Blogger Mother Mushroom’s keynote speech at the Captive Nations Summit organized by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation
Senators,  distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen!

Words can’t express how thankful I am for your kind words and encouragement. This prestigious award serves as a reminder of the continuing human rights violations in Vietnam and that my work as an activist, even in exile, is not yet done.



Since the Congress passed the 1959 Captive Nations Resolution - every third week of July, the United States officially recognizes the struggles of the peoples, victims in oppressive countries and those imprisoned by one-party communist regimes. 


I am here today before you as a living witness, an activist for human rights, environmental issues and democracy, a mother of two children who was sentenced to 10 years in prison by the Vietnamese communist government for merely exercising the right to express my views.


While I am here, dozens of other political prisoners in Vietnam in northern detention centers like Nghe An, Thanh Hoa and Ha Tinh are currently on a hunger strike to protest the abuse of prisoners. Many of them are barely surviving their 15th day of the hunger strike.


Please show your continuing concerns, speak up and join them in their fight. Please urge the US government, the United Nations and international human rights organizations to pressure Hanoi to abide by international conventions on prohibiting abuse of prisoners and install an independent monitoring system to monitor the situation and conditions of the prisoners. 


As a prisoner who received an early release, I am among the few lucky living witnesses of the cruel, harsh prison system in Vietnam.


In my country, being harassed, beaten, imprisoned and brought to a closed trial where the public and families of the accused are not allowed to attend,, where there is absolutely no transparency and justice are the common denominators that any Vietnamese activists must share and tread on. Even after my trial took place and I was sentenced to 10 years, the physical and mental torture at the time of detention and interrogation period did not stop. In addition, another common punishment for political prisoners is that prisoners in the South are often transferred to the North and vice versa. This is how the communists make it difficult for relatives and families to visit the imprisoned activists and is also a way to limit moral support and food supplements from home. There are difficult living conditions beyond words. Female prisoners like me are subjected to supervision by male police without respect for privacy. Even the toilet hole where I used as a restroom in the cell provided no privacy.


Severe weather and poor living conditions as well as unsafe water sources make prisoners vulnerable to exhaustion and illnesses.


If you think torturing prisoners is only limited to beating, that's not true. With the summer weather at 100 degrees F and the prison guards remove the fan, our prison cells immediately turn into hell both night and day. That is what is happening right now at Detention Center No. 6, Nghe An province. So you can see there are many subtle but effective torture that can snuff out a prisoner’s spirit. 


It is prescribed by law that every month prisoners are allowed to call home once for 5 minutes, but most often calls are cut off if I intended to notify my mother about my situation in prison.


Political prisoners like me are often detained in an isolated area and subjected to very strict supervision. The police ordered other cellmates to provoke and irritate political prisoners with the aim of causing us to violate the prison rules so that the police could discipline us.


To recount the suffering and loss suffered by victims of communism would require endless volumes of books. Therefore, I only talked about the tragic situation of political prisoners in Vietnam of which I experienced first-hand. And I can’t do it justice within the 8 minutes given to me. However, I believe it is sufficient for you to be concerned and voice your concerns. 


Please turn your attention and compassion into action to support us. Please believe that a voice, an article, a joint petition, or an action alert from you for improvement of human rights, and respect of the rights of prisoners of conscience is a great encouragement for all activists and prisoners alike in Vietnam.. 


Regardless of a final outcome, your action to support our struggle for human rights will serve as a cool breeze desperately awaiting by those languishing at the bottom of the inferno this scorching summer. Please let us know that the free world is watching this hellhole that we are living in, and that we are not forgotten.


Thank you very much for your time and again, for bestowing this honor upon me with this award!