Radio Free Asia Vietnam Update December 28, 2000
Washington, DC - Radio Free Asia (RFA) has obtained from Vietnam a copy of the latest letter sent by five prominent dissidents to the National Assembly of Vietnam (SRV) lamenting its unresponsiveness to their concerns. The letter was dated December 9, 2000, to coincide with the current session of the Assembly, but nothing came of it.
After identifying the topic as the "Violation of the human rights of Dr. Ha Si Phu," the letter gives a rundown of the harassment and abridgement of rights suffered by one of the most distinguished dissidents in the country. For instance, on April 28, 2000, the police came to Ha Si Phu's home in Dalat and took away his computer. On May 12, he was instructed not to leave his home and to report daily to the police for interrogation. At the same time a decision charged him with the crime of "treasonable activities towards the Fatherland," which carries a maximum penalty of death.
As early as May 19, the five authors had sent a collective letter to the National Assembly protesting the above treatment. What happened? The letter continues:
"Silence!
"Dr. Ha Si Phu kept on being mistreated. After 106 days without receiving an answer to our original letter, on September 2, 2000, we sent a second letter, in which we quoted fundamental articles from the SRV Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights... asking that the National Assembly act on them.
"More silence! On November 14, 2000, the opening day of the eighth session of this Legislature, we sent a third letter asking for the same. To this day there is still no response!"
The letter compares today's Vietnam with colonialist France: "In 1919, Nguyen Ai Quoc [later known as Ho Chi Minh] sent a letter to the French government in Paris asking for freedom for his country. He was subsequently received by the colonialists and at least got a response. Nowadays, our Party and Government are wont to say that 'the cadres are the servants of the people.' For democracy means just that, the people being the masters. Is that how servants should treat their masters now? Or were those simply words to cheat the people?"
"Afraid that you were too busy to remember the [provisions of the] Constitution and our laws," the letter continues, "we were careful to quote all the applicable articles of both the Constitution and of the Law dealing with complaints in order to prove the illegality of actions taken by the public security force of Lam Dong Province in regard to Dr. Ha Si Phu. Again you failed to respond! It may be that you think the public security people of Lam Dong were in their right [...] in that case why don't you propose that Dr. Ha Si Phu be brought to an open trial-just as in a civilized country?... Let us not play the game of silence... silence... silence forever!"
The letter was signed by:
Mr. Hoang Minh Chinh, former Secretary General, Democratic Party of
Vietnam
Mr. Pham Que Duong, journalist, Colonel, VPA (Vietnam People's Army)
Dr. Nguyen Thanh Giang, Academician, Doctor of Geology
Mr. Hoang Tien, writer
Mr. Tran Dung Tien, worker, VPA veteran
Each name was followed by a telephone number in Hanoi together with a full address. It was addressed to Mr. Nong Duc Manh, Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam, to members of the Assembly and to the press.