REDUCTION OF PHAM HONG SON'S SENTENCE

UNCLAS HANOI 002168 SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV, EAP/PD, AND DRL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PREL VM HUMANR SUBJECT: REDUCTION OF PHAM HONG SON'S SENTENCE REF: A. Hanoi 1561 B. BAILES/CARMICHAEL E-MAILS ¶1. (U) According to a two Western media sources, Appeals Court officials in Hanoi confirmed that the 13 year sentence of activist Pham Hong Son (ref a) was reduced to 5 years during a brief hearing on August 26. (Son will still apparently be subject to three years' house detention after completing that prison sentence.) Court officials have declined to answer Embassy's repeated inquiries. Security was tight at the early morning hearing on August 26, from which foreign observers -- including journalists and diplomats -- had been banned. (The MFA confirmed the ban at a press conference on August 21.) About nine representatives from various missions (including ours) were nonetheless present outside the court building for the beginning of the hearing. One reporter confirmed that Son's wife had been able to enter the court building, but we do not yet know whether she actually attended the hearing. (At the earlier trial, she was only able to make her own testimony but not to be present for the entire trial or to meet her husband.) ¶2. (U) Ref b provides cleared contingency press guidance, as follows: ¶Q. What is the Embassy's reaction to the reduction in Pham Hong Son's sentence? ¶A. We welcome the reduction, but he should never have been jailed in the first place for his actions. We urge the Vietnamese Government to adhere to international human rights standards that it has freely assumed through its ratification of international human rights instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. We urge the Vietnamese Government to release Pham Hong Son immediately along with all citizens unjustly jailed for the peaceful expression of their opinions. ¶3. (U) Comment: The reduction in Son's sentence likely comes with an eye on a slew of upcoming ministerial visits to the U.S. and Europe, including Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan, the Foreign Minister, the Trade Minister, the Minister of Planning and Investment, and the Defense Minister, as well as a possible vote in the U.S. Senate on the Smith Amendment to the State Authorization Bill. The GVN likely overestimated the goodwill that will be generated from this decision, which many international observers will view as too little, too late. BURGHARDT