Vietnamese regime scripts its political oppression

By BRIDGET JOHNSON --2008

Tran Khai Thanh Thuy - a pro-democracy activist - is escorted from a courtroom in Hanoi, Vietnam (AP)

You have the right to remain silent! --School of Vice [insidesocal.com]

"the charges and rulings in a number of cases have not been appropriate" and trials have been "allowing the accused excessive responses."

 " ... To fight and defeat the attack plot of the enemy forces is our first line of defense, urgent and immediate." 

[--School of Vice: The network of Vietnamese intelligence and sabotage effort to this effect is equally pervasive and substantial in Cambodia and Laos, both of whom are under Vietnam's hegemony and are therefore vital to the security of the Vietnamese super-state or the Vietnam-dominated Indochinese Alliance. However, Hanoi also fears increased political/democratic freedom fuelled with nationalist resurgence in these smaller states could eventually create unwelcome precedents for the Vietnamese people to emulate. That would spell the demise of a totalitarian movement that has been shaping the fate and history - not only of Vietnam, but - of the peoples of Indochina since the heyday of French colonialism. So, be mindful of these agent-scoundrels. They are trained on the art of sedition and propaganda, and being totally bereft of moral scruples, are prepared to do anything to drive a wedge of divisions into their opponents, be it involves the use of foul language, posing as Vietnam-haters - this tactic persuades you that they are on your side and make you lower your mental guard against their line of 'reasoning' - disrupting the line of communication between and among Khmer nationalists/patriots by way of inducing psychological self-doubt or by any of the aforementioned methods, and so forth].   

When pressed last year on human rights during his historic visit to D.C., Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet passed off violations as a "different understanding" that needed to be taken in context of "historical backgrounds and conditions."

Pro-democracy Vietnamese, however, understand well the conditions in place to systematically keep their voices silent. Now an apparent memo from the top tells the story.

The top-secret, just-leaked Vietnamese government document urges Communist Party officials to become more conscientious in their quest to "limit the spread of false ideas in the population about democracy, human rights, religious freedom, which impacts negatively on the Party and the State foreign policy," and work "to institute effort to neutralize these organizations and individuals who conspire to maneuver against the country and socialism."

The document titled "NOTICE: Conclusion of the Political Party, concerning raising the bar of quality and effectiveness in the execution of the political trials in the face of new development" and dated Sept. 12, 2007, was distributed to provincial authorities, party officials and leading technocrats, as noted in the memo.

Signed off and stamped by Standing Secretariat Member Truong Tan Sang, the Politburo sent out numbered copies on a recall basis. Yet a copy of the document was leaked by a Communist Party member to the People's Democratic Party of Vietnam, which advocates a multi-party system and is thus banned by the Vietnamese regime.

Reading the document -- the English translation provided by the PDP -- is a window into a regime that systematically conspires to silence dissidents and fears international scrutiny could derail its attempts at global acceptance.

"The quality and effectiveness of the execution of the political cases have not met the requirements to enable the struggle to prevent and deal with these crimes," the memo reads, complaining that "the charges and rulings in a number of cases have not been appropriate" and trials have been "allowing the accused excessive responses."

" ... To fight and defeat the attack plot of the enemy forces is our first line of defense, urgent and immediate."

After I showed the State Department a copy of the memo, an official responded, "We're not in a position to confirm the legitimacy of this document." The official, who asked not to be named, quickly added that the U.S. regularly brings up human-rights issues with Vietnam. But Vietnam was removed from the Countries of Particular Concern list in November 2006 after supposedly meeting benchmarks for expanding religious liberties.

Tell that to Father Ly.

On March 30, 2007, editor of "Freedom of Speech" magazine and Catholic priest Father Nguyen Van Ly was sentenced to eight years in prison for his pro-democracy, pro-religious-liberty activism. A leader in the human rights movement, Father Ly, unlike some other dissidents currently behind bars, reportedly is not allowed to receive visitors.

"The tasks of communication and propaganda have been untimely, lacking in shrewdness," the Politburo memo states. "They have not been focused on the dangerous principal leaders of the pack."

The PDP -- one of the Vietnamese pro-democracy groups that met with George W. Bush and Dick Cheney before Bush welcomed Triet to the White House last year -- pointed out how Vietnamese officials maintain that there are no political prisoners.

"If that is the case, we don't know what to make of political prisoners in Vietnam such as Father Nguyen Van Ly, lawyers Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan, (lawyer) Nguyen Bac Truyen, (cyberdissident) Tran Quoc Hien, Doctor Le Nguyen Sang, reporter Huynh Nguyen Dao, (Thang Tien Vietnam party President) Nguyen Phong, (dissident) Doan van Dien, (labor activists) Tran Thi Le Hong, Doan Huy Chuong also known as Nguyen Tan Hoanh, etc."

On an online question and answer forum in July 2007, then-U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Michael W. Marine said in response to a human-rights concern that "we remain hopeful that the Vietnamese people themselves will recognize the importance of these basic rights as well."

Vietnamese know the importance of these rights; they just get tossed in prison when they speak up for those rights. And change will come when the people receive support in their struggle.

It's time to put Vietnam back on the CPC list, and to consider other punitive measures against the country for its scripted decimation of the basic human rights of its citizens.

 

Reproduced from: seattlepi.com