Nguyễn Bá Thanh (18 April 1953 – 13 February 2015) was a Vietnamese politician. He was party secretary and people's council president in

Da Nang Da Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons (, ) is the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the Western Pacific Ocean of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is one of Vietnam's most important p ...

(two of the three top leadership positions), member of the

Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam ( Vietnamese: ''Ban Chấp hành Trung ương Đảng Cộng sản Việt Nam''), commonly the Party Central Committee (PCC; - or ), is the highest organ between two national congresses ...

and head of the PCC Internal Affairs Commission, a central committee consulting agency for internal policies and strategies. He formerly served as President of the People's Committee of Da Nang City.

Early life

Nguyễn Bá Thanh was born on April 8, 1953, from Hòa Vang,

Đà Nẵng Da Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons (, ) is the list of cities in Vietnam, fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the Western Pacific Ocean of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River (Vietnam), Hàn R ...

. He was the 14th generation of the Nguyễn Bá family in Hòa Tiến. His father was Nguyễn Bá Tùng. He had an older sister who was four years older named Nguyễn Thị Hoa. In 1954, after the Geneva Agreement, his father went

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

while his mother, his sister, and he stayed in Đà Nẵng. His sister died at age 10 due to an illness which could not be treated due to financial reasons. He also had a younger brother named Nguyễn Bá Bình. Nguyễn Bá Bình married Thái Thủy, and they had three children named Nguyễn Bá Trung, Nguyễn Thị Hiếu, and Nguyễn Bá Hậu. After graduating from Hanoi University of Agriculture, he was assigned to work as an agricultural officer. He was then promoted to Manager of Hòa Nhơn Cooperative and admitted to the

Communist Party of Vietnam The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) is the founding and sole legal party of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Founded in 1930 by Hồ Chí Minh, the CPV became the ruling party of North Vietnam in 1954 and then all of Vietnam after the col ...

on 13 February 1980.

Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act

According to

Radio Free Asia Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a news service that publishes online news, information, commentary and broadcasts radio programs for its audiences in Asia. The service, which provides editorially independent reporting, has the stated mission of pro ...

, Nguyen Ba Thanh was included in a submitted Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act

blacklist Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list; if people are on a blacklist, then they are considere ...

to be blocked from entering the United States or making transactions in all property.RFA. Công bố danh sách chế tài theo luật Magnitsky đợt 2. RFA. 2017-04-28. URL:http://www.rfa.org/vietnamese/vietnamnews/another-list-of-vnese-officials-addressed-by-us-magnistky-04272017092132.html. Accessed: 2017-04-28. (Archived by WebCite® at https://www.webcitation.org/6q3QeCRER?url=http://www.rfa.org/vietnamese/vietnamnews/another-list-of-vnese-officials-addressed-by-us-magnistky-04272017092132.html )

Controversies

Da Nang has been planned and expanded during the last 10 years resulting in the relocation of almost one-third of the city's former inhabitants for urban planning. Thanh was sued by some of these but he was acquitted by official investigations which purportedly showed that all his actions were in accordance with the law. Thanh was elected to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

. Nguyễn Bá Thanh was also accused of involvement in a major

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

case, in which the contractor building the Han River Bridge, Phạm Minh Thông, was arrested. According to

, the People's Procuracy of Da Nang City concluded in the Document No. 73/KSDT-KT (October, 2000) and Document No. 77/KSDT/KT (November 2000) sent to the

Supreme People's Procuracy of Vietnam Headed by the Prosecutor General, the Supreme People's Procuracy of Vietnam () has functions such as acting as the prosecutor before the People's Courts. The Supreme People's Procuracy has local and military subdivisions that include the district, ...

and Phan Diễn (then- Secretary of Communist Party Committee of Danang) that Nguyễn Bá Thanh received

bribe Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official duty, to act contrar ...

s from Pham Minh Thong (4.4

billion Billion is a word for a large number, and it has two distinct definitions: * 1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or (ten to the ninth power), as defined on the short scale. This is now the most common sense of the word in all varieties of ...

VND in total) in the construction projects of Hàn River Bridge and North-South Street in

Danang Da Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons (, ) is the list of cities in Vietnam, fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the Western Pacific Ocean of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River (Vietnam), Hàn R ...

. However, the case was eventually dropped. Vietnamese mass media (which, according to

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

, are all strictly controlled by the government) were censored and even praised Thanh for his "many contributions" in the development of Da Nang City. The article alleges that recent reports from the Central Directing Office of Anti-Corruption submitted to the

Prime Minister of Vietnam The prime minister of Vietnam () is the head of government of Vietnam who presides over the meetings of the Government (formerly the Council of Ministers). The prime minister directs the work of government members, and may propose deputy prime ...

and the Secretary of the

confirmed that accusations of Nguyễn Bá Thanh's corruption by some citizens of Da Nang are legitimate. In addition, two conclusions of inspection by the

Ministry of Public Security Ministry of Public Security can refer to: * Ministry of Justice and Public Security (Brazil) * Ministry of Public Security of Burundi * Ministry of Public Security (Chile) * Ministry of Public Security (China) * Ministry of Public Security of Co ...

indicated sufficient grounds to open the case, but the

Police Department The police are a constituted body of people empowered by a state with the aim of enforcing the law and protecting the public order as well as the public itself. This commonly includes ensuring the safety, health, and possessions of citize ...

of Da Nang City have not charged Nguyễn Bá Thanh with any offense to date. In 2009, several high-ranking Vietnamese police officers, including Major General Trần Văn Thanh ( Chief Inspector of the

of Vietnam), Lieutenant Colonel Dương Ngọc Tiến (Chief Representative of

Hồ Chí Minh City Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

's Police's Newspaper in

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

), and a former police major were arrested and sentenced to jail. All were accused of "abusing democratic freedoms of association, expression, assembly to infringe on the interests of the state". According to an article from

, general Trần Văn Thanh was fighting against

and trying to expose Nguyễn Bá Thanh, albeit without success. Legal scholar Cù Huy Hà Vũ has commented in some interviews that he believes this case was created to punish anti-corruption activists, and that "police general Trần Văn Thanh had directed the investigation of corruption cases directly related to Nguyễn Bá Thanh (who at that time was President of People's Committee of Da Nang City)". Vũ claimed the court case was an instrument of revenge by Nguyễn Bá Thanh. Talking to

, Đỗ Xuân Hiền, a former Head of Economics in Da Nang and General District Commissioner, revealed how Nguyễn Bá Thanh became rich through urban planning and relocation implementation: ''"Nguyễn Bá Thanh took the land from people, for each square meter he gave them only 19,500 VND as compensation, while having demanded 150,000 VND per m² for himself from contractors, try asking a how many times fold! Thus is it corruption, bribery or not?"'' According to an annual report of

, land seizures and local corruption are the main grievances in Vietnam recently.

Death

On 13 February 2015, Nguyễn Bá Thanh died at his home at age 61 after going to

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

and

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

for cancer treatment.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Ba Thanh 1953 births 2015 deaths Deaths from cancer in Vietnam Place of birth missing People from Da Nang Mayors of places in Vietnam Members of the 10th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Members of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam