By Pei Hu
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

HAN NOI, Vietnam – On October 15th Hanoi People’s Court sentenced Nguyen Viet Chien, a journalist for a well-circulated newspaper, to two years in jail. In 2006, Chien was one of two journalists who reported on a corruption scandal in the Ministry of Transport.  The scandal resulted in the resignation of the minister and the arrest of several high-ranking officials.

Chien maintained his innocence in court.  He stated, “With my journalist conscience, I can say I never have any other purpose in mind when writing my reports but exposing wrongdoing and fighting corruption.”

Last May, Chien and another prominent newspaper journalist, Nguyen Van Hai, who also reported on government corruption, were arrested. They were accused of “abusing freedom and democratic rights.”

Hai pleaded guilty after a two day trail.  In order to receive a lighter sentence, he accepted that he made “professional accidents” in his reports. The court freed Hai for “co-operating with investigators and showing remorse.” However, the court and sentence Hai to re-education camps for two years.

During the trial, prosecutors focused on the reporters’ conduct.  According to a leaked indictment, the reporters’ stories had “serious consequences, negatively affecting the ideology, morale and psychology of the public at a sensitive point of time,” referencing the 10th Vietnamese Communist Party Congress in April 2006.

The indictment also asserted that Nguyen Viet Chien and Nguyen Van Hai “exploited their position as journalists to write sensitive, false information… Hostile forces took advantage to attack and distort the Party Congress, negatively affecting the preparation of the congress.”

The verdict of the two trials received condemnation from abroad. The US embassy in Hanoi called the verdicts “disappointing” and Reporters Without Borders called the sentences “a terrible step backwards.”

For more information, please see:

BBC – Vietnam Trial Tests Media Freedom – 14 October 2008

BBC – Vietnam Sends Journalist to Jail – 15 October 2008

BBC – Vietnamese Media Trial Condemned – 16 October 2008

International Herald Tribune – Vietnam Jails Journalists in Graft Reporting Trial– 15 October 2008

Reporters Without Borders – Newspaper Reporter’s Two Year Sentence Deals Severe Blow to Press Freedom – 15 October 2008

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – Local officials in North China hid a coal mine explosion that killed more than 30 miners three weeks before the Beijing Olympics, state media reported.  The accident occurred at 8:30 am on July 14th in Lijiawa Coal Mine of Yuxian county. Some explosives illegally stored in the pit blast off, killing more than 30 miners.  The investigation report indicated that after the mine disaster, the corpses were taken away and kept hidden in surrounding areas, where the grieving families were also taken to be paid off.  “Cash was used to keep them quiet as well as threats and other means, and the miners and their families were not allowed to reveal the facts to the outside,” said the report.  The investigation also showed that some township and county officials had collaborated with the mine owners to conceal the accident.

Chinese government has punished 25 Communist Party and government officials involved in covering up the mine accident.  Another 23 officials of various administrative departments were also under investigation.  Governor Hu Chunhua said the Hebei province has serious problems with work and food safety.  “This is a shocking case,” quoted governor Hu Chunhua.  He called on officials of all levels in the province to take a lesson from the vital safety accident.  Hebei is also home to Sanlu Dairy, company of the chemical-tainted milk powder that officials have blamed for killing four children and making many several thousands sick.

However, the investigation report did not explain why the deaths took so long to come to light. Some observers of Chinese politics said the cover-up appeared to be another instance of officials seeking to avoid recriminations before the Olympics, when they were under intense pressure to avoid accidents and protests.

A total of 3,786 coal miners died in gas blasts, flooding and other work accidents in China last year.  The Lijiawa blast was not the only recent disaster to involve suggestions of official concealment and neglect.

For more information, please see:

AFP – China probes cover-ups in mine accidents: state media – 08 October 2008

China Daily – 25 officials punished over mine accident cover-up – 07 October 2008

Reuters – China milk scandal province hid mine disaster – 08 October 2008

Xinhuan – Three officials ousted for coal mine accidents in N China – 08 October 2008

By Kristy Tridhavee
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Asia

ALMATY, Kazakhstan – In a recently released report by Freedom House, the organization condemns Kazakhstan for not making significant progress in meeting international standards for democracy and law.  Freedom House is a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization dedicated to democracy and freedom around the world.

Freedom House also stresses that the lack of progress by Kazakhstan undermines the European Human Right Watchdog, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).  Kazakhstan is scheduled to take over the chairmanship of OSCE in 2010.

President Nursultan Nazarbayev has been widely criticized for tolerating no political dissent.  In June, he promised to create a more democratic parliament, relax electoral laws, and make it easier for political parties to register.  President Nursultan Nazarbayev also pledged to amend laws that severely restrict press freedom.  However, few of these reforms will be completed by their promised end of 2008 deadline.

“Freedom House urges U.S. officials to stress that Kazakhstan must take its OSCE commitments seriously if it wants to maintain its current relationship with Washington,” said Jeffrey Goldstein, Freedom House’s senior program manager for Central Asia.  He continued, “Kazakhstani citizens deserve to be accorded the democratic freedoms their leaders have promised to provide, yet their government continues to impede basic rights, from freedom of speech to freedom of religion.”

For more information, please see:

Daily Telegram – Rights Group Slams Kazakhstan ‘Democracy’ – 1 October 2008

Freedom House – News Report: Kazakhstan Falls Short of OSCE Commitments – 30 September 2008

News Blaze – Kazakhstan Falls Short of OSCE – 30 September 2008