VIETNAM REVIEW

News

Commentary

Research paper

For the U.S. Congress - Professional Staff and Legislative Assistants for Foreign Policies and Concerned Citizens

November -  December, 2004

1. Vietnam Refuses Military Alliance  Foreign Bases: Says White Paper                02

2. International Donors Optimistic About Vietnam                                                 03

3. Vietnam Committee On Human Rights Protests Vietnams Denial                           

Of Visa To U.S. Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez                                                04

4. Letter to President Bush on new CPCs from 6 U.S. Senators.                            06

5. U.S. Ambassador Queries Vietnams Treatment Of Buddhist Dissidents            07

6. China Rejects Groundless Vietnamese Allegations On Oil Drilling                   08

7. Police Prevent Monks From Visiting Sick Dissident In Vietnam                            09

8. U.S. Officials Meet Monks From Banned Vietnam Buddhist Church Associated Press  09

9. Vietnam Jails 17 Montagnards For Undermining National Security During Easter Protest     10

10. Pope Deplores Lack Of Religious Freedom In Asian Countries                         11

11. Narcotic Prostitution Evils Rampant Across Vietnam                                           11

12. New Religious Ordinance In Vietnam Greeted With Skepticism                         12

13. Police stops young Buddhists from going on pilgrimage                                      13

14. U.N. Says Discrimination Against Vietnamese With AIDS Among World's Worst         14

15. U.N. Says It Is Unable To Help Vietnamese Hill People Reclaim Confiscated Lands    15

16. Vietnam, U.S. Negotiate WTO Accession                                                              16

17. Buddhist Youth Leaders Are Prevented From Leaving Vietnam                         17

18. IT:  Vietnam Internet Access,  RSF Report                                                             19

19. Third Annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index                                                      22

20. Vietnam Attack on Mennonites Highlights Religious Persecution                       23

21. Father Chan Tins Letter to Ambassador John V. Hanford                                   25

22. Accustomed to corruption                                                                                         26

23. The Crossroads: The Drive For Change                                                                 29

24. American Legion National Commander Calls For Senate Vote On Vietnam Human

Rights Act Of 2004                                                                                                           31

25. Survival Of Former U.S. Allies Depends On Vietnam Human Rights Act Of 2004 32

26. Ambassador's Speech To The American Chamber Of Commerce In Hanoi     34

Vietnamese American Concerned Citizens (VACC)

P.O. Box 59655, Potomac. MD 20859

VietnamReview2004@yahoo.com

Contact: Khai Q. Nguyen

Vietnam Refuses Military Alliance  Foreign Bases: Says White Paper

Global News Wire - Asia Africa Intelligence Wire

Copyright 2004 Toan Viet Limited Co

Vietnam News Briefs

December 10, 2004

Vietnam will never join any military alliance nor allow any foreign country to set up military bases in the country, accordingly to a recent White Paper released by the Ministry of Defense.

The paper, the second published since 1998, was introduced by Deputy Minister, Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Huy Hieu, at a press briefing held yesterday in Hanoi.

The paper, which will define Vietnam's policies of national defense for the early years of the new millennium, states that the nation will never take part in any military activity that uses forces or threatens to use force against any other nation.

The country will not be embroiled in an arms race as its prime interests are peace and self-defense. It, however, needs to build a national defense force strong enough to overcome any attempts to subvert or exploit it.

"Vietnam applies all necessary measures to achieve our goal of national defense, while still respecting the independence, sovereignty and interests of other nations according to the United Nations' Chapters and international laws," the paper says.

"In regard to the disputes of territorial sovereignty on land and in the sea, bequeathed by history or newly emergent, Vietnam is willing to take part in peaceful negotiation to find reasonable solutions."

The White Paper, however, reiterates the nation's firm policies on disputes of sovereignty in the South China Sea.

Vietnam has sufficient historical evidence and a legal basis to assert its indisputable sovereignty over the territorial waters and islands in the South China Sea among them the Paracels and Spratlys, it said. The country is ready to settle the problem through peaceful negotiations for the common security of the concerned parties, it confirmed.

The White Paper also pledges that Vietnam will cooperate with other nations in efforts to solve non-traditional security issues such as transnational organized crime, illegal drug trafficking, and piracy to ensure sustainable development in Vietnam and abroad.

According to unofficial statistics, Vietnam sets aside 2.5% of annual gross domestic product (GDP) on national defense.

Vietnam's army currently employs 412,000 people (estimated) in 45 main battle tanks, according to IISS's Military Balance 2003/2004. The navy has 42,000 forces (estimated) with two submarines, six frigates, 42 patrol and coastal combat vessels and 10 mine countermeasures. The air force has 30,000 militants with 189 combat aircraft and 26 armed helicopters.

The country with an 81-million population also has an estimated 484,000 people in other armed forces, including 40,000 people in paramilitary units such as border defense corps and coast guards, and another 3-4 million reserves.

International Donors Optimistic About Vietnam

Asia Pulse

December 6, 2004 Monday

With a commitment of US$3.44 billion in official development assistance (ODA) for Vietnam in 2005, international donors once again showed their confidence in and strong support for Vietnam's policies and development programmes.

A year ago when the 2003 Consultative Group (CG) Meeting for Vietnam closed, both Vietnamese and the foreign press were surprised at the donors' commitment of US$2.84 billion for Vietnam, an increase of US $0.3 billion over the previous year, as ODA commitments declined in the world.

At the threshold of this year's meeting, ODA figures were predicted to be the same as last year.

Maintaining the level of US$2.84 billion is Vietnam's desire because the country is facing challenges in policy institution and competitiveness when its economy is in a hurry to shift to a market economy and integrate into the world economy.

Furthermore, many people worry about Vietnam's poor economic competition as classified by the international economic forum.

A number of leaders from the government and donors spoke at forums and told the press about this issue. Most of them said the assessment was based on small surveys and does not reflect Vietnam's general situation.

In the past years, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank (WB), and the International Financial Corporation (IFC), said without hesitation that Vietnam has progressed and expressed their belief in Vietnam's renewal success.

Klaus Rohland said the WB, the main coordinator of Vietnam's aid, was confident Vietnam will complete its shift to a market economy by 2010.

This year's CG meeting concluded with a record ODA commitment, much larger than expected.

The commitment was made based on the donors' unanimity that Vietnam has made steady and large economic growth over the past few years and that this momentum will be maintained in the coming years. The stability in macro-economic policy as well as inflation controls and the increases in foreign exchange reserves, the balance of payment and the current account have impressed the donor community. Investment for development made up 38 percent of GDP, which Rohland considered much higher than other countries.

Above all, the appropriateness and efficiency in the use of the ODA funding for development and poverty reduction are another reason explaining the increase.

The WB, IFC and IMF were all satisfied with the pace of disbursement of ODA in Vietnam, which has seen much improvement.

The ODA funding has helped improve infrastructure, boost agricultural and rural development, benefited poor people, and contributed to improving human development indexes.

Vietnam's efforts in procedure harmonisation were recognised by the donors. Vietnam is the first country to bring this issue up for discussion at the CG meeting. In addition, Government Decree 17 on the management and use of ODA funds is being modified to meet the new requirements of donors and is expected to bring about higher efficiency in the use of ODA funds.

The domination of anti-corruption and wastefulness at domestic meetings and the delegation of more power to inspecting agencies have reaffirmed the Vietnamese government's efforts in these areas.

The fact that Vietnam is racing against time to accede to the WTO is opening bright prospects for foreign businesses in Vietnam. The closer Vietnam gets to the doors of WTO, the stronger its legislation is adjusted to meet the WTO's demands so as to move towards to a unified, transparent and fair legal framework for all economic sectors.

A report at the Vietnam business forum showed that nearly 84 percent of 195 surveyed businesses wanted to expand investment in Vietnam as Vietnam has bright prospects, a stable political environment, a large potential market and reasonable policies on foreign exchange. A recent statistic by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) said that Japan - Vietnam's largest donor of ODA, ranks Vietnam its fourth nation among ten foreign countries to receive investment by Japanese businesses.

Donors such as the WB, IMF, IFC, JBIC, and UNDP all agreed that the Vietnamese Government always pays heed to on opinions from domestic and foreign businesses and partners, then gives out positive, clear and effective solutions. This has become a tradition and advantage that Vietnam would continue to develop in the future.

Increasing capital after each conference brought both materials for highways, bridges and factories, and a spiritual present from the donors to the Vietnamese Government and people, encouraging Vietnam on the way of national development, said Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan.

Exceeding the success of those figures was a consensus reached by the government and donors at the CG Meeting on Vietnam's achievements and challenges at present and in the coming years.

Vietnam's challenges are more sustainable growth, stronger administrative reform, stricter anti-corruption, narrowing the development gap and more concerns to sensitive portions of population as Vietnam joins the WTO.

Vietnam Committee On Human Rights Protests Vietnams Denial Of Visa To U.S. Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez

Quj Me : Action for Democracy in Vietnam / Quj Me : Action pour la Dimocratie au Vietnam

Vietnam Committee on Human Rights / Comiti Vietnam pour la Difense des Droits de l'Homme

BP 63 - 94472 Boissy Saint Liger cedex  France

Tel : +33 1 45 98 30 85 - Fax : +33 1 45 98 32 61

For immediate release

Paris, 8th December 2004

Vietnam Committee on Human Rights protests Vietnam's denial of visa to US Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez

The Vietnam Committee on Human Rights strongly condemns Vietnam's refusal to grant a visa to US Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez to visit Vietnam. Congresswoman Sanchez, a Democrat who represents "Little Saigon" in Santa Ana (California), the largest Vietnamese community in the United States, and who is currently in Thailand on a leg of a visit to South-East Asia, received a letter via the US Embassy in Hanoi from the External Relations Office of Vietnam's National Assembly on 3rd December stating that her visa application was rejected because she "altogether lacks objectivity and goodwill toward Vietnam".

"For Vietnam's leaders, the only people with "objectivity and goodwill" are those who shower praise and US dollars on the regime", said Vo Van Ai, President of the Paris-based Vietnam Committee on Human Rights. "By turning down Rep. Sanchez's visit, they are closing the door on a friend of Vietnam who comes simply to help those who suffer injustice and discrimination because of their peaceful religious or political convictions. Vietnam should stop dividing the world into friends and enemies, and take heed of the sincere appeals of its citizens and international friends who encourage the regime to take the path of political reform".

Congresswoman Sanchez has made two previous visits to Vietnam, in 1999 and 2000, when she accompanied President Bill Clinton on the first ever visit by a US President to Vietnam since the end of the Vietnam war. During both trips, she met with dissidents, including Venerable Thich Quang Do, Deputy leader of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV). One of the most vocal critics of Vietnam's human rights record in the US House of Representatives, she strongly supported the Vietnam Human Rights Act, which linked US-Vietnam bilateral trade relations to concrete improvements in human rights, and has introduced extensive legislation to promote democracy, human rights and religious freedom in Vietnam. In November 2003, she sponsored House Res. 427 condemning Vietnam's crackdown on the outlawed Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam and calling for the release of UBCV leaders.

At the same time as Congressman Sanchez is prohibited from visiting Vietnam, Vietnam has sent its top diplomatic lobbyist, Ms Ton Nu Thi Ninh, Vice-Director of the Vietnamese National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee, on a visit to the US to "promote Vietnam-US relations". Commenting on the refusal of Rep. Sanchez's visit, Ms Ninh said: "Sanchez has never shown any constructive objectivity or any real interest in moving the bilateral relations forward in both of her two visits to Vietnam as well as in her subsequent deeds and statements. Regrettably, we can only conclude that thus far, such a visit will not serve any useful purpose for Vietnam or for Vietnam-US relations."

Ms Ninh, who spoke in New York on Tuesday and will speak at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. on Thursday, has actively lobbied against legislation such as the Vietnam Human Rights Act, and opposes all criticism of Vietnam's human rights record. A staunch defender of the Communist Party's political monopoly, she recently declared at the Asia-Europe Fifth People's Forum in Hanoi in September 2004 - where the international press was banned from covering the event - that Vietnam's aim was to "build democracy within a one-party system". "We must defend the right of minorities", she said, attempting to justify the "right" of the 2.6 million minority of Vietnamese Communist Party members to exercise authoritarian control over the majority of 81 million people in Vietnam.

U.S. Ambassador Queries Vietnams Treatment Of Buddhist Dissidents

Deutsche Presse-Agentur

November 26, 2004, Friday

The Unites States ambassador to Vietnam expressed his concern Friday at Vietnam's treatment of two high-profile Buddhist dissidents.

The leaders of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) have been under de facto house arrest, since a run-in with communist authorities last October, according to the International Buddhist Information Bureau (IBIB), the information arm of the UBCV.

This week Thich Quang Do, the deputy leader of the organization, was prevented from visiting patriarch Thich Huyen Quang, who was hospitalized last week.

"We are aware of the fact that his (Thich Huyen Quang's) deputy Thich Quang Do has not been allowed to visit him," Ambassador Michael W. Marine told reporters. "We have made it clear in various conversations that this is very hard to understand."

Ambassador Marine had a brief meeting with 87-year-old leader of the UBCV earlier this week, he said.

Over a year ago, immediately following the run-in with authorities, Vietnam's press spokesman said the pair would face charges of "carrying state secrets," but since then no official charges have been made, the IBIB said Friday.

"Were the government to press charges, we would call for transparency in the process so that we and others can understand what the charges are all about and so that these individuals can receive whatever legal protections are possible under Vietnamese law," Ambassador Marine said.

Le Dung, Vietnam's press spokesman, failed to respond when asked by fax over a week ago whether the men would be facing charges.

The UBCV is not recognized by the communist government, and the two leaders have spent most of the last 20 years either in prison or under house arrest.

During Marine's first two months as ambassador, one issue that has come up with Vietnamese officials, is the U.S. State Department decision in September to designate Vietnam as a "country of particular concern" (CPC) for its record on religious freedom.

"The Vietnamese unhappiness and disagreement with our decision to designate them a CPC certainly comes up, but that's usually part of the dialogue as to why that decision was made and what steps could be taken by Vietnam to cause us to reverse that decision," Ambassador Marine said.

A range of punitive measures could be applied to Vietnam as a result of the state department ruling, but these measures have yet to be decided, the ambassador said.

Despite differences over religious freedom and human rights, trade relations between the former foes continue to develop and will be a significant part of the new ambassador's work, he said.

"U.S. business is not yet here in the way I would like to see it here," Ambassador Marine said. "I would like to see more opportunity and I would like to convince Vietnamese officials and business entities to 'think American' more than they do now."

Following the signing of a Bilateral Trade Agreement between the two countries in 2001, the U.S. has become Vietnam's biggest trading partner.

Earlier this year, the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled that Vietnam had been "dumping" - selling catfish on the U.S. market at unfairly low prices. Next month a similar ruling on Vietnamese shrimp is expected.

Despite these hiccups in trade relations, the U.S. fully backed Vietnam's wishes to join the World Trade Organization as soon as possible, the ambassador told foreign and Vietnamese journalists.

Full diplomatic relations were only re-established between the two countries just under a decade ago, and there was room for improvement in relations, the ambassador said. dpa st jh

China Rejects Groundless Vietnamese Allegations On Oil Drilling

BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific  Political

Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring

November 23, 2004, Tuesday

SOURCE: Xinhua news agency, Beijing, in English 1443 gmt 23 Nov 04

Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency)

Beijing, 23 November: China rejected Vietnam's request to halt oil exploration in a boundary sea area, but is willing to keep communication with Vietnam on the issue. China is conducting normal and regular oil exploration operations in the Chinese area of Beibu Bay, neighbouring south China and north Vietnam. Vietnam's accusation is "groundless", Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said when asked to comment on the report.

China's drilling platform "Exploration No 3" is conducting regular exploration in China's territorial waters, Zhang told a regular press conference. Relevant maritime department of China has published notice of sailing to ships passing the area according to international safety practice, she said. The accusation based on Vietnam's unilateral position is "groundless" and "unacceptable" to China, she said. China is willing to maintain dialogue and communications with the Vietnamese side on this issue.

Police Prevent Monks From Visiting Sick Dissident In Vietnam

Deutsche Presse-Agentur

November 22, 2004, Monday

Dissident monk Thich Quang Do said police on Monday blocked the car he was riding in so he could not visit Thich Huyen Quang, the 87-year-old patriarch of the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), in hospital.

The Buddhist leader was admitted to hospital with kidney problems, a heart complaint and pneumonia last week. U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Michael Marine paid a visit to the ailing leader on Sunday.

Thich Quang Do, the UBCV deputy met with U.S. officials on Sunday, including the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Elizabeth Dugan.

Speaking by telephone en route to Ho Chi Minh City, Do said the group of monks had been turned back by authorities while traveling to see their ailing leader and were then followed by four vehicles.

"They gave us no reason we were compelled to return (although) we asked for reason, they refused to answer," he said. He said he believed they may be taken into custody when they arrive in Ho Chi Minh City.

Authorities placed Thich Huyen Quang under de facto house arrest last October after he, Thich Quang Do and other leaders of the group held a meeting. The two most senior UBVC figures have not spoken for a year, Do said.

Quang was permitted to leave his monastery last Thursday for treatment. Doctors at the hospital said his condition had improved since last week. He is still in the emergency ward but getting better now, said Tran Van Trung, of the Binh Dinh General Hospital, 680 kilometres north of Ho Chi Minh City.

He can now sit up and eat a little, which was almost impossible when he was first admitted to the hospital. He can also talk a bit now, Trung said.

The UBVC is frowned upon by the Vietnamese government and both Do and Quang have spent much of the last 20 years either in prison or under house arrest. dpa bb blg

U.S. Officials Meet Monks From Banned Vietnam Buddhist Church Associated Press

 November 22, 2004 Monday 2:56 AM Eastern Time

U.S. diplomats met with leaders of an outlawed Buddhist church in Vietnam over the weekend, the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi said Monday.

It was the first diplomatic visit Vietnam's government has allowed the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam's deputy leader, Thich Quang Do, in more than a year, the Paris-based Buddhist Information Bureau said in a statement.

U.S. Consul General Seth Winnick and Elizabeth Dugan of the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor and met with Do on Sunday in Ho Chi Minh City to discuss the church's plight, the statement said.

The U.S. Embassy confirmed the visit and said U.S. Ambassador Michael Marine also met on Sunday with church patriarch Thich Huyen Quang, 87, who's in intensive care at a central Vietnam hospital after a stomach hemorrhage. No details of the meetings were released.

Do had also planned to visit Quang in the hospital, but police allegedly stopped a minivan on its way to pick Do up Monday morning, and the nine monks inside were told the vehicle was being impounded, the bureau said.

The monks reportedly began a sit-in around the vehicle, it said.

Vietnamese officials did not immediately respond to the allegations, but have repeatedly said that both Do and Quang are not under any type of government detention.

The two sides have clashed for years because the church refuses to merge with one of a handful of state-sanctioned religions.

Do and Quang have spent more than 20 years each under house arrest, and have been under surveillance since October 2003 after church members met to elect new leaders, the Paris-based bureau said.

Vietnam's human rights record has been internationally criticized. In September, the U.S. State Department listed it as one of the world's worst countries for religious repression - a designation that could result in economic sanctions if the situation does not improve.

Vietnam Jails 17 Montagnards For Undermining National Security During Easter Protest

Associated Press

November 22, 2004 Monday 12:25 AM Eastern Time

A court in Vietnam's restive Central Highlands has sentenced 17 hill tribe people up to 10 years in jail for undermining national security and unity during an Easter weekend protest, an official said Monday.

In three separate trials in Dak Nong province last week, the provincial People's Court handed down jail terms from three to 10 years for members of the Ede ethnic minority group, the court official said on condition of anonymity.

They were convicted of forcing ethnic minority people, collectively called Montagnards, to flee to neighboring Cambodia, luring people to join protests causing national security and public disorder, and distorting the policies of the Communist Party and government, he said.

Tens of thousands of hill tribe people took to the streets in Daklak, Dak Nong and Gia Lai provinces over Easter weekend to protest government restrictions on their Protestant Christian faith and confiscation of their ancestral lands.

International human rights groups claimed 10 protesters were killed in clashes with police, but Hanoi said only two died after being pelted with rocks thrown by other protesters.

At least a dozen Montagnards have been jailed in Daklak and Gia Lai provinces for their involvement in the protests. More than 500 who fled to Cambodia have been put under U.N. refugee protection, but several have opted to return to Vietnam, saying they're homesick.

Many Montagnards served as U.S. allies during the Vietnam War and a number were resettled in the United States after the war ended in 1975.

Pope Deplores Lack Of Religious Freedom In Asian Countries

Agence France Presse  English

November 19, 2004 Friday 2:12 PM GMT

Pope John Paul II on Friday deplored the lack of religious freedom in some Asian countries, where he said Christians were not free to "profess their faith", but stopped short of identifying the states involved.

The pontiff was speaking to a council of Asian bishops which convened at the Vatican as part of an ongoing series of meetings to discuss a previous synod.

"Those who suffer especially are those who are not free to profess their faith," said the pope, adding that these Christians should continue to be "silent witnesses" of Christ, "in patient waiting for the day in which they will have full religious liberty".

The 84-year-old pope did not mention any country by name, but it is clear that he had China and Vietnam in mind, both countries with which he has waged a long battle over their refusal to recognize his primacy over Catholics there.

The Vatican accused China in September of serious human rights violations for unfairly arresting a number of Roman Catholic priests in the country.

The Catholic church in China is divided. One branch, known as "The Church of Silence," is clandestine, loyal to the Vatican and thought to have several million followers.

The other has pledged allegiance to the Chinese authorities. Known as the "patriotic" church, it has about four million members and does not recognise the authority of the pope.

Vietnam's communist authorities allow private worship but maintain tight control over Church activities.

Church appointments have to be submitted for government approval and the training of priests and construction of churches are tightly controlled.

John Paul II told the bishops the fact that the Roman Catholic Church in Asia "is 'a little flock' should not lead to discouragement, because the effectiveness of evangelization does not depend on numbers", pointing out that Christ began the process of evangelization with only a few apostles.

The pope added that Asia's high percentage of young people represented "a reason for optimism for the future and a challenge for the present".

"A reason for optimism because the young generations, full of promise, are available to dedicate themselves totally to a cause; a challenge because unrealised dreams can generate disillusionment, and those who cultivate them can easily take advantage of them to promote extreme ideologies."

Narcotic Prostitution Evils Rampant Across Vietnam

Global News Wire - Asia Africa Intelligence Wire

Copyright 2004 Toan Viet Limited Co

Vietnam News Briefs

November 19, 2004

As many as 54% of communes and wards nationwide in Vietnam are suffering from serious social evils of narcotics and prostitution, according to figures released from a national conference on social evil prevention ongoing in Hanoi.

Twenty-nine out of 34 reviewed cities and provinces report an increase in the number of drug addicts while only five localities saw a fall, the conference was told.

A similar picture regarding prostitution was also announced with a hike in 21 cities and provinces.

Particularly, reports from the conference calculated up to more than 1,000 communes and wards seeing an increasingly severe situation, where drugs are used, traded and transported in a rush and prostitution is widespread at well-and closed-operated public and entertainment facilities including hotels, guesthouses, cafes, karaoke parlors, massage centers and hair-dressing shops.

According to Deputy Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Dam Huu Dac, several localities have focussed only on sweeping addicts and prostitutes away from fields to gain recognition but have not paid adequate attention to managing and helping the rehabilitated people, leading to a high rate of relapse.

Mr. Dac also noted that the target of 70% of communes and wards free of the evils by 2010 will become a infeasible figure unless serious considerations and effective measures are applied.

"The most important thing is consultation," he said, explaining that good consulting works will help those citizens raise determination to give up habits and integrate into communities.

A part from the propaganda and control, other works related to strengthening personnel machinery and improving policy mechanism are also be enhanced, Dac said.

(Great Unity Nov 19 p6, The Law Nov 19 p2)

New Religious Ordinance In Vietnam Greeted With Skepticism

Deutsche Presse-Agentur

November 15, 2004, Monday

Vietnam's first ever ordinance on religion came into effect Monday, and was greeted with skepticism by some religious leaders.

"After reading the whole ordinance I think that we are still under the control of the government," said a Catholic bishop from southern Vietnam who requested anonymity.

Vietnam frequently faces international criticism relating to its poor record on religious freedom. Earlier this year, the communist country was placed on a U.S. State Department list of "countries of particular concern" in relation to the lack of religious freedom.

Although Catholic worshippers - who after Buddhists are the second biggest religious group in the country - are not prevented from attending church, the ordinance means that it is under government control.

"Every new religious activity we want to do, we will have to get permission from the government. For example if we want to build a new church, we have to get permission," the bishop said. "We will wait and see how it is implemented."

Another Catholic leader in Vietnam went further in his condemnation of the new ordinance, according to the Catholic news website Asia News.

"We do not have the right to organize ourselves as we see fit and must seek authorization for every choice and decision. This means there is no full religious freedom," Archbishop Nguyen Nhu The, from the central city of Hue, told Asia News recently.

Around 20 per cent of Vietnam's 81 million people are religious, according to the governments religion office.

Buddhists are most numerous in Vietnam, with around 9.3 million people, Catholics are next with 5.3 million worshippers and there are just under 500,000 Protestants, the religion office said.

Although the new ordinance states that religious discrimination is not permitted and that all citizens have the right to follow whichever religion they choose, parts of the new regulation mean that anything deemed to disturb national security and unity, can be punished.

Rights groups have criticized the ordinance, saying that it tightens and increases the government's grip on religion, in one of the last five communist countries in the world.

"Its (the ordnance) first article, quoting Vietnam's Constitution, pays lip service to freedom of religion, but most of the remaining articles restrict that freedom and expand government controls over religion. The Ordinance also bans religious activities based on vague standards of national security," Human Rights Watch said in a statement in September.

Police stops young Buddhists from going on pilgrimage

Ho Chi Mink City (AsiaNews/Edam), November 11, 2004

Vietnamese authorities stopped and interrogated members of the Vietnamese Buddhist youth movement The Family who were on their way to India on a pilgrimage. National security was given as the reason. They had agreed to meet in early November at Ho Chi Minh Citys International Airport and then go on a pilgrimage to the places where Buddhism was born.

As they prepared to board their flight, they found that their names were on a list of people not allowed to leave the country. After police interrogation at the airport, they were released and handed a note stating that they were stopped for national security reasons.

The trip had been planned a year in advance and the participants had filled out all the necessary procedures to obtain both passport and visa.

Why the police deemed the trip a danger to national security remains a mystery. It might however fall under the new Ordinance on Beliefs and Religions law which guarantees freedom of worship but under the control of the state.

The incident caused commotion in Vietnams Buddhist community. The young pilgrims wanted to visit Buddhisms holiest sites in India and take part in the World Movement of Vietnamese Buddhist Youth. They were also supposed to meet other movement members living abroad. An estimated 20,000 are in fact settled outside Vietnam.

The congress took place in Bodhgaya (India) and was attended by members from the US, Canada, Europe and Australia.

At the end of the proceedings, participants adopted a double resolution. In the first part, they deplored the absence of delegates from Vietnam. The travel ban shows the authorities have contempt for their own laws and international rules. In the second part, they asserted the support of young Buddhists to religious freedom and backed their demand for official recognition. 

U.N. Says Discrimination Against Vietnamese With AIDS Among World's Worst

AIDS Weekly & Law

November 11, 2004

Stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS in Vietnam is among the worst in the world and must be overcome to control the epidemic, a top United Nations official said October 18, 2004.

After visiting Ho Chi Minh City, Haiphong and Hanoi, UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director Kathleen Cravero said if Vietnam does not reverse the way people think about the disease, it could block attempts to help those infected with the virus.

"I've visited over 50 countries and the problem of stigma and discrimination is as great or greater in Vietnam than in any country I've visited," she said. "If people fear stigma and discrimination ... they won't seek testing, they won't seek services, they won't seek any help at all. It will drive the epidemic underground."

HIV/AIDS often gets lumped in with Vietnam's so-called "social evils" policy, which also includes drug use and prostitution. International aid workers have pushed for the government to stop using the term as one way to lessen the stigma.

Cravero said there's still time to fix the problem, and she applauded Vietnam's comprehensive national strategy as a method of handling the epidemic. The plan is a long-term approach to dealing with the epidemic, including prevention and care.

But she stressed the importance of implementing it quickly, and said people living with the disease must take a leading role alongside high-ranking government leaders and organizations.

"All too often we have national strategies in countries that end up on shelves as very readable documents that don't mean very much on the ground," she said. "Now is the time, in the coming months and the next 2 years, that Vietnam must take this excellent strategy and make it real for the people of Vietnam from the very north to the very south."

She also encouraged the Communist government to create a national AIDS council with enough political clout to force more people to become actively involved in attacking the problem.

Vietnam's infections have largely been contained to high-risk groups such as intravenous drug users and sex workers, but if left unchecked that rate is on pace to increase eight-fold to 1 million by 2010.

Vietnam was one of the 15 countries recently selected to receive emergency funding from the United States' US$15 billion global AIDS plan to try to prevent the epidemic from taking off in the general population.

Vietnam has recorded more than 80,000 HIV-positive cases, of which nearly 13,000 have developed full-blown AIDS and more than 7,000 have died, according to the Ministry of Health. However, health officials believe the actual number of HIV-infected people is closer to 200,000.

This article was prepared by AIDS Weekly & Law & Law editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2004, AIDS Weekly & Law & Law via LawRx.com.

U.N. Says It Is Unable To Help Vietnamese Hill People Reclaim Confiscated Lands

The Associated Press

November 5, 2004 Friday 8:02 AM Eastern Time

Byline: Sam Cage; Associated Press Writer

Dateline: Geneva

Increasingly large numbers of Vietnamese hill tribes people are crossing into Cambodia, mistakenly thinking that the United Nations will help them reclaim confiscated lands in Vietnam, the global body said Friday.

"It became apparent during interviews that many of the asylum seekers had crossed the border following rumors and alleged radio reports that the 'U.N.' could help them recover confiscated lands," said Ron Redmond, spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. "Not all were fleeing persecution."

Many members of ethnic minorities - collectively known as Montagnards - have fled Vietnam's Central Highlands because of religious repression and land confiscation. More than 1,000 fled in 2001 alone, following a massive government crackdown on their protests.

But Cambodia's government has described the Montagnards - mainly members of Protestant Christian denominations distrusted by Vietnam's communist government - as economic migrants and is unwilling to accept them as refugees.

UNHCR said it has conducted joint operations with the Cambodian government over the last four months to try to find Montagnards hiding in the jungle in the border states of Ratannakiri and Mondulkiri.

"A total of 441 Montagnards presented themselves to UNHCR, and after basic registration were transported to Phnom Penh for refugee status determination," Redmond told reporters. "The Cambodian government has requested the refugees be resettled in a third country within a short time frame because local integration was not an option."

Once the refugee agency made it clear that it could not help them recover confiscated lands, some of the asylum seekers said they wanted to return to Vietnam, Redmond noted. Others who had been recognized as refugees also rejected resettlement in a third country.

"Of some 150 cases submitted for U.S. resettlement, for example, nearly three-quarters decided against going," Redmond added. Some refugees told the UNHCR they were being put under pressure to reject resettlement, but others said their decision was a free choice.

Many of the refugees were concerned about their families left behind in Vietnam and the problems they could face if they settled in a new country. Several asylum seekers have already left UNHCR's offices in Phnom Penh to make their own way back to Vietnam, Redmond explained.

"This situation has placed UNHCR in a quandary as our mandate is to provide international protection for refugees, not to resolve land disputes," he said. "We are involved in a constructive dialogue with the Vietnamese authorities to find an acceptable humanitarian solution for the repatriation of those asylum seekers who wish to return home.

"But we nevertheless remain concerned that Montagnards, under the illusion that we can help with their land problems, may have put themselves at unnecessary risk and exposed themselves to increased vulnerability by crossing into Cambodia."

There are currently 553 Montagnards under UNHCR protection. So far this year, 74 have been resettled in third countries - 67 in the United States and seven in Sweden.

Vietnam, U.S. Negotiate WTO Accession

Asia Pulse

November 5, 2004

Vietnam made strides in its first official WTO negotiations with the United States, but more time is needed to bring the two countries together on certain trade issues, said Vietnamese trade officials.

As Ministry of Trade negotiators arrived back from the US on Monday, Trade Minister Truong Dinh Tuyen told the media that while conditions for Vietnam opening its goods and services markets were the focus of negotiations, the service sector proved the most contentious issue.

"Negotiations with the US still involve some complex issues and it is likely we shall have to undergo several more discussions," said Tuyen.

This surprised some insiders, since Vietnam just won European Union approval for its entry into the WTO. The EU is considered a deciding influence for Vietnam's WTO accession.

"The expectation was that the finalised deal with the EU would be advantageous for negotiations with the US," said an unnamed trade ministry official.

Under the Vietnam-US Bilateral Trade Agreement, as pointed out by non-governmental organisation Oxfam International this week, Vietnam had made concessions to the US beyond WTO requirements.

Sources close to the US said the two sides have not agreed on a specific date for the next round of talks.

The trade ministry said apart from its negotiations with the US, Vietnam had recently held similar talks with India, South Korea and Paraguay.

Vietnam is still hoping to join the WTO by 2005, as this is when quotas on garment and textiles will end for all members of the trade body.

Vietnam's WTO bid received strong support from countries and international organisations.

This week Oxfam International called for an impartial deal for Vietnam at the WTO as it is being "pressured by rich countries to join the organisation under conditions that hinder its efforts to reduce poverty." In its report "Extortion at the Gate: Will Vietnam Join the WTO on Pro-development Terms?" published on Monday, Oxfam said Vietnam's accession to the WTO could bring positive gains.

However, these gains will be undermined if rich countries continue to think only of self-interest rather than lives of poor people.

Oxfam said since the early 1990s Vietnam's economy has been growing rapidly as a result of gradual liberalisation.

The country has halved its poverty rate from 58 per cent in 1993 to 29 per cent in 2002.

While the report noted these figures are impressive, it said Vietnam now faced the challenge of ensuring its poorest people, the majority of whom make their living from agriculture, are able to withstand future market shocks.

Oxfam said further liberalisation must ensure that benefits gained continue to support small farmers.

WTO accession should be about giving poor countries a chance said Oxfam, but noted these nations are forced to do more than rich countries, even if it harms their development prospects.

"Not only must an aspirant country such as Vietnam comply with all existing WTO rules, they must also concede to 'WTO-plus' demands from rich countries in return for support for their application," said the report.

"The lack of coherent rules on accession allows individual members to demand whatever they want."

Steve Price-Thomas, country representative for Oxfam Great Britain in Vietnam, said: "This flawed system leaves poor countries like Vietnam with little bargaining power."

Buddhist Youth Leaders Are Prevented From Leaving Vietnam

International Buddhist Information Bureau

(Bureau International D'information Bouddhiste)

Official information service of Vien Hoa Dao, Unified Buddhist church of

Vietnam B.P. 63 - 94472 Boissy Saint Liger cedex (France) - Tel.: Paris

(331) 45 98 30 85 Fax : Paris (331) 45 98 32 61 - E-mail :

ubcv.ibib@buddhist.com Web : http://www.queme.net/

For immediate release

Paris, 3 November 2004

Vietnam prohibits 21 Buddhist Youth leaders from attending the World Movement of Vietnamese Buddhist Youth Festival in India

The International Buddhist Information Bureau (IBIB) is informed that 21 leaders of the Vietnamese Buddhist Youth Movement (Gia Dinh Phat Tu Viet Nam) were intercepted at Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City and banned from leaving Vietnam. The Buddhists, all of whom possessed the necessary travel documents and visas, were intercepted by Security Police as they prepared to board flights to India on Monday (November 1st) and today (November 3rd). Security Police had put up a notice in the airport with the names of the 21 Buddhist Youth leaders banned from leaving the country.

The group was subjected to "working sessions" with Security Police, and subsequently released. Police simply declared that they were prohibited from traveling for "national security" reasons, with no further explanation. According to IBIB sources, Buddhists in Vietnam are deeply shocked by this unwarranted Police action. The young Buddhists were traveling to India to make a pilgrimage to Buddhist holy sites and attend a Festival of the "World Movement of Vietnamese Buddhist Youth" to be held at Bodhgaya (Bihar) from 8-9 November 2004.

"The ban is a flagrant violation of the right to freedom of movement enshrined in the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Vietnam is a State party", said IBIB Director Vo Van Ai. "Vietnam must uphold its international obligations and respect its citizens' fundamental freedoms and rights".

The Buddhist Youth Movement, founded over 60 years ago, is an educational organization based on the "Scouts" movement, which has a current membership of 300,000 young Buddhists (from 6-18 years) in Vietnam and 20,000 members in the Vietnamese diaspora in the USA, Canada, Europe and Australia. An affiliate of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), the Buddhist Youth Movement was outlawed in 1975 by the Communist government as part of its campaign to suppress all independent religious movements. Despite this, it covertly continued its social, educational and humanitarian activities and its membership increased steadily nationwide.

On 19 February 1995, Buddhist Youth leaders held a Congress in Dalat in an attempt to legitimize the movement. The authorities reacted by issuing a "Directive" ordering its immediate disbandment, and directing the movement to become part of the State-sponsored Vietnam Buddhist Church. At the same time, the Communist Party instructed its members to infiltrate the Buddhist Youth Movement and transform it into a section of the "Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Movement". The authorities were forced to abandon this plan after young Buddhists protested massively, with 200 youth leaders pledging to self-immolate if the movement was made a tool of the Communist Party. Since then, the Buddhist Youth Movement has effectively pursued its social and educational activities independently of State control.

The Buddhist Youth Festival in Bodhgaya would have been the first opportunity for young members of the Buddhist movement in Vietnam to meet their counterparts from the Vietnamese Buddhist diaspora.

The 21 Buddhists include leaders of the Buddhist Youth Movement (BYM) Central Committee and representatives from Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Nam-Danang, Nhatrang, Dalat, Saigon, i.e. : Nguyen Chau, President, BYM Central Committee, Le Van San, Secretary General, BYM Central Committee, Phan Dinh Thang, Internal Affairs Officer, BYM Central Committee, Nguyen Duc Thuong, Education Officer, BYM Central Committee, Do Thi An, Nguyen Dinh Khoi, Le Mai, Le Van Loi, Nguyen Thi Nguyet, Ton Nu Ngoc Lan, Nguyen De, Nguyen Thi My Khanh, Nguyen Hoang Phung, Duong Thi Mai, La Thanh Ty, Nguyen Thi Huong, Huynh Kim Xao, Buu An, Nguyen Van Coi, Nguyen Thi Phuc and Le Thien Man.

IT:  Vietnam Internet Access,  RSF Report

Reporters without Borders, November 4, 2004

http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=10778

Vietnam 

Population : 80,278,000

Internet users : 2,500,000 (2003)

Average charge for 20 hours of connection : 15 euros

Digital access index (DAI)* : 0.31

Situation** : very serious

Vietnam follows the example of neighbouring China. Web content is extensively censored and e-mail is monitored in order to track down "subversive" Internet users. Seven cyber-dissidents are in prison.

Although the Internet has so far only reached 3 per cent of the Vietnamese population, it is growing fast. As in China, the government is grappling with a dilemma. It wants to develop online access as a vehicle for economic growth but it also wants to control its use. The authorities proudly launched broadband connections in 2003 but they also announced their intention to create a new police force to track down cyber-criminals.

Some Internet users, the boldest or cleverest, manage to evade the censorship imposed by the authorities. In a country where no independent newspaper is tolerated and all the news media are controlled by the state, cyber-dissidents risk heavy prison sentences for what they post on the Internet. For most users, the Internet is a controlled information media where self-censorship is the norm.

The government has invested heavily in a "made in Vietnam" communications surveillance system. Both the landline and mobile phones of dissidents are tapped. The authorities also routinely intercept e-mail and are able to identify where messages come from. In the course of two years, seven dissidents were caught as a result of this kind of surveillance by the Vietnamese cyber-police. Two of them were arrested in cybercafis. In most cases they were accused of spying and were given sentences of up to 12 years in prison in summary trials that did not respect the right of defence. They were also kept in prison for long periods without being tried.

Censored websites

The authorities block access to the websites of the main human rights organisations, including the Reporters Without Borders site and the sites of Vietnamese dissidents in exile. They have also created a Vietnamese-language search engine, www.search.com.vn, that only searches official webpages. The few sites hosted in Vietnam must request permission from the authorities to operate. In August 2002, the culture and information ministry called for the blocking of content that was "subversive" or "endangered national security."

The telecommunications ministry issued a directive on the use and organisation of the Internet on 25 May 2003. It said the Internet was a national information resource and should therefore be "organised, studied and use in an appropriate and effective way." It also declared a "strict ban on use of the Internet to oppose Vietnam's socialist republic by disturbing its security, economy, social order or traditional mode of life."

This directive gave birth to the Internet Centre of Vietnam, which was put in charge of "organising and inspecting" Internet use under the direct supervision of the ministry of posts and telecommunications. It is responsible for resolving conflicts related to Internet use, investigating violations of the directive and prosecuting offenders.

Heightened control

Vietnam has seven Internet Service Providers (ISPs), of which six are state-owned. The seventh, OCI, is entirely privately-owned but has been operating with official approval since June 2003. All the ISPs use the state-owned Vietnam Post and Telecommunication Corporation's network. Its centralised architecture facilitates Web surveillance and censoring of online publications.

The ministry of police announced on 29 January 2004 that everyone would henceforth have to show ID in order to enter a cybercafi, and that a record of users' identities and the websites they visit would have to be kept by cybercafi managers for three months. Cybercafis would also have to install software that monitors clients in real time and any client spotted visiting "suspect" webpages would have to be reported to the police, the ministry said.

Seven imprisoned cyber-dissidents

Nguyen Khac Toan, a businessman and former army officer, was arrested on 8 January 2002 in a Hanoi cybercafi and charged with e-mailing material to "reactionary" Vietnamese human rights organisations abroad. Found guilty of "spying," he was sentenced on 20 December 2002 to 12 years in prison and three years under house arrest.

Le Chi Quang, a computer specialist and law graduate, was arrested on 21 February 2002 in a Hanoi cybercafi and was charged with sending "dangerous" information abroad in the form of an article he had written which he posted online. Called "Beware of the empire to the north," the article referred to the circumstances in which the government signed border agreements with China in 1999. He was sentenced on 8 November 2002 to four years in prison and three years under house arrest. He is seriously ill with renal insufficiency.

Dr. Pham Hong Son, a physician and representative of a foreign pharmaceutical company, has been held in a prison near the capital since 27 March 2002 for translating an article from the US embassy website called "What is democracy ?" and posting it online. He also wrote many articles about democracy and human rights that were posted in Vietnamese discussion forums. For the first four months, he was held in an undisclosed location where he was not allowed to see his family or his lawyer. The Hanoi people's court sentenced him on 18 June 2003 to 13 years in prison for "spying" and three years under house arrest. The sentence was reduced on appeal on 26 August 2003 to five years in prison and three years under house arrest.

Nguyen Vu Binh, a former journalist with the Communist Party newspaper Tap Chi Cong San (Communist Reviews), was arrested on 25 September 2002 on a charge of posting "reactionary" articles on the Internet, including an essay entitled "Reflection on the Sino-Vietnamese border accords" in which he criticised the 1999 treaty between China and Vietnam. He was sentenced on 31 December 2003 to seven years in prison and three years under house arrest. His sentence was upheld on appeal on 5 May 2004.

Pham Que Duong was arrested on 28 December 2002 after a meeting in Saigon with fellow cyber-dissident Tran Khue (see below). A former colonel in the Liberation Army, he and Khue created a group called the "Association of Vietnamese to help the Party and the Government fight Corruption." He was charged with spying for allegedly having links to "reactionary" groups abroad and using the Internet to receive and distribute documents hostile to the communist regime. He has not yet been tried and faces a life sentence.

Tran Khue, a literature teacher and co-founder of an anti-corruption group, was arrested in Saigon on 29 December 2002. He was accused of disseminating criticism of the government because, although placed under house arrest the previous March, he had continued to post articles and open letters on the Internet. In one of his open letters, addressed to former Chinese President Jiang Zemin, he had called for the revision of part of the Sino-Vietnamese border accords. He is still awaiting trial.

Dr Nguyen Dan Que, 61, a freedom of expression activist who had been released in 1998 after nearly 20 years in prison, was re-arrested at his home in Saigon on 17 March 2003. Officials did not give the reason for his arrest, but it was thought to be linked with a statement he posted online criticising the lack of press freedom in Vietnam. He was responding to remarks by a foreign ministry spokesman five days earlier claiming that freedom of information was guaranteed. Although he is ill with high blood pressure and a stomach ulcer, his family has not been allowed to visit him or give him the medicine he needs, and he has not been brought to trial. On 22 September 2003, 12 Nobel Prize winners wrote to Communist Party secretary-general Nong Duc Manh voicing concern about Que's health and asking that he be allowed proper medical treatment and family visits pending his release.

Convicted over a petition

Tran Dung Tien, 74, was arrested on 22 January 2003 and was not set free until November of the same year. He had been sentenced to 10 months in prison because, on 14 October 2002, he signed a petition calling for the release of cyber-dissidents Le Chi Quang, Pham Hong Son, Nguyen Khac Toan and Nguyen Vu Binh.

Nguyen Vu Viet, 27 and Nguyen Truc Cuong, 36 - the nephews of imprisoned priest Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly - and their sister Nguyen Thi Hoa, 44, were arrested in June 2001 on charges of using e-mail, fax and telephone to disseminate abroad information about religious freedom in Vietnam. They were initially given prison terms ranging from three to five years. But the sentences of Vu Viet and Truc Cuong were reduced to 32 months on appeal at the end of November 2003, and the sentence of their sister, Thi Hoa, was reduced to four months and six days. They were set free between November 2003 and February 2004, shortly after the US House of Representatives passed a resolution calling on Hanoi to release all Vietnamese held in prison or under house arrest for practising their beliefs or defending freedom of worship.

Links

The official search engine:www.search.com.vn

Amnesty International reports on Vietnam

http://web.amnesty.org/library/eng-vnm/index

 

Government website

www.vnn.vn

Ministry of posts and telecommunications

www.vnpt.com.vn

 

* The DAI (Digital Access Index) has been devised by the International Telecommunications Union to measure the access of a country's inhabitants to information and communication technology. It ranges from 0 (none at all) to 1 (complete access).

** Assessment of the situation in each country (good, middling, difficult, serious) is based on murders, imprisonment or harassment of cyber-dissidents or journalists, censorship of news sites, existence of independent news sites, existence of independent ISPs and deliberately high connection charges.

Reporters Without Borders defends imprisoned journalists and press freedom throughout the world, as well as the right to inform the public and to be informed, in accordance with Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Reporters Without Borders has nine national sections (in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom), representatives in Abidjan, Bangkok, Istanbul, Montreal, Moscow, New York, Tokyo and Washington and more than a hundred correspondents worldwide.

Third Annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index

Press Release, 26 October 2004

East Asia and Middle East have worst press freedom records, North Korea still bottom, little improvement in China and Vietnam

Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontihres) announces its third annual worldwide index of press freedom. Such freedom is threatened most in East Asia (with North Korea at the bottom of the entire list at 167th place, followed by Burma 165th, China 162nd, Vietnam 161st and Laos 153rd) and the Middle East (Saudi Arabia 159th, Iran 158th, Syria 155th, Iraq 148th).

In these countries, an independent media either does not exist or journalists are persecuted and censored on a daily basis. Freedom of information and the safety of journalists are not guaranteed there. Continuing war has made Iraq the most deadly place on earth for journalists in recent years, with 44 killed there since fighting began in March last year.

But there are plenty of other black spots around the world for press freedom. Cuba (in 166th place) is second only to China as the biggest prison for journalists, with 26 in jail (China has 27). Since spring last year, these 26 independent journalists have languished in prison after being given sentences of between 14 and 27 years.

No privately-owned media exist in Turkmenistan (164th) and Eritrea (163rd), whose people can only read, see or listen to government-controlled media dominated by official propaganda.

The greatest press freedom is found in northern Europe (Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Iceland, the Netherlands and Norway), which is a haven of peace for journalists. Of the top 20 countries, only three (New Zealand 9th, Trinidad and Tobago 11th and Canada 18th) are outside Europe.

Other small and often impoverished democracies appear high on the list, such as El Salvador (28th) and Costa Rica (35th) in Central America, along with Cape Verde (38th) and Namibia (42nd) in Africa and Timor-Leste (57th) in Asia.

Reporters Without Borders compiled the index by asking its partner organisations (14 freedom of expression organisations in five continents), its 130 correspondents around the world, as well as journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists, to answer 52 questions to indicate the state of press freedom in 167 countries (others were not included for lack of information).

Too many Asian countries at the bottom of the list

For the third year running, North Korea is bottom of the list. Reporters Without Borders has just published a report of a fact-finding mission that describes how journalism is forced to serve the cult of personality of dictator Kim Jong-il. Dozens of journalists have been "re-educated" for often minor supposed professional "errors."

At the other extreme is New Zealand, in 9th place, which is the top-listed non-European country. News diversity is respected in this Pacific democracy and the government does not interfere.

At the bottom end is Burma (165th), whose military rulers have banned the privately-owned media from speaking freely and thrown in prison journalists supporting opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The press is also cowed in Vietnam (161st) and Laos (153rd).

China still scores very low (162nd) despite the growth of print and broadcast media, since the ruling Communist Party has used violence to indicate the lines that must not be crossed. The country is the world's biggest prison for journalists, with the most recent victim a Chinese correspondent for the US daily the New York Times. Despite promises made when Beijing was awarded the 2008 Olympic Games, the locally-based foreign media is still closely monitored.

No let-up in violence

Violence against the media continues to undermine freedom in many Asian countries.Nepal (160th) and Bangladesh (151st) rate very low due to incessant violence there. The governments are partly to blame but political groups, especially the Maoist rebels in Nepal, as well as organised crime also persecute journalists.

Countries such as the Philippines (111th), India (120th) and Indonesia (117th) figure in the bottom half of the index despite having free and lively independent media, since killings and physical attacks on journalists, along with outdated laws, still prevent a full flowering of the press.

Violence against the media in India rarely comes from the authorities but from political activists and in Kashmir from armed groups. The authorities in the Indonesian province of Aceh and the army in Pakistan's tribal areas have sealed off these areas to the media.Pakistan (150th) dropped about 20 places because of this and increased army pressure on the local press.

The Maldives (157th) lost ground in this year's index because of a crackdown on journalists and pro-democracy activists by longtime President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

Delicate situations

The situation in Afghanistan (97th) improved markedly however, with growing news diversity and the media daring to tackle sensitive topics.  But threats to journalists, especially from provincial warlords, remain very real.

In Japan (42nd), the media is diverse and powerful, but the system of kisha clubs still deprives foreign and freelance journalists of access to a lot of information. In South Korea (48th) and Taiwan (60th), the government is not always tolerant of opposition media.

Vietnam Attack on Mennonites Highlights Religious Persecution

For Immediate Release:

For more information, please contact:

Human Rights Watch

In New York, Brad Adams: +1 212 216 1228

In London, Urmi Shah: +44 207 713 2788

In Brussels, Vanessa Saenen: +322 732 2009

(New York, October 22, 2004) - Vietnam's recent demolition of a Mennonite chapel in Kontum province highlights the country's intensifying campaign against religious freedom, Human Rights Watch said today. A new law expected to go into effect in November bans any religious activity deemed to threaten national security, public order or national unity.

The recent attacks on the Mennonites, a Protestant denomination not recognized by the government, occurred against a backdrop of a crackdown on independent religious groups, in particular members of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam and ethnic minority Protestants in the northern and central highlands. During the last year, several protestant pastors and independent Buddhist monks have been detained and their places of worship shut down, cordoned off, or placed under surveillance. At least two Catholic priests and one Catholic layperson are serving long prison sentences for holding training courses and distributing books or leaflets.

The Vietnamese government bans independent religious associations and only permits religious activities by officially-recognized churches and organizations whose governing boards are approved and controlled by government. The Mennonite Church is not officially sanctioned by the government

"Bulldozing a Mennonite chapel is just one aspect of the Vietnamese government's crackdown on freedom of religion," said Brad Adams, executive director of Human Rights Watch's Asia Division. "Whether through legislation or through violence, the government has shown it is increasingly unwilling to tolerate religious practice outside its strict control."

On the morning of September 24, more than 200 officials, including paramilitary police from Unit 113, descended on the chapel and home of Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh in Kontum province. Pastor Chinh is superintendent of the Mennonite churches in the Central Highlands. The attack marked the second time the chapel was destroyed this year. On January 16, authorities bulldozed the same chapel, which doubles as Pastor Chinh's residence.

In the September 24 attack, government officials confiscated Chinh's property and farm animals, set fire to the house and chapel, and then used two bulldozers to flatten the remains. Chinh was out on a pastoral visit at the time, but his wife and children were arrested by officials and detained at Vinh Quang district headquarters from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm that day. Mrs. Chinh, who is seven months pregnant, reported being hit in the stomach and stepped on while in custody. Chinh reportedly went into hiding after returning to the scene briefly after the destruction was complete.

"All that remains of the Mennonite chapel in the Central Highlands is a cement floor," wrote Pastor Chinh in a letter dated September 25. "Many questions about this action await answers by leaders in Vietnam and abroad - this action which so seriously violates our human rights and religious freedom in a brazen way."

A new Ordinance on Religious Beliefs and Religious Organizations, passed by Vietnam's National Assembly last June, is expected to go into effect in November. Its first article, quoting Vietnam's Constitution, pays lip service to freedom of religion, but most of the remaining articles restrict that freedom and expand government controls over religion. The Ordinance also bans religious activities based on vague standards of national security. (To read the Ordinance, please see: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/10/21/vietna9551.htm.)

The Ordinance, which applies to all religious activity in Vietnam, requires religious leaders to follow the principle of "national unity" and to educate their followers about patriotism.

"The proposed ordinance on religious beliefs formalizes the serious restrictions already imposed on religious practice in Vietnam," Adams said. "This legislation impermissibly imposes the government's political goals on religious practice in Vietnam."

In late September, leaders of Vietnam's unregistered house church organizations, including some of the Mennonite churches, petitioned the head of the National Assembly and other top officials about their strong concerns that the new legislation will provide a legal basis to permanently outlaw their organizations.

"Thousands of Vietnamese citizens are being persecuted simply because they want to worship outside government restrictions," Adams said. "The government has not made any credible charges that the Mennonite church constitutes a threat to national security - this is just about control over public life."

Background on Crackdown on Mennonites in Vietnam

The Mennonite Central Committee, which is the social service arm of the Mennonite Church, was one of the very few western charitable organizations to continue work in Vietnam in the immediate aftermath of the communist victory in 1975 and the reunification of the country shortly thereafter. However, members of the banned Mennonite church have come under increasing pressure from the government in recent years. On May 15, 2004, authorities arrested Mennonite Pastor Ksor No, head of the congregation in Ia Grai district, Gia Lai. The reason for his arrest is not known; authorities presented no warrant or document to his family to inform them why he had been arrested.

In June, Pastor Nguyen Hong Quang, an outspoken Mennonite church leader in Ho Chi Minh City, was arrested after publicly criticizing the government for detaining four Mennonites three months earlier. Quang, who is trained as a lawyer, has defended farmers' land rights cases, spoken out against the arrests of religious and political dissidents, and publicized the plight of minority Christian churches in the Central Highlands. Many of his critical writings have been disseminated on the Internet in both Vietnamese and English.

In 2002 and 2003 Human Rights Watch received several reports about police ransacking the homes of Mennonite believers and confiscating Bibles in Kontum. Officials have withheld the residence permit (ho khau in Vietnamese) of Pastor Chinh and other Mennonites, which makes it difficult to legally find work, travel, and rent or own a home. In addition, local vigilantes in Kontum have reportedly beaten Mennonite workers and arranged hit-and-run motorcycle "accidents" to intimidate members of the church and pressure them to renounce their faith.

In September 2004, the US State Department designated Vietnam as a "Country of Particular Concern" because of what it called Vietnam's "particularly severe violations of religious freedom." The European Union and Japan have also expressed concern about repression of religious and political rights in Vietnam. In October, more than 100 members of the European Parliament called on the EU and EC to highlight Vietnam's human rights record during meetings of the Asia-Europe Economic Summit (ASEM) held in Hanoi. During the meetings the Dutch Foreign Minister, on behalf of the EU, called for the release of political and religious prisoners.

Father Chan Tins Letter

From:

Rev. CHAN TIN, CssR

38, Ky Dong, Phuong 9, Quan 3,

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Mail: stephan_chantin@yahoo.ca

To:

Most Reverend CHARLES J.CHAPUT

Ambassador JOHN V. HANFORD

Honorable Members of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom

Vietnam, October 11, 2004

Dear Sirs and Madams,

I am Rev. Stephan Chan Tin, a Catholic priest for over 80 years and an activist for religious freedom since 1975. On behalf of everyone working for religious freedom here in Vietnam, I would like to express our deep gratitude and congratulation to the USCIRF on your success in convincing the US State Department to put Hanoi regime and others on the list of Countries of Particular Concern.

We would like to particularly thank Ambassador John Hanford for your two fact-finding trips to Vietnam. Prior to your investigation, we had been trying for years to get the information regarding the severe condition of religious oppression in Vietnam to the world community with humble results.

We believe the only effective way to make the current communist government listen is the strong and united voice of the world governments. People inside Vietnam have tried repeatedly to raise our voices peacefully but were suppressed violently every time. The latest incident was the peaceful demonstration of highland Christians in April 2004. Our brothers and sisters in this area are still being persecuted at this very moment. Currently, many religious leaders are held in prisons or labor camps. While the world know well the fight of a few such as Father Nguyen Van Ly, Reverend Nguyen Hong Quang, Venerable Thich Quang Do, Venerable Thich Huyen Quang, many other clerics and religious laypeople are sharing the same, if not worse, suffering in total darkness.

I was informed that some Vietnamese government officials and religious representatives of the government-controlled churches have been sent to the US and Europe to draw a different picture of the religious freedom in Vietnam. While trusting that you will see through such ploys I still would like to bring to your attention the Government Order on Faith and Religion (Phap Lenh Tin Nguong Ton Giao) that is issued recently and will take effect on November 15, 2004. In our opinion, this is essentially the government's legalization of on-going suppression and gradual destruction of religions in Vietnam. In short, the communist government's hostile policy toward independent religious organizations has not changed at all, except for more sophisticated camouflage to the outside world.

We sincerely pray that your honorable commission will continue to see through the cover of the perpetrators of religious oppression around the world and reach the victims in the darkest corners.

May God bless you abundantly on your holy mission.

Sincerely yours

Stephan Chan Tin

Accustomed to corruption

The Vietnam Investment Review

September 29, 2004 Wednesday

URL: http://www.vir.com.vn/

Corruption has been named one of the four factors most likely to stymie development in Vietnam but, as Ngoc Mai reports, the government is beginning to make public examples of officials caught with their hands in the till to change the long-held view in society that slipping someone an envelope is a harmless courtesy.

Deception over the purchase and development of land is almost a matter of course When senior trade ministry official Le Van Thang was arrested at his Ngo Quyen street office two weeks ago, accused of accepting money in exchange for garment quotas to the US, PetroVietnam officials, who have offices on the same street and several of whom also stand accused of corruption, bemoaned the curse of Ngo Quyen.

But such a light-hearted brushing off of corruption is no longer acceptable, according to the government.

And the performance of Minister of Trade Truong Dinh Tuyen, who held a surprisingly candid impromptu press conference two days after Thang's arrest, would suggest things are changing.

Tuyen was battered by questions from dozens of journalists for more than two hours on the sidelines of a trade seminar, but he remained composed and answered every question in a straightforward manner.

"When bad things happened within a ministry, the ministry's leaders have to take responsibility. It is the same at any ministry," he said simply.

PetroVietnam's general director Nguyen Ngoc Canh also came out to face the music several months ago, after at least high-ranking PetroVietnam officials were arrested on corruption charges that cost the state millions of dollars.

This up-front attitude is warranted given the fact that corruption has been identified as one of the four factors most likely to hold back the development of Vietnam, the director of the State Inspectorate's Research Institute, Nguyen Van Thanh, told a regional workshop on ethics and

accountability in Hanoi last week.

But rather than place the responsibility for stopping corruption with top government officials, the inspectorate says the fight against graft is everyone's problem.

"Some of us may think that when we accept money in certain situations it is not corruption because everyone does it. It's like a kind of 'custom'," said the institute's deputy director Dinh Van Minh.

Receiving an envelope containing money at public and private meetings has become common practice in Vietnam; a cultural habit, some say.

Reporters might get an envelope from press conferences or give an envelope to their sources. Doctors might get envelopes from patients for treatment. Teachers might get envelopes on special occasions from parents of pupils.

Vietnam introduced an ordinance on measures designed to fight corruption in 1998, in which corruption is defined as taking a bribe, taking advantages of one's position and power to appropriate assets, taking advantages of one's position and power while responsible for a public service, abusing one's power while responsible for a public service, taking advantage of one's position and power to influence others for benefit, and committing fraud for personal benefit.

Current Vietnamese law provides for two main measures for dealing with corruption, including criminal punishments and administrative sanctions. The highest sanctions for corruption are life imprisonment and the death penalty.

Earlier this year, La Thi Kim Oanh, the former director of a state company under Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, received the death penalty after she was convicted of embezzling $4.6 million. Two former deputy ministers from MARD, Nguyen Thien Luan and Le Quang Ha, got three-year prison sentences for their involvement and the scandal also

forced MARD minister Le Huy Ngo to resign.

The press has played a key role in uncovering all of these cases of corruption and that role should be developed, says the state inspectorate.

"State inspectorates, investigation agencies and the press are those who are discovering corruption," Thanh said.

He admitted that local state management agencies were not paying enough attention to the problem.

"Local officials need to become more involved in the detection of corruption," he said.

The State Inspectorate Agency has been studying how best to improve the procedure for dealing with complaints from members of the public, focusing more on the responsibilities of state managers, especially at key state enterprises, and re-defining the role of the state inspectorate.

Five measures for improving the detection and prevention of corruption have been suggested. They include providing a set of prohibited activities for public employees, raising the transparency and democracy of state agencies, controlling the income and property of public employees, strengthening cooperation among state agencies responsible for inspection, investigation and prosecution work, and providing measures for promoting the involvement of the public in discovering corruption, such as encouraging citizens to denounce wrongdoing by public employees.

The last measure seems to be the most effective way but how to create such a mechanism is another challenge for Vietnamese policy makers.

In 1981, an ordinance on punishment for corruption offered 10 per cent of the sum involved in a particular graft case to the group or person that alerted the authorities.

The current law only says that those who do a good job fighting and preventing corruption will be rewarded.

Obviously, the legal system has to encourage people to weed out corruption and inform either the police or state officials, but on the other hand, the law must protect the informers. The accusers will have to consider what they will get and what they risk by reporting corruption to the police. In many cases, the informer will be exposing his or her boss, friend or relative.

British ethics expert Denis Osborne told last week's Hanoi conference on ethics and accountability that in some countries, "corruption is so popular that corrupted people do not think that they are corrupted".

And if this is the case for Vietnam, then the situation is improving. With at least three cases of large-scale corruption involving high-ranking government officials recently tackled in the public eye, it seems the government is making an effort to clean-up its image.

And although some might say this has come late in the game, it is better than never.

The Crossroads: The Drive For Change

The Vietnam Investment Review

September 29, 2004 Wednesday

URL: http://www.vir.com.vn/

'They pretend to pay us, and we pretend to work'. Despite 15 years of reform, this adage about the lot of a state worker still holds true -- as does the consequences of their disenchantment. Tu Giang reports on the bribery, excessive paperwork and long waits that are still commonplace in Vietnam's public administration system and finds that state workers are not only to blame.

Vietnam began its reform process, doi moi, more than a decade and a half ago. Though it has since made undeniable progress, it is now poised at the crossroads where major obstacles stand in the way of further progress.

What are these obstacles? Experts place public administration reform (PAR) at the top of the list of issues the country needs to address. Then follow other heavyweight tasks like international integration, state-owned enterprise reform, corruption, poverty reduction, the fight against HIV/AIDS and so on.

What is the need for PAR? Professor Nguyen Mai, a member of the prime minister's advisory board, said Vietnam's economic reform had reached a level where it could not but implement administration reform.

He admitted that for a long time, Vietnam, like China, had been wary of the lessons of perestroika and glasnost in the former Soviet Union and had focused on reforming the economy rather than public administration.

But 10 years ago, the government did begin to turn its attention to PAR, to the three main pillars of institutional reform: organisational machinery reform, capacity-building for civil servants and public financial reform.

Administrative procedure reform was also identified as a key focus, especially in six priority fields - customs, import/export, land, taxation, migration and immigration.

With support from international donors, the government went ahead, drafting new laws, frameworks and strategies for PAR.

However, Mai is not impressed with the speed at which it has been done. "The prime minister first touched upon PAR in 1994. But, unfortunately, our PAR implementation has remained stuck for the past 10 years and, in my opinion, is a failure," he told a conference recently.

Troubling issues

Why are civil servants lackadaisical about matters of great urgency to individuals and businesses?

Why are citizens and organisations looking for administrative service harassed for bribes and by the irrational and sluggish character of administrative machinery?

Why do they have to put up with cumbersome processes and procedures, bureaucracy, lack of responsibility and the arrogance of cadres and civil servants handling their files?

These questions and more have been troubling the experts. And for an answer, they point to the low wages civil servants are paid.

Decades ago, when the Vietnamese economy was centrally-managed and the subsidy mechanism still existed, civil servants used to say "[the state] pretends to pay us and we pretend to work".

But now, after more than one and a half decades of doi moi, little has changed. Though the minimum salary levels have been raised several times for state employees during the period, they remain ridiculously low - at VND290,000 ($19) per month or the price of two pairs of trousers.

Mai Quoc Binh, former director of Ho Chi Minh City's Public Administration Reform Steering Committee, admitted: "even if the current salary level doubles, it is not enough for the subsistence of state employees and their families."

Though admitting that the government's limited resources precluded its efforts at salary reform, he warned that "if the salary is kept at low levels like at present, it would continue to distort the administration machine".

Decentralising power

However, the salaries are only one part of the story. On the other are questions like "who is to blame for even official development assistance (ODA) projects getting delayed?". Decisions about virtually everything related to ODA still need to come from the Office of Government rather than being made at lower levels.

Clearly, the administrative structure is the culprit.

Lack of accountability and a complex and often overlapping administration machinery, formed during war time, continue to plague decision-making.

Trang A Pao, chairman of the Ethnic Committee of the National Assembly, had a dramatic experience with public officials to recount.

When Pao moved from Lao Cai province to Hanoi to take up the National Assembly assignment in 2002, he had to go to the police for permanent residential registration.

The police returned his application four times, each time with a different explanation. Sometimes, they asked for documents proving Pao owned a house in Hanoi. Other times, they wanted the state decision concerning his job assignment. He was asked to furnish documents he did not know existed.

Finally, exhausted, Pao took his application directly to the head of the Hanoi police. Everything was done within a day; only, he got the registration but his wife and children did not.

"If even high-ranked officials like me is harassed, what of ordinary citizens?" he said.

"[Civilians] can be troubled to death," Pao told the National Assembly earlier this year.

Vietnam is among the few countries in the world still requiring permanent residential registration without which a citizen cannot apply for marriage registration, identification card, schooling or other basic rights.

If Pao's story is a pointer to how ordinary people are ill-treated by officials, Phan Manh Chinh's turns the spotlight on an insidious consequence of redtape - holding up national development.

Chinh is the director of a company building major urban development projects in Hanoi. When they were working on building a suspension bridge at the capital's Vong cross-section three years ago, they discovered a finger-like cable under the ground. Not knowing to which agency it

belonged, Chinh placed many advertisements in newspapers asking "who?".

He received no reply for three months.

After that, Chinh began sending thick piles of documents to various agencies in Hanoi, whom he though might solve the matter. It took six months and 36 signatures and seals before he could continue construction.

"For a small cable, I had to spend six months. You know, there were so many other underground networks - water supply, sewerage and others - at that intersection," he said with a grin.

Minister of Home Affairs, Do Quang Trung, visited several major ports two years ago and was astonished and annoyed by what he discovered there. A ship arriving in a Vietnamese port had to fill in 36 kinds of documents and furnish 27 others to 15 administrative agencies. While departing from Vietnam, it had to fill in 17 kinds of documents and furnish 13 to those 15 state agencies.

Nowadays, following the reform of customs and ports, a vessel just needs to fill in nine documents and produce 11 others to six administrative agencies.

It probably explains why shipping a 40-foot container from Saigon Port to New York costs US$3,800 while the same-sized container costs $1,000 less for transport from China.

The country's top leaders acknowledge this problem. Prime Minister Phan Van Khai admitted recently that many cadres and civil servants in state agencies were oblivious to the worries and urgencies felt by businesses and individuals.

"The government has made mistakes in that we have not sensitised the administration machinery to state management functions in a market economy," Khai told the National Assembly earlier this year.

"We are determined to discipline heads of state administrative agencies at different levels who violate administrative principles and thus undermine the reform process," he added.

But the prime minister, who has approved the PAR strategy for the next 10 years and the programme to expand the one-stop-shop model across the country, admitted that the road ahead for PAR was uneven and stormy.

American Legion National Commander Calls For Senate Vote On Vietnam Human Rights Act Of 2004

For Immediate Release

INDIANAPOLIS (Sept. 29, 2004)  The top official of the worlds largest veterans service organization is calling on members of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee to bring to a vote a bill that aims to improve Vietnams worsening record on human rights and religious freedom.

Severe religious persecution is standard practice in Vietnam, and it is worsening, said Thomas P. Cadmus of Michigan, national commander of the 2.7-million member American Legion. Hundreds of Christians, Buddhists and followers of other faiths are in jail today, or under house arrest without charges, for peacefully following beliefs that are not authorized by the government.The Vietnam Human Rights Act of 2004, sponsored by Rep. Christopher Smith, R-N.J.,  passed by a 323-45 vote in the House on July 19. The Senate version was introduced by Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., on Sept. 9.

It was referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee where it has yet to be considered.A similar measure passed by a 410-1 landslide in the House in 2001 but stalled in committee after it was referred to the Senate. The number of killings, beatings and arrests of innocent worshipers in Vietnam since the death of that bill is anyones guess, Cadmus writes in an editorial released to nationwide today. It is unconscionable to fail these prayerful people  so many of whom are allies we left behind in Vietnam because some members of the Senate wont so much as give this bill its day in court. By failing to act, the committee also sends a message to Hanoi, which covets U.S. aid and trade but, as yet, has been given no good reason to change its draconian human-rights policies.

On Sept. 15, Vietnam was designated by the U.S. State Department as a country of particular concern under the International Religious Freedom Act. The designation is shared with North Korea, Iran, Burma, China, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia and Sudan. Among the primary targets of Vietnams religious persecution and human-rights abuses are the Montagnard people of the central highlands who fought alongside U.S. soldiers in the Vietnam War. Christian Montagnards were reportedly attacked and beaten by Vietnam government authorities during a prayer vigil last Easter weekend. Numerous other abuses, including violence and church destruction, have been widely reported since 2000. New laws in Vietnam are set to take effect Nov. 15 that would give the government greater freedom to restrict worship.

In the editorial, the commander calls upon all veterans and all Americans who value freedom and human rights to demand immediate Senate action on the bill, which will die at the end of the 108th Congress if not acted on. To neglect our former allies again is, at best, to subject them to Communist thought control, Cadmus states. At worst, our lack of action delivers their death sentence America must do better.

Thomas P. Cadmus, a U.S. Army veteran from Ypsilanti, Mich., is national commander of the 2.7 million-member American Legion, the nation's largest veterans organization.

Media contact: Contact: Joe March, (317) 630-1253 orRamona Joyce, (202) 263-2982.  A color photo of Cmdr. Cadmus is available upon request or may be downloaded at www.legion.org.

Survival Of Former U.S. Allies Depends On Vietnam Human Rights Act Of 2004

The American Legion Office of the National Commander

Immediate Release - Sept. 29, 2004

By Thomas P. Cadmus

Thousands of Christians from the remote central highlands of Vietnam gathered in their provincial capitals for a prayer vigil last Easter weekend. As they knelt, according to well-documented reports, communist authorities and soldiers in civilian clothes bludgeoned them with clubs, shovels and nail-affixed boards. The exact number killed and injured is unknown, withheld by a government that keeps its human-rights abuses well-veiled to the rest of the world. After the massacre, access to the highlands by foreign observers was blocked for a two-week period and, following that, was tightly controlled to only certain villages. Hundreds were reportedly arrested, tortured and jailed.

This was no isolated incident.

Severe religious persecution is standard practice in Vietnam, and it is escalating. Hundreds of Christians, Buddhists and followers of other faiths are in jail today, or under house arrest without charges, for peacefully following beliefs not authorized by the government. Vietnam requires government registration of churches and maintains control over their activities  from charity work to ministerial advancement to the content and publication of religious literature.

Religious freedom abuses have intensified in Vietnam despite the 2001 passage of a bilateral trade agreement with the United States and multiple warnings from the U.S. State Department. On Sept. 15, Secretary of State Colin Powell presented a report designating Vietnam as a country of particular concern under the International Religious Freedom Act, joining such reviled human-rights performers as North Korea, Iran, Burma, China, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia and Sudan. The report thoroughly chronicled dozens of government-sanctioned abuses, often violent, against many faiths, primarily those followed by ethnic minorities in the central and northwest highlands.

An estimated 400 churches have been destroyed by the government in Vietnam since 2000. One Catholic priest, Father Nguyen Van Ly, was arrested in May 2001 and sentenced to 15 years in prison for damaging the governments unity policy by writing a letter critical of the Vietnamese government to a U.S. human-rights commission. He remains behind bars, as do at least a confirmed 44 other religious leaders.

The Vietnam government routinely attempts to force believers of unauthorized religions to recant their faiths. Some reportedly have been coerced to drink animal blood mixed with alcohol in staged ceremonies to promote the revival of ancient tribal rituals that wont compete with atheistic communist doctrine. A new law, set to take effect Nov. 15, will allow Vietnamese authorities greater freedom to arrest anyone whose religious practices differ with government wishes, even in their own homes.

In the crosshairs of these abuses are some of the most loyal wartime allies America has ever known: the indigenous Montagnard people. Approximately half of the adult male Montagnard population was killed in action, fighting alongside U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War. After Saigon fell in 1975, most of the Montagnards were landlocked and unable to escape, left to face a vengeful new regime on their own. Only a handful made it out. Since then, while the rest of Vietnam has tripled in population, the number of Montagnards has been culled nearly in half through a process some watchdog groups call cultural leveling. Others call it genocide. Accusations of government-coerced sterilization, property seizure and harassment are widespread.

Meanwhile, the Vietnam Human Rights Act of 2004 languishes in the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The bill would simply freeze non-humanitarian U.S. aid to Vietnam at 2004 levels, meaning no new increases in funding until the communist regime proves substantial progress on human rights and religious freedom. The measure, H.R. 1587, was introduced by Rep. Christopher Smith, R-N.J., and passed overwhelmingly in the House on July 19. The Senate version was introduced Sept. 9 by Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., and was referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. But without further action, the measure will die with the end of 108th Congress.

A similar Vietnam human-rights bill introduced in 2001 passed by a 410-1 landslide in the House, only to die later in committee. At the time, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., served as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and opposed the bill. In a widely publicized 2002 letter, Kerry wrote that he and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., alike feared  it may hinder rather than advance the cause of human rights in Vietnam. We are concerned that denying aid to Vietnam would actually slow human-rights improvements.

Smiths bill does not deny aid. It merely caps non-humanitarian U.S. aid at 2004 levels until Vietnam proves its human-rights and religious freedom policies are improving.

Since the 2001 version was denied a vote in the Senate, the number of killings, beatings and arrests of innocent worshipers in Vietnam is anyones guess. Reports of abuses, meanwhile, keep piling up.

It is unconscionable to fail these prayerful people  so many of whom are allies we left behind in Vietnam  because some members of the Senate wont so much as give this bill its day in court. By failing to act, the committee also sends a message to Hanoi, which covets U.S. aid and trade but, as yet, has been given no good reason to change its draconian human-rights policies.

All these former allies  to whom thousands of U.S. veterans owe their lives  want is the freedom to pray for something better. Their faith rests in us.

Every American who values freedom of religion, basic human rights and support for former allies in their time of need must contact their U.S. senators immediately and demand a vote on the Vietnam Human Rights Act of 2004. To neglect our former allies once again is, at best, to subject them to communist thought control. At worst, our lack of action delivers their death sentence.  As the worlds leading voice of freedom, democracy and human dignity, America simply must do better. All it takes is a vote.

* Thomas P. Cadmus of Michigan is the National Commander of The American Legion, the worlds largest veterans service organization

Ambassador's Speech To The American Chamber Of Commerce In Hanoi

Tuesday, September 28, 2004

Thank you Terence. Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen.

First of all, I would like to thank the American Chamber of Commerce Board of Governors for inviting me to speak to you so early in my stay in Vietnam. In addition, I would like to note the presence of a senior visitor from Washington here tonight, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Shaun Donnelly. I hope that many of you have had a chance to chat with Ambassador Donnelly who is one of the State Department's most senior economic officials. This is his first trip to Vietnam, and as we all know, there is nothing like seeing a situation first hand, so we were very pleased that he could arrange to stop in Hanoi on this trip.

What I would like to do this evening is take stock of our bilateral relationship with Vietnam, focusing primarily on the economic and commercial aspects. Afterwards, I would be happy to take a few of your questions. But please note that I am new. So, I may be forced to ask for your forbearance on a tough question or two, but if I need to do that, we will get back to you with an answer quickly.

The U.S.-Vietnam relationship has come a long way in a relatively short period of time. Cooperation on the issue of the fullest possible accounting for our missing personnel from the Indochina conflict provided the initial impetus that enabled us to move relations forward and this issue remains one of our top priorities. From the very limited relationship in the 1980s to normalization of relations in 1995, we moved on to negotiate a Bilateral Trade Agreement (or BTA) in 2001 followed by agreements involving counter-narcotics and civil aviation in the past year. Current ties with Vietnam encompass an increasingly diverse and complex set of issues; foremost among these is Vietnam's need to adhere to universally recognized standards of human rights, including religious freedom. Also critical to the expanding relationship are the issues of trade and investment, regional security, counterterrorism, global health, humanitarian demining, and the struggle to combat transnational crime, particularly narcotics trafficking and trafficking in persons.

My own Vietnam experience dates back to the years 1988 to 1990 when I was Deputy Director of the State Department's Office of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia Affairs. At that time, we concentrated on the POW/MIA issue and other humanitarian issues. During those two years, I traveled to Hanoi six times for discussions regarding the efforts of U.S. NGOs to assist Vietnamese children and disabled war veterans. These talks were a key part of our efforts to encourage Vietnamese cooperation in our ongoing quest to achieve the fullest possible accounting of our missing personnel. When I returned to Hanoi for the first time since 1990 some two weeks ago, I quickly realized that this is a different Vietnam and a very different U.S.-Vietnam relationship.

Let's turn to our economic relationship with Vietnam. In my view, the United States and Vietnam need to continue to expand our economic relationship and to leverage the good will it can create to broaden our bilateral relations as well as to benefit our two economies.

Our deepening economic and commercial ties support the growth of civil society, encourage economic reform, draw Vietnam deeper into the rules-based international trading system, and further the interests of Vietnamese and American workers, consumers, farmers and business people.

If Vietnam fully implements its BTA obligations, it will also strengthen its candidacy for the World Trade Organization. I am convinced that assisting Vietnam to accede to the WTO supports the long-term interests of the United States, since further progress on economic reform will help create conditions that encourage the kinds of social and political changes that we hope to see here.

The BTA has had a significant impact on our bilateral trade over the past two years, but that fast growth is slowing now. Final trade figures for 2003 showed $5.88 billion in total bilateral trade almost double that of 2002. Total trade for the first seven months of this year is about equal to total trade during the same period in 2003, so this could also be a good year, although not necessarily a record-breaking one. As a direct result of lower tariff levels, Vietnam's exports to the United States rose by some 128% in 2002 and 90% in 2003, while our exports to Vietnam, boosted by the sale of some Boeing aircraft, have also risen markedly. Vietnam received the fourth and last Boeing under the initial contract signed in 2001 some nine days ago. Of course, we look forward to and will push hard for more purchases of Boeings by Vietnam Airlines.

Vietnam's official figures on U.S. investment in this country have risen this year to just over $1 billion, but this understates the real total. This data does not include investments by U.S. subsidiaries in Singapore and elsewhere in the region, such as nearly $1 billion by Cono-Phillips alone. I have just seen the preliminary results of a new survey that also counts U.S.- related investment. The survey shows $2.6 billion in realized U.S.-related investment through the end of 2003. It also shows that investment by U.S. firms grew significantly last year.

The 2001 Bilateral Trade Agreement is helping to create a rules-based system in Vietnam. This agreement binds Vietnam to an unprecedented array of reform commitments over a ten-year period in its legal and regulatory structures and has thus become a key catalyst for change. The BTA eliminates non-tariff barriers, cuts tariffs on a number of U.S. exports and gives Vietnam Most Favored Nation access to the U.S. market. When fully implemented, the BTA will provide for effective protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights (better known as IPR), open Vietnam's market to U.S. service providers, and create fair and transparent rules and regulations for U.S. investors.

One priority area where Vietnam has not kept pace with its BTA obligations is in the enforcement of IPR. The efforts of the Government of Vietnam to put in place strong IPR enforcement measures are not only important for BTA implementation and WTO accession, but also for the country's continued strong economic growth and development. IPR enforcement encourages both domestic and foreign investment in IP-dependent sectors such as information technology. Vietnams success in developing these sectors and in encouraging badly needed investment to do so will be directly proportional to its success in reducing piracy and counterfeiting.

In December 2004, several important BTA obligations will come due. These include significant tariff reductions; phasing out of some import quotas; the introduction of some new trading rights; authorization for U.S. companies to mortgage land use rights at foreign banks; permission to establish joint ventures for internet services, and a reduction in a number of restrictions on U.S. investment including the elimination of minimum capital requirements for joint ventures.

Vietnam continues to make progress on its WTO accession bid, most recently at the 8^th Working Party held in June in Geneva. The United States and Vietnam also held bilateral market access negotiations on goods and services on the margins of that meeting. Deputy United States Trade Representative Josette Shiner came to Hanoi in July and had discussions on the status of our bilateral trade relationship as well as on WTO issues. We are working toward another round of bilateral market access talks in Washington in late October. These will be followed, we hope, by another Working Party meeting in Geneva in December.

The Vietnamese Government has flagged telecommunications, distribution, transport and financial services as tough areas for liberalization. Nevertheless, the United States will continue to pursue further progress in these areas as well as in agriculture. Questions also remain on whether Vietnam can implement the necessary broad reforms in the near term and if the pace of the necessary National Assembly deliberations can meet Vietnams target date. So, while not an impossible target, Vietnam will need to move quickly to meet its goal of accession to the WTO by the end of 2005.

The U.S.-Vietnam Air Transport Agreement was signed in Washington during Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan's visit last December. United Airlines is preparing to become the first U.S. air carrier to take advantage of the provision for direct flights with a route from San Francisco to Ho Chi Minh City via Hong Kong. We expect to see a United Airlines aircraft landing in Ho Chi Minh City before Christmas.

Since Vietnam is not a WTO member, it will still be subject to garment quotas next year after the expiration of the multilateral Agreement on Textiles and Clothing on January 1, 2005. In July, the United States and Vietnam extended the bilateral textile agreement until December 31, 2005. This extension will expand the amount of garments that can be sold in the United States by allowing companies to borrow from next years quota.

As the Government of Vietnam itself has recognized, WTO accession is very important for Vietnam's continued economic growth and development. For example, when the WTO Agreement on Textiles and Clothing expires on January 1, 2005, WTO members will no longer be subject to quotas on their textile exports. However, Vietnam will continue to be subject to quotas until it accedes to the WTO. This means Vietnamese textile and garment companies will have to compete with companies in other countries, like China, that are not constrained by quota.

Of course, our relationship with Vietnam goes far beyond economic and commercial questions. One key to advancing our overarching policy objectives in Vietnam is our assistance programs which we use to promote civil society development, rule of law, advocacy for persons with disabilities and those living with HIV/AIDS, environmental management and trade reform. The BTA results I described earlier already reflect the impact of the Support For Trade Acceleration Project (known as STAR), which provides $10.6 million over four years for technical assistance for BTA implementation.

In recent months, our assistance program to Vietnam has taken on a new, quite urgent focus. As you probably know, President Bush designated Vietnam as one of the fifteen countries that will receive special assistance to prevent and combat HIV/AIDS, under the Presidents Emergency Program For AIDS Relief. We will be disbursing some $25 million in Emergency Plan money in Vietnam in Fiscal Year 2005. For the past 10 days, an interagency U.S. Government technical team has been here to work with the Vietnamese to develop a strategy to allocate these new resources effectively. One area that we are especially interested in is what programs on HIV/AIDS prevention and education exist at private sector firms, in particular, in multinationals like many of you represented here tonight. The U.S. Government team met with AmCham members last week to discuss this, and I strongly encourage AmCham and its members to do your part to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS in Vietnam. There are many ways that the AmCham community both here and in Ho Chi Minh City can become involved. Worker education, pro bono assistance to develop public service messages and contributions to care centers near a companys area of operations are just a few. A key reason why President Bush chose Vietnam as the 15th U.S. Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief country and the only one in Asia is because there is an excellent, very real chance that the epidemic can be controlled here with prompt action. If we fail, however, Vietnams economic gains are likely to erode and its prospects for further economic growth will fade. Having served in Kenya in the late 1990s, I have seen first-hand the devastation HIV/AIDS can cause in a vibrant nation. We must all do whatever we can to prevent that cruel fate from befalling the Vietnamese people.

Half of Vietnam's population was born after 1975 and has no recollection of the war years. The Vietnamese people value education, the capacity for work and entrepreneurship. With good leadership, Vietnams future can be very bright, indeed. In addition to its growing importance as a trading partner, Vietnam has taken on additional responsibilities recently in regional and international organizations. Clearly, a prosperous and vibrant Vietnam, one that assumes a leadership role in contributing to regional stability, is very much in the interest of the United States and the American people.

The Government of Vietnam, however, continues to be intolerant of political dissent and significantly restricts freedom of religion, speech, the press, assembly and association. It is true that Vietnam is clearly less repressive now than it was a decade ago, with the Vietnamese people enjoying more individual freedom and increasing control over their own lives. Much more is possible, however. We need to demonstrate to the Vietnamese authorities that expanded personal freedoms and increasing emphasis on and adherence to the rule of law will set the stage for more foreign investment and engagement with the United States, and will improve Vietnams standing in the international community of nations.

To express its concern with the situation regarding the ability of the people of Vietnam to exercise their religious beliefs, the United States recently designated Vietnam as a Country of Particular Concern. While we recognize that Vietnam has made progress in this area, the plain fact is that a not insignificant number of Vietnams citizens are not free to worship and practice as they would like. And, this is something we cannot ignore.

As I vigorously seek to advance our economic and commercial agenda with Vietnam, I will also continue to seek tangible progress from Vietnam in the areas of human rights and religious freedom, areas that must improve if relations between our two countries are to continue to blossom. In this connection, I will encourage the Vietnamese Government to look favorably on foreign direct assistance and development projects that will improve living conditions in the Central Highlands for all inhabitants, including Montagnards. I will also maintain a strong stance on respect for the universal rights of peaceful assembly, freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

In my view, prospects are bright for relations between the United States and Vietnam to continue to deepen and broaden. One key to continued progress will be patience as we gain confidence in dealing with each other. I look forward to contributing to the positive growth of this young, but very promising relationship and to working with all of you to do so.

Thank you.

Ж Ж Ж Ж Ж Ж

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