VZCZCXRO2322
RR RUEHDT RUEHPB
DE RUEHHM #0103/01 0301130
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 301130Z JAN 07
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2065
INFO RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0028
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 2230
RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI 1487
RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 000103 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM SOCI PREL PGOV KIRF PREF VM
SUBJECT: ACTIVIST BUI KIM THANH REMAINS INVOLUNTARILY IN MENTAL 
HOSPITAL 
 
REF: A. 06 HCMC 1483; B) 06 HCMC 1361 AND PREVIOUS; C) 06 
 
     ¶B. HCMC 1270 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000103  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) On January 25, we met separately with two 
colleagues of Bui Kim Thanh, the HCMC land rights activist 
who was involuntarily committed to a mental institution in 
November 2006 (refs A and C).  We questioned both 
intensively.  Both appeared credible.  They said that they 
had known and worked with Thanh for a number of years in an 
informal support network for persons with land grievances. 
One contact said she was able to visit Thanh at least six 
times in the mental institution, most recently on January 
7, after bribing hospital staff.  Initially, hospital 
administrators had banned all non-family access to Thanh 
"per the family's instructions."  Thanh did not appear to 
be mistreated.  During the January 7 visit, Thanh handed 
one contact two letters and asked not to be visited again 
"for the sake of everyone involved."  (Note:  Per reftels, 
Thanh acted as an organizer and legal advisor in the 
movement.  Per ref B, in mid-2006, she sought to expand the 
visibility of the land rights movement by referring some 
land protestors to Tran Khue, a HCMC-based dissident and 
member of the Democratic Party of Vietnam.  End Note.) 
 
¶2. (SBU) Both individuals said that Thanh  did not have any 
prior history of mental illness.  One contact said that, a 
few years ago, police were spreading a rumor among the land 
rights petitioners that Thanh was mentally ill in an effort 
to dissuade persons from seeking her assistance.  As a 
precautionary measure, Thanh went to a local hospital in 
HCMC for a psychiatric work up.  Thanh reportedly received 
a clean bill of health.  Our contacts added that Thanh had 
serious marital problems and suffered spousal abuse because 
of her involvement in the land rights movement and decision 
to join the Democratic Party of Vietnam.  In late October, 
Thanh reportedly began divorce proceedings, which were 
suspended because of her hospitalization. 
 
Thanh's Letters 
--------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) The two letters given by Thanh to our contact are 
in the same handwriting as other documents that Bui Kim 
Thanh had handed us in 2006.  The first letter apologizes 
to the membership of the Democratic Party of Vietnam (DPV) 
and the land dispute movement and noted that she will 
"temporarily" be unable to serve as a pro-bono lawyer.  It 
notes that she had been "kidnapped" and kept in the mental 
institution against her will without any legal basis.  This 
letter is signed "lawyer Bui Kim Thanh."  The second letter 
-- a photocopy -- is addressed to DPV Vice-Chairman Tran 
Khue, Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) General 
Secretary Thich Quang Do and land dispute supporters.  It 
 
SIPDIS 
says that she has decided to stop serving as a lawyer for 
the DPV and the land rights movement so that she "could 
focus on medical treatment and family matters."  The second 
letter omits "lawyer" from the signature bloc. 
 
¶4. (SBU) On January 30, the same contact delivered a copy 
of a typed letter, reportedly written by Thanh's husband to 
the HCMC authorities on November 7, 2006, five days after 
Thanh was involuntarily committed to the mental 
institution.  The letter requests the mental institution to 
deny all access to non-family members.  (The contact was 
able to make a copy of the letter at that time.)  The 
letter refers to a decision of the HCMC District Three 
prosecutor to refer Thanh to the mental institution for 
"compulsory medical treatment."  The letter notes that 
"during my wife's sickness, she was taken advantage of and 
lured by counter-revolutionary elements such as Hoang Minh 
Chinh (General Secretary of the DPV in Hanoi), Tran Khue, 
UBCV Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang, and Thich Quang Do." 
(Note:  In October, Thanh and Khue met Thich Huyen Quang 
and Thich Quang Do in an HCMC hospital where the UBCV 
patriarch was recuperating.  End Note.)  The letter adds 
that "[Thanh] had traveled to many provinces in the Mekong 
Delta to receive complaints and to forward them to the DPV. 
She sought to instigate chaos and create social and 
security disorder at the complaints offices and state 
agencies.  Right now, these elements are still trying to 
influence my wife by sending individuals to deliver 
instructions and materials to interfere with my wife's 
medical treatment, while, at the same time, slander and 
badmouth the police and my family." 
 
And the Husband Says... 
---------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) On January 19, we called Thanh's husband to 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000103  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
discuss her case.  He refused a request to meet, saying 
that the case was a "personal matter."  He told us that 
Thanh was improving, taking medicine and that she would 
remain in the hospital until she "completely recovers."  He 
said that police have dropped the criminal case against her 
because of her mental illness 
 
¶6. (SBU) Comment:  Thanh's colleagues made clear that they 
did not believe Thanh to be mentally ill, let alone pose a 
threat to herself, her family or society.  Thanh had been 
an important figure in the grassroots land rights movement 
for many years.  However, only after she began associating 
with the DPV -- politicizing the land rights issue -- did 
the authorities move strongly against her.  The style and 
tone of the three letters strongly suggest continuing 
police involvement in this case.  From the letters, it 
appears that Thanh has been pressured to disavow her links 
with the DPV and the land rights movement as a precondition 
for possible release, although, nearly a month after 
reportedly writing the second letter, she remains 
hospitalized.  End Comment. 
WINNICK