Le Quang Liem (Head of the Central Council, genuine Hoa Hao Buddhism) - I was sick and resting in bed when some family members of Duong Thi Tron came to visit me. They recently visited Duong Thi Tron at Xuan Loc Prison, Dong Nai Province, and they told me that a small number of female prisoners of conscience and religion is currently detained in one cell, including Duong Thi Tron, Mai Thi Dung, Do Thi Minh Hanh, Tran Thi Thuy (these four people are Hoa Hao Buddhist practitioners), Mrs. Phuong, Do Thi Phuong Hong (two political prisoners), and two ordinary prisoners. Presumably, two ordinary prisoners were embedded to monitor the other six prisoners, and secretly carry out the orders from prison officials. Among the prisoners of conscience, Mai Thi Dung and Do Thi Minh Hanh have the most misfortune. They are very sick but prison officials don’t provide them proper medical care.
After listening to their story, I became so emotional that I have to get up to write these words to share the agony with those miserables.
One can say that the prison system of the communist party is hell on earth. I myself got five years in prison and five years of probation - five years in a small prison with thousands of inhuman discriminations, five years of probation in a large prison with all forms of bondage without knowing what the freedom of the right to be a human is.
Among the six mentioned prisoners, according to relatives of Duong Thi Tron, perhaps Do Thi Minh Hanh is the most miserable because she is suffering from chest pain that is reminiscent of a minor heart attack. When the pain strikes, Hanh becomes unconscious and regains consciousness in a few minutes. Hanh has lost hearing on one ear and suffered skin infections due to prison ill-treatment and unsanitary. It is inhumane. Because of standing up against unjust acts in prison, Hanh has become a target for retaliation from prison officials. Prison police have secretly organized attacks against Hanh using criminal inmates. On each attack, they brutally beat Hanh until she became unconscious. Over the time, the attacks inflict internal injuries, but Hanh is not allowed to obtain proper medical care.
So who is Do Thi Minh Hanh?
She was girl in the early twenties, a college student who only had a few more years to graduate, then could step on a golden ladder of youth to set foot on a bright future as many young men and women would dream of.
However, Do Thi Minh Hanh was not pursuing dreams for herself. Envisioning a dark future for the Fatherland and witnessing peasants robbed of farm lands and workers exploited to the bone, Hanh left the school chair to embark on the struggle to fight for justice on arduous and dangerous roads. Below is a panorama of a selfless life dedicated "for the Nation, for the People" of the young girl Do Thi Minh Hanh:
- At 18, she had helped farmers in Lam Dong prepare and file complaints on land disputes.
- She went to Hanoi in 2005 to help land dispute petitioners. As a result, police arrested and tortured her for days in Hanoi. Her family bailed her out, and Hanh was put under surveillance by local communist authorities in Di Linh, Lam Dong.
- Learning that the communist authorities in Vietnam allowed Communist China to mine bauxite in Central Highlands, Hanh and her boyfriend, Nguyen Hoang Quoc Hung, secretly took the pictures of the Chinese facilities and published them on the Internet.
- In 2007, Hanh organized protests for Vietnamese workers, who were oppressed by foreign companies, to voice their demands for higher wage and occupational safety.
- In Dec. 2009, Hanh secretly travelled to Malaysia via Cambodia and Thailand to attend the Second Conference of the Committee of Vietnamese Workers.
- In New Year Days in 2010, Hanh, Nguyen Hoang Quoc Hung, Doan Huy Chuong, and some of their friends distributed the leaflets ‘Thang Long Millennium’ to warm up patriotism. Using the alias Hai Yen, Hanh had answered interviews from several international radio programs such as VOA, RFI, RFA, BBC, etc. to criticize Hanoi regime and alert the public about the threats of invasion from Communist China.
- In Feb. 2010, Hanh was arrested and accused of "inciting" a strike at a shoe factory in Tra Vinh Province.
- On Oct. 27, 2010, Hanh was sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of "disturbing the public order against the government of the People (article 89 of the Penal Code) and distributing leaflets inciting the workers to strike and destroy business property under the direction of Tran Ngoc Thanh, the head of the “Committee to Protect Workers.”
- On Dec. 10, 2011, the Vietnam Human Rights Network presented the 2011 Vietnam Human Rights Award to Dr. Cu Huy Ha Vu and Do Thi Minh Hanh in a solemn ceremony in Melbourne, Australia.
- In early July 2013, through a conversation with Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh at the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Brunei, Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr asked for the release of Nguyen Hoang Quoc Hung, Do Minh Hanh and Doan Huy Chuong, saying: "We place great importance on the protection of freedom of association and the freedom to form labour unions. Today I requested that Vietnam release these individuals.”
Above are some admirable achievements of Do Thi Minh Hanh. Perhaps, anyone can think that young girls like such a girl are difficult to find. Today, Hanh is suffering from her misery; how can we just sit and watch?
I think, as the elders or becoming the elders, we have a duty to cultivate the youths to have a patriotic soul in order to replace us.
"Tilt your shoulders to carry the Nation’s burden
save the miserables from their misery,” said Venerable Master Huynh Phu So.
We must actively support and advocate for the youths in any situations to let them know that behind them are countless elders standing by to help. So, they can bravely appear more and more to help overthrow a totalitarian regime and prevent the threats of foreign invasion from Communist China which always wants to conquer our country.
As a 94-year-old veteran, who has confronted with the Vietnamese Communist Party for almost 70 years, I sincerely call on:
- All Vietnamese compatriots in Vietnam and abroad, including academics, the Vietnamese Interreligious Council, political organizations, civil associations, students, farmers, and workers to jointly raise our voice demanding the Vietnamese communist regime to release or, at least, let Do Thi Minh Hanh and Mai Thi Dung be paroled for medical treatments.
- The United Nations Commission on Human Rights.
- Human rights organizations around the world.
- The government and congress of the free countries; particularly, the Government of the United States of America and the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.
- The European Union.
- International media agencies.
- Reporters Without Borders.
For the sake of humanity, please use your credibility and ability to interfere with the Vietnamese communist authorities on the case of Do Thi Minh Hanh, Duong Thi Tron, Mai Thi Dung, and Tran Thi Thuy. They are innocent people who only demand to have “Freedom of Religion.”
August 26, 2013
On behalf of the genuine Hoa Hao Buddhism
Head of the Central Council
Le Quang Liem
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