Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06HANOI2663
2006-10-19 08:15:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Hanoi
Cable title:  

NEW DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE FORMS

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VZCZCXRO3761
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHHI #2663/01 2920815
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 190815Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3745
INFO RUEHZS/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH 2005
RHEHNSC/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 HANOI 002663 

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SUBJECT: NEW DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE FORMS


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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 HANOI 002663

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SUBJECT: NEW DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE FORMS


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1. (SBU) This message was coordinated with ConGen Ho Chi Minh
City.


2. (C) Summary and Comment: Using strong language, local
activists announced on October 18 the establishment of an
umbrella alliance of democratic organizations with the aim of
pushing for a multi-party system in Vietnam. The Alliance's
proclaimed operating method is non-violent, and it will not
include any organization that has a violent agenda or intends
to participate in Vietnam's political system as it currently
exists. With about a month to go before the APEC Leaders'
Meeting and the President's visit, there is little doubt that
the leaders of this Alliance were deliberate in their choice
of timing. We plan to tell our GVN interlocutors that a move
to crack down on this and other activist groups after the
world's attention shifts from Vietnam post-APEC would
generate intense concern in the international community and
could impede further bilateral progress in 2007. End Summary
and Comment.


3. (SBU) On October 18, Hanoi-based political activist Dai
Nguyen forwarded an e-mail declaration dated October 16
entitled "Announcement of the Formation of the Alliance of
Our Nation's Forces Struggling for Freedom, Democracy and
Human Rights for Vietnam" (Alliance) to Western diplomats and
other human rights observers. According to the announcement,
the Alliance aims to "expunge completely" the "axis of evil
and deceit" of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) (full
text of announcement in paragraph 8).


4. (C) Bloc 8406 and Alliance founder Do Nam Hai told HCMC
Poloff on October 16 that the Alliance is an umbrella group
that "unites all democratic organizations in the country" to
push for a multi-party system. Its operating method is
non-violent, and it will not include any organization that
has a violent agenda or intends to participate in the
existing political system. (Note: This explicitly excludes
the Democratic Party of Vietnam and dissident leaders Hoang
Minh Chinh and Tran Khue. Hai and Khue had a falling out
earlier in the year over Khue's openness to political
cooperation with the Communist Party. End Note.) Some of
the Alliance's advisers include a number of Catholic priests

based in Hue (Fathers Ly, Giai, Chan Tin and Loi),the Hoa
Hao's Le Quang Liem, Mennonite Pastor Quang and Interfaith
Evangelical Movement Pastor No. The Alliance's Executive
Board includes Hai, Nguyen Chinh Ket and Thai Binh
Province-based dissident Tran Anh Kim. It appears that all
the members of the Alliance also are members of the 8406 Bloc.


5. (C) Hai, who drafted the declaration, and 8406 members
Nguyen Chinh Ket and Phuong Thi were recently detained and
held for ten hours by HCMC police, Hai continued. All three
were questioned about the Alliance's establishment. Hai
guessed that his prominent role in the Alliance led police to
enter his home on October 11 and seize a computer hard drive
while he was out. As a result, he had to hand write the
Alliance's declaration, subsequently sending it to friends
who published it on the Internet. The police also searched
Ket's house and took two computers, Hai said.


6. (C) Bloc 8406 member Phuong Thi separately told us that,
on the day Hai was detained, Hai had planned to meet with Dr.
Nguyen Dan Que to ask why he did not join the Alliance. Also
separately, Dr. Que told HCMC Poloff that he supports the
Alliance in principle, but that it might be better for
Vietnam's democracy movement if he remains outside of the
Alliance and "adopts the standpoint that best serves
democracy" here. He reported that his Internet connection
was cut for a few days around October 7, but is now working
fine.

Comment
--------------


7. (C) With about a month to go before the APEC Leaders'
Meeting and the President's visit, there is little doubt that
the leaders of this Alliance, along with the 8406 Bloc and
other newly formed pro-democracy groups, were deliberate in
their choice of timing. So far, the GVN has been relatively
circumspect in how it has dealt with these groups and their
members )- while a few have been harassed, detained and
eventually released, there have been no large-scale police
roundups. Certainly, the possibility remains that once the
world's attention shifts from Vietnam after APEC and the
President's visit, the GVN will take action, particularly as
the Alliance's declaration is strongly worded and crosses
several GVN red-lines. We plan to tell our GVN interlocutors

HANOI 00002663 002.2 OF 004


that such action would generate intense concerns in
Washington and in the broader international community, and
could impede further bilateral progress in 2007. End
Comment.


8. (SBU) Begin verbatim text of announcement.

Announcement of the Formation of the Alliance of Our Nation's
Forces Struggling For Freedom, Democracy and Human Rights for
Viet Nam (Abbreviated as The Alliance for Democracy and Human
Rights for Viet Nam) Viet Nam, October 16th, 2006.

Dear fellow-countrymen inside and outside Viet Nam,

-- 1. The real situation in Viet Nam:

Our beloved fatherland is in imminent danger due to
destruction caused by internal invaders! Consequently,
today, Viet Nam is categorized as one of the few countries
that are most corrupt, poor, backward, ... in the world.
These internal invaders are the deteriorating government
machinery, born of the anti-democratic and anti-patriotic
single-party totalitarian political system, established by
the Communist Party, and which they still obstinately
perpetuate. This single party dictatorial political system
appeared and has damaged our Country for more than half a
century, ever since the original lofty and just goal of the
struggle for National Independence and Democracy was
deviously and illegitimately redefined as the unrealistic
goal of Socialism.

History has proved that this unrealistic goal of Socialism is
a complete failure on the global scale.

In the North after July 20th, 1954 and in the whole country
after April 30th, 1975, the Vietnamese People have become a
whole Race of Slaves of these internal invaders -- a type of
invader that is extremely deceitful, very difficult to
recognize, and yet, just as vicious as the most cruel
external invaders. An "axis of evil and deceit" hidden behind
the face of the party and the machinery of the government,
behind a thick web of police force, and behind a heavy weave
of fronts formed and developed and continuously abused its
power, from the central government to the provinces, cities,
counties, districts, villages, hamlets,...to shackle a yoke
around the necks of our People.

-- 2. The Need for the Formation of an Alliance for Democracy
and Human Rights:

Thus, to expunge completely this "axis of evil and deceit,"
we must identify the true root cause, which is the current
single party dictatorial political system. Only then can we
form a civil, multi-party, pluralistic political system,
which will provide equal opportunity to all citizens to elect
the most altruistic, most suitable, and most deserving
individuals to lead and manage our Country.

Inherited from and building upon the successes of countless
numbers of exemplary children of our People throughout many
generations, Bloc 8406, which is a collective group of
Vietnamese people supporting the "Manifesto on Freedom and
Democracy for Viet Nam in 2006" which was released on April
8th, 2006, also issued a document on September 10th, 2006, to
call for a formation of an Alliance for Democracy and Human
Rights for Viet Nam. An excerpt from this document reads:
"...To create a combined strength both inside and outside
Viet Nam, we hope that every individual, organization,
political party, ...will put aside their differences, and
come together in forming an alliance of our nation's forces
struggling for Democracy and Human Rights in Viet Nam.

We strongly believe that this alliance for democracy and
human rights, once formed and developed, will definitely
advance the transformation of our country's government from
an anti-democratic, anti-patriotic single-party dictatorial
political system into a pluralistic, multi-party one, for the
People and for the People's future! ..."

We are fortunate that, for the last month, this appeal has
received warm and enthusiastic support from countless numbers
of Vietnamese inside and outside Viet Nam, and from many
friends from the International community:

- On September 20th 2006, Dr. Nguyen Dan Que, chairman of the
High Tide Humanist Movement, wrote: "...We agree with the
idea of Bloc 8406 to form an alliance of our nation's forces
struggling for the Democracy and Human Rights in Viet Nam
(() we support this and will do our part so that such an

HANOI 00002663 003.2 OF 004


alliance will be founded soon..."

- On September 22nd, 2006, The Most Venerable Thich Quang Do,
Deputy Leader of the Unified Buddhist Church of Viet Nam, in
his reply to this appeal, wrote: "...We hope the Vietnamese
People as a whole will soon realize their yearning for
freedom, democracy and human rights..."

- On September 26th, 2006, Mr. Le Quang Liem, Central
Chairman of the Authentic Hoa Hao Buddhist Church of Viet Nam
(AHHBCVN),also wrote: "...AHHBCVN absolutely agrees with and
supports the appeal to form an alliance of our nation's
forces struggling for Democracy and Human Rights in Viet Nam,
made by Bloc 8406 on September 10th, 2006."

-- 3. The Announcement of the Formation of the Alliance for
Democracy and Human Rights:

For the above-stated concerns and reasons, and in accordance
with the aspirations of the majority of the People, today,
October 16th, 2006, in Viet Nam, we formally announce to our
Vietnamese fellow-countrymen, both inside and outside Viet
Nam and to the international community, the following:

Alliance of Our Nation's Forces Struggling for Freedom,
Democracy and Human Rights for Viet Nam (Abbreviated as the
Alliance for Democracy and Human Rights for Viet Nam)
officially formed and operated based upon the following 7
basic principles:

-- 1. The Goal of the Alliance For Democracy and Human Rights
for Viet Nam is to fight and to apply the strength of the
Vietnamese People as a whole to completely solve the problem
of monopolization of power by the Political Bureau of the
Communist Party of Viet Nam, leading to a thorough
replacement of the current decrepit and backward one-party
dictatorial political system by a civil multi-party system;
in short, replacing the current political mode of operation,
which is unfair and lacks competition, with an impartial one
incorporating wholesome, pure competition. As long as such a
political system having healthy opposing parties and
incorporating competition, impartiality and democracy has not
been established, any individuals who have a self-serving
political agenda will not be invited to join this Alliance
for Democracy and Human Rights.

-- 2. The fighting method of this Alliance For Democracy and
Human Rights is peaceful and non-violent. Anyone who has a
different method of fighting will not be invited to join this
Alliance for Democracy and Human Rights.

-- 3. The strength of this Alliance For Democracy and Human
Rights is that of all Vietnamese People as a whole,
regardless of race, religion, political affiliation, personal
situation, educational level, locality (inside or outside of
Viet Nam)...Any Vietnamese who agree to the goal and fighting
method stated above, can join the Alliance For Democracy and
Human Rights For Viet Nam. At the same time, they have the
right to retain the characteristics of their organizations or
individual selves, as long as they do not go against the
above stated goal and method of fighting. The force
comprising the Alliance is also strengthened by all
organizations and individuals in the international community
which love and promote Freedom, Democracy, Human Rights,
Justice, and Peace for Viet Nam and for all of humanity at
large.

-- 4. The meaning of the formation of Alliance For Democracy
and Human Rights For Viet Nam is to actualize the principle
that good triumphs over evil, the just wins over the unjust,
advancing democracy wins over backward totalitarianism.

-- 5. The infrastructure of the Alliance For Democracy and
Human Rights For Viet Nam in the beginning phase is composed
of an Executive Body, a Consultative Body, and Committees:
Organizing, Human Rights, Religion, Law, Politics, Culture
and Education, Information, International Relations,
Economics, Finance, ...

-- 6. This document is only the Announcement of Formation.
To follow up, the Alliance For Democracy and Human Rights For
Viet Nam will operate according to the Platform, Rules,
Guides,...which will all be composed and detailed in a
step-by-step fashion. In the first six months, the Alliance
will strive to unify many organizations and individuals,
domestic and abroad, under the goal and fighting method
stated in item III, 1 & 2, to gather an increasing number of
members from the 84 million Vietnamese all over the world;
also, to appoint and perfect a structure and organization for

HANOI 00002663 004.2 OF 004


the Alliance such that it can make its presence known
publicly throughout Viet Nam, in order to realistically
achieve its goals, and to overcome any challenges which may
stand in the way of the Alliance's progress.

-- 7. The Alliance for Democracy and Human Rights For Viet
Nam will have completed its historic function as soon as a
Multi-party National Assembly has been elected, a Multi-party
Constitution has been ratified, and a Democratic Government
has been established. At that point, the Alliance for
Democracy and Human Rights for Viet Nam will announce its
dissolution in order to give way for other political parties
to operate.

We cordially and earnestly invite all Organizations and
Individuals to sign up to join.

Alliance's membership:

--I. Consultative Body: (listed alphabetically)

--1. Former Military Officer Pham Que Duong, Hanoi
--2. Catholic Priest Nguyen Huu Giai, Thua Thien-Hue
--3. Professor Nguyen Thanh Giang, Hanoi
--4. Former Chairman of the General Labor Union Nguyen Ho,
Saigon
--5. Chairman Le Quang Liem, AHHBCVN, Saigon
--6. Catholic Priest Phan Van Loi, Hue
--7. Catholic Priest Nguyen Van Ly, Hue
--8. Reverend Ngo Hoai No, Saigon
--9. Reverend Nguyen Hong Quang, Saigon
--10. Former Military Officer Vu Cao Quan, Hai Phong
--11. Dr. Nguyen Dan Que, Chairman, High Tide Humanist
Movement, Saigon
--12. Hoa Hao Buddhist Le Van Soc, Vinh Long
--13. Catholic Priest Chan Tin, Saigon
--14. Writer Hoang Tien, Hanoi

--II. Executive Body: (listed alphabetically) Contact emails:
LMDCNQVN2006@gmail.com; VPLMDCNQVN2006@gmail.com

--1. Engineer Do Nam Hai, Sai Gon
--2. Professor Nguyen Chinh Ket, Sai Gon
--3. Former Military Officer Tran Anh Kim, Thai Binh
--4. Specialist Nguyen Phong, Hue
--5. (to be announced)

--III. Committees: In the first stage, there will be 10
committees, and members within committees will not be
announced. Additional committees will be added if necessary.

--IV. Representatives from participating Organizations:

We cordially and earnestly invite Representatives of all
Organizations, and Individuals, to sign up to join the
following:

--1. Chairman Le Quang Liem, AHHBCVN.
--2. Dr. Nguyen Dan Que, Representative of The High Tide
Humanist Movement, Sai Gon
--3. Bloc 8406, comprised of tens of thousands of Peaceful
Democratic Fighters, domestic and abroad. Interim
Representatives:
- Engineer Do Nam Hai, Sai Gon
- Former Military Officer Tran Anh Kim, Thai Binh
- Catholic Priest Nguyen Van Ly, Hue
--4. Specialist Nguyen Phong , Founding Chairman, Viet Nam
Progression Party, Hue
--5. Tran Tinh Le, Chairman of the Founding Council, Viet Nam
Freedom and Democracy Party
--6. Nguyen Thanh Nam, Ph.D., U.S.A.
--7. Ly Trung Tin, Editor, Dan Van Magazine, Germany
--8. Dr. Nguyen Thuy Trang and the editorial board of
VietLand.net, San Jose, California, U.S.A.
--9. Le Dien Duc, Poland, DanChimVietOnline
--10. Nguyen Van Hung, Telephone: 0917881614
--11. Phan Khai, U.S.A.
--12. Tran My Tien, Bangkok, Thailand

End text.
MARINE