Hunger striker among 3 Vietnamese prisoners to win international prize

By RFA Vietnamese2024.11.19

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The Vietnam Human Rights Network has selected three political prisoners serving a total of 26 years for its annual award, including Bui Van Thuan, who recently ended a hunger strike after persuading authorities to improve conditions.

Thuan, Do Nam Trung and Dang Dang Phuoc were all convicted of “anti-state propaganda” in unconnected cases.

The California-based group announced the awards on Monday along with $3,000 in cash for each of the three.

Trinh Thi Nhung, wife of Bui Van Thuan, told Radio Free Asia the award was more important than the money.

“This is a great spiritual gift for Thuan and his family,” she said.

“We are happy that organizations and brothers and sisters at home and abroad always care about and support prisoners of conscience.”

Over the past 22 years, the Vietnam Human Rights Network has recognized 63 individuals and six organizations with awards for their contributions to promoting human rights.

RFA emailed the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs with a request for comment on this year’s award winners but did not receive a response.

State newspapers have called the prize “a farce.” In an article in November 2023, the Voice of Vietnam said that awarding human rights prizes to subjects serving prison time for anti-state acts disregarded the standards and regulations of international law by choosing subjects spreading discontent and prejudice and opposing the peace and development of a country.

Bui Van Thuan returned to the public eye recently by protesting against the use of so-called tiger cages that confine political prisoners to a small cell-within-a-cell, preventing them from seeing the outside world or interacting with others.

At the end of September, Thuan and two fellow prisoners, Trinh Ba Tu and Dang Dinh Bach, went on a hunger strike to demand that officers at their prison allow prisoners in the “tiger cages” out of their cells to exercise and socialize with fellow inmates. They abandoned their protest after prison authorities accepted their demands.

Translated by RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Mike Firn.