by Defend the Defenders, May 07, 2017
On May 2, Nguyen Huu Tan, a Hoa Hao Buddhist follower from the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long, was found dead in a local police station with his throat cut and many injuries to his head.
The local police said Tan committed suicide by using an investigating officer’s letter opener to cut his own throat; however, his family suspected that he was killed by police during his detention.
Earlier the same day, Vinh Long province’s authorities deployed around 200 police officers to detain Tan, 38, and search his private residence in Thanh Phuoc commune, Binh Minh town. The police did not show any warrant and took Tan away, the family claimed.
The local authorities said they suspected Tan of conducting activities aiming to overthrow the Communist regime and of carrying out “anti-state propaganda” by producing the flag of the former Vietnam Republic.
Tan’s death is the latest in a series that have occurred under suspicious circumstances while in the custody of the authorities.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch said that police throughout Vietnam abuse people in their custody, in some cases leading to death, and has urged the country’s government to take action to end the problem.
Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security admitted that 226 deaths occurred in police custody between October 2011 and September 2014. Police said illness and suicides were the main reasons for these deaths, while families and human rights defenders blamed police torture and ill-treatment.
Dozens of people have been tortured and killed in police stations nationwide since the beginning of 2015. Many people have been brutally beaten by police for minor infractions.
State media has reported a number of victims of miscarriage of justice whose sentences were based on coercion, as result of police torture. The victims included Mr. Huynh Van Nen from the central province of Binh Thuan, Luong Ngoc Phi from the northern province of Thai Binh, and Nguyen Thanh Chan from the northern province of Bac Giang.
Meanwhile, Vietnam’s government officially recognizes the Hoa Hao religion, which has some two million followers across the country, but imposes harsh controls on dissenting Hoa Hao groups that do not follow the state-sanctioned branch.
Rights groups say that authorities routinely harass followers of unapproved groups, prohibiting public readings of the Hoa Hao founder’s writings and discouraging worshipers from visiting Hoa Hao pagodas.
For more information:
Family of Vietnam Hoa Hao Buddhist Questions Death in Custody Ruled ‘Suicide’
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May 7, 2017
Hoa Hao Buddhist Follower Dies from Throat Cuts in Police Custody in Political Case
by Nhan Quyen • [Human Rights]
by Defend the Defenders, May 07, 2017
On May 2, Nguyen Huu Tan, a Hoa Hao Buddhist follower from the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long, was found dead in a local police station with his throat cut and many injuries to his head.
The local police said Tan committed suicide by using an investigating officer’s letter opener to cut his own throat; however, his family suspected that he was killed by police during his detention.
Earlier the same day, Vinh Long province’s authorities deployed around 200 police officers to detain Tan, 38, and search his private residence in Thanh Phuoc commune, Binh Minh town. The police did not show any warrant and took Tan away, the family claimed.
The local authorities said they suspected Tan of conducting activities aiming to overthrow the Communist regime and of carrying out “anti-state propaganda” by producing the flag of the former Vietnam Republic.
Tan’s death is the latest in a series that have occurred under suspicious circumstances while in the custody of the authorities.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch said that police throughout Vietnam abuse people in their custody, in some cases leading to death, and has urged the country’s government to take action to end the problem.
Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security admitted that 226 deaths occurred in police custody between October 2011 and September 2014. Police said illness and suicides were the main reasons for these deaths, while families and human rights defenders blamed police torture and ill-treatment.
Dozens of people have been tortured and killed in police stations nationwide since the beginning of 2015. Many people have been brutally beaten by police for minor infractions.
State media has reported a number of victims of miscarriage of justice whose sentences were based on coercion, as result of police torture. The victims included Mr. Huynh Van Nen from the central province of Binh Thuan, Luong Ngoc Phi from the northern province of Thai Binh, and Nguyen Thanh Chan from the northern province of Bac Giang.
Meanwhile, Vietnam’s government officially recognizes the Hoa Hao religion, which has some two million followers across the country, but imposes harsh controls on dissenting Hoa Hao groups that do not follow the state-sanctioned branch.
Rights groups say that authorities routinely harass followers of unapproved groups, prohibiting public readings of the Hoa Hao founder’s writings and discouraging worshipers from visiting Hoa Hao pagodas.
For more information:
Family of Vietnam Hoa Hao Buddhist Questions Death in Custody Ruled ‘Suicide’
Một tín đồ Phật Giáo Hoà Hảo bị cắt cổ chết trong đồn công an