The United Nations human rights watchdog has called on Vietnam to release three human rights activists who were recently detained and allegedly tortured while in custody.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the UN Human Rights Office for Southeast Asia called for the prominent blogger Hồ Văn Hải, and two political activists to be granted unconditional release.

The three were arrested in early November and charged under a pair of legal provisions that Hanoi often uses to imprison government critics in an attempt to silence dissent.

Mr Ho is facing a sentence of between three and 20 years of imprisonment while the other two, Luu Van Vinh and Nguyen Van Duc Do – who have recently established an organisation aimed at promoting multi-party democracy and human rights – are facing charges that carriy a sentence of between 12 years and life imprisonment or capital punishment.

– TiVi Tuan-san