Statement by Marco Pannella and Olivier Dupuis, Members of the European Parliament.

On March 17, 2003, at 8 pm, the security forces of Saigon arrested Dr. Nguyen Dan Que* in front of his house with the accusation of being on his way to an Internet Café to email messages criticizing the government's conduct on human rights, namely on freedom of information.

Once again the imprisonment of Dr Nguyen Dan Que*, together with the recent sentence of two years of house arrests for the head of the Hoa-Hoa Buddist Church, Mr. Le Quang Liem, the arbitrary detention of former Ho Chi Minh's body guard, Mr. Tran Dung Tien and of former colonel Mr. Pham Que Duong, as well as of the military historian Mr. Tran Khue, who all support the democratization of Vietnam, put an obligation on the European Union to immediately act against Vietnam for the respect of the Cooperation Agreement stipulated with Hanoi, with particular attention to the clause concerning the respect of human rights.

The scandalous inaction of the Commission, to which on March 14, 2003 we formally requested to specifically follow the case of Dr. Nguyen Dan Que, violates the legality of the European Union, and makes it become, under the leadership of Mr. Romano Prodi, an accomplice of the repression carried out by the Communist regime of Hanoi.


*Dr. Nguyen Dan Que, has been persecuted by the Hanoi's Communist Government since the end of the 1970s, has been jailed for dozens of years, solitary confinement and torture for his writings and activism in favor of the promotion of democracy also in Vietnam. Dr. Nguyen Dan Que founded in 1991, the "Nonviolent Movement for Human Rights" and for this reason he has been convicted to 20 years of prison and 5 years of house arrests. As a consequence of international pressures and awards, among which the "Robert Kennedy Human Rights Award" in 1995 Dr Nguyen Dan Que was under house arrests since 1998.


Brussels, March 19, 2003