Detainees in a prison in southeast Vietnam organized hunger strikes to protest against dirty water, poor medical care and unfair food distribution, the mother of the Free Asia said this week.
Nguyen Thi Hue visited her son Huynh Duke Thanh Binh in Xuan Loc prison in Dong Nai province on Tuesday and said she was shocked by what she had heard.
Binh is serving a 10-year sentence for activities aimed at overthrowing the government, following its arrest in 2019. The Communist government of Vietnam is intolerant of dissent and deliciously deals with people who promote pro-democracy opinions or criticize government policies.
He told his mother that he had refused food for most of February with other political prisoners, to protest against the state of the water with which they were given to drink and wash. It is pumped not filtered with a well, causing rashes and kidney stones, he said.
“The source of water and the general medical care of the prison are very poor,” Binh’s mother told RFA. “The health of prisoners really suffers. Diseases are terrible. “
A former detainee told RFA that he had experienced conditions similar to Xuan Loc.
“During the dry season, if they use underground without any filtration system, he pumps the mud. I complained and I spoke to all prison guards, but they still haven’t solved the problem,” said Nguyen Ngoc Anh who spent four and a half years before his release last August.
Binh told his mother that he was also furious at a change in the way meals were served. He said that the guards had stopped going from cells to another and now abandoning the food cart, allowing prisoners nearly to use huge portions while others are hungry.
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After finishing his hunger strike, Binh said he was not missing food this month because he had not bought more in the canteen in February. Inmates often complete rations in this way, even if the prison shows the market price four times and limits each detainee to spend the equivalent of US $ 80 per month.
Angry against the meager supplies, Binh and his cell companion decided to extend their hunger strike this month, without eating before March 15, when Binh received food sent by his mother.
RFA tried to call Xuan Loc prison to ask questions about food, water and medical facilities, but the number listed did not work.
The FRG called the provincial authorities of Dong Nai and was informed that the message would be transmitted to civil servants the next day but has still not received an answer.
Translated by Vietnamese RFA. Published by Stephen Wright and Mike Firn.