Nguyễn Đan Quế (born 13 April 1942) is a Vietnamese endocrinologist and pro-democracy activist in Saigon.
Early life
Quế was born on 13 April 1942 in Hanoi in northern Vietnam, He received an M.D. from the University of Saigon at age 22. In the 1960s and early 70s, he trained in Europe on a United Nations scholarship, specializing in radiotherapy. and began publishing two underground newspapers, "The Uprising" (Vung Day) for youth and "The People’s Uprising" (Toan Dan Vung Day) for the general public, to question the government's violations of basic human rights and to demand that the government reduce military spending and invest in the welfare of the people. Quế's family and human rights groups reported that he was assigned to hard labor despite declining health. Vietnam's foreign ministry denied the statement.
In April 1991, U.S. Senator Bob Kerrey attempted repeatedly to meet with Quế, but was refused; U.S. Senator Charles S. Robb, whose district included Quế's brother, was blocked by the Vietnamese government from meeting with Quế to bring him medicine in August 1993. Quế's case was also taken up by the European Parliament, Quế refused, stating that he would rather stay in prison than be forced into exile.
Later activism
Quế remained in Vietnam, and on 12 May 1999, posted a statement to the Internet advocating free elections for the National Assembly. On 17 March 2003, Quế was arrested for again after he wrote a series of articles about Vietnamese media censorship, with the regime accusing him of "espionage". On 29 January 2004, the Ho Chi Minh People's Court found him guilty of "abusing democratic rights to jeopardise the interests of the state, and the legitimate rights and interests of social organisations and citizens" and sentenced to 30 months' imprisonment. On September 22, 2004, Quế was secretly sent to a hard labor camp (gulag) in Thanh Hoa Province.
In mid-February 2011, Quế posted an Internet appeal for mass demonstrations in Vietnam on the model of the Arab Spring uprisings, calling on citizens to make a "clean sweep of Communist dictatorship and build a new, free, democratic, humane and progressive Vietnam". He was then detained by the authorities for "directly violating the stability and strength of the people's government". Following a raid on his home, police reported that they had found thousands of anti-government documents in his home. On 6 March 2012, former U.S. Representative Joseph Cao organized a Vietnamese-American lobbying effort for Quế, Nguyen Van Ly, Dieu Cay, and other Vietnamese political prisoners, calling on the administration of President Barack Obama and the U.S. Congress to take a stronger stand on their behalf.
Awards
In 1995, Quế was given the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award by the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights. The Center praised his work "promoting greater freedom of expression and human rights in Viet Nam". In 2004, he was a finalist for the US-based Civil Courage Prize, which "honors civil courage — steadfast resistance to evil at great personal risk — rather than military valor". He ultimately won a "Certificate of Distinction in Civil Courage" and a $1,000 cash prize.
See also
- Cù Huy Hà Vũ
- Thadeus Nguyễn Văn Lý