VRNs (July 10th, 2014) – Sai Gon – “I’m done, but what’s going on with my brothers in jail?”, Huynh Anh Tri asked us while he knew he had contracted HIV. May 28th 2014 – the day that I never forget.
Huynh Anh Tri was born in Saigon, South Vietnam, in 1971. In the early of 1990s, Mr Tri and his family emigrated to Thailand. In 1999, he became a member of the Foundation for Free Vietnam in Bangkok whose principles were to protest against the dictatorship of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
In December 1999, Huynh Anh Tri and his older brother, Huynh Anh Tu (born in 1968) were arrested in Saigon. Both of them got the same sentence of 14 years in jail due to their “terrorist” crimes under Article 79 of Vietnamese Penal Code.
In 2001, Huynh Anh Tri was transferred to a cell of Xuan Loc prison (in Dong Nai province). As in jail, Mr Tri had many arguments with the prison wardens about their conscienceless custodial status for prisoners, in particular political ones.
In 2005 and 2006, Huynh Anh Tri accompanying with other political prisoners sent then Minister of Public Security – Mr Nguyen Hong Anh and the prison wardens a letter against this prison’s regulations that just permitted to use only one razor blade to shave, cut hairs for so many prisoners (both usual prisoners and political prisoners). Those rules led them to contract HIV and other infectious diseases because they shared the same cells. Specially, after the HIV-positive prisoners were shackled till bleeding, unclean shackles were reused for the others. That causedall of political prisoners and Huynh Anh Tri infection.
Mr Tri recalled, prisoners were afraid of dirty shackles. The shackles that used for HIV-infected people were full of blood, even a little bit of their skin and flesh, and never cleaned. “I asked a doctor who spoke for HIV/AIDS propagandas of the General Department No 8 (General Department of Sentence Enforcement and Judicial Assistant) under Vietnam Ministry of Public Security that if I used the shackles with blood of HIV-infected prisoners, could I be infected? He answered “I have no idea!”, said Mr Tri.
Prisoners who want to avoid the unclean shackles have to know the rules. They will give a part of their payments, sometimes up to one million VND in canteen books to a warden who takes charge of shackles. Then they can take a clean one. Tri had taken the unclean for a long time.
We questioned him, “Why do you want to tell us your own story about HIV infection?”. Tri said he had to accuse evils of his prison to protect the political prisoners. Mr Nguyen Huu Cau, who attended during the talk added, “I saw a person who was about to be locked with the unclean shackle went down on his knees and bowed down to Lieutenant Giang many times to get out of it.”
Huynh Anh Tri’s testing results at a medical centre in Saigon reads “HIV test (quick test) found HIV anti-body, suggested for additional Elisa HIV testing”. Elisa testing at Pasteur Institute of Ho Chi Minh City on May 29th 2014, signed by Ph.D Le Chi Thanh said: “The rate of TCD4 is 5.89% while from 29.5 to 41.9% as normal. The number of TCD4 cells is 44.00/mm3 while its usual threshold needs to reach 576-1254/mm3”. Mr Tri’s body has developed many opportunistic diseases on his skin and tuberculosis. He was at the final stage of AIDS.
Mr Tri’s sworn brother who brought him to the medical tests said: “With testing results, a doctor talked to him in person. He told that he had predicted and got ready to accept these results. The doctor hugged him immediately and cried. He said they used this way to put many patriots to death.” Tri remembered, “He gave me money and told that he would try his best to save my life. I said I was fine. What concerned me was my brothers still in jail. Because I had witnessed there 14 cases that political prisoners were infected SIDA and passed away.”
Huynh Anh Tu, who had the same crime and sentence said: “The political prisoners like us know to keep our dignities, never get tattoos as criminal prisoners. So it’s hardly to say we got infected with HIV through that way.”
We asked “What does he dream of in the last days?” Ms Vo Thi Anh Tuyet, born in 1986, Mr Tri’s lover for 6 months, who takes care of Tri with all her heart since she has known that he is HIV positive, said: “Tri wanted us back to our hometown to live with each other. I asked him to get marriage. He told it came to be when he got better. If something bad happened, I would suffer so much.”
“Awareness of his disease, Ms Tuyet’s parents planned to visit him in Saigon. But he said he was young so that he couldn’t let the seniors come to him. Then he woke up and went to An Giang to meet his parents-in-law,” said his sworn brother.
Ms Tuyet’s parents wanted their daughter to take care of Tri, because they considered it as both her fortune and destiny.
We asked her “Why do you fall in love with an ex-prisoner?” She waited a little bit before answered: “Tri is the man who lives with love and loyalty.”
When his disease got worst, many people knew him well and more people who were not his friends had asked for his condition, helped and prayed for him.
About 10:00 pm in July 4th, Mr Tu and Ms Tuyet found Tri’s condition getting dangerous, immediately took him to Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Ho Chi Minh City. However, he wasn’t received here. They were told to transfer him to Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital. Relatives let him there. Once again, this hospital didn’t admit him because he had no household registration book. Does an emergency case really need that book? At the moment, he had a fainting and was not aware of everything around. Doctors and medical staffs evicted him and his relatives from the hospital. But there was a doctor who came and shook him up. Afterwards, they admitted and took him to recovery room.
At 1:30 pm on July 5th 2014, Huynh Anh Tri passed away in Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital. His family asked to bring his body back to bury. The hospital didn’t allow because no one could certify them as his relatives. A standard for relative certification is that they share the same book. Upon release from prison, Mr Tu and Mr Tri had police officers written their identifications in the household registration book of their older sister – Mrs Dao. But those public servants made difficulties for them. From the end of 2013 till now, it has not completed so how to do this certification?
The second solution is to meet local police to authorize Mr Tri as Mrs Dao’s relative. They can’t find the police on Saturday afternoon. His family also thought that if the police had their own reasons to refuse making his registration book, so his certification neither. As a result, there was no way to authorize Tri’s relatives to take his body back.
Prisoner of the century – Nguyen Huu Cau who appeared after Tri’s death said: “There are several brokers who come along with us asking for help from A to Z.” This was an ordered operation rather than an earning for lives by the ones who live on death bodies. He told that “ While one broker was convincing us, a woman in short pants came and talked that ‘Saturday is an odd day. You don’t have right to work here.’ The broker immediately left”.
We and Mr Tu met the chief nursing officer named Huong to persuade her that Mr Tu and Mr Tri had been released from prison on the same day, and their release papers filled the same of their parents’ names. It’s absolutely sure that they are siblings. Mrs Huong told Mr Tu that “You also have no registration book. For us, a picture is worth a thousand words.” A long time of explanation and persuasion, the nursing officer still said: “We can’t violate hospital regulations.”
Then when we asked to directly meet hospital’s authorities, she called a doctor. Perhaps, he’s a deputy chief. He also agreed with this nurse. Since Mrs Dao gave him her birthday certificate and Mr Tri’s, he made a phone call asking for his head’s directions. And finally, they agreed for us to take Mr Tri’s body back.
Priests of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, VRNs’ staff communications, freelancers for Justice and Peace Department, brotherhood in the Movement for Vietnamese Road and some prisoners of conscience came and wrapped him in a shroud in Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital at 6:00 pm. After that his body lay in state in hamlet 2’s chapel of the Mother of Perpetual Help Parish on Truong Sa street, near Rach Bung Binh crossroad.
Darkness can not cover the light, can not blind a person with light in heart like Huynh Anh Tri and communities.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks