Vietnam Human Rights Journal

1977 Buddhist protest documents

2011-05-28T23:38:00.000-07:00

The text of documents released in 1977 from the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) leaders, protesting religious repression and human rights violations, can be found here.

The documents were smuggled out of the country by a high ranking UBCV monk, Thich Man Giac, who fled by fishing boat in 1977, and translated into English by the Vietnamese Buddhist Peace Delegation, headed by Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh and Sister Chan Khong (then a layperson, known as Cao Ngoc Phuong). The link is to a 1978 journal of Religion in Communist Lands, as it was then known, later known as Religion, State, and Society, published by the Keston Center for Religion, Politics, & Society. The documents were also published in a book by James H. Forest, The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam: Fifteen Years for Reconciliation. Alkmaar, Netherlands: International Fellowship of Reconciliation, 1978.

The documents are of historical significance because this was the first major protest of any kind within Vietnam, and it also marked one of the most serious crackdowns on religion by the new government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, at a time when it was at its most repressive and closed mode. The top six leaders of the UBCV were arrested shortly after these documents were issued, in April 1977, and imprisoned until December 1978. Another prominent monk involved with these documents, Thich Thien Minh, was arrested and died in prison in 1978. By 1981, the government had moved to establish a state-sponsored Buddhist church, and required the UBCV to incorporate itself into this new organization. Some UBCV leaders, most notably Thich Huyen Quang and Thich Quang Do, strongly protested, and thus spent most of the subsequent years in prison or under house arrest.

Cu Huy Ha Vu, HRW report

2011-05-28T18:40:00.000-07:00

Human Rights Watch issued May 26 a 59-page report on dissident Cu Huy Ha Vu, who was sentenced last month to seven years imprisonment for carrying out propaganda against the state.

One interesting point brought out in the report is the wide support he has received within Vietnam. The press release can be found here.

The text of the report in English can be found here. In Vietnamese, here.

Vi Duc Hoi sentenced

2011-01-26T11:45:00.000-08:00

Vi Duc Hoi, a former Communist Party official, has been sentenced by a court in Lang Son province to eight years in prison, followed by five years house arrest, for posting pro-democracy articles on the internet. He was convicted of "spreading anti-government propaganda," in violation of Article 88 of the Criminal Code. Amnesty International issued a press release today protesting his sentence, which can be found here.

See also Viet Tan report and this one from Viet Tan last November. Frontline Defenders says: "Vi Duc Hoi was a member of the Communist Party between 1980 and 2007, during which time he held a number of positions: Director of the Communist Party School in Huu Lung District, Lang Son Province; District Standing Committee Member; and Chairman of the District Propaganda and Education Committee.

"The day after he submitted his resignation on 1 May 2007, a party official reportedly issued an order, Decision no. 388-QD/TU, stating that the party would have to “undertake disciplinary action against comrade Vi Duc Hoi [...] and expel him”.

"Vi Duc Hoi was previously arrested in April 2008 for his part in protesting the Beijing Torch Relay in Vietnam. On 12 June 2008, during a Communist Party rally, Vi Duc Hoi was publicly denounced, accused of treason, and threatened with expulsion from his hometown. His wife was dismissed from the Communist Party as a result of her 'inability to educate her husband'. Since joining Bloc 8406 Vi Duc Hoi has been denied his health insurance and pension..."

Ceremony honors Catholic martyrs

2010-08-03T22:18:00.000-07:00

A commemorative ceremony to honor Vietnam's Peter Doan Cong Qui and Emmanuel Le Van Phung, two of the 117 sainted Catholic martyrs from Vietnam, was held July 31 on Gieng island in Long Xuyen diocese of southern Vietnam, concelebrated by 60 priests, with the participation of hundreds of ceremonies and 3,000 laity. Click here for full article, from Asia News, reprinted in Viet Catholic News Aug. 3.

A Rights Agenda for Vietnam

2010-07-29T23:17:00.000-07:00

Duy Hoang, leader of Viet Tan, an overseas Vietnamese anti-communist group, calls on Sec. of State Clinton to put more pressure on the Vietnam government in the area of human rights, particularly with regard to internet freedom and the release of dissidents. Click here for the full op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal, July 19.

UN officials reports on minority rights in Vietnam

2010-07-27T18:44:00.000-07:00

Statement by the United Nations Independent Expert on minority issues, Ms. Gay McDougall, on conclusion of her official visit to Viet Nam – 5 to 15 July 2010

In my capacity as the United Nations Independent Expert on minority issues I have conducted an official visit to Viet Nam from 5 to 15 July 2010. The objective of my visit was to hold consultations on minority issues and to examine the human rights situation of Viet Nam’s numerous minority groups in conformity with my UN mandate. Under my mandate I am required to promote implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities* and to identify challenges as well as successful practices in regard to minority...

..The Government readily acknowledges that, despite a remarkable period of economic growth, progress towards the MDGs and highly positive results in respect to poverty alleviation and economic development in general, most minority groups remain the poorest of Viet Nam’s poor. The acknowledgment of the economic and social gaps that exist between the minority communities and the majority population, who identify themselves as the “Kinh” ethnic group, is an important step towards putting in place the measures required to close those gaps. Government programs over the past several years have established important initiatives to close those gaps through infrastructure projects, social protection programs and developments in the fields of health and education. The government should be commended for these programs and the improvements that they have made in the lives of minorities.

I understand the challenges facing the government in achieving the rights of non-Kinh ethnic communities, particularly those in the most geographically remote areas. I welcome the government’s affirmation of its commitment to tackling those challenges as a matter of high priority. It is critical that the Government ensures that its economic growth is achieved without negatively impacting on the lives of minorities or deepening their poverty and that they share fully in the benefits of growth and prosperity, while maintaining their distinct cultures and identities...

For full report, by Ms. Gay McDougall, July 21, click here.

Dissent article on dissident movement in Vietnam

2010-07-27T18:23:00.000-07:00

In its summer issue, Dissent magazine, published in New York, breaks the silence on efforts to quell pro-democracy movements in Vietnam with an article titled “Vietnamese Dissidents: Absent from the Western Mind.”

Dustin Roasa, a free lance writer based in Cambodia, describes the most recent chapter in the history of Vietnamese dissidents, which began on April 8, 2006, when a group of activists posted on-line a “Manifesto 2006 on Freedom and Democracy.” The Dissent article was featured in a blog called Human Rights for Workers...

Click here for remainder of commentary in the Committee for Free Trade Unionism blog, July 27.

Mob throws coffin on government steps

2010-07-27T18:02:00.000-07:00

Thousands of angry Vietnamese surrounded a government building, throwing rocks and blocking traffic with a coffin following the unexpected death of a man detained for a routine traffic violation, a newspaper reported Tuesday.

Nong Nghiep Vietnam newspaper quoted the victim's uncle, Nguyen Van Toan, as saying that family members gathered to demand an investigation into the 21-year-old man's death in northern Bac Giang province. He was hospitalized after being taken into custody following a routine traffic stop...

Click here for full report from Associated Press, July 27.

Rights abuse in drug treatment centers

2010-07-27T16:45:00.000-07:00

Drug policies based on ideology rather than science are fueling human rights abuses of drug users, according to a panel of experts speaking at last week’s Eighteenth International AIDS Conference which took place in Vienna, Austria.

Violations of physical and legal rights coupled with poor outcomes mar many country’s drug treatment programmes, which can include forced labour or exercise and prison-like conditions.

Asia acts as the epicentre of such mandatory programmes, in which drug users are forcibly removed from their communities and kept in centres for months to years. Currently, the continent boasts an estimated 400,000-5000,000 detainees. Considering programmes in China and Cambodia, Richard Pearshouse says that these programmes have seen a “massive scale up” in recent years...

...T.M. Hammet of USAID voiced similar concerns as he described the situation of detainees in Vietnam’s “06 Centres,” who also experience no due process and may spend up to four years within the programme. Countrywide 33,000 users are currently detained...

Click here for full article, from Aidsmap July 27.

Trade, but also human rights, in Washington Hanoi cooperation

2010-07-27T16:41:00.000-07:00

Hanoi - The United States wants to increase cooperation with Vietnam, although there are "profound differences" in the vision of human rights and democracy, despite criticism of Hanoi for the repression against dissidents, attacks on religious groups and limited access to Internet.

This is what has emerged from US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton’s the visit to Vietnam, during the meeting of ASEAN Foreign Ministers, held in Hanoi...

Click here for full story from Spero News/Asia News July 27.

Closing statement of Dep. PM Pham Gia Khiem at ASEAN meeting

2010-07-26T11:06:00.000-07:00

..We commended the efforts of the ASEAN Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) in finalizing the 5-year Work Plan, and approved the high priority programmes and activities for 2010-2011 of AICHR. We reaffirmed the role of AICHR as the overarching institution for regional cooperation in human rights and stressed the need for the AICHR to ensure the effective operation in conformity with its Terms of Reference and establish its proper alignment with other human rights bodies in ASEAN, including the ASEAN Commission on the promotion and protection of rights of Women and Children (ACWC)...

Click here for full text of statement.

Decree on implementation of the law on residential housing of Vietnam

2010-07-26T10:55:00.001-07:00

On 23 June 2010, the Government of Vietnam promulgated Decree No. 71/2010/ND-CP (“Decree 71”) guiding the implementation of the Law on Residential Housing dated 29 November 2005. Decree 71 will take effect on 8 August 2010 and will replace Decree No. 90/2006/ND-CP (“Decree 90”) of the Government dated 6 September 2006...

Click here for full article.

For Ly Tong, Vietnam War Still Rages

2010-07-26T10:51:00.000-07:00

Ly Tong, arguably the most famous, if not the most colorful, of all Vietnamese-American anti-communist activists, was arrested again in San Jose. The man, who many in the Vietnamese-American community call “Hero Ly Tong,” reportedly dressed up as a woman and bought a ticket to a Vietnamese concert. He made his way to the stage and pepper-sprayed the famous Vietnamese pop singer Hung Vinh Dam, who is visiting from Vietnam. The reason: Dam is accused of being a communist and spreading propaganda in the United States, even though the singer only sings love songs...

Click here for full article.

Haiphong Catholics relaunch youth ministry

2010-07-25T00:13:00.000-07:00

Hanoi – More than a hundred young people attended a seminar in the
diocese of Haiphong titled ‘Young people and faith’ as part of an
effort by the Vietnamese Catholic Church to re-launch its youth
ministry programme.

The three-day event (20 to 22 July), organised by the Youth Ministry
Committee of the Vietnam Catholic Bishops’ Council, brought together four bishops, about 25 priests and nuns involved with youth as well as more than 100 young people from 26 different dioceses...

Click here for full article.

Government-Incited Gang in Vietnam Attacks House Church

2010-07-25T00:06:00.000-07:00

HO CHI MINH CITY (Compass Direct News) – A gang of youths on Sunday attacked a house church as the congregation worshiped in Xi Thoai village in Phu Yen Province on Vietnam’s south central coast,
Christian sources said.

The local youths smashed the walls of the home and wreaked havoc
within as they railed against evangelist Mang Vuong for being a
Christian and for building his home to be a house church, the sources
said. The sources noted that on the night of June 10 the same youths,
spurred by local authorities, broke into Vuong’s home in Xuan Lanh
Commune, Dong Xuan district, stole more than $3,000 and destroyed
household furnishings, utensils and books...

Click here for full article.

Breaking Fences In Vietnam - by Bill Hayton

2010-07-23T18:33:00.000-07:00

International aid and investment has not brought multi-party democracy to Vietnam; instead it has made one party rule more efficient and effective.

Fulbright scholar and celebrity lawyer Le Cong Dinh is to remain in prison in Vietnam. Recently, the Appeals Court in Ho Chi Minh City upheld his five-year sentence for 'trying to overthrow the state' and returned Dinh and his two co-accused to their cells. The fate of this man--who famously defended his country's catfish farmers against U.S. trade restrictions; was deputy head of the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association; briefed international legal delegations; and married a former Miss Vietnam--has now clearly defined the limits of political activity the ruling Communist Party (CPV) will tolerate...

Click here for full article.

Clinton raises human rights during Vietnam visit

2010-07-22T23:15:00.000-07:00

Various reports:

New York Times/Bloomberg:

HANOI, Vietnam — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton chided
Vietnam on Thursday for intolerance of dissent and infringement of
Internet freedom, even as she celebrated its 15 years of normalized
relations with the United States.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton during a news conference
with Pham Gia Khiem, Vietnam’s foreign minister, in Hanoi on Thursday.

Mrs. Clinton said she raised the issues of jailed democracy activists,
attacks on religious groups and curbs on social-networking Web sites
during a meeting with Vietnam’s deputy prime minister, Pham Gia Khiem...

Click here for full text of article.

--

Washington Post:

HANOI -- The Obama administration is ready to move to the "next level"
of close relations with Vietnam despite concerns and "profound
differences" over human rights, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham
Clinton said during a visit to Hanoi on Thursday...

Click here for full text of report.

---

Voice of America:

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in Hanoi for a regional
security forum, has hailed 15 years of improving relations with
Vietnam since the war fought there 35 years ago. However, Clinton
also cited outstanding human rights concerns in the one-party state...

Click here for full text of report.

---

Reuters:

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed concern
Thursday over Vietnam's arrests of dissidents, attacks on religious
groups and curbs on Internet freedom, but said the countries remained
friends...

Click here for full text of report.

---
OC Weekly blog:

News services are reporting that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
pressured Vietnam's leaders to improve its human rights practices
during her trip to the Southeast Asian nation, but two Orange County
members of Congress view her actions with opposing conclusions.

Loretta Sanchez (D-Anaheim) told The Orange County Register's
Washington, D.C. bureau that she was "thrilled" by Clinton raising the
issue, but Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) complained that the secretary of
state's rebuke had been too brief and weak...

Click here for full text of report.

HRW: Clinton Should Press Hanoi on Rights

2010-07-22T16:42:00.000-07:00

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should highlight the importance of respect for human rights in Vietnam during her visit to Hanoi to attend the ASEAN Regional Forum on July 23, 2010, Human Rights Watch said today...

Click here for full press release.

Independent magazine keeps publishing despite harassment

2010-07-22T14:39:00.001-07:00

Reporters Without Borders voices its full support for the writers and editors of To Quoc (http://www.to-quoc.net), an independent fortnightly that has managed to keep appearing in print and online despite a campaign of threats and harassment. One of its founders told Reporters Without Borders the threats were part of a “dangerous plans by the conservatives” before the Communist Party’s next congress...

Click here for full report (published last April).

Le Thi Cong Nhan poem - I have a dream

2010-07-22T12:24:00.000-07:00

The following translation of a poem was sent to me by a friend and is
also posted at the website listed below. Le Thi Cong Nhan is a lawyer
and dissident who was recently released from prison after completing
a three year sentence for her human rights work, but is now under house arrest.

This link includes the original Vietnamese version:

-------------------------------------------------------------------

I HAVE A DREAM
by Le Thi Cong Nhan

I have a dream
that one day
on earth
there will be no more
communists.

Then, my village peasants
will not have to work hard in the rice field
under the hot burning sun,
soaked in sweat
in the rainy storm,
lonely
in the empty rice field,
so the grain will be ripe
and full.
Yet
more than half must be given to feed the dictatorial communist
government
What's left?!

Then, my country's scholars
will raise their voice to the truth
Because the figure 8 handcuff
and provision 88 of the legal statute
will have been expunged
out of our thoughts.
With it go provisions 79, 87,
and 258 ...
abominable forever !
They are the unique products of our country
and of other socialist brethrens'
But
Comrades?
An evil axis to be more accurate !
Walking together
they usurp the wealth
to themselves
for eternity !

Then my country's poets and writers
will flood their thoughts fully
without
suppressing them,
hiding them,
hanging them,
bagging them,
or simply
forgetting them,
pretending that they don't have any honest thoughts
at all!

And then,
the poems and songs
from my country
will flourish
even if they have to start all over.
But
a single step
on the honest path (if you dare to join)
is enough to overwhelm you!
Really!
Try it!

When there is no longer a communist shadow
in my country
then the lawyer
will truly be
the heart of democracy!!
To deliver eloquent speeches, lecture,
debate, defend,
without being afraid
to be thrown in jail,
refusing to be
dumb witted
Refusing to praise and glorify the communist gang,
and a decomposed corpse (made of composite)!
To be great,
to be the only truth
on earth.

Then,
there will no longer be hardship
of the hard working laborors
with the dirt cheap salary
that cannot be any cheaper !

And there will no longer be any more calamity
that the spiritual leaders have to endure
because of their stubbornness
and of their characters,
to be foolish enough
to demand freedom of religions and religious beliefs,
and furthermore
to demand back
the confiscated properties that were taken unfairly from them,
in order to worship
God, the Almighty, the Lord
Our Creator,
and also
the Creator of the communists, too !
Because He is the One who gave life
to humankind.

Therefore, the communists,
if you are still breathing
then definitely that notion
must be meaningful! (I know it is).

So that
for those who still have a conscience
and some bravery left,
and some respect for themselves,
some honor
that they unexpectedly found
after having lost it (for a long time)
"strongly condemn"
and
"fiercely oppose"
the communist dictatorship regime,
ruthless and uncivilized,
wicked and barbaric,
ignorant at best,
lavishing the most,
delirious to the extreme,
deceitful as the gods !
etc...

Then,
everyone will find
the signification of their lives
is
to live for each other!
And to sacrifice for the human race,
for our brothers and sisters
created by our Creator
with Love!

I have a dream
that may not come true
in my life time,
and I venture to say/disclose/share
to cry out tragically
strongly and openly
to everyone to know
that:

I am not a mute,
I have ears and not deaf,
I have eyes and not blind,
and I have a heart (unfortunately) that still vibrates
a conscience that is not toothless
because it still has teeth
(it bites me every day!
And God is my witness!)
I have a head that still thinks
and dreams
about the things that are sublime,
but they are really simple things,
such as
Honest and Brave characters
the moral foundation
of a person !

But,
Who?
Will recreate and be the guardian
of this foundation?

"I,
(the little insignificant krill Le Thi Cong Nhan)
volunteer to lend
a hand."

Thus,
The Rest
Awaits
Someone?

(The police, when insulting me, usually call me "the little brat, the
little devil, the little kid, ... too young but already committed
serious crimes". I decided that I will not consider it a sin whatever
names they call me because, when I look at myself, I am truly very
young. So, I call myself "The insignificant little krill" just for
fun !?!?)

Amnesty International urges release of Vietnam POCs on amnesty day

2010-07-22T11:29:00.000-07:00

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

VIET NAM: RELEASE PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE

Viet Nam: Release prisoners of conscience
Index Number: ASA 41/001/2010
Date Published: 13 July 2010
Categories: Viet Nam

Amnesty International is calling for all prisoners of conscience to be
included in a major amnesty for prisoners, authorized by Viet Nam’s
President to mark National Day on 2 September 2010. The Ministry of
Public Security has said that between 25,000 to 30,000 prisoners will
be granted amnesty and released from prison before National Day...

Click here for full text.

Catholic beaten to death by Vietnamese police

2010-07-22T11:24:00.000-07:00

In the latest in a series of official assaults against the Church in Vietnam, a Catholic layman was beaten to death by police for his protest against the seizure of his parish cemetery...

Click here for full article.

See also Eglises d'Asie report, which is more detailed.

Vinh Long nuns keep fighting for justice and truth

2010-07-22T11:23:00.000-07:00

Their convent has already been bulldozed to build a public square but the defiant Sisters of Saint Paul of Chartres in Vinh Long still refuse to let themselves submitted to injustice....

Click here for full article.

Agent Orange victims demand justice

2010-07-22T11:21:00.000-07:00

The Vietnam Association for the Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA) has called on the US Congress and government to demonstrate their clearer responsibility for the consequences of the chemical warfare during the Vietnam War...

Click here for full article.

NZ PM seeks dialogue on Vietnam human rights issues

2010-07-22T11:17:00.000-07:00

Hanoi, Vietnam July 11 NZPA - Human rights issues are a serious concern in Vietnam but Prime Minister John Key says improving New Zealand's relationship with the southeast Asian nation can help...

Click here for full article.

Clinton Urges Vietnam To Improve Its Human Rights Record

2010-07-22T11:16:00.000-07:00

(RTTNews) - United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who arrived in Vietnam Thursday on a two-day tour of the country made a call to improve its human rights record...

Click here for full article.

Vietnam publishes human rights magazine

2010-07-22T11:15:00.000-07:00

HANOI, Vietnam — Vietnam, often criticized by Western governments and international groups for its poor human rights record, has published the first issue of a human rights magazine to help counter what it calls "erroneous and hostile allegations," state media reported Thursday....

Click here for full article.

Vietnam Rights and Wrongs

2010-07-22T11:13:00.000-07:00

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Hanoi today on a trip that, among other things, will mark the 15th anniversary of the normalization of relations between Vietnam and America. That time has seen a marked growth in trade and investment, which is all to the good. But Hanoi's human rights record has been decidedly mixed, and Mrs. Clinton has an opportunity to address those shortcomings on this visit...

Click here for full article

Vietnamese dissidents urge US to pressure Vietnam on human rights

2010-07-22T11:09:00.000-07:00

Hanoi - Vietnamese dissidents on Thursday urged US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to raise human rights issues with Vietnam officials during her visit to Hanoi...
Click here for full text.

Catholics fined for having large families

2009-07-16T23:37:00.000-07:00

Catholics in Vietnam face a conflict between church policy which prohibits most forms of contraception and government policy, which punishes families with more than two children. For peasants, it appears that the punishment comes in the form of progressively harsher fines of rice. For example, a 44-year-old woman from Huong Toan village near Hue said she was fined 300 kilograms of rice for her third child, 600 kilograms for her fourth, 900 kilograms for her fifth and 2,000 kilograms for her sixth. Since the family makes a profit of only 700 kilograms or rice annually, the fines hit hard. The parish priest, Fr. Joseph Nguyen Van Chanh, says 90% of the Catholics in the parish agree to pay the fines rather than violate church teaching. He is asking for donations to support local people with large families.

Vietnam has a population of close to 86 million people with an average annual increase of 1.12 million.

Source: UCAN News/Indian Catholic, July 16.

Six more activists arrested

2009-07-15T01:15:00.000-07:00

Vietnamese novelist Nguyen Xuan Nghia and five other pro-democracy advocates have been charged with defaming government leaders, Vietnam state media reported Tuesday. The six, who have been detained since September 2008, are accused of hanging anti-government banners on Haiphong bridges and bridges of the neighboring province of Hai Duong, and then posting photos of the banners on internet.

Nghia (age 60) is also accused of writing 57 articles between 2007 and his arrest last year attacking the Vietnamese Communist Party and its leaders. and of belonging to the banned "Bloc 8406", a pro-democracy group founded in 2006 by jailed priest Fr. Nguyen Van Linh.

Sources: Associated Press July 14; Lao Dong July 15; Thanh Nien July 15; see also statement of the Vietnam Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sept. 26, 2008.

Foreign Ministry defends Fr. Ly's imprisonment

2009-07-10T17:26:00.001-07:00

Vietnam Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Dung defended the 2007 trial and conviction of Fr. Nguyen Van Ly in a July 9 Hanoi press briefing. He said that Fr. Ly was sentenced (to eight years) "not for any religious reason or his political views;" and that his trial was "public and his rights at the court were protected in accordance with Vietnamese law." A July 1 letter by 37 U.S. senators, led by Barbara Boxer (D-California) and Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) called for Fr. Ly's immediate release and described his trial as "seriously flawed." Vietnam is one of 13 countries named as a "country of particular concern" by the independent U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom because of this and other recent arrests of religious people in Vietnam.

Sources: Reuters, July 9; Voice of Vietnam July 9; New York Times July 1; Barbara Boxer press release [text of Senators' letter] July 1; U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom 2009 report on Vietnam.

Golf courses protested by scientists, environmentalists

2009-05-08T13:57:00.000-07:00

Scientists and environmentalists in Vietnam protested the construction of golf courses in the country, stating it is bad for the environment and takes away land that could be tilled by peasants. The comments were made at a May 6 conference in Hanoi, organized by Vietnam's Federation of Civil Engineering Associations. They said the courses require heavy use of pesticides and fertilizers; and that an average 18-hole golf course in the country uses farmland that would otherwise support 7,000 people and produce 330 tons of rice per crop.

Nguyen Ngoc Chu, general secretary of the Vietnam Golf Association, countered that the courses represent "inevitable progress" and meet part of the government's demand for more green space in the country.

Vietnam presently has 76 golf courses completed or under construction, and another 68 that have applied for licenses. The total land allocated for the 144 golf courses comes to 45,000 hectares. However, only 18 courses are presently open for business.

The environmental dispute between government officials and scientists over the golf courses is shaping into another high-level dissident movement over the impact of development on the natural resources of the country, much like the issue of bauxite mining.

Sources: Deutsche Press Agentur/Monsters and critics.com May 7; Viet Nam News May 8; Saigon Giai Phong May 8; Thanh Nien May 7.

Vietnam Foreign Ministry defends human rights record

2009-04-26T22:17:00.001-07:00

Vietnam's human rights performance was defended by the Foreign Ministry in a 22-page report issued April 23, which is to be presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council on May 8. Under UN rules each country in the world is subjected to a periodic review in four year cycles. This is Vietnam's year, among many other countries. The report was interesting in the statistics presented, such as the estimate that over 80 percent of the people follow a religious belief. The report also acknowledged some shortcomings, blaming this on the failure of some local officials to properly implement national policy. But it failed to address basic human rights concerns which have been raised by its critics. such as lack of genuine choice in elections, particularly at the national level; laws that criminalize dissent and provide inadequate protections; arbitrary arrest and unfair political trials of dissidents; and continued restrictions on religious groups.

Sources: Viet Nam News April 24; text of report posted at Vietnam Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.

Petition against bauxite mining

2009-04-25T22:15:00.000-07:00

Petition on the mining for bauxite

In the Western Central Highland

Vietnam

(Translated from Vietnamese by Zuc Dao

Solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales)

To: - Mr. Nguyen Minh Triet, State President, Socialist Republic of

Vietnam (SRV)

- Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong, Speaker and other members of Congress of the SRV

- Mr. Nguyen Tan Dung, Prime Minister and other ministers of the government of the SRV

We, the Vietnamese undersigned, who are concerned about the mining for bauxite in the Western Central Highland, submit to you the following petition.

Dear authorities,

Our people, who have spent many decades in wars of independence and unification, are now mobilizing all physical and mental resources for the task of nation building dedicated to total change.

In principle, in this task of renewed nation building, there is no conflict of interests between government and the people. Our people, both inside and outside of the country, leaders and the ordinary folk, all wish to see the nation more prosperous each day, more civilized, the whole nation becoming a happy, prosperous and all inclusive family.

Unfortunately, with the advent of this bauxite affair, the most loyal citizens feel lost; our common ideal of nation building seems diminished because of the method of operation of leading state organs. Such a phenomenon needs a short analysis as followed:

Dear authorities,

The mining for natural resources, including bauxite, is necessary, but it cannot be done at any cost!

The preparation for the bauxite project has been criticized by many scientists as being deficient in many respects. The two letters from General Vo Nguyen Giap alone are illustrative of the many defaults relative to areas of politics, defense, the environment, economics and technology. The submissions by Dr. Nguyen Thanh Son, Professor Pham Duy Hien and other independent researchers inside the country such as writer Nguyen Ngoc, Intellectual Nguyen Trung, Journalist Le Phu Khai, Writer Pham Dinh Trong, and outside of the country such as Dr. Nguyen Duc Hiep an environmental specialist in Australia, Consulting Engineer Dang Dinh Cung an expert on mining in France…are complete technical documentation (in support) of the two letters by the general.

All these submissions point to the unacceptable loopholes or deficiencies in the policies relative to this bauxite project. The following three deficiencies are sufficient to alarm those with a conscience:

- The policy leading to the project was made public at the end of 2008 and beginning of 2009. But in reality, an agreement had been signed with China many years ago without seeking the approval of the people through the Congress elected by the people. The whole feasibility study was never presented to the people and their representatives being the Congress.

- China closed their bauxite mines and moved to Vietnam to mine for bauxite with the aim of transferring the pollution burdens to Vietnamese current and future generations. This is similar to what they do in Africa with the assistance of corrupt regimes in this continent, and such conduct is being monitored and criticized by world opinion.

- The technology, industry and labor for mining are intended to be imported from China. China is a new economic superpower lacking in good faith. In relation to bauxite mining, China is renowned world-wide as the greatest polluter, besides other issues (in March this year the Australian government has cancelled a resource mining project in South Australia with China because of national security reasons)

Dear authorities,

Our country belongs to the whole people and is not the property of any particular group, any interest group or any organization however excellent it may be.

All those who are concerned with the fate of the people, the country, the unfettered conduct of officials relative to the bauxite incident, must see the need to voice their opinion.

We hereby submit:

The issue of the Western highland bauxite project and all related policies must be presented to the Congress for a decision
The Western highland bauxite project must officially cease, be subjected to strict supervision until the Congress has considered all feasibility reports and make appropriate decisions. We respectfully submit that the Congress fully understand the wish of the vast majority of the people for the project to be discontinued due to its grave consequences.
All studies about project feasibility relative to the Western highland bauxite project should receive public participation and scrutiny.

Dear authorities,

Those who apply their signatures under this petition have major concerns about the deficient working methods in many respects for a project with strategic consequences for national survival such as this bauxite project.

Please accept our respectful expressions and we hope you understand our grave concerns both from inside and outside of the country.

We take this opportunity to call on all Chinese nationals, especially intellectuals, to support the Vietnamese people, to assist in keeping the environment in your neighbor in the South clean, to help in resolving outstanding issues between the two nations in peace and friendship.

Vietnam 12 April 2009.

Source: Originally published in Doi-Thoai.com, which also included a list of the signatories, many of them academics and intellectuals from Vietnam.

Large Easter service in Ho Chi Minh City

2009-04-24T00:51:00.000-07:00

An Easter-related service attended by some 15,000 protestant Christians and organized by a group of house churches was held at Tao Dan Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City April 22. It was attended by more than 15,000 people, according to Compass Direct News. The meeting was unprecedented both in its size and in the fact that it was allowed to take place, given the government's long-standing hostility and suspicion of the house church movement in Vietnam.

Despite earlier assurances from the government, official permission for the service to take place was not granted until 4 pm on that day, three hours before the service was to take place, with one of the conditions the removal of Baptist house church Pastor Nguyen Ngoc Hien as one of the organizers. Hien also heads the Christian Fellowship of Vietnam.

Assemblies of God pastor Dong Thanh Lam served as Master of Ceremonies at the event, with messaged delivered by Pastor Vo Van Hoc of the Full Gospel Church and Pham Dinh Nhan of the United Gospel Churches. Compass Direct says 1,200 people dedicated their lives to follow Christ at the service.

Source: Compass Direct News April 23.

Newspaper closed down for reporting protests

2009-04-16T22:59:00.000-07:00

The Ministry of Information and Communication has suspended a biweekly publication in Vietnam for three months for its reporting on territorial disputes and popular protests against China. Officials have also indicated they will rearrange the publication's ediitorial leadership. The publication, Du Lich (Tourism), was accused of "writing untruthful information" and "inciting violence, causing hatred between nations," for a series of articles it ran in which it praised anti-Chinese demonstrators for their "pure patriotism" and criticized China's position on the Spratly Islands. The assistant editor-in-chief, editor-in-chief, Nguyen Trung Dan told the BBC that the newspaper only reflected "the people's wishes... Being a Vietnamese, I did not think twice when I approved those articles. Isn't it a good thing to encourage patriotism among the public?"

Sources: Associated Press April 15; BBC news [Nga Pham] April 15.

Protestant church in Banmethuot destroyed

2009-04-12T00:51:00.000-07:00

Government authorities destroyed a historical protestant church building in Banmethuot March 11, just hours after assuring Evangelical Church of Vietnam (South) (ECVN) officials that they would not do so. The church building had been in disuse for many years, as it was confiscated by officials after the change of regimes in 1975. However, ECVN leaders had been pressing the government to return the church to them. According to Compass, it “was the last remaining church building of the Ede ethnic minority, who make up most of Dak Lak’s 135,000 believers.”

In a meeting convened March 20, the church’s governing board of 22 members condemned the action:

“Numerous times the Executive Council of our church has petitioned the government concerning our many confiscated properties… Most regrettably, not only have the petitions not been satisfactorily dealt with, but on the night of March 11, 2009, officials of Dak Lak province demolished the last remaining Ede church at Gate One in Banmethuot City.

“The Executive Council of the ECVN(S) is extremely upset and in deep sympathy with the 135,000 believers in Dak Lak province. We hereby urgently notify all churches in our fellowship. We are deeply saddened by these events.”

A similar event took place last December when another protestant church, Vietnam Good News Church, an unregistered group, was destroyed in Dak Lak province, in this case the official justification was that it was built with illegally cut lumber.

Source: Compass direct news, April 10.

Seminars address Catholic concerns

2009-03-30T13:38:00.000-07:00

The declining proportion of Catholics to Vietnam’s overall population was addressed in a series of seminars organized by the Saigon archdiocese in March. Official statistics report 6,087,000 Catholics in 2007 out of a total population of 85,154,900; or about 7.15% of the national population. This is a decline from 7.5% of the population in 1939. In contrast, protestant Christians have surged from 400,000 in 1999 to 1.5 million in 2008, according to official figures.

Another concern is keeping Catholic converts in the fold. Conversions to Catholicism in Vietnam have averaged 35,000 annually over the last seven years, about 90% due to marriages, but the number of converts who remain active Catholics has declined dramatically. This is in part because of complications accompanying conversions, such as losing privileges and promotions at certain jobs, along with other forms of subtle discrimination directed from the government.

The seminars complained of an indifferent attitude among Vietnamese Catholics toward bearing witness to their faith. Part of the problem is that clergy have not assumed enough responsibility for directing missionary work, and hence “Missionary efforts seem to be a personal, sporadic crusade for volunteering individuals and religious orders,” said Fr. Anthony Nguyen. Dioceses lack zeal and have not designed a comprehensive missionary strategy. Another factor, of course, is government policy, which ranges from overt hostility in the Central Highlands and northern mountainous regions where pastoral activities are often hindered; to a more subtle policy of propagandizing against the church in the educational system to the point where Catholic youth want to hide their faith.

Source: VietCatholic News March 6, 9.

Sentence against Thai Ha faithful upheld

2009-03-29T23:51:00.000-07:00

Vietnam's appeals court upheld on Friday (March 27) a lower court verdict against eight defendants who had been found guilty of "destroying property" and "disturbing public order" for their participation, along with thousands of other Catholics, in protests over land once held by the Thai Ha parish in Hanoi. At the original trial, seven were given suspended sentences ranging from 12 to 17 months, and the eighth was issued a warning. On the day of the appeals hearing, some 5,000 Catholics are reported to have marched nearly eight miles, to within 200 yards of the courthouse, where they were cordoned off by the police.

The hearing was preceded by a government orchestrated campaign against the defendants, and perhaps even more so against the lawyer they chose to represent them, Le Tran Luat. Luat was the object of harsh denunciations in the state press in recents months, and was also prevented by police from travelling to Hanoi to represent his clients. The campaign culminated with his licence to practice law being revoked. His case seems similar to two other lawyers who defend dissidents -- Le Thi Cong Nhan and Nguyen Van Dai, who were sentenced to four and five years respectively in a trial held in May 2007. The defendants were represented by Hoang Cao Sang and Huynh Van Dong at the appeals hearing, according to Vietnam News.

If the defendants choose to appeal again, the only court left would be Vietnam's Supreme Court.

Sources: Associated Press March 27; AsiaNews.It, March 26; BBC News March 27; VietCatholic News March 27; Vietnam News Service March 28.

UN Human Rights council reviews Vietnam

2009-03-26T13:02:00.000-07:00

Vietnam's human rights record is to be reviewed along with several other countries at the fifth session of the United Nations Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review of the Human Rights Council, to be held in Geneva from May 4-15. Under UN rules, all 192 UN member states are to be reviewed in four year cycles, with sixteen countries reviewed in each of the three sessions held annually.

In preparation for this session, twelve international NGOs submitted reports criticizing Vietnam's human rights performance on a wide variety of fronts. The submissions came from Amnesty International (AI) based in London; the Association Tourner la PAGE (ATLP), based in Maurepas, France; Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), based in Surrey, U.K.; the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ) based in Strasbourg, France; the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) and the Viet Nam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR) based in Paris, with two background documents; the Global Initiative to End all Corporal Punishment of Children (GIEACPC); Human Rights Watch (HRW) based in New York city; INDIG, based in Hawaii; International PEN, based in London, with three background documents; Institute on Religion and Public Policy (IRPP) based in Washington D.C.; the Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation (KKF) based in New Jersey; and the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) based in The Hague, the Netherlands.

The office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights posted a summary of the main points raised by each organization. It also posted the submissions of each of the organizations, which can be found at its website, or clicking on the highlighted acronyms in the above paragraph, with the exception of the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ). In addition the office posted the official response from Vietnam defending its policies related to human rights and emphasizing the need for national independence and political stability, which has been used to justify the repression of dissidents and pro-democracy movements, along with other forms of repression. Vietnam did acknowledge, however, "inconsistencies" and "difficulties" in its legal system, and economic inequality and other social problems growing out of rapid economic development.

The principal criticism of Vietnam contained in the sumissions was the continued lack of a rule of law society, with vaguely worded legislation enabling harsh repression against dissidents and restrictions on religious groups; and no genuine right of due process for defendants in political trials. These contradict proclamations found in Vietnam's constitution and other legislative documents, which promise freedom of expression and religion along with other rights.

Other areas of criticism included discrimination against women and ethnic minorities; the use of the death penalty; harsh conditions in prison camps and other detention centers; and widespread corporal punishment of children.

Bauxite mining plans raise concerns

2009-03-21T23:34:00.000-07:00

Concerns have been expressed by scientists and others in Vietnam, even Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap, over government plans to embark on major bauxite mining projects in the Central Highlands and mountainous northern regions. Such mining could cause serious ecological damage and destroy the way of life for the people living in these regions, predominantly ethnic minorities.

Vietnam ie estimated to have up to eight billion tonnes of bauxite ore, the third largest supply in the world. It has signed agreements with Alcoa, and Australian and Chinese companies to mine these reserves. The government plans investments of US$15 billion by 2025 to exploit these reserves. The state-run Coal and Minerals Industrial Group (Vinacomin) has begun building an aluminum processing factory and is preparing for major mining operations in Dac Nong and Lam Dong provinces of the Central Highlands, where most of the bauxite reserves are located. Vinacomin plans for annual aluminum production of 4.8 to 6.6 million tons by 2015.

The environmental problems come in the process of mining, which will generate mountains of toxic sludge and also destroy much of the soil since it involves strip mining. Bauxite is the material used to produce alumina which is in turn the raw material for aluminum. But in the conversion process to alumina, about three tons of red sludge is generated for every ton of alumina. The sludge contains about 70% water and 30% ore, which according to Nguyen Thanh Son, director of the Red River Energy Co., a Vinacomin subsidiary, is "very dangerous to the environment because 70% of that is NaOH,"or sodium hydroxide.

If not managed properly, the sludge can pollute the waters and vegetation. A serious obstacle to management is the problem of disposal. In Australia, the sludge from alumina production is transferred to dry areas of the outback. But in Vietnam, there is no such option, most of the country under heavy tropical weather, meaning the sludge is more likely to run into the water table and vegetation, threatening the cash crops currently grown in the region, such as coffee; as well as the forests and also possibly polluting the water running into the heavily populated Mekong Delta.

Concerns have also been raised over the displacement of ethnic minorities in this region, who have already been affected by the large-scale agricultural projects and deforestation. Nguyen Ngoc, a writer and expert on the region, said: "Its culture could be called a forest culture, with a close attachment between humans and nature... If the land and forest base of the western highlands disappear, its culture will be broken, its society will be unstable, and these ethnic minorities will no longer exist."

Also in question is how the necessary support system can be developed to provide enough electricity and proper transporation for the bauxite mining and processing.

In an open letter written to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in January, General Vo Nguyen Giap urged the government stop bauxite mining, warning it would harm the environment and ethnic minorities in the highlands. He noted that in the early 1980s he oversaw a study on this question and was advised by Soviet experts not to proceed with such mining because of the risk of serious ecological damage.

Sources: Asia Times Online [Duy Hoang] March 16; Radio Free Asia March 17; Viet Tan Open Letter March 20; Agence France Presse Jan. 15 and Feb. 6; Vietnam Business Finance Dec. 17, 2008, Asia Sentinel (Anh Le Tran) March 24; see also Bloomberg/Mining Weekly Sept. 5, 2006; VietnamNet Bridge Sept. 10, 2006; AmCham Vietnam press release May 6, 2008. For text of Giap's letter see TuanVietnam.net Jan. 14 and Dien Dan forum Jan. 10.

Southern and northern protestants hold congresses

2009-03-19T15:13:00.000-07:00

The 33rd Assembly of the Evangelical Church of Vietnam (North) met Feb. 24-25 at the the Hoanh Nhi evangelical church of Giao Thuy district in Nam Dinh province. It was attended by about 300 clergy and believers, according to Vietnam News Agency,nearly half of them ethnic minorities (an earlier VNA report predicted 1,000 in attendance). Among the events that took place at the meeting, according to VNA, was "an ordination ceremony for nine young pastors for the first time over almost three decades." This would appear to reflect on government policies restricting the ordination of clergy. A 13-member executive board was elected at the assembly along with a new president, Rev. Nguyen Huu Mac. The meeting also discussed revising the church's statutes and merging with the much larger General Confederation of Evangelical Church of Vietnam (South), which in the past has resisted such a merge due to fear of increased government control.

According to VNA the northern church, which gained legal recognition in 1958, "currently has 14 chapters with 24,000 followers and overseeing the practice of worship by 126 registered groups of Hmong followers in the northern mountainous region."

The Evangelical Church of Vietnam (South) met in Ho Chi Minh City March 3-6 for its congress, attended by 1,041 pastors, functionaries and missionaries according to VNA. Its president Pastor Thai Phuoc Truong is reported by VNA to have said:

"since the churchs legal status was recognised by the Government in 2001, it has managed to grow into 1,343 cells region-wide, two-thirds of them based in the Central Highlands. The Religious Publishing House has helped us produce over 30,000 bilingual copies of the bible, in Vietnamese-Bana, Vietnamese-Giarai, and Vietnamese-Ede to meet the growing demand of ethnic minority followers, added Truong. Moreover, tens of thousands of other publications on religious theory and hymns have been published in seven different languages and distributed region-wide. The churchs charitable work has greatly contributed to improving the living conditions of poor people, especially in remote and poor communities. The church's Committee for Healthcare and Social Affairs reported that in the last four years, the church has distributed free medicines to over 7,000 patients, drilled more than 260 water wells and built over 420 houses for the poor. "

VNA also estimates that the southern protestant church has nearly one million followers, including 433 pastors, with the church most popular in the Central Highlands among ethnic minorities and in Binh Phuoc province, "where local administrators have allotted land for the construction of six new churches and granted licences to another 165 worship houses."

Sources: Vietnam News Agency, Feb. 20,24,26, March 3, 13; Voice of Vietnam Feb. 25.

Truong Quoc Huy petition circulated

2009-03-16T19:06:00.000-07:00

Reporters without Borders is circulating a petition for Truong Quoc Huy, a cyberdissident imprisoned since August 18, 2006, accused of using the internet to try to "overthrow the government." His activities that led to his arrest included participating in a pro-democracy chat forum and giving interviews to some foreign radio stations in which he voiced support for the "Bloc 4806" dissident group. He was imprisoned for similar reasons from October 2005 to July 2006.

Source: Reporters without Borders petition.

Ban on Danang publishing house to end today

2009-03-15T17:39:00.000-07:00

A three month ban on the Danang publishing house (Nha xuat ban Da Nang) is scheduled to end today, March 15. It was imposed by Vietnam's Ministry of Information and Communications because of "severe mistakes" made in publishing a book by Vu Ngoc Tien and Le Mai titled Rong Da (Stone Dragon). Under the order issued Dec. 12, the publishing ban was to last from Dec. 15 to March 15, and after this probation period the publishing house would have to apply to the ministry for authorization to resume publishing. In addition, according to the International Publisher Association, "the Ministry of Information and Communication would have also decided to 'discipline' all of the Da Nang staff deemed responsible for the publishing of Rong Da. The staff of this publishing house under licence since 1984 would also have been replaced by new staff."

The suspension was protested by Bjorn Smith-Simonsen, Chair of IPA’s Freedom to Publish Committee, who noted that the 29th IPA congress held in Seoul in May 2008 passed a resolution urging Vietnamese authorities to allow freedom of publishing in their country.

Source: IPA press release, Feb. 20. See also letter of Vu Ngoc Tien to Danang publishing house, Nov. 17, 2008; BBC Vietnamese News Service Nov. 18.

Vietnam an "enemy of the internet"

2009-03-14T00:23:00.000-07:00

Reporters without Borders issued a report March 12, Enemies of the Internet, in which it described efforts worldwide to suppress the free use of internet. It singled out Vietnam along with eleven other nations for their suppression: Burma, China, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. It said these countries "have all transformed their Internet into an Intranet in order to prevent their population from accessing ‘undesirable’ online information... All these countries distinguish themselves not only by their ability to censor online news and information but also by their virtually systematic persecution of troublesome Internet users.."

The report says overall 70 cyber-dissidents are imprisoned around the world, China having the most, followed by Vietnam. Vietnamese imprisoned for dissident activities over the internet include Nguyen Van Dai (aka Dieu Cay), Nguyen Dao, Le Nguyen Sang, Nguyen Bac Truyen, Le Thi Cong Nhan, and Tran Quoc Hien.

The report also noted increased efforts to control blogs through repressive legislation. For example:

Circular n°7, came into force on 20 January 2009, which is designed to control blogs and their content. It is now illegal for a blogger to post articles under another identity. Blogs can only carry strictly personal information (Article 1) and it is banned to “put out press articles, literary works or other publications banned by the press law” (Article 2). Moreover, every six months, at the request of the authorities, hosts must make a report on the activities of their customers including the number of blogs they run and their statistics as well as details of blogs that violate rules established by the host (Article 6). For Deputy Minister of Information and Communications, Do Quy Doan, “Bloggers are supervised to prevent them from entering into illegality or putting out false information: criticising the fatherland, the work of constructing the country,

Source: Reporters without Borders March 12; for full report in PDF format click here.

Thich Quang Do meets U.S. consulate official

2009-03-11T17:44:00.001-07:00

Venerable Thich Quang Do, leader of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, received on Feb. 26 Ms. Katia Bennett, who is the political officer of the U.S. Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City. During the meeting he described government strategies to contain Buddhism and also expressed his unhappiness with a recent statement made by Sec. of State Hillary Clinton on the issue of human rights and U.S.-China relations. He discussed the meeting in a Feb. 28 interview with Y Lan (Penelope Faulkner) of Radio Free Asia.

The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) was once the largest Buddhist organization of south Vietnam, bringing together Buddhists of both major traditions, Theravada and Mahayana. Many of its leaders were also active in the movement for peace and human rights and developed ties with international peace organizations. After 1975 it came under systematic persecution, culminating in 1981 with its forced incorporation into a newly created state-sponsored Vietnam Buddhist Church (VBC), which all Buddhist organizations were required to join. Thich Quang Do and Thich Huyen Quang were the two UBCV leaders who spoke out most strongly against this policy, and consequently spent most of the subsequent years in house arrest or internal exile. Thich Huyen Quang died last year, but Thich Quang Do remains active and is a contender for this year's Nobel Peace Prize. Here are some of the main points he made in his meeting with Ms. Bennett, as told to Y Lan:

First, he expressed his "grave concern" over a statement made by Sec. of State Clinton in Beijing, when she said enroute to China that human rights concerns "can't interfere with the global economic crisis, the global climate change crisis and the security crises;" and that it might be better for the U.S. and China to agree to disagree on the issue of human rights. Thich Quang Do said this statement was "like a bucket of cold water poured over my head;" that her statement carries "serious implications for all those braving imprisonment, torture, even death to free teir countries from the chains of dictatorship.."

Ms. Bennett replied that human rights would always remain a cornerstone of U.S. human rights policy, and gave him a copy of the annual U.S. human rights report, which included some strong criticism of Vietnam's practices. Thich Quang Do said whatever the U.S. position, he and others would continue to struggle, but "it is so hard to struggle under Vietnam's one-party state." He said support from the U.S. and Europe is essential to their cause.

On the UBCV situation in Vietnam, he told her that the government's strategy has shifted since 2000, from public trials and prison sentences to methods such as house arrest, or administrative detention by oral orders only, so the leading monks could be detained without any legal trace. He described his room at Thanh Minh Zen monastery in the city as like a prison cell, adding that he was followed by security officials whereever he went.

He said the government has made some major moves to undermine the UBCV in recent years: "Beginning in 2005, they used a number of monks from abroad, especially Thich Nhat Hanh, to launch a so-called 'reconciliation' plan..", which meant merging the UBCV with the state sponsored Vietnam Buddhist Church. However, this plan was rejected by UBCV leaders because they felt such a merge would turn UBCV monks into lackeys of the state.

In 2006, the government proposed creation of a new church, the General Buddhist Church, which would embrace all others. This proposal was also rejected by UBCV leaders.

In 2007 the government tried two different strategies: "Firstly, they approached a number of UBCV monks and promised the government would legalize the UBCV if they applied to register. Naturally, we could not accept this because the UBCV already has a legal status. We have never been banned, therefore we have no need to register. Secondly, they promised a number of UBCV monks to legalize the UBCV on condition that Thich Huyen Quang and I were excluded from the leadership. These two strategies were also unsuccessful."

In 2008, he said, the Vietnam government "covertly created a movement called 'Back to one’s Roots', using a number of UBCV monks based abroad, particularly in Europe, Australia-New Zealand and Canada who set up a so-called 'Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam Overseas.' In fact, 'back to one’s roots' meant going back to Vietnam to take part in the UN Day of the Vesak, hosted by the government in Hanoi. Thich Nhat Hanh went, along with a large number of monks from abroad. The plan was to formally announce their break-away from the UBCV during the Vesak festival. Once the UBCV had been publicly rejected [by its own members], it would be easy to destroy its name and reputation, and wipe out the UBCV once and for all. Fortunately, UBCV Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang issued Edict No. 9 to stop this movement from developing. Thanks to this, the UBCV escaped this danger.."

Edict No. 9 issued by Thich Huyen Quang in Sept. 2007 was, according to Que Me, intended to counter Hanoi's efforts to infiltrate overseas UbCV leadership by "creating a new framework for the UBCV Overseas Office and appointing a new leadership team for its sections in the Europe, Canada, the USA and Australia."

Thich Quang Do said he expects continued government efforts to undermine and destroy the UBCV, within Vietnam and overseas. But "we will never submit, we will never become slaves of the Communist Party," he told Y Lan. "I made that quite clear to Ms. Bennett."

Source: Que Me press release March 11.

Nong Duc Manh named "predator of press freedom"

2009-03-10T13:13:00.000-07:00

Reporters without Borders has named Vietnam Communist Party Secretary General Nong Duc Manh an "predator of press freedom". This is a category the organization reserves for political leaders who suppress freedom of the press in a harsh or systematic manner. It described Manh as "one of the architects of the relentless crackdown on opposition groups and dissident publications in Vietnam. Two journalists and around 15 cyber-dissidents have been sentenced to long prison sentences since January 2007." It noted in particular the arrest and imprisonment of Fr. Nguyen Van Ly, who received an eight year prison sentence for editing a Catholic dissident publication, Tu Do Ngon Luan; and of dissidents with the pro-democracy "Bloc 8406" who had published two underground magazines, distributed clandestinely within Vietnam and abroad. It also said he "distrusts the Internet and had several people arrested in 2007 for demanding more democracy on online forums."

Source: Reporters Without Borders, Predators of Press Freedom.

Human rights research center in Vietnam

2009-03-10T00:20:00.000-07:00

A human rights research center, funded by Denmark, was inaugurated March 6 at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Law. It is the first of its kind in the city, the second in Vietnam. The stated purpose of the center is to further good government and administrative reform through human rights research:

"We plan to prioritise research on public rights related to the law on administration, citizen’s rights related to civil and criminal codes, as well as other international treaties and regulations on human rights,” said Dr. Do Minh Khoi, head of the field State Theory and Law of the Faculty of State Administration Law of the Ho Chi Minh City University of Law and director of the center.

The center is funded with 70 million Danish kroner (12.7 million USD) for the 2008-2011 period under an agreement signed by the two government on Dec. 27, 2007. Denmark is also funding a similar center at the Hanoi National University.

Sources: VietnamNet Bridge/CPV March 7; VietnamNet Bridge/VNA March 7.

Tales of socialist re-education book online

2009-03-09T10:55:00.000-07:00

To be made over: tales of socialist re-education in Vietnam, edited and translated by the late Huynh Sanh Thong, is now available online, in PDF format. This book is a collection of stories and memoirs by writers from the former South Vietnam, many of them well-known, focusing on the experience of daily life in these harsh camps. The camps were set up in 1975 to round up hundreds of thousands of former military officers, political officials, party leaders, religious leaders, writers, journalists and others who were presumed to represent a threat to the regime; most were released after a few years but some stayed as long as 15 years before their release. This book was published in 1988, by then it was clear that the camps failed the central stated purpose: to transform the inmates into "new socialist men".

This book is available online as part of the Yale University Council on Southeast Asia's Lac Viet series because it is no longer in print. For a listing of other books available click here. The most well known book from this series is Hoa Dia Nguc - Flowers from Hell, by Nguyen Chi Thien, edited and translated by Huynh Sanh Thong. This is a bilingual collection of searing poems written about the experience of imprisonment in political imprisonment and the re-education camps of northern Vietnam by Thien, who was imprisoned for most of the time between 1958-1978.

Vigils held for lawyer Le Tran Luat

2009-03-08T17:55:00.000-07:00

Hanoi Redemptorists led a vigil attended by thousands on Saturday evening March 7 for lawyer Le Tran Luat of Ho Chi Minh Cithy. He has been representing the eight defendants of the Thai Ha parish in Hanoi, who were arrested and convicted for their protest of the government confiscation of church property. Similar vigils organized by Redemptorists were held in Ho Chi Minh city and other provinces.

As noted in the March 3 entry below, Luat has come under government pressure for representing these Catholic dissidents. The harassment includes the lawyers association threatening to suspend his license, denunciation in the official media; and police ransaking his office and interrogating him and his assistant (on separate occassions) for several hours.

Source: VietCatholic News March 8.

Book: Phat Giao & Cuoc Sang

2009-03-06T11:56:00.000-08:00

Our library here at the University of California, Berkeley, received the following book which might be of interest (sorry for the lack of diacritics):

Phat Giao & Cuoc Song: Chan dung & doi thoai, edited by Nguyen Ba Hoan, published in Hanoi in 2007 by Nha Xuat Ban Lao Dong (Labor publishing house). 255 pages.

This is about Buddhism in Vietnam today, based on interviews with Thich Nhat Hanh, and the following monks based in Vietnam: Thich Vien Minh, Thich Nhat Quang, Thich Thien Phung, Thich Chan Tinh, thich Nhat Tu and Thich Thien Sang. Unfortunately, as this is from a government owned publisher (as are all legal publishers in Vietnam), the book does not allow for alternative views on this issue, such as from Thich Quang Do, leader of the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. Nevertheless, it would probably be useful for those researching Buddhism in Vietnam today.

Hanoi newspaper refuses to rectify error

2009-03-05T18:54:00.000-08:00

Hanoi Moi, the daily newspaper of Hanoi, refused to rectify an assertion made about the eight defendants who were tried last December for their involvement in the Catholic Thai Ha parish dispute. Along with Hanoi's VTV1 Television, it claimed the defendants lowered their heads and acknowledged their guilt at the trial. Two of the defendants, Nguyen Thi Viet and Ngo Thi Dung, filed a lawsuit against the newspaper and television station. They demanded a correction and an apology, insisting they always maintained their innocence during the trial. An article published Feb. 28 in Hanoi Moi passed quickly over the issue of this factual error and went on to condemn the two for their support of this protest over the government's confiscation of Catholic property. According to Eglises d'Asie, the newspaper's stance on this issue seems to be directed by Vietnam's Ministry of Culture and Information.

Eglises d'Asie also noted that lawyer Le Tran Luat, who represents Nguyen Thi Viet and Ngo Thi Dung in this lawsuit, was prevented by Ho Chi Minh City police from departing for Hanoi on March 3 (see March 3 entry below).

The Vietnam government bestowed on both Hanoi Moi and VTV1 television of Hanoi the 2008 "Award for Excellence in Journalism" for their coverage of the Thai Ha parish controversy.

Sources: Hanoi Moi, Feb. 28; Eglises d'Asie/Viet Catholic News March 5. See also Viet Catholic News Jan. 22 for commentary on the award to these two media organizations.

Lawyer Le Tran Luat detained

2009-03-03T23:39:00.001-08:00

Vietnam human rights lawyer Le Tran Luat says he was detained by Ho Chi Minh City police for questioning on Tuesday, as he was about to board a plane for Hanoi, just days after his office in Ho Chi Minh City was raided by police and five computers seized. Luat has been defending Catholics involved in a land dispute in Hanoi over Thai Ha parish and was enroute to Hanoi in order to work on a defense for the appeal of their sentence. The local police newspaper has been denouncing him for alleged tax fraud and faking house rental contracts, in what appears to be an act of political intimidation and possibly establishing the ground for future arrest.

Source: Agence France Presse March 2.

Ho Thi Bich Khuong's mistreatment protested

2009-03-03T22:50:00.000-08:00

International Pen's Writers in Prison Committee is concerned over the ill-treatment and poor health of dissident writer Ho Thi Bich Khuong, it said in a press release issued Feb. 13. The commitee is calling for her immediate and unconditional release in accordance with Article 19 of the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; and that she be given full access to proper medical care and family visits while she remains in prison.

Khuong was arrested April 25, 2007 at an Interner cafe in Nam Dan district of Nghe An province in northern Vietnam, for publishing reports on overseas websies about social injustice and human rights violations in the country. She is particularly known for her advocacy of woman farmers who have had their lands seized. Her computer and documents were confiscated from her home after her arrest.

She was not brought to trial until nearly a year after her arrest, on April 24, 2008, by a provincial court in Nghe An. She was charged with "storing cultural products with contents against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam", a violation of Article 88 of Vietnam's Criminal Code, and sentenced to two years in prison and three years administrative detention. She is detained in Labor Camp 6, Thanh My village, Thanh Chuong district of Nghe An province. Her sister who visited her on October 30, 2008 said she was heavily bruised and in poor health. The family has been denied visits since last December.

The press release also noted her past difficulties with authorities:

"Ho Thi Bich Khuong was previously detained in March 2005 and sentenced to six months in prison for her dissident writings. After her release she was subject to frequent brief detentions and harassment, including threats and attack. On 12 February 2007 she was seriously injured after being hit by a motorcyclist, thought to be a member of the security police. Her current imprisonment was not known to PEN until November 2008.

"Ho Thi Bich Khuong was born in 1967. In June 2006 her husband drowned in the Lam river under unexplained circumstances. She has a ten-year-old daughter."

Writers in Prison Committee is requesting that letters be sent to Vietnam government officials appealing for her immediate release, assurances that she is treated well in the meantime, and access to family visits and proper medical care.

source: International Pen Writers in Prison Committee press release, Feb. 11.

Cardinal Pham Dinh Tung dies, funeral held in Hanoi

2009-03-01T23:38:00.000-08:00

Cardinal Paul Joseph Pham Dinh Tung, archbishop emeritus of Hanoi, passed away Feb. 22, at the age of 89. His funeral in Hanoi on Feb. 26 was attended by over 30,000, including 20 bishops and 500 priests, and many ethnic minority highlanders from his former diocese of Bac Ninh. The funeral was broadcast by the church on closed circuit television. Pope Benedict expressed his sadness and asked God to welcome this pastor "who, through difficult circumstances, was able to serve the Church with great courage and generous loyalty to the See of Peter, tirelessly dedicating himself to the announcement of the Gospel."

Cardinal Tung's life as a priest followed the trials and tribulations of war and repression under a regime which over the decades has been frequently hostile and controlling in its policies toward the Catholic Church and other religions. He was ordained as a priest in 1949 at the age of 29, and became bishop of Bac Ninh diocese in 1963, a post he held for the next 31 years. Of this period, Catholic News Agency notes:

"During more than 25 of the years he served as bishop of Bac Ninh, Cardinal Pham Dinh Tung was placed under house arrest and prevented from visiting the 100 different parishes under his care. Determined to spread the Gospel despite his circumstances, he dedicated himself to telling the story of the Jesus’ life and ministry, Church teachings, the 10 Commandments and explaining the Sacraments in a type of poem called 'luc bat.' The six to eight word stanzas enabled the faithful to easily learn the faith.

"Cardinal Pham Dinh Tung also created a system for the faithful to maintain parish life in his absence and founded a school to train children as catechists. The school already has 200 graduates who have returned to all parts of Vietnam."

During this period, due in part to the exodus of many priests in 1954, but more so to the unwillingness of the North Vietnam government to approve ordinations of priests, the number of priests in Bac Ninh diocese numbered only three, to serve over 100 parishes. To help remedy this situation, he formed lay councils to carry on the religious life of the parishes.

Cardinal Tung was appointed apostolic administrator of Hanoi in 1990, after the death that year of Hanoi Cardinal Joseph Trinh Van Can. He became archbishop of Hanoi in 1994 and made a Cardinal the same year. He retired at the age of 85 in 2005. One of his last public acts was to have a protest statement read out Hanoi churches against the seizure by city authorities of buildings that once belonged to the old Vatican nunciature.

Sources: Asiannews.It, Feb. 28, Feb. 23; Spero forum Feb. 27; Straits Times Feb. 26; Associated Press, Feb. 24; Catholic Culture Feb. 26; Catholic News Agency Feb. 23; Vietcatholicnet Feb. 22; dfwcatholic.org Feb. 24 [text of Pope's condolence letter].

State Department annual report released

2009-02-26T22:14:00.000-08:00

The United State State Department released Wednesday (Feb. 25) its annual report titled 2008 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, in which it reports in some detail on the human rights record of each country of the world during the previuous year.

The Vietnam section of the report described the government as an “authoritarian” regime which continues to have serious shortcomings in human rights; including lack of free choice in elections; suppression of opposition parties; unfair trials of dissidents and others; use of the country’s criminal code to punish dissidents; lengthy detentions before trials; a judicial system slanted greatly against the defendant; not providing attorneys to those unable to afford their own, except in cases involving possible life imprisonment or the death penalty; often harsh prison conditions and troubles for families trying to visit their relatives; and tightened controls over the media, assembly, internet and freedom of speech. The report did note some improvements for example in the degree of religious freedom, while noting the serious restrictions that remain; and in academic related activities.

The report was denounced by Vietnam Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Dung as based on “erroneous information.” He said: “The Vietnamese State always respects people's rights to freedom and democracy and creates favorable conditions for the citizens to exercise them. At the same time, it also fights the misuse of these rights to undermine State interests and the rights and legal interests of organizations and individuals." The last part of his statement is a big loophole, which in the past has been used to justify harsh crackdowns against dissidents, since the party, state and people are all assumed in official rhetoric to be one and the same.

Dung urged the U.S. to take a more pragmatic approach to the differences between the two countries over the issue of human rights, and to continue their dialogue on this topic. His denunciation of the report was relatively mild in comparison to past denunciations of the report from Vietnamese officials.

Sources: Voice of Vietnam news Feb. 27; U.S. State Department report; and Vietnam section of the report.

Internet dissident Huynh Nguyen Dao released

2009-02-26T00:41:00.000-08:00

Dissident Huyen Nguyen Dao, age 41, was released Wednesday, Feb. 25, after serving a 2 1/2 year prison sentence for "storage of anti-government materials" and "propagandizing against the state." Dao, who writes under the pen name Huynh Viet Long, was arrested along with Le Nguyen Sang, Nguyen Bac Truyen and Vietnamese American Do Thanh Cong in August 2006. In addition to their dissident activities on Internet, all were co-founders of the Democratic Party, which like all other independent political parties in Vietnam is banned. Cong was expelled from the country in September 2006; while the other three were held in prison without trial until May 10, 2007. At the trial they were convicted of political opposition activities, with Sang sentenced to five years, Truyen to four years and Dao to three years. Dao's sentence was reduced to 2 1/2 years at an appeals hearing in Hanoi on August 17, 2007. Sang and Truyen remain in prison.

Dao said, "Every three months in jail, I was given a form to repent, but I always wrote that I was innocent." He said he served his full-term and did not apply for amnesty because he felt in doing so it would be an admission of guilt, when in fact he is performing his patriotic duty as a dissident voice of conscience in the nation.

Sources: Agence France Press, Feb. 18; Reporters without Borders Feb. 20; Viet Tan Feb. 18.

Communique issued on Vatican-Vietnam talks

2009-02-21T00:06:00.001-08:00

Below is the text of the joint communique on talks in Hanoi between a Vatican delegation and Vietnam officials, held in Hanoi Feb. 16-17.

========

According to the agreement between the Vietnamese Government and the Holy See, the first meeting of the Vietnam-Holy See Joint Working Group was convened in Hanoi from 16-17 February 2009. The meeting was for the exchange of views on the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations. The meeting was co-chaired by H.E. Mr. Nguyen Quoc Cuong, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Monsignor Pietro Parolin, Holy See Under-Secretary for Relations with States.

At the meeting, Vice Minister Quoc Cuong emphasised Vietnam’s consistent policy on the freedom of belief as well as the achievements and current situation on religious affairs in Vietnam in recent years. Vice Minister Cuong expressed his wish for the Holy See’s active contribution to the life of the Catholic community in Vietnam, the strengthening of solidarity between religions and of the entire Vietnamese population, and the strong cohesion of the Catholic Church in

Vietnam

with the nation through practical contributions to national construction.

Holy See Under-Secretary Monsignor Pietro Parolin took note of the explanations made by the Vietnamese delegation on the policy on freedom of religion and belief, recognising that positive progress has been made in the religious life in Vietnam and wished that the remaining unsolved matters in bilateral relations between Vietnam and the Holy See could be settled with goodwill through sincere dialogue. Monsignor Parolin emphasised the Holy See’s policy to respect independence and sovereignty of

Vietnam

, by which the Church’s religious activities would not be conducted for political purposes. He also stressed that the Church in its teachings invites the faithful to be good citizens, working for the common good of the country.

During the meeting, the two sides held in-depth and comprehensive discussions on bilateral relations, including issues related to the Catholic Church in Vietnam. The two sides also acknowledged the encouraging development in the relations between

Vietnam

and the Holy See since 1990. The two sides agreed that the first meeting of the Joint Working Group was a new and important step forward in their bilateral relations and greater efforts should be made to further promote bilateral ties.

The two sides agreed to hold the second meeting of the Joint Working Group. The time and venue of meeting will be agreed upon in due course.

The meeting of the Joint Working Group took place in an atmosphere of openness, frankness and mutual respect.

During the visit to Hanoi to attend the meeting of the Joint Working Group, the Holy See delegation will pay a courtesy call to the Government Committee for Religious Affairs and visit Thái Binh and Bùi Chu dioceses, and other cultural, historical and religious sites in Vietnam.

Source: Vatican radio, Feb. 20.

New rules on imported publications, foreign publishers

2009-02-20T00:00:00.001-08:00

Tighter government control over imported publications and the operations of foreign publishers in Vietnam has been imposed under new regulations, reports Thanh Nien newspaper.

Foreign publishers, as well as importers of foreign publications, will have to apply for new licenses if theirs was issued before Jan. 1 this year, with their licenses to last five years. Importers must also submit a list of items to be imported for "approval from the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC). The approval will be effective only until December 31 of the year in which the application has been made... the ministry has the power to issue or revoke licenses for foreign publishing agencies’ offices in Vietnam and the importation of non-commercial publications."

However, the ministry's permission "will not be required for importing private documents and those used at international seminars or conferences organized with permission from Vietnamese authorities."

The new regulations also prohibit printing the names of authors, translators or publishing partners on the covers of books that are copies of government or party regulations, or holy books of officially recognized religions.

The new regulations also seek greater control over publishing on the internet:

"Those who want to publish an item on the Internet have to register with the ministry’s Directorate of Publishing their publication plans, including the website address and publication date.

"They also need written approval from the directorate that should be granted within a maximum of 10 days after application..."

Source: Thanh Nien [Thuy Vi, author] Feb. 14.

Pham Hong Son on Vietnam-China relations

2009-02-15T22:28:00.000-08:00

The following statement of dissident Pham Hong Son was sent to me be a mutual friend - Steve Denney

Dangers of Silence after a war

The 17th day of this February will mark the 30th anniversary of the break out of the Sino-Vietnamese war. It was short -- just about a month -- but so bloody that tens of thousands of people lost their lives and nearly all the civilian infrastructure in six border provinces of

Vietnam

were completely destroyed. A few days remain before this anniversary but no news, no articles in

Vietnam

’s official mass media recall this event. In recent years, official media in Vietnam has maintained a timid behavior towards such China-related issues as the secret border agreement in 1999, and islands or landmarks shared or occupied by

China

. Many activists and bloggers who tried to raise their voice about China’s evil have been put in prison or in other ways intimidated. It is clear that the incumbent leaders of Vietnam do not want to commemorate such an event and they do try to keep not just themselves but all other compatriots silent in the face of China’s hegemony.

Three dangers of silence

This essay does not intend to analyze the reasons for Vietnam’s leaders perpetuating such a silence. Many authors have explained that clearly. This essay just intends to consider three dangers that are result from that silence.

First, a danger occurs inside Vietnam. An essential factor that made up the legitimacy for Communist Party of Vietnam’s sole leadership in the last five decades has been its efforts to defend national sovereignty. Whatever the different opinions may be about the two major struggles in 20th century in Vietnam, one with the French and the other with the American-backed regime, the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) took the lead and became the victor. In the long history of Vietnam, the only pride for the whole country is that it never bent before the attacker or invader, especially before the traditional Northern invader. The few leaders in history who went to the Northern neighbor for help against popular uprisings have been condemned severely. And the CPV’s strategy in struggling for power was always to find every opportunity to accuse opponents of co-operating with the foreign enemy. But, ironically, it is the CPV which has allowed many of Vietnam’s lands, seas and islands to become lost into China’s hand over the last five decades. They must have felt a simmering indignation among people who may be aware of their concessions. A veteran soldier who fought in the Sino-Vietnamese war in 1979 recently uttered his feeling in a private blog Osin: “… What we call a ‘victory’ had to be paid by blood and human heads… And 30 years have passed since we advanced furiously straight to northern border, but islands are still lost and the country still silent…” The CPV is now trying every effort to hide their concessions to Northern invader. The CPV may succeed in silencing people to some extent, but over time, with the support of sophisticated Internet, the truth will come to every person. And the current silence will become as fatal as a tight lid on a steaming tank.

A second danger is to push China more into a wrong path. China is vast in geography and great in culture and history and in the far past China was a superpower for centuries; so an ambition to bring back the past image of a superpower for a contemporary China is understandable and natural. But the Communist Party of China (CPC) which has held sole leadership over China since 1949 seemed so hasty and took several wrong and disastrous roads toward achieving their righteous ambition. In the Mao era from 1949-1976, China conducted a series of such paranoia-filled polices such as the “Anti-rightist campaign”(1957), “Great Leap Forward” (1958-1960), “ Cultural Revolution” (1966-1969); all these campaigns only brought the death of tens of millions of people and a huge devastation of natural and cultural environment. Deng Xiaoping in 1978, a successor to Mao, decided on a new and right way by opening his country to the world but unfortunately only for economy and technology. Actually, many Chinese people enjoyed the results of economic modernization over the last three decades. China has escaped successfully from the poor-nation list in a standard of income per capita, China has reached the largest reserve in USD, China became a third spaceship-owning country and China is a nuclear weapon owner. However, China contains within itself an insidious disaster like Japan in the Meiji era or Germany in the post-WWI period encountered. These two latter nations, which became very powerful in economy and technology by applying Western scientific knowledge and know-how, were both directed by authoritarian politics into a catastrophic hegemony – World War II. So the silent or bending behavior of the CPV before China’s hegemony southward is like urging the CPC to venture further on the wrong and disastrous path. More dangerously, once a war breaks out, those who have to go to a battleground first are not decision-making people but only ordinary citizens

The third danger is to destabilize regional and world peace. In pre-contemporary history, war was not a rare phenomenon for the two countries, Vietnam and its Northern neighbor. Every dynasty in China carried out at least one invasion into its southern neighbor Vietnam. But Vietnam’s leaders, together with their people, were always determined to defend its sovereignty and honor though the leaders had to conduct skillful diplomacy toward their giant neighbor after any victories. So for several centuries, the Vietnamese people’s resistant spirit made an indomitable shield for South-East Asia nations against the Northern invasion. But now Vietnam’s contemporary leaders of the CPV have failed to follow in their ancestors’ wisdom, so the shield for regional and then world peace is being broken up.

Open to rescue

In the time of economic crisis, people may neglect to care about things other than making money; thus a brief war like Sino-Vietnamese war that broke out 30 years ago may no longer draw much attention. However, the hegemony of the attacker in that war remains fierce and appears stronger. More importantly, the attacker behaves aggressively not just toward the outsider but the insider. Charter 08, a common statement made in 2008 by many Chinese people, including intellectual and peasant, states: “…. and this year, 2008, it has promised to promote a ‘national human rights action plan.’ Unfortunately most of this political progress has extended no further than the paper on which it is written. The political reality, which is plain for anyone to see, is that China has many laws but no rule of law; it has a constitution but no constitutional government. The ruling elite continues to cling to its authoritarian power and fights off any move toward political change. The stultifying results are endemic official corruption, an undermining of the rule of law, weak human rights, decay in public ethics, crony capitalism, growing inequality between the wealthy and the poor, pillage of the natural environment as well as of the human and historical environments, and the exacerbation of a long list of social conflicts, especially, in recent times, a sharpening animosity between officials and ordinary people. As these conflicts and crises grow ever more intense, and as the ruling elite continues with impunity to crush and to strip away the rights of citizens to freedom, to property, and to the pursuit of happiness, we see the powerless in our society—the vulnerable groups, the people who have been suppressed and monitored, who have suffered cruelty and even torture, and who have had no adequate avenues for their protests, no courts to hear their pleas—becoming more militant and raising the possibility of a violent conflict of disastrous proportions. The decline of the current system has reached the point where change is no longer optional.”

Change the Chinese signers meant is a transition to democracy. And democracy is also what many Vietnamese people in recent years demand. Democracy is proven to be the best solution to settle any dispute or trouble without violence, and is the best mechanism to build social harmony and national prosperity in durable peace. So the problem is how to convince the CPV and the CPC to believe in and follow democratic values.

Pham Hong Son

Feb. 11, 2009

Vatican delegation to visit Vietnam

2009-02-09T12:36:00.000-08:00

A Vatican delegation is to visit Vietnam Feb. 16-21, in response to an invitation from the Vietnam Foreign Minister. The delegation will be headed by Monsignor Pietro Parolin, the Holy See’s Undersecretary of State for Relations with States. Although the purpose of the visit has not been announced, observers speculate that the two parties will discuss diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the Vatican. A road map for the relationship was set out in talks in June 2008 between a Holy See delegation and Vietnam Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem.

The visit comes after a year of rising tensions between the Catholic church and the government of Vietnam over land issues, particularly in Hanoi and also in Saigon and Vinh Long. There is concern that the Vietnam side might pressure the Vatican to remove Hanoi Archbishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet, who according to J.B. An Dang has “suffered a long period of virtual house arrest, calculated public defamation campaign by state-controlled media, not to mention public threat of violence and death aimed at him personally,” because of his forthright stand on the Thai Ha parish church property issue.

The issue of dioceses without bishops will also be dicussed, according to J.B. An Dang: “There are numerous dioceses such as Phat Diem, Buon Me Thuot still without a bishop, and there are aging bishops who would like to but cannot retire due to lack of replacement such as bishops of Vinh and Thai Binh dioceses.” This is a chronic problem in Vietnam, due to the requirement for government approval of bishops, and the slowness of the Vietnam government ot issue such approvals.

J.B. An Dang also noted that a Vietnamese Catholic priest who has accompanied the Holy See delegation on previous trips to Vietnam will not be allowed to go this time:

“Msgr. Barnabe Nguyen Van Phuong, a Vietnamese priest, bureau chief at the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, who has joined the Holy See delegation in previous 15 trips to Vietnam, seems not to be welcomed by Vietnam government. He will be replaced by another priest. This has raised further concerns among Catholics in Vietnam.”

The Holy See delegation will also visit some dioceses and meet with the Vietnam Catholic Bishop conference while in Vietnam.

Source: VietCatholic News Feb. 9.

Vu Hung, Amnesty International appeal

2009-02-04T00:12:00.000-08:00

Amnesty International has issued an Urgent Action notice on behalf of Vu Hung, a high-school physics teacher who was arrested Sept. 14, 2008 and has not been heard from since he was moved from his cell to B14 prison in Hanoi two months ago. He is reported to be in poor health from beatings during interrogations and a hunger strike he held to protest his treatment. Police also reportedly visited his family and asked them to sign an affadavit on his mental health, raising concerns about his ill-treatment.

Vu Hung is one of at least nine people arrested last September for demonstrating for blogger Dieu Cay and against a border agreement with China. It is reported they will be charged under Article 88 of Vietnam's penal code, which prohibits "conducting propaganda" against the goverment.

Vu Hung has been active in pro-democracy movements since 2006 and has suffered the consequences. He was among 14 people arrested for demonstrating against China when the Olympic torch relay passed through Ho Chi Minh City in April 2008. He lost his teaching job in July 2008 for his activism.

Amnesty International is asking that letters be written to various government officials expressing concern about the ill-treatment of Vu Hung and demanding the immediate and unconditional release of Vu Hung and his colleagues.

Source: Amnesty International Urgent Action notice Jan. 23.

Paris Accords anniversary

2009-01-28T13:28:00.000-08:00

It was on Jan. 27, 1973 that the Paris Peace Accords to end the Vietnam war was signed. Le Duc Tho and Henry Kissinger were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (Tho refused to accept it) for the treaty. The treaty set up a framework for the peaceful reunification of Vietnam based on internationally supervised elections in the south, which in turn was based on the full enjoyment of democratic liberties; and the deescalation of military conflict between the two sides.

Unfortunately this did not happen. Instead, the subsequent two years marked a buildup of North Vietnamese forces in areas of the south, leading to the final military sweep of April 1975; officially to "enforce" the Paris Accords, but in reality intended to unite the country under one political party and to abolish all independent and opposition groups. The elections never happened, and Vietnam sunk into political totalitarianism and harsh poverty over the next decade.

With the economic reforms begun in 1986 Vietnam has developed into a more prosperous and open society than the first decade of reunification; but serious deprivations of human rights remain, and people are still imprisoned or in other ways persecuted for struggling for the basic human rights that were promised to them in the Paris Accords.

It might be argued that this treaty was actually just a fig leaf for the U.S. to justify its withdrawal and abandonment of a former political ally. Nevertheless, the treaty had created the possibility for a peaceful and democratic reunification of the country, and if it had been implemented milions of Vietnamese would have been spared the misery of re-educations camps, rigged politcal elections, big brother monitoring of their daily lives, political corruption and other problems that arise with the concentration of too much political power in the hands of a few people; along with the risks of death on the high seas for those who fled by boat.

Human Rights Watch annual report issued

2009-01-25T22:55:00.000-08:00

Human Rights Watch protested the detention and harsh treatment of some 400 political prisoners in Vietnam, along with other forms of repression, in the Vietnam chapter of its annual worldwide report released on Jan. 14. It said the Vietnam government "continues to crackdown on democracy activists, journalists, human rights defenders, cyber-dissidents, and members of unsanctioned religious organizations." On prison conditions it stated: "Prisoners are placed in solitary confinement in dark, unsanitary cells, and there is compelling evidence of torture and ill-treatment of political prisoners, including beatings and electric shock. Credible sources report the use of forced prison labor in a cashew processing facility at Xuan Loc prison, where many political prisoners are imprisoned."

Other concerns raised in the report include lack of due process in political trials; persecution of members of unauthorized religious organizations, labor union activists, independente journalists, land rights demonstrators, ethnic minorities and others. In general the report described a lack of the most basic freedoms, such as freedom of the press, association, assembly and religion.

It reported specific legal measures which has been used to increase repression in the country: Decree 88 "provides for strict government control of associations, which effectively serve as agencies of government ministries or the Vietnamese Communist Party;" "laws such as Ordinance 44 authorize the detention without trial of dissidents at 'social protection centers' and psychiatric facilities if they are deemed to have violated national security laws;" legislation governing religious policy "requires that religious groups register with the government."

On the rights of women and children, it said:

"Vietnam continues to be a source of and transit point for women and girls trafficked for forced prostitution, fraudulent marriages, and forced domestic servitude to other parts of Asia. Sex workers, trafficking victims, street children, and street peddlers-officially classified by the government as 'social evils'-are routinely rounded up and detained without warrants in compulsory 'rehabilitation' centers, where they are subject to beatings and sexual abuse."

The report noted efforts of the U.S. and European Union nations to intervene for more positive human rights progress in Vietnam.

Sources: Vietnam chapter of the Human Rights Watch World Report 2009 can be found here. The full text of the report can be found here.

Mistreatment of Khmer Krom protested

2009-01-21T19:21:00.000-08:00

The mistreatment of the Khmer Krom ethnic minority in Vietnam was protested in a 125-page report issued by Human Rights Watch today. The report, titled "On the Margins: Rights Abuses of Ethnic Khmer in Vietnam's Mekong Delta," said the Vietnam government has suppressed peaceful expression of dissent, banned Khmer Krom human rights publications, and tightly controls Theravada Buddhism, the major religion of the Khmer Krom. It also noted the mistreatment of the Khmer Krom in Cambodia. A press release accompanying the report noted:

Drawing on detailed interviews with witnesses in both Vietnam and Cambodia, the report shows that Khmer Krom in Vietnam face serious restrictions on freedom of expression, assembly, association, information, and movement. In researching this report, Human Rights Watch came into possession of internal memos circulated by the Communist Party of Vietnam and Vietnamese government officials outlining their concerns about unrest among Khmer Krom in the Mekong Delta and strategies to monitor, infiltrate, and silence Khmer Krom activists. The documents are included in an appendix to the report.

The report gave particular attention to the harsh police crackdown against a demonstration of 200 Khmer Krom Buddhist monks in Soc Trang province in February 2007:

Protesters called for greater religious freedom and more Khmer-language education. Although the protest was peaceful and lasted only a few hours, the Vietnamese government responded harshly. Police surrounded the pagodas of monks suspected of leading the protest. Local authorities and government-appointed Buddhist officials subsequently expelled at least 20 monks from the monkhood, forcing them to defrock and give up their monks' robes, and banishing them from their pagodas. The authorities sent the monks back to their home villages and put them under house arrest or police detention, without issuing arrest warrants or specifying the charges against them. During interrogations, police beat some of the monks.

Sources: Human Rights Watch press release and report Jan. 21.

Directive on blogging

2009-01-19T22:14:00.000-08:00

The following is the text of a directive on blogging passed last December. This was posted by Shawn McHale to the Vietnam Studies Group forum.

=============

MINISTRY OF
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM
Independence - Freedom - Happiness

No: 07 /2008/TT-BTTTT

Hanoi, 18 December 2008

CIRCULAR

Instruction on some contents regarding the provision of information on the personal electronic information page in the Decree No. 97/2008/ND-CP dated 28 August 2008 of the Government on the management, provision and use of Internet services and electronic information on the Internet

Pursuant to the Post and Telecommunications Ordinance dated 25 May 2002;

Pursuant to the Decree No. 187/2007/ND-CP dated 25 December 2007 of the Government defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Information and Communication;

Pursuant to the Decree No. 97/2008/ND-CP dated 28 August 2008 of the Government on the management, provision and use of Internet services and electronic information on the Internet;

Ministry of Information and Communication instructs some contents regarding the provision of information on the personal electronic information page in the Decree No. 97/2008/ND-CP dated 28 August 2008 of the Government on the management, provision and use of Internet services and electronic information on the Internet (hereinafter called Decree No.97) as follows:

1. The personal electronic information page (blog) as defined at item 12 Article 3 Decree No. 97 is translated as follows:

The blog is used to show personal information, serving the needs of storing or exchanging with a group of people or Internet using community. The blog is registered and created on the Internet by its owner.

2. Instructions on items 3, 5, 6 Article 4 Decree No. 97 regarding the provision of information on the blog as follows:

2.1 To encourage the development and use of the blogs to facilitate the individuals and open the chance of interaction on the Internet for discussion and exchanging of information which is conformable to the Vietnamese habits, customs and regulations, enriching their social and spiritual lives and connecting the community.

2.2 To encourage the correct use of Vietnamese on the blogs.

2.3 To encourage the use of blogs on the online social networks which have registered their operations by the Vietnamese law and regulations.

3. Deeds that are strictly forbidden at Article 6 Decree No. 97 regarding the provision of information on the blogs are specifically stipulated as follows:

3.1 To make corrupt use of the blogs to provide, transmit or establish the direct connection with information that violates the regulations at Article 6 of Decree No. 97.

3.2 To create blogs that forge other individuals or organizations; to illegally use of other individual's blog account; false information injuring the legal rights and benefits of organizations or individuals.

3.3 To broadcast literary or artistic works, articles, publications which violate the law and regulation on press and publishing.

3.4 To use information or individual image that violates the regulations at Articles 31 and 38 of the Civil Code.

3.5 To provide information on the blogs that violates the regulations on intellectual property, e-commerce transaction and other related regulations.

4. Responsibilities of the Internet users as stipulated at points c and d item 2 Article 12 of Decree No. 97, are instructed as follows:

4.1 The blog owner must bare all responsibilities on the information provided, stored and transmitted on his/her blog, ensuring that it will not violate the law and regulations as well as the rules as defined at item 3 of this Circular.

4.2 The blog owner must keep in secret his/her password, cipher key, personal information.

5. Responsibilities of the enterprises which provide the online social network service as defined at item 2 Article 11 of Decree No.97 regarding the provision of information on the blog, are instructed as follows:

5.1 To build and publicize the regulations on the information provision and exchange on the blogs at their service-providing electronic information pages, ensuring that it will not violate the law and regulations as stipulated at item 3 of this Circular.

To have appropriate treatment with the violated blogs.

5.2 To build the information management procedure which is conformable to their service scale.

5.3 To build the database on the blogs under their management and inform the authorized state management agencies of such information if required.

5.4 To prevent and reject such information that violates the law and regulations as stipulated at item 3 of this Circular right after discovering such information or when requested by the authorized state management agencies.

5.5 Under the inspection of the authorized state agencies as stipulated.

6. The implementation of the reports on the blog service provision by the online social network service providers as stipulated at point d item 2 Article 11 of Decree No. 97 as follows:

6.1 To report every 6 months and or make unscheduled report as requested by the authorized state management agencies.

6.2 The periodical reports should include the following contents:

a) Date, month, year and number of the confirmation document on the registration of online social network service provision by the Ministry of Information and Communication;

b) Official date, month, year of the provision of blog creation service;

c) Headquarter address;

d) Name, phone number and email of the authorized representative;

đ) Numbers of blogs managed by the enterprises and the statistics as requested by the authorized agencies;

e) Data on the personal electronic information pages that violate the regulations on providing and exchanging enterprises’ information.

6.3 Enterprises providing online social network service with blog creating service must send reports before 15 January and 15 July annually.

6.4 Reports should be sent to:

a) Ministry of Information and Communication (Directorate of Broadcasting and Electronic Information).

Email: cucptth&ttdt@mic.gov.vn

b) Departments of Information and Communication at localities at which the enterprises have registered their operations.

7. Validity

7.1 This circular shall have the validity of 15 days since the date of being posted on the Official Gazette.

7.2 Any organization or individual who meets difficulties in the implementation of this circular should inform the Ministry of Information and Communication for consideration and settlement./.

To:

- Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Ministers;
- Office of the Government;
- Office of the Party Central Committee;
- Office of the National Assembly;
- Ministries, ministry-equal agencies, agencies under the Government;
- The Supreme People's Procuracy;
- The Supreme People's Court of Vietnam;
- People's Committees of the cities or provinces under Central government;
- Central bodies of organization;
- Document Inspection Bureau (Ministry of Justice);
- Departments of Information and Communication;
- Internet and Telecommunication Enterprises;
- Electronic Information Agency, Official Gazette;
- MIC: Minister, Deputy Ministers, Ministry affiliated units;
- Administrative archive, Directorate of Broadcasting and Electronic Information.

FOR MINISTER

DEPUTY MINISTER

(Signed)

Do Quy Doan

CPJ protests restrictions on bloggers and journalists

2009-01-19T21:25:00.000-08:00

Increased restrictions on blogging and journalists in Vietnam was protested by Joel Simon, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, in a Jan. 16, 2009 letter to Vietnam president Nguyen Manh Triet. Simon noted a new directive passed last December, which Simon said effectively bans bloggers from posting material "perceived as opposing the state, undermining national security, or divulging state secrets. The directive, Circular 07/2008/TT-BTTTT, also required domestic Internet service providers to begin maintaining databases on individual blogs and censoring content that authorities consider sensitive.

"The new restrictions effectively give government officials greater authority to crack down on the growing number of Vietnamese-language Web sites, many of which are critical of your government's policies and provide an important counterpoint to the news and views disseminated by your country's tightly controlled state media."

Simon protested increased restrictions of journalists, including the firing of two editors for Thanh Nien and Tuoi Tre newspapers on Jan. 2 because their newspapers had reported on a major corruption scandal; and the trials last October of the two journalists who reported on it. In addition, he protested the imprisonment of blogger Nguyen Van Hai, pen name Dieu Cay, officially detained because of tax evasion, but actually because of his reporting on China-Vietnam border issues.

Sources: Letter of Joel Simon, Jan. 16; see also Vietnam News Service, Dec. 25, and BBC News Dec. 24, for discussion of the blog directive; CPJ Oct. 15 for reporting of trials of journalists for reporting on the corruption scandal.

Barbara Crossette on increasing dissent

2009-01-19T17:46:00.000-08:00

In an article written for the International Herald Tribune, Jan. 14, Barbara Crossette discusses the increasing dissent among students, intellectuals, journalists and bloggers in Vietnam, despite government efforts to control it. She also mentions a book just written by famed dissident novelist Duong Thu Huong:

The new book, just published in Paris and titled in French "Au Zenith," is a thinly veiled and not complimentary novel about the national hero, Ho Chi Minh, the founding father of modern Vietnam and an off-limits subject here. Newspapers have been warned not to touch the story, but copies or excerpts of Huong's book in French and Vietnamese began to circulate on the Internet even before its publication.

Journalist among over 15,000 released in Tet amnesty

2009-01-16T23:25:00.000-08:00

Vietnam journalist Nguyen Viet Chien is among those slated to be released this Saturday, in a Jan. 15 amnesty decision signed by President Nguyen Minh Triet. Major amnesties normally take place either around the Vietnamese new year, Tet, or National Day, Sept. 2. The announced amnesty on this occasion of 15,140 prisoners is the largest ever. But so far Chien is the only known political prisoner to be included in the amnesty. The great majority granted amnesty are common criminals; the amnesty also includes 277 government officials who had been arrested on corruption charges, and 36 foreign citizens arrested on various charges. This is the ninth amnesty for prisoners since 1990. According to Voice of Vietnam news:

"The Amnesty Consultation Council said that the list was created from a total of 15,402 dossiers proposed by jails across the country for the amnesty to mark the traditional Lunar New Year festival (Tet) and the 79^th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of Vietnam... Addressing the closing session of the Amnesty Consultation Council’s meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong, Chairman of the council, said that, since 1990, the Party and State have granted amnesty to more than 95,000 inmates, just six percent of whom have relapsed."

Chien is a former reporter for the state-owned Thanh Nien newspaper, who was arrested last year along with Tuoi Tre reporter Nguyen Van Hai for their 2006 reporting on a major corruption scandal in which government officials embezzled larged amounts of foreign aid money in order to bet on sports events. They were brought to trial October 15, 2008, charged with "abusing freedom and democratic rights." Hai was released with a two-year suspended sentence, while Chien was given a two-year jail term. The editors of both papers were fired for protesting their arrests.

It would be misleading to call these reporters dissidents, as they do not appear to have been deliberately defying government policies with their writings. Rather, they carried out their duties as reporters for the state-owned media, but learned subsequently that they had overstepped their bounds by reporting the misdeeds of high-ranking officials. Their arrest and trial, along with the firing of their editors, was in itself a major corruption scandal.

Sources: VOV news Jan. 14, Jan. 16;BBC news Jan. 16; Associated Press Jan. 16; Viet Nam News Service Jan. 14; Reporters Without Borders Jan. 16.

800 workers strike at Taiwanese plant

2009-01-16T23:18:00.000-08:00

More than 800 workers have gone on strike at a Taiwanese garment factory in southern Vietnam, Chin Phong Vietnam, to protest delays in the payment of their salaries and the new year Tet bonus. The company paid their salaries on Tuesday and said it would pay half of the Tet bonus on Jan 20, with the rest due by April 20. But the strike continued, because many workers wanted the first half of their Tet bonus immediately. Thousands of workers went on strike in Vietnam last year, mostly at large foreign-owned companies.

Source: Reuters Jan. 14.

Carl Thayer on displacement of Vietnam farmers

2009-01-11T23:20:00.000-08:00

In a recent interview with Radio Australia, Carl Thayer, a Vietnam specialist at the Australian Defense Force Academy, was asked to comment on the displacement of farmers for the construction of an ecopark southeast of Hanoi. He says the farmers are being treated unfairly by the government and land developers Here are some excerpts:

THAYER: Land process and particularly urban land process has been a common feature in the Vietnamese landscape, including the most recent demonstrations. Local cadres feather their nests by engaging in economic development projects, compensation is probably not adequate, and in many cases the people who are affected are not consulted thoroughly and later argue that it is very difficult for them to relocate and find new land.

WEBSTER: Officials say the farmers have been given compensation for the Eco Park development, but is this not enough as they may be losing their livelihood and land?

THAYER: Well yes, when you go back to 2004, there has been massive rise in inflation in the past year. Government officials are saying 70 per cent have accepted and 30 per cent haven't and the local authorities could no longer delay and so moved in to to compensate. So here you have a sort of very typical of the regime, a fait accompli. Where do these people go, the Red River Delta, that area is very highly densely populated and so these people have got to relocate they're agricultural people, they've lost that land, they've lost the cities where they have lived, and probably their families go back generations, so it's a massive impact on them and they will not be beneficiaries of the new township and other developments slated for Eco Park.

WEBSTER: What's going to happen to these farmers? What are their options?

THAYER: Well last year, when some got agitated and demonstrated vociforously, typically the regime picked on the leaders and put them in jail for disturbing public order, which is a very frequent thing. They will be cowed ultimately into accepting a fait accompli, they will be paid compensation, given some sweeteners and promises, and then it will all blow over and the township development will proceed, because there is very little they can do. They have taken their process to the highest level, the National Assembly, but yet, these development have proceeded. Bulldozers have arrived on Wednesday morning and proceeded to start the construction.

WEBSTER: Do these farmers then have any job prospects if that's what they have been doing all their life, working on the land?

THAYER: Well no, and in fact with the high inflation and global economic recession, and Vietnam is hunkering down for a very bad year, this year, 2009. It will be much more difficult for these people. They can't then move into urban areas and get urban jobs, because there is already a problem of employment in Vietnam and they will have to find other agricultural land, which increasingly is remote, going to the Central Highlands, for example, could be an option....

Soutce: Radio Australia, Jan. 12.

New directive negates church land rights

2009-01-11T22:54:00.000-08:00

A new Vietnam government directive on land and properties of religions has effectively ruled that none of the 2,250 Catholic church properties seized by the state after 1975 will be returned, and threatens severe punishment for those who demonstrate for church property restoration. The rule applies to confiscated properties of other religions as well. The directive, No. 1940/CT/TTg, was signed by PM Nguyen Van Dung and made public on Jan. 6. It states that land confiscated by the state before July 1, 1991 will be regulated according to Resolution 23/2003/QH11, published on NOv. 26, 2003. This resolution stated that all land and properties appropriated by the state before July 1, 1991 would not be returned to its owners. All confiscated religious property was seized before July 1991, mostly in 1975 and 1976 for the south and in the 1950s for the north.

The directive seems to have crushed any hope for a more farsighted government policy on the issue of religious properties. As it is, many confiscated church properties have been used for corrupt purposes by local government officials.

(Sources: Asia News/VietCatholic News Jan. 8; VietCatholic News Jan. 8 (two reports)

Two journalists to be tried

2008-10-12T19:05:00.000-07:00

Two journalists in Vietnam, both working for the state owned press, are to be tried October 14 for their reporting on a major corruption scandal in Vietnam. Their crime is not covering up the scandal but exposing it. The scandal on which they reported, known as the PMU18 graft scandal, involved high ranking officials in Vietnam's transport ministry diverting foreign aid intended for building roads and bridges into supporting lavish lifestyles and betting on European football games.

Reporters without Borders is urging the court to dismiss the case. The arrest of these reporters -- Nguyen Viet Chien and Nguyen Van Hai of Thanh Nien and Tuoi Tre newspapers respectively -- has had a chilling effect on other journalists in Vietnam. "What is at stake in the court is more important than the trial of two innocent journalists, it is a public trial that is aimed at frightening the entire profession," said a colleague of the arrested journalists. They will be tried along with two police officers, accused of having "deliberately revealed state secrets." At least eight other journalists who wrote on this scandal have also been summoned to court.

Update: At the conclusion of the two-day trial, Thanh Nien reporter Nguyen Viet Chien was sentenced to two years in jail, backdated to his arrest May 12, 2008. His colleague Nguyen Van Hai of Tuoi Tre was given a 24-month non-custodial sentence, including time served, on grounds that he had pled guilty to the crimes of which he was accused. Of the two police officers charged with leaking the classified information, Pham Xuan Quac, the former Head of the Department on Social Crime Investigative Police, received an official warning; while Dinh Van Huynh of the Public Security Ministry was sentenced to one year in prison.

The European Union, the United States and various human rights organizations have protested this trial.

Sources: Reporters Without Borders press release, Oct. 10. The Age, Oct. 17; VOA Oct. 17; The Jurist, Oct. 17; Nhan Dan Oct. 16; Thanh Nien Oct. 16; Amnesty International Oct. 16; Committee to Protect Journalists, Oct. 15; Vnexpress. Net Oct 14, Pioneer p1, Quan Doi Nhan Dan, Thanh Nien, Vietnam News Briefs, Oct. 16.

Amnesty International report on crackdown against Catholics

2008-10-09T23:12:00.000-07:00

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PUBLIC STATEMENT

9 October 2008
AI Index No: ASA

Viet Nam: Growing fear, growing discrimination

The Vietnamese government must end its intimidation and attacks against Catholics and ensure protection against violence by state-sponsored groups, Amnesty International said today.

The widening persecution comes after the authorities cracked down on peaceful mass protests by Catholics in Ha Noi at the end of September 2008. In August and September, Catholics gathered in the thousands to show their support for the churchâ~@~Ys claims in a land dispute.

In a briefing paper released today, based on new information, Amnesty International illustrates how Catholics are increasingly physically and verbally attacked and intimidated in the wake of the crackdown. The report is based on interviews with church groups, journalists and parishioners in the country.

"And they shout bad words about our mothers and fathers, and say things like 'kill the archbishop' and 'kill the priests'", a young Catholic woman told Amnesty International. "Last Sunday evening when I came from church, there were maybe 400-500 people there, many in blue shirts, shouting slogans and holding banners."

As the campaign in state-controlled media against the Catholic protestors is intensifying, counter-protesters and state sponsored groups are gathering outside the Archdiocese and the Thai Ha parish in Ha Noi, harassing and intimidating church leaders and parishioners. At least one Catholic church outside of Ha Noi has been attacked by stone-throwing gangs.

Authorities are also using criminal law to stifle free expression of opinion. Four protesters have been detained and charged, and numerous parishioners have been called in for questioning at police stations in recent days. Moreover Amnesty International believes that senior church officials are at risk of arrest.

Background
Catholics started protesting in December 2007 over a long-running dispute about ownership of two pieces of land in Ha Noi. The land belonged to the Catholic Church until the 1950s when it was confiscated by the state. Negotiations between the church and the government stalled in February 2008 and in August and September thousands of people, some from other parts of the country, joined in the peaceful protest. By the end of September, the authorities had sealed off the areas under dispute and put an end to the mass vigils.

END/
Public Document
****************************************
For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in
London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566 or email: press@amnesty.org
International Secretariat,
Amnesty International,
1 Easton St.,
London WC1X 0DW, UK
www.amnesty.org

Human Rights Watch protests crackdown on Catholics

2008-10-08T18:07:00.000-07:00

Human Rights Watch has issued a press release on the continuing conflicts between the government and Catholic church in Vietnam, in what it describes as the harshest crackdown on Vietnam Catholics in decades. It urges an end to "the harassment, threats, and restrictions on the movement of the Archbishop of Hanoi, Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet;" the release of Catholics arrested "for holding peaceful prayer vigils in Hanoi;" and holding accountable police and others responsible for attacking the demonstrators.

There have been many denunciations in the state owned press of the Hanoi archbishop and other Catholic leaders and demonstrators since Sept. 21, when "10,000 Catholics gathered in prayer outside Hanoi’s main St. Joseph Cathedral to protest the demolition of church buildings at the nearby Nunciature."

The overseas VietCatholic News Agency has been reporting daily on this crisis.

Buddhist monk disappears, secret party document unveils plans

2008-06-08T22:13:00.001-07:00

Buddhist monk Thich Tri Khai was arrested and has now disappeared from his pagoda in Lam Dong province, reports the Paris-based International Buddhist Information Bureau (IBIB). Two other monks from the province have been subjected to harsh police interrogations for their support of the outlawed Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) -- Thich Tam Man, superior monk of Su Tu pagoda in Duc Trong district, and Thich Nhu Tan, president of the UBCV Lam Dong representative board. The IBIB is the overseas press office of the UBCV.

Ven. Khai, superior monk of Giac Hoi pagoda of Don Duong district, was arrested on April 29 when police broke the locks to his pagoda and seized the premises in order to use it for the state-sponsored Vietnam Buddhist Sangha's (VBS) Vesak celebration. He was locked in a room in the pagoda and then disappeared on May 7. Police say he was taken to Saigon for medical treatment, but he has not been heard from since, and efforts of his colleagues and relatives to contact him have failed. The Vesak celebrations, ironically, were an international event hosted by Vietnam and used by the government to proclaim its religious tolerance.

Ven. Khai was also the subject of a secret party document from Don Duong district of Lam Dong province which was obtained by the IBIB. The "Secret Plan", document No. 44-KH/BCD, was promulgated Sept. 13, 2007, signed by Ly Van Kiet, deputy head of the Steering Committee on Religious Affairs for the district, and Assistant Secretary General of the Don-Duong Vietnamese Communist Party. The document was aimed generally against the UBCV in the district, and particularly at Ven. Khai. It said that there were 21,000 Buddhists in the district and some 15 Buddhist pagodas, all of them established before 1975, and complained that a number of monks and nuns in the district did not cooperate with the state sponsored church created in 1981.

It noted that Thich Tri Khai had affiliated with the now banned UBCV and had failed to comply with the orders of the state-sponsored church. The document described the struggle against Thich Tri Khai as part of the larger struggle against the UBCV, and this in turn as part of the struggle against proponents of "peaceful evolution", i.e. nonviolent change toward a democratic society. The document set out measures to use against Khai, including urging citizens of his district to denounce him on moral grounds, but these efforts apparently failed. The IBIB notes that only 12 Buddhists signed a petition supporting his expulsion, whereas 239 signed a counter-petition protesting the government's treatment of him. The failure of the government to isolate him and mobilize opinion against him might explain his disappearance.

Source: Press releases of the International Buddhist Information Bureau, May 13, 28; party document discussed in April 18 press release; posted at the website of Que Me.

Nguyen Van Dai's wife petitions court

2008-06-06T23:24:00.000-07:00

Vu Minh Khanh, wife of Hanoi lawyer Nguyen Van Dai, has petitioned the Vietnam Supreme Court to vacate the court sentence given to her husband of four years in jail followed by four years house arrest. The pro-democracy activist was declared guilty of "spreading propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam," in violation of Article 89 of Vietnam's Criminal Code. In her appeal she noted numerous irregularities in the police procedure leading to his arrest (along with his colleague Le Thi Cong Nhan), and in the subsequent court procedure by the court of first instance and court of appeals, procedures which did not even conform to the rather meager protections allowed defendants under Vietnam's Criminal Procedure Code. She concluded:

"It’s worth noting that only ONE of the four grounds is required for cassation whereas all FOUR grounds of this article are violated in my husband’s case. They are: shallow inquiries and interro-gations; inconsistency of court decisions with the objectivity of circumstances; grave violations of criminal procedures; grave mistakes in the application of the Criminal Code.

"It is, THEREFORE, by virtue of Article 274, Code of Criminal Procedure, that I am petitioning to the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court and the Procurator-General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy for a protest according to cassation procedures. Considering the above grave violations,

my husband has been unjustly sentenced. In view of the fact that my husband has been imprisoned for more than 14 months, I hereby petition to the Court of Cassation for a speedy review of my husband’s case. I also suggest that the Court of Cassation record in my hus-band’s sentences specific evidences and arguments to avoid ambiguous decisions that had been reached at previous trials."

Source: Doi Thoai website.

Amnesty International criticizes Vietnam in annual report

2008-06-05T21:47:00.000-07:00

In its annual report on worldwide human rights conditions, Amnesty International criticized Vietnam for continued tight controls over freedom of expression and association, arrests of dissidents, unfair political trials and legislation, persecution of ethnic minorities, and the continued use of the death penalty. It highlighted the cases of individuals associated with Bloc 8406, an organization founded to promote democracy and human rights in Vietnam, which suffered from a crackdown launched after the APEC meeting in Hanoi in November 2006.

Source: Amnesty International 2008.

Political crackdown and economic downturn

2008-06-04T22:32:00.000-07:00

James Hookway of the Wall Street Journal writes in its June 4 edition that the arrests of journalists Nguyen Van Hai and Nguyen Viet Chien for their reporting on the corruptoin scandal may be related to a reassertion of authority by conservative hardliners in the Vietnamese Communist Party and the recent economic woes Vietnam is facing, including inflation and the prospect of hundreds of labor strikes:

"Observers like Prof. Thayer say the arrests point to a backlash against the modest political opening introduced by Mr. Dung, 58 years old. Since he became prime minister in 2006, Mr. Dung has overshadowed Vietnam's other top leaders, party chief Mr. Manh and President Nguyen Minh Triet.

"Mr. Dung has maintained a high profile in the local media in Vietnam, frequently being filmed with representatives of the many multinational companies that have flocked to Vietnam in the past few years to escape rising costs in China and other countries. Mr. Dung even sat for a day answering emailed questions from Vietnamese citizens.

"But with inflation rising and many of the people who have flocked to its cities and industrial parks to fuel its rapid economic growth now struggling to make ends meet, more conservative members of the Politburo seem to be reasserting their authority..."

Source: Wall Street Journal, June 4.

Thich Huyen Quang seriously ill, hospitalized

2008-06-01T22:00:00.001-07:00

Ven. Thich Huyen Quang, the Supreme Patriarch of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, was admitted to the General Hospital in Quy Nhon on 27th May, reports the International Buddhist Information Bureau, "suffering from breathing problems due to a heart condition. The 89 year old Patriarch is reportedly very weak." IBIB says Thich Quang Do, deputy to Thich Huyen Quang, has finally been allowed to visit him, along with some other monks, after years of being prevented from doing so.

The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam was the major Buddhist organization in the south prior to 1975, and had become known to the west for its involvement in "third force" and peace movement. After the communist victory, the new regime moved quickly to control the UBCV along with other organizations that represented a potential dissident force in the country. After he wrote a letter in March 1977 to then PM Pham Van Dong describing in detail various incidents of anti-Buddhist repression, Thich Huyen Quang was arrested along with seven other top UBCV leaders. They were held in prison until the end of 1978.

He and Thich Quang Do led the protest against the government establishment of a state-sponsored Buddhist Church in 1981, which declared in its founding charter that it was the only legitimate representative of Vietnamese Buddhism within the country and in relations overseas. As a result, the UBCV was essentially banned, while Thich Huyen Quang and Thich Quang Do have spent most of the years since then under some form of house arrest. Despite this, both have managed to issue from time to time courageous and eloquent statements challenging the government's behavior toward religions and human rights in general.

It is sad that a man of Thich Huyen Quang's stature could have been forced into a form of internal exile in central Vietnam, essentially cut off from the outside world, for no crime other than speaking out boldly for religious freedom and human rights. He has truly lived by the Quaker expression, "speak truth to power", and has paid a price for it.

Source: Que Me, May 31, 2008.
s

Reporters' arrests protested

2008-05-26T21:43:00.003-07:00

Two reporters with the state sponsored Thanh Nien and Tuoi Tre newspapers of Vietnam have been arrested for their reporting on a major corruption scandal in the country. Both newspapers have protested strongly, which is unusual under the circumstances. The arrested reporters are Thanh Nien’s Nguyen Viet Chien and Tuoi Tre’s Nguyen Van Ha. They are charged with “abuse of power.”

The Economist noted:

In an unprecedented show of defiance, both newspapers are standing by their reporters. Thanh Nien has run an editorial demanding: “Free the honest journalists.” It says it has been “swamped” with messages of support from the public and some National Assembly members. It challenges the authorities to explain why, if the offending articles had been so inaccurate, none of the police, prosecutors and the ministry of public security had got around to pointing out the errors at any time in the past two years.

U.S.-Vietnam human rights dialogue May 29

2008-05-25T21:54:00.000-07:00

The 13th round of the Vietnam-U.S. dialogue on human rights and related issues is to take place in Hanoi May 29. David Kramer, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, will lead the U.S. delegation; and his counterpart will be Doan Xuan Tung, assistant to Vietnamese Foreign Minister. Agent Orange, imprisoned dissidents, and intellectual property rights are among the issues to be discussed. According to U.S. State Dept. spokesman Christopher Hill, the dialogue, which resumed in April 2007, "is a frank exchange where we raise our concerns and pull no punches. The Vietnamese government says they value it, and have made limited improvements, but they must do more. We have emphasized that the Dialogue has to focus on concrete action by the government to improve the human rights situation, and must produce tangible results."

Update: In a meeting with reporters in Hanoi Friday May 30, Kramer said his delegation raised the issue of the Thanh Nien and Tuoi Tre journalists detained for their reporting on corruption, and stressed the importance of a free press. The U.S. delegation also brought up the detention of other dissidents, along with religious freedom and rule of law. Kramer said there has been progress toward religious freedom in Vietnam. The Vietnamese delegation countered with criticism of human rights practices in the U.S., noting for example, that many lack health insurance, and asked why the U.S. has not done more to help Agent Orange victims in Vietnam. According to Hanoi's Vietnam News Agency, the Vietnamese delegation "openly criticised some groups in the US for their one-sided and non-objective views on the reality and positive progress made by Vietnam in the fields of democracy, human rights and religion." The Vietnam delegation suggested such groups were trying to sabotage the country. It was not clear from this report if they were referring to Vietnamese refugee groups or to human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch, or both.

Sources: Vietnam News Briefs, May 23; press release of the Democratic Party of Vietnam (based in San Jose, CA), May 19; testimony of Christopher Hill before Congress, March 12; VNA/VietnamNet Bridge May 30; Associated Press (Ben Stocking) May 30; Voice of America (Matt Steinglass) May 30; Agence France Press May 30; Reuters (Grant McCool) May 30.

Vietnam human rights hearings online

2008-05-23T14:01:00.001-07:00

Congressional hearings on "Human Rights Concerns in Vietnam" is now online. The hearings were held before the House Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Nov. 6, 2007. Witnesses included Rep. Zoe Lofgren, Rep. Loretta Sanchez, Rep. Christopher Smith, Scott Marcial of the U.S. State Dept., Sophie Richardson of Human Rights Watch, Nguyen Dinh Thang of Boat People S.O.S. Committee, Cong Thanh Do of the People's Democratic Party, Duy (Dan) Hoang of the Viet Tan Party, and Kathryn Cameron Porter of the Leadership Council for Human Rights.

Sources: Online text of hearings at website of the House Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight and from the U.S. Government Printing Office.

Thich Quang Do nominated for RFK award

2008-05-22T22:02:00.000-07:00

A group of prominent dissidents in Vietnam have signed a statement in support of the nomination of Ven. Thich Quang Do for the annual human rights advocacy award of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial. Thich Quang Do, along with Thich Huyen Quang, has led the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) in its protests against religious repression and other human rights violation. The UBCV was essentially banned in 1981 when the government established its own state sponsored Buddhist church for the entire country and demanded that all other Buddhist organizations join this new church.

Signers to the statement included Col. Pham Que Duong, Vu Cao Quan, Dr. Nguyen Dan Que, lawyer Tran Lam, Professor Nguyen Thanh Giang, Catholic priests Fr. Nguyen Huu Giai, Fr. Phan Van Loi, and Fr. Chan Tin; Protestant pastors Rev. Nguyen Hong Quang and Rev. Than Van Truong. In their statement they noted:

"Having been living in Viet Nam, either north or south, and enduring a troublesome period of our history from 1945 until now, we very highly appreciate the most Venerable Thich Quang Do's steadfast stance, compassionate heart and smart vision in struggling for religious freedom and voicing for basic human rights. Myriad obstacles and threats, including decades-long imprisonment, could not deter the most Venerable Thich Quang Do's noble-aspirations for his Buddhist Church and community. Therefore, the most Venerable Thich Quang Do is among Vietnam's most important figures who have inspired enthusiasm, optimism and perseverance for our common cause for a civilized and happy society that tolerates any differences in religion and ideology."

Source: Vietnamese Political and Religious Prisoners Friendship Association.

Vatican delegation to visit in June

2008-05-21T14:23:00.000-07:00

A delegation of the Holy See will visit Vietnam from June 9-15, according to Eglises d'Asie, citing a source in Rome. The main item for discussion will likely be the appointment and replacement of bishops, with two dioceses vacant of a bishop (Bac Ninh and Phat Diem) and others with bishops that have reached their age of retirement, such as Thai Binh and Ban Me Thuot.

Other possible items for discussion will include the restoration of church property, expanding the social role of the church, some particular cases of human rights (imprisoned priests such as Fr. Ly?), and the possibility of formal diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the Vatican.

The visit had been scheduled for March but was delayed by the religious demonstrations which had begun in Hanoi last December.

Source: Eglises d'Asie, No. 485, May 16, 2008.

State terrorism, by Tran Binh Nam

2008-05-16T08:10:00.000-07:00

State Terrorism

Tran Binh Nam

The Encyclopedia Britannica defines terrorism as “… the systematic use of violence to create a general climate of fear in a population and thereby to bring about a particular political objective. Terrorism has been practiced by political organizations with both rightist and leftist objectives, by nationalistic and religious groups, by revolutionaries, and even by state institutions such as armies, intelligence services, and police.”
Based on that definition, what the police did to student Nguyen Tien Nam, writer Nguyen Xuan Nghia and schoolteacher Vu Hung on April 29, 2008 at Dong Xuan market in Hanoi amounted to an act of deliberate terrorism.
In an interview by Radio Free Asia broadcasting in Vietnamese on the morning of May 1, 2008, student Nguyen Tien Nam revealed that, at 9:30 am on April 29, 2008 he came to the marketplace of Dong Xuan in the center of Hanoi, and found some family members of those fishermen who were fired upon and killed by the Chinese Navy in early 2005. They got word to come there to protest against the Chinese for these killings and also for the Chinese annexation of two group of islands Paracels and Spratlys of Vietnam last December. The writer Nguyen Xuan Nghia and schoolteacher Vu Hung were supposed to be there, but Nam did not see any of them.
Student Nguyen Tien Nam carried a banner featuring five handcuffs instead of five rings of Olympics, the dominant sign of the Olympic torch procession in Saigon on that day. He spoke to the crowd in the market, urging them to participate to the peaceful protest.
The police in plainclothes converged toward him, separated him from the crowd and beat him savagely. They then brought him to the office of the Dong Xuan market, beating him hard on the street. There Nguyen Tien Nam met with writer Nguyen Xuan Nghia and schoolteacher Vu Hung, who had been apparently arrested earlier somewhere in the city and brought there.
At the market office the plainclothes police kept beating student Nguyen Tien Nam, causing him to vomit out the food he ate in the morning. Writer Nguyen Xuan Nghia complained against the police brutality toward Mr. Nam, and he himself, in turn, was silenced by blows from the police. Teacher Vu Hung told the police that they should not beat an elderly man such as writer Nghia who was as old as their fathers. As a consequence, teacher Vu Hung was beaten as well.
Thereafter the police in uniform showed up and drove them to the police station of the district of Dong Xuan for questioning. There the police abused them with vulgarity and by midnight sent them back to their homes for further questioning by the local police. Student Nguyen Tien Nam was sent to Yen Bay province, writer Nguyen Xuan Nghia to the harbor city of Hai Phong, and schoolteacher Vu Hung to the province of Ha Nam.

Back in Hai Phong, writer Nguyen Xuan Nghia composed the following poem:

My fatherland is like the donkey skin
That shrinks each time one has a wish
A wish of prosperity: its woods lose their trees, its seas their fish
A wish of territorial integrity: its islands and mountains were annexed by the foreigners…
I stood peacefully with my sign, protesting Beijing
The first people to come were the police
They looked at me as a scabrous dog
I fell down, they lift me up
Their punches again landing on my face.
Yet, they’re my compatriots
Sharing with me this arid land of rocks and sands
This land of thousands years of struggle and pain
To survive and to overcome…
I lied on the ground
My tears swallowed
Which dynasty like this one,
Along the 4000 years of my people’s history

- Nguyen Xuan Nghia (Hai-Phong, May 1st, 2008)

What was the meaning of the violence committed by the police against Mr. Nguyen Tien Nam, Nguyen Xuan Nghia and Vu Hung? It could not be seen as an act of maintaining public order. Force may be used as the last resort to maintain public order, and not to be used to deal with a peaceful protest. The gatherings organized by the student Nguyen Tien Nam conformed to the terms of Vietnam’s constitution and in doing so he did not violate any current law. In fact, the Vietnamese authorities did not indict them and released them after questioning.
As said, the use of force by the plainclothes policemen and the intimidation by the police in uniform against Messrs. Nam, Nghia and Hung should be seen as an act of terrorism, and those who committed these acts must face justice according to the law by the Vietnamese authorities. Otherwise this act of violence amounts to an act of state terrorism condoned by the highest leaders of the civil administration of Vietnam, namely President Nguyen Minh Triet and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. Triet and Dung must be considered as terrorists and to be dealt with by the world community as such. They should not be allowed to travel freely in the civilized world until they order their security apparatus to stop to terrorize the people of Vietnam.
The world community should have a say in this affair to enhance the universal effort to combat terrorism under any form, whether practiced by political organizations, by religious groups, by revolutionaries, or even by state institutions such as the police in Vietnam under the leadership of the Vietnam communist Party.

May 16, 2008
binhnam@sbcglobal.net
www.tranbinhnam.com

Freedom House rates media freedom in Vietnam

2008-05-11T00:07:00.000-07:00

Freedom House ranked Vietnam as a "not free" country in its annual report on worldwide press conditions, Freedom of the Press 2008. It noted that while there were some lifting of press restrictions in 2006 when Vietnam was entering into the World Trade Organization, 2007 was on the other hand marked, in the words of Human Rights Watch, by "one of the worst crackdowns on peaceful dissent in 20 years."

Freedom House noted that more than a dozen journalists and writers were arrested and sentenced to prison last year, for pushing for more open media or writing online essays urging democracy in the country. Among other problems:

- A 1999 law required journalists to pay damages to individuals or groups who are found to have been harmed by press articles, even if those articles were true, for example on corruption.

- Many writers and other dissidents have been punished under Article 88 of Vietnam's Criminal Code, which prohibits anti-government propaganda.

- A decree ratified in July 2006 defines over 2,000 violations of the law under culture and information, with heavy prison terms in order to protect the security of the regime.

- All media is under state control, but even here some journalists have gone outside the official boundaries, and therefore were punished, For example, two Tuoi Tre were removed from office for publishing articles on official corruption. Other underground and publications have been edited by dissidents, some online, but these individuals are liable to severe punishment.

Source: Freedom House annual report, 2008.

Hoang Minh Chinh remembered

2008-05-06T23:20:00.000-07:00

Sophie Quinn-Judge reflects on Hoang Minh Chinh (1920-2008), a Moscow-trained Marxist philosopher who first fell out of favor with Vietnam communist leaders when he advocated peaceful coexistence in 1963. A lifelong revolutionary, he had been imprisoned by the French from 1940-43 for his anti-colonial activities; and in 1960 was made head of the Institute of Philosophy in Hanoi after receiving training in Moscow. This background made him suspect to the more Maoist oriented hardliners in the Vietnamese communist leadership. He was arrested in 1967 and held in prison for six years followed by three years house arrest.

During the last years of his life, in the post-doi moi era, Chinh became a prominent leader of the pro-democracy movement:

"Hoang Minh Chinh himself continued to suffer humiliation, harassment and close police surveillance, especially after he travelled to the United States for cancer treatment in 2005 and joined forces with advocates of democracy among the overseas Vietnamese. But he still had some last words of advice for the government. In a final testament he called for more openness regarding the disputed border issues under discussion with the Chinese, justice for ordinary people and true solidarity among all Vietnamese. As many Vietnamese have reminded their leaders in recent years, he pointed out that the country does not belong to any particular party or person."

Source: Open Democracy, April 30.

Le Quoc Quan to be tried May 13

2008-05-06T23:04:00.000-07:00

Dissident Le Quoc Quan is to be tried May 13, according to information received by his wife, along with a number of other dissidents. He has been held in prison since last November. In an appeal posted at a Facebook site, his wife said:

"..my husband helped to arrange meetings between Radio New Horizon reporters Thanh Thao with local democracy activists. He also helped Ms. Thanh Thao, a French citizen, and Mr. Leon Truong, an American citizen, to prepare documents promoting democracy through non-violent means. They were arrested on November 17, 2007. However after 3 weeks in detention, Ms. Thanh Thao and Mr. Leon Truong were released and left Vietnam while my husband is still in jail without reason." Two others, Nguyen The Vu and Somsak Khunmi, also face trial.

Source: Open letters posted by Minh T. Nguyen to FREE Democracy Activists in Vietnam NOW! group of Facebook, May 6.

Amnesty International protests arrest of Olympic protesters

2008-05-02T23:22:00.000-07:00

Amnesty International protested the arrest of at least 14 individuals demonstrating against the Olympic torch relay in Vietnam en route to China. At least twelve demonstrators were arrested in Ho Chi Minh city during the relay, while more arrests took place in Hanoi, it said. Also, "In the days leading up to the torch relay, at least three people were arrested, including Nguyen Hoang Hai, a journalist and blogger who had featured articles about protests against China's international policies."

Amnesty is concerned about the ongoing crackdown on dissent over the last two years, which has targeted "lawyers, trade unionists, religious leaders and Internet dissidents with links to emerging pro-democracy groups." It called on Vietnamese authorities to "urgently investigate allegations of beatings against those detained, and ensure their safety and wellbeing."

Source: Amnesty International press release May 1.

U.S. religious commission wants Vietnam blacklisted

2008-05-02T22:55:00.000-07:00

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom issued a report today in which it urged the U.S. State Department to put Vietnam back on the list of countries that seriously violate religious freedom. A delegation of the commission had visited Vietnam in October 2007, but found progress toward religious freedom to be very uneven in the country.

"We continue to find that lifting the CPC [Country of Particular Concern] designation for Vietnam was premature," Commission member Leonard Leo told a news conference.

Ethnic minority Buddhists and Protestants in Vietnam "are often harassed, beaten, detained, arrested and discriminated against and they continue to face some efforts to coerce renunciation of faith," the commission's report said. "Arrests, detentions, discrimination, and other restrictions continue, perpetrated by recalcitrant provincial officials and abetted by the central government's suspicion of religious leaders believed to have political motives or the expansion of religious adherence in some ethnic minority areas. In addition, Vietnam has initiated a severe crackdown on human rights defenders and advocates for the freedoms of speech, association assembly, and religion, including many religious leaders."

U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey acknowledged that several issues of concern remain concerning Vietnam's religious policy, but said that the situation has improved since the country was removed from the CPC list in November 2006.

Sources: Agence France Presse, May 2; Reuters May 2; U.S. State Dept. daily briefing May 2; press release of the International Commission on Religious Freedom, May 2; for full text of report, click here.

Three dissidents sentenced under Article 88

2008-04-28T22:54:00.000-07:00

The government of Vietnam has against invoked Article 88 prohibiting anti-state propaganda in its punishment of dissidents. This time, the victims are Pham Ba Hai, 40, sentenced to five years; Nguyen Ngoc Quang, 44, three years, and Vu Hoang Hai, 43, two years in prison, at a trial that apparently lasted one day on Friday. They are accused of forming a group named "Bach Dang River" in April 2006. According to Nhan Dan, they "uploaded distorted information on the internet in the period between April and August 2006 to ignite demonstrations and slander the party and government leaders, with the aim of sabotaging the Socialist Republic of Vietnam." Pham Ba Hai also apparently found a way to record his interrogation and then uploaded it onto the internet. Hai, a member of the pro-democracy Bloc 8406, has been in prison since September 2006. It isn't clear from the news reports if the other two have also been detained since that time.

According to Le Nga of Vietnam's Thanh Nien newspaper: "The court ruled in 2001, when working in India, Pham Ba Hai connived with his two henchmen in Vietnam to publish subversive material on the Internet to instigate many students to plot against the Vietnamese government." Nhan Dan, whose article was titled, "Distorted information spreaders given jail sentences," stated the accused "posted documents that distorted history, attacked administrations and tarnished the Party and state officials, and incited people to protest."

Clearly, these three dissidents were guilty of nothing more than criticizing the government and ruling party of Vietnam, an activity which should be protected, not criminalized.

Sources: DPA/Earth Times April 26; Thanh Nien, April 26; VNA/VNS April 26; Nhan Dan April 26.

Chronology of repression

2008-04-28T22:35:00.000-07:00

The Committee for Human Rights in Vietnam has posted a detailed chronology of various acts of repression in Vietnam, along with protests from dissidents and their loved ones, covering the period of January through April 15, 2008. The chronology describes police brutality, harassment of dissidents, preventing wives from visiting their detained husbands, and dissidents from attending the funeral of Hoang Minh Chinh, religious repression and many other acts.

Source: Report on Continuous Violations of Human Rights in Vietnam by The Committee for Human Rights in Vietnam, April 15.

Guide to library and electronic resources on Vietnam

2008-04-07T14:18:00.001-07:00

Following Vietnam from Berkeley: a guide to library and electronic resources
By Stephen Denney
Paper presented to 2008 6th Triennial Vietnam Symposium of Texas Tech University’s Vietnam Center, March 13-15, 2008

Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to provide some tips and a general overview for researchers on contemporary Vietnam. I will speak here from my experience working at the Indochina Archive and as a cataloguer for the UC Berkeley library and also from some research I have done over the years.

Conditions for following events in Vietnam have changed dramatically in the decades since the war ended in 1975. During the war, with Vietnam divided in half, foreign reporters were relatively free to roam around South Vietnam and interview people of all backgrounds, despite the sometimes authoritarian nature of the South Vietnam government. North Vietnam, on the other hand, was mostly isolated from the West. It allowed a few visitors who subsequently wrote about their observations -- reporters such as Harrison Salisbury, or antiwar activists such as Tom Hayden or Herbert Aptheker. Much of the information about North Vietnam and life inside the country came from captured documents and interviews with defecting or captured soldiers from the north. Also at this time, the U.S. government’s two worldwide translation services, Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) and Joint Publications Research Service (JPRS), translated radio broadcasts, newspaper and journal articles, and these also became an important basis for understanding conditions in North Vietnam at the time.

With the end of the war newly reunified Vietnam remained largely closed off to the outside world, with few correspondents allowed to spend much time in the country. Among reporters with access to Vietnam in the late 1970s were Wilfred Burchett, an Australian communist reporter allowed to spend time in Vietnam, and whose writings appeared in the radical Guardian newspaper of New York; and Nayan Chanda, a reporter for the Far Eastern Economic Review, who interviewed top officials from Vietnam. This was also, however, a time when Vietnamese were beginning to flee the country in large numbers and news correspondents such as the New York Times’s Henry Kamm were interviewing the boat people. Added to this were the rare cases of documents dissidents smuggled out of the country, such as when a high ranking Buddhist monk, Thich Man Giac, fled the country in 1978 and took with him documents of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, protesting repression and appealing for human rights.

On sources directly from Vietnam, there were publications intended for outside foreign consumption, such as Vietnam Courier, or South Vietnam in Struggle, the official NLF organ during the Vietnam war. There were also some publications in Vietnamese, such as Tap Chi Cong San (Communist Studies), the theoretical journal of the Vietnamese Communist Party, which a few American libraries were able to obtain.

Among the most important sources at that time were translated radio broadcasts and newspaper articles by the U.S. government’s Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) and Joint Publications Research Service (JPRS). The British Broadcasting Corporation had a similar service to FBIS in the Summary of World Broadcasts. FBIS and JPRS were quite extensive in their Vietnam coverage at this time. Both publications were regional within a larger series, the FBIS with Vietnam coverage was the Asia Pacific Daily Report, and the JPRS with Vietnam coverage Southeast Asia Report. FBIS came out daily, from Monday through Friday, and carried primarily the transcripts of radio broadcasts from the region, some translated and some originally broadcast in English; while JPRS came out irregularly, a few times a week, and carried transcripts of translated articles from Vietnam and other parts of the world. The two complemented each other in the sense that FBIS would help one keep abreast of daily events, while JPRS translated more in depth articles, including important legal texts, such as Resolution 297, the first document of post-75 Vietnam setting forth the official religious policy, and the entire text of the 1985 Vietnam Criminal Code. For a period, it also translated the entire text of each issue of Tap Chi Cong San. I found such translations to be very helpful for my own research on human rights conditions in the country.

FBIS and JPRS were available on microfiche at university libraries that were federal depositories, and these were generally about six months behind publication date. Also, the JPRS publications, which were more valuable for their magazine translations, generally did not begin before 1975 or 1978 in the microfiche collections I visited. That said, the advantage of these two publications is that they were made available for free in microfiche form to university libraries which were federal depositories, and which would probably not otherwise receive these publications. This was the case at Portland State University for example. There were also a very few libraries that subscribed to these publications in paper form, and these, of course, would arrive much quicker. When I did research on Vietnam in 1980, in the San Francisco Bay area, the main libraries I used were Hoover, Stanford and U.C. Berkeley libraries for their print holdings of FBIS, and the BBC Summary of World Broadcasts; and their microfiche holdings of JPRS. In 1981 Douglas Pike retired from government and moved to UC Berkeley with his voluminous collection of materials on Vietnam, which included a large volume of FBIS and JPRS clippings sorted into appropriate files. I will discuss these holdings later.

To sum up for this period, that is the war years and the first decade afterwards, Vietnam was relatively isolated from the United States and much of the West. Here were the main sources for information on communist Vietnam:

- Official sources from Vietnam. These came at different levels: (1) materials intended for the outside world, such as Vietnam Courier, Vietnamese Studies and Vietnam Pictorial magazine, also radio broadcasts for overseas audiences; (2) materials published within the country primarily for the domestic population, i.e. newspapers such as Nhan Dan, Saigon Giai Phong or journals such as Tap Chi Cong San, also domestic radio broadcasts; and (3) the rare materials intended only for use within high-level circles, such as party directives smuggled out of the country. The publications and broadcasts were available in their original form, but also translated to some extent by FBIS, JPRS and BBC.

- Refugee accounts from those who fled by boat or other means, and news interviews with these people.

- Reports from correspondents, activists and officials allowed to visit Vietnam, and interviews with Vietnam officials.

The book collections on Vietnam were relatively small at this time at most libraries, consisting mostly of works on the war itself, with a few books on North Vietnam or of Vietnam’s history before American involvement.

This is very different from the situation today. One of the early signs of change came in 1985 with the tenth anniversary of the fall of Saigon, when the major American television networks and print media were able to send reporters to the country and provide some in-depth coverage of events there. With the changes taking place in the Soviet Union under Gorbachev and the economic reforms in China, Vietnam also began a policy of economic reforms and a relative degree of political openness particularly after the Sixth Congress of the Vietnamese Communist Party in Dec. 1986; although, like China, the economic reforms were interspersed with political crackdowns on dissent. Vietnam also began to improve relations with .neighboring countries in Southeast Asia and the West, Meanwhile, the U.S. lifted the embargo and moved toward the establishment of full diplomatic and trade relations. The rapid expansion of internet beginning in the 1990s has radically transformed our form of communication and information access all over the world.

The effect of these changes for Vietnam researchers has been manifold. It is now normal for graduate and post-graduate research on Vietnam to be conducted within the country, while scholarly and other exchanges regularly take place between Vietnam and other countries. Journalists report directly from within the country. Vietnam is a major tourist destination, for overseas Vietnamese returning as well as people of various nationalities. Books, serials and other publications can be obtained relatively easily from Vietnam, either through direct purchase or through vendors. People are able to communicate through internet, and various Vietnamese publications, organizations and government agencies have their own websites. Dissident literature and protests also come out of the country through internet, and other forms of telecommunications. This is not to say that Vietnam is today an open and democratic society -- the government still enforces harsh repression, particularly against pro-democracy dissidents, and all publishing agencies are government-owned -- but conditions for following contemporary developments in Vietnam and accessing information have changed greatly over the last two decades.

In this essay I will not attempt to provide a comprehensive overview of Vietnam contemporary research. I will not attempt to discuss accessibility of libraries, archives and other research institutions in Vietnam, as I have not had the opportunity to carry out such research myself; and am also limited in my ability to discuss some of the Vietnamese language sources as I am not fluent in the language. What I can do is provide my perspective on the state of Vietnam resources as accessible here from U.C. Berkeley. I will begin with a discussion of electronic and periodical resources, followed by books and archival sources, and finally a brief discussion of Vietnamese refugee resources.

Electronic resources at UC Berkeley

In discussing the availability of online resources, I will focus on what we have here at Berkeley as electronic resources which are not available to general users of internet, although presumably some of these resources are also available to patrons of some other university libraries; then move on to what is available to all internet users.

Here at Berkeley, students, faculty and staff have access to a range of electronic resources. They can be found by going to the library home page, http://www.library.berkeley.edu/, and clicking on electronic resources. The electronic resources discussed below are presumably available at some other libraries. The best search engine for electronic news sources in recent years has been LexisNexis Academic Universe. LexisNexis has been around for years, and has been extremely expensive for the individual user. However, for those who have access through their university or law a wide variety of resources is available. The search engine has various categories one can check in searching for news over the last day, week previous ten years or all available dates. These categories include: major U.S. and world publications in English; major world publications in other languages; news wire services; blogs, radio and television transcripts; web publications; company, legal and SEC filings. The two sources I would normally use for daily monitoring are U.S. and world publications in English and news wire services. When I type the word “Vietnam” in the keyword search using those two sources, I bring up 217 news reports today (Jan. 14, 2008), in decreasing order of relevance. Of these many are duplicate stories or only marginally related to Vietnam, brought up because they have the word “Vietnam” somewhere in the news story, for example, reports about the campaign of Senator John McCain. The two main news wire services for these reports are Thai Press Reports and Asia Pulse. Thai Press Reports is a very misleading term, at least for these Vietnam reports, as it is actually a service of Global News Wire - Asia Africa Intelligence Wire of The Financial Times Limited. Most of these reports come from Vietnam News Agency, Viet Nam News Service, and other Vietnam news sources, similar to what FBIS once published. Also brought up with this search are reports from various non-Vietnamese sources, such as Associated Press, Agence France Presse, and Xinhua.

The other search categories are also useful for researchers; SEC filings gives some indication of the nature of U.S. firms investing in Vietnam; the blogs, radio and television transcripts, and web publications provide additional news and commentary on Vietnam; while the legal category provides articles from American legal journals; a keyword search for Vietnam in this category produces some articles on Vietnam’s legislation as related to the economy and foreign investment, some court cases of asylum hearings, more articles on Vietnam veterans or even just passing reference to Vietnam in articles on contemporary affairs, such as Guantanamo.

Overall though, I find two other sources in the UC Berkeley Library electronic resource section to be more useful and direct for daily news monitoring: Vietnam News Agency (VNA) and Vietnam News Briefs (VNB). Vietnam News Agency is less unique in this section than Vietnam News Briefs, as VNA reports are widely reprinted in various Vietnam newspapers online, such as Nhan Dan. Nevertheless it is convenient; on a typical day would produce about 30-40 news reports. Unlike VNA, Vietnam News Briefs does not seem to be freely available in the free internet. On a typical day I might find 40 news stories from VNB, mostly on the economy. VNB compiles and sometimes translates stories from the Vietnam press. Unlike VNA, which is published under Vietnam government auspices, VNB is a service of the Financial Times of London. Both VNB and VNA also sometimes appear in the LexisNexis database, but it is useful to have their own sections.

To find either Vietnam News Briefs or Vietnam News Agency, I go to “e-journal titles A-Z” in the Electronic Resources section and then type in the keyword Vietnam. In addition to these, another important online resource found here is the Journal of Vietnamese Studies, an academic journal published under UC Berkeley auspices which is also made available online to UC Berkeley students, faculty and staff. It contains interesting discussions on issues within Vietnam, such as a recent debate among intellectuals in Vietnam over the Land Reform campaign of the 1950s.

Also in this section I might type keywords such as Asia or Southeast Asia to bring up other academic journals. If I type in “Asia” as the keyword, I come up with about 300 periodicals and journals that have this word somewhere in their title or description.

Another valuable source in the UC Berkeley database is Gale-Expanded ASAP. Here I can search for keywords within academic journal articles, similar to Google, and define the research results by full text or abstracts, publication date and other features. For example for 2008, I find 171 articles in full-text format with Vietnam as the keyword; if I change the search to include citations and abstracts as well as full-text, but limit the search to peer-reviewed articles I find 271 articles for 2007 (the latter method is valuable for those academic journal articles which may not be available in full text but can be located in the library).

Those are the main electronic resources within the UC Berkeley database I would use related to Vietnam, but there are many other forms of relevant electronic resources one can find in the UC Berkeley database, which can be browsed by subject areas, types of database, titles and general.

Internet resources

Outside these electronic resources which are generally fee-based and of limited availability through university libraries and other institutions, there are the ever expanding resources available free of charge on internet. The primary news search engine I rely upon is news.google.com, http://news.google.com. This search engine is very handy and continues to improve, bringing up sources from Hanoi-based online publications such as Thanh Nien or Vietnam Economic Times, as well as conventional news wire services such as Reuters, AFP and Associated Press; press releases from overseas Vietnamese groups; and various other sources. I often retrieve a greater diversity of sources for daily news searches from news.google.com than I do from Lexis-Nexis or Vietnam News Briefs, although they may not provide as many reports or as in-depth on certain topics as the latter. The other news search engine I sometimes use is Yahoo News Singapore, http://sg.news.yahoo.com/. This does not seem to retrieve as many results but does include major wire services, such as Reuters, AFP and AP, and also some other publications such as the Straits Times of Singapore.

Google has many other search engines which are also very helpful, including searchable maps with satellite photos, images, blogs, video, Google scholar and perhaps most significantly Google books. Google books is helpful both for locating text within a book on a particular subject, and also as a supplement to searching for books in a library catalog because a library catalog, while searchable in a variety of modes, including subject headings and subject keywords, may not cover all subjects discussed in a particular book. For example a book which is a collection of papers delivered at a conference might contain subject headings in the bibliographic record to cover the general topic of the conference, but the specific topics covered by the various papers might not all be listed in the record; and therefore might not be found by searching for LCSH or keywords, but could be found through Google book search. More library bibliographic records are now listing table of contents, but for most library records this is still not the case. Also, with Google books, in addition to providing often considerable access to the searchable text within a book, it also links both to Amazon and other book vendors, and also to Worldcat.org, which list libraries with the book in question.

Google scholar also is of value in finding articles in scholarly journals, and even doctoral thesis, sometimes one might just retrieve an abstract or citation on a particular search result, but still these can be used as a basis for further retrieval. Using the advanced search mode is advisable in this case as so many results come up with a simple search that are not necessarily relevant. As an example of what can be retrieved here, in searching for items in Google scholar on Catholics in Vietnam over the last two years I came up with among other items a doctoral thesis by Ngo Dinh Tinh on the “Church as a family of God: its developments and implications for the Church of Vietnam”.

Two other important search engines deserve note before I move to specific publications: the Vietnam Virtual Archive of Texas Tech University and the Defense Technical Information Center (http://www.dtic.mil/).

Most notable about the Defense Technical Information Center is that it has a searchable database, which seems to include all JPRS reports for Vietnam and Southeast Asia scanned into PDF format, from the early 1980s through the early 1990s (about a ten year stretch). I found here, for example, the JPRS report that translated Tran Van Tra's Vietnam: history of the bulwark theater, vol. 5, Concluding the 30-years of war and also the full text of Vietnam’s Criminal Code as promulgated in 1985 (since revised and updated, of course). JPRS also routinely translated the entire contents of the monthly theoretical journal of the Vietnamese Communist Party, Tap Chi Cong San. These were the kind of in-depth articles translated by JPRS, a service which is no longer available, even while we have greater access to Vietnamese language materials from Vietnam. In addition to the JPRS reports are many other interesting items found by typing Vietnam in the search box, such as a masters thesis for the Naval Postgraduate school in 2005 on the Catholic church in Vietnam.

The Vietnam Virtual Archive of Texas Tech consists of materials from the TTU Vietnam Archive which have been scanned into online format. The virtual archive presently contains over 2.7 million pages of scanned in materials, and according to Steve Maxner, director of the TTU Vietnam Center, it is scanning into PDF format about 20,000 pages monthly. Its website, http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/virtualarchive/ states:

“Types of material include documents, photographs, slides, negatives, oral histories, artifacts, moving images, sound recordings, maps, and collection finding aids. All non-copyrighted and digitized materials are available for users to download.” Copyrighted materials are not downloadable, but are listed in case anyone might be interested in contacting the archive and arranging for them to be photocopied (also helpful in locating the materials elsewhere). The website notes that the archive grows through individual donations, and at this point a large part of its collection consists of materials donated by military veterans, but “we are striving to increase our holdings in all other aspects.” Perhaps the major donation from a non-military veteran would be from Douglas Pike, and I will discuss his collection, a part of which remained behind here in Berkeley, later in this essay. Other donations include collections of Larry Berman, George Veith, Admiral Elmo Zumwalt and William Colby. The archive has also put online many documents from the Combined Document Exploitation Center (CDEC), which was established in 1966 as the main repository of captured enemy documents in Vietnam. In a keyword search for CDEC I retrieved over 21,000 documents.

The documents of the Vietnam Virtual Archive are searchable by keyword and date. In recent online discussions on the Vietnam Studies Group, in response to separate queries on, respectively, a message from Ho Chi Minh to the American people dated Dec. 23, 1966, and the history of Go Vap district in Ho Chi Minh City, Steve Maxner pointed out that seven results came up in the Vietnam Virtual archive on the Ho Chi Minh message while 50 results came up for Go Vap orphanage. In addition to the printed materials, the virtual archive also has an oral history section, with interviews listenable online.

In terms of specific publications on the web, first of all are the many publications from Vietnam. Most of the well known publications from Vietnam are now online, many of which can be found at ABYZ News Links, http://www.abyznewslinks.com/vietn.htm, and include publications and broadcast media such as Voice of Vietnam (http://www.vovnews.vn/?lang=2), Vietnam Net bridge (http://english.vietnamnet.vn/), Vietnam Economic Times (http://www.vneconomy.com.vn/eng/), Vietnam News (http://www.vietnamnews.net/) and (http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/), Vietnam Investment Review (http://www.vir.com.vn/Client/VIR/Default.asp), Nhan Dan (http://www.nhandan.com.vn/english/), Quan Doi Nhan Dan (http://army.qdnd.vn/home.qdnd), Saigon Giai Phong (http://www.saigon-gpdaily.com.vn/index.html), Thanh Nien (http://www.thanhniennews.com/), Tien Phong (http://www.thanhniennews.com/), Tuoi Tre (http://www.tuoitre.com.vn/Tianyon/Index.aspx), Vietnam News Agency (http://www.vnanet.vn/Home/tabid/117/Default.aspx), Hanoi Moi (http://www.hanoimoi.com.vn/), Le Courrier du Vietnam (http://lecourrier.vnagency.com.vn/), Cong An Thanh Pho Ho Chi Minh (http://www3.congan.com.vn/), Lao Dong (http://www.laodong.com.vn/), and Saigon Times Weekly (http://www.saigontimesweekly.saigonnet.vn/index.htm

Other sources from Vietnam include the Vietnam Embassy in the United States (http://www.vietnamembassy-usa.org/), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (http://www.mofa.gov.vn/en), the National Assembly (http://www.na.gov.vn/), the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (http://xttm.agroviet.gov.vn/TestE/default.asp), Permanent Mission of Vietnam to the United Nations (http://www.vietnam-un.org/en/index.php), and the Communist Party of Vietnam (http://www.cpv.org.vn/english/). (Note: English language links listed above, where available.)

On the other side of the spectrum are overseas Vietnamese internet resources. Many overseas Vietnamese journals and forums are online. Nguoi Viet online (http://www.nguoi-viet.com/) has long been one of the major Vietnamese-American newspapers. Talawas (http://www.talawas.org/talaDB/talaDBFront.php) is one of leading overseas Vietnamese journals on culture and politics. Important émigré journals devoted to literature and the arts include Tien Ve (http://www.tienve.org/) Da Mau (http:://domau.org); Van Hoc (http://www.nhanvan.com/vanhoc.htm), Hop Luu (http://www.hopluu.net/) and Giao Cam (http://giaocam.saigonline.com/). VietCatholic News Agency lists news items in Vietnam but also includes links to English language Catholic sites with information on Vietnam, such as UCAN news (http://www.ucanews.com/), Zenit (http://www.zenit.org/fulltext-0), and Fides (http://www.fides.org/index.php?lan=eng).

In addition there are other sites which promote and are sometimes in contact with dissident movements within Vietnam. Que Me (http://www.queme.net/) is a pro-democracy group which grew out of a magazine by the same name edited by Vo Van Ai in France. About 15 years ago, Mr. Ai was appointed head of the overseas press office for the dissident (and banned) Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, which established at that time a connection between the UBC within Vietnam and a network of Vietnamese Buddhist churches overseas. Mr. Ai is therefore in close contact with dissident Buddhist leaders in Vietnam, particularly Thich Quang Do and Thich Huyen Quang, and often publishes news of their latest statements or other events related to human rights and church-state relations. Other pro-dissident websites operated by overseas Vietnamese groups include Vietnam Human Rights Network (http://www.vietnamhumanrights.net/IndexE.html), Religious Freedom for Vietnam (http://www.tudotgvn.org/), Committee for Religious Freedom in Vietnam (http://www.crfv.org/), the Montagnard Foundation (http://www.montagnard-foundation.org/homepage.html), the Viet Tan – Vietnam Reform Party (http://www.viettan.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=42) and the People’s Democratic Party (http://ddcnd.org/main/). The People’s Democratic Party recently posted what it described as a secret directive from the Communist Party Politburo on political trials in the country.

Another site of interest is Jean Libby’s Vietnamese American Achievement (http://vietamreview.blogharbor.com/), a site which regularly updates human rights issues on Vietnam and also contains many links to Vietnamese American websites focusing on human rights. For more links, SaigonBao.com (http://www.saigonbao.com/) contains a very extensive list of links both to oveseas Vietnamese journals and to journals from Vietnam.

Moving beyond, to general online publications of interest from non-Vietnamese sources, first of all are sites that contain information not readily found elsewhere on Vietnam. Eglises d’Asie (http://eglasie.mepasie.org/), is one such site, a biweekly journal published (in French) by the Foreign Missions of Paris. The chief writer on Vietnam has long been Fr. Jean Mais, a former missionary to Vietnam, who provides much insight and detail. This publication also includes documents related to the church in Vietnam and other Asian countries. The most recent issues are available online only to paid subscribers but access to earlier issues is free of charge.

There are also human rights groups which issue reports on Vietnam, such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders. The U.S. State Department issues an annual country by country report on worldwide human rights practices (http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/), its section on Vietnam is always quite detailed; it also publishes an annual International Religious Freedom Report (http://www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt/), and periodically updataes Background Nores (http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/), providing basic information about Vietnam and other countries.

Finally, there is You Tube and other video searchable bases. These can be particularly dramatic when finding videos on particular events. For example, the trial of Fr. Nguyen Van Ly last year, in which he was forcibly muzzled by security police while in the courtroom, was filmed and then broadcast by BBC and other news outlets, then these were placed onto Youtube; the picture of him being muzzled then became a rallying symbol for the cause of dissent in Vietnam.

Books and periodicals

When I first began browsing for books on Vietnam in the late 1970s, I would find Vietnam related books in my university library in Portland to be mostly in one section, where the history books were located, and most of the books were about the Vietnam war. This is still generally the case for most public and university libraries in America, but a few libraries have been acquiring large quantities of books from Vietnam in recent years, and this has changed the nature of Vietnam collections and how the books are located within the respective libraries, presenting much more diverse subject classifications and therefore locations of where these books can be found within the library. Furthermore, thanks to Internet, it is now possible to search for books, serials and other items not only in one’s own library but also in many other libraries as most libraries now post their searchable catalogs online. One can browse specific libraries with large holdings of Vietnam related books, but also on worldcat.org, a metacatalog of OCLC, the major database for library catalogers. The advantage of using Worldcat.org is that the search displays results from a wide range of libraries, in fact most libraries within the U.S. and many libraries in other countries.

Only a small handful of university libraries in the U.S. collect books and other library materials from Vietnam, probably less than ten altogether. These are mostly libraries with Southeast Asia programs, professors who specialize on Vietnam, or libraries of major universities. When I catalog newly arrived books from Vietnam, I find if a record has been created it is most likely by either Cornell, the University of Michigan, the University of Washington or the Library of Congress. Other libraries receiving books from Vietnam may rely mainly on the bibliographic records already created for their cataloging. I am going to address now our collection here at Berkeley, but first a word on how books are catalogued.

In the U.S. and Canada, most university libraries use the Library of Congress (LC) classification system, while most public libraries use the Dewey Decimal system. Most libraries in other countries use a modified form of the Dewey system. In this paper I will just discuss the LC system, since that is what I use for cataloging, but is should be noted (as to be discussed more below) that there are some public libraries with large collections of Vietnamese émigré writings.

The basic difference between the two is that the LC system is alphanumeric, while the Dewey system is purely numeric. The LC system is considered more appropriate for university libraries because it allows for greater nuance in finding the right classification for a particular book. Familiarity with LC system is helpful to the researcher, especially now that so many university libraries as well as the Library of Congress itself have their catalogs online. With this knowledge, one can essentially conduct a virtual tour of many libraries, and then through the Inter Library Loan system, in many cases borrow books that are found to be of interest. There are other ways to browse, of course, such as by subject heading, title, author or keyword search. These also have their respective advantages and turn up different results. For example, many non-fictional works contain more than one subject heading. Call numbers are normally assigned according to the primary subject heading. That means if one is browsing by call numbers for books on a particular subject, one might not find all books about that subject under a particular classification number, as there might be many books which might address this particular subject but do not have that subject as its main heading.

There are two parts to an LC call number: the classification and the cutter. The call number is determined by a brief bibliographic record created for the item, which normally includes basic publication information – title, author or editor, publisher, date of publication, size of book, and subject headings for most non-fictional works. The classification defines the primary subject matter, while the cutter separates a particular book or serial from others in the same subject classification.

For example, DS560.72 is the classification for biographical works on Ho Chi Minh. The cutter in this case would be either the author or, if no author is listed (editors don’t count), the title of the book. For example, William Duiker’s biography of Ho Chi Minh published in 2000 would be: DS560.72.H6.D85 2000 -- the classification being DS560.72 and the cutter being D85 2000. The purpose of combining letters and numbers in this way and adding the publication date in the call number is so the books will be organized not only by subject, but will also be arranged in general alphabetical order by author or title, and chronologically within different editions of the same work. (It might be noted that until about 20 years ago catalogued books normally did not include the year of publication in the call number).

There are also certain special classification cutters which should be noted: In works about literary authors, the cutter begins with a Z, in order to place all works about an author at the end of this classification number. Also, A6 normally precedes the final cutter for selected works, while A12 is for bibliographic works.

The Library of Congress main classification categories, as listed at its website
http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/lcco/ , are:

• A -- GENERAL WORKS
• B -- PHILOSOPHY. PSYCHOLOGY. RELIGION
• C -- AUXILIARY SCIENCES OF HISTORY
• D -- WORLD HISTORY AND HISTORY OF EUROPE, ASIA, AFRICA, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, ETC.
• E -- HISTORY OF THE AMERICAS
• F -- HISTORY OF THE AMERICAS
• G -- GEOGRAPHY. ANTHROPOLOGY. RECREATION
• H -- SOCIAL SCIENCES
• J -- POLITICAL SCIENCE
• K -- LAW
• L -- EDUCATION
• M -- MUSIC AND BOOKS ON MUSIC
• N -- FINE ARTS
• P -- LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
• Q -- SCIENCE
• R -- MEDICINE
• S -- AGRICULTURE
• T -- TECHNOLOGY
• U -- MILITARY SCIENCE
• V -- NAVAL SCIENCE
• Z -- BIBLIOGRAPHY. LIBRARY SCIENCE. INFORMATION RESOURCES (GENERAL)

Below is a list of classification categories within our library, with estimates on the number of books in these categories. It should be noted, first of all, we have a substantial backlog of books not yet catalogued and placed onto the shelves, which means the actual number of Vietnam books we have is higher than the estimates below; and secondly the estimates below do not take into account multi-volume works, as I arrived at this estimate by scrolling through the listing of books in our catalog. Probably more than 90 percent of our books are single volumes, but we do have some very large multi-volume works. Also some periodicals might be mixed up with the estimates below. Finally, the classification numbers below are not by any means all the classification numbers related to Vietnam in our library; there are many classifications in specialized areas which I may have overlooked in this listing:

BL2055-2058, Vietnam religious life and customs, including special topics (BL2057) and local (BL2058): 85 books

BQ490-BQ506 – Vietnamese Buddhism – 63 books

BV3325- Missions, Vietnam – 16 books

BX1650.V5 – Religious persecution, Vietnam – 2 books

BX1650.A7 – Catholics in Vietnam – 16 books

CE61.V5 – Vietnamese calendars – 12 books

CS1233-CS1239 – Vietnamese geneology, family history -17 books

CT1633- CT1639.8 – Vietnam biography – 23 books

DS531- DS553.7 – Indochina history (both French Indochina and Indochina as a political unit after 1975) – 880 books and 22 periodicals (84 books on the battle of Dien Bien Phu)

(DS554- DS554.98 – Cambodia – 634 books and 14 periodicals)
(DS555 – Laos – 224 books and periodicals)

DS556-DS560.92, Vietnam history – 6,553 books and 90 serials (for more details see appendix)

G155.V5 – Tourism, Vietnam – 8 books

G2367.V5-G2374. Atlases and maps of Vietnam – 27 – note: preceded by Southeast Asia, G2360-61, 12 items; and Mekong basin and Indochina, G2362-G2363, 8 items

GB305, Vietnam physical geography, 5 books

GN635.V5, Vietnam ethnology – 35 books

GR313, Vietnamese folk tales – 163 books (divided into ethnic Vietnamese and montagnard folklore)

GT2853.V5 - Food habits, Vietnam, Vietnamese cookery – 14 books

HA4600.5 – Statistics on Vietnam population, economy, etc. – 54 books

HC444, Vietnam economic conditions – 3,042 books, including 63 Z7 and 106 Z9 classes.

HD2085.V5-HD2085.5 – Agriculture, Vietnam, economic aspects; agriculture and state – 119 books

HE273.5 – Transportation, Vietnam – 13 books

HD4300.5 – Vietnam government business enterprises – 24 books

HD5715.5.V5 – Occupational training, Vietnam – 2 books

HD8700.5 – Working class, labor unions, Vietnam – 42 books

HF1594.5 - HF1594.5.Z4 . – Vietnam foreign economic relations – 34 books

HF3799.V5-HF3800.5.Z9, Vietnam commerce and business – 39 books

HN700.5.A8-HN700.53, Vietnam social conditions – 96 books

HQ799.V5 – Youth, Vietnam – 30 books

HQ1750.5 – Women, Vietnam – 57 books

HV8252.A5.V5 HV8252.5.A5 – Vietnam police – 18 books

HX400-HX400.5 – Vietnamese communism and socialism – 84 books

JC599.V5 – Vietnam human rights – 17 books

JQ802-JQ899, Vietnam politics, political science – 359 books

JS7152.2 - JS7152.3.A8 - Local government, Vietnam – 25 books

JX4084.P28 – Paracel and Spratly islands, territorial disputes – 11 books

KPV3-KPV8087, Vietnam law – 516 books

KPW.A3 - KPW350 – Law of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) – 8 books

LA1171-LA1188, Vietnam Education – 108 books

M1824.V5 – Music, Vietnam; Songs, Vietnam – 43 books

NA1514, Vietnamese architecture – 22 books

PL4371-PL4392.9 – Vietnamese language and literature – 3,931 books (including over 2,300 books by individual authors)

PN5449.V5 – Vietnam press/media – 67 books

PN6267.V5 – Anecdotes, Vietnam, Vietnamese wit and humor – 14 books

Q127.V5 - Q127.V53 – Science, Vietnam – 21 books

RA541.V5 – Medical care, Vietnam – 17 books

RS180.V5 – Materia medica (medical plants), Vietnam – 9 books

S471.V47-V52 – Vietnamese agriculture – 36 books

S542.V5 – Vietnam agriculture, research – 9 books

S760.V5 – Agricultural machinery, Vietnam – 3 books

SD235.V5 – Forest policy, Forests and forestry, Vietnam – 23 books

U43.V5 – Vietnam military science – 11 books

UA853.V48-UA853.V5 – Vietnam armed forces - 82 books

Z3226-Z3230 – Vietnamese bibliographic catalogs – 21 books

As can be seen from above, the large holdings are still in history -- which has many subcategories of classification -- language and literature, economic conditions, law, politics and government, and agriculture. Then there are many categories with smaller holdings, but also significant, such as armed forces and education. There are some works that would not fall within a Vietnam subject classification, such as songs of composers like Trinh Cong Son (in this case, his classification would fall alphabetically within the range of other composers from around the world). In any case the wider variety of subject areas covered by books from Vietnam might make the books a little bit too dispersed for a large university library such as UC Berkeley, since most people looking for books on Vietnam would more likely be interested in a variety of topics related to Vietnam rather than a narrow academic perspective focusing only on one of the subject categories listed above.

At U.C. Berkeley the South/Southeast Asia library houses important reference works and current serials related to Vietnam and other countries in South and Southeast Asia, but it does not have the space to house more books, nor the budget to stay open the same hours as the main library; thus most books from Vietnam wind up in the main stacks. Thus, it is helpful for the researcher to be aware of the wide variety of subject classification numbers and therefore possible locations of books and serials. In this context, it should also be noted that many non-fictional works have more than one subject classification, yet in assigning a call number the cataloger must decide upon which of these subject classifications the call number should be based, and therefore where the item is to be located after catalogued.

It should also be noted that in many of the categories listed above, most of the books are in Vietnamese and were generally acquired from Vietnam over the last ten to fifteen years. This is not true in all categories, such as some aspects of the Vietnam war, but even here we are finding more books from Vietnam on specialized topics, such as particular battles or aspects of the war. It also seems that, whereas books on North Vietnam, or the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, generally come within the DS560 classification number, books on Vietnam since reunification, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, often fall under other classification numbers outside of the history classification, for example, social life, law, economic conditions, politics and agriculture.

Virginia Shih of the South/Southeast Asia Library here is primarily responsible for the sharp rise in acquisition in books, having made many trips to Vietnam and also working with vendors of books from the country. She also purchases academic works on Vietnam from the U.S., France and other nations around the world. Another factor is that we have several graduate students and professors focusing their research on Vietnam.

Unfortunately, we have not seen much increase in our library holdings of works produced by the overseas Vietnamese community, and this is mainly because the responsibility for obtaining such works lays not with the South/Southeast Asia library here. There are various factors involved in the acquisition of books and other library materials. In my own cataloging searches, I find some university libraries, such as UCLA and Cornell, which have acquired significant amounts of overseas Vietnamese materials, along with public libraries such as those in Los Angeles, San Jose and San Francisco. The public library holdings would tend more toward popular literature.

Of course one cannot expect a numerical balance in university libraries between books published in Vietnam and books published by Vietnamese overseas, given that the publishing industry in Vietnam is so extensive and voluminous in production. On the other hand, since all the publishing houses in Vietnam are government-controlled, and since dissident views are liable to be suppressed, with many intellectuals, artists, and political and religious officials having fled the country, the overseas Vietnamese press offers alternative voices, of a culture that has re-established itself here in America and in other countries. Literature, memoirs and political and historical analysis are among the areas where overseas Vietnamese publications can provide a supplement for university library collections, with alternative views to the published works from Vietnam. I was told by Hao Phan of Northern Illinois University library that print media is declining among overseas Vietnamese as the audience is mostly middle-aged and older, while younger people generally lack fluency. This adds to the importance of preserving such print resources while they are still available.

The Indochina Archive/Douglas Pike collection

Unfortunately I have not had time to research the various archives and collections on Vietnam in the U.S. and other countries; and as already noted I am not in a position to comment on the state of archives and libraries in Vietnam. There are collections worth mentioning, such as the U.C. Irvine Southeast Asian Archive (http://www.lib.uci.edu/libraries/collections/sea/sasian.html) which collects primarily refugee materials; the various presidential libraries, particularly the Lyndon Johnson Library at the University of Texas in Austin; Texas Tech’s Vietnam Center which I have already mentioned; the CDEC (Combined Document Exploitation Center) files at the US National Archives; and various archives and libraries around the country and in other countries which have received donations of various researchers.

But I would like to focus my comments in this section on the Indochina Archive of U.C. Berkeley, as I worked there for 19 years and am concerned about the future of what remains of it here.

This archive is a collection that grew out of Douglas Pike’s research on the National Liberation Front and North Vietnam during the war, when he was a U.S. Foreign Service officer in Vietnam. He continued writing on Vietnam building his collection after returning to Washington with the end of the war. Upon retiring from government in early 1981, Mr. Pike was persuaded by some prominent political science professors of U.C. Berkeley to bring his collection out to the university, his alma mater, where he could establish his archive under university auspices and also direct the Indochina Studies Project, to publish a newsletter and sponsor monographs and other research by Vietnam scholars. The archive comprised a wide variety of material and was organized into various subject areas with subcategories; for example economic conditions of communist Vietnam was subdivided into categories such as economic planning and assessment; fiscal policy; foreign trade and aid; domestic trade; and construction. The files were also organized into broad categories such as Laos, Cambodia, South Vietnam (1954-76); National Liberation Front, War, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and Socialist Republic of Vietnam (DRV/SRV), biographical files, graphics; and from there subdivided into various categories depending on the area (DRV/SRV files the most organized in this sense). Most of the materials were in English and in the case of the DRV/SRV files, probably over 80 percent consisted of FBIS and JPRS translations of official press articles. He also had other materials rarely found elsewhere, such as unpublished papers, journal articles and debriefing reports from the region and other unclassified or declassified materials circulated among government staff. The DRV/SRV files were continuous, as the regime of North Vietnam was basically extended over the entire country with the 1975 reunification. The most specialized and largest holdings were the files on the Vietnam War, the National Liberation Front and the DRV/SRV because these reflected Mr. Pike’s original research interests, as an expert on Vietnamese communism.

I worked for Mr. Pike from 1983 until he left for Texas Tech in 1997. Prior to that, I had gone through some of his files for research on re-education camps and related human rights issues in Vietnam. These files greatly eased my research which at the time involved visiting several university libraries in the area and going through various newspaper indexes, as well as FBIS and JPRS indexes in order to locate relevant articles in either print or microfiche. One of the great values of the archive was not only the materials themselves and the scope of topics covered, but also the manner in which it was organized, essentially accomplishing a major part of the kind of preliminary work normally done by researchers. During the time Mr. Pike was at Berkeley, the archive was visited by journalists, government officials and scholars from all over the world.

The Indochina Archive in some respects represented a different era of information gathering about Vietnam than what exists today. It began with Mr. Pike’s work in Vietnam, gathering information about the National Liberation Front and North Vietnam, based largely on interviews with captured soldiers and defectors, captured documents, FBIS and JPRS translations and intelligence reports. In the post-75 period, and particularly his move to Berkeley, a large portion of the materials put into files consisted of JPRS and FBIS translated articles, each article cut and pasted and placed into the appropriate file. By 1996 JPRS stopped publishing and FBIS made the transition from its paper/microfiche format to an online version, World News Connection. Unfortunately this online version reprints and translations of Vietnam press articles is extremely sparse in comparison to before, apparently because of copyright concerns. At the same time, though, other magazines and newspapers were becoming available in the 1990s, and electronic and internet resources on Vietnam were beginning to proliferate. I recall during the last period Mr. Pike was there, cutting and pasting almost every article in the voluminous Vietnam Investment Review. It did not make a great deal of sense to me, since it was also available in CD-ROM format. In the years since then, there has been so much made available in various online news sources, that it makes more sense to store these articles electronically than to print them all out and file them.

Nevertheless, the time frame represented in this collection consists largely of materials that would not be readily available through online or electronic resources, and furthermore, the organization of these files greatly eases research. One of our last visitors, a few years after Mr. Pike left, was a graduate student from Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry, writing his doctoral thesis on Vietnam-China-U.S. relations.

Mr. Pike left because the archive and other activities of the Indochina Studies Project had lost its private funding, and the university, being in the midst of a financial crisis, reached the point where it was unwilling to provide the necessary level of funding to keep it going. He had intended to take all of the collection with him to the Vietnam Center of Texas Tech University, but the university here opposed that action. The result was that while most of the collection went to Texas Tech a substantial portion remained behind here at Berkeley. That part which went to Texas Tech included the files on the Vietnam War, National Liberation Front, graphics and some special collections such as the Friends of Vietnam’s organizational files. The biographical files were photocopied, with the originals remaining in Berkeley and the photocopies going to Texas Tech. What remained in Berkeley included most of the files on post-1975 Vietnam and Laos, and post-1977 Cambodia, the refugee files, interview files with NLF defectors, and some important books, most notably the multi-volume National Liberation Front Interviews carried out by the Rand Corporation (which Mr. Pike had meant to take to Texas Tech). Much of the war files, including the NLF files, had been placed onto microfiche under a separate project with University Microfilms International, and copies of these also remained in Berkeley. Overall, about 40% of the paper files remained at U.C. Berkeley after Mr. Pike’s departure.

Shortly after Mr. Pike’s departure in 1997 I compiled an inventory of what remained and it can be seen at my website: http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~sdenney/file.txt -- the files listed by office-sized file drawers (about 2.3 feet to one drawer). Overall the files came to around 525 linear feet of government documents, press clippings, and private papers stored in vertical files and organized by subject. Subsequently we acquired more materials, most notably about three file cabinets, or twelve office sized file drawers, of materials from the Indochina Resource Center (changed to Southeast Asia Resource Center in 1977), which was the major anti-war research organization during the Vietnam war. Also, under the new director Peter Zinoman and his wife Cam Nguyen, the archive (now renamed Indochina Center) acquired many serials from Vietnam, about 42 different titles, along with other periodicals which had not been previously received (these are listed in the 1997 inventory I posted, see url link above).

I continued working at the Indochina Archive on a part-time basis until 2002 when I left to work full time at the library. Unfortunately, the archive never found enough foundation support to make it a viable operation. Furthermore few were aware of the large amounts of archival materials that had remained in Berkeley after Mr. Pike’s departure, so the number of people visiting the collection dropped drastically. Over the last few years, with no one working there, the archive has been closed to the public. Some parts of it have been sent U.C. Berkeley library: the microfiche, including the microfiche of the Indochina Archive Vietnam war files; books and serials, including the Rand NLF interviews; the refugee files; and the war participant interviews, primarily with captured and defecting NLF/NVA soldiers. The refugee files went to the Ethnic Studies library, the war participant interviews to the South/Southeast Asia library, and the microfiche and books to the main library. The respective files at both these branch libraries are presently in process. But most of the files still remain at the Indochina Center, inaccessible to the public, with their future status unclear. Unfortunately, our library at Berkeley does not seem to have the funds or staff to process and house the bulk of these files.

If these files cannot be made available at our library, then hopefully they will be given to another library which has the funds and staff to process and maintain them, given that Mr. Pike intended the entire archive to be his legacy to future researchers.

Conclusion

The dramatically different conditions for research on Vietnam today as compared to the past has been rooted in two fundamental changes: (1) the end of Vietnam’s political and economic isolation and its opening to the west; and (2) technological changes, particularly the rapid expansion of internet. It is now possible to conduct virtual tours of libraries with major Vietnam holdings though using their electronic catalogs, or to browse and search for holdings in thousands of libraries at a time through worldcat.org. That combined with Inter Library Loan makes available a large variety of books that would not have been readily available in earlier years. Added to that is the rapid expansion of other information on internet and the increased ease of visiting and conducting research in Vietnam. Achieving fluency in the Vietnamese language is fundamental toward being able to use these resources, particularly the ever growing number of books from Vietnam received by our library and other libraries with Vietnam collections.

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Appendices

Appendix 1: Vietnam related history classifications

(adapted in part from Classification Web of the Library of Congress)

Note: numbers in brackets are subtotals

DS531 – 22 periodicals
periodicals

DS531.3 – DS531.5 – 10 books
Bibliography

DS532 - 4 books

DS532.4 - 1 book

DS532.5 - 7 books
Indochina guidebooks

DS532.8 – 7 books
Indochina bibliography

DS533 – 1 book

DS534 – 112 books
Indochina -- Description and travel.

DS535 – 14 books
Indochina -- Description and travel.

DS536 – 4 books
Indochina -- Antiquities.

DS537 – 14 books
Indochina – Civilization

DS538 – 14 books
Indochina – Ethnography

DS539 – 23 books
Vietnam – ethnic minorities

DS540 – 10 books
Indochina -- Biography -- Dictionaries.

DS541 – 21 books
Indochina -- History.

DS542 – 7 books
Addresses, essays, lectures

DS544-544.7 – 10 books
Military history

DS546 – 9 books
Foreign and general relations

DS546.5 – 18 books
Political history

DS546.6. – 1 book
Foreign relations (see DS546)

DS547 – 1 book
History, Earliest to 1787

DS548 – 17 books
History, 1787-1884

DS549 – 79 books
1884-1945. Sino-French War, 1884-1885; see DS559.92.T6 for Tongking

DS550 – 185 books
1945- General works

DS553 – 4 books
Indochinese War, 1946-1954, sources and documents

DS553.1 – 112 books
General works. Military operations (General)

DS553.2 – 1 book
Pictorial works. Satire, caricature, etc

DS553.3.D5 – 84 books
Dien Bien Phu

DS553.3. 11 books(other battles)

DS553.4 . – 25 books
Indochinese War, 1946-1954 -- Regimental histories.

DS553.5 – 48 books
Indochinese War, 1946-1954 -- Personal narratives

DS553.6 – 4 books
Armistices. Peace negotiations

DS553.7. – 20 books
Other topics (not A-Z)

DS554 – 14 serials
Cambodia, periodicals

DS554.25- DS554.98 – 634 books
Cambodia, various subtopics

DS555 – 224 books
Laos

Vietnam. Annam Including the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) For works on the Democratic Republic of Vietnam seeDS560-560.72

DS556 – 48 periodical titles
Periodicals. Societies. Serials Museums, exhibitions, etc.

DS556.12 – 0 items
General works on historical museums in Vietnam

DS556.13.A-Z – 3 books
Individual museums. By place, A-Z

DS556.14 – 8 books
Congresses

DS556.2 – 13 books
Sources and documents

DS556.25 – 30 books
Gazetteers. Dictionaries, etc. Guidebooks

DS556.3 – 73 books
General works

DS556.328 – 6 books
Historical geography

DS556.33 – 5 books
Geography

==

Description and travel

DS556.34 - 2 books
Earliest through 1800

DS556.36 – 16 books
1801-1954

DS556.38 – 13 books
1955-1975

DS556.39 – 75 books
1976-

DS556.4 – 45 books
Antiquities

DS556.42 – 340 books
Social life and customs. Civilization. Intellectual life

===

Ethnography

DS556.44 – 63 books
General works

DS556.45.A-Z – (broken down by ethnic group) – 184 books
Individual elements in the population, A-Z

DS556.45.A43 – [4 books]
Amerasians

DS556.45.A73
Arem

DS556.45.B78 – [1 book]
Bru (Southeast Asian people)

DS556.45.C5 – [19 books]
Chams

DS556.45.C55 – [19 books]
Chinese

DS556.45.C57
Ching

DS556.45.C59 – [2 books]
Chut

DS556.45.83 – [1 books]
Cua (Vietnamese people)

DS556.45.G53 – [1 book]
Giay

DS556.45.H35 – [2 books]
Hani

DS556.45.H56 – [7 books]
Hmong

DS556.45.J3 – [5 books]
Jarai

DS556.45.K5 – [8 books]
Khmers

DS556.45.K54 – [1 book]
Khmu

DS556.45.K63 – [1 book]
Koho

DS556.45.L2 – [1 book]
Lati (Asian people)

DS556.45.L34 - [1 book]
Lahu

DS556.45.L367 – [1 book]
Laqua

DS556.45.M22
Mã Lièng

DS556.45.M3 – [1 book]
Mang

DS556.45.M6 – [24 books]
Montagnards (General)

DS556.45.M84-M85 – [14 books]
Muong

DS556.45.N85 – [3 books]
Nung

DS556.45.R14 – [1 book]
Roglai

DS556.45.R48 – [6 books]
Rhade

DS556.45.R82 – [1 book]
Ruc

DS556.45.S23 – [1 book]
San Chay

DS556.45.S25 – [2 books]
San Diu

DS556.45.T35 – [33 books]
Tai

DS556.45.T39 – [8 books]
Tay Nung

DS556.45.T53
Thai Deng

DS556.45.V34
Van Kieu

DS556.45.Y3-Y36 – [13 books]
Yao

DS556.47 – 55 books
Biography (Collective)

For individual biography, see the special period orlocality

==

History
Historiography

DS556.487 – 5 books
General works

==

Biography of historians, area studies specialists, archaeologists, etc.

DS556.488 – 0 books
Collective

DS556.489.A-Z – 8 books
Individual, A-Z

==

DS556.49 – 16 books
Study and teaching

DS556.5 – 129 books
General works

DS556.54 – 13 books
Military history

For individual campaigns and engagements, see the special period or reign

DS556.55 – 0 books
Naval history

For individual campaigns and engagements, see the special period or reign

==

Diplomatic history. Foreign and general relations

DS556.57 – 34 books
General works

DS556.58.A-Z – 63 books
Relations with individual countries, A-Z

By period

Earliest to 1225

DS556.6 – 53 books
General works

Biography and memoirs

DS556.62 – 4 books
Collective

DS556.63.A-Z – 10 books
Individual, A-Z

1225-1802

DS556.7 – 72 books
General works

Biography and memoirs

DS556.72 – 5 books
Collective

DS556.73.A-Z – 72 books
Individual, A-Z e.g.DS556.73.N5Nguyen Hue, King of Vietnam (Quang Trung)

DS556.8 – 282 books
General works

DS556.815 – 15 books
August Revolution, 1945

Biography and memoirs

DS556.82 - 13 books
Collective

DS556.83.A-Z – 71 books
Individual, A-Z

1954-1975 For works on the Democratic Republic of Vietnam see DS560-560.72

DS556.9 107 books
General works

Biography and memoirs

DS556.92 – 9 books
Collective

DS556.93.A-Z – 57 books
Individual, A-Z

==

Vietnam War

DS557 – DS557.A1-A5.A1 - 19
Periodicals

DS557.A5A12 - 19 books
Bibliography

DS557.A5 – 260 books
Vietnam war, general history

DS557.A55 – 17 books
Vietnam, Social life and customs

DS557.A56-568 – 42 books
History

DS557.A6.A1 – 23 periodicals

DS557.A6 A692 - 825 books
War in Vietnam, south

DS557.A7 – 225 books
NLF and North Vietnam

DS557.A72-742 –29 books
North Vietnam

DS557.A76.H56 - DS557.A76.H7148 – 40 books
Ho Chi Minh

DS557.A782 - 11 books
North Vietnam general

DS557.A761-A78 – 7 books
Other North Vietnam leaders

DS557.A8 – 17 books
Vietnam war provinces(?)

DS557.C15-DS557.C2.A2–14 Cambodia serials

DS557.C2 A4 –DS557.C29–144 books
Cambodia

DS557.C7 –42 books
Cochinchina

DS557.L2-L29 – 160 books
Laos

DS557.T7 – 70 books
Tonkin

DS557.V5-DS557.24 – 32 books
Vietnam, miscellaneous topics

DS557.3 – 4 books
Congresses. Conferences, etc.

DS557.32 – 1 book
Cambodia

DS557.4 – 24 books
Sources and documents

DS557.5 – 11 books
Biography (Collective)

For individual biography, see the individual countries in DA-F

DS557.6-.62 – 7 books
Causes. Origins. Aims

DS557.7 – 280 books
General works. Military operations (General)

DS557.72 – 17 books
Pictorial works. Satire, caricature, etc.

DS557.73 – 15 books
Motion pictures about the war

DS557.74 – 3 books
Study and teaching

DS557.75 – Ha Tien – 1 book

DS557.8.A-Z – 94 books
Individual campaigns, battles, etc., A-Z e.g.:

DS557.8.C3 – [7 books]
Cambodia

DS557.8.C4 – [4 books]
Central Highlands

DS557.8.E23 – [5 books]
Easter Offensive, 1972

DS557.8.H83 – [4 books]
Hue

DS557.8.K5 – [7 books]
Khe Sanh

DS557.8.L3 – [9 books]
Laos

DS557.8.L66 [2 books]
Long Tân

DS557.8.M9-M92 – [8 books]
My Lai

DS557.8.S6 – [1 book]
Sontay Raid, 1970

DS557.8.T4 – [13 books]
Tet Offensive, 1968

==

By country Including foreign relations, participation in the conflict, etc. United States

DS558 – 108 books
General works

DS558.A6 – Angkor – [40 books]

DS558.H3 – Hanoi – [8 books]

DS558.H8 – Hue – [6 books]

DS558.2 – 29 books

General special

DS558.4 – 15 books
Armies, divisions, regiments, etc.

DS558.5 – 62 books
Democratic Republic (North Vietnam) Cf. DS560.4 Effect of war in North Vietnam

DS558.6.A-Z – 33 books
Other, A-Z Military operations see DS557.7 Armies, divisions, regiments, etc. see DS558.4

DS558.7 – 12 books
Naval operations Including history of individual units

DS558.8 – 57 books
Aerial operations Including history of individual units

DS558.85 – 2 books
Engineering operations

DS558.9.A-Z – 5 books
Other services, A-Z

DS558.9.A75 – 2 books
Armor

DS558.9.A77 – 1 book
Artillery

DS558.92 – 11 books
Guerrilla operations

Medals, badges, decorations of honor Including lists of recipients and individual recipients of medals

DS558.98
General works

DS558.99.A-Z
By region or country, A-Z

DS559
Registers, lists of dead and wounded, etc.

DS559.2 – 9 books
Atrocities. War crimes

DS559.3 – 2 books
Destruction and pillage

DS559.4 – 24 books
Prisoners and prisons

DS559.42 – 1 book
Economic aspects. Commerce, finance, etc. (General) For individual countries, see HC, HF, HJ

DS559.44 – 9 books
Medical and sanitary services

DS559.46 – 13 books
Press. Censorship. Publicity

DS559.5 – 167 books
Personal narratives

Protest movements, anti-war demonstrations, public opinion

DS559.6 – 7 books
General works

DS559.62.A-Z – 45 books
By region or country, A-Z

DS559.62.U6 - Antiwar movement in the U.S. – [35 books]
For individual demonstrations, see the city where held

DS559.63 – 6 books
Relief work. Charities. Refugees. Displaced persons

DS559.64 – 3 books
Moral and religious aspects

DS559.7 – 33 books
Peace negotiations, treaties, etc.

==

Veterans
DS559.72 – 4 books
General works For specific services for veterans see UB356-369.5

DS559.73.A-Z – 13 books
By region or country, A-Z

DS559.8.A-Z – 80 books
Other topics, A-Z

DS559.8.A4 – [1 book]
Amnesty

DS559.8.A78 - [1 book]
Art and the war

Biological warfare see DS559.8.C5

DS559.8.B55 – [9 books]
Blacks

DS559.8.C5 – [6 books]
Chemical warfare. Biological warfare. Defoliation

DS559.8.C53 – [7 books]
Children. Orphans

DS559.8.C54 [0 books]
Churches

DS559.8.C6 – [2 books]
Communications

DS559.8.C63 – [4 books]
Conscientious objectors

Defoliation see DS559.8.C5

DS559.8.D4 – [1 book]
Desertions

DS559.8.D7 – [8 books]
Draft resisters

DS559.8.F84 - [1 book]
Fuel supplies

DS559.8.J35 – [1 book]
Japanese Americans

DS559.8.M39 – [8 books]
Mexican Americans

DS559.8.M44 – [18 books]
Military intelligence

DS559.8.M5 – [13 books]
Missing in action

Negroes see DS559.8.B55
Orphans see DS559.8.C53

DS559.8.P65 – [5 books]
Propaganda

DS559.8.P7 – [5 books]
Psychological aspects

DS559.8.R43 – [1 book]
Reconnaissance operations

DS559.8.S3 – [2 books]
Science and technology

DS559.8.S4 – [6 books]
Search and rescue operations

DS559.8.S6 – [3 books]
Social aspects

DS559.8.S9 – [2 books]
Supplies

Technology see DS559.8.S3

DS559.8.T7 – [4 books]
Transportation

DS559.8.T85 – [3 books]
Tunnels

DS559.8.W6 – [20 books]
Women

==

Celebrations. Memorials. Monuments For memorials to special divisions, etc., see the history of the division

DS559.82 – 0 books
General works

DS559.825 - 2 books
United States – general works

DS559.83.A-Z - 8 books
United States, Local, A-Z

DS559.832.A-Z – 0 books
Other regions or countries, A-Z

DS559.9.A-Z – 37 books
Local history, A-Z

==

1975-

Reunification. Socialist Republic of Vietnam For Cambodian-Vietnamese Conflict see
DS554.84-.842

DS559.912 – 208 books
General works

Biography and memoirs

DS559.913 – 1 book
Collective

DS559.914.A-Z – 7 books
Individual, A-Z

Sino-Vietnamese Conflict, 1979

DS559.915 – 1 book
Sources and documents

DS559.916 – 35 books
General works

==

Local history and description

DS559.92.A-Z – 440 books, includes history by province
Protectorates, regions, minor kingdoms, etc., A-Z [note: most of our books in this category are recently published works on Vietnam provinces]

e.g.:

DS559.92.A5 – [0 books]
Annam Class here works on the French protectorate only

DS559.92.C5 – [0 books]
Champa

DS559.92.C6 – [18 books]
Cochin China

DS559.92.T6 – [7 books]
Tongking (Tonkin)

DS559.93.A-Z – 401 books
Cities, towns, etc., A-Z

e.g.:

DS559.93.H36 – [48 books]
Hanoi

Ho Chi Minh City see DS559.93.S2

DS559.93.H63 – [2 books]
Hoa Lu'

DS559.93.H8-H83 – [40 books]
Hue

DS559.93.S2 – [48 books]
Saigon. Ho Chi Minh City

==

Democratic Republic (North Vietnam), 1945-1975

DS560 – 22 books [note: in our library this is a misclassification, as the classification number corresponds to books on the Shan state of Burma and minorities in Laos and Thailand, not on North Vietnam]

Periodicals. Societies. Serials

DS560.2 – 1 book
Sources and documents

DS560.25 – 0 books
Gazetteers. Dictionaries, etc.

Guidebooks

DS560.3 – 12 books
General works

DS560.4 – 2 books
Description and travel

DS560.42 – 0 books
Antiquities

DS560.5 – 3 books
Social life and customs.

Civilization. Intellectual life Ethnography

DS560.54 – 2 books
General works

DS560.56.A-Z - 0 books
Individual elements in the population, A-Z

History DS560.6 – 14 books
General works Diplomatic history. Foreign and general relations

DS560.68 – 2 books
General works

DS560.69.A-Z – 8 books
Relations with individual countries, A-Z

Biography and memoirs

DS560.7 – 1 book
Collective

DS560.72.A-Z – 396 books
Individual, A-Z

DS560.72.H6-H67 – [307 books]
Hô Chi Minh

DS560.92 – 16 books
Local history and description see also DS559.92-.93

Appendix 2: Indochina Archive/Douglas Pike collection at U.C. Berkeley

The following is a list of files and other materials as measured by file cabinet drawer (about 2 ½ feet long) from an inventory after Douglas Pike left for Texas Tech University in 1997. Of the files listed below, the war participant interviews, refugee files, books and microfiche have been incorporated into the U.C. Berkeley library, although the files are presently in process. The biographical files were photocopied and the copies sent to Texas Tech, the originals remaining here in Berkeley. We also received important donated files after this inventory was drawn up, most notably twelve office sized file drawers, of materials from the Indochina Resource Center (changed to Southeast Asia Resource Center in 1977). The Vietnamese-language periodicals listed below were mostly acquired after Mr. Pike left by the new director, Peter Zinoman. The question remains as to what will happen to those files listed below which have not yet been transferred to the U.C. Berkeley library system.

PART ONE: CURRENTLY RECEIVED SERIALS

- AN NINH THE GIOI (World Peace) (Hanoi)
- ASEASUK NEWS (ASSN. OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN STUDIES, UK)
- ASIAN SURVEY (Berkeley, California)
- ASIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER (Association of Asian Studies)
- BAN TIN TON GIAO (Religion Newsletter) (published by the Bureau of
Religious Affairs, Hanoi)
- BOAT PEOPLE S.O.S. (mailings)
- BULLETIN OF CONCERNED ASIAN SCHOLARS
- BULLETIN SIGNALETIQUE (newsletter of the Centre d'Information et de
Documentation sur le Vietnam Contemporain, a research center in Paris)
- CDIL BULLETIN D'INFORMATION (CENTRE DE DOCUMENTATION ET
D'INFORMATION SUR LE LAOS) (France)
- CONG AN NHAN DAN (People's Police) (Hanoi)
- CPR UPDATE (COALITION FOR PEACE AND RECONCILIATION, CAMBODIA)
- CENTER FOR S.E. ASIA STUDIES (UCB) NEWSLETTER
- DAI DOAN KET (Great Solidarity) (Ho Chi Minh City)
- DAN CHU & PHAT TRIEN (Democracy and Development) (Germany)
- DAN TOC HOC (Ethnology) (Inst. of Ethnographic Studies, Hanoi)
- DESTINATION: VIETNAM (Tourist magazine from San Francisco)
- DIAKONIA (Jesuit Refugee Service, Asia-Pacific)
- DOI LUC ("Viet Opposing Centre's Forum", Canada)
- EGLISES D' ASIE (Biweekly newsletter of the Foreign Missions of Paris)
- FAR EASTERN ECONOMIC REVIEW
- FRIENDS OF THE VIETNAM CENTER NEWSLETTER (Texas Tech University)
- GIAO DUC VA THOI DAI (Education and Time) (Hanoi)
- HANOI MOI (New Hanoi) (Hanoi)
- HUNG VIET
- IMMF DISPATCH (Indochina Media Memorial Foundation, Bangkok)
- INDOCHINA CHRONOLOGY
- INDOCHINA INTERCHANGE (U.S.-Indochina Reconciliation Project)
- JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY ASIA
- KHOSANA (Thailand-Lao-Cambodia Studies Group, AAS)
- LA LETTRE DE L'AFRASE (ASSN. FRANCAISE POUR LA RECHERCHE SUR
- L'ASIE DU SUD EST) (France)
- LAO DONG (Labor) (Hanoi)
- LAO SERITHAM NEWSPAPER (Stockton, California)
- MEKONG DIGEST (WEEKLY PRINTOUT) (U.S.-Vietnam Trade Council, Washing-
ton, D.C.)
- MY THUAT THOI NAY CUOI
- NED DEMOCRACY (National Endowment for Democracy)
- NETWORK FOR LIVING ABROAD
- NGHIEN CUU LY LUAN (Journal of Theoretical Studies, published by
the Ho Chi Minh National Political Academy, Ho Chi Minh City)
- NGHIEN CUU LICH SU (Historical Studies) (Published by the Institute
of Historical Science, Hanoi)
- NGHIEN CUU XA HOI HOC (Sociological Research) (Hanoi)
- NGUOI BAO VE CONG LY (Protector of Justice) (Published by the
People's Supreme Court, Hanoi)
- NGUOI CONG GIAO VIET NAM (Vietnamese Catholics) (Published by the
Committee of Union of Catholics, Hanoi)
- NGUOI DEP VIET NAM (Beautiful Vietnamese) (Hanoi)
- NGUOI HA NOI (Hanoi People) (Hanoi Association of Literature and
Arts, Hanoi)
- NHA BAO & CONG LUAN (Publisher and Public Opinion) (Published by
the Publisher's Union of Vietnam, Hanoi)
- NHAN QUYEN/DROITS DE L'HOMME (Human Rights, Paris)
- PACIFIC AFFAIRS
- PACIFIC RESEARCH
- PACIFIC RIM REPORT
- PHNOM PENH POST
- PHU NU CHU NHAT (Women - Sunday) (published by the Women's
Association of Ho Chi Minh City)
- PHU NU VIETNAM (Vietnamese Women) (published by the Vietnam Woman's
Association, Hanoi)
- POSITIONS: EAST ASIA CULTURES CRITIQUE
- QUE ME (Motherland) (Paris)
- REFUGEE REVIEW (UNIV. OF MINNESOTA)
- SAIGON ECO
- SAIGON TIMES WEEKLY
- SELECTIONS ON SE ASIA
- SONG HUONG (culture and arts journal, published in Hue)
- SOUTHEAST ASIAN ARCHIVE NEWSLETTER (Univ. of California at Irvine)
- SUVANNABHUMI (Arizona State University Southeast Asian Studies Center)
- TAI HOA TRE (Youth Talent) (Ho Chi Minh City)
- TAP CHI LICH SU DANG (Party Historical Review) (Hanoi)
- TAP CHI NGHIEN CUU PHAT HOC (Buddhist Research Review) (published by the
Vietnam Buddhist Church, Hanoi)
- TIEN PHONG CHU NHAT (Vanguard, Sunday edition) (Hanoi)
- TOA AN NHAN DAN (People's Court) (Published by the People's Supreme
Court, Hanoi)
- TUOI TRE (Youth) (Ho Chi Minh City)
- TUOI TRE CUOI (Smiling Youth) (Ho Chi Minh City)
- VAN NGHE (Literature) (Published by the Vietnam Writers'
Association, Hanoi)
- VAN NGHE QUAN DOI (Army Literature) (Hanoi)
- VAN NGHE TRE (Youth Literature) (Published by the Vietnam Writers'
Association, Hanoi)
- VIEN GIAC (Vietnam Buddhist magazine from Germany)
- VIET MARKETING AND BUSINESS REPORTS/KHAI - THUC THI TRUONG (Canada)
- VIET NAM AJOUR (DANSK VIETNAMESISK FORENING, DENMARK)
- VIETNAM (Vietnam War journal)
- VIETNAM BUSINESS JOURNAL
- VIETNAM DEMOCRACY
- VIETNAM ECONOMIC TIMES (Hanoi)
- VIET NAM - INFO (Germany)
- VIETNAM INSIGHT
- VIETNAM INVESTMENT REVIEW (Published by the Ministry of Planning and
Investment, Hanoi)
- VIETNAM NEWS AGENCY (DAILY PRINTOUTS) (Hanoi)
- VIETNAMESE STUDIES (Hanoi)
- VIETNAM STUDIES BULLETIN (Vietnam Studies Group newsletter)
- XA HOI HOC (Sociology) (Published by the Institute of Sociology, Hanoi)
- XUA NAY (Before and Now) (Published by the Vietnam Institute of
Science and History, Hanoi)

PART TWO: FILES

I. VIETNAM HISTORY: One Drawer
- PRE-MODERN ERA
- FRENCH COLONIAL ERA
- WORLD WAR II
- OPERATION EXODUS (1954)
- VIET MINH ERA (1945-54)
- DRV/NLF PUBLICATIONS ON HISTORY
- COMMUNISM
- SOUTH VIETNAM (RVN)
- HISTORIC DOCUMENTS

II. DRV/SRV FILES

A. AGRICULTURE:
- GENERAL: 1/4 drawer
- CHRONOLOGICAL: 4 drawers
- ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND WILDLIFE: 1/2 drawer
- COMMUNES/COLLECTIVES: 1/2 drawer
- CROPS: 1 drawer

- FISHING: 1/2 drawer
- INDUSTRIAL SUPPORT: 1/2 drawer
- LUMBER/FORESTRY: 1/2 drawer
- MANAGEMENT: 1/2 drawer
- THEORY OF ORGANIZATION OF AGRICULTURE: 1/2 drawer
- WATER CONSERVANCY: 1 drawer

B. ANNIVERSARIES: 1 drawer

C. ARMED FORCES:
- GENERAL: 1 1/2 drawers
- CHRONOLOGICAL: 2 drawers
- ECONOMIC: 1/2 drawer
- MEDICAL: 1 large folder
- MILITIA: 1/2 drawer
- PARTY: 1/2 drawer
- RECRUITMENT-TRAINING: 1 drawer
- VETERANS: 1/2 drawer
D. CITIES (mostly post 1980)
- HANOI: 1 drawer
- SAIGON/HO CHI MINH CITY: 3/4 drawer
- OTHER CITIES (filed by city): 1/2 drawer

E. COMMUNICATION-PROPAGANDA: 1 3/4 drawers

F. CULTURE/CUSTOMS AND BEHAVIOR: 1 drawer

G. DOMESTIC AFFAIRS (FORMERLY SITUATIONER) (post 1975): 2 1/2 drawers

H. ECONOMY
- DOMESTIC TRADE: 1 drawer
- ECONOMIC PLANNING AND ASSESSMENT: 6 drawers
- FISCAL: 2 drawers
- FOREIGN TRADE AND AID: 3 drawers
- LABOR: 3/4 drawer
- HEAVY INDUSTRY: 3 drawers
- LIGHT INDUSTRY: 1 drawer
- MANAGEMENT: 2 drawers
- NEW ECONOMIC ZONES: 1/4 drawer
- STATISTICS: 1 drawer
- THEORY: 1 drawer
- TOURISM (1980s-present; new category): 1 drawer
- TRANSPORTATION-COMMUNICATION: 2 drawers

I. EDUCATION: 2 drawers

J. EMULATION MOVEMENTS: 1 drawer

K. ETHNIC CHINESE: 1 drawer

L. ETHNIC MINORITIES: 1/2 drawer

M. FOREIGN RELATIONS
- BLOC (Soviet bloc/former Soviet bloc countries): 3 drawers
- CAMBODIA: 3 1/2 drawers (1978-present; one large folder pre-78)
- CHINA: 7 drawers (1975-present)

- GENERAL: 4 1/2 drawers
- INDIA: 1/2 drawers
- INDOCHINA: 1 drawer
- LAOS: 1 drawer
- JAPAN: 2 drawers
- NON-BLOC: 3 drawers (This would include all countries not
falling into the other categories listed here)
- SOUTHEAST ASIA: 2 1/2 drawers
- THAILAND: 2 drawers
- UNITED NATIONS: 1 drawer
- UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS/FORMER USSR: 5 drawers
- UNITED STATES: 6 drawers

N. GENERAL/BASIC DATA: 1 drawer

O. GOVERNMENT/POLITICS: 2 drawers

P. HEALTH: 1 1/2 drawers

Q. IDEOLOGY: 1 drawer

R. KHIEM THAO (self-criticism movements): 1/4 drawer

S. NATIONAL ASSEMBLY: 1 1/2 drawers (1975-present)

T. PARTY: 3 1/2 drawers (1976-present)

U. PUBLIC WELFARE: 1/4 drawer

V. SECURITY
- DRV SECURITY, 1954-75: 3/4 drawer
- HUMAN RIGHTS: 1/4 drawer
- INTERNAL SECURITY: 3/4 drawer
- LAW ENFORCEMENT: 1 drawer
- LEGAL: 1/2 drawer
- LEGAL TEXTS: 1/4 drawer
- RE-EDUCATION: 1/2 drawer

W. SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
- FATHERLAND FRONT: 1/2 drawer
- MASS ORGANIZATIONS: 1/4 drawer
- RELIGION: 1 drawer
- TRADE UNIONS: 1/2 drawer
- WOMEN: 1/2 drawer
- YOUTH: 3/4 drawer

III. CAMBODIA:
A. GENERAL (see microfiche collection)
B. CHRONOLOGICAL (1973-present): 31 drawers

IV. LAOS
A. GENERAL: 1/2 drawer
B. CHRONOLOGICAL (1947-present): 10 1/2 drawers

V. REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM (SOUTH VIETNAM), 1954-75:
A. GENERAL: 2 drawers
B. CHRONOLOGICAL (1953-75): 7 drawers
C. ECONOMIC: 3 drawers
D. EDUCATION: 1/2 drawer
E. VIETNAMESE LANGUAGE MATERIALS: 1 drawer

VI. BIOGRAPHIC FILES
A. CAMBODIA: 1 drawer
B. DRV/SRV:
- CENTRAL COMMITTEE: 2 drawers
- DISSIDENTS IN SRV: 3/4 drawer
- HO CHI MINH: 2 drawers
- MILITARY: 2 drawers
- POLITBURO: 1 drawer
- EX-POLITBURO: 3 drawers
- PROMINENT PERSONALITIES (NON-CC MEMBERS AND NON-MILI-
TARY): 6 drawers
- VO NGUYEN GIAP: 2 drawers
C. EMIGRES: 1 1/2 drawers
D. LAOS: 1/2 drawer
E. NAME LISTS: 1 drawer
F. PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY ORAL HISTORIES: 2 drawers
G. SOUTH VIETNAM: 4 drawers
H. U.S. AND OTHER FOREIGNERS: 4 drawers
I. VIET KIEU STUDY MATERIALS (Douglas Pike, 1996): 1 drawer
J. VIETNAM HISTORICAL FIGURES AND DECEASED: 1 drawer
K. WAR PARTICIPANT INTERVIEWS: 5 drawers

VII. REFUGEES
A. LOUIS WIESNER FILES ON DISPLACED PERSONS IN SOUTH VIETNAM: 3
drawers. (Louis Wiesner was a USAID worker in South Vietnam working
with internally displaced persons. These materials cover the period
of 1954-75.)
B. REFUGEES FROM INDOCHINA 1975-PRESENT: 7 drawers

IX. BIBLIOGRAPHIC MATERIALS: 4 drawers

X. RESEARCH MATERIALS: 4 drawers
A. Academic Activity
B. Conferences

C. Foundations
D. Internet Resources
E. Organizations
F. Research Projects

PART THREE: MICROFORM COLLECTION

- HISTORY OF THE VIETNAM WAR ON MICROFICHE: In 1994 the paper files
devoted to the Vietnam War were moved to Texas Tech University. The
Indochina Center at University of California, Berkeley retains a rare
microfilm version of the entire collection. The content of the microfilm
is as follows:
- UNIT ONE: ASSESSMENT AND STRATEGY: The war as viewed and planned
from Hanoi, Saigon, Washington, Moscow and Beijing. Also includes analysis
and commentary from various observers. 1132 fiche.
- UNIT TWO: GENERAL HISTORY: Day to day military activity, from Jan.
1954 to May 1975. This file also includes postwar retrospectives of the
war. 1034 fiche.
- UNIT THREE: TOPICAL HISTORY: 1650 fiche. Divided into the following
categories: allied war participants; anti-war movement; insurgency
warfare; U.S. legal and legislative activity; literature of the war;
POW/MIAs (American and Vietnamese); the press and the war; public opinion;
refugees and civilian casualties; statistical data; technology of warfare;
the U.S. economy and the war; the U.S. mission in Saigon; American
veterans of the war; war atrocities; and war participant interviews.
- UNIT FOUR: POLITICAL SETTLEMENT: 632 fiche. Negotiations leading to
the 1973 Paris Accords, the ceasefire period and retrospectives of the
talks
- UNIT FIVE: NATIONAL LIBERATION FRONT: 1126 fiche. Divided into the
following categories: general studies; programs and directives;
organizational history; external relations; organization; administration
of NLF-controlled areas; military activities; political struggle;
communications; mystique (mobilization and motivation techniques); and
captured NLF documents (in Vietnamese).
- UNIT SIX: SOUTH VIETNAM: 942 fiche. Covering the late 1950s to May
1975. Divided into the following categories: general materials; history of
Vietnam (from pre-historical times, through French colonization and the
1954 Geneva conference); daily news; education and culture; and economy.
With the exception of the historical files (Vietnam before 1954), most of
these materials are also in our paper collection.
- UNIT SEVEN: NORTH VIETNAM DURING THE WAR, PART I: 654 fiche. The
Democratic Republic of Vietnam, 1954-75. Divided into the following
categories: general materials; government, politics and the Communist
Party; and foreign relations.
- UNIT EIGHT: NORTH VIETNAM AND CAMBODIA DURING THE WAR, PART
II:
- DRV AGRICULTURE: 351 FICHE
- CAMBODIA: 165 FICHE

OTHER MICROFORM:
- CONFIDENTIAL U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT CENTRAL FILES: INDOCHINA
INTERNAL AFFAIRS, 1945-1949: 10 reels with guide
- CIA RESEARCH REPORTS: VIETNAM AND SOUTHEAST ASIA: 1946- 1976: 7 reels
with guide
- FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE U.S., 1958-60, EAST ASIA, CAMBODIA (Dept. of
State): 22 fiche
- JPRS TRANSLATIONS OF NORTH VIETNAM PRESS, 1957-62: 6 reels
- NORTH VIETNAM PRESS (IN VIETNAMESE), 1961-63 (NHAN DAN, QUAN DOI
NHAN DAN, TIEN PHONG): 4 reels
- SRV PRESS: 38 reels. Newspapers from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City,
1983-86:
- GIAO DUC LY LUAN
- HANOI MOI
- NHAN DAN
- QUAN DOI NHAN DAN
- SAIGON GIAI PHONG
- TAP CHI CONG SAN
- TAP CHI QUAN DOI NHAN DAN
- TRANSCRIPTS AND FILES OF THE PARIS PEACE TALKS ON VIETNAM:
1968-1973: 12 reels with guide
- VIETNAM: A DOCUMENTARY COLLECTION: WESTMORELAND VS. CBS (U.S.
documents declassified as a result of Westmoreland's lawsuit against
60 Minutes): 1010 fiche
- THE WAR IN VIETNAM: CLASSIFIED HISTORIES BY THE NATIONAL
SECURITY COUNCIL: Various declassified letters and high-level
memoranda, 1964-68: 8 reels with guide

National Assembly elections held

2007-05-29T16:27:00.000-07:00

A 99% voter turnout was officially reported for the National Assembly elections, despite the fact that there were just 875 candidates for 493 seats, all with prior approval from the Vietnam Communist Party and its Fatherland Front. All but 150 candidates were party members, and of the 150 non-party members only 43 were elected, less than the 50 hoped for by election organizers. Of these 150 non-party candidates, 30 were self-nominated -- 238 self-nominated candidates had sought approval -- but only one self-nominated candidate was elected.

Regarding the reported turnout of 99%, or 56.4 million voters, an Associated Press report said that "many voters cast ballots without actually going to the polls, family members often vote for them." A Reuters report noted: "Voting is not compulsory but officials cajole people to cast ballots as districts compete to make sure all those eligible perform their civic duty. Many votes are cast for several members of a family by one person."

The new assembly will convene its first session in July.

Sources: Associated Press, Reuters, May 29.

Bishop protests religious policy

2007-05-21T18:23:00.000-07:00

In an article critical of the recent crackdown on dissent in Vietnam, the Catholic AsiaNews.it reports criticism of the government's religious policy from Msgr. Nguyen Van Hoa, bishop of Nha Trang. While distancing himself from recently imprisoned Fr. Nguyen Van Ly, whom he felt had become too involved in politics, the bishop affirmed the right of Fr. Ly and other Vietnamese to express their opinions regarding justice and truth in society. He also complained of the policy requiring government approval for the Vatican appointment of bishops: "many people know that the Holy See wanted to appoint me bishop of Hanoi but that this nomination was never accepted."

Source: AsiaNews.IT [Nguyen Hung], May 21

The Viet Tan - Vietnam Reform Party

2007-05-18T21:47:00.000-07:00

We are reprinting the following article with the permission of its author, Carlyle Thayer.

Background Brief:
Viet Tan -
Vietnam Reform Party
Carlyle A. Thayer
April 10, 2007

Both the Vietnamese official media and Viet Tan are in agreement about the basic history of Viet Tan. Hoang Co Minh, a former Republic of Vietnam Navy Admiral, founded the National United Front for the Liberation of Vietnam (NUFLV) on April 30, 1980. He later founded the Vietnam Reform Party or Viet Tan (Viet Nam Canh Tan Cach Mang Dang) on September 10, 1982. The NUFLV and the Viet Tan aimed to overthrow the Vietnamese communist government.

Both Vietnamese authorities and members of the NUFLV agree that the NUFLV carried out acts of armed violence (or armed subversion) in Vietnam by infiltrating its members through Laos and Cambodia. A member of the Vietnam Reform Party has also indicated that during the period of clandestine activity (1982-94), members of Viet Tan living in Vietnam carried arms. Vietnam charges that Viet Tan created an armed force in late 2002 and also hired criminals to assassinate government officials; and later killed these hired assassins to hide their connections with the Viet Tan.

The Vietnam Reform Party went public on September 19, 2004 and at that time announced the dissolution of the NUFLV. The program of the Viet Tan and statements by its leaders stress that the Viet Tan will employ peaceful means to achieve democracy in Vietnam in cooperation with other like-minded groups.

[On October 28, 2003 ABC TV Foreign Correspondent program (Australia) aired an interview with a member of the Vietnam Canh Tan Cach Mang Dang and claimed this was the first public acknowledgement of the group in Vietnam.]

The Viet Tan has been publicly active lobbying members of parliament in Australia and Europe as well as congressmen in the United States. Viet Tan has staged peaceful rallies in a number of western capital cities including Washington, D.C.

Details of Viet Tan activities in Vietnam released by the official Vietnamese media in March-April 2007 do not establish that the Viet Tan has been engaged in violent activities. Rather the Viet Tan is charged with setting up law firms, businesses, and micro-credit programs to generate funds to finance Viet Tan's activities in Vietnam. Viet Tan is also charged with calling for a peaceful boycott of Vietnamese commodities and air services.

The official Vietnamese media has gone into hyper-drive in its propaganda campaign to charge that Viet Tan is a terrorist organisation. Since September 2004, as far as I can determine, no members of Viet Tan have been arrested or brought before a court in Vietnam on charges of terrorism or armed subversion. It is also unclear when Vietnamese authorities designated Viet Tan as a terrorist organisation.

The raft of anti-Viet Tan newspaper articles that appeared in the Vietnamese press and media in late March and early April 2007 charging that Viet Tan is a terrorist organisation are based on activities carried out by Viet Tan and the NUFLV prior to September 2004. The historical record indicates that armed subversion directed against the Vietnamese government by the NUFLV-Viet Tan was largely a product of the 1980s and came to an end with the death of Hoang Co Minh.

Vietnam experienced a number of acts of political violence throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Its security forces have also uncovered groups of anti-communist activists allegedly plotting to carry out acts of political violence during the same time period. While there may be personal connections or associations between Viet Tan and the individuals and organisations involved, existing evidence does not provide any substantiation that Viet Tan directed these acts of violence or plots.

Since 9/11 Vietnam has begun to employ the term terrorist in its propaganda. Initially the U.S. Government was put in a difficult position because Vietnam charged that Vietnamese-Americans in the United States were plotting and carrying out 'terrorist acts' against the Vietnamese Government. The Free Vietnam Movement/Government of Free Vietnam has come under scrutiny as a result and it would appear that the FBI and perhaps other agencies are taking steps to curtail and prevent such activity from taking place.

Vietnamese security officials have deliberately conflated all acts of political protest against the Vietnamese state, including peaceful protest and political violence, and labelled it terrorism.

Viet Tan was active in the U.S. in the final quarter of 2006 in lobbying the Bush Administration to raise human rights issues at the APEC Summit in November. A member of Viet Tan addressed the Congressional Human Rights Caucus. Viet Tan also lobbied international donors in November 2006 to link transparency and accountability with their aid programs in Vietnam. In March 2007, Viet Tan organised international rallies to protest the current wave of political repression in Vietnam.

The Viet Tan is not included on the UN list of terrorist organisations.

The Viet Tan maintain a website in multiple languages: http://www.viettan.org

Vietnam's dissident lawyers

2007-05-18T14:52:00.000-07:00

Vietnam's dissident lawyers
by Bill Hayton

Note: The following article by Bill Hayton is the English version of a piece he wrote for the BBC Vietnamese Service. We are reprinting it here with his permission.

On Friday (11.5.2007) two Vietnamese human rights lawyers will go on trial charged with spreading anti-state propaganda and face up to twenty years in jail. Bill Hayton, who was the BBC's reporter in Vietnam until the government refused to renew his visa in March this year, has met them both.

There are very few lawyers prepared to stand up for human rights in Vietnam and after (Friday) there will probably be two fewer. Until March Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan, were two of the most outspoken
critics of the Vietnamese government inside the country. Now they've been silenced.

Their paths to the courtroom took quite different routes. The disillusion of Dai, 38, with Vietnam's Communist Party rulers began with the demise of communism in Europe. He was working in a factory in East Germany when the system collapsed in 1989. He saw parallels with the situation back home so when his factory went bankrupt the following year he returned to Vietnam and studied at Hanoi Law University with the intention of, "doing something for my country".

On graduation in 1995 he worked as a legal advisor to the Hanoi Law Company but in 1997 he and a friend became the first independent candidates to stand for election to Vietnam's National Assembly. The Communist Party had just allowed independents to run, however the selection process made (and still makes) it impossible for dissidents to be successful.

Then and now (Vietnam votes for a new National Assembly on 20 May) candidates have to be approved by their local neighbourhood and their workplace before they can actually run for election. Since both structures are always controlled by the Party, only Party-approved candidates will get through. Dai didn't.

At the end of 1999 Dai represented a woman, Nguyen Thi Thuy, who had been imprisoned for holding unauthorised Christian religious services in her house. Her appeal failed but shortly afterwards Dai says, "I felt God calling" and he joined the legally-registered Hanoi Evangelical
Church.

In April 2004 he was one of twelve lawyers who tried set up what Dai describes as, "a lawyers group for justice". But the Hanoi Bar Association told them to disband the organisation or it would revoke their licenses. The eleven other lawyers dropped out, leaving only Dai. "I think it was my Christian belief" he says.

He further irritated the authorities at the end of that year by defended six members of the then illegal Mennonite Church accused of "resisting persons doing official duty". And then, in April 2005 he began to defend political dissidents too.

From then on Dai was one of the main sources of information about what was happening to the dissident movement inside Vietnam. He regularly publicised cases of alleged human rights abuse by the authorities.

Many people wondered why he was able to get away with his activities for so long, why he wasn't detained like so many of the people he was defending. Some in the international community suggested that he might even have been an agent of the security services. Others suggested that the authorities found it useful to have a public figure like Dai to help them keep an eye on the dissident movement. The police might also have felt that the information he distributed was a reminder to potential dissidents of what would happen to them if they became politically active.

In the past year the dissident movement, although still tiny, has become more united and assertive. In particular the supporters of two manifestos for political change, collectively known as 'Bloc 8406' after the date (8 April 2006) on which they were publicised, have been prepared to make use of what, until recently, had seemed like a relaxing of political control in Vietnam.

One person who was attracted by the message of Bloc 8406 was another lawyer, Le Thi Cong Nhan. She is ten years younger than Dai and she became a dissident at a much earlier age - seven. "I was keeping my parents' position in a queue to receive food from a state shop in 1986 and I just thought, 'Why do I have to do this'" she told me last autumn.

Cong Nhan's, ironically, has a very communist name. It means 'worker' - her grandfather changed it when she was one month old hoping to curry favour with the authorities. It didn't do much good. Her parents were teachers and she says their low pay meant there was rarely enough food in the house.

She was already a lawyer when, in August 2006, "After a long period of careful thought" she became a supporter of the Bloc. Two weeks later she joined the newly announced - and illegal - 'Vietnam Progression Party' which calls for multi-party democracy.

Almost immediately she was visited by officers from A42, the political department of the Ministry of Public Security. She was taken to the police station, told that she was guilty of plotting to bring down the state and questioned for three days. After she refused to attend any more question sessions the police continued to bombard her with calls and text messages threatening her with arrest.

But then suddenly, the tactics changed, "They sent me flowers, invitations to dinner and the cinema, even a new mobile phone". The emails now called her brave and kind but one officer told her that the police were listening to all her phone calls.

When I met her she seemed to have no idea of the trouble that she was about to get into. She didn't want me to take her photograph - not because she was afraid of the publicity but simply because she was shy. Later she emailed me a copy of her ID photo - a stiff and formal pose for a lively and determined woman.

But then things got nasty. In October Cong Nhan was due to attend a conference in Warsaw to launch an independent trade union for Vietnam. The parallels with the Solidarity movement in Poland were quite deliberate. She got as far as the foot of the steps to the plane before she was stopped and told she couldn't travel. The next day, as she rode on her motorbike to change her ticket she was pushed and jostled and nearly fell off. She believes her attacker was from A42. She never got to Warsaw. She was fired by her law firm and then hired by Dai's firm Thien An. She is reported to have also joined the Evangelical Church.

In retrospect, that small flowering of dissent inside Vietnam during 2006 seems to have been the result of a deliberate 'hands off' policy. In the run-up to the Asia-Pacific summit in Hanoi in November - which was attended by President Bush among others - and during Vietnam's negotiations to join the World Trade Organisation the dissidents had a much easier time.

But in early 2007, once Vietnam's WTO membership had been safely approved, the authorities began what Human Rights Watch has described as, "one of the worst crackdowns on peaceful dissidents in 20 years". The trigger in the cases of Dai and Cong Nhan was their efforts to organise human rights training for university students in Hanoi.

Police broke up the second such training event in February and arrested the two lawyers. They were questioned and released. A month later they were charged with spreading anti-state propaganda and committed for trial. The Hanoi Bar Association then revoked their lawyer's licenses and asked the Justice Ministry to close down the Thien An law firm.

Tran Quoc Hien sentenced to five years

2007-05-16T18:49:00.000-07:00

Another dissident has been has been brought to trial. This time it is Tran Quoc Hien, 42, an attorney and a union rights activist who was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison after a four hour trial in Ho Chi Minh City. He is the sixth pro-democracy activist to be tried in less than a week. His sentence is three years for "conducting propaganda against the state" plus two years for "disrupting security", to be followed by up to two years house arrest. Official press reports says Hien pleaded guilty, showed remorse, and pledged to leave the dissident organizations to which he belonged. He had been arrested in Jan. 2007.

Among his activities that led to his arrest were affiliation with dissident groups such as Bloc 8406 and the United Workers-Farmers Organization and attempting to organize anti-government demonstrations during President George Bush's visit to Ho Chi City last fall.

Human rights organizations and western governments have roundly denounced these trials, stating the prisoners are guilty of nothing more than exercising their right of free speech. Vietnam officials, on the other hand, claim that the trials have been fair and that free speech exists in the country, but that these individuals abused this right by slandering the state. My view is with the human rights organizations.

Sources: DPA/Bangkok Post May 14; AP May 15; Reporters Without Borders May 15; VNA May 15, 16; AFP May 15, 16.