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RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
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FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2372
INFO RUEHZS/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 1362
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEABND/DEA HQS WASHINGTON DC
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 001454 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/14/2016 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV HUMANR VM
SUBJECT: DISSIDENTS PUSH HARD WITH LITTLE BACKLASH SO FAR 
 
REF: A. SILBERSTEIN - ADAMS 6/8 EMAIL 
     ¶B. HCMC 608 
     ¶C. HCMC 318 AND PREVIOUS 
 
HANOI 00001454  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By: ACTING POL/C BENJAMIN MOELING, REASON 1.5 (B) and (D) 
 
¶1. (U) The reporting and comment in this cable is by 
Consulate General Ho Chi Minh City, with additional reporting 
and commentary by Embassy Hanoi. 
 
¶2. (C) Summary: Dissidents in Ho Chi Minh City, including Dr. 
Nguyen Dan Que, report that they are receiving increased 
attention but that harassment is at manageable levels.  We 
are in contact with most of them, and those we have spoken to 
report that they have been able to conduct their activities 
relatively freely, including sensitive activities.  An MPS 
contact reported to Embassy Hanoi that the GVN's forbearance 
wQthe dissidents is deliberate, with the implication that 
police restraint is a favor to the United States.  End 
Summary. 
 
¶3. (SBU)  On June 13, HCMC officers spoke with Dr. Nguyen Dan 
Que and other political activists to assess their condition 
following the June 8 police raid on Que's house in HCMC (ref 
A).  They spoke to Dr. Que on his cell phone.  He reported no 
additional harassment since the June 8 incident.  He told 
HCMC Poloff that "everything is normal for now" and expressed 
hope that it would stay that way.  The police had not invited 
his son "for a drink" as they earlier had threatened.  (Note: 
 Per ref A, on the afternoon of June 8, Dr. Que called HCMC 
Poloff to inform him that he had an unannounced visit by 
special police to his home.  The officer in charge was the 
same officer who had developed his case before his arrest in 
July 2004.  Dr. Que refused to meet the police, but they 
spoke with his wife.  The policemen told her that they "know 
everyone who came to meet with him in his home and that 
associating with these persons is not advisable."  They also 
suggested that they would go out and "drink coffee" with 
Que's son, who lives at home. End Note.) 
 
¶4. (SBU) Democratic Party of Vietnam representative Tran Khue 
said he has not been harassed by police since his return to 
HCMC from Hanoi on June 3 (ref B).  Police had added an 
additional "watcher" outside his home, but he faced no 
restriction on movement or association.  For example, on June 
13 he was able to attend a Hoa Hao "Foundation Day" 
celebration at the home of Hoa Hao activist Le Quang Liem in 
HCMC. 
 
¶5. (SBU) "Group 8406" leader Do Nam Hai (aka Phuong Nam) told 
HCMC Poloff that he faces "annoying harassment," but that his 
movement and activities have not been curtailed. For example, 
on June 11 he was able to participate via cell phone in an 
hour-long conference call with Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez 
(D-CA) and Father Nguyen Van Ly on democracy, human rights 
and the Congressional debate on permanent normal trading 
relations (PNTR) with Vietnam. (Note:  A summary transcript 
of the discussion, in which Father Ly stated that he opposed 
PNTR and Congresswoman Sanchez was quoted as stating that she 
would seek to make PNTR conditional on further human rights 
improvements, was posted on the dissident website 
www.Doi-Thoai.com.  End Note.) 
 
¶6. (SBU) The previous week Phuong Nam was able to travel to 
Hue to consult with Father Ly, but police followed him 
everywhere.  Similarly, on June 12, at an Internet cafe in 
HCMC, a plainclothes policeman stood immediately behind him 
and read his screen despite his strong protests. (His home 
Internet connection has been cut twice.)  That same day he 
was also summoned to his local police station, where he was 
informed that the government had decided that it "would not 
prosecute him under the criminal code for using the internet 
to sabotage the State," but that he would be fined.  This 
decision stemmed from the police confiscation of his personal 
computer in March.  That computer contained a draft of the 
"Group 8406" manifesto on Freedom and Democracy in Vietnam. 
Do Nam Hai told HCMC Poloff that he had refused to respond to 
a summons for another "working session" with police for June 
¶13. 
 
¶7. (SBU) In a separate phone converQon, Father Chan Tin 
told HCMC Poloff that he had not faced any direct harassment 
since he and other dissidents launched the bi-weekly "Freedom 
of Speech" magazine in December 2005.  On June 13 he joined 
Tran Khue and Do Nam Hai at Le Quan Liem's house for the Hoa 
 
HANOI 00001454  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Hao Founder's Day celebration.  According to Father Tin, the 
authorities did press the HCMC Archdiocese to make Father Tin 
stop; Father Tin's supervisors reportedly responded that "the 
Father should be arrested if they think he violated the law, 
otherwise he and the church should be left alone."  Father 
Tin added that, although he is listed as the Chief Editor of 
the magazine, the "Hue group" does most of the work. The Hue 
activists send him the final edition, and he arranges for 
"less suspect" people to make photocopies for local 
distribution. 
 
¶6. (C) On June 13, Hanoi Poloff received a phone call from a 
contact in the Ministry of Public Security.  In the course of 
a relatively routine discussion of a visa case, the contact 
added a premeditated comment regarding the "patience" of the 
MPS with recent dissident activities, implying that MPS 
forbearance is a favor to the USG.  The officer was not in a 
position to elaborate. 
 
¶7. (C) Comment:  The coordination between HCMC and Hue 
activists and their activities is increasingly bold. 
However, thus far direct pressure on the dissidents, while 
visible and annoying, has been modest.  Visits to homes, 
high-profile "watchers," easily detectable surveillance and 
verbal warnings all represent the lowest level of available 
police sanctions against dissidents in Vietnam.  If MPS 
decides it wants to seriously crack down on dissident 
activity, we will see extended detentions, interrogations and 
arrests.  Authorities are laying down clear markers that they 
are displeased but have stopped short of taking significant 
action against the dissidents, and the phone call to Embassy 
Hanoi suggests that the decision not to crack down was 
deliberate and taken at a high level.  End Comment. 
MARINE