Self Immolation in Vietnam: A Victim of Injustice’s Agonizing Act In Defiance

In the afternoon of July 2, 2018, a man committed self-immolation in the center of Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital city, a few steps away from the Central Citizen Reception Committee’s office on Ngô Thì Nhậm Street.

He was later identified as 58-year-old Bùi Hữu Tuân, former village chief of Đạo Ngạn Village, Hợp Đồng Ward, Chương Mỹ District, Hanoi.

The victim is now in critical conditions with severe burns to the whole body.

Mr. Tuân was charged with Article 356 of Vietnam’s Penal Code for “abusing official position, power in the performance of official duties.”

He was supposed to begin his sentence of 3-year-imprisonment today, July 3, 2018. In the last act of defiance, one day before its commencement, he desperately protested the injustice of the trial and his conviction.

His son toldVOA Vietnamese in an interview on July 2, 2018, that after Tuân failed to get the Central Citizen Reception Committee’s office agreed to halt his sentencing while reviewing his complaint to the Government Inspectorate, he went outside and committed the self-immolation.

Article 356 prescribes: “Any person who, for personal gain or other self-seeking purposes, abuses his/her power or position in performance of official duties to act against his/her official duties and as a result causes property damage of from VND 10,000,000 to under VND 200,000,000 or infringes upon state interests, lawful rights and interests of another organization or individual shall face a penalty of up to 03 years’ community sentence or 01 – 05 years’ imprisonment.”

From Pháp luật Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh (The Law – Hochiminh City) newspaper, the most damning evidence against Tuân was that he allegedly acceptedmoney, along with the requests of some 23 families in the village, to ask the local government to give them lands to build their ancestors’ shrines and worship places.

However, it was also established at trial that all of the money which Tuân and his co-defendants received from the villagers, was donated to various community services projects in the village.

Neither Tuân or any of his co-defendants had used any portion of the money for personal gains. The evidence further showed that Tuân did submit the villagers’ requests to the ward’s officials, asking them to give out the land to people for burial and worship purposes.

In other words, it seems as if the prosecution would notbe able to prove the first element of the crime alleged against him, that he did commit an act for personal gain or other self-seeking purposes.

The local procuracy’s office (the prosecution in Vietnam) and the court, however, continued their pursuit, charged and later convicted Tuân for alleging overstepping his authorities in giving out land slots to the villagers.

To them, he had abused his “official duties” even though some people questioned whether the village chief position could be considered an “office”. The first element of the crime seemed to be conveniently ignored throughout his criminal proceedings.

In the same article published back in November 2017, Pháp Luật newspaper also stated that they had interviewed the villagers independently, where they were told that the local officials were present, at all times, to survey the land with the defendants.

Nevertheless, at the trial court level, Tuân was convicted and sentenced to the maximum term prescribed by law: 5-year-imprisonment.

The appeal trial reduced the sentence to 3 years. At the same time, the head of the ward and another official only received admonishment from the local chapter of the Communist Party (they were disciplined by the Party because they are its members). No criminal charges were filed against the ward’s officials.

But the 3-year-sentence reaffirming his conviction was the last straw for Bùi Hữu Tuân, and he committed the unimaginable act of setting himself on fire.

The act of self-immolation often brings to our minds the images of Tibetans acting in defiance of China’s occupation over their own country.

Further down memory lane for those who are familiar with the Vietnam War, it would be the picture of Thích Quảng Đức’s body on fire in the heart of Saigon 55 years ago, in June of 1963. It was the picture that many have attributed as one pivotal point in the country’s 20-year-long Civil War. It marked the beginning of the downward spiral of the South of Vietnam, effectively generating a whirlwind from international media to portray what was claimed to be the corrupted policy of the late Ngô Đình Diệm’s government.

It is also the history lesson that generations of Vietnamese have memorized by heart through propaganda, including probably Bùi Hữu Tuân.

No one can tell whether how much or not at all, the story of Thích Quảng Đức could have influenced Tuân’s decision on July 2, 2018.

Perhaps, he did take the act of self-immolation as the symbol to fight against injustice.

Or it could be a lot simpler: it is his last cry about the injustice he suffered, and he did it most extremely so that hopefully others will finally pay attention.

Undeniably, his trial and conviction again delineate the inefficient and broken legal system in Vietnam where people can be charged, tried, and convicted of crimes with no evidence to prove the required elements of the crime.