SCENESETTER FOR DRL A/S LOWENKRON'S VISIT TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 HANOI 002630

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

FOR DRL ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON FROM AMBASSADOR MARINE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/13/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KIRF VM
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR DRL A/S LOWENKRON'S VISIT TO
VIETNAM

REF: A. HCMC 1090


B. HANOI 2624

C. HCMC 1145

D. HCMC 1144

E. HANOI 2617

F. 05 HANOI 3043

G. HCMC 1122

H. HANOI 2305

Classified By: Ambassador Michael W. Marine per 1.4 (b/d)


1. (C) Embassy Hanoi looks forward to welcoming you back to
Vietnam. Your visit will help us to address a number of key
issues in the lead-up to the President's November visit. It
will also underscore to the Vietnamese that progress on core
American concerns and values must keep pace with the
substantial progress in other areas of the bilateral
relationship. Since the February 2006 bilateral Human Rights
Dialogue, we have seen progress in a number of the areas we
raised: Mission representatives were allowed to visit two
prisons in southern Vietnam; several prisoners of concern
were released (including our last religious prisoner); a
number of churches, congregations and denominations have been
legalized; and, signs that Decree 31 (concerning
"administrative detention") will be repealed.


2. (C) However, areas of concern remain. For example: two
prisoners of concern are still incarcerated, and the GVN has
stepped up its detention of activists, including those
associated with the 8406 Bloc (a group named for the date,
April 8, 2006, in which 118 individuals signed a petition
calling for democracy and multiparty elections in Vietnam);
the GVN appears to be tightening its controls on the
Internet; the relatively progressive draft Law on
Associations has for now been shelved; the pace of church
registrations in northern Vietnam remains too slow; and,
there are continued isolated incidents of local authorities
in the Central Highlands harassing ethnic minorities. In
your discussions, we should continue to seek realistic
targets that both represent real improvements in the
situation in Vietnam, but also are achievable given Vietnam's
current domestic political realities. We also should think
about how we can offer assistance in making changes, rather
than just demanding reform.

Prisoners of Concern and Political Activists
--------------


3. (C) Our list of prisoners of concern has been reduced to
two individuals )- Nguyen Vu Binh and Phan Van Ban.
Although the release of Pham Hong Son and other prisoners of
concern is a hopeful sign that the GVN will eventually
release these two individuals, we will continue to urge the
GVN to set them free forthwith. We have a standing request
for the Ambassador to visit Nguyen Vu Binh in prison, and
your discussions would be a good opportunity to reiterate
this request. We also hope to explore the possibility of
Phan Van Ban's being released to join his U.S. citizen son in
Illinois.


4. (C) The difficult step of releasing prisoners is a
political decision involving leaders at the national level.
How former prisoners are treated is largely a local issue.
As a result, ending harassment of released activists remains
a challenge. Given the Ministry of Public Security's (MPS)
seeming obsession with knowing everything about domestic
"threats," we doubt this surveillance will cease. That said,
we should continue to argue for freed activists, enjoyment
of the same civil rights as other Vietnamese citizens,
including having access to the Internet and freedom to travel
internally and abroad.


5. (C) We are increasingly concerned about police harassment
and detentions of political activists, particularly those
involved with the 8406 Bloc (Ref A). Clearly the GVN is
trying to walk a fine line between doing what it deems
necessary to preserve domestic political stability while
avoiding sullying its international reputation in the run-up
to the APEC Summit. This balancing act has been made tougher
by the dissidents' increasing tempo of activities. Your
visit will be a good opportunity to press the Vietnamese to
allow greater space for political and other discussions. The
lively public discussion in advance of the 10th Party
Congress did not bring down the system, and the GVN and Party
should not fear allowing an incremental expansion of its
tolerance for political discussion (and even dissent).
Notably, the MFA recently called in Embassy and ConGen HCMC

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officials to protest the Ambassador's recent remarks on RFA
related to the 8406 Bloc's activities and his use of the
phrase "call for political change" (Refs B and C). You
should particularly stress our and the international
community's hope that the diminishment of world attention on
Vietnam after November does not lead to a further crackdown
on political activism.

Internet
--------------


6. (C) The Party and the GVN have introduced new legal and
technical measures to strengthen controls over the Internet
(Ref D). Much of the focus is centered on bolstering
firewalls, preventing search engines from displaying unwanted
content and centralizing Internet monitoring in Vietnam's
State-controlled Internet Service Providers. Your GVN
interlocutors will claim that these regulations and firewalls
are designed to ensure that children are not exposed to
immoral or undesirable content and do not have political
aims. However, recent research has shown that, while
Internet pornography is easy to access from just about
anywhere in Vietnam, sensitive political websites, such as
overseas dissident pages, RFA and VOA, are blocked. Although
application of these new regulations and technical measures
is often inconsistent, the GVN is nonetheless taking action
where it can. The arrests and detentions of Vietnamese and
Vietnamese-American activists who use the Internet to
communicate and make plans indicate that police have the
ability to target Vietnam's activist community even as
dissidents harness new technologies to get out their message.


7. (C) During your discussions, you should seek further
information about the GVN's intentions in the area of
Internet control. You may also wish to underline the
importance of a free and open exchange of information for
Vietnam's continued economic growth and global integration.
Seeking to prevent activists and others from using the
Internet to exchange ideas will have a chilling effect on the
overall climate of openness needed to accelerate further
Vietnam's socio-economic development. Once again, as the
discussions in the run-up to the 10th Party Congress showed,
the public has proven it can constructively engage in a
lively and thought-provoking debate without threatening
Vietnam's political stability.

Law on Associations
--------------


8. (C) The GVN in late September pulled the 11th version of
the Law on Associations from the National Assembly's upcoming
agenda (Ref E). While this latest version was not perfect,
it was an improvement over previous versions in that it
specified (and limited) the authority of central and local
line ministries and agencies and provincial People's
Committees in dealing with associations. It also reduced the
time ministries have to recognize an association's charter
and grant permits for operations, while prohibiting central
and local authorities from hindering the establishment of
associations. It is uncertain what will happen next with
this draft law. You may wish to impress upon your
interlocutors that we: view the 11th version of the Law on
Associations as an improvement over previous versions and are
disappointed that the National Assembly will not review it
during legislative sessions this year; and, believe that
granting non-governmental organizations legal status and
rights would play a positive role in Vietnam's socio-economic
development efforts.

Criminal Codes and International Standards
--------------


9. (C) During February's Dialogue, you suggested the repeal
of Decree 31, which allows the GVN to place individuals under
administrative probation without trial. We have heard from
our MFA contacts that Decree 31 is on the verge of abolition
and awaits a final decision from the Prime Minister. We have
been trying to arrange a meeting with the Ministry of Justice
to discuss this further, but have not yet had any luck. The
GVN may be looking to your discussions to raise this matter
in fuller detail. The repeal of Decree 31 would be a
significant and welcome step forward, but we should remain
vigilant to ensure that other means are not used to achieve
the same ends.


10. (C) If time allows, another possibly productive subject
to raise is the revision of Vietnam's criminal procedures

HANOI 00002630 003 OF 004


code. The National Assembly amended the Criminal Procedures
Code in 2003 to allow more rights for defendants, and set a
goal of changing courtroom procedures to an "adversarial"
model (in which lawyers debate the prosecution's case) from
the current "investigative" model (in which the judge leads
the questioning). There has been little action so far. In
addition to merely encouraging progress, this is one area
where we hope to offer some cooperation through the efforts
of the American Bar Association and its proposal to begin
work in Vietnam (Ref F).

Religious Freedom
--------------


11. (C) We have seen solid progress in many areas )- the
registration of congregations and denominations throughout
Vietnam, the release of all of our religious prisoners of
concern and the generally greater official tolerance for
religious practice nationwide )- and, during your
discussions, you should acknowledge this positive momentum.
Areas of concern do remain, however, namely: the slow pace
of registrations of churches and congregations in northern
Vietnam; isolated incidents of harassment of religious
believers by local officials, such as in Ninh Thuan Province
(Ref G); and, and ongoing property issues, involving both the
Catholic Church and the Protestants. Your religious freedom
points will depend on the state of play of CPC at the time of
the meetings, but our basic message will likely remain: we
welcome progress to date; urge the GVN to continue to support
the expansion of religious freedom and tolerance; look for
stepped-up efforts to register Protestant groups,
particularly in the north; and, hope that Hanoi ensures that
local authorities consistently implement the central
government's framework on religious affairs.

Freedom of the Press
--------------


12. (C) The Vietnamese are proud of their growing and
seemingly feisty print and electronic media businesses, but
the media remains an area tightly controlled by the Party and
GVN. Your interlocutors will likely argue that Vietnam does
not want or need unfettered, Western-style press freedoms,
which they view as socially disruptive. Yet, some progress
has been made, and more is possible. The Mission continues
to explore opportunities to develop the independence of
Vietnam's print media. You could highlight the importance of
an independent press acting as a "check and balance" against
corruption and could explore the possibility of assistance to
build the capacity of journalists' associations. Limited
cooperative programs in these areas could be more politically
palatable for the GVN if raised outside the scope of a "human
rights dialogue." Nonetheless, it will be useful for you to
underscore our view that an independent press is a key
element in a well-governed society and a critical factor in
protecting citizens' civil and political rights.

Respecting the Rights of Ethnic Minorities
--------------


13. (C) Vietnamese officials have told us that they are
concerned that certain U.S.-based groups are in contact with
Dega separatists and are encouraging them to organize
protests in the Central Highlands in advance of APEC and the
President's visit. Mission Vietnam is concerned about an
uptick in incidents in which police officials have abused
ethnic minority individuals in the Central Highlands who are
in cellular telephone contact with relatives and others in
the United States (Ref H). In one recent case, an individual
mistakenly suspected of belonging to a separatist group was
arrested after communicating by cell phone with relatives in
the United States, and died in police custody.


14. (C) During your discussions, you may wish to reinforce
our message to the GVN to: recognize that increased contact
between ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands and their
relatives in the United States is natural and should not be
construed as a threat to Vietnam's sovereignty and
territorial integrity; protect the rights of those detained
or arrested; punish those officials who are responsible for
violating these rights; and, share information with the USG
on ethnic minority separatist activities. On this last
issue, we have begun to make some progress. We have had some
productive exchanges with local police officials in Gia Lai
and Dak Lak, two key Central Highlands provinces.

In Closing

HANOI 00002630 004 OF 004


--------------


15. (C) We have been unusually fortunate to have two years in
a row in which banner events, such as last year's visit by
the Prime Minister and this year's November visit by the
President, have helped to set a positive tone for bilateral
relations. Continued progress in human rights and religious
freedom can both help to lay the foundation for a successful
visit by the President and ensure that our relationship
reflects respect for critical values shared by the United
States and many in the international community. Your visit
discussions during the visit will be an important step in
that direction and we look forward to welcoming you here.
MARINE