August 28, 2009
On Aug. 24, 2009, Father Nguyen Van Ly’s sister, accompanied by her son, made a visit to Father Ly at the Ba Sao Prison in Nam Ha Province. Contrary to the regular visits scheduled for the early days of odd months, this visit was moved up.
Father Ly appeared, stepping in an uneven manner, but still in fine composure in the striped prison garment he much detested. After inquiring about the well-being of his family and colleagues, Father Ly spoke of his health condition driven by the hypertension symptoms. (Please refer to the 07/13/09 Press Release)
The Prisoner of Conscience, now for the first time recounts to his sister the ailments he had not mentioned to her during the July 13 visit, telling her: “On May 13, while pacing the my cell in solitary confinement, I suddenly noticed the floor covered in blood. On closer inspection, I noted that the blood was excreted from my lower bowel. All dark blood. I alerted the Prison’s nurse and doctor. They applied some external medication and gave me a blood coagulant. The wound has now healed. On May 25, I fell on the floor causing a hole in the back of my head and the prison has given me medication for that. Three days after your last visit, on July 12, I felt both the right hand and the right leg hardening to the point that I was unable to move them. The prison again gave me an oral medication, but no injection. Feeling worried, I wrote you a letter on July 14 requesting an early August family visit. The letter was less legible because I wrote it when my hand was so stiff. When I did not receive a response, I attempted once more on August 03, to keep the family informed. This time the letter was a bit more legible, as I had put a lot of effort into controlling my hand movement. My health has gotten better today.” (Please refer to the enclosed copy of the letter.)
Father’s Ly sister, Mrs. Hieu, replied:” Our family did not receive your July 14 letter. We have just received your August 03 letter on August 22. Prior to that on August 15, Quyen, (Father Ly’s nephew, a student of the priesthood with the Đức Bà Đi Viếng order in Hue) met Father Nguyen Huu Giai in La Vang and was informed of your ill health. He received the information from a source in Hanoi.
Father Ly said: “I hope from now on there can be monthly visits, so that the family can receive timely information on my condition. In case you will not be able to make it, one of my nephews could take your place. The Archbishop should be kept aware of my health status as well, since he bears responsibility over me.” At this point, Father Ly turned to another subject: “Recently I have requested permission that I be allowed to share food and medicine with other indigent prison inmates. Initially the prison forbade it. I protested: ’If I am not allowed to share with them, then I shall refuse any gifts given to me from my family. As a Priest I cannot in my conscience leave them to themselves. So many of my prison mates severely lack food and medication in here, that I must share with them. The prison has now allowed me to do that. I hope that you may be able make more visits and bring more foods in those steady visits so that I can help those prison inmates who have nobody to visit them. I am moved by their sufferings. How well are they treated by a communist-run prison, you know well.”
Then addressing the Colonel standing on watch nearby, known as Nam, whose duty has been to “manage” Father Ly all these years, Father Ly expressed in a straight manner: “It was a mistake to kill Father Nguyen Kim Dien, a grave mistake indeed! The one you want to kill is Father Nguyen Van Ly. I am like a AIDS victim with no hope to be cured. You have required me to do a voluntary confession and self-assessment every three months, in hopes that will change my beliefs! What’s there to confess, that I need to change? If there is any confession to be made, it must be coming from you, from the government of this nation. Look at the wrongs that have been committed, the acts of cruelty against the people, right now in Tay Nguyen, at Thai Hoa, at Tam Toa,… When I get out of here, rest assured I will be there with the people to share their pains, to uncover and to protest the crimes this communist government has committed.”
After the two-hour visit concluded (our description here is a brief summary), Mrs. Hieu left with Colonel Nam a list of three phone numbers: one for the Archbishop of Hue, one for Father Ly’s family and one for Father’s Ly cousin in Thua Thien, with an admontion: “If my brother’s health requires the family’s attention, please notify us and the Archbishop immediately. If Father Ly ever dies in prison, we will hold you accountable for it.” Father Ly also asked permission to keep those three phone numbers in case of his release from the prison.
Upon her return, Father Ly’s sister and her son made a trip to the Archbishop of Hue on August 27, where she had visited on August 23 to obtain a gospel to bring to Father Ly. She had hoped to have meet with the Archbishop Nguyen Nhu The to report the update. Since the Archbishop was away, she met with Reverend Le Van Hong instead. In the meeting, Mrs. Hieu raised two earnest requests: “1)…that the Archbishop request the government to cease holding Father Ly in solitary confinement, a form of punishment. With his current condition, he could be at a fatal risk without anyone knowing; 2) that the Archbishop maintains the primary responsibility for Father Ly, a son of the Hue diocese. His family’s visits are a mere filial duty and we are constrained by the distance and unable to maintain the steady monthly visit. As the Monsignor knows, the U.S. Alliance of International Freedom of Religion in its visit to Father Ly on May 13, 2009, said that the family’s one visit every two months was too little, yet the Archbishop visits only once a year!?!”
The Archbishop Assistant listened to the petition and took it into consideration. The result remains to be seen.
Mrs. Hieu also indicated that upon her return, she will file her own petition to stop Father Ly’s solitary confinement. The result remains to be seen as well.
We call on the Vietnamese people and the international community to continue to monitor, raise awareness and pray for this Prisoner of Conscience, a symbol of a determined struggle for Democracy, Human Rights and Religious Freedom in Vietnam.
Reported by the FNA Bloc 8406 as related by Mrs. Nguyen Thi Hieu.
