How to Keep a Prisoner Alive

When Father Dominic Tran Dinh Thu was given a life sentence in a Vietnamese prison for holding religious-education classes for adults, a group of Trinitarian Fathers took action. They mounted a postcard campaign with the Catholic-affiliated Puebla Institute. Soon other groups, including the Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD), joined the effort. Tran’s sentence has been commuted to 20 years, and he is allowed occasional visitors and some packages. But the 86-year-old receives no mail and rarely sees a doctor, in spite of his failing health.

The fight for his release has been a frustrating one. Such battles are often hard-fought and only occasionally won. But when people become aware of human-rights abuses and get others to join the fight, they can make an impact. Here are seven strategic tips on how to fight for freedom.

1. Choose Your Battles

“How involved do you want to be?” is the first question Stan De Boe of the IRD asks people who want to get involved. “Human-rights groups range from those that are extremely active, to groups such as ours that do much more work on the U.S. side, to groups that simply ask you to pray or write letters to people in prison.” No one has the time or resources to fight with every weapon.

Nor should we try. “There is so much pain and suffering in the world, the best thing to do is pick one region or one country,” says Congressman Frank Wolf (R-Va.).

2. Get Informed

Once you know your focus, learn all you can. The more a person or group knows about an area’s needs, the more personal, and therefore more effective, the work will be.

Though not all can actually visit their areas of interest, there are several good ways to stay abreast of a region’s needs. Most human-rights organizations (see “Who’s Fighting for Rights?” p. 39) distribute newsletters and reports, and the U.S. State Department annually publishes its comprehensive Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. Patrick Johnstone’s Operation World offers detailed analyses of church persecution in every country of the world. Congressional and Senate staffs also rely on National and International Religion Report and News Network International’s bulletins.

3. Pray For The Persecuted

“We as believers cannot belittle the power of prayer,” says Dorothy Taft, staff member for Congressman Chris Smith (R-N.J.). “All it takes is one member of a congregation to be motivated to get the leadership of a church to commit themselves to pray. That’s the fundamental obligation.”

And prayer can make a tangible difference. “The feeling of abandonment is probably one of the most lonely, discouraging feelings when you’re going through suffering,” explains Steven Snyder, U.S. president of Christian Solidarity International (CSI). “We have received many letters and reports from persecuted Christians who have felt the power and the influence of prayer.”

4. Join Forces With Others

Alone, a person can only fight so long and so hard. And because of the often highly sensitive nature of advocacy, the same approach may not work effectively in every circumstance. For these reasons, joining forces with experienced advocacy groups and legislators is crucial.

One of their most effective weapons against human-rights abuses is publicity. Though attention to abuses in a given region occasionally provokes more persecution, usually the more people know and tell others of that abuse, the more likely it will stop.

Writing senators and representatives about instances of abuse can be valuable as well. A number of legislators on Capitol Hill—namely, Congressmen Smith, Wolf, Tony Hall (D-Ohio), Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), and Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.)—stay keenly aware of human-rights concerns around the world. And for those who do not, constituents’ letters can make all the difference. “I did not get very active until a Christian group asked me to go to Romania,” explains Wolf. “Had they never asked, I would never have gone.”

Once a representative or senator is interested, he or she might take a number of approaches. John Hanford of Senator Lugar’s staff explains, “A lot of what goes on in this work happens quietly behind the scenes, with members of Congress writing letters or talking to ambassadors—expressing concern and asking for the redress of a particular incident of persecution.” Over a year ago, three Egyptian converts from Islam (see “Life in the ‘Tribulations Sector,’ ” p. 35) were tortured for their faith. “Several members of Congress intervened, led by Senator Lugar’s office,” recounts Hanford. “Ultimately the Vice-president became involved, and the fellows were released.”

Sometimes it is best to write letters on behalf of the persecuted directly to either heads of state or prison officials, especially when the country does not have diplomatic relations with the U.S., suggests Dorothy Taft. According to Steven Snyder, in pre-1989 Romania, when people in the West urged the Romanian government to ease up on particular prisoners, often those prisoners would get fewer beatings and better food “because many people in the world were watching and awaiting word on these people.”

Many advocacy groups also encourage letters to the persecuted themselves. When “prison officials receive piles and piles of letters from the West, that sends an important, powerful message,” explains Snyder. Congressman Wolf spoke with former Soviet prisoners about their imprisonment. “ ‘What kept you alive?’ we asked. ‘We want to thank you for the letters your people sent—some of them we never saw, but the warden got them,’ they replied. If a lot of letters come in, the warden knows he’d better not rough this guy up.”

5. Cross Denominational Lines

The war on human-rights violations, like the fight against abortion, affords Christians an all-too-rare opportunity to set aside denominational differences.

IRD’s Stan De Boe notes, “I’ve worked with groups from the evangelical wing to very conservative Catholics and find that once you start talking about persecution, it doesn’t matter what denomination the person is. Christians feel moved to do something for him or her.” Still, De Boe does ask people who get involved, “Is denominational interest a factor?” He said he would rather have people work enthusiastically for someone from their own denomination than grow lukewarm over someone from a different one.

Who’S Fighting For Rights?

For information on religious persecution and human-rights abuses, or to find out how you or your church can join the fight, write:

Amnesty International, 322 Eighth Ave., New York, N.Y. 10001.

Christian Solidarity International, P.O. Box 70563, Washington, D.C. 20024.

Human Rights Watch, 1522 K Street, NW, #910, Washington, D.C. 20005.

The Institute on Religion and Democracy, 1331 H St., NW, Suite 900, Washington, D.C. 20005.

Puebla Institute, 1030 15th Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington, D.C. 20005.

6. Prepare For The Long Haul

Whatever the approach, “we cannot expect to see results in every situation immediately,” Snyder cautions. “It’s a long, steady, faithful process of prayer, awareness-raising, and intervention.”

Congressman Wolf observes, “If you do it, you really ought to stay with it, because a lot of times these people get their hopes up that people will care about them.” He has spoken with Romanian pastors who have noticed a sharp decrease in Western concern since 1989 (CT, April 27, 1992, p. 47).

7. Plan To Make A Difference

“Sometimes it’s hard to know what impact your intervention has,” explains John Hanford. “But in many of these cases, we are contacted by only one or two people on a problem, and we’ll run with it and maybe see a victory.”

In 1982, a constituent alerted Congressman Smith to the imprisonment of a Christian in the Soviet Union. The congressman traveled to Moscow, met the prisoner, and developed a personal relationship. He raised the issue at every appropriate opportunity—whether in hearings, or in meetings with, or letters to, foreign officials. He sought the support of other members of Congress. It took several years, but eventually the prisoner was released.

“You can’t write a letter and expect that it’s going to change the world,” says Hanford. “But sometimes it can make a difference. It’s worth writing that letter, making the phone call, expressing concern.” And the more people that get involved, he adds, the better.

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