VZCZCXRO2726
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHHI #0256/01 0400745
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 090745Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4567
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH 2497
RUEHZS/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 1443
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0189
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0498
RUEHNY/AMEMBASSY OSLO 0054
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA 0493
RUEHSW/AMEMBASSY BERN 0053
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0212
RUEHROV/AMEMBASSY VATICAN 0013

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 000256 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, DRL/IRF, DRL/AWH 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KIRF HUMANR PGOV PHUM VM
 
SUBJECT: HANOI CHIEFS OF MISSION DISCUSS HUMAN RIGHTS, 
VIETNAM-VATICAN TIES 
 
Ref: Vatican 25 
 
HANOI 00000256  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) On January 31, EC Ambassador Markus Cornaro hosted the 
third in a series of Hanoi Ambassadors' human rights discussions. 
Among the issues discussed were: 
 
-- The overall human rights situation in Vietnam:  Most COMs noted 
progress, but expressed some concerns regarding Protestants in the 
north, occasional reports of harassment of Central Highlands 
returnees and harassment of dissidents and labor activists; 
 
-- Human rights dialogues with Vietnam:  Switzerland plans to hold 
its next round in May.  Norway recently held its dialogue in Norway, 
and the European Union held its own dialogue in December 2006; 
 
-- Prisoners of Concern/Dissidents:  Most countries reported having 
lists of prisoners of concern and plan to continue to press the GVN 
to release individuals of concern.  The COMs agreed that it is 
important to follow and stay in touch with, as appropriate, 
activists and the new groups that have appeared on the scene; 
 
-- Human rights-related technical cooperation:  Several projects are 
underway, including workshops on torture prevention and a program to 
train judges.  Upcoming projects include several in the area of 
women's rights; and, 
 
-- Vietnam-Vatican relations:  Normalization of relations between 
the Vatican and Vietnam remains a high-profile issue, particularly 
after Prime Minister Dzung's meeting with the Pope.  One COM 
expressed concern that "China would never allow Vietnam to take this 
step before China does."  End Summary. 
 
Overall Human Rights Situation 
------------------------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) On January 31, EC Ambassador Markus Cornaro hosted the 
third in a series of Hanoi Ambassadors' human rights discussions 
(Ambassador Marine hosted the previous session and the French 
Ambassador hosted the inaugural meeting).  Ambassador Cornaro opened 
by describing the EU Troika Ambassadors' mission to the Central 
Highlands (Kon Tum and Gia Lai provinces) in October 2006.  The 
mission registered progress in socio-economic development and in the 
implementation of the Vietnam's legal framework on religion.  The 
Troika also conducted interviews with ethnic minority returnees from 
Cambodia.  Overall, the returnees seemed relatively well integrated, 
but a few who had been forcibly repatriated reported some harassment 
by border police officials. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The German Ambassador briefly summarized the EU's human 
rights report on Vietnam.  In recent years, developments have been 
generally positive, but the record remains mixed.  There has been 
greater religious freedom, but concerns remain regarding Protestants 
in the north.  On the other hand, the EU report cites a slowdown in 
progress in freedom of expression and internet freedom.  For the EU, 
the death penalty is still a concern.  On the whole, there appears 
to be greater GVN sensitivity to international pressure, reflected 
recently in the GVN's cautious response to the emergence of new 
dissident groups.  Ambassador Marine noted that President Triet will 
visit the United States later this year, and the USG will try to 
leverage this for progress in human rights and other areas. 
 
Human Rights Dialogues with Vietnam/Benchmarking 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶4. (SBU) The EU's most recent human rights dialogue (HRD) was held 
on December 20, 2006, the German Ambassador continued.  There were 
improved atmospherics under the chairmanship of MFA Department of 
International Organizations Director General Le Hoai Trung.  The GVN 
responded positively to the EU's proposals for reinvigorating the 
HRD, including by upgrading its representation and focusing on 
concrete deliverables.  The GVN expressed a renewed commitment to 
accede to the UN Convention Against Torture.  The EU delegation also 
had a good exchange with Committee on Religious Affairs 
representatives on the issue of religious freedom.  However, the 
 
HANOI 00000256  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
dialogue had its rough patches:  the GVN representatives reacted 
sharply to accusations of official censorship, with a Ministry of 
Culture and Information official describing his ministry as a "shock 
absorber" for "negative" repercussions of Vietnam's international 
integration.  The GVN representatives also described EU contacts 
with dissidents as in "breach" of the Geneva Convention, which the 
EU representatives refuted, the German Ambassador said. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Swiss Government is planning its next HRD in May 2007 
in Vietnam and is awaiting GVN confirmation, the Swiss Ambassador 
said.  The Swiss hope to use this next round as a pilot for 
longer-term "benchmarking" and are preparing a non-paper to be 
shared with the GVN.  Ambassador Marine described the USG's hope to 
schedule soon our next HRD round, the topics of which will likely 
include prisoners of concern, internet restrictions, press freedom, 
the Law of Associations and Decree 31. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Norway recently held its HRD in Norway, the Norwegian 
Charge said.  The GVN sent an 18-person delegation, led by MFA IO DG 
Trung.  The HRD's formal agenda included the death penalty, human 
rights defenders and the Convention Against Torture.  The New 
Zealand Ambassador noted that, while his country does not have a 
formal HRD, it is pursuing an interfaith dialogue, which is 
co-sponsored by New Zealand and involves Australia and various 
countries in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific.  The next session 
will take place in a few months in New Zealand. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The UK, EC, and German Ambassadors said that benchmarking 
(as envisaged by Switzerland) is a disputed issue within the EU, 
noting that a "roadmap" may represent a better approach.  That said, 
and irrespective of terminology, human rights dialogues are an 
incremental process, requiring a longer-term horizon for the 
measurement of progress.  The EU's aim is to focus more on explicit 
deliverables and, ideally, both sides should have previously 
agreed-to objectives for the dialogue.  However, Vietnam considers 
benchmarking "patronizing," calling it a "report card" for Vietnam. 
An intermediate step for the EU will be to aim at unilateral, but 
communicated, targets, and will test this at next HRD session in 
June 2007. 
 
Prisoners/Detainees of Concern 
------------------------------ 
 
¶8. (SBU) The German and EC Ambassadors noted that there are 22 
prisoners on the EU list, with two previous prisoners of concern 
released in 2006, but two new ones subsequently added.  The EU has 
reiterated its request for the release of all prisoners of concern 
(particularly Nguyen Vu Binh) during the Tet Amnesty.  Ambassador 
Marine noted that the USG's primary list now has only two names: 
Binh and Phan Van Ban.  The USG is also tracking some 20 other 
cases, as well as a number of ethnic minority cases that are 
problematic because of a lack of information and some individuals' 
possible involvement in violence or human smuggling. 
 
¶9. (SBU) The Australian Charge reported that the GOA's list is 
shorter, and they recently added PalTalk arrestee Truong Quoc Huy. 
Canadian Ambassador Lessard said that his Foreign Minister handed 
over Canada's prisoner list to DPM/FM Pham Gia Khiem on the margins 
of APEC.  PM Harper also raised this issue with PM Nguyen Tan Dzung, 
and the Vietnamese were "taken aback and disappointed" by the 
Canadian PM's decision to elevate the issue to that level.  The 
Swiss and Norwegian representatives reported that their own lists 
had 17 and five individuals, respectively.  All of the COMs agreed 
that it would be useful to share and coordinate their respective 
prisoner lists. 
 
New Dissident Groups 
-------------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) Ambassador Marine noted that, within the past two months, 
the HCMC External Relations Office has told us that the U.S. Mission 
requires permission to meet with dissidents.  We are resisting this, 
and, in general, we can meet whom we want.  The situation is less 
tense now than during APEC, and Mission Vietnam stays in touch with 
dissidents, but tries "not to overload the circuits."  Still, the 
GVN accuses us of "aiding and abetting" dissidents, some of whom may 
seek to run in the May National Assembly election.  The USG also 
 
HANOI 00000256  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
disagrees with the HCMC authorities over the size of ConGen HCMC's 
consular district. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Since 2006, the EU has maintained a list of activists and 
others in Vietnam as part of a global EU campaign to support human 
rights defenders, Ambassador Cornaro said.  The EU will seek to 
maintain contact with these individuals, and the approaches to these 
individuals are necessarily "a la carte."  The French Ambassador 
suggested that our missions should strike a balance:  follow 
developments and report to capitals, but do not allow groups to 
claim we support them.  When the GVN makes an issue of this, we 
should insist that contact with dissidents and others is part of our 
job here. 
 
HR-Related Technical Cooperation 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) The COMs discussed a number of their countries' respective 
projects, which include efforts to improve women's rights, train 
judges and prevent torture. 
 
Vietnam-Vatican Relations 
------------------------- 
 
¶13. (SBU) Ambassador Marine raised PM Dzung's January visit to the 
Vatican (reftel), noting that Dzung succeeded only by overcoming 
concerns from "conservative" players in the Central Committee.  The 
French Ambassador said that meeting the Pope was Dzung's primary aim 
in Europe, but what he accomplished remains unclear.  Vatican "Prime 
Minister" Bertoni suggested normalizing relations, and the 
Vietnamese responded that both sides' diplomats should discuss this. 
 The obstacles for the Catholic Church in Vietnam include a lack of 
access to land and the inability to participate in charitable 
activities.  As a result, hard discussions lie ahead, the French 
Ambassador said. 
 
¶14. (SBU) The EC Ambassador suggested that Vietnam sees 
normalization of Vatican ties as part of its ongoing international 
integration.  However, one senior Communist Party official had 
pointedly noted to him that "China would never allow Vietnam to take 
this step before China does."  Ambassador Marine responded that both 
Vietnam and the Vatican seem to think they can move ahead without 
necessarily waiting for China. 
 
¶15. (SBU) Participants: 
 
European Commission (host):  Amb. Markus Cornaro 
United States:  Ambassador Michael Marine 
Germany:  Ambassador C.-L. Weber-Lortsch 
France:  Ambassador Jean-Francois Blarel 
Australia:  CDA Andrea Faulkner 
Norway:  CDA Leiv Landro 
Canada:  Ambassador Gabriel Lessard 
Switzerland:  Ambassador Benedict de Cerjat 
United Kingdom:  Ambassador Robert Gordon 
New Zealand:  Ambassador James Kember 
 
MARINE