ICC NOTE: Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh has been in prison in Vietnam since 2011 for essentially being Christian in a land who has a history of persecuting religious minorities. His wife, Tran Thi Hong, is a Christian activist who have been advocating for his release since his initial arrest. She was originally arrested on April 14 where she was allegedly tortured and ordered to cease all activity in regards to religious freedom. Mrs. Hong had been visiting with the the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom which likely drew the attention of authorities. The United Nations had come out and publicly condemned the actions of the Vietnamese government towards Mrs. Hong and against religious leaders and human rights activists in general. This is an important step in raising the profile of the plight Christians and other religious minorities face in the Communist nation. 

6/7/2016 Vietnam (Herald Malaysia) – U.N human rights officials have called on the government of Vietnam to stop the persecution of Christian activist Tran Thi Hong.

Tran “has been repeatedly arrested and tortured as retaliation for informing the international community of human rights violations against her husband, who is in prison for peaceful religious activities,” said a statement released by the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Heiner Bielefeldt, and the Special Rapporteur on torture, Juan E. Mendez, also urged the Vietnamese authorities to put an end to all persecution and harassment, including criminalization, against religious leaders and human rights defenders, women human rights defenders and members of their families.

Tran, spouse of imprisoned Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh, was initially arrested on April 14. She allegedly was tortured and warned to stop her activities promoting freedom of religion. Since then, Tran “has been repeatedly arrested and harassed by the authorities, who are trying to force her to ‘cooperate’ with the government,” the statement said.

“We are concerned that the repeated arrests and the continuing detention of Ms. Tran resulted from her peaceful human rights work and exercise of her fundamental rights, which constitutes arbitrary detention,” the U.N. statement said.

Her husband has been in prison since 2011 for his religious activities as director of the Vietnam-U.S. Lutheran Alliance Church, which is considered as anti-government and anti-communist by the authorities. In prison, he has been subjected to torture and deprived of contact with his family.

[Full Story]