Profile

Doan Van Dien

Current Status: Released - at risk

Photo of Doan Van Dien

Other Names: Đoàn Văn Diên

Date of Birth: 1954

Gender: M

Religion: Christian (Protestant)

Ethnicity: Kinh

Occupation: Religious leader

Areas of Activism:

  • Freedom of expression
  • Labor rights
  • Land rights
  • Religious freedom

Known Affiliations:

Highlighted Human Rights Concerns:

  • Former Political Prisoner

Details - Background, History of Activism, Family Situation.

Profile photo source: Dân Làm Báo spot

Pastor Doan Van Dien was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison on December 10, 2007 by the People’s Court of Dong Nai for “abusing democratic freedoms,” along with his son Doan Huy Chuong, for labor and land rights organizing.

He and his son, Doan Huy Chuong, are both Vietnamese activists and former political prisoners.  Chuong was sentenced to 18 months in 2007 and later to seven years in prison for “disrupting security” (Art. 89 of 1999 Criminal Code) in 2010 when labor organizing with co-founders of the Viet Labor Movement Do Thi Minh Hanh and Nguyen Hoang Quoc Hung. Even after his release from prison, authorities continue to target Chuong for his activism.

Arrested November 14, 2006. Sentenced to 4 years 6 months in prison under Art. 258 (1999 Code). Released June 10, 2012.

November 14, 2006
  • Art. 258 (1999 Code)
Hung Thinh Commune, Trang Bom District, Dong Nai province (map)
December 10, 2007
The People’s Court of Dong Nai Province
4 years 6 months in prison
June 10, 2012
  • freedom from arbitrary arrest or detention
  • liberty and security of the person
  • freedom of association
  • fair trial
  • form and join trade unions

Doan Van Dien, his son Doan Huy Chuong, and two others, were tried and convicted on December 10, 2007 in the People’s Court of Dong Nai Province. Dien was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison under Art. 258 of the 1999 Criminal Code for (“abusing democratic freedoms”). According to Radio Free Asia: “The four were accused of collecting complaints of government land-rights violations and passing them on to RFA and other news organizations, as well as distributing anti-government leaflets at a meeting in Hanoi before an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in November 2006.”

December 24, 2017: detained for over one month

Detention
December 24, 2017 - January 30, 2018
Public security
Xuan Loc district, Dong Nai province (map)

  • freedom from arbitrary arrest or detention
  • liberty and security of the person

Public security arrested Protestant Pastor Doan Van Dien on December 24, 2017 at his home for allegedly  “distributing anti-State materials online,” but they did so without presenting formal arrest papers. His son, Doan Huy Chuong, believed the arrest was a ploy to actually arrest him instead. Chuong is a former political prisoner and a leader in the Viet Labor Movement. He went into hiding after his father’s detention in December. Authorities finally released Pastor Dien on January 30, but in the weeks between, provided no information to his family.

Profile last updated: 2023-03-03 04:35:35

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