VIETNAM AND HUMAN RIGHTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 002612 SIPDIS STATE FOR DRL DAS CARPENTER AND EAP DAS DALEY E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/30/12 TAGS: PHUM PINS PREL SOCI VM HUMANR SUBJECT: VIETNAM AND HUMAN RIGHTS REF: HANOI 2345 ¶1. (U) CLASSIFIED BY AMBASSADOR RAYMOND BURGHARDT, CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 02 HANOI 02612 01 OF 02 300231Z REASON: 1.5 (D) ¶2. (C) THE NOVEMBER 8 HUMAN RIGHTS DIALOGUE WITH VIETNAM WILL BE ANOTHER IMPORTANT STEP IN OUR EFFORTS TO DEEPEN OUR BILATERAL RELATIONSHIP AND TO REITERATE THE GENUINE CONCERN FELT IN THE U.S. -- WITHIN THE ADMINISTRATION, CONGRESS, AND THE PUBLIC -- ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES AND SYSTEMIC PROBLEMS IN VIETNAM. EMBASSY APPRECIATES THE ONGOING PREPARATION BY DRL AND EAP AND WELCOMES THE OPPORTUNITY TO SEND HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICER TIM SWANSON TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS SESSION, AS WELL AS THE SUBSEQUENT POLITICAL DIALOGUE ON NOVEMBER ¶15. THE US-VIETNAM HUMAN RIGHTS DIALOGUE OPERATES IN PARALLEL WITH SIMILAR REGULAR OR SEMI-REGULAR EXCHANGES (USUALLY NOT LABELED AS SPECIFIC "HUMAN RIGHTS" DIALOGUES) WITH THE EU, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, SWEDEN, NORWAY, AND SWITZERLAND. ¶3. (C) THERE SHOULD BE NO ILLUSIONS, HOWEVER, THAT WE SHOULD EXPECT ANY MEETING OF THE MINDS BETWEEN THE TWO DELEGATIONS ON THE NATURE OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE EXTENT OF PROBLEMS IN VIETNAM. GVN OFFICIALS REMAIN OFFICIALLY WEDDED TO THE PROPAGANDA THAT THE CPV HAS BEEN THE SAVIOR OF THE VIETNAMESE PEOPLE FROM CENTURIES OF WHAT THEY SEE AS TYRANNY BY OUTSIDE FORCES, INCLUDING THE U.S. AS SUCH, THEY VIEW THE CPV (AND, THROUGH IT, THE GVN ITSELF) AS THE CREATOR (NOT EVEN RESTORER) OF THOSE RIGHTS NOW ENJOYED BY THE PEOPLE OF VIETNAM, PRIMARILY THAT OF NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE BUT ALSO OF THE LARGER SOCIETAL "RIGHTS" OF STABILITY, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, AND EQUALITY. TO GVN OFFICIALS, CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 03 HANOI 02612 01 OF 02 300231Z THE BOTTOM LINE QUESTIONS WHEN TALKING ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS IN VIETNAM REMAIN "ARE THE LIVES OF THE VIETNAMESE PEOPLE BETTER NOW THAN BEFORE 1986 (WHEN THE POLICY OF DOI MOI BEGAN)? THAN BEFORE 1975? THAN BEFORE 1954?" THE CPV CLAIM THAT THE ANSWER IN ALL THREE CASES IS "YES" IS PROBABLY MOSTLY CORRECT, EXCEPT FOR THE GREATER CIVIL LIBERTIES, E.G., PRESS AND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, ENJOYED IN THE SOUTH BEFORE 1975. (REFTEL DESCRIBED SOME OF THE IMPORTANT EXPANSIONS IN PERSONAL FREEDOMS AT LEAST SINCE 1986.) ¶4. (C) SUSPICIONS REMAIN DEEP AND REAL THAT THE U.S. HAS SOME SINISTER AGENDA -- CALL IT PEACEFUL EVOLUTION, OR GLOBALIZATION, OR HEGEMONY, OR WHATEVER -- IN RAISING HUMAN RIGHTS WITH VIETNAM AND OTHER LIKE COUNTRIES. GVN AND CPV OFFICIALS DO NOT BELIEVE THAT OUR INTEREST IS BENIGN AND THAT WE GENUINELY CARE ABOUT THE PEOPLE OF VIETNAM. MANY OF THEM STILL BELIEVE THAT OUR REAL GOAL REMAINS TO DEFEAT GLOBAL COMMUNISM AND ENSURE THAT THESE REGIMES TURN INTO AMERICAN-STYLE DEMOCRACIES. THEY SEE THE U.S. AS A WORLD-CLASS BULLY INTENT ON IMPOSING ITS OWN VALUES ON COUNTRIES -- INCLUDING VIETNAM -- THAT, BECAUSE THEY NEED ACCESS TO OUR MARKETS, ARE OBLIGED TO LISTEN TO US COMPLAINTS AND CRITICISMS, WHILE PUBLICLY REJECTING THE US' RIGHT TO "INTERFERE IN INTERNAL AFFAIRS." EVEN THE MEMBERS OF THE DELEGATION WHO ARE MOST SAVVY ABOUT THE US SYSTEM AND IDEALS LIKELY BELIEVE THAT AT THE VERY LEAST THESE US CONCERNS ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS IN VIETNAM ARE NO MORE THAN NITPICKING ABOUT ISSUES AND SITUATIONS THAT WE DO NOT TRULY UNDERSTAND. CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 04 HANOI 02612 01 OF 02 300231Z ¶5. (C) BUT THE VIETNAMESE INSISTENCE -- BOTH IN THE CONSTITUTION AS WELL AS IN SECTIONS OF THE PENAL CODE APPLIED TO FATHER NGUYEN VAN LY AND A MORE RECENT CASE INVOLVING LE CHI QUANG --ON THE ENSHRINED PRIORITY OF NATIONAL SOLIDARITY, AS WELL AS THE FREQUENT REFERENCES TO THREATS TO INTERNAL STABILITY, MAY REFLECT AN UNACKNOWLEDGED ANXIETY THAT LONGER TERM TRENDS FOR VIETNAM DO INDEED NOT FAVOR THE CONTINUED MONOPOLY