Father
Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, a Vietnamese Roman Catholic priest received
a sentence of 15 years imprisonment and 5 years house arrest for allegedly
undermining state unity and violating a previously issued detention
order by providing testimony to the United States Commission on International
Religious Freedom. Father Ly was put in prison since May of
2001 and was never been given access to an attorney.
Father Ly was formally invited to testify before the Commission on
International Religious Freedom but could not attend personally because
he was denied permission to leave Vietnam. Instead he submitted written
testimony
on February 13, 2001, which urged the United States to place pressure
on Vietnam and to reject a U.S.-Vietnamese trade pact as a result
of ongoing human rights abuses in Vietnam.
On February 26, 2001, in response to Father Ly's testimony, the Government
issued an order for the administrative detention of Father Ly in which
the Government alleged that Father Ly "committed actions in violation
of the laws and harmful to the national security." On March
5, 2001, the Government publicly stated that it had placed Father
Ly under administrative detention for "slandering" the Communist
party and "distorting" the Government's policy on religion.
Also in March, the Government banned him from operating his church.
In May
2001, a large number of policemen, possibly up to 600, surrounded
and then stormed An Truyen church to arrest Father Ly. After
the arrest, Father Ly was denied access to legal counsel. On
October 19, 2001, the Thua Thien Hue Provincial People's Court convicted
Father Ly after a two-hour, closed trial. Father Ly was sentenced
to two years in prison for violating the terms of his administrative
detention, thirteen years in prison for "damaging the Government's
unity policy," and five years of administrative probation upon
release from prison.
Vietnamese human rights organizations reported that Father Ly is being
held in a small, isolated cell at a hard labor camp in the Nam Ha
province. Furthermore, the Government denied Father Ly contact with
other prisoners and the Government prohibited guards from speaking
with him. The Government severely limited time provided to Father
Ly outside his cell, generally denied him the use of pen and paper,
except for allowing a monthly correspondence, and refused to give
him items brought to him in prison, including Christian books and
some food items.
This is not Father Ly's first brush with the Government of Vietnam.
Since 1977, the Government of Vietnam has repeatedly arrested, harassed,
and jailed Father Ly for his advocacy of religious freedom.
In August 1982 Father Ly organized a pilgrimage to La Vang, a site
holy to the Vietnamese Catholics dating back to 1800, despite having
been denied permission by the Government. Soon after, in November
of 1982, he was charged with leading the illegal pilgrimage and the
Government order him expelled from his Doc So parish. Father Ly refused
insisting he would only leave if the Roman Catholic leadership asked
him to. This incident culminated in the police surrounding his
parish and attempting to physically remove him. Father Ly used a voice
amplifier and instructed the citizens to demand religious freedom.
He remained within the parish until hundreds of police were used to
arrest him. As a result of his actions he was sentenced to 10
years imprisonment.
Father Ly remained in prison until the end of his sentence in July
1992. Upon his release, Father Ly was banned from conducting religious
activities and was placed under governmental surveillance. Since
his release, Father Ly has continued to voice dissent and champion
the call for full realization of human rights in Vietnam. For
example, in 1994 he released a "10-Point Statement of the State
of the Catholic Church in Hue Diocese," which is critical of
the Government.
On
September 25, 2003, Freedom Now filed a Petition
to the United Nations Human Rights Commission Working Group on Arbitrary
Detention. This Petition called for the immediate release of Father
Ly. It also calls for a new trial to be conducted in accordance with
the internationally-recognized rights and freedoms embodied in the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other international
human rights instruments. Later, Freedom Now received the Reply
of the Government of Vietnam and submitted a Response
to the Reply.
On
February 12, 2004, Senator Sam Brownback convened a hearing
in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Subcommittee on East
Asian and Pacific Affairs on U.S.-Vietnamese Relations. Senator
Brownback, Ambassador for Religious Freedom John Hanford, and Georgetown
University Law Professor Viet Dinh all spoke extensively about Father
Ly's case.
On March 4, 2004, Freedom Now hosted a press
conference with Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), Rep. Christopher
Smith (R-NJ), Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), and Nina Shea, Vice Chair
of the U.S. International Religious Freedom Commission, to announce
the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued Opinion
No. 20/2003 in Father Ly's case holding that he was being held
in violation of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights and Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights.
In
addition, the participants in the press conference also announced
the simultaneous filing resolutions, H.
Con. Res. 378 in the House, and S.
Res. 311 in the Senate, calling for Father Ly's release.
See, e.g., U.S. Lawmakers
Call for Release of Imprisoned Vietnamese Priest , by Stephen
Steele, Catholic News Service , March 8, 2004.

From L to R, Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS), Jared Genser (Freedom Now),
Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), Nina Shea (U.S. Commission on International
Religious Freedom), and Rep. Christopher Smith (R-NJ).
On March
31, 2004, the House International Relations Committee unanimously
passed H.Con.Res. 378. On May 11, 2004, the resolution, by now
co-sponsored by 107 Members
of Congress, was debated
in the House of Representatives and passed the Congress on a
roll call vote of 424-1. See, e.g.,
House Urges Vietnam to Release
Priest, Associated Press, May 13, 2004.
On November
18, 2004, Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, Archbishop of Washington,
wrote a letter to the President
of Vietnam urging Father Ly's release.
On
January 31, 2005, the Government of Vietnam announced it would release
Father Ly from prison and he walked free a short time later.
See, e.g., Vietnam
Release Two High Profile Dissidents From Jail in Lunar New Year Amnesty,
Associated Press.
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