VIET NEWS
THE
MONTHLY REPORT OF INTERESTING NEWS ABOUT VIETNAM
***
Courtesy Vietnamese American
Concerned Citizens
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News
Commentary
Research paper
For the U.S. Congress
- Professional Staff and Legislative Assistants for Foreign Policies and Concerned Citizens
January 2005
1. A
Report On The Religious Liberty Reality 02
2. Vietnam
Demands End To Chinese Attacks On Fishermen 06
3. Reporter Who Investigated
Drug Company Is Indicted 06
4. Buddhist Monk Returns From Exile To Political Storm In
Vietnam 07
5. Foreign
Ministry Confirms Vietnamese Bandits Try To Rob Chinese Fishing Boats 09
6. Vietnam
Raps China Over Shooting Of Nine Fishermen 09
7. Vietnamese
Court Sentences Seven For "Causing Social Unrest 10
8. Vietnam
Tightens Media Stranglehold 10
9. Vietnam
Likely To Be Sued For Dumping Garments and Textiles In US 12
10. Party
To Focus On Fighting Corrupt Members This Year 12
11. Vietnams Deputy PM Urges Drastic
Population Measures 13
12. Vietnam To Grant Amnesty To More
Than 8,200 Prisoners 14
13. HRW Report - Human Rights
Developments in Vietnam, 2004 14
14. Vietnam Makes a Start on the Reform of The
Media 18
15. Government Clamps Down On The
Online Press 21
16. State Owned Banks Receive $25.5 Mln
For Recapitalization 22
17. Fourteen Hospitalized In Vietnam
With Suspected Bird Flu 22
18. Bird Flu Kills 100,000 Poultry,
Threatens Northern Vietnam 23
19. Vietnams President Earns 240
Dollars Per Month 24
20. Vietnam Rejects Report On Mass
Arrest Of Minority Christians 24
21. Vietnam Suspends A Popular Web Site 25
22. Government Outlines Corruption
Prevention Plan For 2005 25
23. New Evidence of Torture, Mass
Arrests of Montagnards 26
24. Police Minister Promoted To Top Ranking General 28
25. Vietnams Party Chief Discusses
Cooperation With Japanese Party Leader 29
26. Vietnamese Reporter Prosecuted For
Publishing Confidential Document 30
27. U.S. Panel
Clears Way for Tariffs On Shrimp Imports 31
Vietnamese American
Concerned Citizens (VACC)
P.O. Box 59655, Potomac. MD 20859
VietnamReview2004@yahoo.com
Contact: Khai Q. Nguyen
Local contact:
....
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..
A Report On The
Religious Liberty Reality
By Elizabeth Kendal, January 19, 2005
World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission (WEA
RLC)
Special to ASSIST News Service
AUSTRALIA (ANS) -- The following deeply disturbing report on
Vietnam was written by an internationally respected Vietnam observer. The
observer reports that there are many hundreds of unregistered Christian meeting
places and gatherings in Vietnam where believers meet at great personal risk to
their liberty and life, despite the Vietnamese government's boastings of
freedom of religion.
The observer also reports that nearly 300 Christian leaders
have been incarcerated since the April 2004 Easter demonstrations, and that at
least 60 Protestant leaders languish in the infamous Ba Sao Prison in Nam Ha
Province on long prison sentences.
Reliable, trusted sources told the observer that the
Vietnamese government is recruiting and training special units from amongst the
Hmong and Montagnards to combat the spread of Christianity (described as an
internal enemy) in their ethnic communities.
This report also examines the appalling and violent
mistreatment meted out to the Mennonite prisoners, and the distressing state of
the one female Mennonite prisoner arrested in June 2004, Le Thi Hong Lien (21),
who has become deranged with trauma. Amnesty International has issued an Urgent
Action Appeal on her behalf: UA 01/05 Viet Nam
ttp://www.amnesty.ca/urgentaction/.
Totalitarian states require friendly international relations
in order to pursue coveted economic development. However, the more the
totalitarian governments open up economically and diplomatically, the more they
need to repress their suffering masses, restricting their access to information
and cracking down on all dissent and perceived threats in order to hold on to
power. They also need to ensure that their propaganda speaks louder and is more
convincing (or appealing) than the truth. It becomes a perpetual game of
testing the waters (how much can we get away with?) and should be matched by a
testing of the "bones" (not accepting everything at face value) as
the confronting report below suggests.
The question then becomes: How much duplicity will the
Vietnamese government be permitted? Those who knowingly accept and wink at the
government of Vietnam's duplicity are complicit in the government of Vietnam's
morally reprehensible human rights abuses.
Elizabeth Kendal (WEA RLC)
A Box Of Mixed Bones, Religious Human Rights In Vietnam
By A Vietnam Observer,
15 January 2005.
In early December 2004, North Korea infuriated Japan by trying
to pass off "a box of mixed human bones" as the remains of a woman it
had kidnapped from Japan when she was 13. After DNA testing, a Japanese cabinet
secretary announced on December 8 that, "The bones belong to a number of
other people. It would be difficult under the present circumstances to provide
further assistance to North Korea." The announcement caused shock waves in
Japan, a nation that venerates its dead. (Herald Tribune, December 13, 2004,
page 1)
This is an apt metaphor for what Vietnam is trying to do
with its human rights religious freedom policies. It is giving the world
"a box of mixed bones". But unlike Japan's incensed people, many in
the world seem to be accepting them as the genuine article. The guile of trying
to pass off the counterfeit is surpassed only by the naivete of accepting it as
real.
Concerned about its reputation in the region and the world,
with WTO prospects, and stung by continued revelations of religious human
rights abuses, Vietnam is in the midst of an unprecedented propaganda campaign
to show the world all is well.
Here, however, are some examples of Vietnam's ongoing
restrictive and abusive practices.
THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS AND THE NORTHWEST PROVINCES
An area of continued great concern to which Vietnamese authorities
deny free access is the Central Highlands. A propaganda piece sent on 4
November 2004 by ambassador Phan Thuy Thanh from the Vietnamese Embassy in
Brussels, to inquirers in Holland, is full of disingenuous
"information". It entirely denies that land and religion have
anything to do with the unrest. It says:
"Vietnam's law ensures the right to freedom of religion
and belief and non-religion or belief to all citizens, which is clearly
inscribed in the constitution and respected in reality. There is absolutely no
question of the so-called 'repression of Protestants'. On the contrary,
Protestants in the Central Highlands enjoy favourable conditions for religious
practices.
There are about 25 grass root Protestant groups in the
Central Highland."Here is the "reality". There are in the five
Highland provinces with minorities - Dak Nong, Lam Dong, Dak Lak, Gai Lai and
part of Binh Phuoc - at least 1,700 Protestant "meeting places" where
Christians gather to worship. The government recognizes about 25, but cannot
even bring itself to call them churches, because it has not allowed them to
build church buildings!
Beginning in September 2002 a massive government campaign
forcibly disbanded many hundreds of local churches and other campaigns sought
to force Christians to renounce their faith. Nearly 300 Christians leaders are
known to have been arrested and are incarcerated, some still without trial
since the April 2004 Easter demonstrations. At least 60 Protestant leaders,
including eight regular pastors of local churches, languish in the infamous Ba
Sao Prison in Nam Ha Province, all with long prison sentences. After the
demonstrations last Easter, authorities promised only a handful of
"ringleaders" would be tried and sentenced. Another promise broken.
In Dak Lak, a province that remains virtually locked down to
regular travel for residents and visitors alike, the state recognizes only two
ethnic Vietnamese and two Ede minority churches that meet in the homes of the
pastors. Christian leaders report there are 439 meeting places in the province.
Four out of 439 is less than one per cent! The pastors of the four groups,
supposedly recognized by the state, are not even free to visit their own
parishioners without getting complicated permissions. Christian leaders in the
province say the vast majority of the approximately 150,000 Protestant
Christians must now practice their faith underground and so worship,
teaching, baptisms and the observance of holy communion must be done out of
sight of the authorities. Protestant leaders say the government plan to
"eradicate" Christianity, frequently enunciated by hardline local
officials, continues gradually but steadily. All villages and hamlets have
constant military and/or police presence.
Similar stories are told about the other provinces. In Gia
Lai province where strong church leaders do daily battle with the authorities,
some 16 church groups have now been recognized. But there are 400 meeting
places! One prominent church leader of the Jerai minority who was described in
a "complimentary manner" in a communist journal has accused
authorities of fabricating much of the story and has demanded a public
retraction. Compliments by the Party or State for a religious leader are a
curse to be overcome because they cause his followers to suspect his integrity.
ETHNIC SPECIAL UNITS TO COMBAT THE INTERNAL ENEMY
In a very troubling development not yet reported elsewhere,
it has been learned from independent sources which have proved reliable in the
past, that the Vietnamese government is in the process of recruiting and
training both Hmong in the Northwest Provinces and Montagnards in the Central
Highlands for special units to oppose the spread and development of
Christianity.
The purpose of the unit according to the Hmong sources is to
"oppose an enemy, not external, but internal". That is Christianity.
Men are being recruited on a basis of loyalty to the repressive system and the
absence of sympathies for Christian believers. They are being given training
after which they will return to their home areas to suppress Christianity. Some
of those being recruited are former military people. (At least a dozen Hmong
Christian leaders remain in prison in the Northwest provinces.)
And similarly, a knowledgeable Dak Lak Montagnard source has
reported that authorities are recruiting training a special unit of 2,500
Montagnards for similar purposes.
Such an approach is intended to give the government
plausible deniability as they will make it look as if there is spontaneous
indigenous ethnic resistance to a "foreign religion". This action
underlines that religious freedom for minorities is NOT in the government's
plan all protestations to the contrary. It takes delusional mental gymnastics
to see "progress" in freedom for minority Christians in this picture.
DEVELOPMENTS CONCERNING THE NEW ORDINANCE ON RELIGION
Announced to become effective on 15 November 2004, the new
ordinance has not provided signs of hope to religious people. Authorities, who
believed they were making concessions in the new religion ordinance were
surprised by the depth of opposition which included complaints from some
religious groups they believed were safely "patriotic".
It has been learned that before being fully implemented, the
new Ordinance is to be further spelled out by a new decree, implementation
bulletins, and forms for the many permissions required. Authorities are
currently stuck at the decree level. Draft three of the decree is circulating
among religious groups but authorities are said to be on draft five.
The new ordinance and draft decree still provide no legal
space for house churches, nor for the majority of Protestant Evangelical
Christians in Vietnam who are ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands and
the Northwest Provinces. Therefore some 75 percent of Protestants in Vietnam
continue to be excluded from legality in spite of Vietnam's pronouncements
about liberalization in the emerging legal framework. In anticipation of the
ordinance coming into effect, some house churches, fearing the worst, have
already divided into smaller, less visible groups.
The 1999 Government Decree on Religion No. 26 continues to
be used a legal tool to suppress religious activity. On 11 November 2004, the
People's Committee of Dong Xuan District in Phu Yen Province responded in a
letter to a request from a small Protestant congregation to register its
activities. The congregation of Da Du Hamlet, Xuan Lanh Commune, had functioned
there for some years with the knowledge of the authorities and with few
difficulties. So it accepted in good faith the government's well-advertised new
liberalization in religious affairs and tried to register its activities.
The result was entirely disheartening. The congregation
ended up in a much worse situation than when it operated informally earlier.
The Dong Xuan District People's Committee flatly denied the congregation
permission to meet and practice their faith on the basis of Decree 26. The
directive to the congregation concluded ominously:
"The People's Committee of Dong Xuan District orders
the People's Committee of Xuan Lanh Commune to coordinate with the Fatherland
Front and other government organs in the commune to mobilize, educate and
abruptly halt and take legal measures against all meetings, religious
activities and propagation activities of a number of people in Da Du Hamlet of
Xuan Lanh Commune."
Such is the reward of a small Protestant congregation that
dares test the government's announced intention to liberalize restrictions on
religion. It is difficult to see any progress in the area of creating new laws,
and implementing current ones.
PERSECUTION OF THE VIETNAMESE MENNONITE CHURCH
The well-publicized conviction and sentencing of six
Vietnamese Mennonites on 12 November 2004, on a "criminal charge"
seems to be considered by some as difficult to oppose because it involved a
"criminal charge". Strangely, some diplomats and even some Mennonite
groups seem to accept and be immobilized by the government's consistent claim
that "it has nothing to do with religion".
That this view is simply wrong is shown by the fact that
from 10 November to 3 December 2004 the home/church of the Rev. Nguyen Hong
Quang, cared for by his 30-year-old wife Le Thi Phu Dung, was invaded five
times by gangs of uniformed and plain-clothes police, up to 40 at a time and
sometime at midnight. This round of persecution began with a cultural
revolution-style public accusation/humiliation session against Mrs. Quang. A
recording of this session makes clear it is against the "illegal Christian
religion". \
Authorities require Mrs. Quang to cease all religious
gatherings, activities and ceremonies in the Quang house/church, and to take
down the church sign. Videos of some of the police raids have also made their
way to the West.
With the release of two of the six prisoners in early
December, written testimonies of their unbelievable mistreatment while in
custody became available. These reports in translation are available. Readers
will agree that the treatment of the two brothers, Nhan and Nghia, is worthy of
the Soviet Gulags. A 5 January 2005 press release of the Mennonite World
Conference details some of the awful abuse. (Link 1)
Even more horrible is the complete crushing of the body,
mind and spirit of the lone woman among the six prisoners, 21-year-old Le Thi
Hong Lien. Physical and mental abuse by officials has caused Ms Lien to lose
her mind and control over bodily functions. The poignant report and reflections
of her poor, day-labourer father, written after his visit with her on 14
December, with additional information gleaned from previous prison visits, is
also available. Her father has been denied any access to her since. On 7
January 2005, Amnesty International issued an urgent appeal on her behalf.
(Link 2)
Government policy makers, business people and aid
organizations wishing to do business with and help the people of Vietnam need
to keep these realities firmly in mind when dealing with the Socialist Republic
of Vietnam. They should test a few bones. Without clear international
consequences for its gross misbehaviour toward is own peaceful citizens,
Vietnam will have no incentive to change.
Vietnam Demands End To
Chinese Attacks On Fishermen
Copyright 2005 BBC Monitoring/BBC
BBC Monitoring International Reports
January 19, 2005
Hanoi, 19 January: Vietnam has demanded that China take
measures to put an immediate end to attacks on Vietnamese fishermen.
A Foreign Ministry representative handed a diplomatic note
to the Chinese embassy in Hanoi protesting the recent attack by Chinese on-duty
ships, which killed and injured a number of Vietnamese fishermen.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also demanded that China
investigate the case and hand out strict punishments to the killers. It asked
China to return the bodies of the victims and the Vietnamese people it held,
compensate the fishermen for the loss of life and property and coordinate with
Vietnamese agencies to investigate the case and report to the leaders of the
two countries.
The ministry has instructed Vietnamese diplomatic missions
in China to arrange with the Chinese side and visit the injured and detained
fishermen as early as possible.
The Vietnamese side has also called on the Joint Committee
on Fisheries in the Bac Bo (Tonkin) Gulf to meet and promptly stabilise the
situation in the two countries' common fishing area.
Earlier, Foreign Ministry's spokesman Le Dung said Chinese
gunners killed nine fishermen and injured many others.
Source: VNA news agency web site, Hanoi, in English 19 Jan
05
Reporter Who Investigated Drug Company Is Indicted
Committee to
Protect Journalists
330
Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001 USA
Fax: (212) 465-9568 Web: www.cpj.org E-Mail: media@cpj.org
Contact: Kristin Jones Telephone: (212) 465-1004 e-mail: info@cpj.org
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
New York, January 18, 2005 The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the indictment of Nguyen
Thi Lan Anh, a staff reporter for the Vietnamese daily Tuoi Tre (Youth)
newspaper, on a charge of "appropriating state secrets." The January
5 announcement of legal actions against Lan Anh followed her series of
investigative articles about manipulations of the drug market by the
pharmaceutical company Zuellig Pharma.
"Lan Anh's strong investigative journalism, which brought attention
to an issue of great concern to the Vietnamese public, should be welcomed by
authorities who have paid lip service to the important role of the press in
Vietnamese society," said CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper. "We call
on authorities to drop all charges against Lan Anh and allow her to continue
her work."
While she has not been officially arrested, Lan Anh has been ordered not
to leave her home in Hanoi, sources told CPJ. The indictment stems from a May
2004 article by Lan Anh in which she quotes a document submitted by the Health
Ministry to the Prime Minister. In the document, the health minister recommends
a comprehensive investigation of Zuellig Pharma Vietnam, a subsidiary of the
multi-national Zuellig Pharma.
In her articles, Lan Anh wrote that the pharmaceutical company's
monopoly on the market of certain medicines in Vietnam had been driving up drug
prices to "unacceptable levels." In February, the company signed a
commitment with the Health Ministry to stabilize its prices, but the Vietnamese
government allowed Zuellig's import contract to expire in September. Tuoi
Tre is a popular daily that enjoys wide circulation in Vietnam. It is owned
by the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Union, an organization under the direct
management of the Vietnamese Communist Party.
Legal actions against Lan Anh come amid a government drive to further
restrict online and print journalism in Vietnam. On orders from the Ministry of
Culture and Information, the popular news Web site Tintucvietnam.com was shut
down last week after posting uncensored letters from readers. Truong Dinh Anh,
the editor-in-chief of another Web site, VNExpress.com, was fired in November
after posting readers' angry comments regarding the government's purchase of a
legion of Mercedes Benz cars for the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) held in Hanoi
in October 2004.
Buddhist Monk Returns
From Exile To Political Storm In Vietnam
Agence France Presse
January 18, 2005
In the shadow of a large longan tree at a pagoda in Hanoi,
an elderly Buddhist monk hopes to tell a few home truths: Thich Nhat Hanh has
returned to Vietnam after 38 years' exile in France -- and has become the
centre of a religious and political storm.
As the head of a delegation of about 200 followers, mainly
French and American, he is on a three-month visit to the tightly controlled
communist country he left in 1967 and where his works and recordings have long
been banned.
"My trip is not political," says the 78-year-old,
draped in a dark orange robe. But his comments seem to suggest quite the
opposite.
Until recently, "There was fear and suspicion here.
There was a need for much communication to transform, to remove erroneous
perceptions," Hanh tells AFP in an interview, surrounded by Vietnamese
journalists and attentive officials.
"We have been able to breathe easier these last
years," he says.
But for some Buddhists in this country, life can still be
difficult.
The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) has been
banned since 1981 for refusing to submit itself, along with all of its churches
around the country, to the supervision of the Vietnamese Communist Party.
Several of the UBCV's members, including its two most senior
figures, have since spent most of their time in prison or under house arrest.
Thich Huyen Quang, 87, and his deputy Thich Quang Do, 76,
are accused by Vietnamese authorities of possessing "state secrets"
and are de facto under house arrest in two separate pagodas.
Hanh chooses his words carefully.
"We want to listen carefully to understand the
reality," the monk says in French. "Our policy is to listen to
everyone, the Buddhists who are not happy and the governmental agents who are
facing difficulties."
On Monday the monk held talks with members of the committee
on religious fairs, a government body in charge with cultural and religious
issues. "I asked them to be patient (with UBCV)," he says, smiling.
"Sometimes, one needs months to sit down and
talk."
Will he be allowed to meet with members of the banned
church? "I hope so," he says. "Our enemy is discrimination and
fear."
Constrained by exile in 1967 by southern Vietnam's
pro-American regime, the monk obtained asylum in France, where he taught at
Paris' prestigious Sorbonne University.
In 1982 he settled in southwestern France and founded a new
community. The author of 100 works, he preaches a new form of Buddhism, adapted
for modern society and able to lure younger generations and to protect them
from materialism.
But not everyone is keen on his methods.
For the Paris-based International Buddhist Information
Bureau (IBIB), the UBCV's communication arm, Hanh's visit amounts to a
"Faustian pact" with the country's communist dictatorship.
"This highly publicized visit could be interpreted as a
sign of increased religious tolerance in Vietnam," the IBIB complained.
"This Faustian pact between Thich Nhat Hanh and the
Vietnamese authorities enables (him) to promote the development of his own
sect."
On leaving Paris, one of Hanh's close associates had accused
certain banned religions in the country of hiding "flags of the old
regime" of southern Vietnam, which was beaten by the communist north in
1975.
The statement was not very well received by IBIB, which said
it smacked of propaganda.
"Thich Nhat Hanh gives a precious propaganda bonus to
the Vietnamese regime. But he does nothing for the cause of religious freedom
and human rights in Vietnam," says Vo Van Ai, the group's president and
sworn enemy of the Hanoi regime.
"It's a matter of perception," the elderly monk
answers.
He will not say any more.
"It's for the politicians and the journalists to say if
there are enough religious freedoms in Vietnam. You can judge by yourself
without needing a declaration from us."
On Monday the state Vietnam News Agency welcomed the monk's
visit, saying: "Thich Nhat Hanh praises Vietnam's open-door policy on
religious beliefs."
Foreign Ministry
Confirms Vietnamese Bandits Try To Rob Chinese Fishing Boats
Source: Xinhua, January 15, 2005
Copyright by People's Daily Online, all rights reserved
Chinese
maritime police shot dead several armed robbers and captured eight others who
were trying to rob Chinese fishing boats operating on Jan. 8 at the Chinese
side of the Beibu Gulf, the Foreign Ministry said in Beijing Saturday.
According
to Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan, on the morning of Jan. 8, several
Chinese fishing boats from Hainan Province were operating on the
Chinese side of the Beibu Gulf, and three unidentified armed vessels came
trying to rob and firing at the Chinese boats.
Chinese
maritime police rushed to the spot for rescue immediately after receiving
report from the fishermen. The three armed vessels opened fire at the police
boats and injured Chinese law enforcement personnel, Kong said.
The
Chinese maritime police were forced to take necessary actions. They shot dead
several armed robbers, seized one of the armed vessels and eight robbers along
with their weapons and ammunition and tools, he said.
Calling it
a "serious armed robbery case at sea," Kong said the robbers had
confessed they were Vietnamese, and had committed four armed
robberies of Chinese fishing boats in the Beibu Gulf before.
The
Chinese side has informed the Vietnamese side of the issue in detail in
accordance with the Sino-Vietnamese consulate treaty, Kong said. "The
Chinese has abundant and irrefutable human testimony and material evidence, and
will handle the case according to Chinese law."
The
spokesman said since the agreements on demarcation and fishery cooperation in
the Beibu Gulf between China and Vietnam took effect last June, the overall
situation there is stable. However, the armed robberies of Chinese fishing
boats have posed serious threat to the life and property safety of Chinese and
Vietnamese fishermen.
China is willing to cooperate closely with Vietnam so that
the two countries can take effective measures to combat maritime crimes and
safeguard security and stability in the Beibu Gulf, he said.
Vietnam Raps China
Over Shooting Of Nine Fishermen
Deutsche Presse-Agentur
January 14, 2005, Friday
Vietnam has demanded action from China after nine fishermen
were killed by Chinese forces near the maritime border between the two
countries. "We are concerned that the Chinese boat shot to death nine
Vietnamese fishermen, wounded many others and caused property loss to the
fishermen," foreign ministry spokesman Le Dzung said in a statement
Friday. "Vietnam requires the Chinese to take measures to prevent and stop
this wrong action. Vietnam also requires China to further investigate the killers,"
Dzung said.
Chinese forces killed nine Vietnamese fishermen and arrested
eight others on Saturday, a commune official said on Wednesday. The deaths were
the result of two incidents in which fishermen were accused of straying into
Chinese waters, said Le Van Thuan, chairman of Hoa Loc commune of Thanh Hoa
province. In the first incident Chinese forces shot dead eight fishermen and
captured eight others, two of whom were wounded, Thuan said. The Chinese
authority confiscated the boat and arrested the eight men, the chairman said.
"They said they would return the eight dead bodies after discussions with
Vietnam's government," Thuan said. The other fishermen will be charged
under Chinese law. A second boat, carrying 12 people in the same area, also
came under fire. One man was killed before the fishing vessel managed to flee.
"There were 400 bullet shells found on the boat," Thuan said.
Vietnamese Court Sentences Seven For
"Causing Social Unrest"
Copyright
2005 BBC Monitoring/BBC
BBC
Monitoring International Reports
January 14,
2005
Gia Lai, 13 January: The People's Court of Auynpa district
in the Central Highland province of Gia Lai on 12 January held a public trial
of Ksor Krok and his accomplices on charges of causing social unrest.
Ksor Krok is a younger brother of Ksor Kok, head of the
reactionary organization Fulro, who is nursing a dangerous ambition to
establish an autonomous state in the Central Highlands.
The defendants also included Ksor Dro, Siu Djing, Siu Yunh,
Ksor Jon, K'Sor Sen and Siub Panh, who all live in Auyunpa district. They
incited local ethnic minority people to social disorder.
Ksor Krok was sentenced to seven years in jail; Ksor Dro,
six years in jail; and the others, from 4-5 years in jail.
Vietnam Tightens Media
Stranglehold
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4175271.stm
BBC NEWS, January 14, 2005
By Nga Pham
BBC Vietnamese service
When Lan Anh, a staff writer for the popular daily Tuoi Tre
(Youth) newspaper, wrote a series of articles on Zuellig Pharma last year, she
was hailed for brilliant investigative reporting.
The Hong Kong-based Zuellig Pharma, via its Singapore
office, had been monopolising the Vietnamese pharmaceutical market for almost
three years and had bumped up the prices of some popular medicines to
"unacceptable levels".
The public responded positively and gratefully to Lan Anh's
reports.
Yet the journalist is now facing legal action from the
government for "appropriating state secrets", which the Health
Ministry said were included in the notes she published in her newspaper.
The move against Lan Anh has shocked and outraged the
Vietnamese public.
But it is unfortunately not the only time the government is
alleged to have harassed the media.
During the last couple of months, the government has decided
to shut down one of the country's most popular news and entertainment websites,
tintucvietnam.com, as well as to sack the editor-in-chief of the leading online
newspaper, Vnexpress.
Tintucvietnam.com and Vnexpress had both carried reports
that the government was importing unnecessarily expensive limousines from
abroad.
Last year the government also introduced a highly
controversial regulation that requires all internet cafes to register the personal
details of customers
The government said it needed the cars for the Asia Europe
Summit (Asem) in October 2004, but readers' letters published by Vnexpress
showed the public was angry about the amount of money it spent.
The Ministry of Information has fined Vinacomm, the company
that owns tintucvietnam.com, 20m dong (#1,268), and has closed it "until
further notice" for operating without a proper licence.
Before this decision, there were threats that the website
would be shut down for good, and its fate remains unknown.
As for Vnexpress, its editor was sacked and the online
newspaper has since noticeably toned down its news coverage.
Control
Critics say the latest events show the Vietnamese government
is tightening its grip on the media, especially online services.
"With less than a year to go to the next Communist
Party Congress, they (the Vietnamese government) particularly fear websites,
even official ones, since they are a sounding board for popular
discontent," the press watchdog Reporters sans Frontieres has said in a
statement.
Last year the government also introduced a highly
controversial regulation that requires all internet cafes to register the
personal details of customers.
The government claims it just wants to "fight
pornography and evil influences from the West", not to limit the public in
any way.
But its actions suggest otherwise, and leave people
wondering how long it can try and control the media in an era of rapidly
developing information services.
Vietnam Likely To Be
Sued For Dumping Garments and Textiles In US
Global News Wire - Asia Africa Intelligence Wire
Copyright 2005 Toan Viet Limited Co
Vietnam News Briefs
January 13, 2005
Vietnam's textile industry received a warning about possible
US anti-dumping tariffs following the lawsuit of catfish dumping, when it
discussed trading textile export quotas to the US this year at two different
seminars on Tuesday.
At a seminar held by the Trade Ministry in Hanoi, William
Barringer, chief lawyer of US law firm Willikie Farr & Gallangher said that
Vietnam was likely to impose anti-dumping tariffs on Vietnam's garments and
textiles.
American textile producers are preparing necessary documents
to prove that textile imports are the cause of material injury to the US
industry.
Because Vietnam is a long-term supplier to the US, most
retailers believe it will be a primary target of this lawsuit, he explained.
To avoid the lawsuit, Vietnam should ensure that Vietnamese
exporters change accounting practices to fall in line with the Generally
Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), Barringer advised.
They should also create adequate paper records to show the
absence of Government control, particularly on price negotiations with US
importers, to qualify for separate rate status.
They should also clearly define the relationship among
affiliates and between themselves and the government.
Besides, public relations and lobbying would also pay a role
in a successful defense, he said.
The lawsuit will be likely to start by mid 2005 and Vietnam's
wooden products will be sued next, experts foresee.
According to the statistics of Willikie Farr &
Gallangher, there were 981 anti-dumping lawsuits and 348 anti-price support
lawsuits in US between 1980 and 2003.
The US applies a quota system on Vietnamese garments and
textiles since 2001. Last year, the country imposed quotas of $ 1.7 billion a
year on Vietnamese textiles and garments to curb a surge in imports.
Party To
Focus On Fighting Corrupt Members This Year
Copyright 2005 Toan Viet Limited Co
Vietnam News Briefs
January 13, 2005
The sole and ruling Communist Party in Vietnam
has asked its inspectorate to further concentrate on fighting corruption,
wastefulness and authoritarian bureaucracy within Party personnel and
organizations this year.
"Inspection is top a priority which helps
renovate the Party's leadership style and make it more transparent and healthy,
thus maintaining its role as a strong ruling body," Phan Dien, a member of
the Politburo and Party Central Committee Secretariat, told a national
conference held in Hanoi on January 11
Inspectors, therefore, will have to focus on
examining signs of violation of Party organizing principles and working
regulations as well as Party personnel work, he said.
The directive reveals Party leaders' concern
about the development of individualism and opportunism, which leads to
degradation in politics, ethics and lifestyles among a number of Party members.
General secretary of the Party, Nong Duc Manh,
himself, recently admitted that this is a real threat to the Party's leadership
and the main reason for the deterioration of people's confidence in the Party.
According to the Party Central Committee's
Commission for Inspection, of the 19,103 Party members and 3,494 Party
organizations inspected last year, 73.2% and 56.9% were found violating Party
regulations, due to lack of responsibility and the abuse of power for personal
benefit. The figures, however, are believed to be just the floating part of the
iceberg.
According to statistics of the National
Assembly, residents across the country sent a total of around 600,000
complaints about degenerate cadres and their abuse of power, violations of
financial rules and abetting corruption in the past five years.
The Communist Party of Vietnam now has over 2.67
million members who form the backbone of the Vietnamese Government and State.
Its members account for 90% of the total deputies at the National Assembly, the
country's top legislative body.
Vietnams Deputy PM
Urges Drastic Population Measures
Asia Pulse
January 13, 2005 Thursday
Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem has asked the
population sector to immediately take drastic measures to slow down the
country's population growth rate.
Deputy PM Khiem on Wednesday attended a conference to review
population, family and children work in 2004 and launch the 2005 plan.
According to the Deputy PM, the sector has been optimistic about its
achievements, and this has led to loose management of population growth in some
localities and the untimely and inadequate dissemination of the Ordinance on
Population to the people.
He told localities and sectors at all levels to strictly
regulate against people having a third child and combine family planning
instructions into local regulations.
In 2005, Khiem said, the population sector should complete
the building organising apparatus from central to local levels, coordinate with
relevant agencies and international organisations in scientific research in
population, family planning and reproductive health, improve the capacity of
population cadres and call for foreign investment and cooperation in birth
control and children work.
Deputy PM Khiem plans to have working sessions with
localities that have high birth rates and outstanding problems in population
work to help them work out solutions and orientations.
Reports delivered at the conference said that since 2000 the
implementation of policies on population and family planning has been
"wobbly" as the birth rate has increased, as well as the number of
families having a third child.
Vietnam's population grew 1.47 per cent in 2003, an increase
of 0.15 per cent or 100,000 babies more than in 2002. Vietnam's population
strategy till 2010 aims to have a population of 88 million people with each
couple having two children at most.
Other targets also include reducing the natural population
growth rate to 1.1 per cent and the infant mortality rate to 25 per 1,000
births in 2010. Under the strategy, Vietnam's population is forecasted to grow
1.22 per cent to peak at 82,493,000 people in 2005.
Vietnam To Grant
Amnesty To More Than 8,200 Prisoners
Agence France Presse
January 13, 2005
Vietnam plans to grant amnesty to 8,277 prisoners to mark
the country's traditional Lunar New Year Festival which falls in early February,
state media said Thursday.
The communist country's President Tran Duc Luong will soon
make a final decision on Wednesday's proposal by the National Amnesty
Consulting Council, the daily Tien Phong newspaper said.
Only those with "good re-education records" will
be given amnesty, the paper added.
Last September, Vietnam granted a nationwide amnesty to
8,623 prisoners, including 51 foreigners, to mark its September 2 National Day.
Included in the list were 10 prisoners described by Hanoi as
"of concern to the international community".
Western governments and human rights groups have long
criticised Hanoi for jailing political and religious critics of the regime.
Further amnesties are expected to be announced on May 19,
the anniversary of the birth of revered Vietnamese Communist Party founder and
independence hero Ho Chi Minh.
HRW Report - Human
Rights Developments in Vietnam, 2004
HRW, January 13, 2005
Enclosed please find the Vietnam section on human rights
developments inVietnam during 2004. This is part of Human Rights Watch's annual
WORLD REPORT, which was released today in Washington, D.C.
VIETNAM
Human Rights Summary
Human rights conditions in Vietnam, already dismal, worsened
in 2004. The government tolerates little public criticism of the Communist
Party or statements calling for pluralism, democracy, or a free press.
Dissidents are harassed, isolated, placed under house arrest, and in many
cases, charged with crimes and imprisoned. Among those singled out are
prominent intellectuals, writers, and former Communist Party stalwarts.
The government continues to brand all unauthorized religious
activities-particularly those that it fears may be able to attract a large
following-as potentially subversive. Targeted in particular are members of the
Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam and ethnic minority Protestants in the
northern and central highlands.
Freedom of Expression
Domestic newspapers and television and radio stations remain
under strict government control. Although journalists are occasionally able to
report on corruption by government officials, direct criticism of the Party is
forbidden. Foreign media representatives are required to obtain authorization
from the Foreign Ministry for all travel outside Hanoi.
Several dissidents and democracy activists have been
arrested and tried during the last several years on criminal charges-including
espionage and other vaguely-worded crimes against "national
security"-for peaceful criticism of the government or calling for multi-party
reforms. Legislation remains in force authorizing the arbitrary
"administrative detention" of anyone suspected of threatening
national security, with no need for prior judicial approval.
In July 2004 long-time human rights advocate Nguyen Dan Que,
62, was sentenced to thirty months of imprisonment for "abusing democratic
freedoms," for writing an essay, distributed over the Internet, about
state censorship of information and the media. Other cyber-dissidents who have
been sentenced to prison on criminal charges include: Pham Hong Son, Le Chi
Quang, Nguyen Khac Toan, Nguyen Vu Binh, Pham Que Duong and Tran Khue.
Internet Controls
The government maintains strict control over access to the
Internet. It blocks websites considered objectionable or politically sensitive
and strictly bans the use of the Internet to oppose the government,
"disturb" national security and social order, or offend the
"traditional national way of life." Decision 71, issued by the
Ministry of Public Security in January 2004, requires Internet users at public
cafιs to provide personal information before logging on and has increased the
pressure on Internet cafι owners to monitor customers' email messages and block
access to banned websites.
In April 2004 the government closed down Vietnam International
News 24-Hour, an unlicensed website that had reprinted a BBC article about
Easter demonstrations in the Central Highlands. In August 2004 the Ministry of
Public Security created a new office to monitor the Internet for
"criminal" content, a measure that appears to be aimed in part at
intimidating people from circulating any information that authorities could
deem to be a "state secret" or otherwise unauthorized.
Freedom of Religion
The government bans independent religious associations and permits
religious activities only insofar as they are conducted by
officially-recognized churches and organizations whose governing boards are
approved and controlled by the government.
A new Ordinance on Beliefs and Religions went into effect in
November 2004. It pays lip service to freedom of religion but strengthens
government controls over religion and bans religious activities deemed to
threaten national security, public order, and national unity.
Members of the banned Mennonite church have come under
increasing pressure from the government. In June 2004, Pastor Nguyen Hong
Quang, an outspoken Mennonite church leader, was arrested after publicly
criticizing the government for detaining four Mennonites three months earlier.
On two separate occasions during 2004, officials in Kontum province bulldozed a
chapel of Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh, superintendent of the Mennonite churches in
the Central Highlands. In September, October, and November, police pressured
Mennonites in Kontum and Pleiku provinces to sign forms renouncing their
religion.
In both the central and northern highlands, government
officials continue to ban most Protestant gatherings. Authorities have forced
ethnic minority evangelical Christians to pledge to abandon their religion and
cease all political or religious activities in public self-criticism sessions
or by signing written pledges.
Crackdown in the Central Highlands
In the Central Highlands some ethnic minority Christians
have rejected the government-controlled Evangelical Church of Vietnam and have
sought to manage their own religious activities. Increasing numbers of ethnic
minorities, collectively known as Montagnards, appear to be joining Tin Lanh
Dega, or Dega Protestantism, which combines evangelical Christianity with
elements of ethnic pride and aspirations for self-rule. Dega Protestantism is
officially banned by the government.
In April 2004 peaceful demonstrations by Montagnards during
Easter weekend in the Central Highlands turned violent when security forces and
civilians acting on their behalf ambushed and attacked the demonstrators with
clubs, metal bars, and other crude weapons. At least ten Montagnards were
killed and dozens wounded. Hundreds fled from their villages and went into
hiding or attempted to flee to Cambodia. (see Cambodia) Authorities dispatched
additional police and military forces to the region and established security
checkpoints along the main roads. Strict restrictions were placed on travel
within the highlands, on meetings of more than two people, and on communication
with the outside world.