Archdiocese of Hanoi
Redemptorist Order
Thai Ha Parish
180/2 Nguyen Luong Bang St
Quang Trung, Dong Da District,
Hanoi
Number11/2008/DCCT.HN
Hanoi September 1st, 2008
EMERGENCY COMPLAINT
to the PRESIDENT
and PRIME MINISTER of VIETNAM
Re: Protest against Criminalizing and Politicizing a normal land dispute and usage of excessive force on female and children prayers
To: Mr Nguyen Minh Triet, President
Mr Nguyen Tan Dung, Prime Minister
All concerned organizations
We are the priests, monks and parishioners from the Hanoi Redemptorist Monastery –Thai Ha parish located at 180/2 Nguyen Luong Bang St, Quang Trung ward, Dong Da district, Hanoi city.
Dear gentlemen,
In the spirit of honoring truth, respecting human dignity and justice, we all the parishioners and clergy from Thai Ha parish, also citizens of Socialist, Republic of Vietnam are filing this complaint against the concerned organizations which have been intentionally criminalizing and politicizing a normally civil claim which started 12 years ago with details as follow:
After 12 years of the Redemptorist –Thai Ha parishioners’ fruitless claim without a sensible solution based on legal grounds, Hanoi’s People Committee recently issued documents of imposing, groundless nature, forcing us to comply. In the meantime, on the same documents anybody can easily see carelessness and inconsistency in contents, which display disrespect for the truth and people, in order to distort and overpower justice. The documents from different sections of the People’s Committee are contradicting themselves in contents thus self refuting their legitimacy.
On 8/26/2008, 12 years after we have been patient in our request, People’s Committee of Hanoi sent to the Redemptorist-Thai Ha parish several photocopies of documents as evidence to claim that the governmental confiscation of our land was legal.
But from the same evidence anybody can recognize that they are legally groundless, with inconsistent contents which are contradicting one another among themselves.
We had filed a rebuttal claim with the People’s Committee of Hanoi, requesting the government to supply us with legitimate evidentiary documents in pursuant to the law. We also affirm that “While the People’s Committee pf Hanoi has yet to provide enough evidence to back their claim, the property, the land in question still belong to the Redemptorist-Thai Ha parish“
We have all the evidence necessary to prove our case, from both historical and legal aspects. We also affirm that we will remain defiant in protecting the interest of our church and our Christian parishioners at all cost.
In recent days while people from the Redemptorist –Thai Ha parish were actively going through the legal proceeding of their claim on the disputed property, the police from Dong Da district on 8/27/1008 had initiated a criminal proceeding based on what happened at 178 Nguyen Luong Bang St, Quang Trung ward, Dong Da district, Hanoi city, on two counts “ Destroy or deliberately damage property”(Article 143,criminal code) and “ Causing disturbance to public order” (article 245-Criminal code) – in relation with our property claim. The (criminal) case was brought up intending to force us bowing to the nonsense and illegal actions previously mentioned.
On 8/28/2008 immediately after the first summon, dozens of uniformed policemen arrived at the site to apprehend those who just received the first summon. Several parishioners who refused to accept the summon were prosecuted as criminals and supposedly be detained for two months
On the evening of 8/28/2008 while parishioners were gathering on the side walk to request the legal authority to honor what the law has defined regarding the dispute, hundreds of police from mobile units arrived using electric batons, spiky shoes and other supporting instruments to launch an assault against many of our parishioners.
Yet the ordeal did not end there. On late evening of 8/31/2008 while parishioners were simply praying within the boundary of our property, several security agents spayed tear gas indiscriminatingly on the crowd, causing injuries on many women and children. In light of what happened we had requested the legal authority to make a report and to resolve the issue. But in front of hundreds of eyewitness, this governmental agency had shown a lack of decent and objective attitude in performing their duties, something totally out of touch with the people whom they’re employed to serve.
After criminalizing a seemingly normal land dispute, in the following days a number of cadres through the mass media had verbally politicized the issue at hand when accusing our dispute of “ being backed up by hostile forces “
We affirm that this has always been just an ordinary land dispute which started in 1996 but did not get resolved adequately by all levels of government in pursuant to what the constitution and the law had defined. We only demand what is rightfully ours on the disputed piece of land.
Our suggestion is not to politicize a land dispute which is an internal issue between the Redemptorist-Thai Ha parish versus the Chien Thang Garment Joint Stock Company and related organizations, the People’s Committee of Hanoi included
Our suggestion is for the government to take disciplinary actions against the newspapers, television and radio stations, not to let them embroidering the issue at hand with baseless conclusion causing the dispute to be more complicated, relationship between Christian and non Christian to be in disharmony, thus affecting the national unity.
Our suggestion is also not to criminalize a civil dispute as it’s conflicting with the law. We ask for all the summons, arrests to be stopped and for the release of our innocent parishioners who have been wrongfully charged with “destroying or deliberately causing damage to property” according to article 143 and “causing disturbance to public order” according to article 24- the criminal code, since in reality it has been only a civil dispute between Thai Ha parish versus the Chien Thang Garment Joint Stock Company.
Our suggestion is for the concerned legal authority to conduct an investigation into conduct of individuals and organizations who had savagely assaulted the praying parishioners on either the side walks of Thai Ha or those standing outside of Dong Da police station in the evening of 8/28/2008, also conduct of those who sprayed harmful gas into the praying crowd at the site in the evening of 8/31/2008, causing serious injuries to numerous women and children.
We wish you good health and a clear mind so you can help aim this country with a judicial power, advancing it into a future filled with happiness and wealth for all, including our Catholic faithful.
The Redemptorist priests and monks at Thai Ha parish
Rev. Matthew Vu Khoi Phung
(signed and sealed)
Rev. Nguyen Van Dung (signed)
Rev. Dinh Tien Duc (signed)
Rev. Tran Van Hung (signed)
Rev. Nguyen Van That (signed)
Rev. Le Xuan Loi (signed)
Rev. Peter Nguyen Ngoc Nam Phong (signed)
Bro. Anthony Nguyen Van Tang (signed)
Intended Recipients:
-The President of ( Vietnam)
-The Prime Minister
-Chairman of National Assembly, the committee for social issues/ citizen aspiration
-Committee on Religion
-The Central People’s Propaganda, Committee of Patriotic Front
-Department for Public Safety, Ministry of Construction, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
-The People’s Committee, People’s Councils, Committee on Religion of Hanoi
-The People’s Committee and Police of Dong Da district
-The People’s Committee and Police of Quang Trung ward
- Archdioceses, dioceses, parishes (to be in communion with us)
and News agencies and broadcasting systems
Redemptorist Order
Thai Ha Parish
180/2 Nguyen Luong Bang St
Quang Trung, Dong Da District,
Hanoi
Number11/2008/DCCT.HN
Hanoi September 1st, 2008
EMERGENCY COMPLAINT
to the PRESIDENT
and PRIME MINISTER of VIETNAM
Re: Protest against Criminalizing and Politicizing a normal land dispute and usage of excessive force on female and children prayers
To: Mr Nguyen Minh Triet, President
Mr Nguyen Tan Dung, Prime Minister
All concerned organizations
We are the priests, monks and parishioners from the Hanoi Redemptorist Monastery –Thai Ha parish located at 180/2 Nguyen Luong Bang St, Quang Trung ward, Dong Da district, Hanoi city.
Dear gentlemen,
In the spirit of honoring truth, respecting human dignity and justice, we all the parishioners and clergy from Thai Ha parish, also citizens of Socialist, Republic of Vietnam are filing this complaint against the concerned organizations which have been intentionally criminalizing and politicizing a normally civil claim which started 12 years ago with details as follow:
After 12 years of the Redemptorist –Thai Ha parishioners’ fruitless claim without a sensible solution based on legal grounds, Hanoi’s People Committee recently issued documents of imposing, groundless nature, forcing us to comply. In the meantime, on the same documents anybody can easily see carelessness and inconsistency in contents, which display disrespect for the truth and people, in order to distort and overpower justice. The documents from different sections of the People’s Committee are contradicting themselves in contents thus self refuting their legitimacy.
On 8/26/2008, 12 years after we have been patient in our request, People’s Committee of Hanoi sent to the Redemptorist-Thai Ha parish several photocopies of documents as evidence to claim that the governmental confiscation of our land was legal.
But from the same evidence anybody can recognize that they are legally groundless, with inconsistent contents which are contradicting one another among themselves.
We had filed a rebuttal claim with the People’s Committee of Hanoi, requesting the government to supply us with legitimate evidentiary documents in pursuant to the law. We also affirm that “While the People’s Committee pf Hanoi has yet to provide enough evidence to back their claim, the property, the land in question still belong to the Redemptorist-Thai Ha parish“
We have all the evidence necessary to prove our case, from both historical and legal aspects. We also affirm that we will remain defiant in protecting the interest of our church and our Christian parishioners at all cost.
In recent days while people from the Redemptorist –Thai Ha parish were actively going through the legal proceeding of their claim on the disputed property, the police from Dong Da district on 8/27/1008 had initiated a criminal proceeding based on what happened at 178 Nguyen Luong Bang St, Quang Trung ward, Dong Da district, Hanoi city, on two counts “ Destroy or deliberately damage property”(Article 143,criminal code) and “ Causing disturbance to public order” (article 245-Criminal code) – in relation with our property claim. The (criminal) case was brought up intending to force us bowing to the nonsense and illegal actions previously mentioned.
On 8/28/2008 immediately after the first summon, dozens of uniformed policemen arrived at the site to apprehend those who just received the first summon. Several parishioners who refused to accept the summon were prosecuted as criminals and supposedly be detained for two months
On the evening of 8/28/2008 while parishioners were gathering on the side walk to request the legal authority to honor what the law has defined regarding the dispute, hundreds of police from mobile units arrived using electric batons, spiky shoes and other supporting instruments to launch an assault against many of our parishioners.
Yet the ordeal did not end there. On late evening of 8/31/2008 while parishioners were simply praying within the boundary of our property, several security agents spayed tear gas indiscriminatingly on the crowd, causing injuries on many women and children. In light of what happened we had requested the legal authority to make a report and to resolve the issue. But in front of hundreds of eyewitness, this governmental agency had shown a lack of decent and objective attitude in performing their duties, something totally out of touch with the people whom they’re employed to serve.
After criminalizing a seemingly normal land dispute, in the following days a number of cadres through the mass media had verbally politicized the issue at hand when accusing our dispute of “ being backed up by hostile forces “
We affirm that this has always been just an ordinary land dispute which started in 1996 but did not get resolved adequately by all levels of government in pursuant to what the constitution and the law had defined. We only demand what is rightfully ours on the disputed piece of land.
Our suggestion is not to politicize a land dispute which is an internal issue between the Redemptorist-Thai Ha parish versus the Chien Thang Garment Joint Stock Company and related organizations, the People’s Committee of Hanoi included
Our suggestion is for the government to take disciplinary actions against the newspapers, television and radio stations, not to let them embroidering the issue at hand with baseless conclusion causing the dispute to be more complicated, relationship between Christian and non Christian to be in disharmony, thus affecting the national unity.
Our suggestion is also not to criminalize a civil dispute as it’s conflicting with the law. We ask for all the summons, arrests to be stopped and for the release of our innocent parishioners who have been wrongfully charged with “destroying or deliberately causing damage to property” according to article 143 and “causing disturbance to public order” according to article 24- the criminal code, since in reality it has been only a civil dispute between Thai Ha parish versus the Chien Thang Garment Joint Stock Company.
Our suggestion is for the concerned legal authority to conduct an investigation into conduct of individuals and organizations who had savagely assaulted the praying parishioners on either the side walks of Thai Ha or those standing outside of Dong Da police station in the evening of 8/28/2008, also conduct of those who sprayed harmful gas into the praying crowd at the site in the evening of 8/31/2008, causing serious injuries to numerous women and children.
We wish you good health and a clear mind so you can help aim this country with a judicial power, advancing it into a future filled with happiness and wealth for all, including our Catholic faithful.
The Redemptorist priests and monks at Thai Ha parish
Rev. Matthew Vu Khoi Phung
(signed and sealed)
Rev. Nguyen Van Dung (signed)
Rev. Dinh Tien Duc (signed)
Rev. Tran Van Hung (signed)
Rev. Nguyen Van That (signed)
Rev. Le Xuan Loi (signed)
Rev. Peter Nguyen Ngoc Nam Phong (signed)
Bro. Anthony Nguyen Van Tang (signed)
Intended Recipients:
-The President of ( Vietnam)
-The Prime Minister
-Chairman of National Assembly, the committee for social issues/ citizen aspiration
-Committee on Religion
-The Central People’s Propaganda, Committee of Patriotic Front
-Department for Public Safety, Ministry of Construction, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
-The People’s Committee, People’s Councils, Committee on Religion of Hanoi
-The People’s Committee and Police of Dong Da district
-The People’s Committee and Police of Quang Trung ward
- Archdioceses, dioceses, parishes (to be in communion with us)
and News agencies and broadcasting systems