Families of Vietnamese Political Prisoners Ask US Vice President to Pressure
Hanoi for Their Release
U.S. Senator urges State Department not to ignore human rights in talks
with Vietnam.
RFA | 2021-08-18
The families of political prisoners in Vietnam have written an open letter to
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris prior to her visit to the Southeast Asian
country later this month, asking her to pressure Hanoi to release them from
their lengthy sentences.
When she arrives on Aug. 24, Harris will become the first U.S. Vice President to
travel to Vietnam since the unification of the country under the Communist North
in 1975.
The letter, signed by four prisoners’ wives, informs Harris that many prisoners
of conscience are jailed for publicly disagreeing with the government, “which
does not happen in a democratic country like the United States.”
“We write this letter to plead with you, to please spend some of your invaluable
time to consider our request, to speak to the government of Vietnam, asking them
to reconsider the injustices, to release these prisoners of conscience during
the surge of COVID-19,” read the letter.
They sought the release of prisoners “so the old mother may still see her son,
the young wife can again cry on her husband’s shoulder, so the
two-digit-prison-terms will not take away the life of one man and the livelihood
of his whole family. All because they dare to speak the truth, a very normal
action in any democratic nation,” the letter said.
“We, the families of the political prisoners see that our husbands and sons are
suffering in prisons,” Nguyen Thi Kim Thanh, the wife of political prisoner
Truong Minh Duc told RFA’s Vietnamese Service.
Duc, a journalist, labor rights activist, and member of the Brotherhood of
Democracy advocacy group, is serving 12 years for “attempting to overthrow the
government,” under article 79 of the 1999 penal code.
Thanh said that life in prison was very harsh and takes a toll on the health of
prisoners, especially on those, like her husband, who were jailed with
preexisting health conditions and are at increased risk as the country continues
to fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
While in prison, Duc has joined several hunger strikes to protest living
conditions like extreme heat and poor hygiene. He has suffered a stroke and is
believed to have high blood pressure and heart disease, according to the 88
Project website.
“We posted this letter online with the wish that the vice president could see it
and would urge Vietnam to release our husbands and sons to reunite with their
families,” Thanh said.
“Secondly, I hope that she will urge the government of Vietnam to provide the
COVID-19 vaccine to prisoners just like everyone on the outside. We also hope
that the vice president could make the Vietnamese government change their prison
policies so that their families could call them twice a month instead of once a
month, like now,” she said.
The letter was also signed by the wives of Nguyen Nang Tinh, serving 11 years
for his Facebook posts critical of the government; Luu Van Vinh, serving 15
years for spreading information about a 2016 toxic chemical spill at the Formosa
steel plant; and Tran Duc Thach, an author serving 12 years for his writings
that expose the corruption, injustice and human rights abuses of the Vietnamese
government.
It was initially shared by the families on social media and circulated among the
activist community in Vietnam. An English translation addressed to the Office of
Vice President in Washington provides contact information for the Virginia-based
Voice of Vietnamese Americans advocacy group.
On Tuesday, 60 Vietnamese-American pro-democracy, religious, media, and
community organizations co-signed a letter to Harris emphasizing grave concerns
about the overall human rights situation in Vietnam."
"During the pandemic, the Vietnamese government detained over 50 bloggers,
journalists, and human rights defenders," the letter said. Hanoi put these
people at risk by "placing them in unhygienic, confined places," it added.
According to the California-based Vietnam Human Rights Network, Vietnam is
currently detaining around 300 political prisoners.
The letters join several others from U.S. lawmakers and rights groups focusing
on Vietnam that urge Harris as well as the State Department not to ignore human
rights issues in dialogue with Hanoi.
In an Aug. 4 letter to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, Sen. John Cornyn
acknowledged Vietnam’s strategic role in the Asia-Pacific region, but also
raised Hanoi’s “troubling” record on rights and freedoms, as captured in the
2021 State Department’s Country Report on Vietnam.
“It is of paramount importance that we hold the Vietnamese government
accountable for its responsibility to guarantee human rights, religious freedom,
and property security for its citizens. To that end, I ask that you provide an
explanation for what the State Department is doing to engage with Vietnam on
these issues.”
Harris is scheduled visit Vietnam from Aug. 24-26, with talks expected to focus
on regional security in the South China Sea, where China has encroached on
territorial waters and maritime resources claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines,
and other countries in the region.
Talks will also cover U.S. assistance to Vietnam in containing the spread of
COVID-19 amid a new surge of infections in the country of 99 million people.
Reported and translated by RFA’s Vietnamese Service. Written in English by
Eugene Whong.
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