Nguyen Thuy Hanh, a prominent activist and founder of a financial fund dedicated to helping Vietnamese prisoners of conscience, was freed and reunited with her family on Oct. 7, according to her husband, Huynh Ngoc Chenh.
Hanh had spent time in prison and undergone depression treatment at the Central Psychiatric Hospital. It was reported that the activist allegedly faced abuse and was in mental distress when she was held at the hospital.
Following the earlier discharges of political dissident Tran Huynh Duy Thuc and environmental activist Hoang Thi Minh Hong, Hanh’s release marked the latest possible positive progress in the fight for human rights in Vietnam.
Nguyen Thuy Hanh, 61, in the last decade, had taken part in public demonstrations to protest China’s aggression in the South China Sea and honor the soldiers of the former Republic of Vietnam who lost their lives in the 1974 Paracel Islands battle with Chinese naval forces.
However, Hanh became better known for founding the 50K Fund, a charitable fund dedicated to helping families of Vietnamese prisoners of conscience in the last decade. In 2020, she also opened a bank account to receive condolence money for the family of Dong Tam village leader Le Dinh Kinh, who was killed in a police raid on Jan. 9, 2020. But Vietcombank, the bank where Hanh opened her account, froze the deposited funds after allegations were made by the authorities, claiming that the money was used to fund “terrorism.”
In 2021, the Hanoi City Police arrested Hanh and charged her with “distributing anti-state propaganda,” a violation of Article 117 of Vietnam’s Penal Code. According to public information, the activist was never tried for her alleged crime. However, there was unconfirmed and unverified information among the human rights defenders community in Vietnam that the government had tried Hanh in secret and sentenced her to three years.
In reality, Hanh was detained at a temporary prison in Hanoi, the Hanoi City Police’s Detention Center No. 2, and later, she was transferred to be kept at the Central Psychiatric Hospital for mental health treatment. Hanh had a history of suffering from severe depression a few years back.
On the day of her release, Hanh’s husband described on Facebook that he drove from his home in Da Nang on Oct. 3 and arrived in Hanoi the next day. He rented a hotel room near Hanoi City Police’s Detention Center No. 2 and waited for his wife, who will be released on Oct. 7. However, when Chenh was at the facility, he received a call from Hanh. He learned from her that, for unknown reasons, the prison had transferred her to another detention facility in Thanh Hoa Province two days earlier, a three-hour drive from Hanoi.
Chenh described the journey to meet his wife after her release as “chaotically dramatic.” He later speculated on social media that the Vietnamese police may have moved Hanh to a distant location because they were afraid that large numbers of her supporters would come to the detention center to welcome her release in Hanoi.
Hanh reportedly arrived in Hanoi on Oct. 7 from Thanh Hoa, finally meeting her husband, relatives, and friends around noon. As shown on Chenh’s Facebook page, those who came to see her included family members of other Vietnamese political prisoners, such as Bui Thi Thien Can, the mother of journalist Pham Doan Trang, and Do Thi Thu, the wife of land rights activist Trinh Ba Phuong.
Many activists and supporters on social media celebrated her release. Meanwhile, others raised concerns about her declining health, as the activist was diagnosed with cervical cancer in January this year and has received numerous sessions of radio and chemotherapy treatment at K Hospital in Hanoi.
Earlier this year, Hanh’s husband and other activists, as well as concerned citizens, signed a petition calling for her release from the psychiatric hospital and allowing her to return home while receiving treatment. However, local authorities rejected their demand, and Hanh was again returned to compulsory mental treatment.
On March 22, the Hanoi Police Department announced the extension of Hanh’s temporary detention. It said that she would be taken back to Police Detention Center No. 2, where she was held before her forced treatment at the psychiatric facility.
Human rights organizations have also continuously advocated for Hanh’s release, underscoring the unjust nature of her persecution and detention.
Amnesty International previously called her arrest “arbitrary” and urged the Vietnamese authorities to “immediately and unconditionally release” the activist due to the vital aspect of her humanitarian work.
Last July, California Congresswoman Michelle Steel also raised concerns about the incarceration of Hanh in a letter to the U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam, Marc Knapper, highlighting the problematic status of her health as she battles cancer and depression. Steel also criticized the Vietnamese Communist Party for its attempt to stifle the voices of independent individuals who offer support for human rights defenders in trouble.
While Nguyen Thuy Hanh’s release was achieved through years of international advocacy, the fight for human rights in Vietnam is far from over. Vietnam takes pride in its bamboo diplomacy, building solid diplomatic relationships with democratic nations while maintaining a close tie with China. However, to truly align with democratic values, Vietnam must also uphold fundamental freedoms by freeing more human rights defenders, journalists, and political dissidents.