After the retired General Tran Do sent a 13-page letter to the Communist Party's top leadership in January 1998 calling for the establishment of democracy in Vietnam, becoming the highest ranking member of the Vietnamese Communist Party to do so to date, an "all-out attack" on him has been reportedly orchestrated by Party General Secretary Le Kha Phieu himself.
While the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry called Gen. Tran Do’s letter "a normal thing", and Prime Minister Phan Van Khai continues to proclaim to the foreign press of more guarantees for Vietnamese citizens' rights and freedom, Tran Do's family members tasted state-harassment for the first time. The general, his wife, their residence, and all contacts are now under 24-hour surveillance. Following is the translation of the second letter this year by Gen. Tran Do to the Vietnamese Communist Party in response to recent attacks on him in the state-run press.
March 29, 1998
Respectfully sent to:
Comrades of the Standing Committee of the Politburo
I have been deliberating for a while on whether I should write to you. I want to let you have more time to think and pay attention to the nation's major problems. I myself have realized that need. Since my retirement began, I have had more time to reflect on the country, much more than before.
However, the information I am about to provide does involve your day to day task of leading the country, and your ability to control the situation.
The matter is as follows. I can say that I am being surrounded by a multi-faceted attack, which has greatly injured my family's daily life and my own name.
1. Last month, there was an "All-out Attack" on my opinions by the press. The attack did not bring out my name. The average reader would not have been able to know who the words "someone", "somebody raised the opinion that..." implied; which documents the quotes came from; and whether the excerpts were truthful.
I attach my observation [on these articles] in Appendix 1.
I had followed about ten articles on the Nhan Dan (People's) newspaper, another ten from the Quan Doi Nhan Dan (People’s Army) newspaper, and one from the Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Saigon) newspaper.
I recognized about three authors. The rest really make the readers wonder if they are real people or just fake names. In a few of the articles, the authors presented good rationale and took a serious and appropriate attitude. That is wonderful. It is regrettable, however, that the majority of these writings bore no reasoning beside the repetition of the antiquated slogans sandwiched between false accusations, distortions, and condemnations (Please see Appendix 1).
That was a "fist fight" without any logic or intellectual values. It has indeed lowered the Party's credibility to a pathetic level. It was such nonsense!
2. In March, my youngest daughter-in-law living in Tan Binh district was summoned by the public security for interrogation for the tens of days. It cost [her family] much income and affected their living condition and their children.
My oldest son is a colonel working at the Defense Ministry's Electronics and Computers Company in Ho Chi Minh City. He was working successfully on producing communication equipment for the armed forces and suddenly faced problems of capital budget and promotion.
My wife in Hanoi has been frequently followed by undercover security cadres. Some of my visitors were monitored and questioned: What is the purpose of the visit? What was brought out of the house? Many members of my family live in fear of seizure, threat, and terrorism. My family has lost its peace. My children in Ho Chi Minh City were deeply concerned and blamed me [for the trouble].
3. Western broadcasts announced the news that Tran Do was expelled [from the Party]. They further added that General Secretary Le Kha Phieu signed the Decision to "expel" Tran Do; and commented "The Vietnamese Government announced that they considered the comments by senior [Party members] and intellectuals normal. The news on Tran Do, therefore, is very abnormal. Is this news a hoax or is it the smoke from a fire somewhere?"
I was told by many people that quite a number of districts had organized public information sessions and invited cadres from central offices as speakers. All of these cadres recited an item from the section on the enemy situation: "Currently, there exists an anti-Party group, including Tran Do, Tran Quynh, Le Hong Ha, and Nguyen Trung Thanh". That is an extremely strange and rude association.
Not to mention the arbitrary accusations and distortions by various speakers in many meetings in 1996, following my proposal in 1995!
I believe that you, comrades, did not know about this information. I did not have to search for this information. It came very naturally from the newspapers, from the security cadres that have touched my family and monitored our residence.
I am absolutely not saddened nor complaining about the opinions that opposed mine. It is very important, however, that those opinions are expressed truthfully, fairly, appropriately, and politely. Recent articles, particularly those on the Nhan Dan, are unacceptable. I am saddened and ashamed for the "Voice of the Party and People."
That is my summary of this information blitz to report to you, comrades. This information [attack] is polluting the nation's political atmosphere. That is the pre-condition for instability, which is not a result of my proposals and opinions. If you, comrades, do care about the [nation’s] condition and want to control the situation, you should, by whatever means, make official announcements to repudiate that kind of distorted news for the sake of the purity of the Party and society.
Thank you, comrades.
Respectfully yours,
Tran Do