oooo
For the last few months, the movement struggling for democracy in Vietnam has attracted more and more supporters, particularly since the funeral of the retired Communist General Tran Do, the famous figure among the dissidents. The Communist government seems to rely only on suppressive measures to confront with the increasing opposition.
On Wednesday, September 25, 2002, the Vietnam Communist authorities arrested the prominent writer Nguyen Vu Binh for the second time this year. Along with crackdowns on other dissidents, Binh’s arrest indicates that leaders in Hanoi are more and more concerned of the growing movement for democracy in Vietnam. However, the ways they reacted also prove they are at a loss, unable to deal efficiently with the situation. So they have to resort to harassment and detention for intimidating them into silence.
The arrest was not made public, but according to sources from Hanoi reported by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists on Friday, Nguyen Vu Binh was detained for an article he wrote
criticizing the too much land concession Hanoi made to Beijing in recent border agreements. He had been arrested briefly in July for similar reason after having written many articles calling for political reform. Many of the articles were distributed over the Internet.
The 1999 border pact was reported later by state-controlled media in a short news line. It has never been ratified by a general session of the Hanoi National Assembly. Until the dissidents raised the issue late last year, the 1999 agreement had been classified as “state secret.” Even key members of the Assembly were not informed of the agreement content.
Only after fierce criticism by the overseas Vietnamese and dissidents in Vietnam, did Hanoi release the agreement it said is the full text, but no maps were attached. Without maps in details printed at large scales, comparison between the old and the new borderlines is impossible. So the biggest question of whether Hanoi has conceded 720 square kilometers of borderland as denounced by the opposition is still unanswered. Furthermore, the text was published only on one of Hanoi Internet websites where no more than 150,000 people in Vietnam are having access.
In official statements, Hanoi always denies the alleged concession. But many intellects and experts in and out of Vietnam have demonstrated that Vietnam has lost at least 720 square kilometers to China in the 1999 border agreements.
Before his defection, the party faithful member turned dissident Nguyen Vu Binh had been working as a full time reporter for the Tap Chi Cong San (Communism Magazine), the most important publication serving the Party’s political indoctrination and propaganda system. The job is usually given to the Communist faithful well trained in Marxist-Leninist doctrines. His defection to the opposition side and his outspoken writings therefore, are dealing a painful blow to the Party leadership and to the Communist ideology.
Another dissident, Dr. Nguyen Dan Que, has been harassed frequently. Last week, harassment mounted to a new level of intimidation.
Dr. Que is a pre-75 graduated M.D. in Saigon University. He stayed in Vietnam after the Communist forces defeated the South Vietnam government on April 30, 1975. He was detained in the early 1980's when his Humanism Movement, a non-violent group of democracy activists, was cracked down. After years in prison, he was released in the mid-1990s and he refused to immigrate to the United States as offered by the Communist authorities. Nominally, he is a free citizen but he is actually under strictly enforced house arrest.
According to sources in Vietnam reported by Radio Free Asia, on September 20, 2002, a posse of about 20 to 30 armed cops surrounded Dr. Que's home, 102 Nguyen Trai Street, Saigon under the command of a lieutenant colonel, deputy chief of the Public Security Department.
The cops requested him to present himself at the city Public Security Department; to abide by the search warrant; to give a full account of his activities against the national security and schemes to overthrow the Communist government.
Dr. Que adamantly protested the cops' orders, saying that he would only present himself at the city P.S.D. when there is clear evidence, and there must be the court's subpoena. Otherwise, the Public Security could only bring him in by force.
He said he would obey the search warrant because all of his materials had been uploaded on the Internet. He demanded that proceedings of the search be recorded and signed by everybody present at his home, all of them or he wouldn't sign it.
He denied the charge of his violation of state security. He admitted that since 1975 he had overtly distributed his written materials to people in Vietnam and abroad, even on the Internet.
He also said he bore full responsibility for the content of such materials to the Vietnamese people, not to the Public Security, nor to the Communist Party Politburo.
He asserted that he has full right to exercise his freedom of expression asserted by the International Declaration of Human Rights, and even stated in the current constitution of Vietnam. He emphasized that it was the Politburo that tramples on their constitution.
The Communist colonel and his posse withdrew at noon after warning him that they might come back with a chief of Saigon PSD. Dr. Que replied that he wouldn't welcome those uninvited guests, and they could use AK rifles and hand grenades to break into his home at their own free will.
Hanoi political security officials keep harassing Dr. Nguyen Dan Que and other dissidents, among them retired North Vietnam Army full Colonel Pham Que Duong. Sources from Hanoi said he might be arrested because of his popularity as an old good soldier. But many have different views. Some say Communist authorities don't want to anger the world public opinion by locking up more political prisoners, unless the dissidents' activities exceed the political safety limit.
However, as freakish behavior is concerned, Vietnam Communist leaders' reactions are sometimes unpredictable.
***
==========================