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DE RUEHHM #1348/01 3351237
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 011237Z DEC 06
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1815
INFO RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI 1275
RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0013
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 1912

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 HO CHI MINH CITY 001348 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
CONFIDENTIAL 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  11/30/2016 
TAGS: PHUM SOCI PREL PGOV KIRF PREF VM
SUBJECT: SOUTHERN DISSIDENT WATCH POST-APEC 
 
REF: A. HCMC 1270; B) HCMC 1090 AND PREVIOUS; C) HANOI 
 
     ¶B. 2816 
     ¶C. HCMC 999 AND PREVIOUS; E) HCMC Q0; F)HCMC 994 
     ¶D. AND PREVIOUS 
 
HO CHI MIN 00001348  001.2 OF 004 
 
 
Classified By: Consul General Seth Winnick for reasons 1.5 
b/d. 
 
¶1. (C) Summary and Comment:  In the run up to APEC and in 
response to the stepped up activities of various dissident 
groups, the GVN intensified its suppression of pro- 
democracy activists.  As reported Ref C, example phone and 
Internet access to dissidents was cut and many faced 
constant police harassment. 
 
¶2. (C) Post-APEC, the GVN appears to be taking a two- 
pronged approach to the dissident question. 
Internationally recognized dissidents and intellectuals 
based in southern and central Vietnam report that the level 
of surveillance and harassment has returned to "routine" 
levels since the conclusion of APEC.  However, GVN 
authorities continue to detain at least 13 and possibly as 
many as 17 activists who were apparently involved in 
attempting to organize and mobilize farmers, workers and 
students.  For example, three members of a newly founded 
independent workers and farmers association reportedly were 
detained in early November.  In another case, HCMC police 
involuntarily committed a land-rights activist, Bui Kim 
Thanh, to the criminal ward of the national mental hospital 
in Dong Nai Province.  Thanh was a principal mover in the 
peasants' land rights movement centered in HCMC and the 
Mekong Delta (Ref A). 
 
¶3. (C) Over the next few weeks, HCMC will begin to raise 
the profile of our contacts with dissidents and the 
families of those in detention.  In particular, we will 
focus on the case of Bui Kim Thanh and urge her release 
from involuntary confinement in a mental institution.  A 
summary of the status of dissident groups follows.  End 
Summary and Comment. 
 
Do Nam Hai and the 8406 Bloc 
---------------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) Co-founder of the 8406 Bloc Do Nam Hai told us that 
police substantially intensified pressure on him two weeks 
before the APEC Leaders' Summit.  He was summoned for 
police questioning virtually every day during the week of 
APEC.  He also was prevented from meeting other dissidents. 
On November 29 he was picked up by police while on his way 
to a press conference with foreign reporters and other HCMC 
democracy activists.  On November 28, Hai told us that 
police surveillance had eased and he was no longer summoned 
for police questioning. 
 
¶5. (C) Four members of the 8406 Bloc remain under 
detention.  Truong Quoc Huy, who first surfaced as an 
Internet dissident in the PalTalk case in 2005, was 
arrested in August.  Huy was detained after "covering" land 
protests in HCMC for the 8406 Bloc and posting reports of 
the protests on the Internet.  Huy's mother and brother 
Truong Quoc Tuan (also an 8406 Bloc member) have not been 
able to visit Huy.  They report that police also have 
pressured their employer to end their contract.  Three 
members of the Bach Dan Giang group -- a little-known 8406 
affiliate planning to organize student-led protests during 
APEC -- have been under arrest since September.  The wife 
of Nguyen Ngoc Quang told us that he has been formally 
charged with "propagandizing against the government." 
Family members of Vu Hoang Hai and Pham Ba Hai also report 
the individuals' continuing detention.  Additionally, 
another associate of Huy's, Nguyen Thu tram, remains in 
hiding.  According to Do Nam Hai, she fears arrest for her 
role in covering land protests in HCMC. 
 
¶6. (C) 8406 Bloc member Nguyen Chinh Ket also told us that 
he had been summoned for regular interrogation sessions 
with police in the three weeks prior to, and during, APEC. 
On November 15 police searched his house and confiscated 
two computers, one of which belonged to his daughter, a 
graphics design student.  Pro-democracy materials were 
found on both machines, leading the police to summon his 
daughter for questioning as well.  Although police 
harassment has ebbed, Ket complained that the authorities 
were preventing him from pursuing his travel plans to the 
United States where he is to receive an award from Vietnam 
Human Rights network based in California.  He told us that, 
on November 28, police prevented him from entering HCMC's 
Citibank offices to pay the mandatory visa application fee. 
 
HO CHI MIN 00001348  002.2 OF 004 
 
 
Police intercepted him at the entrance to the building and 
told him that he was a security threat and could not enter. 
On November 29, Ket's daughter was able to enter the 
building and pay the visa fee on his behalf.  Ket will 
attempt to visit the Consulate for his visa interview on 
December 4. 
 
 
7.(C) Cong Thanh Do, the American citizen member of the 
People's Democratic Party of Vietnam (PDP-VN), reports to 
us that six other members of the group remain in police 
custody.  (Per Ref B, the six were arrested along with 
American Citizen Cong Thanh Do in August for their efforts 
to disseminate anti-Communist Party writings in HCMC and 
the Mekong Delta.)  We have only been able to learn the 
names of three of the PDP-VN arrestees:  Le Nguyen Sang, Le 
Trung Hieu and Huynh Nguyen Dao.  We have been able to 
contact family members of Sang and Dao, who confirm their 
arrest and possible sentencing for "violating information 
technology regulations" and "storing anti-government 
materials." 
 
¶8. (C) Dr. Que reported on November 27 that the checkpoints 
and heavy police surveillance placed around his home pre- 
APEC have been removed.  His landline and cell phones 
remain blocked, but he still has Internet access.  The cell 
phone of Que's wife also is operating normally.  Before and 
during APEC, Que reported that police had blocked a number 
of dissidents, including Do Nam Hai, from visiting him. 
Que confirmed that he reversed his previous decision and 
has joined formally the "Alliance for Democracy," a pro- 
democracy umbrella organization created by Do Nam Hai and 
Hue-based activist Father Nguyen Van Ly.  (Note:  Que's 
profile was raised higher on the eve of the APEC Leaders' 
Summit because of his op-ed piece on democracy in Vietnam 
in the Asian Wall Street Journal.  End Note.) 
 
The UBCV 
-------- 
 
¶9. (C) Thich Vien Dinh, a leading monk in the Unified 
Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), told us that police 
intensified its oversight of key UBCV pagodas in HCMC in 
the weeks leading up to APEC.  On November 19 he was 
summoned by police who ordered him not to meet any 
foreigners until after November 21.  Police also ordered 
him to expel from his pagoda two visiting UBCV monks from 
the Mekong Delta - Thich Thien Minh and Thich Chon Tam. 
The two monks had sought shelter in HCMC following police 
pressure on them and their families in the run up to APEC. 
Thich Vien Dinh told us that he was ignoring the expulsion 
order and on November 28, he reported that police pressure 
had returned to "normal."  Thich Vien Dinh added that, on 
November 11, he escorted UBCV Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang 
back to his pagoda in Binh Dinh province.  The Patriarch 
had requested to return to Central Vietnam not until early 
2007, when his next medical check in HCMC is due. 
 
Tran Khue and Bui Kim Thanh 
--------------------------- 
 
¶10. (C) Deputy General Secretary of the Democratic Party of 
Vietnam Tran Khue appears to be the only major HCMC-based 
dissident to report continuing high levels of surveillance 
and harassment after APEC.  Khue told us that police 
continue to main new checkpoints to deter visitors - 
especially land rights activists and petitioners.  He added 
that, on November 17, he was "invited" to meet with police 
to discuss the case of land rights activist Bui Kim Thanh, 
but he refused to attend. 
 
¶11. (C) Khue told us that Thanh remains involuntarily 
committed to the criminal ward of the national mental 
institution in Dong Nai province.  Some colleagues in the 
land dispute movement have been able to visit her on 
occasion.  They reported that Thanh said that authorities 
offered her early release on the condition that she would 
commit not to involve herself any longer with the land 
rights movement or the Democratic Party of Vietnam.  Thanh 
reportedly refused. 
 
The Hoa Hao 
----------- 
 
¶12. (C) A contact in the Hoa Hao community in the Mekong 
Delta province of An Giang told us that he and another 40 
followers from provinces in the Mekong Delta planned a 
demonstration in front of the HCMC zoo on November 19, the 
 
HO CHI MIN 00001348  003.2 OF 004 
 
 
day that the President arrived in HCMC.  Police prevented 
the effort.  Our contact said that, on November 18, when he 
and other demonstrators were to leave for HCMC, police 
surrounded their houses.  HCMC police also rounded up 
others who had arrived in HCMC earlier.  These individuals 
were released after the President departed Vietnam. 
 
¶13. (C) Separately, Hoa Hao contacts told us that on 
November 21, police in the Mekong Delta province of Vinh 
Long arrested Nguyen Van Thi, a member of the Hoa Hao group 
affiliated with radical activist Le Quang Liem.  On 
November 4, Vinh Long police also arrested Le Van Soc, 
another leader of the Liem faction in the province.  A 
member of the 8406 bloc, Soc reportedly was wanted by 
police for his involvement in an earlier hunger-strike 
protest in May (Ref E).  He reportedly was planning a 
similar protest in the run-up to the APEC Summit.  Two 
other Hoa Hao followers affiliated with Liem were detained 
in October:  Nguyen Van Tho and his wife Duong Thi Tron. 
Tho is Liem's "chief representative" in Dong Thap Province. 
The couple was the chief organizers and hosts of the May 
hunger strike.  Tron and Liem's adopted daughter Nguyen Thi 
Thanh (who was arrested in February 2006) were accused by 
police of homicide for instigating and assisting in the 
immolation and death of a Hoa Hao elder - Nguyen Thi Thu - 
in March 2001.  Liem himself is being investigated by 
police for his alleged leading role in the immolation. 
 
Fathers Ly and Loi 
------------------ 
 
¶14. (C) Post is in regular email and cell phone contact 
with dissident leader Father Nguyen Van Ly.  Father Ly, co- 
founder of the 8406 bloc and of the "Alliance for 
Democracy," reported that he and other Hue-based dissidents 
did not face any additional pressure before or during APEC. 
 
Ha Si Phu 
--------- 
 
¶15. (C) Dalat-based dissident writer Ha Si Phu told us that 
police intensified surveillance of his house three weeks 
ago, before and during APEC.  For the first time in two 
years, police established a round-the-clock checkpoint 
directly in front of his house to prevent access.  The 
police presence ended after APEC. 
 
The Independent Trade Union 
--------------------------- 
 
¶16. (C) On October 20, Hanoi-based dissident Nguyen Khac 
Toan and two young HCMC-based individuals, Le Tri Tue and 
Tran Thien An, announced on the Internet the creation of 
the "Independent Trade Union of Vietnam."  Tue is a private 
businessman and An is a graduate student at the HCMC Law 
School.  Tue told us that he was summoned for repeated 
working sessions with police from November 14 to 20.  He 
was questioned about his membership in the 8406 bloc and 
his involvement in the trade union.  (Earlier in the year, 
Tue was involved in photographing land rights protestors in 
HCMC and disseminating pictures on the Internet.)  An told 
us by phone that police have "been asking around" about 
him, but have not yet approached him directly.  As of 
November 30, both Tue and An have not been detained by 
police. 
 
United Workers - Farmers Organization 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶17. (C) In an Internet declaration October 30, Nguyen Tan 
Hoanh, Nguyen Thi Le Hong, Hoang Huy Chuog and Nguyen Thi 
Tuyet announced the creation of the "United Workers-Farmers 
Organization (UFWO)."  The organization's "charter" 
denounces the Communist Party for human rights violations, 
calls for the formation of independent labor unions and 
protests the lack of land and property rights in Vietnam. 
Of the four founders, only Nguyen Tan Hoanh is known to us 
or to others in the dissident community.  Hoanh reportedly 
participated in wildcat labor strikes in the HCMC area in 
early 2006.  According to Internet reports on a dissident 
web site, three of the four members of the group reportedly 
were arrested within two weeks of the formation of the 
group.  Family members of Doan Huy Chuong confirmed to us 
that he had been detained along with his father, Doan Van 
Dien, on November 24 in Dong Nai province for their 
participation in the UWFO.  Chuong's brother was also taken 
in but later released.  Chuong's family told us he and his 
father are being kept in a prison in Dong Nai province. 
 
HO CHI MIN 00001348  004.2 OF 004 
 
 
Nguyen Tan Hoanh was reportedly detained in Dong Nai 
province and Nguyen Thi Le Hong detained in HCMC on 
November 15.  In an e-mail to us, the PDP-VN Cong Thanh Do 
reported that another three members of the UWFO, Le Ba 
WINNICK