VZCZCXRO0327
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHNH RUEHPB
DE RUEHHM #0808/01 2061233
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 251233Z JUL 06
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1191
INFO RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI 0864
RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 1253

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 000808 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV PINR VM
SUBJECT: DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF VIETNAM PRESSES; GVN RESPONDS CAREFULLY 
 
REF: A. HCMC 607 AND PREVIOUS 
     ¶B. HANOI 1389 AND PREVIOUS 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000808  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Political activist and senior member of the 
nascent Democratic Party of Vietnam (DPV) Tran Khue faces 
official harassment as he presses his party's agenda.  HCMC 
authorities restricted Khue's movement and briefly detained him 
on July 15, 16 and 18, when he was questioned about the DPV's 
activities.  We raised the harassment with HCMC officials, who 
complained that Khue is exploiting popular frustration over land 
compensation to score points for the DPV.  Khue expects pressure 
to mount following the conclusion of the APEC leaders meeting 
and Vietnam's WTO accession, but the DPV will continue to press 
forward with its strategy, including plans to contest the 2007 
National Assembly elections.  Khue supports PNTR and Vietnam's 
WTO aspirations, believing that Vietnam's international 
integration will accelerate the process of reform and ultimately 
end one-party rule.  End Summary. 
 
Khue Temporarily Detained 
------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) On July 15, political activist Tran Khue notified us 
that the police had intercepted him at Tan Son Nhat airport the 
previous day as he tried to travel to Hanoi to meet with fellow 
dissident Hoang Minh Chinh.  Khue had planned to discuss the 
registration of the Democratic Party of Vietnam (DPV) and the 
opening of a DPV office in HCMC (reftels).  He was taken to a 
local police station where he was told he had violated 
regulations on "temporary absence from residence" when he went 
to Hanoi in May.  He was also questioned about the DPV's 
charter, his intention to set up an office in HCMC and whether 
he had accepted Hoang Minh Chinh's offer to become Deputy 
Secretary General of the DPV.  (Khue's appointment to the Deputy 
 
SIPDIS 
Secretary position was confirmed publicly on July 21.)  Khue was 
 
SIPDIS 
again summoned on July 16, and was questioned about his 
interviews on Radio Free Asia (RFA) and with other international 
media outlets.  Khue told us that he had protested the 
questioning and informed the police that he would not cooperate 
with them on these issues in the future.  Khue noted that police 
had increased surveillance on him. 
 
¶3. (SBU) On July 18, Khue contacted us again to report that, at 
5:30 that morning, police had prevented him from leaving HCMC. 
This time, Khue intended to travel by bus to neighboring Ba 
Ria-Vung Tau Province for a family gathering.  He was questioned 
about his interviews with RFA, the status of the DPV and his 
exchanges with Hoang Minh Chinh.  He was released after five 
hours, but was told that he would not be allowed to travel 
outside HCMC until he answered police questions. 
 
¶4. (SBU) On the morning of July 18, we also received two phone 
calls from unidentified "concerned citizens" reporting that a 
group of approximately 12 Vietnamese had gathered outside of an 
HCMC government office to protest Khue's detention.  In a 
subsequent phone conversation, Khue confirmed that a protest had 
taken place, but said it was focused on land rights issues.  He 
added that he had been working with "numerous" people to help 
them file complaints about land expropriation and financial 
compensation.  In another phone conversation, on July 20, Khue 
noted that he had received an invitation to attend a conference 
in Switzerland, but would not be able to attend because of 
travel restrictions and the failure of GVN authorities to issue 
him a passport.  Khue said that police had stopped asking him to 
attend "working sessions" because they were "fed up with him." 
Authorities also had not disconnected his Internet ADSL 
connection, which was installed in his home in June. 
 
Official Response 
----------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) On July 21, Acting CG met with ERO Deputy Director Le 
Hung Quoc to discuss Khue's situation.  The Acting CG raised our 
concern over restrictions on Khue's freedom of movement and his 
detentions, noting that they come at a particularly sensitive 
time, with Vietnam's Permanent Normal Trading Relations (PNTR) 
status being considered in Congress.  Quoc stated that the 
matter was an internal Vietnamese affair, but that because the 
GVN values "direct and open exchange with the United States," he 
was willing to provide a response.  Khue's situation was a 
"simple technical matter" related to the Vietnamese residency 
regulations that require citizens to register temporary absence 
from their residences.  This regulation is implemented more 
frequently in some areas more than others, Quoc added.  In 
Khue's case, the activist had failed to register his absence 
during his last trip to Hanoi and he had refused to cooperate 
with police about the matter. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Noting that "83 million Vietnamese matter more than a 
few people," Quoc then proceeded to underscore the difficulty 
the HCMC government and other jurisdictions face in compensating 
people for expropriated land needed for development.  For 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000808  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
example, if the HCMC government were to compensate fully 
citizens for a modest road-widening project, it would eat up 
nearly three-quarters of the entire development budget.  He 
complained that Khue is exploiting this problem to solicit 
people to give him land complaints, which he then files with the 
Government to boost his credibility. 
 
Khue Says He Will Press Ahead 
----------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) On July 25, we met with Khue and a DPV colleague, 
lawyer Bui Kim Thanh, in a caf, in HCMC.  In contrast to our 
experience in previous meetings, there was a heavy plainclothes 
police presence in the caf, and the general vicinity.  Thanh 
told us that she has been an advocate for the poor and the 
dispossessed ever since graduating from law school in 2004.  She 
has facilitated contact between citizens with land and 
compensation grievances and Tran Khue.  Thus far in 2006, Khue 
has filed over 50 complaints for groups of individuals from HCMC 
and throughout the Mekong Delta.  Police monitor the contacts 
and sometimes pressure individuals to dissociate themselves from 
Khue, but thus far have not prevented these individuals from 
meeting him.  Khue tells the petitioners that the DPV is "not 
responsible for the outcome," but will file their cases with the 
Southern Office of the GVN in HCMC.  He tells the petitioners 
that if the GVN fails to settle adequately, the DPV then will 
bring the cases to the attention of the international community. 
 Thanh said that, following Khue's detention last week, some of 
the petitioners wished to protest for his release, but Thanh 
counseled them to sit tight. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Khue said that he still plans to travel to Hanoi soon 
to meet with DPV General Secretary Hoang Minh Chinh to discuss 
party strategy.  He can communicate with Chinh indirectly via 
other DPV colleagues in Hanoi who have Internet connections.  He 
plans to recommend that the DPV contest the 2007 National 
Assembly elections; the DPV could field up to 100 candidates. 
He also continues to plan to open a DPV office in HCMC, but is 
"having difficulty" renting a facility. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Khue and Thanh requested that President Bush highlight 
human rights concerns during his scheduled November visit to 
Vietnam.  He urged the President to meet with "regular 
Vietnamese" and dissidents as well as with Government officials 
during the visit. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) Khue and the DPV seek to take advantage of the GVN's 
inability to handle emotional property claims transparently and 
effectively in order to expand the DPV's limited pull among 
Vietnamese.  Khue similarly sought to exploit labor unrest in 
the HCMC area in early 2006.  He calculates that the GVN's hands 
are tied -- at least to some extent -- because of the PNTR 
debate in Congress, Vietnam's pending WTO accession and the 
President's visit.  (The fact that Khue was never held overnight 
and continues to be allowed to receive and submit petitions on 
behalf of other Vietnamese suggests that the GVN is keenly aware 
of its exposure to the international spotlight.  Khue would have 
been treated more harshly for lesser "sins" only a few years 
back.)  Khue fully expects pressure to mount following the 
conclusion of the APEC leaders meeting and Vietnam's accession 
to the WTO.   Nonetheless, he supports PNTR and Vietnam's WTO 
accession, believing that Vietnam's international integration 
will accelerate the process of reform and ultimately end 
one-party rule.  End Comment. 
CHERN