents. Following the Bangkok talks, Thang went to Manila with a dozen other young activists for a training stint with Asian Bridge Philippines and then to a conference in Dublin, Ireland, before returning to the Thai capital for other meetings. 'Learned a lot' Thang said that he had “learned a lot” from the two-week training program in Manila and from his other talks held abroad, adding, “I will definitely write about that.” “There are many things I did not know before my trip. Now, I have learned many things about the operation of foreign organizations.” “Activities in civil society stem from the demands of the people,” Thang said, adding, “Through many aspects of these activities in different places, people gradually come to know their rights and roles, and their demands will be met.” “This is why the spread of such activities is irreversible, and will not be stopped by arrests or jail sentences,” he said. Family support Many of Thang’s family members, some of whom “hold important positions in society,” now support him in his work, he said. “At the beginning, many of them worried about my activities, but gradually they came to understand and support me because of the transparency in what I do.” “Freedom of expression is one of the most important human rights,” Thang said in a video sent to RFA last month. “If it is restricted, social development will be distorted because there will be no one to give feedback on public policies.” Thang has published two blog posts for RFA so far. More than 40 Vietnamese bloggers and activists have been imprisoned so far this year, rights groups say, with many jailed under vaguely worded security provisions. Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders ranks Vietnam 172nd out of 179 countries on its press freedom index and lists the country as an “Enemy of the Internet.” Reported by Mac Lam for RFA’s Vietnamese Service. Written in English by Richard Finney. View this story online at: <http://www.rfa.org/english/news/vietnam/released-10312013165407.html> http://www.rfa.org/english/news/vietnam/released-10312013165407.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org> engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org> engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

10 years, 10 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS: Vietnamese Blogger Held on Return from Trip Abroad

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Vietnamese Blogger Held on Return from Trip Abroad OCT. 30, 2013— An outspoken Vietnamese blogger has been detained at Hanoi’s Noi Bai airport upon his return from a three-month trip to the Philippines and Thailand, where he had met with U.N. human rights officials and advocacy and media groups, friends and fellow bloggers said Wednesday. Nguyen Lan Thang, who began blogging for RFA’s Vietnamese Service last month, told friends by telephone that he had been taken into custody Wednesday night Vietnamese time upon arrival from the Thai capital Bangkok, they said. A day before, he had posted on Facebook a brief video message indicating he expected to be arrested. “Hello my friends! When you see this video, it is certain I have been arrested by the security forces,” he said in the clip. “But don't worry, I will come home to be with you all soon,” said Thang, a fierce critic of Vietnam’s strict media controls. Whereabouts unknown Some 30 friends and fellow bloggers had been waiting for Thang at the airport, fellow blogger La Viet Dung said. “Thang had told us to come pick him up. At 8:15 p.m., he called us to let us know that he was detained,” Dung told RFA’s Vietnamese Service. Airport authorities, including immigration officials they were referred to, refused to tell them of Thang’s whereabouts or why he was being held, he said. “Now we don’t know where Thang is.” Meeting with right officials Thang lives in Hanoi with his wife, who is due to have the couple’s first child in a few months. He had been among a group of Vietnamese bloggers who met with U.N. human rights officials in Bangkok in July to report on rights violations in their home country. The group had presented the officials with a petition, known as Declaration 258, that called for a U.N. Human Rights Council review of Vietnam's treatment of activists and for the elimination of Article 258 of the country's penal code, which prohibits "abusing democratic freedoms" and has been used to jail dissidents. Bloggers Phuong Dung and Thao Chi, who also took part in the July meeting, were briefly detained on their return from Bangkok to Vietnam on August 5, sources said. Philippines trip Following the Bangkok talks, Thang went to Manila with a dozen other young activists for a training stint with a civil society organization in the Philippines before returning to the Thai capital for other meetings. His colleagues who attended the two-week 2013 Civil Society study program with rights organization Asian Bridge Philippines in Manila were held by the authorities for about a day on their return home amid suspicion in Hanoi that they might be involved in anti-government activities, according to friends and family. Asian Bridge Philippines slammed the Vietnamese government for the action, calling on Hanoi to respect the “basic rights” of all Vietnamese “to freely travel and learn about the development of civil society in other nations in the region.” The group said that as part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc of 10 nations, Vietnam should “encourage their citizens to learn about other nations’ history and society, instead of instilling fear, so that the mission of ASEAN can be soon achieved.” Aside from Vietnam, ASEAN comprises Laos, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Video message In a video Thang sent to RFA last month, he spoke out against limits Vietnamese authorities place on social media, describing controls placed on those who expose politically sensitive issues such as land grabs and corruption in the one-party communist state. “The social media network is an important tool for me to express my views. At the same time, it has gotten me and those who share my views in trouble,” he said in the video. “Freedom of expression is one of the most important human rights. If it is restricted, social development will be distorted because there is no one to give feedback on public policies.” Thang has published two blog posts for RFA so far. More than 40 Vietnamese bloggers and activists have been imprisoned so far this year, rights groups say, many of them imprisoned under vaguely worded security provisions. Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders ranks Vietnam 172nd out of 179 countries on its press freedom index and lists the country as an “Enemy of the Internet.” Reported by RFA’s Vietnamese Service. Written in English by Rachel Vandenbrink. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/vietnam/nguyen-lan-thang-10302013153752.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

10 years, 10 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS: Four Tibetans Shot Dead as Protests Spread in Driru County

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Four Tibetans Shot Dead as Protests Spread in Driru County OCT. 11, 2013— Chinese security forces have shot dead four Tibetan villagers and wounded 50 others in a continuing crackdown on protests in a Tibetan county opposing a government campaign of forced displays of loyalty to the Chinese state, sources said. The shooting deaths in Driru (in Chinese, Biru) county in the Tibet Autonomous Region’s Nagchu (Naqu) prefecture on Tuesday were the first reported fatalities since the authorities began a crackdown last month on Tibetans protesting against orders to fly the Chinese flag from their homes, the sources said, citing the tight security situation for the delay in transmitting the news. Last Sunday, security forces shot and wounded at least 60 Tibetans as they fired into a crowd demanding the release of a villager who had led protests against the Chinese orders. The latest shooting occurred as Chinese paramilitary police flooded the county to suppress the unrest. “On Tuesday morning, three Tibetans from Sengthang village and one Tibetan from Tinring village were killed when the Chinese opened fire on protesters,” a Tibetan source in exile told RFA’s Tibetan Service on Friday, citing sources in the region. “Around fifty Tibetans from Yangthang village were also injured,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Additional paramilitary forces have been sent to Driru from [the Tibetan capital] Lhasa and from Nagchu, and some have also been sent from the Karmo region,” he said. “Driru is now flooded with Chinese paramilitary police, and Tibetans are being stopped from traveling with no reason given.” Many detained Separately, a Driru resident confirmed the deaths of those killed in Sengthang, also speaking on condition of anonymity. “Today, I learned that three Tibetans were killed in the area of Sengthang,” he said. “I was also told that many Tibetans from Driru who now live in Lhasa are being detained.” The names of those killed in the shooting were not immediately available. Speaking from exile, a Tibetan with contacts in Driru said that Chinese police are confiscating the mobile phones of Lhasa residents with contacts in the county. “Some contacts told me that if no messages are received, I should assume they have been detained by the police,” the source, named Tashi Gyaltsen, said. 'Better to die' Many said that even if they are detained or killed, “it is better to die than to live under these conditions,” Gyaltsen said. “They say that now they cannot move from place to place, and are prisoners in their own homes.” On Sept. 3, an elderly Tibetan was detained and severely beaten for shouting slogans for Tibetan freedom at a Driru cultural show where Tibetans were required to wave Chinese flags, triggering protests. Dayang, 68, who is recovering in hospital with internal injuries resulting from alleged police torture, has been ordered jailed for two-and-a-half years. Sporadic demonstrations challenging Beijing’s rule have continued in Tibetan-populated areas of China since widespread protests swept the region in 2008. A total of 122 Tibetans have also set themselves ablaze in self-immolation protests calling for Tibetan freedom, with another six setting fire to themselves in India and Nepal. Reported by RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Richard Finney. View this story online at:http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/shoot-10112013200735.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

10 years, 11 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS: Chinese Police Fire on Unarmed Tibetan Protesters in Driru

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Chinese Police Fire on Unarmed Tibetan Protesters in Driru OCT. 7, 2013— Chinese security forces shot and wounded at least 60 Tibetans as they fired into a crowd demanding the release of a villager who had led protests against orders to fly the Chinese flag from their homes, according to sources Monday. The incident Sunday in the Tibet Autonomous Region’s Driru (in Chinese, Biru) county of Nagchu (Naqu) prefecture was sparked when a crowd gathered to confront police attempting to search the home of Dorje Draktsel, who was detained last week after taking part in local protests, the sources said. At least 60 were wounded when the Chinese troops opened fire, with many of those hurt suffering gunshots to their hands and legs and others knocked unconscious when police fired tear gas into the crowd, they said. Many of the injured have still not received medical care, according to the sources. Tagged as a leader Draktsel, a resident of the township’s Yangthang village, had been tagged by authorities as one of the leaders of the protest by Driru-area Tibetans resisting orders to fly the Chinese flag from their homes. “He had escaped from Dathang township and was going to Driru town when he was taken into custody,” a Tibetan living in exile Tashi Dondrub told RFA’s Tibetan Service, citing contacts in the region. After Draktsel was detained, “[Chinese] armed police went to search his home, and when the villagers protested, more armed police arrived and fired into the crowd,” Dondrub said. At least two of the protesters were critically wounded. One of them, Tashi Gyaltsen, was sent to a hospital in the regional capital Lhasa, a local source in Driru said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “An elderly woman was also hit by gunfire and is now in critical condition,” an India-based exile source named Tenzin told RFA’s Mandarin Service on Monday, also citing sources in the area. “Other Tibetans suffered gunshots to their hands or legs, and many were knocked unconscious when police fired tear gas into the crowd,” Tenzin said. Brutally beaten Another protester—Tsering Gyaltsen, 25—was earlier detained and brutally beaten after being identified as a ringleader of last week’s protest against forced displays of loyalty to the Chinese state, Tenzin said. “He was rushed to a hospital in Lhasa on Oct. 5,” he said, adding, “Now his condition is very worrisome, but doctors refuse to provide details.” Because of “extremely strict” controls on information channels, it is impossible to obtain photos of those wounded in Sunday’s shooting, Tenzin said. “Chinese authorities have dispatched more than 200 paramilitary and police vehicles to villages [in Driru], setting up checkpoints on all the major roads,” he said. “They have confiscated Tibetans’ cell phones and blocked communications by phone and the Internet. Now people have to bring their ID cards even when they go out to shop, and police are taking away all Tibetans who cannot show their ID.” Driru-area Tibetans now living in Lhasa have been forbidden to return to their hometowns, a local source added. Sporadic demonstrations challenging Beijing’s rule have continued in Tibetan-populated areas of China since widespread protests swept the region in 2008. A total of 122 Tibetans have also set themselves ablaze in self-immolation protests calling for Tibetan freedom, with another six Tibetans setting fire to themselves in India and Nepal. Reported by RFA’s Tibetan Service and Dan Zhen for the Mandarin Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee and Ping Chen. Written in English by Richard Finney. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/unarmed-10072013172339.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

10 years, 11 months

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Engnews October 2013