Canadian describes abysmal prison conditions in Vietnam
Stephen Denney
Ottawa Citizen
June 6, 2005 Monday
Desperate Canadian inmate pleads for mercy in Vietnam: Malnutrition,
illness run wild in corrupt prison, letter claims
By Glen McGregor, The Ottawa Citizen
A Canadian man serving a lengthy prison term in Vietnam is offering a rare
glimpse into the horrific conditions of a foreign jail, where malnourished
inmates live in squalor and, he claims, must rely on family to pay bribes for
the medical care they need to survive.
Randy Sachs of Hamilton, Ont., entered the Vietnamese prison system in 2003 as
a fit and healthy 26-year-old. Now, two years into a 16-year sentence for drug
smuggling, he suffers from kidney problems and rotting teeth and is so poorly
fed his mother expects he will die before he is released.
In a letter smuggled past prison censors earlier this year, Mr. Sachs alleges a
deadly practice of extorting money from foreign prisoners and their families by
withholding medical treatment.
The government of Vietnam rejects Mr. Sachs' allegations and says its prisoners
are treated humanely.
After his arrest in 2003, Mr. Sachs was imprisoned in the Chi Hoa Detention
Centre in Ho Chi Minh City, where he says he was forced to share a
four-by-seven-metre cell with seven other inmates and troops of cockroaches and
rats.
"We slept on a straw mat on the floor, which is rough cement," he wrote. "Urine
dripped from the cracked ceiling above my aching head."
The only fresh air in the cell came when guards opened a hatch to pass in a
single bowl of rice for each inmate, twice a day, says Mr. Sachs
"I developed severe rashes and scabies from the lack of clean water to shower
with and to drink."
In the scorching heat of Southern Vietnam, prisoners receive only 18 litres of
water per day for drinking, bathing, and washing their clothes and dishes, he
says.
"I lost at least 15 pounds and suffered grave malnutrition and dehydration. I
have lost eight teeth and desperately need repairs to at least 10 more teeth."
In September 2003, Mr. Sachs was joined in the prison by another Canadian,
Samuel Dong Sung Kim, a Vancouver man who had been charged with swindling
students out of tuition fees at an English school he ran in Ho Chi Minh.
"Being Canadians, we banded together. He shared everything with me," Mr. Sachs
wrote. "Sam used the money his wife sent him to bribe the guards to give us
more water and to get a doctor to fix my rashes and clear up the scabies that
ravaged my body."
The doctor was, in fact, a fellow inmate with no medical experience who had
purchased the title by paying the guards, Mr. Sachs says.
"This is a common practice in all Vietnamese prisons. Inmates give and
prescribe medicine to other inmates."
Mr. Sachs and Mr. Kim pleaded with officials from the Canadian Consulate to
arrange for a real dentist, he says. The consulate eventually secured
permission to have Mr. Sachs treated by a Canadian dentist living in Ho Chi
Minh.
The consulate also arranged for the men to have weekly visits to the prison
infirmary, where Mr. Kim complained of chest pains and dizziness. The prison
doctor declared him fit, despite a test showing high blood pressure, Mr. Sachs
says.
"He checked Sam's pulse and said he was fine, go back to his cell and stop
trying to get free medicine. Seven days later, Sam had a heart attack. Luckily,
he survived."
Prison officials also lied about the quality of Mr. Kim's medical care to the
Canadian Consulate, Mr. Sachs claims.
"When in hospital, (Sam's) wife bribed the guards with $500 Cdn so she could
sit vigil and take care of her husband."
Mr. Sachs stayed in the Ho Chi Minh prison for 18 months as Vietnamese
authorities investigated allegations he had been involved in a scheme to import
1,000 tablets of ecstasy from Europe. At one point, it appeared he and another
Canadian co-accused, Nguyen Van Hai, 41, might face execution for the crime.
They escaped the firing squad, but last year were convicted for trafficking.
Mr. Sachs was sentenced to 16 years in prison and Mr. Nguyen 15 years. As
Vietnam has neither a parole system nor a prisoner-exchange treaty with Canada,
he will likely remain in a Vietnamese prison for the full sentence.
After their convictions, Mr. Sachs and Mr. Kim were transferred to the Thu Duc
prison in the province of Binh Thuan, east of Ho Chi Minh, where they remain
today.
At Thu Duc, Mr. Sachs claims, "inmates are forced to work outside in the sun
and rain doing hard labour. If you pay the team officer his monthly fee of
300,000 Vietnamese dong ($30 Cdn) you may have light duties or not have to
work."
Mr. Sachs says he watched as the health of one of his cellmates at Thu Duc
deteriorated because he couldn't afford to pay the prison doctor. The American
inmate, identified by Mr. Sachs as James Bon, requested medical help for two
months, Mr. Sachs says, but was repeatedly refused. Mr. Bon eventually had a
major health crisis and was taken to a hospital outside the prison where he
died three days later.
"This death could have been prevented. (The prison doctor) killed this man
without a thought by delaying him the basic medical help he needed, just for a
chance to extort a few dollars."
Mr. Sachs also wrote that one of the inmates in the international wing of the
prison is a 51-year-old Filipino man who was refused medicine to treat his high
blood pressure because he couldn't afford to pay for it. The man suffered a
stroke that left him half-paralyzed. The other inmates now care for him, Mr.
Sachs says.
His Canadian friend, Mr. Kim, pays about $40 a month to avoid work, Mr. Sachs
says, and even more for medical treatments.
"Medical officers here will not give any medical care unless they are paid
under the table. He must also pay the doctor to give him his own medicine that
his family sends from Canada," Mr. Sachs wrote.
"The issue comes down to how much money can be extorted from wealthy
foreigners. When we request a consulate doctor, they throw up red tape and
refuse," he says.
"We are criminals and I do not ask for sympathy as I made my bed and must sleep
in it, but I'm due for compassion and basic human rights."
Contrary to Mr. Sachs' allegations, the Embassy of Vietnam in Ottawa insists
that all prisoners are treated humanely. Drin Hai, an embassy press attache,
said prisoners get the medical care they need without paying bribes. The
embassy did not respond to a written request for a more detailed explanation.
Mr. Sachs has one advantage over other foreign prisoners in Thu Duc: he speaks
fluent Vietnamese. He learned the language from Vietnamese immigrants who lived
nearby when he grew up in Kitchener.
He later moved to Vancouver Island, where he was involved with a Vietnamese
gang called the "Tommy Hilfiger Gang," named after the jackets they wore. He
served prison time in Canada for trafficking cocaine.
Mr. Sachs' mother, Dee Hogle, says she fears her son will die in prison if he
is not released soon. She worries about his kidney problems caused by
malnutrition and a serious bee allergy -- in prison, he doesn't have access to
an epinephrine injector used to treat the allergy.
Foreign Affairs spokesman Rodney Moore says the department is monitoring Mr.
Sachs' condition as best it can.
"The Canadian Consulate makes monthly visits to ensure he is receiving
appropriate medical treatments," Mr. Moore said.
Ms. Hogle wants Foreign Affairs to add her son's name to a request for
clemency. The government of Vietnam will periodically release prisoners,
including foreigners, as a gesture of goodwill and Ms. Hogle believes it will
do so again after the Vietnamese elections in the fall.
But Foreign Affairs says it can't add his name to the clemency list until he
has served a third of his sentence -- more than five years.
Ms. Hogle says her son won't last that long. He risked retribution from prison
authorities for his seven-page letter, she says, but he wanted the Canadian
media to know the conditions in the prison that he and other foreigners endure.
GRAPHIC:
Photo: David Longstreath, The Associated Press; At the Thu Duc prison in Binh
Thuan, Vietnam, inmates are forced to work outside in the sun and rain doing
hard labour. If prisoners pay the team officer a monthly fee equivalent to $30
Cdn, they may be assigned light duties, says Canadian detainee Randy Sachs.;
Photo: Greg Henkenhaf, The Canadian Press; Randy Sachs sent a seven-page letter
from prison in Vietnam to tell the Canadian media about the appalling
conditions he and other detainees endure.
ELCHINO
firing squad!
Eris
<ElChinoBoa...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>Usually people caught with this anout of drug will be executed by
>firing squad!
Drugs and sex, I would rather see child abusers shot.
VIET THIET
abusers, thieves....
Only the dumbest retards like El would stoop low to kiss their anus!
Duke of URL
> Ottawa Citizen
> Randy Sachs of Hamilton, Ont., entered the Vietnamese prison system
> in 2003 as a fit and healthy 26-year-old. Now, two years into a
> 16-year sentence for drug smuggling, he suffers from kidney problems
Fucking WHAAAAA ... remind me to feel sorry for a drug smuggler who got
caught, got properly tried, got appropriately sentenced, and is serving his
time under the normal prison conditions of the country whose laws he
violated. Yes, remind me sometime around February 31st.
--
Moses.D...@gmail.com
Cliologist, Philanthropologist, Prothonotary Wibbler,
Paleoconservative, Surface Warrior Squid
Stephen Denney
"Duke of URL" <MacB...@kdsi.net> wrote:
> Message-ID: <11advkn...@corp.supernews.com>
The article wasn't just about him, though, it was about prison conditions
in Vietnam, in which not just drug offenders but also political dissidents
and persecuted Montagnards are detained.
- Steve Denney
Yaketyak
read it much less care.
On Wed, 8 Jun 2005 11:48:31 -0700, Stephen Denney <sde...@OCF.Berkeley.EDU>
wrote:
->
->"Duke of URL" <MacB...@kdsi.net> wrote:
->> Message-ID: <11advkn...@corp.supernews.com>
->>
->> Stephen Denney wrote:
->>
->>> Ottawa Citizen
->>> Randy Sachs of Hamilton, Ont., entered the Vietnamese prison system
->>> in 2003 as a fit and healthy 26-year-old. Now, two years into a
->>> 16-year sentence for drug smuggling, he suffers from kidney problems
->>
->> Fucking WHAAAAA ... remind me to feel sorry for a drug smuggler who got
->> caught, got properly tried, got appropriately sentenced, and is serving
his
->> time under the normal prison conditions of the country whose laws he
->> violated. Yes, remind me sometime around February 31st.
->> --
->> Moses.D...@gmail.com
->> Cliologist, Philanthropologist, Prothonotary Wibbler,
->> Paleoconservative, Surface Warrior Squid
->
->The article wasn't just about him, though, it was about prison conditions
->in Vietnam, in which not just drug offenders but also political dissidents
->and persecuted Montagnards are detained.
->
-> - Steve Denney
New Europe..
Reminding you why your ancestors left Old Europe.
Duke of URL
> "Duke of URL" <MacB...@kdsi.net> wrote:
>> Message-ID: <11advkn...@corp.supernews.com>
>> Stephen Denney wrote:
>>
>>> Ottawa Citizen
>>> Randy Sachs of Hamilton, Ont., entered the Vietnamese prison system
>>> in 2003 as a fit and healthy 26-year-old. Now, two years into a
>>> 16-year sentence for drug smuggling, he suffers from kidney problems
>>
>> Fucking WHAAAAA ... remind me to feel sorry for a drug smuggler who
>> got caught, got properly tried, got appropriately sentenced, and is
>> serving his time under the normal prison conditions of the country
>> whose laws he violated. Yes, remind me sometime around February 31st.
>
> conditions in Vietnam, in which not just drug offenders but also
> political dissidents and persecuted Montagnards are detained.
True, but I got the strong impression that it was the doper's fate we are
supposed to cry about.
CAVEAT: I do know that prison conditions in Nam are disgusting; however,
from all I've been able to find, they seem to treat every prisoner equally
badly once the con is in for the long term. Preliminary "re-education" of
dissidents is a different matter.
1mitee
...
He has made a good career with the issue of prison conditions in South
Vietnam before 1975; however after the communist takeover, he has been
silent about the bamboo gulag and if anyone raises any issue with human
rights violations in Vietnam, he immediately shows his sympathy and
apologizes for the commies in Hanoi.
Where is he when these people need him?
!Jones wrote:
> On Tue, 7 Jun 2005 18:38:38 -0700, in alt.war.vietnam Stephen Denney
> <sde...@OCF.Berkeley.EDU> wrote:
>
> >Randy Sachs of Hamilton, Ont., entered the Vietnamese prison system in 2003 as
> >a fit and healthy 26-year-old. Now, two years into a 16-year sentence for drug
> >smuggling, he suffers from kidney problems and rotting teeth and is so poorly
> >fed his mother expects he will die before he is released.
>
> But... has he rehabilitated himself?
>
> Jones... who thinks that jail is *supposed* to suck!
lon...@earthlink.net
1mitee wrote: (of Tom Harkin)
>
> Where is he when these people need him?
And where is the mainstream media? Why are those great bastions of
humanitarian causes beating their breasts over charges of inhumane
treatment of 57 inmates at Gitmo and totally ignoring Amnesty
International's report on what is happening to hundreds of political
prisoners in Vietnam?
Oh, I forgot. Vietnam is over and all we care about now is trade
relations. Roll out the "red" carpet. Vietnam's top commie is coming.
To hell with the denial of basic human rights. Can't rain on his parade
by publicizing the brutality of the regime he represents.
Human rights walks when money talks!
Donna
Minh Duc
books, articles about conditions in Vietnamese Communist prisons
written by South Vietnames officials, by Nguyen Chi Thien, a dissident
who spent more than 20 years in different prisons .
Extorting sick people when they need treatment is inhumane but this is
the common practice in Vietnam now, even outside of prisons. In most
Vietnam hospitals, patients have to bribe doctors, nurses and hospital
staff to get better treatment, better medicine... Patients who don't
have money are left uncared.
Minh Duc
lon...@earthlink.net
Montagnards, wrote an excellent article that appeared in Sunday's
Washington Times (June 12) - "Vietnam: When will they ever learn?"
He begins by pointing out something that everyone seems to have either
forgotten or has chosen to turn a blind eye to - that Vietnam is ranked
among the "Top Ten" of the world's worst violators of religious freedom
and human rights.
As a token jesture, while they are negotiating with the US State
Department to gain US backing for Vietnam membership in the World Trade
Organization, Hanoi released a few high-profile political and religious
prisoners (some who have been imprisoned for up to 16 years) but they
were immediately placed under 24-hour surveillance and house arrest and
barred from media access, including using the Internet.
The conditions of the prisons in Vietnam is the important part in the
article about the Canadian drug dealer (as Steve pointed out) because
after the "token releases" Hanoi has been filling their prisons with
not-so-high-profile political/religious prisoners (where they will join
the many Buddist Monks, Catholic priests and Christain pastors and
laypersons Hanoi did not release) - political and religious prisoners
who have been sentenced up to 15 years for "under-mining national
security and unity".
In addition to the continuing persecution of the Montagnards and
peaceful activists for basic human rights, Hanoi in particular, has
also trageted ethic minority Protestants, Mennonites and members of the
banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam.
PM Khai is coming here for one reason - trade. And I agree with Mike
that unless President Bush sets concrete bench-marks and timelines for
Hanoi to prove they are improving their citizen's religious freedom and
human rigths, he should curtail US trade with Vietnam and withhold
diplomatic support for Vietnam's membership in the WTO.
And that we should remind Bush of what he pledged in his second
Inaugural speech: "All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know:
The United States will not ignore your oppression , or excuse your
oppressors".
Donna