June 13, 2013
Amnesty International Urgent Action
Dr Cu Huy Ha Vu, a Vietnamese legal scholar, has been on hunger strike since 27 May in protest at his treatment in prison. He is serving a seven-year sentence for “conducting propaganda” against the state. He has a chronic heart condition, and his health is at risk.
Dr Cu Huy Ha Vu, a 56-year-old prisoner of conscience, was arrested in November 2010 and accused of calling for a multi-party political system in online articles and giving interviews to foreign media. In April 2011 he was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment and three years’ house arrest on release for “conducting propaganda” against the state. He had previously attempted to sue government officials, including the Prime Minister: once in an attempt to stop a controversial bauxite-mining project, and later – two months before his arrest – to challenge the legality of a decree banning class-action petitions. He is now in Prison No 5, Department of Police, Yen Dinh in the northern province of Thanh Hoa.
In November 2012 he made a complaint, in accordance with prison regulations, to the Director of Prison No 5 about his treatment in prison, in particular abuses by one of the guards. He claimed that his health had deteriorated because of ill-treatment, that he had been prevented from receiving food and other necessities brought by his family, and that he was not allowed to receive evidence from his trial for use in his appeal. No response to his complaint was made and on 12 May 2013, Dr Cu Huy Ha Vu wrote again to the prison director, saying that he would go on hunger strike in two weeks if a resolution was not found. He began his hunger strike on 27 May.
Dr Cu Huy Ha Vu’s wife visited him on 1 June in the presence of prison guards. In a letter calling for help, she described him as very weak. The family’s petition letters to the authorities have received no response.
See full text here: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA41/002/2013/en