US embassy cable - 04HANOI2594

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 002594 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR DRL, EAP/BCLTV, EAP/RSP, IO, PRM, H 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, PREF, OTRA, KN, KS, VM, ETMIN, HUMANR, DPRK 
SUBJECT:  CPV ON HUMAN RIGHTS, CENTRAL HIGHLANDS, KOREA 
 
REF: A. Hanoi 2193 B. Seoul 3775 C. Seoul 1962 
 
1. (SBU) Summary: In a meeting with visiting SFRC staffer 
Frank Jannuzi, CPV officials said human rights and democracy 
were secondary priorities for Vietnam behind meeting the 
population's basic material needs; that freedom to operate 
in the Central Highlands would be especially slow in coming 
for UNHCR due to UNHCR's previous "betrayal" of Vietnam; and 
that the GVN had temporarily suspended the assisted 
migration of lowland Vietnamese into the Central Highlands 
in order to give the ethnic minority population a chance to 
participate in economic development without having to 
compete with new arrivals.  DPRK refugees were not permitted 
to enter Vietnam but some had been able to do so because 
they were mistaken for Chinese or Vietnamese travelers by 
border authorities, the officials said. End Summary. 
 
2. (SBU) Senate Foreign Relations Committee staffer Frank 
Jannuzi met Bui The Giang, Director of the People-to-People 
Relations Department of the Commission for External 
Relations of the CPV's Central Committee, on August 31, 
2004.  Deputy Director Le Quang Ba of the External Relations 
Commission's Northeast Asia Department was also at the 
meeting. 
 
HUMAN RIGHTS: LATER. 
-------------------- 
 
3. (SBU) Jannuzi asked Giang what he could "take back to 
Washington" on the subject of human rights.  Giang said he 
understood the human rights issue well, including the U.S. 
domestic political aspect, but he thought the United States 
did not fully understand Vietnam.  "Individual expression of 
religion - even by my wife, a devout Buddhist - is perfectly 
acceptable in Vietnam.  And I am a Communist Party 
official."  Giang explained further that in Vietnam there 
was no distinction between registered and unregistered 
religions, the way there was in some countries.  Restriction 
did not occur in Vietnam until political organizations 
entered the picture masquerading as religious organizations, 
he said.  "The stability and unity of Vietnam are crucial 
and cannot be threatened," Giang stated.  "Too much time and 
blood have been shed for us - who protect this country - to 
tolerate a threat."  Giang characterized Vietnam as a "poor 
nation that has to prioritize its needs" and said that the 
first priority was to feed the population.  "When everyone 
can eat, we can consider wider democratic freedoms," Giang 
said.  Abuses were an unfortunate reality in the current 
system, Giang acknowledged, due to "bad behavior by 
individual officials." 
 
4. (SBU) Jannuzi stressed the need for faster change in 
Vietnam.  Of course concern about necessities of life was 
important, he conceded, but the next step for Vietnam had to 
be to realize the capacity of the individual.  Vietnam would 
never reach its full capacity without enhancing individual 
energy and freedom, Jannuzi said. 
 
PACE OF CHANGE AND THE NATURE OF THE BILATERAL RELATIONSHIP 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
5. (SBU) Giang admitted that the GVN and CPV had internal 
debates on how much change to allow and at what pace.  "We 
are impatient," he said, "moving from a war-ravaged society 
into the future.  Our current progress is far from what we 
expect to accomplish."  The difficulty, he said, was finding 
a policy that met Vietnam's internal needs for stability and 
growth within a set structure while remaining acceptable to 
the international community.  The pace, order, and magnitude 
of change - political, social, and economic - were the 
subjects of "constant internal debate." 
 
6. (SBU) Jannuzi said the USG would like to increase 
cooperation with Vietnam on a variety of issues, notably 
information exchange, law enforcement, and the rule of law. 
Giang said he knew the USG was "frustrated at the slow 
progress in these fields" but urged Jannuzi to consider 
that, "in comparison with Vietnam's progress with other 
countries, the United States is not doing too badly." 
 
7. (SBU) Jannuzi suggested Vietnam look at China for 
possible lessons on how to deal with the USG, especially 
Congress.  He noted that the sophistication and depth of 
U.S.-China cooperation on significant issues such as North 
Korea and terrorism made a difference in Congress' attitudes 
towards China and affected the "context" in which Congress 
viewed sensitive issues such as Taiwan and human rights.  An 
example in Vietnam would be access to the Central Highlands, 
he said.  Jannuzi thanked Giang for the GVN's willingness to 
allow him to visit the Central Highlands, but noted that it 
would be even better if UNHCR and external media outlets 
could have free access to the region.  In addition, 
regularized contacts between the Embassy and the Ministry of 
Public Security (MPS) and more authoritative access to 
information on all subjects would greatly smooth and enhance 
our bilateral relationship. 
 
UNHCR BETRAYED US ONCE BEFORE 
----------------------------- 
 
8. (SBU) Giang lamented that access to the Central Highlands 
was often a "local problem" and that the offices of the 
Central Committee of the CPV were sometimes refused 
permission to go to the Central Highlands because the local 
administration feared that a visit from Hanoi could "stir 
things up."  Receiving permission for the United States, or 
Sweden, or UNHCR was even more difficult.  UNHCR, he said 
bitterly, was "untrustworthy."  "Two years ago we signed a 
tripartite agreement with UNHCR and Cambodia," Giang 
explained, "and the next day, UNHCR smacked us in the face. 
They betrayed us." 
 
9. (SBU) In a separate meeting, UNHCR Vietnam head Vu Anh 
Son acknowledged to Poloff that, in early 2002, shortly 
after signing a tripartite agreement with Cambodia and 
Vietnam regarding the modalities for the return of over 
1,000 ethnic Gia Rai migrants who had fled from Dak Lak 
province in Vietnam into Ratanakiri and Mondolkiri provinces 
in Cambodia following the 2001 unrest in the Central 
Highlands, UNHCR "withdrew unilaterally" from the agreement. 
UNHCR withdrew from the agreement because the GVN had sent 
buses filled with "rough guys" posing as family members 
visiting the two UNHCR sites in Cambodia.  Those "rough 
guys" had destroyed the sites and UNHCR property and 
intimidated the migrants, Son said.  Subsequently, UNHCR 
returned 15 of the migrants, 200 returned on their own, and 
900 were resettled in the United States under a U.S.- 
Cambodia bilateral agreement, he added. 
 
SUSPENSION OF MOVEMENT INTO THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
10. (SBU) Giang said that as a result of "the development of 
negative feelings and hostility towards incoming lowlanders" 
migration into the Central Highlands had been "temporarily 
halted."  An additional motivation was the desire to give 
the ethnic minority residents the opportunity to enhance 
their participation in the economic development of the 
Central Highlands without "heavy competition" from new 
arrivals.  [Note: Giang was referring to the GVN's decision, 
announced by Deputy PM Nguyen Tan Dung on August 20, to halt 
assisted migration into the Central Highlands under the "new 
economic zones" program.   End note.] 
 
DPRK REFUGEES: SUPREMELY AWKWARD TOPIC 
-------------------------------------- 
 
11. (SBU) Shifting gears, Jannuzi thanked Giang and Ba for 
allowing the movement of over 400 DPRK refugees from Ho Chi 
Minh City to Seoul (reftels), and for Vietnam's "humane" 
policy of turning a blind eye to illegal DPRK migrants 
transiting Vietnam.  After a lengthy and uncomfortable 
pause, Ba stated that the GVN did not "permit" DPRK migrants 
to enter Vietnam but noted that Chinese, Korean, and 
Vietnamese people looked similar and it was very difficult 
for border guards and other officials to tell them apart. 
 
12. (SBU) Comment: Giang is always a genial interlocutor, 
and his easy style and American (Johns Hopkins SAIS) 
education contribute to cordial exchanges.  He does not 
waver from the CPV line, however, as demonstrated in his 
comments about human rights and UNHCR.  The suspension of 
the program to provide financial assistance to those moving 
to the Central Highlands is potentially a positive step, 
though Jannuzi's later meeting in the Highlands called into 
question whether it will be implemented (septel).  The GVN 
still has no specific plans to deal with so-called "free 
immigrants" who continue to migrate into the Highlands 
without GVN assistance.  Ongoing movement by that 
population, many of whom are ethnic minorities from the 
Northwest, will limit the suspension's effectiveness.   End 
Comment. 
MARINE