DUTCH SHARE EU DEMARCHE TO VIETNAM

1. (C) The Dutch government remains concerned about the
situation of the Vietnamese Montagnards in the Central
Highlands. Following the volatile situation April 10-11, the
Dutch immediately contacted the Irish EU Presidency to
register concern and request EU action. (Note: The Dutch
are acting as the local EU Presidency embassy in Hanoi. End
note.) Unfortunately, due to the slow EU process, reaction
to the incidents and the GVN response was slow. EU missions
in Hanoi were given instruction on the 19th to approach the
GVN. (Note: The (Dutch-drafted) demarche text begins Para


3. End note.)



2. (C) The Dutch Human Rights Ambassador, Piet de Klerk,
will conduct a bilateral visit to Vietnam in mid-May. This
visit is one of several to the region, and demonstrates the
Dutch government's desire to ensure that bilateral
cooperation is deeply connected to human rights issues.
(Note: Vietnam receives significant Dutch aid. The GoNL will
contribute approximately 21 million euros this year via both
multilateral and bilateral programs. End Note.) Desk
officer Hein Copper stated that, in light of recent events,
the delegation is now considering including a trip to the
Central Highlands during the visit.



3. (C) Following is text of Dutch-drafted Irish presidency
demarche message to EU members, which the GoNL reported was
achieved without changes. It was recommended for urgent
delivery by EU Troika Ambassadors in Hanoi by EU HOMs
resident in Hanoi:

Begin Quote:

-expressing concern about the events that took place;
-requesting information on the events that took place,
including numbers of persons killed, injured, arrested and
detained as well as charges against those detained
-call on the authorities to fully respect international human
right standards in their longer term response to the protests
during the Easter Weekend
-calling on the authorities to allow peaceful demonstrations
to take place and not to use excessive force during
demonstrations
-calling on the authorities to reestablish a tripartite
agreement with UNHCR and Cambodia and allow UNHCR access to
the Central Highlands to monitor the situation
-requesting access to the area for diplomats, international
press, other UN agencies and international NGOs
-requesting authorities to investigate the grievances of the
ethnic minority people, to address them and to respect the
freedom of religion of the ethnic minority people in the
Central Highlands

End Quote.



4. The Dutch government will assume the EU presidency on
July 1, and will likely act as local presidency
representative in Vietnam during the Luxembourg presidency in
the first half of 2005.
SOBEL