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Letter of Appeal from the AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility

1 July 1998

Nguyen Mang Cam
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
1 Ton That Dam
Ha Noi
Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Dear Minister:

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the largest organization of natural and social scientists in the United States, and the world's largest federation of scientific societies, with over 143,000 individual members and 282 affiliated groups. Our AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility was formed in 1976 to protect the human rights of scientists and to deal with issues relating to scientific freedom worldwide.

I am writing on behalf of the Committee to express our concern about the imprisonment of Dr. Nguyen Dan Que who was arrested almost eight years ago for the peaceful expression of his political views. We have received no replies to our previous letters sent in 1995 and 1997. The Committee is disturbed by recent reports regarding Dr. Que's deteriorating health. We urge you to release Dr. Que immediately and unconditionally on the grounds that he is a prisoner of conscience, arrested solely for exercising his rights to freedom of expression and association.

The Committee has been monitoring the case of Dr. Que since 1994. He is an endocrinologist and formerly the director of the medical department of Cho-Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. It is our understanding that he is serving a twenty year prison term and is suffering ill health as a result of a recurring bleeding duodenal ulcer and elevated blood pressure. In 1995, he was honored as a scientist and as a prisoner of conscience at the AAAS Science and Human Rights Reception held at the AAAS Annual Meeting, in recognition of his work to promote democracy and human rights in Vietnam.

We are concerned about reports indicating that Dr. Que is imprisoned in Xuan Loc in Dong Nai Province and is held in solitary confinement for extended periods of time. The Committee is aware that the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions has declared his detention to be arbitrary. Dr. Que's imprisonment appears to be based on his peaceful expression of his political views.

We would like to point out that the arbitrary detention of Dr. Que constitutes a serious violation of international human rights standards enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Vietnam is a state party. These rights include the right to liberty and security of the person, the right to freedom of expression, and the right to freedom of association.

We urge you to use your good offices to assure that Dr. Que is released immediately and unconditionally in accordance with Vietnam's international obligations. We respectfully request that Dr. Que be provided with adequate medical attention while he remains in detention.

The Committee would appreciate receiving any information you may have about Dr. Que's current legal status and his health, in particular, whether or not he receives medication to control his elevated blood pressure, and whether or not his bleeding duodenal ulcer has been brought under control.

Sincerely,



Irving Lerch, Ph.D. Mary Gray, Ph.D.
Co-Chair Co-Chair
AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom
and Responsibility and Responsibility

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