One of Vietnam’s high-profile political prisoners refused amnesty. Prison guards forced him on a plane anyway

For almost 16 years Tran Huynh Duy Thuc sat in prison waiting for freedom. On September 20, he was told he could go home to his family after Vietnam’s President To Lam pardoned him just eight months before his sentence was up.

But Mr Thuc refused to leave.

The 57-year-old human rights activist said he committed no crime and would not accept a presidential pardon.

Despite demanding to stay in prison, Mr Thuc said he was forced to leave.

« I was forced to accept amnesty, an unprecedented event in this country, » Mr Thuc wrote on his Facebook page in Vietnamese, after his release.

« More than 20 people from Prison Number 6 barged into my cell to announce that the president had signed Amnesty Decision Number 940 on September 20, 2024, to ‘pardon’ me.

« They [prison guards] forcibly carried me out of the prison gate amidst protests from political prisoners there, then put me in a car and took me to Vinh airport. 

« In the end, I was forced onto a late flight to Saigon. »

The release of prisoners a political ploy, critics say

The release of Mr Thuc and another prominent political prisoner, climate campaigner Hoang Thi Minh Hong, came just one day before President Lam’s trip to the United States.

Mr Thuc believes he was being used as a political pawn.

« By default, I became an important supporting act for the president’s visit to the US, » Mr Thuc wrote on Facebook.

Mr Thuc was arrested in 2009 for « activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s government », after publishing online articles that criticised the government.

The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, set up by the US Congress, advocated for the activist’s release earlier this year.

In 2016, then-French president Francois Hollande asked for the release of four jailed dissidents, including Mr Thuc.

According to a spokesperson for the Vietnamese embassy in Australia, the decision to grant amnesty for the prisoners was made by Mr Lam in late July « in alignment with Viet Nam’s humanitarian traditions and the leniency policies of the Party and State towards offenders ».

« This decision coincides with the celebration of the 79th National Day of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam on September 2, 2024, and the 70th anniversary of the Liberation of Hanoi on October 10, 2024, » the spokesperson said.

However, Australia’s director at Human Rights Watch Daniela Gavshon said the release of the two political prisoners was a stunt and the modus operandi of a country increasingly cracking down on freedom of expression.

Ms Gavshon pointed to the imprisonment of blogger Hoang Viet Khanh on September 24 during Mr Lam’s US visit.

« Vietnam holds their own citizens like hostages. When they need to gain some points with Western countries, they release a few political prisoners. But at the same time, they put new ones in prison. It’s like a revolving door, » she said.

Vietnamese authorities convicted and sentenced Mr Khanh to eight years in prison under article 117 in the country’s penal code.

Article 117 criminalises « making, storing, spreading information, materials, items for the purpose of opposing the State of Socialist Republic of Vietnam ».

Currently, there are 172 political prisoners in Vietnam who are serving prison sentences and 21 political detainees arrested on political charges without trial, according to Human Rights Watch.

« Unfortunately we can only document cases that are known to the public, » said Ms Gavshon. 

« The real number of political prisoners and detainees are likely higher. »

Vietnam insists it doesn’t hold political prisoners.

Vietnam’s future a concern for those in diaspora

Trung Doan is a former federal president of the Vietnamese Community in Australia and long-time advocate for refugees and labour rights.

Some of Mr Doan’s friends back in Vietnam are languishing in prison for things like advocating for unions.

« Three of them are still in jail, some have been freed and fled Vietnam to seek refuge in Thailand and overseas, » said Mr Doan, who came to Australia in 1973 as a student.

Mr Doan said Vietnam was becoming more authoritarian and he feared for its future.

« Since the ’90s, there has been one crackdown after another on freedom of expression [in Vietnam], » he said.

« There’s absolutely no civil society in Vietnam and even the groups, the NGOs, that advocate about climate change have been effectively closed down because their leaders are jailed. »

Ms Gavshon, from HRW, said the Vietnamese government had used tactics such as intrusive surveillance, house arrest, physical assaults, police bullying interrogation and arrest to silence individuals who express their critical views of the government.

As well as a lack of independent media, Vietnam has also banned all independent organisations including labour, religious and human rights groups, she said.

The use of article 117 and article 331, the latter which punishes those who abuse democracy and freedom to infringe upon the interests of the state, organisations and individuals, has also led to a rise in arrests.

« Between 2019 and 2024, hundreds of people were arrested and imprisoned under article 117 and article 331 of the penal code, » Ms Gavshon said.

« During the last three years, police extended arrests to mainstream environmental activists and even democracy activists who have not been active for several years. »

Political prisoners like Thuc offer hope

In his first interview since leaving prison, Mr Thuc recalled the difficult conditions of prison life including having no access to hot water to make food and being prevented from outdoor exercise.

« Prisoners are supposed to be allowed to access the yard once a week so that they can stretch, » Mr Thuc told Saigon Broadcasting Television Network (SBTN).

« But they have stopped political prisoners’ access by putting up fences. We political prisoners call them the tiger cage’s fence. » 

SBTN is a Vietnamese television channel headquartered in California, US.

During his jail term, Mr Thuc also reportedly staged multiple hunger strikes in protest of his treatment in prison.

Mr Doan said political prisoners like Mr Thuc could not be broken by the regime despite having a real risk of being reimprisoned.

« We are talking about a fearless man [Mr Thuc], the biggest tool that the regime has over people is the fear of imprisonment. But this man is not scared of imprisonment, so the regime doesn’t have anything left to scare him with, » Mr Doan said.

« He’s among probably dozens who are not cowed into submission by the threat of imprisonment. 

« But Mr Thuc is very special in the sense that he fought against the amnesty, which is the first time I’ve heard of someone doing that. »

Meanwhile, Mr Thuc is urging his supports to have faith that Vietnam is « embarking on a great, irreversible transformation ».

« It is a peaceful transition, led by a soft movement with soft energy, transforming the anger that has accumulated for generations, » he said.

By Najma Sambul – Australian Broadcasting Corporation News –  October 2, 2024