Vietnam's Tet Amnesty is Largest Ever

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 000051 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS and DRL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL VM SUBJECT: Vietnam's Tet Amnesty is Largest Ever HANOI 00000051 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: At a well attended press conference on January 16, President Triet's office announced Vietnam's largest Tet amnesty ever for 15,140 convicts currently serving prison sentences. The list includes 36 foreigners, but no American citizens. The only three individuals actually named at the press conference were former Vice Minister of Trade Mai Van Dau, sentenced to 14 years in jail in March 2007 for corruption and selling export licenses to the United States; Luong Quoc Dung, a former Deputy Director of the Sports and Games Committee, who had been sentenced to eight years in jail for child sexual abuse in 2004; and former Thanh Nien journalist Nguyen Viet Chien, sentenced to two years imprisonment for abusing democratic freedoms in October 2008. A total of 277 individuals convicted of corruption were also granted amnesty. The Ministry of Public Security (MPS) refused to confirm whether any of the individuals listed as persons of concern by the U.S. or the EU other than Chien were released. END SUMMARY. President Formalizes Amnesty Process -------------- ¶2. (SBU) On December 4, 2008, President Triet issued edict number 1744/2008 outlining the requirements for amnesty and incorporating principles listed in section 103 of the constitution and the Law on Amnesty issued in 2007. On the same day, President Triet issued edict number 1745/2008 establishing a new Amnesty Advisory Council (AAC) to be overseen by a Deputy Prime Minister with participating members from the following ministries and government offices: Ministry of Public Security (MPS),Ministry of Defense, Supreme Court, Supreme Procuracy, Office of the President, Office of the Government, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice and the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front. The MPS was granted overall responsibility for coordinating and managing the council. Giang Son, Vice Chairman of the Office of the President, told the press conference that MPS reviewed the file of each prisoner to see if they met the new criteria and then forwarded the list of prisoners who qualified to the entire ACC for consideration. Son stated his hope that the new formalized process will become regularized and will serve as encouragement for prisoners to be "reeducated and reformed" paving the way for further releases. Many Convicted of Corruption Released -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Speaking at the January 16 press conference, Senior Lt. General Le The Tiem from MPS confirmed that the amnesty of 15,140 prisoners is by far the largest amnesty in GVN history. When asked specifically how many amnesties will occur this year, Tiem stated that it will be up to the President as outlined in the 2007 Law on Amnesty. In response to a reporter's question, Tiem stated that all of those listed Would be released the next day and that 36 foreigners were included in the amnesty (19 Chinese, 5 Taiwanese, 4 Cambodians, 3 Malaysians, 1 Korean, 1 Laotian, 1 Sri Lankan, 1 British and 1 French). He further noted that women did not represent a significant number of those slated for release. When asked how many former individuals previously convicted of corruption would be released, Tiem responded that 277 individuals convicted of abuse of office or corruption were on the list. He hastened to note that those individuals had paid compensation to the government totaling 10 billion VND (approximately $571,450). ¶4. (SBU) Since President Triet announced the amnesty in early January, rumors swirled that convicted journalist Nguyen Viet Chien and former Vice Minister of Trade Mai Van Dau would be released. Also reminiscent of Gary Glitter's release last year, the government announced the release of Luong Quoc Dung - a former Deputy Director of the Sports and Games Committee who had previously been convicted of sexual abuse of children. During the press conference, a reporter asked directly about the cases of these two individuals and Tiem confirmed that both would be released since Dau met the President's amnesty criteria and Chien had shown "model behavior" since his imprisonment. (Note: According to the 2007 Law on Amnesty, an individual must complete one-third of his sentence before qualifying for amnesty. Chien did not meet that criterion. End Note.) Finally, when asked by a European diplomat whether any persons of concern on the U.S. or EU POC list were among those receiving amnesty, Tiem merely responded that Vietnam has no political prisoners or prisoners of conscience. When asked for a complete copy of the list of those receiving amnesty by Poloff, Vice Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh responded that the list will be forthcoming. ¶5. (SBU) Comment: The establishment of a regularized amnesty process holds promise. Like most things in Vietnam, however, it now depends on the GVN's implementation of their new regulations. Requirements such as admitting previous crimes and being a "model prisoner" will likely be used to disqualify political prisoners. Given the large number of individuals released who were previously convicted of corruption - especially former VM Dau - the amnesty HANOI 00000051 002.2 OF 002 sends mixed signals about the GVN's fight against corruption and indeed signals that cronyism can be an important element in obtaining amnesty. Michalak