The United Nations Human Rights Office in Bangkok today demanded the release of three pro-democracy activists detained in Vietnam.
The body expressed “serious concern” over the treatment of activists Ho Van Hai, Luu Van Vinh and Nguyen Van Duc Do, who were arrested in Ho Chi Minh City.
Hai, a prominent blogger, was reportedly arrested on charges of distributing “propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam’’.
Meanwhile, the other two men were charged for “activities aimed at overthrowing” the state after attempting to start a pro-democracy group.
“These two penal provisions run contrary to international human rights standards and should be repealed,’’ Laurent Meillan of the UN Human Rights Office for South-East Asia said in the statement.
Vietnam, a single-party communist state, takes a hard line on dissent.
According to the New York-based Human Rights Watch, Vietnam currently holds no fewer than 130 prisoners of conscience.
Report says Hanoi maintains that only those who break the law are imprisoned and denies holding any political prisoner.
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