Since October 31, Trinh Ba Tu, a Vietnamese political prisoner, has been held alone in a dark cell, denied visitors and even any kind of light. Guards open the door briefly twice a day to deliver meals, the only human contact he is permitted.
Why such severe punishment? A few days earlier, Trinh Ba Tu had complained about the moldy, spoiled rice he and other prisoners were given to eat.
And in September, he and fellow political prisoners reportedly carried out a hunger strike to demand the “immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners and detained activists in Vietnam” and to “urge the State of Vietnam to uphold human rights fully and comprehensively and pave the way for the democratization of the nation.”
The ruling Communist Party of Vietnam maintains a monopoly on political power and allows no challenge to its leadership. The government currently holds at least 160 political prisoners, people imprisoned, typically for years, because they have expressed their criticism of the government and its policies.
Trinh Ba Tu, 36, is serving an eight-year sentence at Prison No. 6 in Vietnam’s Nghe An province because he criticized the Communist Party. It’s a family tradition. His mother, Can Thi Theu, is serving an eight-year sentence at Prison No. 5 in Thanh Hoa province. His older brother, Trinh Ba Phuong, is serving 10 years, and appealing a newly imposed additional 11-year sentence.
The family has long engaged in protests and campaigns for human rights, land rights, and environmental protection, among other issues. The authorities have charged all of them “with conducting propaganda against the state” under article 117 of Vietnam’s penal code, a law the authorities have routinely used to crush dissent.
Vietnam’s international trade partners and donors have been so focused on the country’s booming economy that they have said little about systemic abuses of human rights. They should press the Vietnamese authorities to immediately release Trinh Ba Tu and conduct a proper investigation into prison conditions to insure they meet international standards for food, water, and medical care.
