*EPF212 03/05/2002
Excerpt: Report Says Vietnam Represses Basic Political Freedoms
(Vietnam Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2001) (1580)

The Government of Vietnam continued to repress basic political and some religious freedoms during 2001, according to a report on human rights practices in that country released by the Department of State March 4.

"The Government continued to restrict significantly civil liberties on grounds of national security and societal stability," the report says. According to the report, Vietnam's government restricts citizens' privacy rights; "significantly restricts" freedom of speech, the press, assembly, and association; prohibits independent political, labor, and social organizations; restricts freedom of religion; and imposes some limits on freedom of movement for particular individuals "whom it deems threatening to its rule."

The Vietnamese government also "continued its longstanding policy of not tolerating most types of public dissent," the report says. However, the report notes, the government did allow elected officials and ordinary citizens in approved forums "somewhat greater freedom of expression and assembly to express grievances" in 2001. During the National Assembly's December session, for example, the government permitted several small demonstrations in Hanoi. Police in Ho Chi Minh City also allowed a short demonstration in front of a foreign diplomatic office in September.

The full report can be found online at:

http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2001

Following is the introduction to the Vietnam Country Report on Human Rights Practices for the Year 2001:

(begin excerpt)

Vietnam

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2001
Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
March 4, 2002

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a one-party state, ruled and controlled by the Vietnamese Communist Party (CPV). The CPV's constitutionally mandated leading role and the occupancy of all senior government positions by party members ensure the primacy of party Politburo guidelines and enable the Party to set the broad parameters of national policy. In recent years, the Party gradually has reduced its formal involvement in government operations and allowed the Government to exercise significant discretion in implementing policy. The National Assembly remains subject to party direction; however, the Government continued to strengthen the capacity of the 450-member National Assembly and to reform the bureaucracy. The National Assembly, chosen in elections, last held in 1997, in which most candidates are approved by the Party (about 85 percent of delegates are Party members) played an increasingly independent role as a forum for local and provincial concerns and as a critic of local and national corruption and inefficiency. The Assembly was active in revising legislation, criticizing officials' performance, screening ministerial and other senior candidate appointments, and dismissing senior officers. The judiciary remains subservient to the CPV and to external pressure and influence by the Government.

The military services, including the border defense force, are responsible for defense against external threats. The military forces are assuming a less prominent role as the ultimate guarantor of internal security, which primarily is the responsibility of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS). However, in some remote areas, the military forces are the primary government agency, providing infrastructure and all public safety functions, including maintaining public order in the event of civil unrest. The MPS controls the police, a special national security investigative agency, and other units that maintain internal security. It enforces laws and regulations that significantly restrict individual liberties and violate other human rights. It also maintains a system of household registration and block wardens to monitor the population, concentrating on those suspected of engaging, or being likely to engage in, unauthorized political activities. However, this system has become less obvious and pervasive in its intrusion into most citizens' daily lives. Members of the public security forces committed numerous human rights abuses.

The country of approximately 80 million persons is undergoing transition from a centrally planned to a market-oriented economy. Estimated annual gross domestic product (GDP) per capita is $402. The Asian financial crisis caused a significant slowdown but economic growth rebounded over the past 2 years. GDP growth for the year officially was targeted at 7.5 percent, but the global economic slowdown and its impact on the country's export markets likely has kept growth somewhat below that goal. Agriculture, forestry and fishery employ 62.5 percent of the labor force, and account for 24.3 percent of total output. Industry and construction contribute 36.6 percent, while services account for 39.1 percent. Crude oil is the country's key export and foreign exchange earner, generating $2.4 billion in export revenues during the first 8 months of the year, followed by textile and garments ($1.3 billion), aquatic products ($1.2 billion) and footwear ($1 billion). Two of the country's traditionally largest exports, rice and coffee, suffered from a continued slump in world market prices. During the year, disbursed official development assistance was $1.5 billion, roughly 4.7 percent of GDP. Particularly in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) and Hanoi, economic reforms have raised the standard of living and reduced party and government control over, and intrusion into, citizens' daily lives. However, many citizens in isolated rural areas, especially members of ethnic minorities in the northern uplands, central highlands, and the central coastal regions continue to live in extreme poverty. The Government is making significant expenditures to improve the economy and services in these areas. Gains from agricultural reform in recent years have improved the lives of many farmers, but the rural poverty level is approximately 30 percent.

The Government's poor human rights record worsened in some respects and it continued to commit numerous, serious abuses. The Government continued to repress basic political and some religious freedoms and abuses by the Government increased. The Government continued to restrict significantly civil liberties on grounds of national security and societal stability. Although the CPV continued its efforts to strengthen the mechanism for citizens to petition the Government, the authorities continued to deny citizens the right to change their government. Prison conditions remain harsh, particularly in some isolated provinces. Police beat suspects during arrests, and sometimes beat suspects during detention and interrogation. Incidents of arbitrary detention of citizens, including detention for peaceful expression of political and religious views, increased. The judiciary is not independent, and the Government denied some citizens the right to fair and expeditious trials. The Government continued to hold a number of political prisoners. Although thousands of prisoners had their sentences reduced in two general amnesties during the year, it is unknown whether any political or religious prisoners were among them. On October 19, a Catholic priest, Father Nguyen Van Ly, was sentenced to an unusually harsh 15 years in prison. The Government restricts citizens' privacy rights, although the trend toward reduced government interference in the daily lives of most citizens continued. The Government significantly restricts freedom of speech, the press, assembly, and association. The Government continued its longstanding policy of not tolerating most types of public dissent. In response to sometimes violent demonstrations by ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands, the Government sent in military troops augmented by civilian militias and temporarily closed off almost all access to the area by foreigners. Security forces reportedly committed numerous abuses including beating suspected demonstrators, although limited access to the area make these reports difficult to confirm.

The Government allowed elected officials and ordinary citizens in approved forums somewhat greater freedom of expression and assembly to express grievances. During the National Assembly's December session, the Government permitted several small demonstrations in Hanoi. However, on at least four occasions, police in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) prevented demonstrators from camping out on a sidewalk to stage a sit-in, but on one occasion, they allowed a group of protesters to march down city streets for a 2-day period. Police in HCMC also allowed a short demonstration in front of a foreign diplomatic office in September. The Government prohibits independent political, labor, and social organizations; such organizations exist only under government control. The Government restricts freedom of religion and bans the operation of religious organizations other than those approved by the State. Dissident groups of Buddhists, Hoa Hao, and Protestants, in particular, faced harassment by authorities. In April the Government bestowed official recognition on a Protestant organization in the southern part of the country. Since April member congregations, as well as several congregations not associated with the organization, experienced decreased harassment by security officials. In July a festival gathering of up to 300,000 Hoa Hao in An Giang province took place with official permission, and in August an estimated 15,000 persons attended the Roman Catholic La Vang pilgrimage. The Government imposes some limits on freedom of movement of particular individuals whom it deems threatening to its rule. The Government does not permit local private human rights organizations to form or operate. Violence and societal discrimination against women remained problems. Child prostitution is a problem. Government and societal discrimination against some ethnic minorities is a continuing problem. The Government restricts some core worker rights, such as freedom of association, although the Government is cooperating with the International Labor Organization (ILO) and international donors to improve implementation of the existing Labor Law and draft or amend labor and labor-related legislation. Child labor is a problem. There were reports that children worked in exploitative situations. Prisons reportedly required inmates to work for little or no pay. Trafficking in women and children for the purpose of prostitution within the country and abroad continued to be serious problems, and there were reports of the trafficking of women to mainland China and Taiwan for arranged and forced marriages. The Government continued efforts to combat these problems.

(end excerpt)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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