DRL A/S KRAMER MEETS WITH DISSIDENTS IN HANOI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 HANOI 000717 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS AND DRL/AWH E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/11/2033 TAGS: PHUM OVIP PGOV PREL KIRF ASEC VM SUBJECT: DRL A/S KRAMER MEETS WITH DISSIDENTS IN HANOI REF: A. HANOI 682 ¶B. HANOI 668 ¶C. HANOI 672 HANOI 00000717 001.2 OF 004 Classified By: Political Counselor Brian C. Aggeler, for Reasons 1.4 (b ),(c),and (d). SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) On the margins of the annual USG - GVN Human Rights Dialogue, Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor David Kramer, accompanied by the Ambassador, met with two of Vietnam's leading political dissidents and democracy activists on May 30 in Hanoi. Post informed the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) beforehand of the meetings, and despite MFA protests, our officials were allowed to meet unimpeded. In separate private meetings, dissident attorney and former NED Fellow Le Quoc Quan and cyber-dissident and democracy activist Dr. Pham Hong Son, both former prisoners of the regime and currently under house arrest and probation, detailed for the A/S and the Ambassador their democracy activities and what led to their respective imprisonments. Quan, a highly-educated legal expert, remains active in the underground democracy movement in Vietnam but is no longer allowed to practice law. He said the lack of freedom of speech and the Communist Party of Vietnam's (CPV) close relationship with China were stifling reform in Vietnam, although he said thinking within the government was beginning to change, albeit slowly. Dr. Son highlighted the strong role of control of the conservative Ministry of Public Security and the need for better education of government officials and further privatization of state-owned enterprises. Both activists highlighted Vietnam's significant lack of freedom of the press and raised the recent arrest of two journalists in Hanoi, who had reported on government corruption. They also both asked for international support for a dialogue between democracy activists and the GVN. Dr. Son has been accepted to a NED Reagan-Fascell fellowship, which is scheduled to begin in October, but may have trouble obtaining a passport. Post is working with DRL to see if we can resolve the issue. End Summary. FORMER NED FELLOW AND ATTORNEY LE QUOC QUAN -------------- ¶2. (C) On May 30, Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor David Kramer and the Ambassador met privately with former NED fellow, attorney and prisoner Le Quoc Quan at his office in Hanoi. Quan, a highly-educated attorney and former Reagan-Fascell Fellow who was jailed for four months in 2007, expressed his deep gratitude to the A/S and the Ambassador for the USG's efforts in his release from prison in June 2007. Since his release, Quan has remained active in the area of democracy and human rights, sometimes to his detriment. He was involved in scuffles with police at the November 2007 appeals trial of fellow dissident lawyers, Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan and also at the former Hanoi property of the Papal Nuncio, where there were Catholic prayer vigils in January 2008. Quan, a practicing Catholic, showed us photos of injuries to his head after the Catholic prayer vigil scuffle with police. He told us he has decided to "lay low" since then and not participate in protests for a while. With support from the Catholic Archdiocese of Hanoi, he is currently teaching English to Vietnamese Catholic students and uses this as an avenue to also instruct on democracy and human rights, apparently also condoned by the Church. BARRED FROM PRACTICING LAW AND LEAVING THE COUNTRY -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) Attorney Quan has generally been allowed to move around the city, hold meetings and attend church services without incident. His office and home remain under surveillance by plain clothes police. However, his two major complaints are: 1) despite all his legal training, he has been disbarred by the authorities, and his legal practice has "been confiscated;" hence, he has trouble earning a living; and 2) he maintains contact with NED in Washington, DC, but was not allowed to attend a NED World Assembly meeting in Ukraine in April 2008; he was apparently stopped at the airport. HANOI 00000717 002.2 OF 004 VIETNAM "SUFFERS GREATLY" FROM LACK OF FREEDOM OF SPEECH -------------- -------------- ¶4. (C) Quan's assessment of the democracy situation in Vietnam is that Vietnam suffers terribly from a lack of freedom of speech. He says government officials are not allowed to speak freely and voice their opinions but must "tow the Party line." He said the recent controversial GVN decision to expand the City of Hanoi was dictated by "Party cells," whereas most National Assembly delegates actually disagreed with the decision. Freedom of the press is also severely lacking, and Vietnam "should be ashamed" of its status on this, he said. Quan emphasized that underground democracy activists in Vietnam want a dialogue with the GVN, but this was very difficult and asked for USG support, as well as from the international community at large. He noted that overseas Vietnamese groups, especially in the United States, were helping underground democracy activists in Vietnam. QUAN: CHINA "GREATEST BARRIER" TO DEMOCRATIC CHANGE -------------- -------------- ¶5. (C) Another area of contention is China. Quan said underground democracy activists, and the majority of the public, are concerned with the GVN's and the CPV's close relationship with China and Chinese hegemony. Quan cited a "secret document," allegedly confiscated from a 2006 Chinese Communist Central Party Committee meeting and now circulating in Vietnamese activist circles, which allegedly shows the clear territorial aims of China on Vietnam. Many Vietnamese, he said, are concerned with the CPV's close relationship with China, and cited this as the "greatest barrier" to democratic change in Vietnam. SOME CHANGE IN GVN THINKING OCCURRING -------------- ¶6. (C) Nevertheless, Quan does see hope for Vietnam's future, including a greater and growing diversity of opinion in Vietnam and some "change in thinking" within the GVN. Quan noted that Bloc 8406 pro-democracy activists released a helium balloon, calling for democracy in Vietnam, over Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi just before the 2008 Human Rights Dialogue, without arrest or incident, which was significant. He said overall, more GVN officials were making their aspirations felt and using different political terminology than in the past, showing more "open thinking." He noted the GVN's strong petition to Burma to open up to international aid after Cyclone Nargis, saying three years ago, the GVN would have never used such language. ¶7. (C) Quan said overall the most important thing for the international community to push in Vietnam was the implementation of existing laws on the books and the education of GVN officials at all levels. He considered this more important than legal reform efforts. He noted the GVN's 2007 Ordnance on Grassroots Democracy, superseding the older Decree 79, as significant. He also said the international community needed to stress with Vietnam universal values on human rights and support a greater civil society and a Law on Associations to develop it. Quan told the A/S and the Ambassador that he would very much like to travel abroad to attend NED symposia and practice law again and thanked them for their visit. CYBER-DISSIDENT AND FORMER PRISONER PHAM HONG SON -------------- -------------- ¶8. (C) At a May 30 meeting at his home in Hanoi, prominent cyber-dissident, former pharmacist, and democracy activist Dr. Pham Hong Son detailed for A/S Kramer and the Ambassador his interests and activities in democracy and human rights which led to his 2002 arrest and 2002 - 2006 term in prison. Son was originally sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2002 for translating into Vietnamese an article titled, "What is Democracy?," from the State Department website and e-mailing it around to GVN officials, including the Prime Minister's office. His sentence was later reduced to five years on appeal. Son was released from four years in prison, including one year in solitary, in August 2006 but remains HANOI 00000717 003.2 OF 004 under a form of house arrest and probation until August 2009. He has applied for and been accepted to a NED Reagan-Fascell Fellowship, which would start in October 2008, if he is allowed to obtain a passport from the Vietnamese authorities. ¶9. (C) Son, affiliated with the underground and more moderate Democratic Party of Vietnam (DPV),told us that he has remained active on democracy and human rights issues since his 2006 release from prison but has taken a less confrontational approach with the GVN. He still publishes human rights-related articles on the Internet but is not as critical of the government. He says his publications are more "analytical and constructive." The more moderate DPV, in general, has not called for the dissolution of the CPV, as have other pro-democracy groups, but rather wants a chance to compete in free and fair elections. Although he is supposed to seek GVN permission to leave Hanoi, Son recently traveled unimpeded to HCMC and Dalat, where he visited relatives and pro-democracy activists Nguyen Dan Que and Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) leader Thich Quang Do. ACTIVISTS WANT DIALOGUE WITH GVN -------------- ¶10. (C) Son said he became attracted to democratic principles while completing a French MBA and studying French philosophy. He was attracted by the writings of Voltaire and Rousseau and later Thomas Jefferson, in particular. Son said he "saw the absurdities in Vietnamese society," and tried to take action which led to his arrest and detention. Son stressed that he did not see the CPV as his opponent, but he said the underground democracy activists and intellectuals with whom he works wanted a formal dialogue with the GVN, and he questioned the reasons the GVN had for not talking to them. Son said he recognized the struggle for democracy in Vietnam was a struggle for the Vietnamese people and could not be imposed by outside, international actors. He said his group of activists needed to make the authorities understand that they were non-violent and had to "try and educate them" as GVN authorities do not always behave consistently. When asked about the status of the DPV since the passing of its former leader and well-respected democracy activist, Hoang Minh Chinh, Son responded that a "bitter" split currently exists within the DPV on who should lead. Son added that he hoped that both sides would come to an agreement, but it does not look like this would happen anytime soon. MINISTRY OF PUBLIC SECURITY AND LACK OF PRESS FREEDOM ARE STRONG BARRIERS TO REFORM -------------- -------------- ¶11. (C) Son said the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) had a very powerful role of control in Vietnam, and MPS' "A42 Political Unit" plays a special role in squelching dissent and monitoring dissidents and democracy activists. He also complained that the GVN Prime Minister had recently significantly "restricted the press," including the recent arrest of two prominent Vietnamese journalists who had reported on a corruption scandal (Ref. C). He said in Vietnam, the press was now clearly an instrument of the government, and it was not good that Vietnamese journalists had no choice but to write for state-owned newspapers. PRIVATIZE SOEs AND DEVELOP A FREE PRESS -------------- ¶12. (C) In terms of how the international community could help Vietnam, Son said we should continue to press Vietnam to: 1) privatize state-owned enterprises; 2) continue with administrative reform programs; and 3) enhance freedom of the press, including encouraging professional training for journalists and the development of an independent media. Dr. Son told us again that the "struggle for democracy in Vietnam must be the responsibility of the Vietnamese people." Nevertheless, support from the international community was welcome, and he noted the significant efforts in this regard, from the governments of the United States, UK, France, Sweden and Switzerland, in particular. A/S Kramer told Son the State Department and the Embassy would continue to work on the issue of his obtaining a passport so he could participate in the Fall NED fellowship. HANOI 00000717 004.2 OF 004 ¶13. (U) This cable has been cleared by the office of DRL Assistant Secretary David Kramer. ALOISI