For those who have known me through the years or follow my blog know that I have been pretty involved in the Vietnamese community ever since college. I have worked tirelessly for causes that I personally believe in, to shape the Vietnamese youth community and impact the democracy movement in Vietnam. What most people don’t know until recently though, is that I have been a member of the Viet Tan Party for the past four, almost five years, and I have only recently come out publicly. In contrast to the negative press the Vietnamese government has been smearing about Viet Tan, I can attest that Viet Tan is an organization that tries to establish democracy through peaceful means. Having closely worked with Viet Tan members from around the world, I can only say that I am humbled by the work that my fellow activists are doing. The leaders that I have met, the visions that they have, the work that they do, that sacrifices they have done, are all things that continue to inspire me to do the work that I do. It’s hard to describe in words the immense admiration I have for the individuals in this organization (even before I joined Viet Tan and found out that they are actually members as well), and it is with great pride that I take part in this organization—long before we even went public.
It is therefore with great disturbance and worry that I found out that three members of Viet Tan, American citizens Dr. Nguyen Quoc Quan, and Mr Truong Van Ba and French citizen and journalist Ms Nguyen Thi Thanh Van have been arrested and detained in Saigon, last Saturday, November 17th 2007 along with Vietnamese citizens Nguyen The Vu, Nguyen Trong Khiem, Nguyen Viet Trung and Thai citizen Somsak Khunmi. Their crime? Meeting in Saigon to discuss peaceful means to promote democracy in Vietnam.
I work, meet and see these three VT members all the time—in fact, Mr. Ba has been gracious enough to host us in Hawaii on my last family trip there. Their arrest and Vietnam’s ignorance of the rule of the law and dignity is something that disappoints, but not surprises me. The arrests of all individuals were not officially confirmed by the Vietnamese government until almost a week later. What’s troubling is that the Nguyen The Vu, Nguyen Trong Khiem and Nguyen Viet Trung brothers are all my age (except for 18-year old Khiem). If I have not made it on that fisherman boat in 1979, would I find myself behind bars for promoting democracy--that is for simply being the person that I am? Fortunately, the arrest has been widely covered by the Western press including the BBC and TIME Magazine, and many organizations including Human Rights Watch, Reporters without Borders as well as key Western governments are condemning these violations of human rights and are stepping up to ask for an immediate release. Unfortunately, the Vietnamese government is starting its own smear campaign of fabricating stories of Viet Tan members smuggling firearms into the country for terrorism purposes, and it’s sickening to see that despite the advent of the internet, a regime controlling all media in the country can still portrait a picture of their liking regardless of any relevance for truth.
What can you do?
I am glad you ask, because there’s plenty that you can do:
- Please spread the word about this incident. It’s when incidents like these are reported, broadcasted and inquired about, when the Vietnamese government can’t so easily make these innocent people “disappear”
- Sign the petition on www.freethemnow.net and ask your contacts to sign them. We are already in contact with the different US, Thai and French embassies, and a massive support from the Vietnamese overseas community would help bring urgency to this issue
- Call your local government representative to ask this issue to be discussed and raised. It’s easy as going to congress.org, typing in your zip code, calling your representative and asking this issue to be put on the table--something to the sort of “I am ___ residing in ___ with zip code ___ and I am deeply concerned about the arrests of US citizens Dr Nguyen Quoc Quan, Mr Truong Van Ba in Vietnam. As your constituent I request this issue to be raised in Congress and appreciate your support in expediting their release. Thank you.”
All I ask of you are these three simple steps. It only takes a few minutes, and this is the least that we can do. It has now been more than 11 days since the arrest with no word of release. There are lot more things that we can do, so keep an eye on www.freethemnow.net. Until I can rejoice to see my friends again, we have to do everything we can for them and not turn a blind eye, because it’s by sheer turn of luck that we find ourselves here safe and sound, while they find themselves behind bars and cut off from access to society. Should we not do what they would have done for us, if it was us who would be in Vietnam at this moment? Your call… and don’t disappoint me.