NEWS ANALYSIS, MARCH 3, 2001.

[ The situation in the Central Highlands appears to be calm after nearly two weeks of chaos with protests and demonstrations of tens of thousands of montagnards against the Communist regime. Protesters from the four major ethnic minorities demanded that their ancestral farming lands be returned to them, and that they be free to practice their faith, Christianity. Hanoi said the disturbance had been kindled by the former group FULRO, a militant movement struggling for the autonomy of their ethnic groups.

There were clashes between the ethnic people and Communist Public Security force, but so far there have been no information regarding severe crackdowns on villagers who joined the protests at several highland cities and district towns.

Last week, the Communist regime dispatched several hundreds of its cadres to remote hamlets to pacify the people's anger by settling their complaints on corruption and red tape. According to experiences of the last 45 years, Communist rulers have always dealt with public protests by using smooth hands first. After weeks or months placating the people along with covert investigations, harsh measures would be exerted. This tactic proves effective because the people in protest are easily divided and unable to remain high morale for a long time, especially when the incident does not make anymore headlines on foreign news media if the incident couldn't be kept secret.

The 1956 bloody uprising in Quynh Luu (North Vietnam), the 1997 rebellion in Thai Binh province and other smaller protests have been solved by the same formula. Though these two in Quynh Luu and Thai Binh lasted several months, Communist leaders are known for their patience in a country without freedom of the press.

[ As people had anticipated, Communist authorities has ordered administrative surveillance against Rev. Nguyen Van Ly since March 3, 2001. The authorities said that Father Ly submitted false evidence against the Communist regime to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom hearing on February 13, 2001. State-controlled and armed forces newspapers accused him as "traitor."

For several months, Father Ly was leading his parishioners in a campaign for the restoration of church lands seized by the Communist authorities and for religious freedom. It's apparent that Communist authorities have been waiting to evvaluate reactions from inside as well as outside Vietnam before taking any measures against the Rev. Nguyen Van Ly.

[ On January 30, 2001, forty-three US Congress Representatives signed a letter that was sent to the prime minister of the Vietnam Communist regime, expressing their strong concern about violations of religious rights in Vietnam.

The letter mentions the joint statement on December 27, 2000 of four religious leaders (Mr. Le Quang Liem of the Hoa Hao Buddhist Church, the Venerable Thich Thien Hanh of the Unified Buddhist Church, Rev. Nguyen Van Ly and Rev. Chan Tin of the Catholic Church). The statement recounts the worst violations: Confiscation of properties belonging to the five major faiths, incarceration of religious leaders, monopolizing worship in state-controlled religious bodies to undermine religions by dividing them.

The representatives reminded the Communist leader that religious freedom is recognized in international treaties in which the VCP regime is a signatory. They call on the Communist government to honor its commitment under Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

By respecting norms on human rights, the letter said, Hanoi would demonstrate its reliability and could allow Vietnamese talents to flourish. The letter tells the Hanoi leader what religious organizations could be contributing if they are allowed to operate independently.

The representatives call on the Communist government to respect religious freedoms, the first of which is the right of churches to train and to appoint clergy and respect the right of citizens to choose religious organizations and the right to express beliefs without threat of persecution.

Though the resolution might create certain pressure, the Communist leaders always respond to such appeal with adamant denial. They would have to release their grasp on religions only when they face very high pressure. Unfortunately, the world powers is now showing no willing to bring such great pressure to bear on the Communist leaders in Hanoi for the sacred religious freedom.

The Vietnamese Catholics and maybe many Vietnamese patriots welcome the report from Rome: The Most Rev. Nguyen Van Thuan, former archbishop of Saigon, now president of the council for justice and peace at the Holy See, has become a cardinal along with other 43 cardinals recently ordained by Pope John Paul II in February.

The Vietnamese Catholics are more pleasant to learn that Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan is one of the 12 cardinals who could be candidates to the throne of the Holy See. A Vietnamese cardinal who spent 13 years in Communist prison camps becoming the Holy Father of the Roman Catholic Church? Possibly. It will be a miracle to Vietnam as it once was to Poland.

Nearly 10 years ago, the cardinal was granted visa of exit without permission to return. Now on Thursday, March 1, Hanoi said that the cardinal will be treated as any Vietnamese living abroad if he returns to visit his homeland.

[ In the last week of February 2001, the US Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor released the Reports on Human Rights Practices-2000. The part regarding Vietnam is about 20 pages long.

The report on Vietnam admits that the VCP has reduced its involvement in government operations and allowed the government as well as its national assembly some more ruling power. However, the report said, human rights record remained poor and the government continued repressing political and religious freedoms. Prisons conditions remain harsh. Public Security sometimes beat suspects, and detain citizens without trial. Many political prisoners are still held, while the government still restricts basic freedoms.

The Bureau also states in its report that Vietnamese citizens are allowed some greater freedom of expression. It said several "sit-in" demonstrations in Saigon and Hanoi were permitted. But in general, Vietnamese people are living under a regime that is governing with oppression.

Besides, the report mentions other issues concerning many aspects of life in Vietnam, which include family violence, discrimination against women and some ethnic minorities, and the serious problem of child prostitution.

This long report goes into numerous details of each subject, and most of the information is rather accurate but as to the Vietnamese, it is not as profound as they have expected.

It's true that the VCP regime has granted people some more freedom, reducing harsh treatment of prisoners. But in facts, granting little more freedom is like nothing but opening the safety valve for a few seconds to prevent the boiler from exploding. In remote hamlets, there is very little or none of such luxurious freedoms that could be solely enjoyed by a number of people living in big cities.