Le Dinh Luong’s family demands justice

Following the solitary confinement of human rights defender Le Dinh Luong, his wife, Ms. Nguyen Thi Quy, wrote a letter of complaint to the Vietnamese authorities on August 3, 2025. This letter cited all the violations of Vietnamese law, as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, suffered by her husband in prison.

In her letter, Ms. Quy also asked the Vietnamese authorities to end his solitary confinement, allow him to practice his religion in prison, allow him to receive appropriate medical care, and finally, to consider his early release.

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Vinh Hoa, August 3, 2025

URGENT PETITION

(Re: Protection of the Health and Life of Prisoner Lê Đình Lượng)

To:

• The President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
• The Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly
• The Chief of the Supreme People’s Procuracy
• The Government Office of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
• The Minister of Public Security
• The Department of Prison Management, Compulsory Education Centers, and Reform Schools (C10)
• The United Nations Human Rights Council
• Human rights organizations in Vietnam and abroad

I am Nguyễn Thị Quý, born in 1965, residing in Vinh Hoa Village, Hop Thanh Commune, Yen Thanh District, Nghe An Province. I respectfully submit this petition to the above-mentioned authorities and organizations regarding the following matter:

I am the wife of Mr. Lê Đình Lượng (born in 1965 in Nghe An Province), who is currently serving a sentence of 20 years of imprisonment and 5 years of probation at Nam Ha Prison, Ha Nam Province, pursuant to a judgment issued by the People’s Court of Nghe An Province on August 16, 2018.

As of today, he has served more than eight years of his sentence. However, since early June 2025, my family has been completely cut off from communication with him. We have not received any phone calls, have not been permitted to visit, and have been unable to send supplies for him. When our family traveled to the prison to request a visit, the officers closed the gate, refused to meet, provided no clear explanation, and merely stated from behind the gate that Mr. Lượng had been placed under “indefinite disciplinary punishment.”

Through a recently released fellow inmate, we learned that as of June 8, 2025, Mr. Lê Đình Lượng had been disciplined and placed in solitary confinement. This prolonged mistreatment, culminating in his isolation in a dark cell with inadequate lighting, medical care, and nutrition, constitutes a cruel and degrading form of punishment against an elderly man in poor health, which poses an immediate and serious threat to his life.

We assert that Nam Ha Prison’s treatment of Mr. Lê Đình Lượng is systemic, grave, and discriminatory, violating numerous legal provisions, including:

• Article 20 of the 2013 Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
• Clause 1, Article 4 & Clause 1, Article 43 of the Law on Criminal Sentence Enforcement No.41/2019/QH14;
• Article 21 of Decree No. 133/2020/NĐ-CP

I) Violations of Constitutional and Legal Provisions

1. Article 20, Clause 1 of the Constitution affirms: “Everyone has the right to physical inviolability and shall be protected by law regarding health, honor, and dignity. No one shall be subjected to torture, violence, coercion, corporal punishment, or any other form of treatment that infringes upon their body, health, honor, or dignity.”. Even as a prisoner, Mr. Lượng is entitled to these protections. Any act contrary to these guarantees constitutes a serious breach of the Constitution.
2. Clause 1 and Clause 3, Article 4 of the Law on Criminal Sentence Enforcement emphasize that criminal enforcement must: “Comply with the Constitution and laws, ensure socialist humanitarianism, and respect the honor, dignity, rights, and legitimate interests of inmates.” The actions taken against Mr. Lượng like shortened visits, physical pushing, mistreatment, and then the imposition of the most severe disciplinary measure has violated both the principles of enforcement and humanitarian treatment standards set out by law.
3. Clause 1, Article 43 of the 2019 Law stipulates that: “Depending on the nature and severity of a violation, disciplinary measures may include reprimand, warning, and at most, solitary confinement for up to 10 days.” Solitary confinement is the most extreme measure, only applicable when an inmate has committed at least two serious violations within a six-month period and even then, may not exceed 10 days. In contrast, Mr. Lượng has now been held in solitary confinement for nearly two months, in clear violation of this law.
4. Article 20 of Decree No. 133/2020/NĐ-CP provides: “Each violation shall be subject to a single disciplinary action; it is not permissible to divide a single act into multiple infractions to apply different disciplinary measures.” Mr. Lượng’s act of repeatedly shouting “Nam Ha Prison violates human rights” after being denied a full visit was a single incident occurring at a single point in time. The warden cannot treat this as two separate violations and then impose two disciplinary actions, combining them into a single, highest-level punishment of prolonged solitary confinement. Doing so breaches the law.

II) Violation of International Treaties

The harsh mistreatment and extended solitary confinement of prisoner of conscience Lê Đình Lượng also constitutes a violation of Clause 1, Article 10 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) — a treaty to which Vietnam is a State Party.

III) Therefore, on behalf of my family, I urgently request:

• Immediate termination of the unlawful solitary confinement imposed on Mr. Lê Đình Lượng, and restoration of his full legal rights under the 2019 Law on Criminal Sentence Enforcement.

• That our family and a Catholic priest be permitted to visit him, and that we receive a clear and detailed report on his health status and detention conditions. He must also be allowed to read the Bible and practice his religion inside the prison.

1. That he receives proper medical care, access to medication, adequate nutrition, and the right to information. Measures must be taken to ensure that his health does not further deteriorate to life-threatening levels.
2. That the government consider releasing Mr. Lê Đình Lượng, as he is a peaceful activist, a former soldier who served five years in the military, and has now served more than eight years in prison, over one-third of his sentence, qualifying him for early release under Vietnamese law and humanitarian standards.

I earnestly appeal to the competent authorities, relevant agencies of the Vietnamese Government, the international community, and domestic and international media to speak up in defense of my husband’s life, and ultimately to seek his release.

Sincerely and respectfully,

Petitioner:
Nguyễn Thị Quý