In response to the Vietnamese Community of Australia (VCA) campaign for more openness and freedom in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), Mr Michael Danby, MHR for Melbourne Ports, has just agreed to take part in the Adopt a Voice of Conscience campaign by “adopting” Tieu Dao Bao Cu and Nguyen Vu Binh and pledging to maintain a regular correspondence with these well-known dissidents.
Mr Danby’s interest in Vietnam goes back a number of years to when he was involved in assisting Vietnamese refugees settle in Australia. At a recent meeting with Mr Doan Trung Viet, Federal President of the VCA, Mr Danby expressed his disappointment that reforms introduced in the SRV in the late 1980s had not produced a more open political climate. Mr Danby said he was particularly moved by the injustice meted out to people advocating for democracy or simply expressing a political opinion. He noted that criticising government policies is a right taken for granted here in Australia.
Tieu Dao Bao Cu is a noted journalist and author from Dalat. In 1988, as a member of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), he travelled around the country, urging artists and writers to sign a petition asking the CPV to implement real democracy. Since then, Bao Cu has been under house arrest and repeatedly taken to Security offices for interrogation. Security cadres now camp outside his house, causing severe psychological harassment to himself and his wife, Madame Pham Thi Bach Yen.
Nguyen Vu Binh is also a journalist who used to write for Tap-chi Cong-san, the CPV theoretical journal. Binh’s predicament dates back to 2 September 2000, when he petitioned CPV leaders for permission to form an opposition party. In 2002, when invited by the US Congressional Human Rights Caucus to testify, he sent a written testimonial that the prevention of human rights violations in Vietnam depended upon the introduction of democracy. Following months of periodic detention and interrogation, he was arrested by the authorities on 25 September 2002.
“I have deliberately adopted 3 members of the Communist Party because however unpopular and archaic their ideology seems, left wing intellectuals have played a historical role in the transformation of communist societies towards democracy”, Mr Danby said.
The VCA welcomes Mr Danby’s assistance in its endeavours to remind the SRV Government that the plight of prisoners of conscience in Vietnam does not go unnoticed.
Web Site Design by Dror Poleg www.drorism.com
© Content Copyright 2010 Michael Danby
Powered by 
