VZCZCXRO7043
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHNH
DE RUEHHM #0766/01 2001114
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 191114Z JUL 07
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2895
INFO RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI PRIORITY 2055
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 3097

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HO CHI MINH CITY 000766 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS - D.SHANNON DORSEY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL SOCI ECON VM
SUBJECT: POLICE BREAK UP LAND RIGHTS PROTESTS EVEN AS GVN PROMISES TO 
REOPEN DISPUTED CASES 
 
REF: HCMC 706, HCMC 625 AND PREVIOUS 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000766  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  Twenty six days of continuous protests by 
land rights activists came to an end at 10 PM (Vietnam time) on 
July 18 when police forcibly removed remaining land rights 
protesters from their position in front of the HCMC Assembly 
building.  Despite allegations of excessive police violence 
received from overseas groups, local observers -- including 
participants in the demonstration -- report that the dispersal 
was largely peaceful.  Most protesters had voluntarily left 
early in the day due to what appears to have been a combination 
of promises of swift, objective reviews of their grievances and 
police warnings that they would be forcibly removed if they did 
not leave on their own.  While it is too early to determine 
whether GVN promises of aggressive action to resolve protesters' 
grievances will be fulfilled, some local observers are focusing 
less on the fact that the protest was liquidated than on the 
fact that the GVN both allowed it to continue for nearly a 
month, in the end making numerous public concessions to the land 
rights activists.  Various factors, including heightened 
political sensitivity in the run-up to the opening of the 12th 
session of the National Assembly, the intense international 
attention to the protesters and direct financial and other 
support from a banned dissident political group may have 
precipitated GVN action to end the long-running demonstration. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
THE LAND RIGHTS MOVEMENT 
------------------------ 
¶2. (SBU) As reported reftels, the issue that drew the roughly 
800 to 1,000 ordinary Vietnamese from 18 provinces together was 
their anger over what protesters described as illegal land grabs 
and other schemes by which local officials defrauded peasants 
and other small land owners of their property and denied them 
just compensation.  Protesters state that they attempted to 
resolve their grievances through normal channels but were denied 
justice due to direct meddling by the same well-connected 
officials whom they accuse of stealing their land.  Some 
Vietnamese press, most notably the progressive HCMC-based paper 
Tuoi Tre, have been reporting on these allegations for the past 
year or more. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The nearly one-month long action by protesters was well 
organized and garnered significant coverage in international 
media. Photos and reports from overseas Vietnamese of the 
marches were then posted on the Internet, along with calls for 
solidarity with those defending their rights.  Activists 
confirmed that the protest organizers did numerous interviews 
with foreign radio organizations including Hoa Mai Radio, Radio 
Free Asia and New Horizon Radio.  They also stated that 
protesters received financial assistance from overseas 
Vietnamese groups, with the money sent to individuals in Ho Chi 
Minh City who procure food, medical supplies and other goods and 
services. 
 
¶4. (SBU) ConGen HCMC stayed in direct contact with protesters 
throughout their ordeal.  One land rights activist from Tien 
Giang province, home to the largest number of protesters, 
identified the leaders of the protest as Ms. Cao Que Hoa, from 
Cai Lay district, and Mr. Ba Trinh, from West Go Cong district, 
both in Tien Giang province.  (Note: Please protect all 
identities. End Note.)  Our contacts described a 
highly-organized effort in which land rights protesters were 
divided into "provincial teams" with elected representatives. 
During the protest, leaders used a makeshift loudspeaker to 
assign "duties" for each provincial team each day.  One team, 
for example, was instructed to march past the ConGen HCMC to 
raise the protest's profile. 
 
¶5. (SBU)  While the GVN allowed the protests to continue for 
nearly a month, official actions left no doubt that the GVN did 
not appreciate the protesters' presence or high media profile. 
Contacts in the Ho Chi Minh City-based progressive newspaper 
Tuoi Tre told us they have received many letters from the land 
protesters' relatives, complaining that they were intercepted 
and interrogated by police after they brought food and clothes 
to the protesters.  Tuoi Tre contacts said that anyone who came 
to the protest site and asked questions risked harassment by the 
police.  Pastor Duong Kim Khai from the Protestant Christian 
Fellowship Church, a ConGen contact in the land rights movement, 
informed us that police summoned him on July 13 to ask about his 
role in the demonstrations.  Khai told ConGen he attended as an 
observer, but the police accused him of speaking out against the 
government, instigating the protesters, and threatened to 
incarcerate him if he continues his involvement.  Khai noted 
that the police also scolded him for talking to ConGen and 
foreign radio organizations about the protest.  To this date, he 
has not been arrested. 
 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000766  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) Beginning on July 13, the political mix became even 
more volatile when four monks from the UBCV, an outlawed 
Buddhist organization with a long history of clashes with the 
GVN over their dissident political agenda, began publicly 
supporting the protesters and provided them with 13 million VND 
(approximately US$810) in financial support.  A UBCV leader from 
the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang told ConGen HCMC that 
the UBCV's deputy leader, The Venerable Thich Quang Do -- a 
fiery 90 year-old monk who has spent roughly 20 years in 
detention for his democratic beliefs and his refusal to join the 
government-sanctioned Buddhist Church -- personally directed the 
UBCV's involvement.  On July 17, Thich Quang Do personally 
visited the land protesters and gave them an additional VND 300 
million (approx. US$18,000).  ConGen contacts reported Thich 
Quang Do spoke by loudspeaker in front of approximately 1,000 
protesters and observers, blamed the GVN one-party system for 
the injustices and called for a multi-party system and better 
representation. 
 
DEPUTY PM COMES DOWN FROM HANOI 
------------------------------- 
¶7. (SBU) On July 15, two days after the first UBCV visit, Deputy 
Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong convened a meeting with 
relevant agencies and provincial authorities in Ho Chi Minh City 
to seek resolution to the protesters' grievances.  According to 
local media reports and ConGen media contacts, Trong ordered 
local authorities to reopen the disputed cases and resolve them 
as soon as possible.  Local press reported Trong said that he 
took personal responsibility for resolving the land rights 
issues and held the heads of the provincial people's committees 
accountable in resettlement of the protesters' claims.  Some of 
Trong's statements were more ambiguous.  For example, Trong also 
told authorities to initiate "strict reprimands and legal 
actions against those who take advantage of land disputes to do 
bad things", a potentially ominous comment aimed at protest 
organizers and supporters such as the UBCV. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Trong's forward-leaning comments were echoed in Hanoi, 
where Poloff met with former Deputy Minister of Natural 
Resources and the Environment, Dang Hung Vo, to discuss land 
rights issues.  Vo was candid during the meeting, stating that 
the government is only now adding the infrastructure necessary 
to deal with land compensation issues.  Vo also believes that 
greater access to the Internet will lead to fewer protests as 
individuals are able to share their concerns directly with 
government officials in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.  He was well 
aware of the protests in Ho Chi Minh City and added that 
corruption and poorly trained provincial authorities are an 
obstacle, and that "land officials in the provinces lack a sense 
of justice and people in the rural areas know this and of course 
are frustrated."  Vo highlighted that the government will 
receive a 5-year grant from the World Bank to train local and 
provincial authorities on land issues starting in 2008.  Vo 
ended the meeting by stating that land rights will be the 
biggest issue for the next ten years. 
 
PROTESTERS SENT HOME; ORGANIZERS DETAINED 
------------------------------------------ 
¶9. (SBU) At 10:00 PM on July 18 police dispersed the land rights 
protesters.  While the majority of protesters were persuaded to 
leave after being promised resolution to their cases, 
eyewitnesses told ConGen hundreds of police and local guards 
blockaded the street and forcibly removed some protesters, 
loading them into police trucks and buses owned by provincial 
authorities.  Though accounts sent to ConGen from overseas 
supporters claimed violence was used to eject demonstrators, 
early reports from eye witnesses claim injuries were minimal. 
According to one relatives' report, however, at least 4 key 
organizers remain in police detention this morning: Ms. Cao Que 
Hoa, Mr. Ba Trinh, Ms. Vu Thanh Phuong, and Ms. Lu Thi Thu 
Duyen. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Tien Giang protesters (who made up the bulk of the 
movement) were transported back home to a government office, 
where they are to meet with provincial authorities to air their 
grievances in a town hall meeting.  Authorities of Dong Thap, 
Tien Giang, Ben Tre, Soc Trang, Kien Giang provinces were also 
quoted by local newspapers as setting specific dates for 
meetings with protesters to resolve their claims. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
¶11. (SBU) The organizer's success in disseminating information 
and garnering support for the land rights cause acted, as 
designed, to raise the profile of the protests.  This raised the 
stakes for the government, sparking central-level involvement. 
On one hand, growing pressure from dissident groups inside and 
outside of Vietnam may have helped spur positive GVN action to 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000766  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
address concerns of the land rights protesters.  On the other 
hand, outside involvement, particularly direct financial support 
from groups such as the UBCV, almost certainly strengthened the 
hand of the faction within the GVN calling for a heavy 
crackdown.  The final outcome of this saga remains to be seen. 
Post will continue to monitor the situation to determine if the 
GVN's promise of swift and just reconsideration of the 
protesters' claims results in concrete action.  At the same 
time, we will also be watching to see how the GVN handles the 
cases of protest organizers.  Mission Vietnam will also express 
our concern over the fates of those detained, underscoring that 
the world is watching.  END COMMENT. 
 
¶12. This cable was coordinated with Embassy Hanoi. 
FAIRFAX