US embassy cable - 04HOCHIMINHCITY1074

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 001074 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/BCLTV, DRL, EAP/P, G/TIP, PRM 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, SOCI, PREL, PGOV, VM, HUMANR 
SUBJECT: VIETNAM DEMOCRACY ACTIVISTS DISCUSS HUMAN RIGHTS 
DEVELOPMENTS 
 
REF:  A) HCMC 1011;  B) HCMC 1002 
 
1. (SBU) Summary:  Recently-released dissident, Tran Van Khue, and 
Ms. Tam Van, the wife of jailed activist Dr. Nguyen Dan Que, told 
us that Vietnam remains far from meeting international human 
rights standards, particularly in areas such as freedom of 
association and expression.  Despite the injustices done to them 
and their families, they recognize that human rights conditions in 
Vietnam continue to improve incrementally.  Khue and Mrs. Que 
credit the USG's broad engagement with Vietnam as well as 
Vietnam's increasing participation in rules-based regimes such as 
the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) and WTO for human rights- 
related improvements.  They argue that this process of engagement 
helps bind the hands of Communist Party hardliners and creates new 
openings for greater personal freedom.  They plan to continue 
their human rights activities, although in the near term Mrs. Que 
will focus on securing amnesty for her husband, who has 12 months 
remaining on his 30-month prison term.  End Summary. 
 
2. (SBU) On August 16 and 17, we met separately with dissident 
Tran Van Khue and with Ms. Tam Van, the wife of still-jailed human 
rights activist Nguyen Dan Que to discuss their families' 
situations and plans for the future, and to seek their views on 
the state of play on human rights issues in Vietnam. 
 
Khue 
---- 
 
3. (SBU) Khue, released July 31 after 19 months in prison (ref a), 
said that he planned to continue to push for democratic reform and 
government transparency.  Describing his trial, Khue said it was a 
foreordained farce.  Despite his many written and oral requests, 
Khue alleged he was denied legal representation. (Family members 
previously told us that Khue chose to defend himself at his July 9 
trial.)  A family appeal to the President of the HCMC Bar 
Association also went unanswered.  (Separately, the Bar President 
denied to us that he had ever received a request from Khue.) 
 
4. (SBU) At the trial, Khue said that he told the presiding judge 
that it was he who should be prosecutor based on the vast number 
of documents he had amassed detailing corruption and malfeasance 
within the Communist Party.  Khue said that he caught a glimmer of 
sympathy from the presiding judge, the Deputy Chief of HCMC's 
criminal court (a party member, as are almost all judges and 
prosecutors), who then proceeded to pronounce him guilty of 
"distorting the historic truth" and "abusing democracy and freedom 
to undermine national interests." 
 
5. (SBU) A former Communist Party member, Khue said that he 
continues to have links to the party faithful -- for example, he 
plans to travel to Hanoi shortly to attend the 93rd birthday 
celebrations of retired General and national hero Vo Nguyen Giap. 
He credits his relatively mild sentence -- particularly in 
comparison to Dr. Que who was given an additional 11 months jail 
time -- to his Communist pedigree.  He suspects sympathizers 
within the Communist Party intervened to blunt the efforts of 
hardliners to hand him a harsher sentence. 
 
6. (SBU) Khue said that despite his own personal ordeal, his 
family has escaped largely unscathed, again because of his Party 
connections.  His two sons continue to work for two state-owned 
enterprises, and an ad-agency that leases space in the family 
house operates unimpeded.  A daughter who worked with him on 
publishing his anti-corruption manifestoes was fired from a 
military-owned shipbuilding company in HCMC, but Khue is hopeful 
that she will be able to find employment in another state-owned 
company. 
 
Dr. Que 
------- 
 
7. (SBU) Ms. Tam Van, wife of imprisoned human rights and 
democracy activist Nguyen Dan Que, told us that Dr. Que had 
decided not to appeal his 30-month jail sentence as an appeal 
would only confer legitimacy to an illegitimate process.  She has 
not yet been able to see her husband in prison since the July 29 
trial (ref b).  She understands, however, that her husband is 
being treated fairly by prison authorities:  he has a relatively 
large cell (16 square meters), and she has been allowed to deliver 
money and medicine to the prison two times a month. 
 
8. (SBU) Mrs. Que indicated that the family has been in informal 
contact with the authorities regarding a possible amnesty for her 
husband.  She has not yet submitted a formal request; she is 
counting on the authorities to notify her when the time is ripe 
for such a petition, perhaps, she speculated, in time for a 
release during the Vietnamese "Tet" holiday in early 2005. 
 
9. (SBU) Mrs. Que said that, in contrast to Khue, her family 
continues to suffer from systematic harassment.  Cell phones are 
bugged, landline phones are cut and family members and friends 
routinely shadowed and interviewed. 
 
Half empty or half full? 
------------------------ 
 
10. (SBU) Both Khue and Mrs. Que said that, although much remains 
to be done, Vietnam has made progress on some human rights issues. 
While appreciative of international concern for the plight of 
dissidents and pressure in their behalf, in their view progress 
was more a byproduct of the GVN's deepening engagement with the 
U.S. and the international community and Vietnam's participation 
in rules-based regimes such as the Bilateral Trade Agreement.  In 
this context, they view Vietnam's early membership in the WTO as 
desirable.  Khue added that there are honest and well-meaning 
members of the Communist Party and many are quietly sympathetic to 
his anti-corruption and reform message.  His overall impression is 
that hardliners are slowly having their grip on power loosened. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
11. (SBU) Our sense is that Khue's cautious optimism is on target 
-- at least as far as HCMC is concerned.  In our discussions with 
party members and affiliates we find a broad recognition -- albeit 
with different levels of enthusiasm -- that the party orthodoxy is 
being pushed to adapt and respond to a more discerning domestic 
constituency as well as to the demands of Vietnam's international 
integration.  Interestingly, even some dissidents agree.  End 
Comment. 
 
WINNICK