Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09HANOI79
2009-02-04 00:17:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Hanoi
Cable title:  

Defrocked Monks and Dissidents Released During Tet Amnesty

Tags:  PHUM KIRF PGOV PREL VM 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO2230
OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHHI #0079 0350017
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 040017Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9080
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH 5534
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS HANOI 000079 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/MLS, DRL/IRF and DRL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM KIRF PGOV PREL VM

SUBJECT: Defrocked Monks and Dissidents Released During Tet Amnesty

REF: Hanoi 51

UNCLAS HANOI 000079

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/MLS, DRL/IRF and DRL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM KIRF PGOV PREL VM

SUBJECT: Defrocked Monks and Dissidents Released During Tet Amnesty

REF: Hanoi 51


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: In addition to former Thanh Nien journalist
Nguyen Viet Chien, four defrocked Khmer Krom monks, a member of the
For the People's Party and a land rights activist were released as
part of Vietnam's Tet Amnesty. While we are still awaiting the
release of the formal list of those amnestied by the President,
through contacting a number of dissidents and family members of
those jailed we have learned that none of Vietnam's most prominent
dissidents currently in jail were among the 15,140 granted amnesty.
Family members and dissidents estimate that this is due to new
disqualifying "political requirements" instituted by the Office of
the President. END SUMMARY.

Four Khmer Krom Monks Released
--------------


2. (SBU) Monks Kim Moeun, Danh Tol, and Thach Thuong were released
on January 17, 2009 and Monk Ly Hoang was released on January 20,
2009 as part of President Triet's Tet Amnesty. Our sources have
independently confirmed that all four monks have been released and
are presently living at home. We understand that Danh Tol returned
to Can Tho and the other three are in Soc Trang province. Monk Ly
Suong was released earlier on November 21, 2008. Sources confirmed
that he has been allowed to travel from home to his former pagoda in
Soc Trang province but at this time is prohibited from being
re-ordained as a monk. The five Khmer Krom former monks were
defrocked by the Vietnamese Buddhist Sangha and later convicted of
public disturbance and disrupting traffic in May 2007 following a
series of largely political protests earlier that year. (NOTE:
Human Rights Watch released a report last month entitled "On the
Margins: Rights Abuses of Ethnic Khmer in Vietnam's Mekong Delta,"
which highlighted the case of these five monks. END NOTE.)

Two Others Released...
--------------


3. (SBU) Phung Quang Quyen was released after having served more
than a year of his 18-month sentence. Quyen is a member of the For
the People's Party (FPP) based in Dalat. He was tried at the same
time as other United Workers Farmers Organization (UWFO) activists.
He was sentenced in December 2007 for "abusing democratic and
freedom rights to infringe upon legitimate rights and interests of
individuals and organizations" (Article 258 of the Penal Code).
Quyen's sentence was upheld after an appeals trial on February 25,

2008. Also released was Mr. Dang Tien Thong after spending 9 months
in jail. He is a land rights activist from Ho Chi Minh City who had
previously clashed with police during a demonstration in November

2007. He was arrested in March 2008 for disturbing public order and
was sentenced to 2 years of imprisonment on July 22, 2008.

... but Well Known Dissidents Still in Jail
--------------


4. (SBU) Comment: Although the release of journalist Nguyen Viet
Chien, the Khmer Krom monks and the two others is welcome, it is
disappointing that none of the most prominent dissidents currently
in jail were released, such as Nguyen Van Dai, Le Thi Cong Nhan or
Father Nguyen Van Ly among others. Family members of those in jail
as well as previously jailed dissidents echoed the belief that new
"political requirements" such as admitting previous crimes and being
a "model prisoner" were viewed as having been used by the GVN to
disqualify political prisoners who would otherwise qualify for
amnesty.


5. The cable was coordinated with Consulate Ho Chi Minh City.

Michalak