VIETNAM PROTESTS U.S. STATEMENT ON JAILED LAWYER,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 000570

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/MLS AND DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/19/2019
TAGS: PHUM PREL VM
SUBJECT: VIETNAM PROTESTS U.S. STATEMENT ON JAILED LAWYER,
ARRESTS ASSOCIATES

REF: A. A) HCMC 473

B. B) HCMC 480

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Virginia E. Palmer, reasons 1.5 (b) an
d (d)



1. (U) Please see action request para 10.

2.(C) Summary: Charge met with Major General To Lam of the
Ministry of Public Security (MPS) on June 18 to discuss the
recent arrest of lawyer Le Cong Dinh (reftels). Lam
protested at length the State Department statement on Dinh as
"U.S. interference in Vietnam's internal affairs." Charge
pushed back, noting importance of freedom of expression,
long-standing U.S. concerns about the use of catch-all
security legislation to jail anyone expressing political
opposition, and the chilling effect the arrest will have on
journalists and lawyers. Lam also noted that the
Ambassador's press statements in the U.S. were "generally
positive and accurate8 but had been misconstrued by Viet
Tan. He asked us to correct the record and promised to
provide a transcript. Charge took advantage of the meeting
to press for an update on Vu Hung and others associated with
the opposition Bloc 8406 arrested last fall and awaiting
trial ever since. Lam promised to provide an update on their
status. On June 19, the GVN announced it had arrested four
more individuals associated with Dinh. End summary.

Department Statement "Groundless," "Interference"
-------------- --------------


3. (C) Lam began by saying the GVN found the State
Department's statement on Din's arrest "groundless" and that
it constituted "interference in Vietnam's internal affairs."
Posting it on the Embassy website was "abnormal" because many
in Vietnam have seen it. Lam said that to prove the
statement was groundless he would share the written
confession made by Le Cong Dinh on June 17 (Note: translation
of Dinh's confession is in para 11 - a video of Dinh reading
the confession is also on YouTube. End note.). Lam noted
that among other things Dinh confirmed that he had met with
members of the opposition Viet Tan in Thailand and that Viet
Tan was a "terrorist organization." Dinh also confessed to
writing the charter for a new political party and to drafting
a new constitution, acts which Dinh said in his statement
violated Vietnamese law under Article 88 and which he
regretted.


4. (C) Charge responded that perception matters and in this
case it appears that an attorney is being punished in part
because of the clients he defended, a perception that can
only damage the image of Vietnam and negatively impact its
economy. This case could have a chilling effect on Vietnam's
nascent legal profession just as the jailing of journalists
in connection with their exposure of corruption in the PMU-18
scandal had on journalism in Vietnam. All of the charges
against Dinh are related to the peaceful expression of
political views, Charge said - none suggested any violence at
all. She pointed out that we have no information suggesting
that Viet Tan is a terrorist organization despite our
requests to the GVN for information on illegal conduct. Lam
responded that the GVN is collecting documents which it would
share on another occasion.


5. (C) Charge noted the U.S. has for many years called for
the repeal of catch-all national security legislation such as
Article 88 and its use to silence political dissent; Vietnam
is a strong country that can tolerate and benefit from the
diverse views of its citizens. Lam replied that Article 88
is the law and every citizen must comply - to make exceptions
would create chaos. Vietnam is a country that fully respects
opinions that are not in line with those of the government,
as can be seen in recent debates at the National Assembly,
Lam said. But Vietnam differentiates between constructive
expressions of opinion and those designed to harm the
government, Lam said, and those who take advantage of their
rights to attack the government will be dealt with.


6. (C) Lam reiterated that the GVN requests the U.S. to
discontinue making statements that constitute interference in
Vietnam's internal affairs. Vietnam recognizes the U.S.
interest in Dinh's case and will continue to keep the Embassy
informed. At the same time, Vietnam remains concerned by the
Mission's continuing meetings with individuals who are
against the government and "don't represent anyone." Charge
responded that we meet with a broad variety of individuals
with a variety of viewpoints not only in Vietnam but around
the world to ensure that our policies are well-informed. She
stressed that Vietnam was strong enough to tolerate the

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peaceful expression of views of its citizens.

Viet Tan Putting Out Misquotes of Ambassador?
--------------


7. (C) Lam then raised concerns that Viet Tan was putting on
its website transcripts of Ambassador Michalak's recent
comments in the United States that were not accurate. Charge
noted that the Ambassador's remarks are publicly available on
the internet so it is easy for anyone to verify what he said.
Lam responded that many in Vietnam would not know this and
Charge agreed to look into the matter.

Charge Raises Other Prisoners of Concern
--------------


8. (C) Charge also raised the cases of teacher Vu Hung and a
dozen other people associated with the opposition Bloc 8406
arrested last fall and in detention without trial ever since.
She noted that we had received no reply to a March 3 letter
to Vice Foreign Minister Minh signed by Ambassador Michalak,
the Ambassador of the Czech Republic on behalf of the EU and
the Ambassador of Norway on behalf of the Group of Four
(Canada, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland). Lam promised
to look into their status.

Four More Jailed
--------------


9. (SBU) On June 19, the GVN announced it had arrested four
more individuals for colluding with Le Cong Dinh, naming two
of them as Le Thang Long and Tran Huynh Duy Thuc. Mr. Long
is the director of a Hanoi-based company called Innotech who
came to attention in February when he represented a bogus
investor in a hospital project. He is also the president of
the "Revive Vietnam Movement," which he claims includes many
well-respected Vietnamese businessmen. Tran Huynh Duy Truc
is the General Director of a company called OCI, and Ms. Le
Thi Thu Thu, Director of Strategic Relations for OCI, is
reportedly among the others arrested, along with Ms. Tran Thi
Thu (possibly one of the original signatories of the Bloc
8406 Manifesto).

Action Request: High-Level Attention Can Be Effective
-------------- --------------

10.(C) The statement on Le Cong Dinh's case by the Department
spokesman has clearly gotten the attention of the GVN and
continued high-level attention is needed in a case that
represents a significant step backwards for human rights and
the rule of law in Vietnam. Our interventions can be
effective: in 1997 when former Fulbrighter (and Dinh
associate) Le Quoc Quan was arrested, National Democratic
Institute's Madeleine Albright, International Republican
Institute's Senator John McCain and National Endowment for
Democracy's Vin Weber jointly signed a letter (e-mailed to
Desk) calling for his release; Quan is the only individual in
the past several years to be released without charges being
filed. A similar high-level expression of interest, from
either the Administration and/or members of Congress with a
record of constructive engagement with Vietnam such as
Senators McCain, Webb, Kerry, Leahy or others could be
effective in this case as well. While this may not lead to
an outright release for Dinh, such attention would certainly
lead to second thoughts by the GVN on imposing a harsh
sentence on him.

Statement by Le Cong Dinh
--------------

11.(U) Unofficial translation of statement by Le Conh Dinh
provided by MPS:

Report to MPS Investigation Agency

My name is Le Cong Dinh, born on October 1, 1968. Permanent
registered address is 163/8 Xo Viet Nghe Tinh. Temporary
residence is BB 3-4, My Khang Building, Local Area 4,
District 7, HCMC. My profession is lawyer.

I would like to state my legal violations, pursuant to
Article 88 of the Penal Code of the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam, as follows:


1. I participated in a training course on non-violence
organized by Viet Tan from March 1-3, 2009 in Pattaya,
Thailand, presented by two Serbians. One of them is Blado, I
don't remember the name of the other.

I know Viet Tan is a terrorist organization, which has

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trained a number of Vietnamese on non-violent struggle in
Vietnam.


2. As introduced by Nguyen Tien Trung, I took part in the
Vietnam Democracy Party led by Mr. Nguyen Sy Binh, President
of the People's Actions Party. Mr. Binh invited me to take
part in the standing board of the Democracy Party.

On March 26, 2009, I traveled to Phuket, Thailand, to meet
with Mr. Nguyen Sy Binh and Mr. Tran Huynh Duy Thuc to
discuss Vietnam's economic and political situation, and
guidelines for founding two more parties named Vietnam Labor
Party and Vietnam Socialist Party in order to attract more
members. For the immediate future, we agreed to set up blogs
named "Vietnam Labor Party", managed by me, and "Vietnam
Socialist Party", managed by Mr. Thuc. Also in Phuket, we
discussed co-writing a book titled "Vietnam's Path" in order
to look for solutions to reform Vietnam's socio-economic and
legal situations.

Based on the critical socio-economic situation, we also
realized that there would be an opportunity for change in
late 2010.

Upon return to Vietnam, I set up a blog and wrote the
announcement of the Vietnam Labor Party Foundation, but due
to technical problems, I have not finished and published it.
Then I got arrested.

Since joining the Vietnam Democratic Party, I have helped to
correct the writing style and terms in the Party's Charter.

I was also given by Nguyen Sy Binh a draft of a "New
Constitution" to study and used it as a reference to draft a
Constitution for the Vietnam Democratic Party.

I realize that what I have done violated the law of Vietnam.
I feel deeply regretful for my wrongdoings. I hope to
receive tolerance from the State.

June 17, 2009

Reporter

Le Cong Dinh (Signed)

End unofficial translation.


12. (U) This cable was coordinated with Consulate Ho Chi Minh
City.
PALMER