Around the World with Seymour
Legal News with an International Perspective
Seymour J. Mansfield
Founding Partner
Vietnamese Lawyer Detained and Disbarred For Pro-Democracy Activities
"The first thing we do," said anarchist Dick the Butcher in Shakespeare's Henry VI, is "kill all the lawyers." Contrary to popular misconception, the proposal was not designed to restore efficiency to commerce, but was intended to eliminate those who might stand in the way of the overthrow of orderly and fair society -- thus underscoring the important role that the legal system and lawyers play in preventing tyranny and protecting the rights of ordinary citizens. This is forcefully underscored by the fact that worldwide, lawyers, who have acted to protect human rights and political expression in totalitarian countries, are the most prevalent prisoners of conscience.
Our Firm belongs to an international network of law firms known as Lawyers Associated Worldwide (“LAW”), a commercial association of 105 independent commercial law firms located in 55 countries and 148 key cities, comprising over 3,500 lawyers worldwide.
We have recently learned of a terrible injustice being committed against LAW’s prominent Vietnamese lawyer member, Le Cong Dinh, a founding partner of the DC LAW Firm in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and its lead representative to LAW.
On June 16, 2009, public security police arrested Dinh at his home in Ho Chi Minh City for "colluding with domestic and foreign reactionaries to sabotage the Vietnamese state." He is charged with breaching Article 88 of the national security section of the Penal Code, which outlaws "conducting propaganda" against the state, an offense punishable by up to 20 years’ imprisonment. The authorities accused him of communicating with the BBC and Radio Free Asia and of having links with overseas Vietnamese activists.
At least 30 dissidents have been sentenced to long prison terms since 2006 – most of them under Article 88 – for peacefully discussing politics and human rights issues. These include prisoners of conscience and human rights lawyers Le Thi Cong Nhan and Nguyen Van Dai, whom Dinh represented at the appeal court hearing of their case in November 2007.
Dinh courageously argued that Article 88 is unconstitutional and does not conform to international human rights treaties that Vietnam has ratified. (Then, as now in the case of Dinh, these charges are not necessary to protect Vietnam’s national security or public order, and thus violate the norms set by Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Vietnam acceded in September 1982.)
As of our last updates, Dinh has been held incommunicado without any judicial hearing and has not been allowed to see his family, his partners or clients, nor has he been allowed to communicate with or be represented by legal counsel. The Vietnam Ministry of Justice revoked his license, and he was disbarred by the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association (for which he had served as Vice President).
Dinh is a preeminent Vietnamese commercial lawyer, who has developed and promoted business in Vietnam. He was a U.S. Fulbright Scholar and received his LLM Masters Degree in law, with honors, from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. He and DC LAW have represented dozens of major international companies, such as AIG Corporation, CIBA, GlaxoSmithKline, Google Inc., Intel, Nestle, New York Life, Toyota, Toshiba and Yahoo Inc., to name but a few. Ironically, within LAW, Dinh dedicated himself to convincing our membership that Vietnam, as the second fastest growing economy in Asia, was a friendly and safe business environment and a secure venue for international trade.
For further details and suggested action, see Click here: Le Cong Dinh - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and Amnesty International’s Urgent Action Alert, Click here: Urgent Action : Le Cong Dinh (m), human rights lawyer | Isavelives.be.
LAW has joined a growing number of countries, bar associations and organizations in protesting the Vietnamese government’s detention and disbarment of Le Cong Dinh.
While LAW is a commercial association of law firms, we will not close our eyes to the plight of our members and the violation of their fundamental and universal human rights. Moreover, real and effective Global commerce is severely hammered, if not impossible, where lawyers can not act peacefully, independently and ethically in representing their clients and in expressing their views, and instead must operate at the whim and in fear of government.
IF YOU WISH TO HELP SECURE LE CONG DINH'S FAIR TREATMENT, RELEASE AND REINSTATEMENT AS A LAWYER:
Please send your appeals to the following officials:
Nguyen Minh Triet
President
Office of the President
35 Ngo Quyen
Ha Noi, Vietnam
Fax: + 844 734 0815
Salutation: Dear President
Nguyen Tan Dung
Prime Minister
Office of the Prime Minister
Hoang Hoa Tham
Ha Noi, Vietnam
Email: banbientap@mofa.gov.vn
Salutation: Dear Prime Minister
H.E. Nguyên Minh Triêt
President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
c/o Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Hanoi , Vietnam
Salutation: Dear President
Hà Hùng Cường
Minister of Justice
MINISTRY OF JUSTICE
No. 56-60 Trần Phú St., Ba Đình District,
Hà Nội, Việtnam
Telephone: 84-4-7336213 - 84-4-7338068
Salutation: Dear Minister
Le Hong Anh
Minister of Public Security
Ministry of Public Security
44 Yet Kieu Street
Ha Noi, Vietnam
Fax: +8443 942 0223
Salutation: Dear Minister
Pham Gia Khiem
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
1 Ton That Dam Street, Ba Dinh District
Ha Noi, Vietnam
Fax: +8443 823 1872
Email: bc.mfa@mofa.gov.vn
Salutation: Dear Minister
Le Luong Minh
H.E Ambassador
Permanent Mission to the United Nations
866 United Nations Plaza, Suite 435
New York, NY 10017. USA
Tel: 212 - 644 - 0594 / 0831
Fax: 212 - 644 - 5732
Email: info@vietnam-un.org
Please also send copies to the Ambassadors of Vietnam in your country:
For US, COPIES TO:
Ambassador Le Cong Phung
Embassy of Vietnam
1233 20th St NW #400
Washington DC 20036
Fax: 1 202 861 0917
Email: info@vietnamembassy.us OR
consular@vietnamembassy.us
For EU, COPIES TO:
Ambassador TON Nu THI NINH
1 blvd General Jacques
1050 Brussels
Brussels, Belgium
tel. (2) 374-91-33;
fax (2) 374-93-76
In addition, protests to your country’s top officials may be helpful. In the U.S., that would
include your U.S. Senators and Representatives, President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
A founding shareholder of Mansfield Tanick & Cohen, P.A., with 40 years of diverse lawyer experience, Seymour Mansfield now focuses on business and complex litigation, mediation, executive employment and employee benefits, trade secrets and restrictive covenants, and international business law. He is the firm's primary representative to Lawyers Associated Worldwide (LAW), a commercial association of over 105 independent commercial law firms located in 55 countries and 148 key cities, comprising over 3500 lawyers worldwide, and served on LAW's Executive Committee (governing board) from 2002 through 2008. In international business matters, Mr. Mansfield’s team frequently includes Jeffery O’Brien who assisted him with this article.
