by Vu Quoc Ngu, Oct 11, 2014
Defend the Defenders
Dang Xuan Dieu, a Vietnamese prisoner of conscience, is struggling to overcome the inhumane treatment of prison’s authorities who constantly hold him in a solitary cell for his fighting spirit, said a former political prisoner.
TNLT Đặng Xuân Diệu
Truong Minh Tam, who was imprisoned for his political activities and recently completed his one-year term on the fabricated charge of illegal property confiscation, said he was held in an adjacent cell with Dieu in the Thanh Hoa province-based Prison No. 5 and knew very clearly on his case as well as the degrading treatment of the prison’s authorities against Dieu.
Dieu, a young Catholic follower in the central province of Nghe An, was arrested in July, 2011 after completing a short training course in communication abroad. He was accused of attending a training courses organized by Viet Tan, the U.S.-based pro-democracy party but labeled by the Vietnamese communist government as a terrorist organization. Later, Dieu was sentenced to 13 years in prison for conducting activities with aim to overthrow the people’s government under Article 79 of Vietnam’s Criminal Code.
Dieu filled numerous petitions to Vietnam’s authorities, saying he was wrongly accused and his trial was not fair. However, his petitions were turned down.
Since being admitted in Prison 5 of the Ministry of Public Security in April last year, Dieu has been held in a solitary cell of between six and eight square meters where prisoners are fettered in pair and has no water closet but their feces are removed after every ten days. In the cell with a small window, prisoners do nothing but waiting for food twice a day, like animals, said Mr. Tam.
Prisoners held in solitary cells are not allowed to take bath, Tam said, adding food is limited while drinking water is not clean. During hot summer, prison’s authorities place four-five people in one cell while during cold winter, they leave Dieu alone with thin blankets.
Mr. Tam, who was an anti-China activist, said Dieu sometimes shared cell with a murder who regularly beat him and forced him to do every day works. The murder even forced Dieu to drink water for body cleaning.
In order to suppress Dieu, prison’s authorities have encouraged criminal inmates to beat Dieu, not allowing him to take food normally. Sometime Tam heard Dieu’s shouting “I want to eat normally! I want to live! How could I take rice if you choke me?!”
Dieu, the Catholic follower, prays much of his time in cell. He wakes up at 4 AM and prays until 8 AM. For months, he takes only dinning which consists of substandard rice and vegetables only.
He sometimes conducted hunger strike to protest inhumane treatment of prison’s authorities, however, the situation has not been improved much.
Tam said Dieu’s situation is critical and he needs special attention of international human rights bodies and domestic activists. Tam is not sure how long Dieu can survive .
Inhumane treatment is systemic in Vietnam’s prisons, where prisoners have been forced to work hard while political prisoners are subjects of beating, torturing and other degrading from prison’s authorities and criminal inmates, human rights bodies said.
Due to substandard food and drinking water and lack of proper healthcare, health conditions of many political prisoners have been worsened seriously. Many of them died before their terms end while other were released with very bad health conditions.
Earlier this year, political prisoners Dinh Dang Dinh and Huynh Anh Tri passed away after a few months of being released. Mr. Dinh, who was former chemical teacher, said he was poisoned by toxic chemicals during his imprisonment while Mr. Tri was infested with HIV/AID from other inmates.
Vietnamese communists have vowed to maintain the country under one-party regime, and they do not tolerate any criticism. All political dissidents and social activists are subjects of harassment and imprisonment. /.
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October 13, 2014
Vietnamese Political Prisoner Struggling to Survive Inhumane Treatment in Solitary Cell
by Nhan Quyen • Dang Xuan Dieu
by Vu Quoc Ngu, Oct 11, 2014
Defend the Defenders
TNLT Đặng Xuân Diệu
Truong Minh Tam, who was imprisoned for his political activities and recently completed his one-year term on the fabricated charge of illegal property confiscation, said he was held in an adjacent cell with Dieu in the Thanh Hoa province-based Prison No. 5 and knew very clearly on his case as well as the degrading treatment of the prison’s authorities against Dieu.
Dieu, a young Catholic follower in the central province of Nghe An, was arrested in July, 2011 after completing a short training course in communication abroad. He was accused of attending a training courses organized by Viet Tan, the U.S.-based pro-democracy party but labeled by the Vietnamese communist government as a terrorist organization. Later, Dieu was sentenced to 13 years in prison for conducting activities with aim to overthrow the people’s government under Article 79 of Vietnam’s Criminal Code.
Dieu filled numerous petitions to Vietnam’s authorities, saying he was wrongly accused and his trial was not fair. However, his petitions were turned down.
Since being admitted in Prison 5 of the Ministry of Public Security in April last year, Dieu has been held in a solitary cell of between six and eight square meters where prisoners are fettered in pair and has no water closet but their feces are removed after every ten days. In the cell with a small window, prisoners do nothing but waiting for food twice a day, like animals, said Mr. Tam.
Prisoners held in solitary cells are not allowed to take bath, Tam said, adding food is limited while drinking water is not clean. During hot summer, prison’s authorities place four-five people in one cell while during cold winter, they leave Dieu alone with thin blankets.
Mr. Tam, who was an anti-China activist, said Dieu sometimes shared cell with a murder who regularly beat him and forced him to do every day works. The murder even forced Dieu to drink water for body cleaning.
In order to suppress Dieu, prison’s authorities have encouraged criminal inmates to beat Dieu, not allowing him to take food normally. Sometime Tam heard Dieu’s shouting “I want to eat normally! I want to live! How could I take rice if you choke me?!”
Dieu, the Catholic follower, prays much of his time in cell. He wakes up at 4 AM and prays until 8 AM. For months, he takes only dinning which consists of substandard rice and vegetables only.
He sometimes conducted hunger strike to protest inhumane treatment of prison’s authorities, however, the situation has not been improved much.
Tam said Dieu’s situation is critical and he needs special attention of international human rights bodies and domestic activists. Tam is not sure how long Dieu can survive .
Inhumane treatment is systemic in Vietnam’s prisons, where prisoners have been forced to work hard while political prisoners are subjects of beating, torturing and other degrading from prison’s authorities and criminal inmates, human rights bodies said.
Due to substandard food and drinking water and lack of proper healthcare, health conditions of many political prisoners have been worsened seriously. Many of them died before their terms end while other were released with very bad health conditions.
Earlier this year, political prisoners Dinh Dang Dinh and Huynh Anh Tri passed away after a few months of being released. Mr. Dinh, who was former chemical teacher, said he was poisoned by toxic chemicals during his imprisonment while Mr. Tri was infested with HIV/AID from other inmates.
Vietnamese communists have vowed to maintain the country under one-party regime, and they do not tolerate any criticism. All political dissidents and social activists are subjects of harassment and imprisonment. /.