AAAS Science and Human Rights Program to send out Action Alert based on information from Scholars at Risk

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The AAAS Science and Human Rights  Program received the following information  from Scholars at Risk (SAR) and will publish the case through the  AAAS Action Alert system.  The Alert will be posted on the AAAS  Science and Human Rights Program wesbite, sent out via our listserv  and included in the next Science and Human Rights Program  newsletter.

Original  information from SAR  follows:

Call for  Urgent Action for Detained Professor Pham Minh Hoang of Vietnam

September 3,  2010

Scholars at Risk  (SAR) is concerned about the arrest and detention of Professor Pham Minh Hoang,  a mathematics lecturer at the Ho Chi Minh City Polytechnic Institute.  SAR asks  for letters, faxes and emails urging authorities to disclose Professor Hoang's  current location, examine the circumstances of Professor Hoang's detention and,  pending his release, ensure his access to medical care, family and legal  counsel.

Scholars at Risk  is an international network of universities and colleges dedicated to promoting  academic freedom and to defending the human rights of scholars worldwide.   Scholars at Risk invites interventions on behalf of scholars suffering the most  serious threats to their academic freedom or their exercise of their fundamental  human rights including, as in this case, detention without charge and  incarceration in an undisclosed location.

Professor Hoang  is a lecturer of mathematics at Ho Chi Minh City Polytechnic Institute.   Scholars at Risk has learned that Professor Hoang was arrested on August 13,  2010 on charges of participating in a banned opposition political group, the  Viet Tan.  According to media reports, the arrest followed the interrogation two  days earlier of Professor Hoang and his wife at a police station in Ho Chi Minh  City, where they were questioned on their alleged affiliations with the Viet  Tan, allegations Professor Hoang's wife denies.  Scholars at Risk understands  that Professor Hoang was taken to an undisclosed location where he has been  since held without access to family or his lawyer.

Professor  Hoang's arrest raises concerns of retaliation against a scholar for the peaceful  exercise of fundamental rights of free expression and association, which are  guaranteed under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International  Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Vietnam is party.

Scholars at Risk  therefore joins with the many national and international academic associations,  human rights organizations and individual scholars that respectfully urge that  the government of Vietnam examine the circumstances of Professor Hoang's  detention and disclose his location.  SAR urges authorities to intervene to  ensure his well-being including ensuring immediate and regular access to legal  counsel of his choosing, to family and to any necessary medical treatment.   Given the public reports surrounding Professor Hoang's detention, we further  urge authorities to explain publicly the reasons for his detention or absent  this, to arrange for his earliest release.

Scholars at Risk  invites letters, emails and faxes be sent:

-respectfully  calling on the authorities to examine the circumstances of Professor Hoang's  detention and to disclose his location;

-respectfully  calling on authorities to intervene to ensure his well-being including ensuring  immediate and regular access to legal counsel of his choosing, to family and to  any necessary medical treatment; and

-given the  public reports surrounding Professor Hoang's detention, respectfully urging  authorities to explain publicly the reasons for his detention or absent this, to  arrange for his earliest release.

PLEASE WRITE  TO:

Nguyen Minh  Triet

President

Office of the  President

35 Ngo  Quyen

Ha  Noi

Socialist  Republic of Viet Nam

Email: banbientap@mofa.gov.vn (c/o Ministry of  Foreign Affairs)

COPIES  TO:

Truong Vinh  Trong

Deputy Prime  Minister and Chairman of the Amnesty Advisory Council

Prime Minister's  Office

Hoang Hoa  Tham

Ha  Noi

Socialist  Republic of Viet Nam

Le Hong  Anh

Minister of  Public Security

Ministry of  Public Security

44 Yiet  Kieu

Hoan  Kiem

Ha  Noi

Viet  Nam

Fax: + 844  8260774

The Honorable  _________

Ambassador of  the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam to [YOUR COUNTRY]

[POSTAL  ADDRESS]

[FAX]

[EMAIL]

(See http://www.mofa.gov.vn/en/bng_vietnam/dscqdd/ns050119142406#rvCeFX9Sul70 for a list of Vietnamese embassies worldwide.)

The Honorable  _________

Ambassador of  [YOUR COUNTRY] to the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam

[POSTAL  ADDRESS]

[FAX]

[EMAIL]

Scholars at Risk

New York  University

194 Mercer St.,  4th floor

New York, NY  10012  USA

Fax: +1 212  995-4402

scholarsatrisk@nyu.edu 

To view a copy  of SAR's letter of appeal, please visit our website: www.scholarsatrisk.org.