Đinh Thị Thu Thuỷ is a citizen of Viet Nam, usually residing in the city of Hậu Giang Province. Ms. Thuỷ is an environmental activist and an aquaculture engineer. She holds a master’s degree in aquatic pathology.
Activism
In June 2018, Ms. Thuỷ participated in a national demonstration against the adoption of the Law on Special Economic Zones and the Law on Cybersecurity. Following that event, she was temporarily arrested and accused of disrupting public order. In the detention camp, she was physically assaulted.
Ms. Thuỷ learned from that incident that her legal and peaceful act of expression is arbitrarily targeted and retaliated against by the government. As a result, she became a defender of the rule of law, freedom of expression, and democratization in Vietnam. Furthermore, she was a strong advocate for Vietnam’s sovereignty in the East Sea. Prior to her arrest, she published her criticism of the government’s mismanagement of COVID-19 on Facebook. This act of speaking up resulted in her arrest. [1]
Arrest and detention
On 18 April 2020, Ms. Thuỷ was arrested at her home by approximately 50 Hậu Giang police officers, who did not produce a warrant or any other decision issued by a public authority. The officers reportedly surrounded Ms. Thuỷ’s home, entered it, searched all the rooms and seized a number of items, then arrested Ms. Thuỷ. They also ordered a member of Ms. Thuỷ’s family to sign a police report regarding the search and seizure. [2]
Relatives of Ms. Thuỷ reportedly received notification of her detention from the police two days later. Ms. Thuỷ was charged with making, storing or spreading information, materials or items for the purpose of opposing the State, under article 117 of the Criminal Code of 2015 (previously covered under article 88 (c) of the Criminal Code of 1999). The forces holding her in custody are reportedly the People’s Procuracy of Hậu Giang Province and the Hậu Giang police Security Investigations Office.
Ms. Thuỷ was first detained in Hậu Giang Police Detention Centre. She allegedly remained incommunicado for nearly eight months after her arrest, with no access to legal counsel until one month before her court date on 20th January 2021. Following a brief four-hour trial, she was sentenced to seven years in prison. After the legal procedure was finished, she was transferred to An Phước prison, located in the district of Phú Giáo, Bình Dương Province.
The detention had degrading impacts on Ms. Thuỷ’s well-being. As reportedly by her lawyers, during the eight-month investigation process, her mental state was affected badly, as the prison did not allow her to see her only son. [3] The poor living conditions in the prison camp, including poorly nutritious food and contaminated water, worsened her valvular regurgitation, vestibular disorders, and calcium deficiency. However, her well-being is reportedly improving recently.
International communications
On September 9, 2022, the UN’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) released an opinion concerning Đinh Thị Thu Thuỷ. The WGAD concluded that the deprivation of liberty of Dinh Thi Thu Thuy is in contravention of articles 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 19, 20 and 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and articles 2, 9, 14, 16, 19, 22, 25 and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The WGAD urges the Government of Viet Nam to release Ms. Thuỷ immediately and accord her an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law.
On January 20, 2021, Front Line Defenders, an international human rights organization founded in Dublin submitted an urgent appeal urging the authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Đinh Thị Thu Thuỷ as she is being targeted solely as a result of her legitimate and peaceful work in the defense of human rights. [4]
References:
[1] https://tuoitre.vn/bat-nghi-pham-dung-mang-xa-hoi-chong-pha-nha-nuoc-20200418164644229.htm [2] https://washingtonprogram.nd.edu/assets/496421/dinh_thi_thu_thuy_wgad_opinion_2021_82_vtn.pdf [3] https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1467890396743612&id=100005679961364 [4] https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/woman-human-rights-defender-%C4%91inh-th%E1%BB%8B-thu-th%E1%BB%A7y-charged-and-sentenced
