Generally speaking, treatment of detainees or prisoners in the Vietnamese prison system is very poor. I have done some work with a number of activists inside Vietnam who are trying to compile a report on prison conditions in Vietnam—not just for political prisoners but everybody—and how poor and how inhumane the prison system in Vietnam is right now.
I'm hoping that once we have that report compiled, perhaps as a follow-up we can share with the subcommittee the findings of that report. Generally speaking, prison conditions in Vietnam are very poor, especially for political prisoners or prisoners of conscience. They are frequently subjected to mistreatment, denial of immediate medical attention, and torture. The government even employs the tactic of putting these political prisoners in the same cell with HIV-infected people. That's the kind of treatment these prisoners of conscience are subjected to.