Hồ Đức Hòa, a Catholic dissident, leaves Vietnam for the US
Arrested in 2011, he was sentenced to 13 years in prison, and released early thanks to appeals from the US State Department. In an interview with Radio Free Asia, the activist talks about his experience. Despite serious health problems, he will continue to pray for the other prisoners.
Hanoi (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Hồ Đức Hòa was released and taken to the United States. The Catholic activist was sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2013 for engaging in activities designed “to overthrow the people’s government”. In reality, all he did was to be an active member of the Diocese of Vinh and work with a news agency run by Redemptorist Fathers.
In an interview with Radio Free Asia, the activist talked about his time in prison, expressing regret for not being able to spend the last few years with his family, but also relief at finally arriving in the United States after numerous appeals from the State Department.
“[T]he first feeling [that] came to me was that I missed my mother,” he said, and “my lost father, who passed away when I was in prison; and my younger sibling, who also died when I was in prison.”
For the activist, who was held in four different places, temporarily in three and permanently in one, “the detention center in Nghe An province was the worst in terms of living conditions”.
Noting that, he “lived in the areas for political prisoners, which were separated from the places for ordinary prisoners,” he “quickly recognized discrimination towards political prisoners right after arriving at each detention center.”
Such were the conditions that, “we had to live in hot and tiny cells and lie next to the toilet. The water was so contaminated that we often got sore eyes and became itchy after having a shower.”
Hòa found consolation in reading the Scriptures and religious books, which, at first, he was able to consult every day.
During his stays “at temporary detention centers, I was allowed to receive scriptures and read them daily,” but “things changed since 2020, when I was at Nam Ha Detention Center. They tightened the policy and only allowed me to read scriptures once a week – every Sunday.”
When “I strongly demanded the right to read scriptures on a daily basis, they issued a document accusing me of violating the detention center’s rules. Then I went on a 10-day hunger strike to fight for the right to read scriptures.”
In his view, “religious practice is a right, not a favor. However, they did not change their harsh policies towards religious prisoners. I was very weak during my hunger strike and my health has been deteriorating significantly since then.”
Now Hòa is free, in the United States, where he arrived on 11 May, on the eve of Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính’s visit to Washington for the summit with other Southeast Asian countries.
Still, he hasn’t forgotten the suffering of the other inmates, who he hopes will take as much care of their physical and mental health as possible.
“[W]e’ll stay with you,” he said, “pray for you and continue our advocacy efforts to get you released, as well as better care, especially for those with serious health issues.”
In his case, he was released early, after nine years, because of poor health. After he was denied medical treatment, he developed abdominal pain, hypertension, numbness in the limbs, and weakness, which he revealed to his family in a letter sent three years ago.
Since 2016, Vietnamese activists and bloggers have been targeted by a government campaign against dissent. Critics face harassment, intimidation, surveillance and police questioning, and are often subjected to long periods of pre-trial detention without access to legal counsel.
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