Trần Minh Nhật is a Vietnamese journalist and human rights activist from the province of Lam Dong in the south of Vietnam.
[6] After the verdict, Human Rights Watch released a press statement calling for Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to immediately “withdraw all the charges against those who are held pending trial and for those who have been sentenced to be unconditionally exonerated.”[7] On December 13, 2011, Congresswoman Susan Davis of California's 53rd District and a member of the Congressional Caucus on Vietnam[8] spoke to the United States Congress on behalf of the 14 arrested Catholic Vietnamese youth activists.
The Congresswoman called on her colleagues to “stand side-by-side with these brave individuals and raise their voice in demanding that the Government of Vietnam release all prisoners of conscience and uphold their commitment to human rights for all.”[9] Following the trial, Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch, stated that “this was the largest group to be brought to trial together in recent times.”[10] Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch, condemned the arrests and stated that “The conviction of yet more peaceful activists is another example of a government that is increasingly afraid of the opinions of its own people.
[4] On November 8, 2015, Nhật and his companion Chu Manh Son were arrested by the police in Dinh Van in the Central Highlands province while traveling south to Ho Chi Minh City for medical treatment.
These unknown individuals are suspected to have been hired by the Vietnamese police as another form of harassment to discourage Nhật from continuing his human rights work.
His family's coffee plants were again set on fire, masked men threw stones at their homestead, and a police officer came to his front door and demanded Nhật to come out outside where he then abruptly attacked him with a rock causing severe head trauma.
Wherever human rights abuse occurs—and particularly where it involves a valued trading partner—it should be a concern for all of us.”[16] He demanded that the government take action immediately for this injustice, stating that “To ignore is to excuse, which in turn leads to acceptance.