Solar Energy News
SUPERPOWERS
UN experts voice concern for hunger striking activist in Vietnam
UN experts voice concern for hunger striking activist in Vietnam
by AFP Staff Writers
Geneva (AFP) Feb 14, 2024

UN experts voiced concern Wednesday for the safety of a jailed Vietnamese activist, who has launched a hunger strike over his detention conditions, urging Hanoi to stop convicting and mistreating rights defenders.

In a statement, 10 independent United Nations rights experts highlighted the situation of lawyer and environmental rights defender Dang Dinh Bach, who they said had just launched his third hunger strike in detention.

"We are extremely concerned about the safety and well-being of... Mr Bach. On top of discrimination and differentiated treatment in detention, there are reports that Mr Bach was being attacked and beaten up in custody," the experts said.

Bach, who worked to inform people whose health and livelihoods were threatened by coal projects and other polluting industries, was arrested in June 2021, and was sentenced to five years in prison for tax evasion.

"We express our strong concern about the chilling effect that the mistreatment and deprivation of liberty of Mr Bach have on the fundamental freedoms of peaceful assembly and of expression in Vietnam," said the experts.

The experts, who are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council but do not speak on behalf of the United Nations, pointed out that Bach was being held eight hours away from his family, on whom he depended for food, as per his vegetarian diet.

Held in a wing of the Prison No. 6 in Nghe An province reserved for political prisoners, he has been deprived of supplies like books and hygiene items, and denied access to hot water and traditional medicines, they said.

Communication and visits from his family and his lawyer were also restricted, said the experts, who included the UN special rapporteurs on the situation of rights defenders and on freedom of expression, as well as members of the UN working group on arbitrary detention.

They pointed out that the working group concluded last year that Bach's detention was unlawful.

And they highlighted that he was held incommunicado during his pre-trial detention and following his sentencing, prosecuted in a closed trial and not permitted adequate access to his lawyer.

"Mr Bach should not have to embark on a hunger strike to demand strict enforcement of laws and dignified prison conditions," the experts said, urging Vietnamese authorities to "stop mistreating" him.

"Deprivation of liberty and mistreatment in prison should not be used as a tool by the Vietnamese government to silence human right defenders and civil society members working on sensitive issues," they said.

Related Links
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
SUPERPOWERS
Meeting NATO, Blinken warns Ukraine gains in doubt if no US aid
Washington (AFP) Jan 29, 2024
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Monday that Ukraine's gains over two years of fighting were all in doubt without new US funding, as NATO's chief visited to lobby Congress. Tens of billions of dollars in US aid has been sent to Ukraine since the invasion in February 2022, but Republican lawmakers have grown reluctant to keep supporting Kyiv, saying it lacks a clear end game as the fighting against President Vladimir Putin's forces grinds on. As NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg ... read more

SUPERPOWERS
Greenhouse gas repurposed in University of Auckland experiments

Inexpensive, carbon-neutral biofuels are finally possible

Watching the enzymes that convert plant fiber into simple sugars

Microbial division of labor produces higher biofuel yields

SUPERPOWERS
NASA to Demonstrate Autonomous Navigation System on Moon

Beyond The Off Button: The Uncontrollable Nature of AI Explored

Darting around with a tiny brain

'Better than a real man': young Chinese women turn to AI boyfriends

SUPERPOWERS
Leaf-shaped generators create electricity from the wind and rain

European offshore wind enjoys record year in 2023

Danish firm to build huge wind farm off UK

UK unveils massive news windfarm investment by UAE, German firms

SUPERPOWERS
Japan's electric vehicle transition by 2035 may be insufficient to combat the climate crisis, but there are solutions

Volkswagen cars blocked by US customs

Chinese EV giant BYD expects record net profit for 2023

California vandals light self-driving taxi on fire

SUPERPOWERS
Rwanda signs lithium deal with Rio Tinto

Innovative use of femtosecond lasers converts glass into semiconductor

Innovative control of fusion plasma achieved through digital twin technology

Innovative study reveals lithium-ion batteries' potential for hydrogen production

SUPERPOWERS
GE Vernova receives regulatory approval to manufacture higher enrichment fuel

EDF hails 10 billion euro profit, despite huge UK nuclear charge

Protesters press Ottawa to block nuclear waste site upriver

Ukraine to build 4 nuclear reactors as war hits power supply

SUPERPOWERS
Big firms with $7 tn exit climate investment pressure group

UK's opposition Labour Party ditches climate change pledge

EU bets on carbon capture to smooth bumpy green transition

EU eyes 90% cut to greenhouse gases by 2040

SUPERPOWERS
A century of reforestation helped keep the eastern US cool

Amazon rainforest may face tipping point by 2050: study

New mayor hopes trees will cool Athens down

China-funded nickel hub stoking deforestation on Indonesia island: report

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.