This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 HO CHI MINH CITY 001021 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP DAS MATT DALEY AND EAP/BCLTV 
DEPARTMENT FOR PRM A/S GENE DEWEY AND PRM/A PAM LEWIS 
DEPARTMENT FOR CA A/S MAURA HARTY 
DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR DRL, L/EAP, AND CA/EX AND CA/OCS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: AMGT ASEC CASC PHUM PREL VM HUMANR ETMIN
SUBJECT: POLICE DISRUPT CONSULAR VISIT TO CENTRAL HIGHLANDS 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1.  (U) During a particularly unpleasant trip to the Central 
Highlands to fulfill normal consular duties -- fraud 
investigation, document verification, and personal 
interviews regarding relationships and status -- ConGenOff, 
two Consular Section and Refugee Resettlement Section FSNs, 
and two FSN drivers were subjected to harassment, oral 
threats, the attempted confiscation of their notes and 
schedules, an attempt to block their diplomatic vehicle, and 
an attempt to get into it.  The incidents took place in Gia 
Lai and Dak Lak Provinces October 7-9, and were perpetrated 
by local police. 
 
¶2.  (U) This was the first time in more than three years 
that local authorities have reacted so vociferously and 
physically to a routine consular visit, although 
surveillance and red tape are not unknown whenever 
ConGenOffs travel outside Ho Chi Minh City.  Nonetheless, 
Post views this as a significant departure from customary 
practice.  Since HCMC's consular district boundaries have 
never been established, ConGenOffs have had to depend on the 
political willingness of GVN officials to "create favorable 
conditions" for the carrying out of consular and other 
official duties outside HCMC city limits. 
 
¶3.  (U) Separately, this trip has shown that at least in two 
ethnic minority villages, ConGen can confirm that some 
family registration books are being altered, travel is 
severely restricted, and individuals are closely monitored 
and being prevented from having outside contact.  End 
summary. 
 
---------------------------- 
JUST ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE 
---------------------------- 
¶4.  (SBU) The ConGen group traveled to three Central 
Highlands provinces for a routine fraud investigation and 
consular verification trip.  This was a joint Consular 
Section Fraud Prevention Unit and Refugee Resettlement 
Section undertaking that focused on eight consular and eight 
refugee cases.  In an effort to verify the status of the 
refugee follow-to-join Visas 93 case of Rmah H'Ri and her 
daughters residing in Plei H'Rai Commune, Nhon Hoa Village, 
in the Chu Se District of Gai Lai Province in the Central 
Highlands, ConOff Li Gong and RRS FSN conducted a site visit 
to the family on October 7.  ConGenOff's goal was to verify 
the family's passport application status, establish family 
relationships and examine civil documents related to her 
visa application.  However, plainclothes policemen from both 
the village and province disrupted the visit.  The police 
harassed ConOff and FSN, by shadowing their every move and 
insisting on "answering" the questions that ConOff posed to 
Rmah H'Ri. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Rmah H'Ri's house is located along National 
Highway 14, 36 kilometers from the provincial capital of 
Pleiku.  Before arriving at her house, ConOff telephoned 
Rmah H'Ri at her neighbor's house and informed her of the 
intended visit.  Rmah H'Ri met ConOff and FSN by the gate to 
her house and took her inside.  Five minutes later, they 
were interrupted by five plainclothes policemen who entered 
the house without knocking or asking permission.  Rmah H'Ri 
stayed seated without speaking a word.  Her three daughters 
hid in another room.  The police were led by A Anh Tuan, who 
claimed to be the provincial policeman in charge of the 
village.  He and two other policemen were accompanied by the 
village police chief. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) A Anh Tuan demanded ConOff surrender her ID card 
and barked out a series of questions: who sent you here; who 
gave you permission to come to this house, etc.  ConOff 
explained she was an American diplomat working at the U.S. 
Consulate General in HCMC, who was here to conduct routine 
consular fraud investigations and to learn, firsthand, why 
Rmah H'Ri's family had not applied for their resettlement to 
the U.S., even though the Visas 93 petitions were filed more 
than two years ago.  ConOff stated she did not need 
permission for such a visit.  A Anh Tuan demanded ConOff 
follow him to the local People's Committee, saying any 
foreigners wishing to visit the village had to obtain local 
and provincial police permission.  A Anh Tuan spoke in a 
threatening voice, visibly upset that he was unsuccessful in 
intimidating ConOff.  ConOff explained that ConGen staff 
conduct fraud investigations on a regular basis throughout 
south and central Vietnam.  No other province has ever 
required the Consulate to obtain permission.  A Anh Tuan 
then informed ConOff she could continue her conversation 
with Rmah H'Ri but only in his presence. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
MAYBE SHE'S NOT A CRIMINAL, BUT HER HUSBAND IS 
--------------------------------------------- - 
¶7.  (SBU) ConOff told A Anh Tuan that a policeman is present 
whenever she visits an American prisoner in jail.  She asked 
if Rmah H'Ri was a criminal.  A Anh Tuan replied, "She is 
not a criminal, but her husband is a criminal wanted by the 
Vietnamese government."  He went on to say that the husband 
belonged to a U.S.-based anti-GVN group and is wanted by 
Interpol.  When ConOff re-emphasized the purpose of her 
visit was simply to verify the relationship as a consular 
issue, the policeman relaxed somewhat. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Rmah H'Ri, who is a Jarai ethnic minority, and her 
three daughters live in a modest house located in a mixed 
Vietnamese Kinh/ethnic minority village.  She is now a 
pepper farmer working on the land assigned to her, after she 
was forced to resign from her job as a teacher in order to 
apply for passports so she and her daughters could resettle 
in the U.S.  The family's passport applications were 
subsequently denied.  Rmah H'Ri last contacted the Gia Lai 
Provincial Immigration Office in September 2002 and was told 
there was no update on her applications.  Another 
immigration officer told Rmah H'Ri that her family would 
never be issued passports. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Rmah H'Ri stated that she was closely monitored 
and frequently called in for questioning by the village 
police.  The number of village policemen had increased from 
three to five, after her husband was resettled in the U.S. 
via Cambodia in 2001.  Rmah H'Ri also confirmed that a "Do 
Not Enter" sign had been affixed to her door before PRM 
Assistant Secretary Dewey's visit to Gia Lai Province in mid- 
August.  Police took down the sign one day prior to A/ 
Dwy's visit, and then put it up and took it down again. 
 
-------------------------- 
CONTROLLING "THOSE" PEOPLE 
-------------------------- 
¶10.  (SBU) According to A Anh Tuan and the village police 
chief, their responsibility is "to control the village and 
people like Rmah H'Ri" and "to monitor and limit their 
contact with the outside world."  A Anh Tuan informed ConOff 
that police trained the villagers to report any visitors or 
strangers as soon as they entered the village.  The village 
police chief said that everyone had to have the police's 
permission to leave the village and that Rmah H'Ri was no 
exception.  The village police chief recalled the last time 
Rmah H'Ri left the village was this past June, when she took 
her daughter to a doctor in Nha Trang City. 
 
¶11.  (U) ConOff asked to examine Rmah H'Ri's family 
registration book, her children's birth certificates, her 
marriage certificate and some family photos.  Rmah H'Ri 
handed over a brand new family registration book (ho khau)-- 
which did not include her husband's name.  ConOff asked why 
her husband's name was not in the ho khau.  Policeman A Anh 
Tuan responded that the ho khau only includes people 
currently living in the village and that everyone had been 
issued a new ho khau last year.  (Post Note: Deleting family 
members who no longer reside in a given village is not the 
normal practice in Vietnam.  Ho khaus do include family 
members who have already left the household, with a note 
indicating when the person left.) 
 
¶12.  (SBU) As ConOff prepared to depart, A Anh Tuan promised 
there would be no punishment/reprisals against Rmah H'Ri and 
her family.  When ConOff asked A Anh Tuan why he could not 
help Rmah H'Ri reunite with her husband, he responded, "I 
was told by higher ranking officers to monitor Rmah H'Ri.  I 
have no role in the passport issuance matter, even though I 
sympathize with her situation." 
 
¶13.  (SBU) According to Rmah H'Ri, her annual income from 
the two-hectare pepper farm is about five million dong 
(USD$320 - the average per capita income in Gia Lai Province 
is about USD$240).  Her husband sends USD$100-200 per month 
to supplement the family expenses and calls her once a 
month.  Rmah H'Ri also has one cow and some chickens.  The 
oldest daughter, born in 1986, dropped out of school in 
order to help with the farm work.  The two younger 
daughters, born in 1991 and 1995, continue to attend school. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
HIT THE ROAD, JACK, AND DON'T YOU COME BACK NO MORE 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
¶14.  (SBU) The next day, ConOff, two FSNs and two drivers 
set off to locate another Montagnard case in Ea Bar village, 
about 35 kilometers northwest of Buon Me Thuot in Dak Lak 
Province.  This time, the local police forced ConOff and 
team to leave the village before they could locate the 
family of H'Pun M'Lo.  Though ConOff was prevented from 
locating H'Pun M'Lo, the very fact that the ConGen group had 
entered the village and spoken even briefly with a couple 
residents to ask for directions clearly upset the local 
authorities.  The police were both nervous and angered by 
the thought of any conversation that might have occurred 
between ConOff and the villagers. Police escorted ConOff and 
FSNs to the local People's Committee where they detained 
them for over two hours. 
 
¶15.  (SBU) H'Pun M'Lo is the wife of Y-Rit Hdok, who went to 
the United States as a refugee, after fleeing to Cambodia in 
¶2001.  He had subsequently written to an American NGO and 
the State Department to urge speedy visa issuance in 
bringing his wife and family to the U.S.  Y-Rit Hdok alleged 
that local police had arrested his wife, H'Pun M'Lo.  The 
Refugee Resettlement Section was unable to locate a visa 
petition filed on behalf of H'Pun M'Lo, given the limited 
information contained in the original letter from Y-Rit 
Hdok.  ConOff's goal was to find out from the family itself 
whether a petition had ever been filed, examine their 
documentation, and verify relationships. 
 
¶16.  (U) Ea Bar Village, located 30 kilometers from the 
Cambodian border, was home to several ethnic minority 
residents who went to the U.S. as refugees in 2001, but 
never filed petitions on behalf of family members left 
behind.  ConOff had intended to speak with some of those 
family members to find out why petitions were never filed, 
as Post never received the numerous Visas 93 petitions it 
had expected. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
AND JUST WHO GAVE YOU PERMISSION TO VISIT? 
------------------------------------------ 
¶17.  (SBU) Upon arriving at Ea Bar Village, ConOff asked for 
directions to H'Pun M'Lo's house.  A villager told her to 
ask a policeman -- one who just happened to be standing a 
little too close for comfort to the ConGen's diplomatic 
license-plated car.  When the Consulate driver tried to back 
the car up, three policemen blocked it and ordered ConOff 
and FSNs to follow them to the police station.  There, three 
policemen questioned ConOff and two FSNs for about 20 
minutes.  They wanted to know if police permission had been 
granted for the visit, and how the ConGen group found out 
about H'Pun M'Lo (though nobody would confirm that she lived 
in Ea Bar village).  ConOff told police that this was a 
routine consular investigation trip for which she needed to 
speak directly with the family in question. 
 
¶18.  (U) The policemen claimed that according to Vietnamese 
law, anyone who wished to visit an ethnic minority person or 
village had to obtain prior permission.  (Post Note: Post is 
unaware of any such law and the policemen could not produce 
it or quote a citation number for it.)  At this point, the 
lead policeman left the room.  Meantime, the other policeman 
was crowding in close to one FSN, apparently trying to get 
into position to snatch the trip schedule from her hands. 
When the lead policeman returned ten minutes later, he 
ordered the ConGen team to proceed immediately to the 
District People's Committee.  The lead policeman then tried 
to get into the Consulate car to escort them, but the doors 
were locked and ConGen travelers shooed him away.  Five 
plainclothes policemen on motorbikes surrounded the ConGen 
vehicle, and led it to the People's Committee. 
 
¶19.  (SBU) After arriving at the District People's 
Committee, ConOff and one FSN were escorted to a conference 
room, where a People's Committee official and commune 
policeman waited.  Neither would give their names.  ConOff 
was informed that the chief immigration officer for the 
district would soon arrive.  Two or three policemen 
surrounded ConOff and FSN at all times during the 45-minute 
wait.  None of the policemen spoke, except to say that it 
was against Vietnamese law to visit a member of an ethnic 
minority group without prior permission.  None would confirm 
whether H'Pun M'Lo lived in Ea Bar Village. 
 
¶20.  (U) Meanwhile, outside the District People's Committee, 
two more GVN vehicles with a total of 20 uniformed policemen 
had arrived.  The FSN and two drivers who remained behind 
were questioned separately by police.  The police were 
particularly interested in learning how ConOff found the 
right route to the village, whether the ConGen group had 
spoken with any minority people prior to "meeting" the local 
police, and what did the ConGen group talk about when they 
were riding in the car.  The policemen were intensely 
interested in finding out what was in the ConGen vehicle and 
asked whether there were any gifts for the ethnic minority 
people (there weren't).  (Post Note: We are not sure if the 
police were hinting for a bribe, or were sincerely concerned 
that ConGen staff might be smuggling "subversive" documents 
into the villages.) 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
WELL, MAYBE YOU DIDN'T BREAK ANY LAWS, BUT YOU'RE STILL BAD 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
¶21.  (U) The chief immigration officer, Mr. Nguyen Dinh 
Thoi, his assistant Mr. Le Dinh Tri, and External Relations 
Office rep Ms. Tran Thi Thang arrived at the People's 
Committee 40 minutes later.  Mr. Thoi was pleasant enough, 
but also appeared to be under the influence of alcohol. 
 
¶22.  (U) Mr. Thoi had only one message to deliver -- ConOff 
had violated Vietnamese law, but could be forgiven as long 
as she promised that this would never happen again.  He 
repeated this three times.  After ConOff repeatedly 
responded that no one in the Consulate General was aware of 
the existence of such a law, and asked him to produce a copy 
of said law, Mr. Thoi finally conceded that ConOff had not 
broken any law.  But, he admonished, any and all future 
ConOffs would still be required to obtain prior permission. 
In addition, he requested an "introduction letter" attesting 
to the ConOff's bona fides.  He claimed the Immigration 
Office would only be able "to help" if ConOff could present 
such a letter, describing the nature of her inquiries, and 
in effect, asking for permission. 
 
¶23.  (SBU) ConOff responded that she could ask the ConGen to 
fax such a letter, with the understanding she would proceed 
with the visit.  The three GVN officials then stated that 
this letter had to be sent to the provincial ERO in Dak 
Lak's capital, Buon Me Thuot, where a decision on permitting 
a consular visit would be made.  According to Mr. Thoi, Ea 
Bar Village was a sensitive place and "unsafe for a diplomat 
without escort."  (Post Note: This is a favorite GVN 
excuse.)  After spending about 90 minutes in this "meeting" 
at the People's Committee, ConOff and team were instructed 
to go to their hotel under police escort.  The ConGen 
travelers passed an uneventful night, and departed for Lam 
Dong Province the next day as scheduled.  Though Lam Dong is 
also a Central Highlands province, the ConGen group 
experienced no problems there. 
 
------------------------------ 
COMMENT: NO HAPPY CAMPERS HERE 
------------------------------ 
¶24.  (SBU) During both incidents in Gia Lai and Dak Lak 
provinces, the local police were constantly on the phone, 
consulting with someone in higher authority.  The insistence 
that ConOff needed local and provincial police permission in 
order to carry out normal consular duties was a surprising 
additional requirement.   The monitoring and control in 
these two ethnic minority villages was far more severe than 
anything other ConGenOffs have seen during previous Central 
Highlands visits.  The environment of oppression and control 
reflected a clear attempt to prevent contact with the 
outside world.  Given the population composition of Ea Bar 
and Nhon Hoa villages, one can only assume these practices 
are directed against ethnic minorities and/or against those 
families who had someone who fled to Cambodia.  It is no 
wonder that the Refugee Resettlement Section has seen so few 
follow-to-join resettlement petitions for these family 
members.  If local police feel empowered to intimidate and 
threaten ConGen personnel, one can only imagine how they 
treat the people who are supposedly in their care.  ConGen's 
experience in Dak Lak Province and Gia Lai Province -- but 
PARTICULARLY DAK LAK -- contradicts our experience in other 
parts of southern Vietnam, where local authorities have 
welcomed consular visits and offered assistance. 
 
¶25.  (SBU) As a result of this trip, Post was able to 
confirm some specific allegations that have been made about 
GVN treatment of ethnic minorities in Ea Bar (Dak Lak 
Province) and Nhon Hoa (Gia Lai Province).  Family 
registration books have been altered.  Whether this is to 
make it more difficult to determine relationships for 
immigration purposes or not, is difficult to conclude. 
However, it is not normal Vietnamese practice to delete 
people from family registration books simply because they no 
longer live in a given village.  Ethnic minority residents 
in Ea Bar and Nhon Hoa definitely live in fear of the police 
and local officials.  Travel is restricted, and in lead 
policeman A Anh Tuan's own words, the police are there to 
control inhabitants and prevent contact with the outside 
world. 
 
¶26.  (SBU) Post was in regular communication with the ConGen 
travelers throughout.  At no time were they in actual 
danger, although the provincial and local authorities were 
verbally and physically intimidating. The Embassy and ConGen 
have raised Rmah H'Ri's case with provincial and central GVN 
officials in diplomatic notes and in person.  We have made 
no secret of our concern.  The case has also generated 
inquiries from Senator John Edwards (September 8, 2003) and 
Kay Reibold of the Vietnam Highlands Assistance Project. 
The case of H'Pun M'Lo was the subject of an e-mail from 
Mike Benge and a subsequent inquiry from DAS Matt Daley 
(September 18).  Neither case is extraordinary in its 
consular implications.  What is unusual is the strongly 
negative local GVN over-reaction.  Whether or not the GVN 
likes the fact that ethnic minority people fled to Cambodia 
before seeking refuge in the U.S., these are bona fide 
refugee cases as adjudicated under U.S. law.  GVN officials, 
who profess to give a high priority to family reunification 
and the establishment of a "normal bilateral immigration 
relationship with the U.S.," seem not to extend this 
priority to follow-to-join family members in the Central 
Highlands. 
 
¶27.  (SBU) Further, it would appear that a GVN policy 
evolved over the years of permitting Vietnamese to travel 
freely throughout the country has taken a step backward -- 
at least in certain parts of the country or at least as 
certain local police choose to enforce it.  GVN public 
statements about how Vietnam is a safe place, and that 
foreigners and tourists can visit all but officially 
restricted areas, also seems at odds with what local police 
told ConGen travelers. 
 
¶28.  (SBU) On a more personal note, Post is once again 
reminded of how much its travel depends on which side of the 
bed GVN officialdom wakes up on each morning.  Without the 
established consular district as outlined in the L. Desaix 
Anderson of February 12, 1997 (from Thua Thien-Hue and all 
points south), ConGen personnel are subject to arbitrary 
treatment and constantly shifting definitional goalposts as 
to what constitutes "permission", "approval", 
"notification", "requests", etc. whenever they travel 
outside of HCMC. 
 
¶29.  (SBU) There has been no movement on the GVN's part to 
formally recognize the Consulate General's consular district 
in the past six years.  And now, even the usual and 
customary practice of the past three years of "allowing" 
routine consular trips to proceed without prior permission 
has been set on its head.  In fact, GVN authorities seem to 
have affixed additional requirements and hoops to jump 
through.  Vietnam may have aspirations to join the 
international economic community via the WTO.  One can only 
hope it aspires to join the international diplomatic 
community as well.  End comment. 
 
YAMAUCHI