Translated by Danlambao's reader - On 03/23/2014, Ms. Tran Thi Nga was sexually assaulted and brutally beaten by thuggish police at the police headquarter in Quang Trung ward (in Dong Da district, Hanoi).
The thuggish policeman -- named Le Manh Tuan (ID number 121-641) - was the one who directed his subordinates to strip search Ms.Tran Thi Nga. It was the thuggish policeman Le Manh Tuan along with other thuggish policemen who badgered and insulted Mrs. Tran Thi Nga’s human dignity by creating a situation where Mrs. Tran Thi Nga was stripped naked. This type of illegal, low-life, shameful behavior is a normal part of the job for the thuggish police force in Vietnam.
The incident occurred after Ms. Tran Thi Nga and two ethnic Hmong men (Lý Văn Lềnh and Hầu Văn Thành) were arrested for attending a demonstration demanding the release of Mrs. Bui Thi Minh Hang, Nguyen Thi Quy Quynh and Nguyen Van Minh.
Savage beatings
At 9am the same day, Ms. Tran Thi Nga along with a delegation of 50 people walked from the church of Thai Ha to a rendezvous at Hoan Kiem Lake for the protest. When they were a few hundred meters from the church, the protesters were stopped and suppressed intensely by police forces.
Ms. Tran Thi Nga and two ethnic Hmong men (Lý Văn Lềnh and Hầu Văn Thành) were beaten, arrested, and shoved into a police vehicle by the police. While inside the police vehicle, 7 undercover thuggish policemen continued to hit them brutally.
One thuggish undercover policeman grabbed Ms.Tran Thi Nga’s hair and then slapped her on the face. In the meantime, one Hmong man was beaten to the point where he was about to vomit.
Ms. Tran Thi Nga said: "They (police) beat us just like wild animals that wanted to eat us . From the moment we got inside the police vehicle, they started to hit us all over, hit us in the stomach, hit us on the body, hit us on the face ... From the time we got on the police vehicle to the time we were at the police headquarter in Quang Trung ward, they continuously beat us."
Sexual assault by thuggish police
At the police headquarter in Quang Trung ward, Ms. Tran Thi Nga got slapped hard in the face by a 60-year-old thug. The old thug continued to punch Ms. Tran Thi Nga with all his strength, but luckily she was able to dodge the punches. Uniformed police who were present did not intervene; and they just stood by and watch the 60-year-old thug continue with his thuggish behavior.
Ms. Tran Thi Nga said: "At that time, Mr. Cuong - Deputy district police – called and told them (the thugs) ‘to stop the beating and do a body search because I have already videotaped and photographed’"
“Before the female security officer (Nguyen Thi Thuy Linh) arrived, the uniformed police and plainclothes police -- including Mr. Le Manh Tuan (ID 121-641) -- intimidated me by saying that I was sleeping with him, and this, and that... They tried to intimidate and badger me."
[ * 'Mr. Cường' - who was the person in charge of Ms. Tran Thi Nga’s body search – is the person with the name of Tạ Nhuệ Cường holding a position of Dong Da district security officer]
After that, under the direct order of Le Manh Tuan, a female security officer (Nguyen Thi Thuy Linh) from Dong Da district and a 60 -year-old woman (Hoa Thuy Ngan) claiming to be former soldier started to strip search Ms. Tran Thi Nga. There were 4 uniformed policemen and 3 plainclothes policemen present to participate in and witness the body search of Ms. Tran Thi Nga; the policemen were present when they took Ms. Tran Thi Nga’s bra off.
Ms. Tran Thi Nga said: "They even took off my underwear and search it... From that moment on, I became uncooperative. I just sat there and close my eyes. In light of their illegal activity of body search, I could not muster enough strength to open my eyes to witness what they were doing to me. Even though I had closed my eyes and did not say anything, they still badgered me and cussed at me."
Psychological torture
By about 4pm, police from Quang Trung ward wrote up a report of violations of the law and fined Ms Tran Thi Nga VNĐ 750,000 for ‘gathering and disturbing public order' according to paragraph D of Article 35 .
Due to Ms.Tran Thi Nga’s unwillingness to cooperate, they (police) wrote up the report and sign it themselves. After that, they shoved her into a vehicle and took her to the police headquarter in Phu Ly city in Ha Nam province.
Here in Phu Ly city, Vũ Hồng Phương -- deputy city police of the city of Phu Ly – appeared and started to psychologically torture Ms. Tran Thi Nga. Vu Hong Phuong is the evil man who kicked Ms. Tran Thi Nga in the stomach when she was pregnant with her young son (little Tài).
At the same time, many policemen – who were involved in the beating of Ms. Tran Thi Nga and hers son before – appeared and started to take turn cussing at Ms. Tran Thi Nga in order to insult her diginity. They even used the tactic of talking about her two sons with the goal of intimidating her psychologically. At that time, Ms. Tran Thi Nga did not know how her sons were doing. Due to worrying about her sons, she couldn’t suppress her tears.
Ms. Tran Thi Nga said: "It was at that time when I had to close my eyes. It was also then that my resentment for the security forces of Vietnam has reached its peak. And I had to close my eyes to pray but I could not hold back tears. They continued to say all sorts of things about my sons, especially little Tài (the child who got beaten by the police).
At that time all I could do was to close my eyes, to pray, and to cry. By 7:20pm, they pushed me out of the police station. When I was on the street I could no longer control myself and so I cried very loud."
Then, Ms. Tran Thi Nga tried to calm herself down. She called family members and found out that her son (little Tài ) was being cared for by a friend . On the evening of the same day, her friend took little Tài from Hanoi to Ha Nam so his mother can continue to care for him.
Talking to Danlambao after arriving home, Ms. Tran Thi Nga said that she had fed both of her children (little Tài and little Phu). Although she was still in pain, Ms. Tran Thi Nga uploaded the pictures onto the internet to 'denounce their wickedness'.
When asked about the wounds on her body, single mother Tran Thi Nga smiled and said: "For those who are willing to fight, the pain on the body is nothing. Willing to fight means willing to accept … [tried to smile]"
