Protestant pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh at trial for allegation under Article 87 of the Penal Code
Mrs. Hong said her husband’s health is very poor and the ongoing fasting will threaten his life.
By Vu Quoc Ngu*, August 18, 2016
Protestant pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh, who is serving his 11-year imprisonment in An Phuc Prison in Vietnam’s southern province of Binh Duong, and three other colleagues are conducting their hunger strike for the 11th consecutive day to protest inhumane treatment of the prison’s authorities.
Mr. Chinh, 50, and three other prisoners of conscience started their fasting on August 8 to demand the prison’s authorities to respect human rights and their rights of receiving material supports from their families as well as contacting with the families, said his wife Tran Thi Hong, who visited him in prison on August 17.
According to Vietnam’s regulations, prisoners are allowed to receive food supplements and medical drugs from their families, and contact with their families by telephone as well as being visited by family’s members.
However, pastor Chinh and other prisoners of conscience, who have refused to confess their wrongdoings, have not been allowed to have these rights.
Mr. Chinh, who is suffering from high blood pressure and sinusitis and needs to take medical drugs regularly, however, prison’s authorities keep the drugs sent from his family and rarely give them to him. He has not been allowed to buy additional food from the prison’s canteen.
Mrs. Hong said since being arrested in 2011, he has not been allowed to make a call to her family, even when his mother passed away few years ago.
Pastor Chinh, who has been placed in a solitary cell long time ago, declared that he will continue his hunger strike unless the prison stops its inhumane treatment against him and other prisons.
Mrs. Hong said her husband’s health is very poor and the ongoing fasting will threaten his life.
Mr. Chinh was detained on April 28, 2011 and later sentenced to 11 years in prison on charge of “undermining national unity policy” under Article 87 of the country’s Penal Code as he fought for freedom of religion of ethnic minorities in Vietnam’s Central Highlands.
While Mr. Chinh is in prison, his family has been under constant harassment of authorities in Gia Lai province. In April-June, local police summoned her many times to police station where police officers beat and interrogated her.
Mrs. Hong said in recent weeks, the local authorities stopped harassing her but continue to maintain close surveillance over the family.
Meanwhile, Vietnamese prisoners, especially prisoners of conscience, are being treated inhumanely by the prisons’ authorities. Many prisoners have been conducting long hunger strike to protest inhumane treatment and forced, unpaid labor.
Prominent political prisoner Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, who is serving his 16-year imprisonment on charge of carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the administration under Article 79 of the Penal Code, is left in a tiny cell without electricity amid hot summer weather after refused forced, unpaid labor.
Vietnam’s authorities have systemically treated inhumanely against prisoners of conscience. The latest report of the London-based Amnesty International paints a terrifying picture of Vietnam’s prison system, with widespread torture and ill-treatment, enough to deter even the boldest of activists.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch says Vietnam is holding around 130 prisoners of conscience who bravely exercise their rights of freedom of expression or fight for freedom of religion and belief which are enshrined in the country’s 2013 Constitution.
Hanoi always denies to holding any prisoner of conscience but only law violators.
===============
*Vu Quoc Ngu, MSc
Chief Executive Officer of Defend the Defenders (DTD)
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August 18, 2016
Vietnam Imprisoned Pastor on 11th Day of Hunger Strike to Protest Prison Inhumane Treatment
by Nhan Quyen • Nguyen Cong Chinh (Nguyen Thanh Long)
Protestant pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh at trial for allegation under Article 87 of the Penal Code
By Vu Quoc Ngu*, August 18, 2016
Protestant pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh, who is serving his 11-year imprisonment in An Phuc Prison in Vietnam’s southern province of Binh Duong, and three other colleagues are conducting their hunger strike for the 11th consecutive day to protest inhumane treatment of the prison’s authorities.
Mr. Chinh, 50, and three other prisoners of conscience started their fasting on August 8 to demand the prison’s authorities to respect human rights and their rights of receiving material supports from their families as well as contacting with the families, said his wife Tran Thi Hong, who visited him in prison on August 17.
According to Vietnam’s regulations, prisoners are allowed to receive food supplements and medical drugs from their families, and contact with their families by telephone as well as being visited by family’s members.
However, pastor Chinh and other prisoners of conscience, who have refused to confess their wrongdoings, have not been allowed to have these rights.
Mr. Chinh, who is suffering from high blood pressure and sinusitis and needs to take medical drugs regularly, however, prison’s authorities keep the drugs sent from his family and rarely give them to him. He has not been allowed to buy additional food from the prison’s canteen.
Mrs. Hong said since being arrested in 2011, he has not been allowed to make a call to her family, even when his mother passed away few years ago.
Pastor Chinh, who has been placed in a solitary cell long time ago, declared that he will continue his hunger strike unless the prison stops its inhumane treatment against him and other prisons.
Mrs. Hong said her husband’s health is very poor and the ongoing fasting will threaten his life.
Mr. Chinh was detained on April 28, 2011 and later sentenced to 11 years in prison on charge of “undermining national unity policy” under Article 87 of the country’s Penal Code as he fought for freedom of religion of ethnic minorities in Vietnam’s Central Highlands.
While Mr. Chinh is in prison, his family has been under constant harassment of authorities in Gia Lai province. In April-June, local police summoned her many times to police station where police officers beat and interrogated her.
Mrs. Hong said in recent weeks, the local authorities stopped harassing her but continue to maintain close surveillance over the family.
Meanwhile, Vietnamese prisoners, especially prisoners of conscience, are being treated inhumanely by the prisons’ authorities. Many prisoners have been conducting long hunger strike to protest inhumane treatment and forced, unpaid labor.
Prominent political prisoner Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, who is serving his 16-year imprisonment on charge of carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the administration under Article 79 of the Penal Code, is left in a tiny cell without electricity amid hot summer weather after refused forced, unpaid labor.
Vietnam’s authorities have systemically treated inhumanely against prisoners of conscience. The latest report of the London-based Amnesty International paints a terrifying picture of Vietnam’s prison system, with widespread torture and ill-treatment, enough to deter even the boldest of activists.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch says Vietnam is holding around 130 prisoners of conscience who bravely exercise their rights of freedom of expression or fight for freedom of religion and belief which are enshrined in the country’s 2013 Constitution.
Hanoi always denies to holding any prisoner of conscience but only law violators.
===============
*Vu Quoc Ngu, MSc
Chief Executive Officer of Defend the Defenders (DTD)