Vietnam Suspected of Poisoning Prisoners of Conscience

Chemical teacher Dinh Dang Dinh died in 2014 from stomach cancer which may be caused by tainted food provided by An Phuoc prison while he was serving his 6-year imprisonment there

Defend the Defenders, June 2, 2018

Many prisoners of conscience and their families are suspecting that Vietnam’s authorities have been poisoning them with unsafe food and drinks.

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Tuyet Lan, the mother of prominent human rights defender Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, the well-known blogger with the nickname Mother Mushroom said thatthe activist stopped eating food provided by Prison Camp No. 5 where she is serving her 10-year imprisonment since the prison’s food sickened her every time she ate.

Quynh, who was convicted for “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the 1999 Penal Code, said she is only eating noodle and fruits sent by her family.

Former prisoner of conscience Can Thi Theu, who completed her 20-month imprisonment in early early February this year, said that many times when she was held in Gia Trung prison camp in Gia Lai province and later in Prison camp No. 5 located in Yen Dinh district, Thanh Hoa province, she felt tired andhadinflamation in her throat but was notthirsty after consuming food provided by the prison. She suspected that the food supplied by the prison was unsafe and maybe mixed with toxic chemicals.

Vietnameseauthorities are willing to use all tricks to kill political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, said Theu, who spent totally 40 months in prison on allegation of “causing public disorders” and “resisting on-duty state officials” for her peaceful activities to protest land grabbing by Hanoi authorities.

Mrs. Le Thi Minh Ha, the wife of jailed prominent blogger Nguyen Huu Vinh, also suspects that her husband was poisoned while being held in Prison camp No. 5. During her visit on May 21, Mr. Vinh, who is serving his 7-year imprisonment for his blogging activities, told her that he suffered diarrhea and pain after drank a beverage given by a two stranger men.

Chemical teacher Dinh Dang Dinh, who was sentenced to six years in prison on allegation of “conducting anti-state propaganda” for protesting the China-invested bauxite mining project in Vietnam’s Central Highlands, died in March 2014, one month after being released from prison. He died from stomach cancer and he suspected that the disease was caused by chemical-tainted food supplied by the authorities in An Phuoc prison.

Political prisoner Huynh Anh Tri, who was freed in early 2014 after spending 14 years in prison on charge of terrorism and subversion, died in July in the same year from HIV disease. He suffered from the deadly disease afterbeingplaced in the same cell with HIV-infected inmates while serving his imprisonment in Xuan Loc Prison camp (Z230) located in the southern province of Dong Nai.

Vietnam is holding between 100 and 170 prisoners of conscience or political prisoners, according to international human rights organizations. Hanoi always denies of holding prisoners of conscience, saying it imprisons only law violators.

Amnesty International has reported that Vietnamese prisoners, especially prisoners of conscience, have been treated inhumanely,withprisonors’treatment failing to meet The  UN Standard  Minimum Rules  for  the Treatment  of  Prisoners (the  Nelson Mandela  Rules).