The health status of political prisoner Tran Huynh Duy Thuc was “alarmed” because so far he entered the 10th week of a hunger strike.
Immediately after news of political prisoner, Tran Huynh Duy Thuc determined to go on a hunger strike to demand Vietnamese authorities to enforce their own laws, many organizations and individuals called out for measures to urge the Vietnamese government to meet the request of Mr. Tran Huynh Duy Thuc.
On January 19, the right organization The 88 Project spoke out to Prisoners of Conscience who are imprisoned on the charge of subversion. In an assessment published in Asia Times, The 88 Project also condemned what they called the “silence” of the international community over the situation of Mr. Tran Huynh Duy Thuc.
In an article titled ” Rights groups snub Vietnam prisoner over hunger strike” two female authors Kaylee Uland and Nguyen Quynh Thien Trang of the human rights organization The 88 Project wrote :
“Despite the pleas for help from his family and local activists, the international community remains eerily silent.
Some human-rights organizations, even though aware of Thuc’s situation, have objected to the resort to a hunger strike, calling the practice “violent.” And some activists have even argued that his hunger strikes are not the result of mistreatment. And so they remain silent as he suffers in a Vietnamese prison.”
Mr. Tran Huynh Duy Thuc is currently serving a 16-year prison sentence at Prison camp No. 6 in Thanh Chuong, Nghe An. He was tried in 2010 under Article 79 of the Penal Code, however in 2015, Article 79 was amended by Vietnam to Article 109, and accordingly, the sentence is from 3 to 5 years in prison for those who were in the planning stage. Mr. Thuc petitioned for his release because he has served a sentence for more than 11 years. He began a hunger strike in late November 2020.
The 88 Project describes Mr. Thuc’s condition, saying he is only “skin and bones.”
Mrs. Grace Bui, advocacy officer of The 88 Project shared more about this organization’s comments on the fact that “silence” for the case of the main prisoner Tran Huynh Duy Thuc on hunger strike:
“When I speak up and call on people to speak up, there are a lot of organizations that don’t speak up. It’s like they disagree or don’t think the hunger strike issue is up to human standards. Just like the United Nations has not talked about the hunger strike because they disagree. It’s Project 88’s own observation, not something I can say they don’t care about. They are very concerned.”
In the Asia Times view, The 88 Project affirms:
“Organizations that are unwilling to support an activist’s hunger strike because of a “lack of mistreatment,” or because “hunger strike is a violence in itself,” should know that for political prisoners who languish behind bars in authoritarian Vietnam, sometimes a hunger strike is the only tool they have left to defend their rights to access to necessities or legal assurances.”
Amnesty International does not mention the personal case of prisoner of conscience Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, but in a press release released on January 20, it has called on the Vietnamese government to immediately and unconditionally release all prisoners of conscience and named the 3 imprisoned members of the Independent Journalists Association, namely Pham Chi Dung, Nguyen Tuong Thuy, and Le Huu Minh Tuan, as well as journalist Pham Doan Trang.
Human Rights Watch by email responded to Radio Free Asia on the issue, stating:
“Human Rights Watch has repeatedly raised serious concerns about Tran Huynh Duy Thuc’s case in numerous statements and letters. We have been lobbying for years to ask governments to raise his case, and they did: just last week, he was mentioned in an important European Union resolution on Vietnam, paragraph 20. Everyone has the right to exercise their freedom of expression, including through nonviolent protests, which may include a hunger strike.”
The 88 Project argues that the role of human rights organizations should not be judgmental about how prisoners of conscience fight, but how to convey their messages.
Ms. Grace Bui added about the case of Mr. Tran Huynh Duy Thuc:
“Anh Thuc was also offered to be released by the Vietnamese government in case he agrees to go in exile abroad. Thuc does not want to do that. That is why Mr. Thuc went on a hunger strike, to tell the government that if it wants to release Thuc, he would remain in the country. But I know the precedent of the Vietnamese government when a person is released early, like Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, Tran Thi Nga, Nguyen Van Hai, Viet Khang, all have to leave Vietnam. But Mr. Thuc wants to change that precedent and thinks that if it releases political prisoners or prisoners of conscience, they have the right to stay or go.”
She said the family of Mr. Tran Huynh Duy Thuc on January 21 received a call from him from the prison. Mr. Thuc’s sister said that he currently only has 56kg, but his mind is still clear and he insists that he will continue to go on hunger strike until the Vietnamese government meets his demands. As of January 26, Mr. Thuc has been fasting for 63 days.
Thoibao.de (Translated)
