DISSIDENTS PUSH HARD WITH LITTLE BACKLASH SO FAR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 001454 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/14/2016 TAGS: PHUM PGOV HUMANR VM SUBJECT: DISSIDENTS PUSH HARD WITH LITTLE BACKLASH SO FAR REF: A. SILBERSTEIN - ADAMS 6/8 EMAIL ¶B. HCMC 608 ¶C. HCMC 318 AND PREVIOUS HANOI 00001454 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: ACTING POL/C BENJAMIN MOELING, REASON 1.5 (B) and (D) ¶1. (U) The reporting and comment in this cable is by Consulate General Ho Chi Minh City, with additional reporting and commentary by Embassy Hanoi. ¶2. (C) Summary: Dissidents in Ho Chi Minh City, including Dr. Nguyen Dan Que, report that they are receiving increased attention but that harassment is at manageable levels. We are in contact with most of them, and those we have spoken to report that they have been able to conduct their activities relatively freely, including sensitive activities. An MPS contact reported to Embassy Hanoi that the GVN's forbearance wQthe dissidents is deliberate, with the implication that police restraint is a favor to the United States. End Summary. ¶3. (SBU) On June 13, HCMC officers spoke with Dr. Nguyen Dan Que and other political activists to assess their condition following the June 8 police raid on Que's house in HCMC (ref A). They spoke to Dr. Que on his cell phone. He reported no additional harassment since the June 8 incident. He told HCMC Poloff that "everything is normal for now" and expressed hope that it would stay that way. The police had not invited his son "for a drink" as they earlier had threatened. (Note: Per ref A, on the afternoon of June 8, Dr. Que called HCMC Poloff to inform him that he had an unannounced visit by special police to his home. The officer in charge was the same officer who had developed his case before his arrest in July 2004. Dr. Que refused to meet the police, but they spoke with his wife. The policemen told her that they "know everyone who came to meet with him in his home and that associating with these persons is not advisable." They also suggested that they would go out and "drink coffee" with Que's son, who lives at home. End Note.) ¶4. (SBU) Democratic Party of Vietnam representative Tran Khue said he has not been harassed by police since his return to HCMC from Hanoi on June 3 (ref B). Police had added an additional "watcher" outside his home, but he faced no restriction on movement or association. For example, on June 13 he was able to attend a Hoa Hao "Foundation Day" celebration at the home of Hoa Hao activist Le Quang Liem in HCMC. ¶5. (SBU) "Group 8406" leader Do Nam Hai (aka Phuong Nam) told HCMC Poloff that he faces "annoying harassment," but that his movement and activities have not been curtailed. For example, on June 11 he was able to participate via cell phone in an hour-long conference call with Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) and Father Nguyen Van Ly on democracy, human rights and the Congressional debate on permanent normal trading relations (PNTR) with Vietnam. (Note: A summary transcript of the discussion, in which Father Ly stated that he opposed PNTR and Congresswoman Sanchez was quoted as stating that she would seek to make PNTR conditional on further human rights improvements, was posted on the dissident website www.Doi-Thoai.com. End Note.) ¶6. (SBU) The previous week Phuong Nam was able to travel to Hue to consult with Father Ly, but police followed him everywhere. Similarly, on June 12, at an Internet cafe in HCMC, a plainclothes policeman stood immediately behind him and read his screen despite his strong protests. (His home Internet connection has been cut twice.) That same day he was also summoned to his local police station, where he was informed that the government had decided that it "would not prosecute him under the criminal code for using the internet to sabotage the State," but that he would be fined. This decision stemmed from the police confiscation of his personal computer in March. That computer contained a draft of the "Group 8406" manifesto on Freedom and Democracy in Vietnam. Do Nam Hai told HCMC Poloff that he had refused to respond to a summons for another "working session" with police for June ¶13. ¶7. (SBU) In a separate phone converQon, Father Chan Tin told HCMC Poloff that he had not faced any direct harassment since he and other dissidents launched the bi-weekly "Freedom of Speech" magazine in December 2005. On June 13 he joined Tran Khue and Do Nam Hai at Le Quan Liem's house for the Hoa HANOI 00001454 002.2 OF 002 Hao Founder's Day celebration. According to Father Tin, the authorities did press the HCMC Archdiocese to make Father Tin stop; Father Tin's supervisors reportedly responded that "the Father should be arrested if they think he violated the law, otherwise he and the church should be left alone." Father Tin added that, although he is listed as the Chief Editor of the magazine, the "Hue group" does most of the work. The Hue activists send him the final edition, and he arranges for "less suspect" people to make photocopies for local distribution. ¶6. (C) On June 13, Hanoi Poloff received a phone call from a contact in the Ministry of Public Security. In the course of a relatively routine discussion of a visa case, the contact added a premeditated comment regarding the "patience" of the MPS with recent dissident activities, implying that MPS forbearance is a favor to the USG. The officer was not in a position to elaborate. ¶7. (C) Comment: The coordination between HCMC and Hue activists and their activities is increasingly bold. However, thus far direct pressure on the dissidents, while visible and annoying, has been modest. Visits to homes, high-profile "watchers," easily detectable surveillance and verbal warnings all represent the lowest level of available police sanctions against dissidents in Vietnam. If MPS decides it wants to seriously crack down on dissident activity, we will see extended detentions, interrogations and arrests. Authorities are laying down clear markers that they are displeased but have stopped short of taking significant action against the dissidents, and the phone call to Embassy Hanoi suggests that the decision not to crack down was deliberate and taken at a high level. End Comment. MARINE