NEWS ANALYSIS, OCTOBER 27, 2001.

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In the last few months the Communist government in Hanoi has been escalating its relentless suppression campaign against members of the opposition who are struggling peacefully for the true democracy in Vietnam. Among the victims of the campaign are religious leaders, protesting intellects and dissidents who are Communist party ranking members.

On October 19, the Rev. Nguyen Van Ly, a Catholic priest who was calling for religious freedom in the last two years, was brought to the provincial court at Hue and sentenced to 15 years in prison and 5 years under house arrest. The severe punishment and the surreptitious acts of the Communist authorities in staging the trial prompted angry reactions from the Vietnamese, particularly the Catholics and human rights activists in and out of Vietnam.

Rev. Ly's close relatives had not been informed of the trial, and none of the religious officials from the Hue Catholic diocese were present, unlike other trials of religious personages with similar charges. The court concluded in less than three hours and no defendant's attorneys was allowed to attend the trial.

Many overseas Vietnamese groups are holding protests, harshly criticizing the summary trial. The groups say that the trial was set up just for silencing one of the most reverberating voices for Religious Freedom in Vietnam. International Human Rights organizations have strongly complained to Hanoi authorities about the unjust trial, demanding that Father Ly be immediately released.

Communist Public Security local department has detained Rev. Nguyen Van Ly since May 17, 2001, but the Communist authorities had not tried him, probably because such prosecution would have resulted in adverse consequences to the Bilateral Trade Agreement, which was on the process at the US Senate and the White House. Acting quickly after the final approval to the agreement by President Bush, Hanoi leaders ordered the trial.

Possibly Hanoi decided such swift action because its Communist leaders might hope to evade strong protests from international human rights organizations and from foreign countries as people in the world are highly concerned themselves about the war in Afghanistan and the anthrax attacks.

Rev. Nguyen Van Ly has been a reputed dissident for two decades. In the last two years, he made people know his protest by raising his banners that read "Religious Freedom or Death," in front of the chapel of his parish at Nguyet Bieu village, seven miles from Hue City. Last year, he was transferred to An Truyen village, a few miles from Nguyet Bieu. He continued displaying his demand for religious freedom. His cause were joined by many Buddhist monks and officials from the Hoa Hao Buddhist Church. On May 9, 2001, Communist authorities put him under house arrest, interdicting him from performing religious services.

For several months before his detention, he had been harassed and threatened permanently by local Communist authorities. Public Security Office ran daily interrogations in an effort to scare him into giving up his protest. He has never given in and went on doing his sacred duty as a priest. At last, he was arrested when a Public Security force 600 strong invading the village to prevent parishioners from intervention.

Besides, Communist authorities also reinforce guards watching other dissidents' residence, especially that of the Most Ven. Thich Huyen Quang and Most Ven. Thich Quang Do, the top leaders of the Unified Buddhist Church, which is not recognized by the Hanoi regime. Visitors are prohibited from seeing them, who in fact are under house arrest without any written ordinance.

Since last month, political dissidents not related to religious domain are under intensified surveillance. Similar interrogations and threats are employed as deterrent measures to scores of dissidents.

The well-known dissidents who were Party members such as Hoang Minh Chinh and his friends are actually under house detention for the last few years. On September 5, he was detained along with Pham Que Duong, Tran Khue and twenty of their friends after they sent a request to establish an association whose purpose is very simple and harmless: to assist the government in the abolition of corruption. Pham Que Duong is a retired colonel of the North Vietnamese Army, and the others are ranking party members.

Friends and relatives visiting Hoang Minh Chinh on September 9 were brought to the local Public Security Department for inquiry. Public Security interrogators intimidated them away from the famous dissident by grilling them for hours to wrest confessions about the purposes of their visits.

Hoang Minh Chinh has adamantly refused to respond to the interrogators' questions. He was released after three hours, but his interrogation sessions continued for three consecutive days without any charges against him. His friends spent three days in custody. Meanwhile the other friends including renown geologist Nguyen Thanh Giang, were undergoing lengthy sessions of investigation.

Hanoi leaders launched a systematic crackdown campaign right after the new Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh was elected by the Party's 9th National Congress in late April. It began with a summary trial of 11 people charged as instigators of the large peaceful protest with many ten thousands of demonstrators from many tribes in the Highland provinces in February this year. It followed by the imprisonment of many religious activists and people who have nothing to do with the struggle for freedom of religion or human rights, such as the two nephews of Father Ly. Many party members suspected of being on the side of the opposition were arrested or threatened.

According to Nguyen Thanh Giang, a popular dissident in Hanoi, the Communist leaders have been acting on the enormous pressure from a hidden and very dangerous power. This power would warn the Central Committee and its Politburo against economic reform at full swing beyond a certain limit.

Secondly, he said the shady power is acting fiercely to sabotage the newly approved Bilateral Trade Agreement between Washington and Hanoi. The plot is aimed at dragging the Vietnam Communist regime into the Chinese sphere of influence. Giang is a supporter of the BTA.

And the last, Giang says that because of the great number of corrupt Party leaders at all levels, an active anti-corruption campaign would endanger the Party's ruling power.

In conclusion, it can be said that in reality, the Vietnam Communist Party is not so strong as it is cracked up to be by some observers. If the Communist Party were really popular and well supported by the Vietnamese people, its leaders wouldn't have acted as they were doing in the last few months. Its weakness could also be found in Party-controlled newspapers where bitter anti-American rhetoric is on the increase, particularly in reports on the war against terrorism in Afghanistan.

In fact, the more oppression Hanoi government imposes on the dissidents, the more ranking party members join the opposition.