VZCZCXRO1886
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHHI #1313/01 2061712
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 251712Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5908
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH 3410
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 001313 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS AND DRL/AWH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV ELAB ETRD VM
 
SUBJECT: MEETING WITH ACTIVIST NGUYEN KHAC TOAN, FOUNDER OF THE 
INTERNATIONAL LABOR UNION OF VIETNAM 
 
REF:  A) HANOI 1271; B) HANOI 1276; C) HCMC 0766 
 
HANOI 00001313  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) In a July 16, 2007 meeting with Embassy PolOffs, Nguyen 
Khac Toan, former journalist and the founder of the International 
Labor Union of Vietnam (ILUV), discussed human rights abuses in 
Vietnam.  ILUV is an outlawed labor union formed by Toan in October 
2006 to protect the rights of Vietnamese workers.  Toan also works 
with the Bloc 8406 democracy movement.  In addition to describing 
his own case, Toan shared with us stories of other victims of human 
rights abuse in Vietnam.  Since his release from prison in early 
2006, GVN authorities tightly monitor Toan's whereabouts and 
communication.  End Summary. 
 
 
GROWING DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT 
-------------------------- 
 
 
¶2. (SBU) Embassy PolOffs met with human rights and labor activist 
Nguyen Khac Toan at his Hanoi home on July 16, 2007.  Toan is 
Chairman of the outlawed International Labor Union of Vietnam 
(ILUV), formed in 2006, to "protect the legitimate rights of 
Vietnamese workers."  In the meeting, Toan described the growing 
democracy movement in Vietnam, which he characterized as having 
started 10 years ago but which has grown dramatically in the last 
couple of years.  Toan told us over 2,400 people have applied for 
membership in Bloc 8406, which is affiliated with the much smaller 
ILUV and the Democracy Party of Vietnam (Ref. A).  The democracy 
movement is spread throughout Vietnam, he said, with several 
prominent democracy activists residing in Hanoi.  Toan is encouraged 
by the "new generation" of democracy activists, naming prominent 
house arrestees Nguyen Vu Binh and Dr. Pham Hong Son as among their 
number. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Toan is editor-in-chief of Bloc 8406's underground "Freedom 
and Democracy Journal."  He has published 10 issues of the journal, 
including the most recent edition on June 12, 2007.  Toan posts the 
journal on the Internet and distributes hard copies for those who do 
not have Internet access.  The journal's Internet website is blocked 
by firewalls, but dissidents routinely circumvent the firewalls to 
gain access, Toan reported. 
 
 
VICTIMS OF HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES 
------------------------------ 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) During the meeting, Toan highlighted for us the number of 
protesters that periodically come to Hanoi and gather in Mai Xuan 
Thuong Street Park, near an office for public complaints of the 
Central Party Committee.  Petitioners gather to submit complaints, 
often regarding land rights issues, and publicly protest government 
policies.  Ironically, Toan told us, the authorities who are guilty 
of the injustice are usually the same individuals who receive the 
complaints.  Once petitions are received in Hanoi, most are referred 
back to the provinces where they originated, and the petitioners are 
then typically called in by police for questioning.  Petitioners are 
often intimidated and arrested for filing complaints against local 
officials.  Toan shared reports of entire families being intimidated 
and threatened, including having their homes "burned to the ground" 
by authorities.  Toan explained that most petitioners are too poor 
to travel to Hanoi, so their complaints are not heard. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Since his release from prison, Toan has met with many 
victims of social and political injustice and maintains very 
thorough documentation on arrests, confiscation of property, and 
human rights violations.  He shared with us documentation of an 
individual who was beaten by public security officers and then had 
his furniture taken away.  A second report focused on an individual 
who was arrested several times after accusing officials of 
corruption.  During his incarceration, this same individual was 
forced to sleep on a concrete floor without clothing for 15 months. 
 
 
A ROCKY RELATIONSHIP WITH GVN AUTHORITIES 
----------------------------------------- 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) Toan was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2002 but, with 
international pressure, was released in January 2006.  Toan was then 
put on probation for three years under "Decree 53," which mandates 
 
HANOI 00001313  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
that he report any travel outside of Hanoi.  He has been arrested 
seven times for violating parole, and each time he is given a verbal 
warning that he must report any travel before leaving the city. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The GVN tightly monitors Toan's activities, and he must 
report his activities on a monthly basis to GVN authorities.  His 
home phone line has been cut four times and he uses about 50 
different cell phone SIM cards, he told us.  In August 2006, GVN 
authorities confiscated nearly 50 kilos of documentation, two cell 
phones, and a personal computer from his home.  The police 
questioned him for 15 consecutive days and threatened him with 
imprisonment if he did not stop working to document human rights 
cases.  During the 2006 APEC Summit, the GVN prohibited all visitors 
from meeting with Toan.  For three months during the APEC Summit 
period, police were stationed outside the front of his house and did 
not allow him to leave his home. 
 
¶8. (SBU) The government continues to monitor closely Toan's cyber 
activity.  He subscribed for home internet service and was connected 
for 12 days before being cut off.  Toan normally uses internet cafes 
to post articles, and he added that in the last couple of months, 
cafe owners have not asked him to show his ID in order to log-on, as 
regulations require.  Nonetheless, he uses internet cafes farther 
from his home, he told us, "to be on the safe side." 
 
¶9. (SBU) Ending the meeting, Toan became emotional and stated that 
he suffers from diabetes, spine and other physical ailments but that 
his own government will "not allow him to be issued a visa" in order 
to seek medical treatment abroad. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Comment: While we do not doubt Toan's reports of 
retribution suffered by some petitioners bringing their grievances 
to Hanoi, such protests also play an important role in limiting the 
worst abuses of local officials in this non-representative, 
authoritarian, often corrupt system.  In theory, Central leaders 
actually encourage whistle blowers.  Knowing that citizens who are 
"pushed too far" might take to the streets of the capital does, in 
some cases, constrain the actions of local officials.  Occasionally, 
a case is publicized and local officials are punished.  In fact, 
while this "safety valve" exists, petitioners also run the risk, as 
Toan described, of ending up back in the clutches of their abusers. 
The only long-term solution is a transparent rule-of-law approach, 
rather than a system that allows officials to pick and choose which 
petitions serve their purposes. 
 
MARINE