(C) MORE ON ARREST OF AMCIT DO, CONG THANH: DISSIDENTS IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L HO CHI MINH CITY 001003

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 9/1/16
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER CASC VM
SUBJECT: (C) MORE ON ARREST OF AMCIT DO, CONG THANH: DISSIDENTS IN
VIETNAM

REF: A) HCMC 998 B) HCMC 936

CLASSIFIED BY: Seth Winnick, Consul General, HCMC, State.
REASON: 1.4 (d)

C O R R E C T E D C O P Y O F HCMC 999

CLASSIFIED BY: Seth Winnick, Consul General, HCMC, State.
REASON: 1.4 (d)


1. (C) In our initial prison visit with Amcit Cong Thanh Do ref
A, Do stated that he is a member of the central committee of the
Dang Dan Chu Vietnam (Democratic Party). Post contacted
political activist Do Nam Hai (aka Phuong Nam) for background on
Do and his two Vietnamese colleagues Nguyen Huong Lang and Huynh
Viet Long. Hai is a member of the "8406 bloc" of democracy
activists and an associate of Tran Khue, Deputy General
Secretary of the Democratic Party of Vietnam. (Hanoi-based

SIPDIS
dissident Hoang Minh Chinh is the DPV chief.) Do Nam Hai said
that he was not familiar Do or his two Vietnamese colleagues,
but they were not members of the 8406 bloc nor of the Democratic
Party of Vietnam.


2. (C) A search of post files and the Internet shows that Nguyen
Huong Long is affiliated with another dissident group called
"Dang Dan Chu Nhan Dan Vietnam" -- the People's Democracy Party
of Vietnam (PDP-VN). The group's website
www.freewebs.com/dangdanchund/index.htm calls for the creation
of a multi-party state and abolishing Article Four of the
Vietnamese Constitution, which codifies Communist Party rule.
This group was responsible for handing out and posting
anti-Party leaflets near government buildings in HCMC in 2006.
Our review of their activities in HCMC and its website indicates
that the PDP-VN calls for peaceful political change. It does
not/not appear to be affiliated with Nguyen Huu Chanh or any of
his several organizations. The GVN accuses Chanh and his
organizations of conducting terrorist bombings.


3. (C) GVN authorities had notified us that Do was plotting to
bomb the Consulate General. During the prison visit, officials
explained to conoff that Do's written material contained
repeated instances of the number "4" crossed out, which they
took as a reference to the Consulate General (located at 4, Le
Duan). The PDP-VN website uses a crossed out "4" as a symbol of
its democratic agenda and opposition to Article 4.


4. (C) Comment: We note that he arrest of Do and his two
Vietnamese colleagues comes on the heels of the rearrest of
Trung Quoc Huy, a Bloc 8406 member and "PalTalk" detainee (ref
B). Both Huy and the PDP-VN members were using land
expropriation to attack the CPV and both appear to have been
tracked down by the GVN on the Internet. Huy's family notified
us September 1 that he was transferred from HCMC to Hanoi for
further interrogation. End Comment.

WINNICK