DISSIDENT HA SY PHU CONTINUES TO BE QUESTIONED BY POLICE, ISOLATED FROM SUPPORTERS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 001671 SIPDIS STATE ALSO FOR EAP/BCLTV, DRL, DRL/IRF, INR/EAP STATE ALSO FOR DRL A/S KOH AND DAS FREEMAN CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 02 HANOI 01671 01 OF 03 031049Z NSC FOR RAVIC HUSO AND ERIC SCHWARTZ SECDEF FOR ISA/LSTERN E.O. 12958: DECL: 8/2/2010 TAGS: PHUM PREL PINR VM HUMANR SUBJECT: DISSIDENT HA SY PHU CONTINUES TO BE QUESTIONED BY POLICE, ISOLATED FROM SUPPORTERS REF: A) HANOI 1570 B) HANOI 1511 C) STATE 141858 ¶1. (U) CLASSIFIED BY ACTING DCM JAMES BRUNO; REASONS 1.5 (B) AND (D). ¶2. (C) SUMMARY: DISSIDENT WRITER HA SY PHU REMAINS IN HIS HOME IN DALAT SUBJECT TO REGULAR QUESTIONING BY POLICE, MORE THAN TWO MONTHS AFTER POLICE THREATENED TO CHARGE HIM WITH TREASON FOR HIS PRO-DEMOCRACY ESSAYS. AN INVESTIGATION INTO HIS CONDUCT IS ONGOING, AND HE IS NOT ALLOWED TO TRAVEL "OUT OF HIS PLACE OF RESIDENCE," ACCORDING TO THE MFA. FORMAL CHARGES MAY YET BE FILED AGAINST HIM. HA SY PHU'S PHONE HAS BEEN CUT OFF, AND HE IS NOT ABLE TO RECEIVE VISITORS. FELLOW DISSIDENTS NGUYEN DAN QUE AND NGUYEN THANH GIANG TOLD POLOFF THEY HAVE ATTEMPTED TO CONTACT PHU, BUT WITHOUT SUCCESS. GIANG SAYS HA SY PHU MUST REPORT FOR DAILY QUESTIONING BY POLICE. QUE BELIEVES INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION FOCUSED ON PHU'S CASE HAS PREVENTED HIS BEING FORMALLY CHARGED. END SUMMARY. PRO-DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST REMAINS UNDER INVESTIGATION -------------- -------------- CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 03 HANOI 01671 01 OF 03 031049Z ¶3. (SBU) PRO-DEMOCRACY WRITER HA SY PHU REMAINS AT HIS HOME IN DALAT IN THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS PROVINCE OF LAM DONG AND CONTINUES TO BE UNDER INVESTIGATION BY POLICE. A CZECH-TRAINED BIOLOGIT WHO FORMERLY WAS DIRECTOR OF THE VIETNAMESE INTITUTE OF SCIENCE IN DALAT, PHU HAS WRITTEN NUMEROUS ESSAYS ADVOCATING DEMOCRACY AND GREATER OBSERANCE OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN VIETNAM. ON MAY 12 HE WS NOTIFIED BY PROVINCIAL POLICE HE WOULD BE CHARED WITH TREASON UNDER ARTICLE 72 OF VIETNAM'S CRMINAL CODE. HOWEVER, MORE THAN TEN WEEKS LATER, HE HAS YET TO BE FORMALLY CHARGED. ¶4. (SBU) HA S PHU (WHICH IS THE PEN NAME USED BY NGUYEN XUAN U) HAD HIS HOME SEARCHED APRIL 28 BY POLICE, WHOCONFISCATED HIS COMPUTER, PRINTER, AND DISKETTESAND RESOURCE MATERIALS. TWO WEEKS LATER LAM DONG POLICE RETURNED TO NOTIFY HIM OF TWO DECISIONS SGNED BY THE PROVINCIAL POLICE CHIEF. PHU WAS REUIRED TO REPORT DAILY TO THE LOCAL POLICE STATION FOR QUESTIONING AND HE WAS TOLD HE WOULD BE TRIEDFOR TREASON. (COMMENT: BOTH STATEMENTS WERE SIGNED BY COL. NGUYEN VAN DO, POLICE CHIEF OF LAM DON PROVINCE, AND MAY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF ONLY LOCL OFFICIALS. END COMMENT.) ¶5. (SBU) SINCE THI TIME, NO FORMAL LEGAL ACTION HAS BEEN TAKEN AGANST PHU. IN RESPONSE TO A REQUEST BY THE AMBASSADOR FOR INFORMATION ABOUT HIS CASE, ON JULY 24 TH MFA PROVIDED THE EMBASSY WITH A NON-PAPER STATIG THAT PHU HAD NOT BEEN ARRESTED OR PLACED UNDER CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 04 HANOI 01671 01 OF 03 031049Z ADMINISTRATIVE DETENTION (DESCRIBED AS "ADMINISTRAIVE PROBATION" BY THE GVN). THE PAPER SAID THAT ECAUSE HA SY PHU "COMMITTED VIOLATIONS OF CRIMINL LAW," LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS IN LAM DONG BEAN A FORMAL INVESTIGATION INTO HIS CASE MAY 10. THE NOTE SAID PHU HAS BEEN ORDERED NOT TO "TRAVE OUT OF HIS PLACE OF RESIDENCE DURING THE INVESTIATION." (COMMENT: WE BELIEVE THIS MEANS HE IS CNFINED TO HIS HOME, THOUGH THE NOTE IS NOT PRECIE AND MAY REFER TO THE CITY WHERE HE LIVES. ENDCOMMENT.) THE NOTE CONCLUDES BY STATING THAT SETLEMENT OF HIS CASE "DEPENDS ON THE RESULTS OF THE INVESTIGATION" AND MUST BE N ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF VIETNAM. ¶6. (SB) NOTE: FOR THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS PHU HAS BEEN ONITORED CLOSELY BY POLICE. IN DECEMBER 1995 HE WS ARRESTED AND CHARGED WITH "REVEALING STATE SECRTS" FOR POSSESSING A LETTER FROM THEN-PRIME MINITER VO VAN KIET REFERRING TO THE NEED FOR FURTHER ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL REFORMS. PHU WAS IMPRISONED WITHOUT TRIAL UNTIL AUGUST 1996, WHEN HE WAS SENTENCED TO A YEAR IN PRISON. DURING THE PAST TWO YEARS, PHU'S PHONE HAS BEEN MONITORED AND CUT OFF PERIODICALLY. LOCAL POLICE HAVE PATROLLED OUTSIDE HIS HOME AND CONFISCATED HIS COMPUTER ON TWO OCCASIONS. ACCORDING TO ONE REPORT, HE WAS FORCED TO REPORT TO THE LOCAL POLICE ON A VIRTUALLY DAILY BASIS FOR SEVERAL MONTHS LATE IN 1999 AND IN EARLY 2000. HA SY PHU DEFENDED BY OTHER ACTIVISTS -------------- ¶7. (SBU) BECAUSE HA SY PHU IS ONE OF VIETNAM'S MOST OUTSPOKEN PRO-DEMOCRACY ADVOCATES, THE RESTRICTIONS PLACED ON HIM IN MAY RESULTED IN A FLURRY OF ACTIVISM ON HIS BEHALF. ON MAY 19, FIVE PRO-DEMOCRACY ACTIVISTS IN VIETNAM, INCLUDING DR. NGUYEN THANH GIANG, SIGNED AN APPEAL ADDRESSED TO NATIONAL ASSEMBLY MEMBERS PROTESTING THE ACTIONS AGAINST HIM. THE FIVE PERSONS WHO SIGNED THE LETTER, ALL IN THEIR 60'S OR 70'S, WERE GEOPHYSICIST GIANG, WHO WAS JAILED FROM MARCH-MAY 1999 FOR HIS PRO-DEMOCRACY WRITINGS; HOANG MINH CHINH, SELF-DESCRIBED AS THE FORMER SECRETARY- GENERAL OF THE VIETNAMESE DEMOCRATIC PARTY; WRITER HOANG TIEN; JOURNALIST AND RETIRED COLONEL PHAM QUE DUONG; AND MILITARY VETERAN TRAN DUNG TIEN. BOTH DUONG AND TRAN DUNG TIEN WERE AMONG A HANDFUL OF CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 03 HANOI 01671 02 OF 03 031050Z COMMUNIST PARTY MEMBERS TO RESIGN IN JANUARY 1999 TO PROTEST THE EXPULSION OF WAR HERO TRAN DO. ¶8. (SBU) THE OPEN LETTER FROM THESE DEMOCRACY ACTIVISTS DEFENDED PHU'S RECORD AND NOTED HE HAD DONE NOTHING TO DESERVE BEING CHARGED WITH TREASON, WHICH THEY POINTED OUT CALLS FOR MINIMUM SENTENCES RANGING FROM 7-20 YEARS IMPRISONMENT AND CAN RESULT IN THE DEATH PENALTY. THE OPEN LETTER DESCRIBED PHU'S PREVIOUS WORK AS A BIOLOGIST, AS WELL AS HIS "PROFOUND POLITICAL DISCOURSES" SUCH AS "REFLECTIONS OF A CITIZEN" AND "FAREWELL TO IDEOLOGY." THE AUTHORS SAID THAT PHU'S DISCOURSES "CARRY HIS HEART AND SOUL ON A SINGLE SUBJECT: THE URGENCY OF DEMOCRATIZATION FOR THE SAKE OF THE COUNTRY. THE PROSPERITY OF THE PEOPLE, THE WELL BEING OF THE COUNTRY, AND THE EQUALITY AND ADVANCEMENT OF SOCIETY DEPEND ON TRUE DEMOCRACY." (NOTE: PHU'S WRITINGS HAVE INCLUDED BITING CRITICISM OF THE CPV. FOR EXAMPLE, IN "FAREWELL TO IDEOLOGY," PUBLISHED IN 1995, HE WROTE TO THE CPV LEADERS: "MARXISM-LENINISM IS JUST FEUDALISM IN DISGUISE. BE GENTLEMEN AND LET THIS DOCTRINE SAY GOOD-BYE TO OUR PEOPLE OPENLY. LET'S PART ON GOOD TERMS.") ¶9. (SBU) THE OPEN LETTER ALSO INCLUDES A STRONG INDICTMENT OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE DETENTION DECREE, SAYING THAT IT ALLOWS POLICE TO TAKE ARBITRARY ACTION AGAINST PHU AND OTHER PERSONS. THE LETTER NOTES THE DECREE ALLOWS OFFICIALS TO "DETAIN ANY CITIZENS SUSPECTED OF BEING A POSSIBLE SECURITY THREAT, WITHOUT THE NEED FOR A JUDICIAL TRIAL AND WITHOUT REGARD FOR CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 04 HANOI 01671 02 OF 03 031050Z THE RIGHT OF THE ACCUSED TO DEFEND THEMSELVES." THE PRO-DEMOCRACY ACTIVISTS CALLED ON THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY TO IMMEDIATELY ABOLISH THE DECREE BECAUSE IT "BLATANTLY VIOLATES" VIETNAM'S CONSTITUTION AND PLAYS A "DESTRUCTIVE ROLE" IN SOCIETY. ¶10. (C) FOLLOWING THE PUBLICATION OF THE OPEN LETTER, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH ASIA AND SEVERAL VIETNAMESE- AMERICAN NGO'S AND INTERNET NEWS SERVICES CIRCULATED NEWS OF THE ACTIONS AGAINST PHU AND CALLED FOR CLEARING HIM OF ANY POSSIBLE CHARGES. THE EMBASSY HAS RAISED HIS CASE ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS WITH THE MINISTRIES OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND PUBLIC SECURITY, AND ASSISTANT SECRETARY KOH DISCUSSED PHU'S CASE IN DETAIL DURING THE U.S.-VIETNAM HUMAN RIGHTS DIALOGUE IN WASHINGTON JUNE (REF C). ALSO, AS NOTED ABOVE, THE AMBASSADOR ASKED FOREIGN MINISTER NIEN FOR INFORMATION ABOUT PHU DURING A JULY MEETING (REF B). OTHER DISSIDENTS NOT ABLE TO CONTACT PHU -------------- ¶11. (C) IN ORDER TO SEEK FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE CONDITIONS FACED BY HA SY PHU, POLOFFS CONTACTED GIANG AND HO CHI MINH CITY-BASED DISSIDENT NGUYEN DAN QUE. GIANG SAID HE HAD NOT BEEN ABLE TO GET MUCH MORE INFORMATION ABOUT PHU SINCE HE SIGNED THE OPEN LETTER DESCRIBED ABOVE. (GIANG ALSO SAID HE HAS FACED NO REPRISALS SINCE SIGNING THE LETTER.) GIANG TRIED TO CONTACT HA SY PHU BY PHONE, BUT PHU'S PHONE IS CUT OFF. (GIANG, WHOSE HOME PHONE IS ALSO DISCONNECTED, USES A CELL PHONE, BUT HE DOES NOT BELIEVE PHU HAS A CELL PHONE.) GIANG ALSO SAID HE HAD BEEN UNSUCCESSFUL CONTACTING PHU THROUGH MUTUAL FRIENDS IN DALAT. GIANG SAID NONE OF PHU'S FRIENDS ARE ABLE TO VISIT HIM AT HOME, AND PHU MUST REPORT EVERY DAY FOR INTERROGATION AT THE LOCAL POLICE STATION. ONE OF GIANG'S FRIENDS BASED IN DALAT WHO ALSO ADVOCATES FOR DEMOCRATIC REFORM TOLD GIANG THAT PHU IS HELD IN CONDITIONS LIKE HOUSE ARREST. (SEPTEL WILL REPORT FURTHER ON CONDITIONS FACED BY GIANG, QUE AND OTHER DISSIDENTS.) ¶12. (C) DR. NGUYEN DAN QUE TOLD POLOFF THAT HE TOO WAS UNABLE TO CONTACT PHU. QUE NOTED THAT PHU HAD SENT A TET CARD TO HIS WIFE EVERY YEAR WHILE QUE WAS IMPRISONED (FROM 1990-98),BUT QUE HAD NOT BEEN ABLE TO MEET HIM SINCE QUE WAS RELEASED FROM PRISON. QUE CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 03 HANOI 01671 03 OF 03 031050Z NOTED HE HAD BEEN IN TOUCH WITH A FRIEND IN THE NEIGHBORING PROVINCE OF BUON ME THUOT, WHO DID NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT PHU'S CONDITION. QUE OPINED THAT THE AUTHORITIES LIKELY WERE ADOPTING A "WAIT AND SEE" ATTITUDE BEFORE DECIDING WHETHER TO CHARGE HA SY PHU FORMALLY. QUE BELIEVES THAT INTERNATIONAL CRITICISM OF THE ACTIONS AGAINST HA SY PHU HAS GIVEN PAUSE TO SECURITY OFFICIALS, WHO LIKELY WOULD HAVE MOVED TO CHARGE HIM QUICKLY IN THE ABSENCE OF SUCH CRITICISM. COMMENT -------------- ¶13. (C) THE ONGOING INTERROGATION AND ISOLATION OF HA SY PHU FOLLOWS A FAMILIAR PATTERN PRACTICED BY VIETNAMESE SECURITY OFFICIALS. IN ORDER TO INTIMIDATE AND FRAGMENT THE SMALL NUMBERS OF ACTIVISTS PRESSING FOR DEMOCRATIC CHANGE IN VIETNAM, LOCAL POLICE PERIODICALLY CRACK DOWN ON SELECTED INDIVIDUALS BY CALLING THEM IN FOR REPEATED QUESTIONING, CUTTING OFF THEIR COMMUNICATION LINKS WITH SUPPORTERS, AND THREATENING THEM WITH HARSH PRISON TERMS. AS NOTED IN THE OPEN LETTER FROM GIANG AND HIS ASSOCIATES, THE ADMINISTRATIVE DETENTION DECREE PROVIDES WIDE LATITUDE FOR OFFICIALS TO INTIMIDATE AND HARASS THOSE ADVOCATING "TREASONOUS" IDEAS SUCH AS MULTI-PARTY DEMOCRACY. ¶14. (C) THE THREAT MADE AGAINST PHU IN MAY THAT HE MIGHT BE CHARGED WITH TREASON, WHICH POTENTIALLY COULD CARRY THE DEATH PENALTY, MAY PROVE TO BE A CASE OF CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 04 HANOI 01671 03 OF 03 031050Z LOCAL POLICE EXCEEDING THEIR MANDATE, SINCE IT HAS BEEN NEARLY THREE MONTHS SINCE THE WRIT WAS PRESENTED TO PHU. IN ANY EVENT, WE CONCUR WITH DR. QUE THAT THE STRONG INTERNATIONAL CRITICISM OF PHU'S HARASSMENT LIKELY HAS CAUSED GVN OFFICIALS TO CAREFULLY CONSIDER THE IMPLICATIONS OF MOVING FORWARD WITH CHARGES. THAT SAID, CHARGES MAY INDEED BE FILED AGAINST HIM, SINCE THE MFA NOTE DECLARES THAT PHU HAS "COMMITTED VIOLATIONS OF VIETNAM'S CRIMINAL LAW." BUT EVEN IF HE IS NEVER FORMALLY CHARGED, THE COLD WET BLANKET OF VIETNAM'S INTRUSIVE POLICE APPARATUS HAS DESCENDED AGAIN ON HA SY PHU, SEEKING TO SMOTHER OUT HIS CALLS FOR DEMOCRATIC REFORM. IN VIETNAM TODAY, ONLY A HANDFUL OF PERSONS SUCH AS PHU, GIANG AND QUE ARE WILLING TO ENDURE THE KIND OF HARASSMENT SUCH VIEWS ENTAIL. END COMMENT. PETERSON CONFIDENTIAL