Phan Van Thu

Phan Van Thu is one of 22 members of An Dan Dai Dao Buddhist sect arrested in February 2012 under Art. 258 and tried under Art. 79 of the 1999 Penal Code by Phú Yên People’s Court in January 2013, in what is called the "Council for the Laws and Public Affairs of Bia Son" affair. The group was charged with subversion and accused of writing documents critical of the government, setting up two companies and investing in an eco-tourism park as a cover for recruiting supporters. However, those affiliated with the group maintained that the activities of the group were purely religious and that the authorities interpreted their religious teaching in political terms. Human rights groups and supporters consider the arrests a repression by the State of the peaceful religious group.

Arrested on February 5, 2012, he was sentenced to life in prison under Art. 79. This is the heaviest sentence ever given under this article. He suffers from poor health.

May 2019:

Prison authorities at Gia Trung prison camp were refusing to provide Phan Van Thu with medical treatment, despite having diabetes, arthritis, hypertension, and being in heart failure. He was being housed with Nguyen Trung Ton, who was also suffering from untreated health issues after a brutal attack from unknown thugs with special police equipment in February 2017.

June 2019:

Phan Van Thu's wife has reported that several members of the jailed group the Council for the Laws and Public Affairs of Bia Son are in very poor health. Thu's family has filed to suspend his sentence on medical grounds, but authorities denied their petition. In addition, fellow member Doan Dinh Nam is in ill health and receiving prison-supervised dialysis. Members of the group are now appealing to the international community for support in their cases. 

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On October 5, political prisoner Doan Dinh Nam died from kidney failure; he had only recently been moved from prison to a hospital for further treatment, despite many requests for treatment from his family. An Dan Dai Dao's founder, Phan Van Thu, has been suffering from poor health in prison. Read our report on the lack of medical treatment for imprisoned members of the An Dan Dai Dao Buddhist sect, here, in which we interviewed Mr. Thu's daughter-in-law for the latest update on his and other members' situation.

March 2020:

Phan Van Thu's family told us that he continued to suffer from multiple health ailments and a restrictive visit and supply policy; these situations were made even worse by the coronavirus situation, as family visits and the receipt of supplies from families at his prison were suspended for the month of March. Read the full update, here.

February 2013:

The Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and three UN Special Rapporteurs sent a letter to the Vietnamese government regarding the case of the 22 members of the Bia Son Council for Public Law and Affairs, expressing their concerns regarding the fairness of their trial and the motivations behind their arrests. They asked for further information about the case and how the arrests are compatible with international law. 

In 2014, Phan Van Thu's wife, Ms. Vo Thi Thanh Thuy, sent a letter to international human rights organization to tell the story of An Dan Dai Dao, the arrest and trial of 25 members of the group

April 2020:

International Commission of Jurists took action for the 21 imprisoned members of the An Dan Dai Dao Buddhist sect by sharing an open letter calling for improved access to healthcare for the group during the COVID19 outbreak and the release of high risk prisoners. The ICJ stated that, “The failure to provide necessary treatment to the detainees leaves them vulnerable to deterioration of serious pre-existing medical conditions – in violation of the State’s obligations to protect their rights to health, humane treatment, dignity, life and freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.”

August 2020:

Guests for the afternoon session of Vietnam Advocacy Day on August 7, which focused on torture, were journalist Doan Bao Chau from Hanoi; Nguyen Thi Hong — wife of Rev. Nguyen Cong Chinh, a former political prisoner recently exiled to the United States; and Ngoc Dien, daughter-in-law of Phan Anh Thu — founder of the Buddhist sect An Dan Dai Dao. Vu Quoc Dung from International Service for Human Rights also joined the panel from Europe. 

Highlights of the afternoon session included discussion of how Hong was arrested and assaulted and her three-week hunger strike while in police custody. Ngoc Dien described the government’s relentless attacks on her religious group, including the takeover of the land they were using to build an ecopark, and the mistreatment of her father-in-law, who is suffering from ill health in prison.

February 2021:

The 88 Project created this call to share with your network and representatives to raise awareness for Phan Van Thu, leader of the Buddhist group An Dan Dai Dao, who is serving a life sentence in prison for his religious and social work. Thu is suffering from multiple health conditions and desperately needs medical attention. 

Vietnam Human Rights Defenders’ Weekly Report for May 20-26, 2019: Prisoners in An Diem Conduct Hunger Strike after Imprisoned Blogger Nguyen Van Hoa Taken Away, Defend the Defenders, May 26, 2019

Jailed Vietnamese Environmental Activists ‘Seriously Ill,’ Says Wife of Group Leader, Radio Free Asia, June 14, 2019

Update on Imprisoned Members of An Dan Dai Dao Buddhist Sect: Lack of Medical Treatment Results in Death and Prolonged Suffering in Detention, The 88 Project, November 13, 2019

Update on Political Prisoner Phan Van Thu from his Family, March 2020, The 88 Project, March 22, 2020

The International Commission of Jurists, Action for Imprisoned An Dan Dai Dao Buddhist Practitioners, April 2020, The 88 Project

Take action for Phan Van Thu, The 88 Project, February 2021

Facebook post reporting Phan Van Thu's death