By Vu Quoc Ngu | Jun 14, 2015
Miss Ta Phong Tan, a prominent political prisoner and blogger, on June 4 ended a hunger strike after 22 consecutive days refusing to take food in Prison No. 5 in Vietnam’s central province of Thanh Hoa, said local activists.
Tan, who is serving her ten-year imprisonment for anti-state propaganda under Article 88 of Vietnam’s Criminal Code, resumed eating on early June, said her younger sister Ta Minh Tu, who was allowed to visit Tan on Sunday.
Miss Tan’s health conditions have been improved after she ended the hunger strike which started on May 13, Ms. Tu told a group of Hanoi-based activists who accompanied her to the prison.
Tan, who is former police officer, conducted the hunger strike to protest inhumane treatment of prison’s authorities. This was the third hunger strike of Tan during the past few years in prison.
Many activists and politicians have expressed their concerns about Miss Tan’s health due to the long-lasting hunger strike. Vietnamese have launched a number of online campaigns while foreign politicians and human rights bodies have conducted hearings on her case and urged Vietnam’s communist government to unconditionally release her.
Last week, Mr. Irwin Cotler, former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and incumbent member of the Canadian Parliament, adopted Miss Tan in a bid to pressure the communist government in Hanoi to free her.
Amnesty International said in an “Urgent Action” statement released Monday [June 8] that Tan suffers from arthritis, high blood pressure, and a stomach ailment, and is “weak and in poor health”.
She has long been subjected to abuse from fellow prisoners and prison authorities, including a recent confiscation of her hygiene products by prison guards, said Tan’s sister Tu.
Miss Tan was imprisoned for publishing several articles about human rights abuses and corruption among police and the judiciary on her Justice and Truth blog. Some press freedom activists have suggested to CPJ that Tan’s harsh treatment in prison is retribution for her critical reporting on police and judicial abuse.
Vietnam’s communist government has inhumanely treated prisoners of conscience in a bid to break their fighting spirit. Along with providing bad food, limited drinking water and lack of proper medical services, prisons’ authorities have often put political prisoners in solitary cells or use criminal inmates to beat them.
In response, many political prisoners, including human rights lawyers Le Quoc Quan, blogger Nguyen Van Hai (aka Dieu Cay- who is currently living in exile in the U.S.), and prominent legal doctor Cu Huy Ha Vu, have conducted hunger strike to protest prison’s inhumane behaviors against them.
Vietnam is holding between 150 and 200 prisoners of conscience, according to international human rights bodies. The communist government always denies, saying it imprisons only law violators.
Height Insoles: Hi, I do believe this is an excellent site. I stumbledupon …
http://fishinglovers.net: Appreciate you sharing, great post.Thanks Again. Keep writi…
Achilles Pain causes: Every weekend i used to pay a quick visit this site, as i w…
June 14, 2015
Vietnam Prominent Political Prisoner Ends Hunger Strike After 22 Days
by Nhan Quyen • Ta Phong Tan
By Vu Quoc Ngu | Jun 14, 2015
Miss Ta Phong Tan, a prominent political prisoner and blogger, on June 4 ended a hunger strike after 22 consecutive days refusing to take food in Prison No. 5 in Vietnam’s central province of Thanh Hoa, said local activists.
Tan, who is serving her ten-year imprisonment for anti-state propaganda under Article 88 of Vietnam’s Criminal Code, resumed eating on early June, said her younger sister Ta Minh Tu, who was allowed to visit Tan on Sunday.
Miss Tan’s health conditions have been improved after she ended the hunger strike which started on May 13, Ms. Tu told a group of Hanoi-based activists who accompanied her to the prison.
Tan, who is former police officer, conducted the hunger strike to protest inhumane treatment of prison’s authorities. This was the third hunger strike of Tan during the past few years in prison.
Many activists and politicians have expressed their concerns about Miss Tan’s health due to the long-lasting hunger strike. Vietnamese have launched a number of online campaigns while foreign politicians and human rights bodies have conducted hearings on her case and urged Vietnam’s communist government to unconditionally release her.
Last week, Mr. Irwin Cotler, former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and incumbent member of the Canadian Parliament, adopted Miss Tan in a bid to pressure the communist government in Hanoi to free her.
Amnesty International said in an “Urgent Action” statement released Monday [June 8] that Tan suffers from arthritis, high blood pressure, and a stomach ailment, and is “weak and in poor health”.
She has long been subjected to abuse from fellow prisoners and prison authorities, including a recent confiscation of her hygiene products by prison guards, said Tan’s sister Tu.
Miss Tan was imprisoned for publishing several articles about human rights abuses and corruption among police and the judiciary on her Justice and Truth blog. Some press freedom activists have suggested to CPJ that Tan’s harsh treatment in prison is retribution for her critical reporting on police and judicial abuse.
Vietnam’s communist government has inhumanely treated prisoners of conscience in a bid to break their fighting spirit. Along with providing bad food, limited drinking water and lack of proper medical services, prisons’ authorities have often put political prisoners in solitary cells or use criminal inmates to beat them.
In response, many political prisoners, including human rights lawyers Le Quoc Quan, blogger Nguyen Van Hai (aka Dieu Cay- who is currently living in exile in the U.S.), and prominent legal doctor Cu Huy Ha Vu, have conducted hunger strike to protest prison’s inhumane behaviors against them.
Vietnam is holding between 150 and 200 prisoners of conscience, according to international human rights bodies. The communist government always denies, saying it imprisons only law violators.