POLICE SCRUTINIZE THE IV PROGRAM

C O N F I D E N T I A L HO CHI MINH CITY 000438 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/11/2017 TAGS: KPAO PGOV PREL OEXC VM SUBJECT: POLICE SCRUTINIZE THE IV PROGRAM REF: HANOI 636 AND PREVIOUS CLASSIFIED BY: SETH WINNICK, CONSUL GENERAL. REASON: 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (C) Following on the heels of the arrest of Hanoi- based lawyer Nguyen Van Dai (reftel),media controlled by the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) linked Dai's dissident activities to "training" he received while in the U.S. as a beneficiary of the International Visitor and Leadership program (IVLP). (Dai was an IV grantee in January-February 2006 for a program on grassroots activism.) Subsequent to Dai's arrest and the MPS press broadside against the IVLP, our media contacts told us that they sensed increased MPS scrutiny over their possible participation in the program or in other USG-sponsored programs. ¶2. (C) We are aware of one case where MPS recently sought to intimidate an IVLP candidate. Vo Huynh Thuc Doan (strictly protect),a journalist with the Saigon Economic Times, was granted a slot in the April 2007 Edward R. Murrow Program. In contrast to usual past practice where MPS officials interviewed journalists only after their return from the U.S., MPS officials required Doan to meet twice before her April 7 departure. According to Doan, the officials asked her to provide them with the details of the program and an explanation of why she wanted to participate. To justify the request, MPS officials said they were forced to conduct these pre-departure briefings given "recent political developments." According to PAS media contacts, Vietnamese journalists who travel to the U.S. outside of USG-funded programs are not required to meet the MPS prior to their departure. ¶3. (C) During one of Doan's meetings with MPS, officials sought to intimidate her by intimating punishment should she follow the case of Phan Thi Ngoc Mai (protect),editor-in-chief of Phu Nu (Woman) newspaper. The police alleged that Mai traveled to the U.S. under false pretenses, and once in the U.S., she met with people who promote the overthrow of the Government of Vietnam (GVN). The MPS also spread the rumor that the Phu Nu editor sought to stay permanently in the United States. The officials warned Doan not to follow in Mai's footsteps. Our contacts in the HCMC media report that the MPS has been spreading the accusations about Mai around town. ¶4. (C) Mai is a close contact of PAS. She accepted a Volunteer Visitor grant in June 2006 to visit the U.S., but the GVN did not allow her to participate. In early 2007, Mai traveled to the U.S. to visit her daughter and returned to HCMC. She denies having any contact with anti-GVN groups. The MPS has never confronted Mai about the accusations nor has Mai sought to clear the air with the MPS. She told us that, although she is under MPS scrutiny, she did not take any action because it is not unusual for MPS to spread rumors about journalists and it is useless to refute anything, as MPS is too powerful. Mai said she spoke with her boss, the President of the Women's Union (under governance of the HCMC People's Committee),about the rumors, and her boss also advised her not to take any action. ¶5. (C) Comment: Although the MPS scrutiny is higher, the authorities still saw fit to allow Doan to proceed on her IV program. However, we remain concerned that increasing pressure could prevent many potential IV candidates from agreeing to participate this year, especially on more "sensitive" IV programs that focus on civil society and rule of law, let alone democratization. End Comment. WINNICK