Tran Minh Nhat

Trần Minh Nhật is a Vietnamese journalist and human rights activist from the province of Lam Dong in the south of Vietnam. On August 27, 2011, the Vietnamese government arrested Nhật and charged him with “carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s administration” under Article 79 of Vietnam's Criminal Code due to his writings in favor of free speech and a pluralist political system in Vietnam. Nhật was found guilty and sentenced to four years in prison with an additional three years of probation. He was eventually released on August 28, 2015, after completing his prison sentence where he has faced constant harassment by the police.

Background Trần Minh Nhật is a journalist and blogger for the Vietnam Redemptorist News, an independent Catholic news outlet that reports on religious, social, and human rights issues in Vietnam. As a member of the Redemptorist Ky Dong church in Ho Chi Minh City, Nhật was known for contributing political writings in support of democracy and human rights to the church's website. and their bauxite mining operations in Vietnam’s Central Highlands.

International response After the verdict, Human Rights Watch released a press statement calling for Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to immediately “withdraw all the charges against those who are held pending trial and for those who have been sentenced to be unconditionally exonerated.”

On December 13, 2011, Congresswoman Susan Davis of California's 53rd District and a member of the Congressional Caucus on Vietnam spoke to the United States Congress on behalf of the 14 arrested Catholic Vietnamese youth activists. The Congresswoman called on her colleagues to “stand side-by-side with these brave individuals and raise their voice in demanding that the Government of Vietnam release all prisoners of conscience and uphold their commitment to human rights for all.”

Following the trial, Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch, stated that “this was the largest group to be brought to trial together in recent times.” Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch, condemned the arrests and stated that “The conviction of yet more peaceful activists is another example of a government that is increasingly afraid of the opinions of its own people. Instead of imprisoning critics, the Vietnamese government should be honoring them for their efforts to address the myriad problems facing the country that the government itself has also identified."

Detention During his time at the Nghi Kim prison, Nhật was treated poorly and forced to live in harsh prison conditions in severe summer weather while being denied basic medicines and reading material.

Release Trần Minh Nhật was released on August 28, 2015, after serving his four-year prison sentence. Since his release, Nhật and his family have been constantly harassed by authorities.

On both December 24, 2015 and January 2, 2016, unknown individuals broke into Nhật's property to damage his family's home. Much of the vegetation such as the pepper vines, coffee plants, and avocado trees were either chemically poisoned or chopped down and irrigation pipes were destroyed. These unknown individuals are suspected to have been hired by the Vietnamese police as another form of harassment to discourage Nhật from continuing his human rights work.

Australian House Representative Chris Hayes for the Division of Fowler, New South Wales presented Nhật's situation before parliament, commending him for his courage as a human rights activist: “He is a person whose human rights have certainly been offended, but his crime was that he stood up for the human rights of others. Wherever human rights abuse occurs—and particularly where it involves a valued trading partner—it should be a concern for all of us.” He demanded that the government take action immediately for this injustice, stating that “To ignore is to excuse, which in turn leads to acceptance. We need to stand up for individuals who are brave enough to stand up for the rights of others.” English Pen,