US embassy cable - 05HOCHIMINHCITY106

UNCLAS  HO CHI MINH CITY 000106 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/BCLTV, DRL, DRL/IRF 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, SOCI, PREL, PGOV, VM, RELFREE, HUMANRIGHTS 
SUBJECT: VIETNAM MENNONITE CHURCH PRISONER LE THI HONG LIEN 
 
REF:  A) HCMC 86; B) 04 HCMC 1574 and previous; C) 04 Hanoi 2886 
 
1. (SBU) Summary: A lengthy interview with the father of Le Thi 
Hong Lien, one of six Mennonite prisoners, leads us to conclude 
that claims by overseas NGO's that she was abused and tortured to 
the point of mental collapse are not supported by available 
evidence.  It seems clear that Lien had a severe breakdown and 
incidents of police abuse may have occurred during imprisonment 
after her breakdown.  We also cannot rule out that the injuries 
were self-inflicted.  Lien appears to be housed in the prison 
infirmary and receives at least some basic medical care.  In our 
judgment, this is not a case of organized, willful abuse, but a 
tragic situation in which lack of resources and understanding -- 
both on the part of authorities and the parents -- appear to have 
left a young woman in prison and without appropriate medical care. 
End Summary. 
 
2. (SBU) A press release circulated on the internet by the 
California-based Compass Direct dated January 13 alleges that 
torture and abuse led to the "complete mental and physical 
breakdown" of a Vietnamese Mennonite woman, Le Thi Hong Lien, 21. 
The report claims that authorities told her father "she has become 
the object of prurient interest by prisoners around the infirmary 
where she is held, because she removes her clothes and staggers 
around naked when she is unrestrained."  The report also alleges 
that, "prison officials told her father that she was given 
beatings recently because he had spoken to foreign journalists 
about her mistreatment."  (Note: Lien, along with her spiritual 
leader Nguyen Hong Quang, was among six Mennonites sentenced on 
November 12, 2004 for "resisting persons doing official duty," 
stemming from an altercation with police in March 2004 (reftels). 
She was sentenced to one year in prison and is due to be released 
on June 29, 2005. Ref A reports that torture claims by two of the 
other convicted Mennonites were not credible. End Note.) 
 
The Case of Le Thi Hong Lien 
---------------------------- 
 
3. (SBU) On January 26, PolOff interviewed Le Quang Du (strictly 
protect), for over two hours about his daughter's case.  Du 
explained that his daughter had been involved in Pastor Quang's 
Mennonite movement for seven years.  Du said that Lien had been 
arrested twice before in conjunction with her involvement in 
Pastor Quang's church. In 2000, she was detained for 72 hours; in 
2002, for 48 hours.  According to her father, she also has had to 
answer repeated interview summons from police. 
 
4. (SBU) Du said that he first visited his daughter in late August 
at a local women's prison in HCMC, roughly eight weeks after her 
June 30 arrest.  He spent 10 minutes with her.  He said his 
daughter was physically and emotionally well.  She said that 
prison guards treated her well and she had no complaints.  Shortly 
after that visit, Du told us that he was informed that his 
daughter was transferred to a second prison in HCMC -- Chi Hoa. 
 
5. (SBU) Du told us that the next time he saw his daughter was at 
the trial of the "Mennonite 6" on November 12.  He said that her 
demeanor had completely changed.  She was disoriented and did not 
respond to judges or police instructions.  He said that, other 
than a rash on her face, his daughter appeared physically fine. 
(Du also noted that that all the other Mennonite prisoners looked 
and acted "normally.") 
 
6. (SBU) Du told us that he visited his daughter outside the Chi 
Hoa infirmary on November 18, six days after the trial for 15 
minutes.  He said that his daughter cried throughout but otherwise 
was non-responsive and disoriented.  He said that the two female 
prison guards that accompanied Lien told him that she could no 
longer control her bodily functions and was difficult to control. 
They complained to him that they weren't nurses and urged him to 
get his daughter "to cooperate." 
 
7.  (SBU) Du said that when he saw Lien on November 18 she had 
"blood in her eye."  There were no other markings on his daughters 
face or other signs of abuse.  Du said that another member of the 
Mennonite church told him that a policeman hit his daughter in the 
face on the return to prison after the trial because his daughter 
was not responding to his order to sit down.  According to her 
father, the policeman thought that Lien was refusing to obey 
orders.  Du said that after his November 18 visit he contacted the 
prison duty officer to request that her daughter's prison sentence 
be cut because of her mental state.  The prison official said he 
had no jurisdiction to do so. 
 
8. (SBU) Du next visited his daughter on December 14, again 
outside the prison infirmary.  His daughter had a fresh black eye 
but no other injuries.  She again was unresponsive.  He said that 
prison guards told him that "she had lost her mind," and was a 
 
burden.  Du said that he accused prison guards of beating up his 
daughter, a charge they denied.  He said he concluded that the 
authorities were responsible for the black eye and not another 
prisoner or Lien herself because a third police official allegedly 
told him during the visit that Lien is in "this condition" because 
of Du's had two interviews with Radio Free Asia following his 
November 18 visit to the prison.  Close to Christmas, Du said that 
by happenstance -- he was delivering supplies to his daughter -- 
he saw Lien taken out of the prison by ambulance. He did not find 
out where she was taken, but presumed that she was going for a 
medial checkup. 
 
9. (SBU) Du's latest visit was on January 25.  Lien still was 
unresponsive.  He detected no signs of abuse or injury.  Lien was 
accompanied by a Malaysian prisoner (NFI) who told Du that other 
prisoners in the infirmary had been caring for her.  According to 
Du, prison guards asked him to bring fresh sets of clothes as 
during Lien's "violent episodes" she would shred her own clothing 
as well as any other objects she can grab.  As a result, prison 
officials told her father that they had been forced to tie one of 
her hands to the bed to reduce her mobility.  Lien's father said 
that he had never heard, let alone alleged, that his daughter was 
in danger of becoming a victim of "prurient interest by 
prisoners." 
 
10. (SBU) Comment:  It appears likely that Lien suffered a mental 
breakdown in prison; we may never learn why.  It also is plausible 
that her two separate black eyes were given by police or prison 
guards; Vietnamese enforcement authorities are poorly trained and 
almost certainly not up to the task of handling difficult mentally- 
ill patients.  Based on Lien's reported violent episodes, it is 
possible that at least one of the injuries could have been self- 
inflicted. In any case, based on what we have learnt thus far, 
assertions that torture led to Lien's breakdown and that she was 
in danger of sexual predation in the infirmary do not appear 
supportable. 
 
11. (SBU) Based on available information, it also is premature to 
conclude that prison authorities willfully are denying Lien 
treatment.  Lien's father has been able to visit on a regular 
basis, she appears to be permanently housed in the prison 
infirmary and the family has bought medicine for Lien at the 
infirmary's request.  This suggests that prison authorities are 
making at least some effort to deal with a very difficult 
situation.   Moreover, other than his initial discussion with the 
prison duty officer, Du told us that he never contacted senior 
prison authorities, the courts or consulted a lawyer to review his 
daughter's case.  Following our meeting, we discussed this case 
with a senior defense attorney in HCMC.  He explained that, under 
Vietnamese law, Du could and should appeal to prison authorities 
to remand his daughter for medical care.  According to our 
contact, if and when the doctors agreed that Lien had recovered, 
she would return to prison to finish her sentence.  We passed this 
recommendation to Pastor Quang's wife, currently our principal 
contact in the Mennonite Church. 
 
 
WINNICK 
 
 
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