[ndlr] Alors que l’Etat-Parti vietnamien a engagé une consultation populaire pour recueillir les avis sur la révision attendue de la constitution, de plus en plus de voix s’élèvent pour exiger l’abolition de l’article 88 du Code pénal. Nguyen Huong, la compagne de Nguyen Tien Trung, cet étudiant de l’INSA de Rennes condamné en janvier 2010 à sept années de prison, la militante d’Amnesty International Kaylee Dolen et la réalisatrice Ela Gancarz ont lancé le “Project 88” qui vise à défendre la liberté d’expression en RSVN. Nous reproduisons ci-après la profession de foi de cette initiative qui internationalise un peu plus la question des droits élémentaires des citoyens vietnamiens. La présentation du Project 88 est suivie par le clip vidéographique d’Ela Gancarz publié le 17 février dernier sur ce nouveau site.
It’s the 21st century. We who live in free societies often take for granted our democratic freedoms. Some of us don’t even know that in many countries in the world people still continue to struggle for their basic civic rights.
In the Socialist Republic of Vietnam there are hundreds of prisoners of conscience who have been detained only because their political opinions are different from the dominant ideology of the regime. The one-party state continues to deprive its citizens of their human freedoms, introducing rigid laws and employing capital punishment.
The 88 Project aims to support freedom of expression and peaceful political dissidence in Vietnam. It takes its name, the number 88, from one of the repressive provisions of Vietnam’s criminal code that are routinely used to persecute innocent people.
In addition to sharing information about peaceful activism, the 88 Project supports digital media productions promoting freedom of expression and sensitivity to civil rights issues.
The 88 Project takes its name from one of the repressive provisions of Vietnam’s criminal code that are routinely used to persecute innocent people. Article 88 makes it a crime to “propagate” against the Socialist Republic with imprisonment sentences ranging from three to twenty years.
There are many other articles that have been employed to imprison hundreds of peaceful activists in Vietnam. Under article 79 of the criminal code, those who form or join organizations “with intent to overthrow the people’s government” even face capital punishment. Reporters without Borders also noted the government’s systematic use of conspiracy theories and article 79 to arrest dissidents.
Article 87 is one of a whole chapter of “national security” provisions in the Vietnamese criminal code. It is often used against minorities, especially those engaged in peaceful demonstrations. The Vietnamese regime was many times pressed to revise the provision which criminalize the legitimate exercise of human rights.
The number “88″, expressed in the project’s logo as two handcuffs, became a symbol of all Vietnamese repressive laws and provisions. The initial idea of the logo comes from the movie poster for “88 – The Repression Of Cyber Dissidents”, designed by Ela Gancarz and Huong Nguyen.
Publiée le 17 févr. 2013
A short documentary about Vietnamese journalists and artists jailed for posting articles on their blogs, writing songs, or simply expressing their points of view through art.
This is a nonprofit production for The 88 Project (www.the88project.com) – a special online initiative for freedom of expression in Vietnam.
Source : The 88 Project
