CSW Draws Attention of EU to Plight of Vietnam's ''Mennonite Six''
Advocacy by a Christian human rights charity on the cases of Vietnam’s “Mennonite Six” has brought the attention of the European Union (EU) to their plight.
Advocacy by a Christian human rights charity on the cases of Vietnam’s “Mennonite Six” has brought the attention of the European Union (EU) to their plight. As a result, the EU has begun to monitor developments closely, and has asked the Vietnamese authorities for more information.
“The treatment of these innocent Christians has been appalling and we are encouraged that the EU has now taken notice of their plight,” said Stuart Windsor, National Director of UK-based Christian Solidarity Worldwide. “CSW will continue to campaign for the release of the three remaining prisoners who have been arrested and mistreated simply for their beliefs.”
Since the conviction of six Mennonite church members last November for supposedly “inciting people to obstruct officials from carrying out their duties,” three have been released in recent months. In the most recent release, Nguyen Van Phuong, who was sentenced to one year in prison, was released on Mar. 3. According to the Mennonite World Conference (MWC), he appeared to be in “fair health.”
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The first two Mennonites released, brothers Nguyen Huu Nghia, 24, and Nguyen Thanh Nhan, 22, had reported on the treatment they received in prison after their early release in December. According to the MWC, both had spoken out about the battering they suffered at the hands of corrections officers and of other prisoners who received food and cigarettes as rewards for beating up the young Mennonites.
“Both men reported savage beatings and kicking over all parts of their bodies from the moment of their arrests,” the MWC said in a statement released in January. “The abuse often continued until they fainted or lapsed into convulsions. Splashes of cold water revived them, and the beatings continued. They were denied adequate food and water and did not receive the warm clothes their families brought for them.”
CSW reported that one is now partially paralyzed and the other has conditions that may be life threatening.
Meanwhile, CSW reported that family and church friends continue their concern for Le Thi Hong Lien, the sole woman among six Mennonite church workers, who was sentenced to one year in prison.
According to CSW, Le’s father, Nguyen Quang Du, sent a request to the Vietnamese authorities on Feb. 1 asking for medical help because she was weak and mentally ill.
Nearly two weeks later Du went to the Tong Le Chan Prison, 170 km (105 miles) north of Ho Chi Minh City and reported that his daughter's health was poor. She was reportedly unable to care for her personal hygiene, was suffering from edema (fluid build-up in her body) and had not eaten for several days.
In a bizarre development, CSW reported that a person purporting to be a Dr Hoang from the Bien Hoa Mental Hospital just east of Ho Chi Minh City came to see Du on Mar. 1, saying that Le had been brought to his hospital for a check-up. Du was told his daughter had been returned to Tong Le Chan Prison since there were no problems. Family and friends are questioning the authenticity of this report.
“We are glad Mr. Phuong has been released, but are still very concerned for those who remain in prison, particularly Ms Lien,” Windsor said.
Meanwhile, the appeal hearings for the Rev. Nguyen Hong Quang and for Pham Ngoc Thach, announced for Feb. 2, were postponed, and no new date has been announced.
Those close to the situation told Compass News last year that the charges and trial of the Mennonite Six were an artifice to take out of circulation Rev. Quang, an outspoken leader of the Vietnam Mennonite Church. Quang, who served as the secretary general of the Mennonite Church and as an active member of the Vietnamese Evangelical Fellowship, had actively campaigned against religious freedom and human rights abuses.
The Paris-based Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR) reported that in one such campaign Quang had held a sit-in in December 2003 at a Police station in Ho Chi Minh City along with other church leaders to protest the detention of 19 Christians for distributing religious pamphlets at the SEA Games in Ho Chi Minh City.
Nguyen also called attention to the illegal detention and abuse of the three evangelists that were being held without formal charges more than three months after their arrest. On June 25, he released a report addressed to Mennonite bodies and other churches both in the country and internationally. The report charged that public security officers of Ho Chi Minh City District 2 violated at least four sections of the criminal code on “temporary imprisonment.”
