Detained HRD Tran Thi Nga Rejected Medical Treatment for Mucosal Injury

By Defend the Defenders, June 18, 2017

Authorities in Vietnam’s northern province of Ha Nam have refused to provide proper medical treatment for detained human rights defender Tran Thuy Nga, who was arrested on January 21 and charted with “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the Penal Code.

Ms. Nga has suffered from mucosal injury and she cannot take food but only rice soup, said her lawyer Ha Huy Son who met her recently.

Due to the injury, her health worsened fast, the lawyer said.

Nga asked authorities of the province’s detention facility to allow her to go to a hospital for treatment but they rejected, Son said.

In early May, Ha Nam police said they completed the investigation against Nga and handed over the investigation results to the province’s People’s Court. Her trial is expected to be held soon.

Ms. Nga was a migrant worker in Taiwan. While working there, she assisted Vietnamese workers to demand Vietnamese brokers to take responsibility to ensure the rights of migrant workers.

Upon her return to Vietnam, about ten years ago, she has assisted land petitioners who lost their land due to illegal seizure from local authorities.

She also participated in many anti-China demonstrations in Hanoi from 2011 to 2016 to protest China’s violations of Vietnam’s sovereignty in the East Sea (South China Sea), as well as in peaceful gatherings to demand multi-party democracy.

Due to her activities, Vietnam’s communist government, particularly authorities in Ha Nam province have constantly harassed and persecuted her and her two children. She was detained many times and was placed under de facto house arrest for most of the last two years.

In May 2014, she was attacked by plainclothes agents in Hanoi who broke her right leg and caused a number of severe injuries to her body.

Police in Ha Nam have also targeted her kids, throwing dirty sauce containing decaying shrimp at them. Her private residence in Phu Ly city was attacked with paint and dirty substances many times.

Ms. Nga is among six distinguished women human rights activists in Southeast Asia the London-based NGO Amnesty International recognized their works on the occasion of International Women’s Day (March 8) this year. Nga, Sirikan Charoensiri from Thailand, Maria Chin Abdullah from Malaysia, Tep Vanny from Cambodia, Leila de Lima from Philippines and Wai Wai Nuwho from Myanmar have faced harassment, threats, imprisonment, and violence for standing up for human rights in the region.

For more information on Ms. Nga’s activities and the government’s persecution against her and her kids, go to older articles on our website: /?s=%22Tran+Thi+Nga%22