The Vietnamese Blogger Dinh Dang Dinh, born in 1963, was sentenced on August 8, 2012, to a six-year in prison on the charge of “spreading propaganda against the S.R. Vietnam” according to Art. 88 of the Vietnam’s Criminal Code. He died because of torture and cruel treatment in prison. VETO! believes that he is a human rights defender who was imprisoned arbitrary only because he has erxercised peacefully his right to fredom of opinion.

VETO! shows some of his private fotos because it was his wish to expose to the international community his hardship and to prevent that those things could repeat in the future.

Mr. Dinh Dang Dinh (1963-2014)

Arbitrary arrest

A former high school chemistry teacher and army officer, Mr. Dinh was arrested on Oct. 21, 2011 accused of having posted some 19 articles in his blog calling for protest against the environmentally sensitive bauxite mining project given to a Chinese developer in central Vietnam and for a multiparty democratic system. He had given interviews to radios abroad. He was laid off because of his critical Point of view.

Interrogation session with Mr. Dinh Dang Dinh (Public Security Online, Feb. 21, 2012)

Torture and maltreatment in prison

After the arrest Mr. Dinh was tortured by the police in the Dac Nong Detention Center. Subsequently he went through a 10-day hunger strike from Oct. 22 to 31, 2011 to protest against the police brutality. During this period Dinh suffered from severe stomach bleeding. He was taken to the infirmary of the detention Center several times had not been treated by a specialist physicians.

Under the guise that he was mentally ill the police transferred him to psychiatry at Bien Hoa Province from Dec. 14 to 23, 2011.

After a session of chemotherapie Mr. Dinh was sent back to the prison. His wife provided him with nutrition and medication (here at a visit on Nov. 20, 2013 in An Phuoc Prison)

Stomach cancer with metastasis to the lymph nodes throughout his body

Although he suffered stomach bleeding the Dac Nong Prison refused him a treatment in an hospital. He was beat many times during the time between the trials at the court of first instance and the appeal court.

After the trials he was transferred to the An Phuoc Prison in Binh Duong Province. In the first nine months there he continued bleeding but the prison only gave him pain killer. Finally an Sep 5, 2013, the prison transferred him to the emergency room of the Police Hospital “April 30^th” in Ho Chi Minh City where a large tumor in his stomach was discovered. Three quarters of his stomach was cut out on Sep 18, 2013 due to malignant cancer cells. The hospital diagnosed cancer at third stage with metastasis to the lymph nodes throughout his body.

His wife on September 18, 2013	and three quarters of the stomach cut off

High engagement for his release

Dinh’s family has called repeatedly for his release or for “temporary discontinuance of serving his prison term”, saying he had been denied access to proper treatment while serving his sentence at the An Phuoc Prison in southern Vietnam’s Binh Duong province. But the Vietnamese authorities refused arguing that “he has cancer but not on last stage.”

As his health was rapidly degenerating, 26 ambassadors of the EU, USA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland signed on Dec. 18, 2013 a joint appeal to immediate release him on humanitarian grounds so that he could spend his remaining time at home or in a specialist hospital. The letter also referred to the fact that Vietnam has signed the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT) on Nov. 7, 2013. According to Articles 11 and 16 UNCAT a member state is obliged to assure that detainees receive proper medical care and nutrition.

Mr. Dinh sharing a bed with two patients in Oncology Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, on Jan 7, 2014

Too late because of inhuman treatment and bureaucracy

On Jan. 6, 2014, the prison sent Mr. Dinh to the Palliative Care Department of the Oncology Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, where he was monitored days and nights by three policemen. There he was diagnosed of “last stage of cancer”.

On Feb. 15, 2014, the prison handed out a decision of “temporary discontinuance of serving his prison term” and released.

On March 18, 2014, his family interrupted all therapies and brought him home to Dac Nong Province. There on March 21, 2014, he received the amnesty order of the President of State, Mr. Truong Tan Sang, signed on March 10, 2014.

He passed away on April 3, 2014, left behind his wife and three daughters.

Mr. Dinh in the throes of death on Apr. 3, 2014

Cases of political prisoners died in Vietnamese prisons in the recent years

• Mr. Bùi Đăng Thủy died from tuberculosis on Nov 24, 2013 in Xuân Lộc Prison (Đồng Nai Province) with only 12 months left of his 18-year prison term.
• Mr. Trần Văn Sương died from a heart ailment on Sep 12, 2011 in Nam Hà Prison (Nam Hà Province). His sentence had been suspended from Jul 12, 2010 until Aug 19, 2011 for medical treatment outside of the prison.
• Mr. Nguyễn Văn Trại died from liver cancer with metastasis on Jul 11, 2011 in Xuân Lộc Prison, with only 5 months left of his 15-year prison term.

Also read:

• When government treats a sick detainee’s medical records like a state secret