US embassy cable - 03HANOI2168

UNCLAS HANOI 002168 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV, EAP/PD, AND DRL 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PREL, VM, HUMANR 
SUBJECT:  REDUCTION OF PHAM HONG SON'S SENTENCE 
 
REF:  A.  Hanoi 1561   B.  BAILES/CARMICHAEL E-MAILS 
 
1.  (U)  According to a two Western media sources, Appeals 
Court officials in Hanoi confirmed that the 13 year sentence 
of activist Pham Hong Son (ref a) was reduced to 5 years 
during a brief hearing on August 26.  (Son will still 
apparently be subject to three years' house detention after 
completing that prison sentence.)  Court officials have 
declined to answer Embassy's repeated inquiries.  Security 
was tight at the early morning hearing on August 26, from 
which foreign observers -- including journalists and 
diplomats -- had been banned.  (The MFA confirmed the ban at 
a press conference on August 21.)  About nine 
representatives from various missions (including ours) were 
nonetheless present outside the court building for the 
beginning of the hearing.  One reporter confirmed that Son's 
wife had been able to enter the court building, but we do 
not yet know whether she actually attended the hearing.  (At 
the earlier trial, she was only able to make her own 
testimony but not to be present for the entire trial or to 
meet her husband.) 
2. (U)   Ref b provides cleared contingency press guidance, 
as follows: 
Q. What is the Embassy's reaction to the reduction in Pham 
Hong Son's sentence? 
A. We welcome the reduction, but he should never have been 
jailed in the first place for his actions. 
We urge the Vietnamese Government to adhere to international 
human rights standards that it has freely assumed through 
its ratification of international human rights instruments, 
including the International Covenant on Civil and Political 
Rights. 
We urge the Vietnamese Government to release Pham Hong Son 
immediately along with all citizens unjustly jailed for the 
peaceful expression of their opinions. 
3.  (U)  Comment:  The reduction in Son's sentence likely 
comes with an eye on a slew of upcoming ministerial visits 
to the U.S. and Europe, including Deputy Prime Minister Vu 
Khoan, the Foreign Minister, the Trade Minister, the 
Minister of Planning and Investment, and the Defense 
Minister, as well as a possible vote in the U.S. Senate on 
the Smith Amendment to the State Authorization Bill.  The 
GVN likely overestimated the goodwill that will be generated 
from this decision, which many international observers will 
view as too little, too late. 
BURGHARDT