FREEDOM OF THE PRESS?
The Vietnamese community in the U.S.A. has just received a letter dated April 13, 2000 by Dr. Nguyen Dan Que, a renowned dissident who refused to leave Vietnam after being released from a Communist prison camp in September 1998. In the letter, Dr. Que informs the incident taking place in front of his Saigon home when a French journalist came to see him.
"At 4:00 PM, April 12, 2000, a French woman journalist came to pay me a visit. Upon her arrival, she was stopped by a large number of Public Safety officers who refused to let her in."
"In front of my home, there were dozens of Public Security (PS), in uniforms and in plain clothes. All ways leading to my home were blocked, Public Security patrol cars, with flashing lights and noisily wailing sirens, were creating disorder in the neighborhood."
"In such tense situation, I opened my door to invite her in. She decided to get in, but a PS lieutenant colonel and a PS major along with many undercover PS officers blocked the door. The quarrel lasted for an hour about her entry document (with visa of entry as a tourist, so it was not legal to have contact with the Vietnamese), by which I heard her name as Sylvie de Pasquier, working for the L'Express, a French well-known magazine."
"At last at 5 PM, PS officers forced her into their truck and drove it away. PS force maintained their security checkpoints around the area late into the night. This morning, some of them were still prowling the street in front of my home."
"All along the dispute, I always let my door open. But after failing to have her come in, I had no choice but to withdraw from the scene, because the PS officers insisted that it was an issue between the government and a foreigner who didn't have required legal permission and involved in illegal activities. Ms Pasquier has always asserted that she has legal papers, and her right to visit Dr. Que is completely appropriate as she is a free person."
"In the afternoon of April 14, 2000, she was deported by the authorities in Hanoi."
In the conclusion, Dr. Que wrote: "We protest against the said deportation and
strongly denounce to the world the brutal and daring human right violation against freedom of the press committed by the Vietnam Communist Party's Politburo."
"We urgently appeal to the democratic governments in the world, parliament members, human rights organizations, domestic and international press media to firmly support the persistent struggle demanding the gang of reactionaries in Hanoi respect fundamental rights of the Vietnamese people, including freedoms of thought, of expression and of the press."
On Tuesday, April 18, 2000, Hanoi authorities confirmed that Ms Pasquier had been deported the previous day after having detained her since last Thursday. Communist officials disclosed to foreign reporters that Ms Pasquier was arrested and deported because of two accusations: she obtained visa of entry as a tourist but she really acted as a journalist; secondly, she contacted some people and interviewed them without permissions in advance.
According to information from various sources, Ms Pasquier has made contact and interviewed prominent dissidents such as Ven. Thich Quang Do and Dr. Nguyen Dan Que.
An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the South China Morning Post that not only did she contacted the dissidents for interviews, but she also carried anti-Hanoi-government materials. Meanwhile, after other sources, materials that Ms Pasquier owned are statements of some dissidents, most of which had been published in foreign countries during the last few years and months.
Since the late 1980's, the Vietnam Communist Party (VCP) has had real efforts to reform the economy, but almost nothing is done to reform the party-controlled media. The latest congress of journalists - all under strict control of the party and its government - as well as in the law regulating journalism, members of the Vietnamese press corps are compelled to report and write to support the party's policies and its courses of action.
The Reporters Sans Frontiere (Reporters Without Border) in France has sent a letter to VCP General Secretary Le Kha Phieu, protesting against the above-mentioned deportation. Robert Menard, secretary general of the group, noted that the arrest of Ms Pasquier proved that Hanoi did not respect the UN Convention of civil rights and political rights that Hanoi signed and promised to abide by.
Mr. Mernard also said that foreign journalists are not free to do their jobs in Vietnam. All of them have to apply for visa of entry as journalists and only those whose names are not found in the government "blacklist" could be granted entry permit. However, they had to inform the authorities of every intended contact with the Vietnamese. If they want to meet with government officials, they have to submit questions before the interviews.
Foreign news agencies must have offices in Hanoi and have to hire interpreters appointed by the Ministry of Culture and Information. Foreign reporters must attain permission before travelling outside Hanoi.
In the last few years, there have been many journalists expelled from the country. Among them is Andrew Solomon of Reuters, whose visa was not renewed when expired. Early this month, a French journalist, Mr. Arnaud Dubus was detained for investigation by a Public Security office. His magazines, newspapers and other publications were seized .
Arnaud have been to Vietnam eight times since 1989. From previous experiences, on his recent March-21 trip to Vietnam with a passport for the tourist. He managed to meet with dissidents such as Dr. Nguyen Dan Que, Rev. Chan Tin, Professor Nguyen Ngoc Lan. He took a trip to Cao Dai Holy Land in Tay Ninh and met Mr. Le Quang Liem, a Hoa Hao Buddhist leader.
On April 1, a day before his departure for Thailand, Saigon Public Security Department summoned him to an interrogation about his contacts he had made and accused him of violating the tourist law, because he didn't hire a guide.
On April 2, he left Vietnam. Before boarding the airplane at Tan Son Nhat Airport, Public Security officers once again stopped him and seized all computer floppy disks and books that he brought along with him, including books written by pro-Hanoi authors.
The incident involving Ms Pasquier took place at the time when VCP government was preparing the April 30 celebrations with ceremonies, entertainments and parades. At the same time, security issues became great concerns of the VCP leaders after reports indicating attempts to conduct sapper's attacks by anti-Communist groups on the occasion. The U.S.A. and the Japanese governments have warned their citizens of possible risks from such attacks.
It is not clear why the Communist authorities in Saigon treated a French woman with such hostility only a day after the party general secretary departed for an official visit to France. The French government has long been very friendly to the Communist regime in Vietnam, providing large support to Hanoi.
Some analysts believe that probably Ms Pasquier was arrested by order of Saigon city government, not by the central level. In the Communist rule, local authorities are invested with great power particularly in political security matters. This security prevails all others that include foreign relations or national economic interests.
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