Vietnam is facing mounting condemnation and calls to release two human rights activists – an Australian and a Norwegian – who were reportedly abducted in Cambodia and taken to Ho Chi Minh City, where they face terrorism-related charges. Source: UCA News.
Australian Hiep Tran and Norwegian Duc Thuan Nguyen are both ethnic Vietnamese and have received consular assistance. Independent sources said the diplomats were told they were kidnapped in mid-September by masked men after meeting human rights activists in Cambodia.
Cambodia has denied any knowledge of the kidnapping and the source, who is close to international investigations, said: “That may be true, but clearly the Vietnamese who carried this out were enabled to cross the border and transport both back without interference.”
In a report, partially released by the pro-democracy group Viet Tan, Mr Tran told Australian consular officials on October 15-16 that he and Thuan had not tried to enter Vietnam illegally from Cambodia as claimed by Vietnamese authorities.
“Hiep is observed as looking neat, tidy, and physically healthy,” Viet Tan said. “Hiep stated that he was not mentally well. He added that he remained terrified and traumatised from being attacked and kidnapped in Cambodia.”
In another note sent to family members, he said: “I want you to know that I never entered Vietnam on my own. I never crossed the border. I am struggling mentally – traumatised and terrified by the situation.”
Their plight has garnered intense international scrutiny by civil society groups led by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, while prayer services have also been held by the Vietnamese diaspora for both men, who are Catholic, and a third, Thai Cong Truong Son.
Mr Son is a Vietnamese citizen, and all three are members of Viet Tan, which has been outlawed in Vietnam as a terrorist organisation. They have been incarcerated at B34 prison in Ho Chi Minh City.
“The enforced disappearance of two foreign citizens on Cambodian soil is a brazen act of transnational repression,” a group of 29 civil society groups, including Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture, Freedom House and the World Liberty Congress, said.
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Vietnam under pressure to free Australian, Norwegian activists (By Luke Hunt, UCA News)
