Tạ Phong Tần

Tạ Phong Tần
Born 1968
Vĩnh Lợi District, Bạc Liêu Province, Vietnam
Occupation Police officer, freelance journalist
Organization Free Journalists' Club
Known for Dissident blogging
Relatives Dang Thi Kim Lieng (mother)
Awards International Women of Courage Award (2013)

Tạ Phong Tần (born 1968 in Vĩnh Lợi District, Bạc Liêu Province[1][2]) is a Vietnamese dissident blogger. A former policewoman and a member of the Communist Party of Vietnam, she was arrested in September 2011 on anti-state propaganda charges for her blog posts alleging government corruption.[3][4] On 30 July, Ta Phong Tan's mother Dang Thi Kim Lieng immolated herself in front of the government offices in Bạc Liêu Province in protest of the charges against her daughter.[5] On 4 October 2012, Ta Phong Tan was sentenced to ten years in prison. Her arrest was protested by groups including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the US State Department, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch.

Blogging

When she began to blog, Ta Phong Tan worked as a policewoman.[6] In 2004, she became a freelance journalist.[7] Two years later, she started a blog titled Cong Ly va Su That ("Justice and Truth"), which became popular for its reports on police abuses.[3][5][7] Because of these reports and the criticism on the web about the policies of the Communist Party of Vietnam, she was expelled from the Party and lost her job in 2006.[1][6]

She was arrested in September 2011 along with fellow dissident bloggers Nguyen Van Hai and Phan Thanh Hai, all of whom had posted through the "Free Vietnamese Journalists' Club". The three were charged with writing anti-state propaganda.[3] The charges carried a maximum sentence of twenty years' imprisonment.[4] The Economist described the arrests as "the latest in a series of attempts by Vietnam's communist rulers to rein in the country's blossoming internet population."[8]

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights criticized the arrests, stating its concern for "what appears to be increasingly limited space for freedom of expression in Viet Nam".[9] In a July 2012 visit to Hanoi, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed concern for the detention of the three members of the Free Vietnamese Journalists' Club.[3] Amnesty International described the three as prisoners of conscience and urged their release.[10] The International Federation for Human Rights and World Organisation Against Torture also released a joint statement calling on the Vietnamese government to release the three bloggers unconditionally.[11]

Mother's self-immolation

On the morning of 30 July 2012, Ta Phong Tan's 64-year-old mother, Dang Thi Kim Lieng, set herself on fire outside the Bac Lieu People's Committee in protest of her daughter's detention, one week before Tan's trial was set to begin.[12][13] Lieng died of her burns en route to the hospital. The death was the first reported self-immolation in Vietnam since the 1970s.[13]

Vietnamese state media did not acknowledge the death for several days before stating that it would investigated.[13] An indefinite postponement was announced in Tan's trial.[14]

The US Embassy in Vietnam stated that it was "concerned and saddened" by the news, and reiterated its calls for the bloggers' release.[12] The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists called Lieng's death "a shocking reminder that Vietnam's campaign against bloggers and journalists exacts an unbearable emotional toll on the individuals involved."[15] Human Rights Watch called on the international community to address the underlying human rights situation, stating, "This is not just a tragedy for one family. This is a tragedy for the whole country."[2]

A large number of mourners journeyed to Lieng's home to pay respects in the week following her death, though many were reportedly intercepted on the roads by state security forces. The government also placed Lieng's mourners under surveillance by plainclothes police officers.[16]

Sentence

On 4 October 2012, Ta Phong Tan was sentenced to ten years in prison in a one-day hearing that The Economist compared to a Soviet Union show trial.[17] Prosecutors stated that the three had "distorted the truth about State and Party, created anxiety among citizens and supported schemes to overthrow the government", and the court found that they were "seriously affecting national security and the image of the country in the global arena."[17] Phan Thanh Hai, who had pled guilty, was sentenced to four years' imprisonment, and Nguyen Van Hai to twelve years.[17] The sentences were upheld by an appeals court on 28 December 2012.[18]

Awards

In December 2012, Ta Phong Tan was one of 41 people to win a Hellman/Hammett award from Human Rights Watch, which recognizes writers suffering from political persecution. [19] In 2013, she was named a winner of the International Women of Courage Award of the US State Department.[20] In the ceremony on International Women's Day, US Secretary of State John Kerry said of her, "For her dedication to continually demanding a better government for her people, for her willingness to take risks for her beliefs, and for her life experience and skills as a writer that serve as an inspiration to women in Vietnam, Ta Phong Tan is a 2013 woman of courage."[21]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Tạ Phong Tần - Người đàn bà và trang blog độc hại". CAND. 2010-07-15.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Cat Barton (30 July 2012). "Vietnam blogger's mother 'dies in self-immolation'". Google News. Agence France-Presse. Archived from the original on 14 August 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Vietnamese blogger's mother sets herself on fire as daughter faces trial". The Guardian. Associated Press. 31 July 2012. Archived from the original on 14 August 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Vietnamese bloggers deny charges, third in leniency bid". BBC News. 16 April 2012. Archived from the original on 14 August 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Mother of Vietnamese blogger 'burns herself to death'". BBC News. 30 July 2012. Archived from the original on 14 August 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Ngoại trưởng Mỹ tặng giải bà Tạ Phong Tần". BBC. 7 March 2013.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Michael Lipin (30 July 2012). "Mother of Detained Vietnamese Blogger Self-Immolates". Voice of America. Archived from the original on 14 August 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  8. ↑ "An odd online relationship". The Economist. 9 August 2012. Archived from the original on 14 August 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  9. ↑ "UN concerned at shrinking space for freedom of expression in Viet Nam". United Nations. 3 August 2012. Archived from the original on 14 August 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  10. ↑ "Viet Nam: Halt crackdown on freedom of expression". Amnesty International. 7 August 2012. Archived from the original on 14 August 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  11. ↑ "Viet Nam: Pro-democracy bloggers face harsh penalties in upcoming trial". World Organization Against Torture. 14 August 2012. Archived from the original on 14 August 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Vietnam blogger's mom self-immolates before trial". Kansas City Star. Associated Press. 31 July 2012. Archived from the original on 14 August 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Kamila Shamsie (5 August 2012). "Vietnam's blog shame". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 14 August 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  14. ↑ "Vietnam Probes Self-Immolation of Blogger's Mother". ABC News. Associated Press. 3 August 2012. Archived from the original on 14 August 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  15. ↑ "Imprisoned blogger's mother self-immolates in Vietnam". Committee to Protect Journalists. 30 July 2012. Archived from the original on 14 August 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  16. ↑ Khanh An (2 August 2012). "Authorities Watch Mourners". Radio Free Asia. Archived from the original on 14 August 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 L.H. (4 October 2012). "Bloggers flogged". The Economist. Archived from the original on 30 October 2012. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
  18. ↑ "Court appeal of dissident Vietnam bloggers is rejected". BBC News. 28 December 2012. Archived from the original on 2 January 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
  19. ↑ "Vietnamese Bloggers Recognized for Commitment to Rights: 5 Win Prestigious Hellman/Hammett Awards". States News Service  – via HighBeam Research (subscription required) . 20 December 2012. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  20. ↑ Rachel Vandenbrink (8 March 2013). "Jailed Vietnamese Blogger Named 'Woman of Courage'". Radio Free Asia. Archived from the original on 9 March 2013. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
  21. ↑ "Remarks at the International Women of Courage Awards". US Department of State. 8 March 2013. Archived from the original on 9 March 2013. Retrieved 9 March 2013.