What must come has come. After years of resisting international pressure for its human rights record, the Communist Government of Vietnam announced that it would release in early September over 5,000 prisoners. While a complete list of names was not released, among the individuals "amnestied" were prominent political and religious prisoners including: Professor Doan Viet Hoat, Doctor Nguyen Dan Que, and Venerables Thich Quang Do, Thich Tri Sieu, and Thich Tue Si.
This concession by Hanoi marks a potentially important victory for the democratic forces. What does it mean and what does it portend?
1) Releasing Political and Religious Prisoners to Placate Pressure for Human Rights
Following the dramatic break-in on November 2, 1997 of a French television crew into the Thanh Cam prison camp where Professor Doan Viet Hoat was held, international pressure for human rights in Vietnam has steadily escalated.
In mid-November 1997, Human Rights Watch/Asia released a document titled, "Behind Vietnam's Open Door: A Climate of Internal Repression," detailing the human rights violations of the Hanoi regime and calling for the release of all prisoners of conscience.
In early 1998, the U.S. State Department noted in its annual report on Human Rights Practices that Vietnam remains a one-party state in which opinions different from the Communist Party's are not tolerated.
In early May 1998, four Nobel Laureates spoke out for religious freedom in Vietnam. In a joint letter to Vietnam's communist authorities, Tibet's Dalai Lama, Ireland's Mairead Maguire, East Timor's Jose Ramos-Horta, and France's Francois Jacob, called for the release of seven leaders of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV).
In mid-May 1998, PEN Canada, the Canadian Committee to Protect Journalists, and the Free Vietnam Alliance launched an appeal to support freedom of expression in Vietnam. The organizations recounted numerous instances over the last two years in which writers and artists were persecuted for their peaceful expression.
In early June 1998, the Word Association of Newspapers, representing 15,000 newspapers, awarded the 1998 Golden Pen of Freedom to Professor Doan Viet Hoat and launched a campaign for his release at the 51st annual World Newspaper Congress in Kobe, Japan.
In mid-June 1998, Reporters Sans Frontiers issued an appeal for the immediate release of Doctor Nguyen Dan Que on the eighth anniversary of his arrest on June 14, 1990.
In early July 1998, the UN special rapporteur on religious intolerance announced that a delegation would go to Vietnam in October. The announced visit follows on the heels of legislation promoting freedom from religious persecution recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and undergoing debate in the U.S. Senate. Under this legislation, Vietnam would be one of the countries subject to sanctions for violating religious freedoms.
In mid-July 1998, the European Parliament passed a resolution criticizing the Vietnamese government's human rights record and calling on Hanoi to release all prisoners of conscience as well as rescind Directive 31/CP, the official policy on "administrative detainment."
In August 1998, U.S. Representative Loretta Sanchez, on behalf of the newly formed Congressional Dialogue on Vietnam, announced the establishment of the "Adopt-a-Voice of Conscience in Vietnam" campaign. Initiated by American Members of Congress, the campaign aims to support Vietnamese who are in jail, under house arrest, or otherwise persecuted for the peaceful expression of their beliefs.
2) Placating Pressure for Human Rights to Improve External Relations
The above developments are representative of the mounting international pressure for human rights facing the Vietnamese government. The government's assertions that it does not hold any "political or religious prisoners," only individuals who have violated the laws of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, or that the outside world should not meddle in the "internal affairs" of Vietnam have not mollified international concern for human rights abuses. For Hanoi, this attention is troublesome both diplomatically and economically as it tries to secure aid and investment. Consequently, one reason Hanoi released the 5,000 plus prisoners was to improve the regime's external relations.
Several months ago China released from jail and sent into exile two of its prominent dissidents, Wei Jengsheng and Wang Dan, in the face of similar international pressure, in particular from the United States. Although China's communists retain important leverages to counter outside pressure - most notably a huge domestic consumer market to which western countries want to export and an influential role in the southeast Asian financial situation by its policy of whether to devalue the yuan - Beijing nevertheless responded to pressure on human rights to improve its image, especially with America in order to maintain Most-Favored-Nation (MFN) trading status.
Hanoi not only lacks the strong cards held by Beijing, but also faces serious economic problems. Foreign investment has fallen off sharply since 1996, resulting in slowing growth and a shortage of hard currency. As a result of reduced capital inflows, the central bank holds just enough foreign reserves to pay for two months of imports. And the national currency, the dong, has recently been devalued for the third time since October 1997.
In this present situation, the Hanoi government cannot afford to defy international opinion. It requires good external relations in order to attract foreign investment. Hanoi would especially like to complete a bi-lateral trade agreement soon with the United States in order to clear the way for receiving MFN.
3) Improving External Relations to Alleviate Internal Problems
The top priority for the leadership of the Vietnamese Communist Party has always been maintaining the one-party rule. If the current economic difficulties did not threaten the regime's survival, then Hanoi would not have released the prisoners. In short, the decision to release the prisoners was nothing more than a calculus to alleviate the internal problems threatening the regime.
When faced with an earlier crisis for its survival in 1986, the Vietnamese Communist regime undertook the policy of "doi moi," abandoning the socialist model according to Marxism-Leninism and resorting to a "market economy in the socialist direction." This change injected a breath of fresh air into the Vietnamese economy. With significant foreign investment and less restrictions on the economic activities of the people, the economy recovered markedly. But after a decade of "doi moi," a very distorted market economy has resulted and now reached a standstill.
The economic deadlock stems from the contradictory pursuit of a market economy with forced adherence to a socialist direction. What this direction means no one really knows or understands. The consequence, though, is a deadlocked economy, communist party rife with internal dissension on which way to move forward, and society full of unrest owing to growing inequalities. The situation has been worsened by the international business community's pullback from Vietnam and the aftershocks of the southeast Asian financial crisis.
The sum effect is that Vietnam's economy is in serious crisis, social opposition is increasing, and dissent within the Communist Party is mounting. The Hanoi leadership's hope is that an improvement in its external relations can yield the regime the very needed foreign aid and investment to alleviate its internal problems.
4) Stepping Back to Move Forward, or Stepping Back to Fall Down?
The Vietnamese Communist regime is motivated by its own survival. Its past deviousness is well documented and does not require another accounting. The relevant issue here is how to ensure that its apparent concession leads to genuine human rights improvement. The Vietnamese communists would like to minimize the consequences of the prisoner release and use this single gesture to achieve international approval (and thus investment). We would like to ensure a genuine prisoner release and see international approval and investment be given to a Vietnam where basic human rights are respected. To that end, there are three goals to pursue:
First, for the political and religious prisoners recently released, their official jailing must not be replaced by an unofficial one. Doctor Nguyen DDan Que, the Venerables Thich Quang Do, Thich Tri Sieu, and Thich Tue Si, once out of prison, should be able to travel freely and communicate freely inside Vietnam. When the Vietnamese government issued Directive 31/CP in April 1997, giving the Ministry of Interior authority to detain dissidents for up to two years without trial, the purpose of the "administrative detainment" policy was to intimidate and silence dissidents while avoiding the embarrassing trials or official sentences which could provoke international attention. It is important that no form of "administrative detainment" be applied to the released political and religious prisoners.
Second, while the government has let go a number of prominent dissidents, it continues to hold many more prisoners of conscience (both well known and less known), including Buddhist Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang, Professor Nguyen Dinh Huy, journalist Nguyen Hoang Linh, and Venerable Thich Khong Tanh. In addition, scores of other Vietnamese dissidents such as biologist Ha Si Phu, writer Tieu Dao Bao Cu, and poet Bui Minh Quoc, remain under house arrest as result of Directive 31/CP. All of these prisoners of conscience should be freed.
Third, why is any Vietnamese citizen even persecuted for the peaceful expression of his or her beliefs? The Hanoi government must stop punishing people for their political and religious beliefs.
The fact that Hanoi found it necessary to release over 5,000 prisoners demonstrates that international pressure for human rights works. What comes from this concession--whether it is actually genuine and whether other concessions will follow--depends on how vigilantly we pursue the above goals. With the Vietnamese Communist regime facing serious internal problems, and striving to improve its external relations to help alleviate its domestic crisis, this is the opportune moment to support the Vietnamese people's quest for a free and democratic life.