FREEDOM OF THE PRESS ?

The three-day conference held in Hanoi from October 29 to 31, 2001 was to review the implementation of the Politburo Directive #22 on the press and publishing industries. The directive was issued four years ago.

In his speech at the conference, Mr. Phan Dien, permanent member of the Vietnam Communist Party Politburo, Secretary of the Central Committee asked mass media agencies and publishing houses to give larger coverage on good people, good deeds, successful business models. Moreover, he asked them to reflect realities in an objective, clear and attractive manner in order to effectively serve the "national industrialization and modernization," as often repeated by Hanoi leaders lately.

The conference gathered about 600 key officials in the regime propaganda branch, most of them are editors-in-chief of the party-controlled media agencies and publishers. Key speeches were promptly reported in major newspapers Nhan Dan (People), Quan Doi Nhan Dan (People's Army).

Opening the conference, Mr. Nguyen Khoa Diem, Politburo member and head of the Ideology and Culture Commission of the VCP Central Committee highlighted the outstanding achievements recorded by the media and the publishing service in recent years. He stressed at achievements such as raising readers' political awareness, effectively disseminating the Party's line, government's policies, and State's laws, playing a more active role in the national process of renovation and preventing cultures introduced into the country from imposing adverse impacts on the population.

However, he pointed at the trend of "commercialization" in several media and publishing establishments with more sophisticated and complicated manners. Some papers have failed to operate conforming to their principles and readership, considering profit as the top priority.

He said a group of reporters and sub-editors violated journalists' ethics and the Press Law, adding the implementation of the Party's information disciplines and the Press Law and the development of media and publishing agencies were not strict.

On October 30 while the conference was going on, the People's Army newspaper rejected calls by dissidents for press freedom, saying that such demands support a plot by dissidents and anti-Communist exiles to use a free press for propaganda purposes.

The front page editorial apparently aims at the dissidents who are fiercely struggling for human rights and freedoms particularly freedom of the press. The article didn't name the dissidents, but was apparently referring to former Communist Party and government ranking officers and officials who have sought political reforms, even demanding the abolishment of Art. 4 in the 1992 Constitution which grants the VCP ruling monopoly.

At the conclusion of the conference, Mr. Nguyen Khoa Diem once again asserted the party's policy of strengthening the Party's leadership and management in the media agencies and publishing activities. He emphasized that in the socialist-oriented economy, the press and publishing industries must remain on the road to the socialist objectives.

"We cannot lose vigilance, cannot easily hand the weapon of press freedom to the hostile forces for their free use for subversive propaganda to sow divisions within the party and people and in national unity," the newspaper said. It also insists that "the Western model of press freedom is obviously not suitable for Vietnam's reality and conditions. That is freedom for subversion and freedom for sabotage. That freedom cannot be tolerated."

Though the VCP always asserts that its regime protects the people's freedoms, none of private newspaper has ever been permitted. Last year, North Vietnam Army Major General Tran Do (retired), one of the most prominent Communism theorists now turned a stubborn and famous dissident, applied for permission to open a private newspaper to fight corruption. His demand was turned down and responded with more harassment.

In another aspect, the Dir. 22 conference and speeches of the Party top ranking officials mean something more than an usual political indoctrination course. Along with it there have been arrests, detentions and harassment against peaceful activists for democracy, religious freedom and human rights when the Bilateral Trade Agreement was passed by the U.S. Congress.

More crackdowns on peaceful dissidents, particularly the surreptitious trial of the Rev. Nguyen Van Ly (a persevering activist for religious freedom) right after President Bush had finally approved the agreement, could only be seen as deliberate actions in defiance of the United States government. Such actions have also been intensified by daily newspaper reports on the war in Afghanistan with anti-American insinuations.

Meanwhile, the party-controlled newspapers have published slanderous stories about the private life of many dissidents and democracy activists, not excluding the monks, priests and religious leaders. The dirty rumors made up by the Communist counter-propaganda convince few people. The Party is only demeaning itself by printing such vicious calumnies.

Many of those who are supporting the argument that efforts to help Vietnam in market economic reform may lead the country to democracy and even to multi-party political system, should think it over.

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