JAILED HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYERS DENIED ACCESS TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 001367 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS AND DRL/AWH E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/03/2017 TAGS: ASEC PGOV PHUM PREL VM SUBJECT: JAILED HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYERS DENIED ACCESS TO FAMILY, DEFENSE ATTORNEYS REF: A. A) HANOI 1300 ¶B. B) HANOI 1144 ¶C. C) HANOI 872 ¶D. D) HANOI 752 AND PREVIOUS HANOI 00001367 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: DCM Jon Aloisi. Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) On July 18, Embassy PolOffs met together with relatives of jailed human rights lawyers Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan. Dai and Nhan were tried and sentenced to prison on May 11 for "propaganda against the State." Each has filed a formal appeal, and an appeal trial date is pending. The relatives were allowed to visit their family members together on June 12 at a detention facility in Hanoi, but were denied a subsequent visit on July 12, despite being told by authorities that they would be allowed monthly visits. The relatives report tolerable prison conditions for Dai and Nhan, despite "bad food" and no outdoor exercise. Dai's wife is now allowed to provide medication for a condition to him; however, Dai, a Protestant, is not allowed access to a Bible to read. GVN authorities have also denied prison access to their defense attorneys, and key defense and trial documents have reportedly "disappeared" or been confiscated, according to the relatives. Post is planning to seek attendance at any appeal trial and is following up on conditions for the prisoners with GVN officials. End Summary. APPEAL DATE PENDING -------------- ¶2. (C) On July 18, as part of the Mission's ongoing program of outreach and monitoring of political dissidents and their family members, PolOffs met with Ms. Vu Minh Khanh, wife of jailed human rights lawyer and International Visitor Program alumnus Nguyen Van Dai, and Ms. Tran Thi Le, mother of jailed human rights lawyer Le Thi Cong Nhan (Refs. B, C, D). Sentenced on May 11 to five and four years of prison respectively under Article 88 of the GVN criminal code, "distributing propaganda against the State," Dai and Nhan are being held at the Hanoi Police Temporary Detention Center in the Tu Liem District of Hanoi, according to their family members who were able to visit them on June 12. Both Dai and Nhan have filed appeals, and their respective "trials of second instance" (appeal trials) are pending. Both appeals were filed in mid-May, and per regulation, the GVN must convene the appeal trial within 90 days of filing. As of July 31, however, the family members had not heard of any appeal trial date being set. DEFENSE ATTORNEYS, FAMILY DENIED ACCESS -------------- ¶3. (C) According to Ms. Khanh and Ms. Le, they were told by GVN authorities that they can visit their respective jailed family members once a month. However, when they returned on July 12 for their second monthly visit, prison authorities denied them access, telling them that they must get permission from the Court of Appeals. In addition, according to Khanh and Le, prison officials denied access to Dai and Nhan's defense attorneys and stripped them of a court certificate giving them permission to visit their clients. Moreover, certain trial documents and other documents that would be useful for their defense have disappeared or were confiscated from the defense attorneys, according to Khanh and Le. Without visits and access to key documents, they say it has been very difficult for the defense attorneys to prepare for their clients' pending trials of second instance. It is unclear if the respective appeals would be tried together, as was the prosecution (Ref. C),or separately. ACCEPTABLE PRISON CONDITIONS; DAI NOT ALLOWED BIBLE -------------- -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Khanh says conditions in jail for Dai are acceptable. She has been allowed to transmit her husband's "Hepatitis B" medication, whereas she was not before. However, she is concerned that her husband still suffers from untreated hypertension. According to his wife, Dai's chief HANOI 00001367 002.2 OF 002 complaint is that he has not been allowed access to a Bible to read. Khanh asked for Embassy assistance with GVN authorities to allow Dai, a Protestant, to have access to a Bible. Le says her daughter, the 28-year old Le Thi Cong Nhan, is also "okay," and the prison officials are "nice to her." Besides "bad food," her chief complaint is lack of exercise, as prison authorities do not allow them a period of outdoor exercise. Otherwise, her mother says Nhan suffers from seasonal allergies and "sinusitis." Prison officials did not allow Le to pass sinus medication to her daughter because they said she already has access to such medication in prison. POLICE WARNING: DON'T MEET WITH U.S. AMBASSADOR AGAIN -------------- -------------- ¶5. (C) Khanh and Le noted to us that they had each separately been "spoken to" the day before our meeting, for one hour, by a GVN Ministry of Public Security (MPS) officer. The MPS officer, without specifying that he knew about our meeting, warned each woman not to speak to foreign government officials, nor to journalists, regarding their relatives' cases. They also specifically warned them to not try and meet "with the U.S. Ambassador." (Note: Ambassador Marine had invited both women to his residence, on two different occasions in April, for a tea with other activist family members. However, each was prevented by MPS officers from attending (Ref. D). End note.) Khanh noted that she had also just met with an officer from the Australian Embassy regarding her husband's case, so that may have alerted police. Nevertheless, despite the warnings, both Khanh and Le told us they had each decided it was in their best interest to meet with us. While their homes remain under surveillance, they told us they now know how to "get around" the surveillance. Both stated that they would like to keep in close contact with Embassy officials and offered to meet in their homes for safety reasons. JUDGES "EASILY BRIBED" -------------- ¶6. (C) Regarding their relatives' cases, Khanh complained that the May trial sentence had been "pre-determined," and defense witnesses were either intimidated or prevented from testifying. Le noted that Nhan was only given a meeting with her attorney one-hour before the trial and the police and prosecutor were also present. Both claimed their relatives' innocence. According to Khanh, the GVN judicial system is corrupt, and judges in Vietnam "care more about money than the accused." Khanh remarked that judges in Vietnam are reluctant to take "political cases" because they do not "pay." According to her, prosecutors can be easily bribed to lessen or worsen sentences, although this is more difficult in "political cases" where there is greater scrutiny. Likewise, prison officials take bribes in exchange for better treatment and access to mail; however, this is also more difficult in cases of "political prisoners," due to the extra scrutiny. ¶7. (C) At one point during the meeting, the women became very passionate about pressing human rights issues with GVN officials and asked the USG to press the GVN to fulfill freedoms justified by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) (and to which Vietnam is a signatory). We assured them that we of course continue to do so. Both women thanked PolOffs profusely for Embassy and USG assistance to date and politely appealed for whatever further assistance we could provide. Post plans to send an officer to cover any appeal trial. We continue to call for the release of Dai and Nhan, and, short of that, for better access of relatives and legal counsel to the two. MARINE