POLICE BREAK UP LAND RIGHTS PROTESTS EVEN AS GVN PROMISES TO

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HO CHI MINH CITY 000766 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS - D.SHANNON DORSEY E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL SOCI ECON VM SUBJECT: POLICE BREAK UP LAND RIGHTS PROTESTS EVEN AS GVN PROMISES TO REOPEN DISPUTED CASES REF: HCMC 706, HCMC 625 AND PREVIOUS HO CHI MIN 00000766 001.2 OF 003 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Twenty six days of continuous protests by land rights activists came to an end at 10 PM (Vietnam time) on July 18 when police forcibly removed remaining land rights protesters from their position in front of the HCMC Assembly building. Despite allegations of excessive police violence received from overseas groups, local observers -- including participants in the demonstration -- report that the dispersal was largely peaceful. Most protesters had voluntarily left early in the day due to what appears to have been a combination of promises of swift, objective reviews of their grievances and police warnings that they would be forcibly removed if they did not leave on their own. While it is too early to determine whether GVN promises of aggressive action to resolve protesters' grievances will be fulfilled, some local observers are focusing less on the fact that the protest was liquidated than on the fact that the GVN both allowed it to continue for nearly a month, in the end making numerous public concessions to the land rights activists. Various factors, including heightened political sensitivity in the run-up to the opening of the 12th session of the National Assembly, the intense international attention to the protesters and direct financial and other support from a banned dissident political group may have precipitated GVN action to end the long-running demonstration. END SUMMARY. THE LAND RIGHTS MOVEMENT -------------- ¶2. (SBU) As reported reftels, the issue that drew the roughly 800 to 1,000 ordinary Vietnamese from 18 provinces together was their anger over what protesters described as illegal land grabs and other schemes by which local officials defrauded peasants and other small land owners of their property and denied them just compensation. Protesters state that they attempted to resolve their grievances through normal channels but were denied justice due to direct meddling by the same well-connected officials whom they accuse of stealing their land. Some Vietnamese press, most notably the progressive HCMC-based paper Tuoi Tre, have been reporting on these allegations for the past year or more. ¶3. (SBU) The nearly one-month long action by protesters was well organized and garnered significant coverage in international media. Photos and reports from overseas Vietnamese of the marches were then posted on the Internet, along with calls for solidarity with those defending their rights. Activists confirmed that the protest organizers did numerous interviews with foreign radio organizations including Hoa Mai Radio, Radio Free Asia and New Horizon Radio. They also stated that protesters received financial assistance from overseas Vietnamese groups, with the money sent to individuals in Ho Chi Minh City who procure food, medical supplies and other goods and services. ¶4. (SBU) ConGen HCMC stayed in direct contact with protesters throughout their ordeal. One land rights activist from Tien Giang province, home to the largest number of protesters, identified the leaders of the protest as Ms. Cao Que Hoa, from Cai Lay district, and Mr. Ba Trinh, from West Go Cong district, both in Tien Giang province. (Note: Please protect all identities. End Note.) Our contacts described a highly-organized effort in which land rights protesters were divided into "provincial teams" with elected representatives. During the protest, leaders used a makeshift loudspeaker to assign "duties" for each provincial team each day. One team, for example, was instructed to march past the ConGen HCMC to raise the protest's profile. ¶5. (SBU) While the GVN allowed the protests to continue for nearly a month, official actions left no doubt that the GVN did not appreciate the protesters' presence or high media profile. Contacts in the Ho Chi Minh City-based progressive newspaper Tuoi Tre told us they have received many letters from the land protesters' relatives, complaining that they were intercepted and interrogated by police after they brought food and clothes to the protesters. Tuoi Tre contacts said that anyone who came to the protest site and asked questions risked harassment by the police. Pastor Duong Kim Khai from the Protestant Christian Fellowship Church, a ConGen contact in the land rights movement, informed us that police summoned him on July 13 to ask about his role in the demonstrations. Khai told ConGen he attended as an observer, but the police accused him of speaking out against the government, instigating the protesters, and threatened to incarcerate him if he continues his involvement. Khai noted that the police also scolded him for talking to ConGen and foreign radio organizations about the protest. To this date, he has not been arrested. HO CHI MIN 00000766 002.2 OF 003 ¶6. (SBU) Beginning on July 13, the political mix became even more volatile when four monks from the UBCV, an outlawed Buddhist organization with a long history of clashes with the GVN over their dissident political agenda, began publicly supporting the protesters and provided them with 13 million VND (approximately US$810) in financial support. A UBCV leader from the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang told ConGen HCMC that the UBCV's deputy leader, The Venerable Thich Quang Do -- a fiery 90 year-old monk who has spent roughly 20 years in detention for his democratic beliefs and his refusal to join the government-sanctioned Buddhist Church -- personally directed the UBCV's involvement. On July 17, Thich Quang Do personally visited the land protesters and gave them an additional VND 300 million (approx. US$18,000). ConGen contacts reported Thich Quang Do spoke by loudspeaker in front of approximately 1,000 protesters and observers, blamed the GVN one-party system for the injustices and called for a multi-party system and better representation. DEPUTY PM COMES DOWN FROM HANOI -------------- ¶7. (SBU) On July 15, two days after the first UBCV visit, Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong convened a meeting with relevant agencies and provincial authorities in Ho Chi Minh City to seek resolution to the protesters' grievances. According to local media reports and ConGen media contacts, Trong ordered local authorities to reopen the disputed cases and resolve them as soon as possible. Local press reported Trong said that he took personal responsibility for resolving the land rights issues and held the heads of the provincial people's committees accountable in resettlement of the protesters' claims. Some of Trong's statements were more ambiguous. For example, Trong also told authorities to initiate "strict reprimands and legal actions against those who take advantage of land disputes to do bad things", a potentially ominous comment aimed at protest organizers and supporters such as the UBCV. ¶8. (SBU) Trong's forward-leaning comments were echoed in Hanoi, where Poloff met with former Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Dang Hung Vo, to discuss land rights issues. Vo was candid during the meeting, stating that the government is only now adding the infrastructure necessary to deal with land compensation issues. Vo also believes that greater access to the Internet will lead to fewer protests as individuals are able to share their concerns directly with government officials in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. He was well aware of the protests in Ho Chi Minh City and added that corruption and poorly trained provincial authorities are an obstacle, and that "land officials in the provinces lack a sense of justice and people in the rural areas know this and of course are frustrated." Vo highlighted that the government will receive a 5-year grant from the World Bank to train local and provincial authorities on land issues starting in 2008. Vo ended the meeting by stating that land rights will be the biggest issue for the next ten years. PROTESTERS SENT HOME; ORGANIZERS DETAINED -------------- ¶9. (SBU) At 10:00 PM on July 18 police dispersed the land rights protesters. While the majority of protesters were persuaded to leave after being promised resolution to their cases, eyewitnesses told ConGen hundreds of police and local guards blockaded the street and forcibly removed some protesters, loading them into police trucks and buses owned by provincial authorities. Though accounts sent to ConGen from overseas supporters claimed violence was used to eject demonstrators, early reports from eye witnesses claim injuries were minimal. According to one relatives' report, however, at least 4 key organizers remain in police detention this morning: Ms. Cao Que Hoa, Mr. Ba Trinh, Ms. Vu Thanh Phuong, and Ms. Lu Thi Thu Duyen. ¶10. (SBU) Tien Giang protesters (who made up the bulk of the movement) were transported back home to a government office, where they are to meet with provincial authorities to air their grievances in a town hall meeting. Authorities of Dong Thap, Tien Giang, Ben Tre, Soc Trang, Kien Giang provinces were also quoted by local newspapers as setting specific dates for meetings with protesters to resolve their claims. COMMENT -------------- ¶11. (SBU) The organizer's success in disseminating information and garnering support for the land rights cause acted, as designed, to raise the profile of the protests. This raised the stakes for the government, sparking central-level involvement. On one hand, growing pressure from dissident groups inside and outside of Vietnam may have helped spur positive GVN action to HO CHI MIN 00000766 003.2 OF 003 address concerns of the land rights protesters. On the other hand, outside involvement, particularly direct financial support from groups such as the UBCV, almost certainly strengthened the hand of the faction within the GVN calling for a heavy crackdown. The final outcome of this saga remains to be seen. Post will continue to monitor the situation to determine if the GVN's promise of swift and just reconsideration of the protesters' claims results in concrete action. At the same time, we will also be watching to see how the GVN handles the cases of protest organizers. Mission Vietnam will also express our concern over the fates of those detained, underscoring that the world is watching. END COMMENT. ¶12. This cable was coordinated with Embassy Hanoi. FAIRFAX