USCIRF VISITS HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYERS NGUYEN VAN DAI AND LE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 002038 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS, DRL/IRF AND DRL/AWH E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KIRF PHUM PREL PGOV ASEC VM SUBJECT: USCIRF VISITS HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYERS NGUYEN VAN DAI AND LE THI CONG NHAN IN PRISON REF: HANOI 1852 SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) On October 22, 2007 a visiting United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) delegation met with the wife of imprisoned political dissident Nguyen Van Dai, Vu Minh Khanh and the mother of imprisoned political dissident Le Thi Cong Nhan, Tran Thi Le, at a Hanoi restaurant. Police officials had earlier objected to the meeting in discussions with the Embassy, but did not interfere in any way. The family members complained of ongoing police harassment and obstacles in visiting Dai and Nhan in prison and in transmitting medication to their family members. On October 23, the USCIRF delegation requested GVN Ministry of Public Security permission to meet with the prisoners (Reftel). MPS agreed to facilitate a visit to the jailed human rights lawyers in a detention facility outside Hanoi. That afternoon, the Vietnamese police escorted the visiting USCIRF Delegation, accompanied by Embassy staff, to the Hanoi Temporary Detention Center to meet with the two prisoners. Dai and Nhan appeared in good health and reported no physical mistreatment, despite poor food and water. Their cells, which the delegation visited, were clean but crowded. Neither Dai nor Nhan regretted their activities in support of human rights in Vietnam and both expressed appreciation for support from the USG. At that time, both awaited pending appeal trials. End Summary. MEETING WITH FAMILY MEMBERS -------------- ¶2. (SBU) During a visit to Vietnam to examine religious freedom issues, a visiting United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) delegation asked to meet with relatives of imprisoned dissidents. Ministry of Public Security officials expressed their hope that the group would not meet with "sensitive figures," but did not obstruct Embassy arrangements for a lunch meeting with Mrs. Vu Minh Khanh (the wife of Nguyen Van Dai) and Mrs. Tran Thi Le (the mother of Le Thi Cong Nhan). Dai and Nhan were arrested and tried (in the first instance) for organizing efforts to build support for political change in Vietnam. ¶3. (SBU) During the lunch, the USCIRF delegation asked Khanh and Le about conditions in prison for Dai and Nhan, the status of their appeal trials at that time, harassment of family members and whether they considered Dai and Nhan to have been arrested for religious activities. Khanh told the delegation that her husband had initially fought for religious freedom in Vietnam but then connected this fight to the overall human rights situation in Vietnam, which "as a Protestant, he could no longer ignore." Dai's initial work on religious freedom involved looking at the registration process and conditions for Protestant congregations in the Central Highlands, before he transitioned to human rights and democracy promotion. Khanh complained of hassles by prison officials in visiting her husband and their refusal to transmit medicine and a Bible to him; she had only recently been allowed to transmit liver-related medication for Dai. Mrs. Le agreed about the harassment both women faced and mentioned her daughter's untreated eye problems. Le told USCIRF her daughter was not significantly involved in religious issues, to the best of her knowledge. ¶4. (SBU) USCIRF Commissioner Gaer asked about the role of the Internet, and both women agreed that the Internet had played a major role in their family members' human rights-related activities before their arrest. It had also been a significant factor in the government's prosecution of Dai and Nhan at their joint trial on May 11, 2007 as the prosecution discussed specific documents they had either downloaded or authored and distributed on the Internet. Both family members said there had been ongoing police harassment, surveillance and ostracism from former friends. Khanh said one of their professional friends was fired from his job because of his association with Dai. Le reported similar experiences. VISIT WITH PRISONER NGUYEN VAN DAI -------------- ¶5. (SBU) On the morning of October 23, during USCIRF's meeting with MPS (Reftel),the USCIRF team asked for permission to visit Dai and Nhan in prison. The MPS agreed, and facilitated a visit that afternoon by a morning meeting with the Vice-Minister of Public Security (Reftel). The USCIRF delegation and Emboffs visited the Hanoi Temporary Detention Center in Cau Dien commune outside Hanoi. There, the delegation held separate thirty minute private meetings with Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan and visited their prison cells. Police officials acceded to USCIRF's request that no police official be in the room during these meetings. HANOI 00002038 002 OF 003 ¶6. (SBU) Dai, who arrived first, was calm and appeared healthy in his meeting with the delegation. He said he was "touched" by the delegation's visit and his overall treatment in prison was "generally good," as the prison officials "know he is a special case." His main complaint was being denied access to a Bible to read, noting his wife had not been allowed to give him one. During his pre-trial case investigation, he was not allowed to see anybody for three months. Since his May 2007 trial and conviction, he has been able to visit monthly with his wife for 30 to 40 minutes, talking on headphones through a glass window. He told the USCIRF delegation he did not believe there would be negative repercussions for him from the delegation's visit. ¶7. (SBU) Dai said he was confined to a cell of approximately 50 square meters with 30 inmates. He said he was not scared of his fellow inmates, as "most supported him," and most were only first-time criminals. Inmates share a common bathroom, and food consists of only rice and vegetables and a monthly allowance of fish sauce. He said inmates were given some bottled drinking water but it was not sufficient so inmates often resorted to using their socks or shorts to filter the water pumped into a tank in the cell. ¶8. (SBU) Dai said he believed he was arrested because of training courses he and Nhan gave on human rights in his law office. He said that authorities raided his office and home and found pro-democracy articles that he had either written or posted on the Internet or that he had downloaded from various websites; these also included documents on Internet freedom and human rights. He said some documents he authored also involved religious life in the Central Highlands, but his religion-related activities were not brought up at his May 11 one-day trial. He believed his arrest was in part due to anti-government demonstrations in the United States in response to the February 2007 arrest of Father Nguyen Van Ly and his (Dai's) connection to entities in the United States. ¶9. (SBU) Dai said three formal charges were brought against him: 1) creating anti-government propaganda; 2) storing anti-government propaganda; and 3) promulgating anti-government propaganda. Some of the documents he authored, he said, included a document entitled "The Right to Form Political Parties" and "Developing a Multi-Party System Based on the Vietnamese Constitution." He noted that Vietnam had had a multi-party political system before in its history, and he had written about this. Dai said he believed another factor in his arrest was his organization of seminars on press freedom and conduct of interviews with BBC and VOA. He has been allowed to see a lawyer upon request since his conviction, and at that time, he was waiting for his appeal trial date to be set. Under law, he must be notified at least 15 days before the appeal to allow him time to prepare his case, he added. ¶10. (SBU) Dai told the USCIRF delegation he had fought for religious freedom for the Vietnamese people and believed religion was a factor in his case, but believed he was arrested mainly due to his human rights and democracy-related work. He said the authorities never liked the fact that he had tried to convert colleagues to Protestantism and did not want him to have a Bible in prison because they feared he would convert other inmates. He said he had never been pressured to renounce his faith. ¶10. (SBU) Dai asked the delegation to tell his wife that he was well. He said he knew there was international attention regarding his case, and he asked the delegation to thank the many international human rights organizations and members of the United States Congress, specifically noting Congressman Chris Smith's efforts. The USCIRF delegation passed Dai a Vietnamese-language Bible on behalf of his family and took photos with him. VISIT WITH PRISONER LE THI CONG NHAN -------------- ¶11. (SBU) Ms. Le Thi Cong Nhan, the 28-year old human rights lawyer and former spokesperson of the Hanoi Bar Association, told the USCIRF Delegation that she was very surprised by its visit. Nhan told USCIRF that she is treated as other prisoners are, except that she is exempt from certain chores as she has sinusitis and bronchitis. She said she lived in a 50 square meter cell with 30 other inmates. She said the food was cold, as was the shower water. When asked about abuse, she stated that some prison guards had initially taunted her as a "counter-revolutionary," but that this ceased after she complained to higher-level officials. She gets along with her fellow inmates, although they are of a "low education level" and "rough." Some of them sometimes curse her as a "traitor," but she has not been a victim of physical violence. Since her conviction, she has been able to meet with a lawyer. HANOI 00002038 003 OF 003 ¶12. (SBU) Nhan said that, prior to the meeting with USCIRF, prison authorities told her to wear her best dress and to speak well of the prison. She noted that she insisted on wearing her regular prison uniform of a T-shirt and pants. She has been able to see her mother once a month in the same room as visits for death sentence inmates. She said her mother had to write multiple letters every month in order to secure permission for her monthly visit, and stated that this was just a way for the authorities to harass her family. ¶13. (SBU) Nhan said her political activities were peaceful and just, and she believes that he sacrifices were worthwhile for the country's future. She stated that she knew her activism would land her in prison some day, and that she is proud of herself and her efforts. When asked what she would have the group tell the Prime Minister of Vietnam (whom they would be meeting with later that day),Nhan suggested that they ask whether the Prime Minister actually considers her a dangerous traitor, and if he would like to see his children in prison. The USCIRF delegation passed Nhan a Vietnamese-language Bible on behalf of her family and took photos with her, before departing. MICHALAK