Australian Activist Held as Political Prisoner in Vietnam, Wife Says
Democracy advocate Tran Hiep is detained in Ho Chi Minh City after disappearing for 11 days, according to consular correspondence.
An Australian human rights advocate, Tran Hiep, is being held in a notorious detention center for political prisoners in Vietnam after he went missing for 11 days, his wife Chloe Dang confirmed.
Hiep, 51, is jailed at the B34 Detention Centre of the Ministry of Public Security in Ho Chi Minh City. Consular correspondence sent to Dang on Thursday indicated that Hiep is in good health and being detained in accordance with local regulations. Dang, who has returned to Melbourne, expressed relief at knowing her husband's location but remains concerned for his safety.
"The Vietnamese government has stated he is in good condition, but I cannot stop worrying until he is able to meet with Australian consular officials," Dang said. "We still don't know when they can visit him." Hiep spent his 51st birthday on Wednesday in detention.
Hiep was scheduled to meet his wife at Bangkok's airport after traveling to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to meet with human rights defenders. He was last heard from on September 18, and he never boarded his flight. Vietnamese authorities announced on September 29 that Hiep, also known as Ho Pham Hiep Huy, had been arrested along with two other activists but did not disclose their whereabouts.
According to a statement from the pro-democracy group Viet Tan, Hiep and another activist, Vietnamese-Norwegian Nguyen Duc Thuan, were allegedly kidnapped by Vietnamese authorities. Viet Tan stated that Hiep founded the Australian Alliance to Combat Human Trafficking and was in Cambodia to meet with dissident Vietnamese activists for training.
The Ministry of Public Security stated that the three individuals were arrested on September 18 while allegedly attempting to cross illegally from Cambodia into Vietnam. The ministry claims they admitted to being members of Viet Tan, which Vietnam designates as a proscribed terrorist organization. The men are accused of entering the country to engage in "terrorist and sabotage activities" and of forging official documents.
A United Nations human rights report has described the conditions at the temporary detention facility as decrepit, noting windowless cells and a lack of ventilation.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has declined to comment on individual cases due to privacy considerations.