Torture Survivors' Stories
Montagnard Christian Rmah Plun

Rmah Plun, a Montagnard (Jarai) Christian from Gia Lai province, fled to Cambodia in 2004, where he was recognized as a refugee by UNHCR. In May 2005, though Plun was eligible for resettlement abroad, he decided to return to Vietnam because he missed his family.
After crossing the border to Vietnam, Vietnamese police processed him for two hours and then sent him and five other returnees directly to the provincial prison in Gia Lai, where they arrived around midnight. He was detained in a dark cell for three days, his hands tied even when he was given food. Police interrogated him every day about why he had left Vietnam, pressured him to renounce his religion, and beat and tortured him. During his first interrogation session the police asked him why he went to Cambodia. “I told them I fled because I was afraid the police would beat me,” he said. “As a response, they punched me in the face with their fists four times.”
During subsequent interrogation sessions Plun was beaten in the chest, back and groin; kicked in the shins with army boots; and slapped in the face. Police also inserted writing pens between his fingers and then tied his hands tightly with a rope, squeezing his fingers and causing excruciating pain.
"When I was finally allowed to return to my village and see my wife, she was shocked by how swollen and bruised my face was," Plun said. A month later, he was arrested again and tortured. He was detained for five nights in a dark cell and repeatedly pressured to renounce his religion and to provide names and locations of Montagnards in hiding.
During interrogation sessions, police forced him to lie down with his hands and feet raised in the air by ropes for three hours. If he dropped his hands or feet, he was beaten. He was also hung upside down by his feet for 30 minutes at a time. After five days he was released and placed under house arrest. Police were stationed outside his house every night, he could not leave even to work on his farm, and he was not allowed to gather with others for church.
UPDATE: In December 2005 Rmah Plun fled to Cambodia a second time. In September 2006 he died in the UNHCR refugee camp in Phnom Penh at the age of 31.
--Interview conducted by the Campaign to Abolish Torture in Vietnam.
After crossing the border to Vietnam, Vietnamese police processed him for two hours and then sent him and five other returnees directly to the provincial prison in Gia Lai, where they arrived around midnight. He was detained in a dark cell for three days, his hands tied even when he was given food. Police interrogated him every day about why he had left Vietnam, pressured him to renounce his religion, and beat and tortured him. During his first interrogation session the police asked him why he went to Cambodia. “I told them I fled because I was afraid the police would beat me,” he said. “As a response, they punched me in the face with their fists four times.”
During subsequent interrogation sessions Plun was beaten in the chest, back and groin; kicked in the shins with army boots; and slapped in the face. Police also inserted writing pens between his fingers and then tied his hands tightly with a rope, squeezing his fingers and causing excruciating pain.
"When I was finally allowed to return to my village and see my wife, she was shocked by how swollen and bruised my face was," Plun said. A month later, he was arrested again and tortured. He was detained for five nights in a dark cell and repeatedly pressured to renounce his religion and to provide names and locations of Montagnards in hiding.
During interrogation sessions, police forced him to lie down with his hands and feet raised in the air by ropes for three hours. If he dropped his hands or feet, he was beaten. He was also hung upside down by his feet for 30 minutes at a time. After five days he was released and placed under house arrest. Police were stationed outside his house every night, he could not leave even to work on his farm, and he was not allowed to gather with others for church.
UPDATE: In December 2005 Rmah Plun fled to Cambodia a second time. In September 2006 he died in the UNHCR refugee camp in Phnom Penh at the age of 31.
--Interview conducted by the Campaign to Abolish Torture in Vietnam.