(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