The Rehab Archipelago - Human Rights Watch

mandatory time in a drug center.” The admission letter she received stated she would be in
the center for two years.
Then the rules for detention of drug users changed. Longer mandatory
detention was to be used. My mother heard about it in the news before I
was told. They transferred me to Phu Van [center] and then told me and my
family that I must stay there longer. I wanted to escape but my mother
persuaded me not to do so. 74
An Thi was in her mid-20s when her family convinced her to go to a center. She said:
The local police told me that I should sign a paper for two years and if I was
good I could come home in a year. Near the end of [the second year] I was
told that my total stay would be four years. Then when I had been there four
years they told me my release paperwork wasn't done yet and I stayed
another year. 75
Many detainees met the news that their time in detention would be extended by a number
of years with despair and dismay.
Cho Don explained that some women tried to commit suicide—one successfully—when
they heard of the decision to extend their detention at Phu Van Center. 76 Truc Ninh told
Human Rights Watch that at Duc Hanh Center the decision was met with hunger strikes and
escape attempts. 77
Quynh Luu decided to escape from Center No. 3 in Binh Duong when he heard that his
detention was being extended by an additional three years.
When the decision was made to extend our terms there were a lot of us
who wanted to escape. Over the space of a few days, several hundred of
us did. I swam across a river and ran off into a rubber tree plantation. But I
was caught. 78
74 Human Rights Watch interview with Cho Don, Ho Chi Minh City, 2010.
75 Human Rights Watch interview with An Thi, Ho Chi Minh City, 2010.
76 Human Rights Watch interview with Cho Don, Ho Chi Minh City, 2010.
77 Human Rights Watch interview with Truc Ninh, Ho Chi Minh City, 2010.
78 Human Rights Watch interview with Quynh Luu, Ho Chi Minh City, 2010.
29 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | SEPTEMBER 2011