ACTIVIST BUI KIM THANH REMAINS INVOLUNTARILY IN MENTAL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 000103 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM SOCI PREL PGOV KIRF PREF VM SUBJECT: ACTIVIST BUI KIM THANH REMAINS INVOLUNTARILY IN MENTAL HOSPITAL REF: A. 06 HCMC 1483; B) 06 HCMC 1361 AND PREVIOUS; C) 06 ¶B. HCMC 1270 HO CHI MIN 00000103 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (SBU) On January 25, we met separately with two colleagues of Bui Kim Thanh, the HCMC land rights activist who was involuntarily committed to a mental institution in November 2006 (refs A and C). We questioned both intensively. Both appeared credible. They said that they had known and worked with Thanh for a number of years in an informal support network for persons with land grievances. One contact said she was able to visit Thanh at least six times in the mental institution, most recently on January 7, after bribing hospital staff. Initially, hospital administrators had banned all non-family access to Thanh "per the family's instructions." Thanh did not appear to be mistreated. During the January 7 visit, Thanh handed one contact two letters and asked not to be visited again "for the sake of everyone involved." (Note: Per reftels, Thanh acted as an organizer and legal advisor in the movement. Per ref B, in mid-2006, she sought to expand the visibility of the land rights movement by referring some land protestors to Tran Khue, a HCMC-based dissident and member of the Democratic Party of Vietnam. End Note.) ¶2. (SBU) Both individuals said that Thanh did not have any prior history of mental illness. One contact said that, a few years ago, police were spreading a rumor among the land rights petitioners that Thanh was mentally ill in an effort to dissuade persons from seeking her assistance. As a precautionary measure, Thanh went to a local hospital in HCMC for a psychiatric work up. Thanh reportedly received a clean bill of health. Our contacts added that Thanh had serious marital problems and suffered spousal abuse because of her involvement in the land rights movement and decision to join the Democratic Party of Vietnam. In late October, Thanh reportedly began divorce proceedings, which were suspended because of her hospitalization. Thanh's Letters -------------- ¶3. (SBU) The two letters given by Thanh to our contact are in the same handwriting as other documents that Bui Kim Thanh had handed us in 2006. The first letter apologizes to the membership of the Democratic Party of Vietnam (DPV) and the land dispute movement and noted that she will "temporarily" be unable to serve as a pro-bono lawyer. It notes that she had been "kidnapped" and kept in the mental institution against her will without any legal basis. This letter is signed "lawyer Bui Kim Thanh." The second letter -- a photocopy -- is addressed to DPV Vice-Chairman Tran Khue, Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) General Secretary Thich Quang Do and land dispute supporters. It SIPDIS says that she has decided to stop serving as a lawyer for the DPV and the land rights movement so that she "could focus on medical treatment and family matters." The second letter omits "lawyer" from the signature bloc. ¶4. (SBU) On January 30, the same contact delivered a copy of a typed letter, reportedly written by Thanh's husband to the HCMC authorities on November 7, 2006, five days after Thanh was involuntarily committed to the mental institution. The letter requests the mental institution to deny all access to non-family members. (The contact was able to make a copy of the letter at that time.) The letter refers to a decision of the HCMC District Three prosecutor to refer Thanh to the mental institution for "compulsory medical treatment." The letter notes that "during my wife's sickness, she was taken advantage of and lured by counter-revolutionary elements such as Hoang Minh Chinh (General Secretary of the DPV in Hanoi),Tran Khue, UBCV Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang, and Thich Quang Do." (Note: In October, Thanh and Khue met Thich Huyen Quang and Thich Quang Do in an HCMC hospital where the UBCV patriarch was recuperating. End Note.) The letter adds that "[Thanh] had traveled to many provinces in the Mekong Delta to receive complaints and to forward them to the DPV. She sought to instigate chaos and create social and security disorder at the complaints offices and state agencies. Right now, these elements are still trying to influence my wife by sending individuals to deliver instructions and materials to interfere with my wife's medical treatment, while, at the same time, slander and badmouth the police and my family." And the Husband Says... -------------- ¶5. (SBU) On January 19, we called Thanh's husband to HO CHI MIN 00000103 002.2 OF 002 discuss her case. He refused a request to meet, saying that the case was a "personal matter." He told us that Thanh was improving, taking medicine and that she would remain in the hospital until she "completely recovers." He said that police have dropped the criminal case against her because of her mental illness ¶6. (SBU) Comment: Thanh's colleagues made clear that they did not believe Thanh to be mentally ill, let alone pose a threat to herself, her family or society. Thanh had been an important figure in the grassroots land rights movement for many years. However, only after she began associating with the DPV -- politicizing the land rights issue -- did the authorities move strongly against her. The style and tone of the three letters strongly suggest continuing police involvement in this case. From the letters, it appears that Thanh has been pressured to disavow her links with the DPV and the land rights movement as a precondition for possible release, although, nearly a month after reportedly writing the second letter, she remains hospitalized. End Comment. WINNICK