UPDATE ON HCMC LAND RIGHTS ACTIVIST BUI KIM THANH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 000221

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 3/7/2017
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREF PINR PREL VM
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON HCMC LAND RIGHTS ACTIVIST BUI KIM THANH

REF: A. HCMC 0103; B. 06 HCMC 1483 AND PREVIOUS

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CLASSIFIED BY: SETH WINNICK, CONSUL GENERAL, CG, DOS.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)




1. (C) Summary: The sister-in-law of Bui Kim Thanh -- the HCMC
land rights activists involuntarily committed to a mental
institution -- was emphatic in a March 8 meeting that Thanh is
not/not mentally ill. The sister-in-law's comments reinforce
reporting from other ConGen contacts that Thanh has been
targeted by police for her peaceful social activism. Police and
prosecutors -- and not health care professionals -- continue to
take the lead in determining the outcome of this case. Thanh's
husband, a Communist Party member, fears retribution against him
and his two sons (all three have government jobs) and is
collaborating with police, she said. End Summary.


2. (C) On March 8, we met with Nguyen Thi Nguyet (strictly
protect),the sister-in-law of Bui Kim Thanh, the HCMC land
rights activist who has been involuntarily committed to a mental
institution since November 2006. Nguyet told us that she had
lived with Thanh for 15 years from 1986 to 2001 and remains
close to her. Nguyet was firm that Thanh has never suffered from
mental illness. Thanh, however, has a strong sense of justice
and fair play; it is her advocacy for what she believes is right
that has gotten her in trouble with the authorities.

"She knows the law."
--------------


3. (C) Nguyet confirmed reporting from other ConGen contacts
(reftels),that, after graduating from law school in HCMC, Thanh
began working to assist rural peasants and the urban poor with
their land grievances against the government. She joined land
rights protests in front of government offices in HCMC. In one
such protest in the summer of 2006, a police vehicle ran over a
protestor, who subsequently died. Thanh apparently was so
angered by the police action that she threatened to claim the
corpse and parade it around HCMC in an effort to seek redress
for the victim. This was the last straw for the police, who
then moved against her.


4. (C) Asked why Thanh was sent to a mental institution instead
of prison, Nguyet indicated that the police told Thanh's husband
that she could be involuntarily committed for six months in lieu
of a six-year prison term. Thanh's husband, a member of the
Communist Party, agreed to cooperate with police. Nguyet said
that Thanh's husband feared that she would lose his government
job and the futures of their two sons (who also have government
jobs) also would be jeopardized. Nguyet confirmed ref A
reporting that Thanh had filed for divorce in September 2006,
but the courts had not begun to process the petition, giving her
husband the legal right to represent her before the authorities.
Thanh's husband had filed for her to be released into his
recognizance before the February Lunar New Year holidays. The
HCMC Prosecutor's office rejected the request.


5. (C) Nguyet has been able to visit Thanh five times since her
admission to the mental institution. She was turned away in
five other instances because she was not accompanied by someone
from Thanh's immediate family. When she was able to see Thanh,
Nguyet clandestinely took letters from Thanh to be delivered to
land rights activists and to dissident Tran Khue, the Deputy
General Secretary of the Democratic Party of Vietnam. Some
letters critical of the GVN were posted on the Internet.
Thanh's husband confronted her and said that police were aware
of the Internet postings and "scolded" him for allowing the
letters to slip out. Police reportedly warned her husband that
the "actions of your other family members mean that it will just
take longer for your wife to be released."


6. (C) Nguyet confirmed as authentic letters from Thanh saying
that she has decided to stop service as a lawyer for the
Democratic Party of Vietnam and the land rights movement (ref
A). Nguyet said that, during their last meeting, Thanh told her
"for the time being and for the sake of my children, she would
sacrifice herself."


7. (C) Nguyet said us that she, Thanh and the "entire hospital,"
were aware of the failed attempt by PolOff to visit Thanh in
January. (HCMC and Dong Nai provincial authorities denied our
request to visit Thanh and meet with hospital staff.) Nurses in
Thanh's ward (who Nguyet routinely bribes to gain information
and secure better treatment for her sister-in-law),told her
that, prior to our scheduled visit, hospital workers were
called to an emergency meeting in which the hospital director
instructed them on how to behave when the ConGen team arrived.
When we failed to show, word quickly spread that police had
successfully prevented the visit. Thanh was disappointed that
the ConGen team was unable to gain access, Nguyet told us.


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Comment
--------------


8. (C) Thanh's sister-in-law is the latest in a series of
contacts emphatic that Thanh is not mentally ill. This latest
meeting reinforces the evidence that Bui Kim Thanh is being
unfairly targeted -- and Vietnam's mental health system misused
-- because of her peaceful social activism. It is apparent that
the police and prosecutors -- and not medical workers --
continue to take the lead in determining the outcome of this
case. ConGen will again seek to visit Thanh and to discuss her
case with hospital officials the week of March 12. End Comment.
WINNICK