A/HRC/25/60/Add.2 184. The Special Rapporteur appreciates the reply of the Government of Viet Nam, dated 11 October 2013, to this communication in reference to the alleged arbitrary detention and torture of Mr. Nguyen Van Hai, also known as Dieu Cay, and Mr. Cu Huy Ha Vu and the alleged ill-treatment of Mr. Nguyen Xuan Nghia. Mr. Nguyen Van Hai was the subject of previous communications; on 15 August 2011, a communication was sent to the Government of Viet Nam regarding Mr. Nguyen Van Hai’s poor prison conditions, alleged hard labour and torture. The previous communication alleged that Mr. Nguyen Van Hai lost an arm in prison, was being tortured, and arbitrarily detained for exercising his right of freedom of expression. The Government of Viet Nam replied in a letter dated 12 January 2012 that the proceedings against Mr. Nguyen Van Hai were carried out in compliance with Vietnamese laws and international standards and that allegations regarding torture were not true. On 18 October 2010, upon completion of a previous sentence, Mr. Nguyen Van Hai was charged with conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and held incommunicado for several months. Reportedly, in September 2012, Mr. Nguyen Van Hai was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment and five years probation. In June 2013, Mr. Nguyen Van Hai was placed in solitary confinement. Reportedly Mr. Nguyen Van Hai had conducted multiple hunger-strikes in response to the conditions of his confinement. It was reported that Mr. Nguyen Van Hai’s health suffers as a result of a prolonged hunger strike, and the location of his detention is so remote that he would not have access to urgent medical treatment if necessary. It was further alleged that Mr. Nguyen Xuan Nghia is in poor health and is suffering from a number of ailments that may be exacerbated by prison conditions; also that Mr. Nguyen Van Hai’s family learned of his hunger strike, solitary confinement, and inadequate medical care because Mr. Nguyen Xuan Nghia yelled out to his wife, who then informed the family of Mr. Nguyen Van Hai. It was reported that prison guards subsequently beat Mr. Nguyen Xuan Nghia brutally to make him stop speaking. Additionally, Mr. Cu Huy Ha Vu was reported to be in deteriorating health due to his hunger strike and the poor conditions of detention and that Mr. Cu Huy Ha Vu feels seriously threatened by one prison guard who is allegedly trying to kill him without the prison authorities granting him protection. In its reply, the Government of Viet Nam stated that Mr. Hai, Mr. Vu and Mr. Nghia have not been tortured and enjoy “meal portions, relatives’ visits and medical cares, as stipulated by current laws of Viet Nam,” as well as a health check every three months. The reply further stated that the report that Mr. Nguyen Van Hai went on a hunger strike was incorrect, and that information regarding Mr. Nguyen Van Hai being placed in solitary confinement was untrue. The reply further stated that Mr. Nguyn Xuan Nghia’s health is normal. The Government stated that Mr. Cu Huy Ha Vu’s health has not suffered as a result of his hunger strike and that the clinic sees Mr. Vu daily for his blood pressure. Additionally, the Government claimed that the arrest and trial of all three individuals was in strict compliance with Vietnamese laws and international norms and human rights practices. The Special Rapporteur regrets that the Government did not provide sufficient documentation of the investigation into the allegations of torture and illtreatment in connection to Mr. Nguyen Van Hai, Mr. Cu Huy Ha Vu, and Mr. Nguyen Xuan Nghia. The Government’s reply does not explain the Court’s findings nor the measures taken to impartially and independently investigate the allegations of torture and ill-treatment. The Special Rapporteur urges the Government to take persistent, determined and effective measures to have all allegations of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment investigated promptly, effectively and impartially by an independent, competent domestic authority, as well as whenever there is reasonable ground to believe that such an act has been committed; to hold persons who encourage, order, tolerate or perpetrate such acts responsible, to have them brought to justice and punished in a manner commensurate with the gravity of the offence, including the officials in charge of the place of detention where the prohibited act is found to have been committed according to paragraph 7b of the Human Rights Council Resolution 16/23. 135